The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

This chapter is a special update sponsored by the Alliance Hierarch "Unassuming Battle Song," with just one additional chapter for now, and ten more to follow.

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Excavating a canal was not an easy task.

However, the distance from Thorn Castle to the sea was less than a kilometer, which made this stretch of the Tonghai Canal relatively easier to dig. For this pure manual labor, Liszt once again raised the basic wages, with each serf receiving an additional copper coin per day on top of their original pay.
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As the Tonghai Canal was slowly being excavated, Drillmaster Fred Wells led the drilling team, having completed the second well in Mushroom Town,

and was then called over to dig a well for Thorn Castle.

There was no water source near Thorn Castle, and water had to be fetched from the port town. But as the castle was put into use, the water needs of so many people could not be met solely by fetching water from the port town.

A few days before starting work,

Liszt often visited the construction site to check on the progress, full of anticipation for his own named castle. Of course, for now, only the castle's outer facilities were being built; it would probably take another half a year until the main tower of Thorn Castle was completed.

At least, it would be a matter for next year.

So after touring the site several times and seeing no new developments, he gave up this tedious inspection and focused on busying himself with other matters.

Ach was decoding Natural Magic at an increasingly fast pace, and most of the planting magic for those Magic Plant seeds had been deciphered. But many details in the Sun Script within the planting magic had no corresponding references, making accurate descriptions difficult and stumping Ach.

She has now switched topics and begun researching Druid Magic concerning animals' combat spells.

The latest progress involved deciphering a book titled "Guide to Constructing the Sun Tower in Bathed Light City," which primarily discusses a structure associated with the Children of the Sun—the Sun Tower. According to the book, the Sun Tower was designed to harness the power from the Sun to foster growth throughout the entire city; a city possessing a Sun Tower would be known as Bathed Light City.

"Brother, the Sun Tower seems to function on a different system than Druid Magic; Druid Magic originates from Chaotic Magic Power, while the Sun Tower harnesses the power of the Sun... Brother, you've told Ach that the Sun is a star, constantly emitting strong light and heat," she said.

"That's right," Liszt nodded.

He felt that this Bathed Light City and the Sun Tower sounded like they were harnessing solar power. It made perfect sense for the Children of the Sun to use solar power, but the mention of solar power left him with some doubts, "Ach, do you think there's a link between solar power and Light Attribute Magic Power?"

"Light Attribute Magic Power and solar power?" Ach pondered seriously for a moment before responding, "Ach believes they have similarities, but they are not the same force. Light Attribute Magic Power is just a type of Magic Power with the qualities of sunlight, still fundamentally Magic Power, not sunlight itself."

"That's true; Light Attribute Magic Power is just Magic Power after all," Liszt agreed.

If sunlight were Magic Power, then using the Eye of Magic would mean seeing Magic Radiance everywhere, so sunlight is merely light on the physical spectrum. It's highly likely that the Children of the Sun harnessed solar power—using it to accelerate the growth of plants.

He continued to ask, "Ach, are you able to decipher how the Sun Tower is constructed?"

"Brother, there are many proprietary terms and no corresponding Sun Script to refer to, making it hard to decipher," Ach said with frustration, alluding to the difficulty of cooking without rice.

With just so few Sun Scriptures and no "dictionary," and the Sun Script being extraordinarily complicated,

it's indeed challenging.

Liszt then inquired, "How about the Druid combat magic regarding animals that you're decoding? Those spells are essentially various Druid Transformation Magics, transforming into bears, eagles, panthers, and the like, to then use these animal forms for combat."

Ach shook her head, "Brother, Ach feels it's quite difficult. In these transformation spells, there's always mention of something related to the bloodline of the Children of the Sun, which Ach can't find the right words for... Without this essence, it's not possible to perform the Druid's shapeshifting magic."

After Ach's explanation,

Liszt understood that the bloodline of the Child of the Sun held a vast secret, like some kind of specific genetic code—no wonder only old tanner Phil, the Sun Descendant, could open those chests and drift bottles with his blood.

Realizing this,

Liszt completely gave up on paying attention to natural magic. Being able to see it but unable to use it was useless. He couldn't help but say, "Ach, when you have time, continue researching natural magic, then compile it into a book, and take it to the few magicians in the magic tower, let's study it together and see if there can be any new advancements."

"Mm," Ach was still enthusiastic. She wasn't sure about its usefulness, but the wonders of natural magic gave her a lot of inspiration.

...

The hopes for the viscounty to get rich quickly from natural magic were dashed.

Liszt adjusted his attitude and continued the methodical development of the territory. The earnings of the territory this month were not bad; not to mention the Gold Coin income from white spirits and glass, the production of magic potions had also started booming with the addition of the Giant Algae Magic Potion. Especially since the growth rate of giant algae was very fast, you could say it could be harvested every twenty days.

Essentially, as long as the main root of the giant algae wasn't harmed, the algae could continue growing, about ten centimeters a day.

Plus, with some extra purchases from outside, having enough potions was pretty much guaranteed.

The income from Elf Bugs was also good.

The Alfalfa Elf Bug had already been contracted, the Lithops Elf Bug was yet to be born, and the two Tulip Spirit Bugs were healthy in gestation, equating to four Elf Bugs harvested.

Four Elf Bugs a month was definitely a high yield for a viscounty.

Especially when two of them were Tulip Bugs, representing a large output of magic potions once again.

So it was.

Time passed day by day, and before long July had arrived.

After a week of busy combat in the making, the Tonghai Canal was thoroughly excavated, and Liszt personally participated in the reinforcement of the canal embankments. The Blizzard Beast Squad made a dramatic appearance, conjuring Rock Spikes one after another along both sides of the embankment, to secure the sides of the bank.

Even the bottom of the canal had Rock Spikes rooted out one by one, after which the serfs would break the Rock Spikes into pieces, to be spread out over the bottom of the canal.

Basically, this navigable canal couldn't be destroyed even by a tsunami.

Now, what remained to be done was the construction of railings along the banks, greenery, and footpaths, but this was no longer within the scope of the Smoke Mission.

"Mission completed, reward: a perpetually sprouting fish spring."

"A sprouting fish spring, what does that mean?" Liszt was a bit puzzled; taking "fish spring" literally, it naturally implied a spring that spouted fish.

But why would fish spout from a spring?

This question did not puzzle Liszt for long, as he was quickly overtaken by the surprise brought by the new mission.

"Mission: Two new Tulip Bugs are about to arrive, creating a sense of immense crisis for another Tulip Bug whose lifespan is mostly behind it. It probably already senses that it will soon be overwhelmed by mediocrity, although it was never outstanding, it still hopes to give it one last shot, please inspire courage in it. Reward: a Little Minor Elf."

He couldn't help but reveal a smile that curved upwards: "Another Little Minor Elf!"