The Defeated Dragon Chapter 115

115 – Thorns Chain Mission

Röhm had been feeling very excited recently.

Previously, he thought that, alike Oden and Gray, he would be incapable of cultivating qi and eventually be abandoned by Mr. Marcus.

Being abandoned as a good-for-nothing without qi would be terrible.

He, Karl, Oden, Gray, the four of them were serfs hired to serve as Baron Liszt's retainer knights. But now, Karl had become an Apprentice Knight and the Flower Town's defense officer with twenty patrolmen under him, riding the crest of success.

When he saw Karl, he had to call him Mr. Karl.

The change of status made him feel a lot of pressure. There was a sense of suffocating urgency, as if the hand of fate was gripping at his throat, trying to strangle his hope at progress. He was afraid that he would accomplish nothing. Therefore, he not only earnestly practiced cultivation during the time he was taught by Marcus, but in his desperation, he even practiced cultivation in private.

Finally, he succeeded in cultivating qi, low-ranked qi, and became an Apprentice Knight.

His wish came true, his hard work and diligence bore fruit – the sir lord appointed him as the patrol team's captain. He were to assist Karl and take charge of the fief's public security.

Although his position was not as high as Karl's, but Röhm was already quite satisfied. He was not as talented as Karl, he managed to cultivate qi much later than Karl. Therefore, he ought to be under Karl.

The patrol team originally had a captain, who was an ordinary person. The captain was very dissatisfied with the other party's arrival. However, Röhm let his fists do the talking, teaching his opponent how to behave.

“This strength on mine, although I merely possess low-ranked qi, ordinary people cannot match this strength of mine. How powerful is an Earth Knight with mid-ranked qi?”

Before he got qi, he was not very familiar with knights. He only knew that they were strong. But how strong they were or how fascinating qi was, he had no way to know. Now that he had qi, he finally fully understood the tremendous qualitative changes that qi brought to knights.

“Earth Knight… I have no hope at obtaining mid-ranked qi in my lifetime. Yet still, Sir Lord gave me a chance to change my destiny. And I, Röhm Weinfass, have seized this chance! In the future, I must let my son start cultivating qi from an early age!”

Although he had yet to marry, but there were many girls in the town showering him with affection.

An Apprentice Knight was still very popular.

“My son, just like Mr. Marcus, will become an Earth Knight! At that time, he will have hope to climb his way to the aristocracy!”

For the sake of a better tomorrow, Röhm was diligent in his work, never slacking off at the patrol work. He was particularly satisfied with this position of his.

But what Röhm didn't know was that Liszt had noticed his diligence.

Liszt disliked trifling matters, he disliked having to worry about the fief's daily affairs. This was not his style. He didn't want to be like Han Xin, good at leading troops. Instead, he wanted to be like Liu Bang, good at employing people. Therefore, he appreciated hardworking subordinates the most. [1], [2]

Röhm was one such hardworking subordinate.

“Röhm, given your performance, I have a new assignment for you.”

“Sir, please instruct me!”

“You and Karl have become Apprentice Knights, so you can assume more responsibility. I am going to establish the position of ‘worm officer' and its subordinated ‘worm protection team'. The team will be comprised of able-bodied serfs transferred from the various settlements. As for you, you will take the position of the worm officer. Your task will be to lead the worm protection team to protect the worm stalks.”

After thinking things through, Liszt decided to set up an independent worm protection team.

This team's basic model was roughly equivalent to that of China's militia, being a supplement to the patrol team. In the future, when the Flower Town's population surged more and more, when just relying on the patrol team for public security wouldn't do, the worm protection team would become part of the public security force.

The patrol team – police.

The worm protection team – militia.

The knight squad – army.

This was roughly his train of thought. As a successor of fetchism, Liszt's thoughts kept turned towards it. [3]

Röhm immediately knelt on one knee, giving a knight's salute: “I, Röhm, am willing to follow Sir for the rest of my life!” He trembled slightly from excitement. Not in a million years did he think that he would get one after another chances to change his destiny.

Now, he formally stepped into the ranks of officials.

Official was not a class in the ordinary sense. However, becoming an official was akin to entering the ranks of the ‘aristocracy's reserves'.

When he left the castle, he was still in a trance, feeling as if his body was floating: “To be able to swear allegiance to Sir, I, Röhm, must be greatly cherished by the glory of knights!”

……

Perhaps it sensed Liszt's earnest affection for sprite worms, but less than two days after the establishment of the worm protection team, he saw the leaves of the black nightshade sprite worm's worm stalk in the black nightshade field regain their vitality. The black spots were greatly reduced.

“It persevered?”

Liszt hurriedly summoned the long time not seen smoke mission.

As expected, the smoke Serpentines had changed: “Mission completed. Reward: a black nightshade sprite worm.”

“Sure enough, the black nightshade had conceived a sprite worm. This is my ninth sprite worm, very good… Even though I don't know what use the black nightshade has.” Although the black nightshade's berries were edible, but they could only be regarded as a snack. Even with the black nightshade sprite worm's blessing, it was still impossible to produce a lot of berries.

Nevertheless, it was still a sprite worm.

The smoke twisted and issued a new mission: “Mission: a long overdue, heavy rain is about to pay the Flower Town a visit. Most houses of the fief's inhabitants are in disrepair and cannot withstand the cleanse form the heavy rain. As the lord, how could you sit by idly and remain indifferent? Please repair the fief's houses. Reward: a variant type of thorns.”

“Another variant thorns?” Liszt mused, “This is already the third mission related to thorns. It must be a chain mission! Previously, the reward for the invisible dragon chain mission was a space gem. I wonder what the reward for this time's chain mission will be?”

He had a hunch – thorns lesser sprite!

“Will it be a thorns lesser sprite?”

As there was no guaranty that it was the case, Liszt pushed this idea in the back of his mind. There would be no disappointment without expectations. However, if it really were to be the case, then it would be a greatly welcome surprise.

For now, doing his best to complete the mission was enough.

“Repairing houses, it seems that the time for another major project assembly has come.”

He immediately convened all the officials to arrange the repair work for the fief's houses: “This year, it hardly rained in the summer, which is uncommon. According co my speculation, there might be an intense rainstorm several days later. Most of the Flower Town's houses are old wooden houses, which is very unsafe.”

“There are already new houses being built. As for the serfs, we can dispatch them to repair their own wooden houses.” It was inevitable that Gort would look down on serfs.

Blair flattered: “What we need to repair the most is the castle. The place where Sir resides should be safer and prettier.”

“Regarding the castle's repair work, let's discuss it after the harvest in the fall, when the labor force is idle. Now that you were assigned your task, be sure to properly reinforce each dilapidated wooden house. All commoners, whether serfs or freedmen, must accept the work arrangements.”

After a pause, Liszt continued: “The commoners won't be remunerated. They have to work for free and repair their own wooden houses. However, the expenses for the repair materials will be covered by the castle. It is my treat.”

“It's very generous of you. I'll do the arrangements, making sure that all the wooden houses are properly repaired in a week's time.”

[2] – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Gaozu_of_Han

Chapter end