Evil dragon has a warm heart-Chapter 126 - 125 Mountain River Trade Route

Chapter 126: Chapter 125: Mountain River Trade Route

Chapter 126 -125: Mountain River Trade Route

Miler praised Mrs. Moore’s cooking to no end.

This wasn’t just to echo Russell’s taste, but he genuinely found the dishes with titles like “Secret-Recipe Onion Ginger Fresh Fish Soup,” “Secret-Formulated Sweet and Sour Pork Loin,” and “Secret-Technique Yellow Braised Chicken Rice,” incredibly delicious.

“It’s so tasty, Lord Russell, your cook Mrs. Moore must be an extraordinary gourmand!”

Miler ate with oil smearing all over his mouth, his missing teeth whistling slightly, but this didn’t stop him from experiencing the utmost satisfaction.

Russell was quite pleased with Miler’s approval.

To be honest, these new dishes, although they bore such flashy names, weren’t actually accepted by many.

One place, one flavor.

Moreover, Dragon Sleep Continent was another world, so it was naturally hard for the locals to resonate with Russell’s taste in food.

It was rare to find someone who truly loved these foods.

When the dinner was over and Miler bade farewell, Russell gave Charles a slight hint, “Give him some tax breaks, after a short interaction, this Miler… seems to be a decent man.”

Charles nodded, “As you wish.”

Over the next two days, Miler’s grocery store quickly went online in the small market; he rented a residential house, put up a sign, and began to sell his not so dazzling array of goods to the whole of Wuyao Snake Manor.

“Once your slag earth bricks are ready, I’ll build a grocery store and home all in one with them,” Miler promised.

“You’ll get a 20% discount!” Russell declared generously, “If your entire family is willing to settle at Wuyao Snake Manor, I’ll also allocate you a hundred acres of land.”

“Really, Sir?”

“Of course.”

“Then I’ll go back and discuss it with my family. I can assure you, as soon as the grocery store is built, my wife and I will definitely settle here. As for my sons, it might depend on their own decisions.”

“Good, it’s settled then.” It was just some wasteland, and Russell didn’t mind allocating some if it meant increasing the population.

After all, no one was cultivating these lands, so it might as well generate some tax revenue.

Taxing freemen’s farmlands was definitely cheaper than taxing serfs’ fields, but any amount cheaper was still a profit.

Then came the evening.

The familiar “gah” sounded, and the Little Dream Dragon, who had been asleep for six days after consecutively exhaling two breaths of dragonflame, had returned.

“Ice cream, my Great Dragon!”

“Gah!”

“Take off, Ice Cream, Sword Butterfly, let’s go for a stroll around the manor. It’s been so long since I last did, I’ve almost forgotten what each path looks like.” Russell hopped onto the Little Dream Dragon, and magical light sparked all around them.

Though they flew at only fifteen kilometers per hour, time flowed slowly in the Gloomy Dreamland.

So, Russell still managed to tour quite a few places in the manor.

Regrettably.

He didn’t discover any new magical lights; the treasures on this land had been nearly all found by Russell, and it would be hard finding new ones in the short term.

One night passed.

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The next day, a messenger knight from Fluorescent Castle arrived, still the familiar face of Raphael, “Mr. Russell, Lord Baron has ordered, all lords, please be on time for the trade route cleaning meeting at Fluorescent Castle this noon!”

“Have a cup of milk tea, Sir Raphael, rest a while then we’ll depart.” Russell had someone take Raphael for tea.

He then began arranging things with Butler Morris and notifying Mr. Eric Knight Commander to prepare for the upcoming Snowfield mission.

“Heading to the snowfield again to make some money,” Russell sighed inwardly.

He had indeed spent quite a bit of money recently. Although Rosy the Mushroom Bird would soon recoup all that petty cash, it still required some time.

A trip to the snowfield was the perfect opportunity to recover his finances in a timely manner.

However.

He quickly remembered his promise to Ice Cream. All the earnings from this trip to the snowfield would be used as compensation to feed it.

“One must not go back on their word… Sigh, I might as well consider it as working to raise Ice Cream,” Russell chuckled bitterly, shaking his head—it was a happy dilemma. “If I really run out of money, I’ll just ask Mother to lend me some more.”

After a pause, he shook his head again, “No, not a loan. It’s financing!”

Lady Meryl’s dowry was substantial and had largely gone untouched over the years. It was certainly viable for investment with Russell.

A surefire profit!

After Raphael finished his milk tea, Russell delegated his tasks, and then set off with the Red-eyed Rat King toward Fluorescent Castle.

Upon arriving at Fluorescent Castle, several lords came over to greet him warmly, even Baron Marcus no longer greeted him with a cold face.

Ever since Russell acquired Rosy the Mushroom Bird, his status had undergone a tremendous change.

Originally, the trajectory of his life in the eyes of the lords was at best to become another Roson Fluorescent Spore. They were all vassals of Mr. Luo Man and no one was inherently more noble than the others, even though he was the second son of Mr. Luo Man.

After all, one day the title of Baron would be passed to his older brother Roland.

But now it was different. Russell had a much broader future, not confined to Glowing Valley. He could even choose to follow the Grand Duke.

To become a direct vassal of the Grand Duke.

The territories of earls and barons were limited, and they encouraged their vassals to follow the Grand Duke to alleviate the pressure on their lands. This was particularly true for second sons who were strongly encouraged to gravitate towards the Grand Duke to ease family pressures and to branch out for the family.

“Russell, that Red-eyed Rat King of yours is so cool. Ever thought about selling it for a good price?” Lord Sally, his eyes filled with envy, stared at the Red-eyed Rat King.

His son had already become a Great Knight but had not had the good fortune to contract a Fantasy Beast.

Lord Sally longed for his son to contract a Fantasy Beast. If it weren’t for the fact that a Fantasy Beast could only contract with one master for life, he would even be willing to sacrifice himself to leave the Fantasy Beast, the Black Feather Raven, for his son to contract.

“Sorry, Sir Sally,” Russell shook his head in refusal.

Fantasy Beasts were priceless, and moreover, the Red-eyed Rat King’s magic was Bloodthirsty Blink, a spell he himself coveted greatly.

If in the future he reached the level of Great Knight without a better option, he would choose to contract with the Red-eyed Rat King.

He intended to deeply develop the Bloodthirsty Blink magic, hopefully to blink several kilometers in one go.

Then, even if he encountered a Snow Giant on the snowfield, he would be confident in escaping, which was essentially like having an extra life.

“What a pity,” Lord Sally said with regret, not insisting further, “If you change your mind, you can always find me. I’m willing to pay everything for it.”

Russell smiled, offering no response.

Since the Red-eyed Rat King was not for sale, he naturally didn’t want others to keep coveting it.

Soon, everyone entered the castle’s conference hall. Mr. Ross did not come to join the buzz this time, and Russell was spared his disdain.

On the walls of the conference room hung a vast map.

The map meticulously outlined the geography of the entire Shadowflame Duchy, including mountains and lakes, as well as the surrounding expansive snowfield.

The Baron pointed with a conductor’s baton at the bottom of the map, where a narrow valley lay, “This year, the warm season came quickly, and several trade routes have no large Snow Ghost groups. After some time, I expect even the small bands of Snow Ghosts will retreat.”

Moving the baton up, above the valley terrain, several dotted lines represented trade routes. Mr. Luo Man continued, “This time, our focus is to clear the Mountain River Trade Route, open the road to the Oasis, and resume the Thunder Beast carts as quickly as possible.”