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“Yes, after a shipwreck was discovered off the coast of Fresh Flower Town, some treasure was salvaged, including a few crystals. I invited a crystal craftsman and a magician to carve crystal lamps for me. Then I discovered, when crystal is ground into lenses and two are stacked together, they can actually magnify the view.”

Of course, Liszt had fabricated the story, but the Earl didn’t probe into the veracity of his tale.

For him, how the telescope was invented wasn’t important; what mattered was why it could see at a distance and what else it could do.

“No wonder many say that you have been favored by knighthood’s glory this past year,” the Earl commented as he caressed the wooden tube of the telescope, “Do you recognize its value?”

“I believe it can be used in warfare. If we can observe the enemy’s movements from afar, it should be of great assistance.”

“With the charge of the knights, if coordinated with a telescope, we could capture the movements of enemy knight orders more swiftly, seizing the most opportune moment to strike. Its value can be trivial, even negligible—a head-on charge of a large-scale knight order is straightforward. But it can also be immense.”

As someone with years of experience in leading charges, the Earl had his own insights: “For small knight squads engaging in combat, maneuverability is crucial. With a telescope, whether for ambushes or counter-ambushes, we could gain the upper hand… In yesterday’s battle simulation game, if I had had a telescope, your various ambush tactics would have been completely ineffective.”

Liszt nodded and then added, “If I had used a telescope, I could have achieved even more brilliant tactical results.”

“Hmm, that’s also not wrong to say.”

“Therefore, the value of the telescope can be substantial. I believe it’s most fitting to present it to you as a gift.”

“You’ve grown up,” the Earl remarked wistfully, his eyes filled with satisfaction, which he quickly concealed, “The significance of the telescope is immense; we must keep its secret safe from outsiders!”

“As of now, I’m probably the only one who knows the secret of the telescope’s interior,” Liszt recalled something suddenly. “Oh yes, the crystal craftsman, Brad, if he were so inclined, could likely understand the principle of the telescope since he ground the lenses himself.”

“In that case, we cannot leave this crystal craftsman to his own devices.”

“How about you give him and his family to me? As for the principle of the telescope, I can present it immediately to Tulip Castle,” Liszt proposed, struck by an idea. The fact that Brad and his family were freemen didn’t matter; no one could defy the Earl’s wish to arrange who would be sent to Fresh Flower Town.

Not one to fuss over such trifles, the Earl said, “I’ll have Jacob take care of it later.”

Jacob was the Earl’s land advisor.

Pleased with the telescope, the Earl offered more favorable terms before Liszt could even speak: “I heard that you obtained three thousand pounds of iron ingots from Levis’s hands?” The Earl was well aware of the sons’ maneuvers, and his openness was not without the intent to admonish.

This was because Levis and Liszt would not include Lidun in their play, a clear alienation that the Earl was unwilling to see among his sons.

“Yes, I improved the brewing process for ordinary fermented wine and made semi-finished white spirits. I hoped to collaborate with my brother for sales, and the three thousand pounds of iron ingots was a token of my brother’s goodwill.”

“That you’re willing to share the technology for white spirits shows that you are not only favored by knighthood’s glory but also have a big-picture perspective and long-term plans. I am filled with expectations for your future. I will also allocate an additional ten thousand pounds of iron ingots from the spoils of war as compensation for the telescope technology.”

The Earl’s generosity was indeed vast!

Liszt was thrilled. “Thank you, Father!”

As a rare resource, ten thousand catties of iron could craft many iron implements, of great worth. While most iron uses might be for armor and weapons, for Liszt, iron was one of the fundamental materials of industry, irreplaceable by wood.

Even though Liszt had Rapid Growth Iron Thorns that possessed the quality of ironwood.

After expressing his gratitude, Liszt called a servant and brought out five ores of mithril he had specially prepared, taking them into the study. “Father, this is one of the treasures I found in the sunken ship. I wish to exchange them for some Gold Coins. The financial situation in the territory is quite strained,” he said.

“Mithril?” The Earl, of course, was familiar with this ore and immediately identified it. He in fact armored an elite Knight Squad with Mithril Armor. “These five pieces of mithril, mixed into Iron Ingots, can nearly forge ten suits of Mithril Armor, with considerable value.”

He gave Liszt a meaningful look.

Liszt met his gaze openly—he understood the Earl’s implication. Fresh Flower Town had many fine goods to offer; the benefits retrieved from the sunken ship were likely not limited to these pieces of mithril and some crystals he had mentioned earlier—but he knew the Earl would hardly rob his own son of his little private property.

“One piece of mithril for a hundred Gold Coins, how about that?”

“Of course, I am grateful for your generosity, Father.”

“Five hundred Gold Coins could buy two thousand five hundred serfs. That’s almost more than the population of Fresh Flower Town. Are you sure Fresh Flower Town can support them?” asked the Earl with a smile.

A chill went down Liszt’s spine.

He had a feeling that this smile bore a deeper meaning than the look before, almost as if the “Earl had already seen through everything.” Under that smile, Liszt felt as though all his secrets were exposed—he had reason to guess so, with the Earl’s grasp over Coral Island, wanting to know something wasn’t difficult.

“Could he already know about the existence of Black Horse Island?”

The thought crossed his mind, then Liszt suppressed it; whether he knew or not, he would play ignorant. Developing a deserted island was not a heinous act, and as long as the Earl was unaware of the Black Blood Treasured Horse’s existence, even if Black Horse Island was discovered, it wouldn’t matter.

At least for now, the Earl seemed oblivious to the Black Blood Treasured Horse; otherwise, no matter that Liszt was his son, he would unceremoniously seize them.

In the face of immense profit, noble ties were inconsequential.

Moreover, how could seizing the herd and then compensating Liszt with some Gold Coins possibly shake the father-son relationship, especially when the Earl wouldn’t even need to seize them himself? If he deployed a bit of family propaganda, the spit from Lady Penelope, Lady Marie, Li Vera, and Levis alone could drown Liszt.

In fact, considering benefits, contributing the Black Blood Treasured Horse to the Earl might not be such a bad idea.

But Liszt was reluctant—once the herd reached the hands of the Tulip Family, who knew how many years it would take before he could get a share to arm his Knight Squad.

As a future Dragon Knight with grand aspirations, what was his was his; he didn’t want to give it to anyone, nor let anyone take it. And the family resources should rightfully support him in achieving his grand ideals and revitalizing the family.

Pushing aside his wild thoughts, Liszt acted as if he hadn’t noticed the Earl’s hidden meaning. “The development route for Fresh Flower Town is slightly different from the traditional agricultural route; I need a large population.”