Chapter 0012: Census in Fresh Flower Town

The Elf Bug had not yet been bred, and Liszt couldn't possibly wait here foolishly. After arranging for people to stand guard, he returned to the castle. Fresh Flower Town's only contact with the outside world was a road that traversed Thorn Ridge, and there were few travelers.

Only when the Earl came to collect taxes would caravans accompany the Knight Squad.

Now that Fresh Flower Town had become Liszt's territory, no one came to collect taxes, and caravans were probably reluctant to come. Therefore, there would be no one coveting the Elf Bug.

As for the residents of Fresh Flower Town, even less so dared to entertain the thought.

The Elf Bug was a darling of nature; it would only enter into a master-servant pact with humans possessing magic power—perhaps Magical Beasts could as well, but they had no such intentions.

Magic power referred to Dou Qi and magic; they appeared different but were essentially the same.

In Fresh Flower Town, only three people possessed magic power: Liszt, Marcus, and Goltai. Both Marcus and Goltai were well-known figures on Coral Island; even if they stole the Elf Bug, they couldn't escape. On Coral Island, nobody dared to touch anything belonging to the Tulip Family, and Liszt was a member of the Tulip Family.

Therefore, there was no need to worry about the safety of the Peanut Elf Bug.

He arrived at his study, closed the door, and concentrated for a moment, waiting for the smoke to appear. After repeated probing, he had completely mastered the pattern of the smoke's appearance; he just needed to calm his mind, and then he would see it.

Sure enough.

One minute later.

Twisted Serpent Script appeared before his eyes.

"Complete the mission, and be rewarded with one Peanut Elf Bug."

"Just as I thought, the Peanut Little Minor Elf is the reward for a previous mission… This Smoke Mission that appeared out of nowhere seems unable to conjure rewards from nothing; the rewards are things that exist in reality or are about to happen... The sublimation of Dou Qi must be due to my own accumulated efforts, and the Peanut Bug is something that should emerge naturally."

However, without the Smoke Mission, those rewards would probably be wasted.

He estimated he would still be an Apprentice Knight, and the Peanut Bug would also quietly die.

At this moment, the twisted Smoke Serpent Script showed new content.

"Mission: As the Landlord of the territory, how can you not know the population of your subjects? Please conduct a census to understand the basic situation of the residents. Reward: A new Tulip species."

"A census? Isn't that precisely what I plan to do? It seems the Smoke Mission updates content based on my actual situation… A new Tulip species, what does that mean? Is it going to give me a Magic Potion?" Liszt guessed.

The Tulip Family's growth was due to the Tulip.

The Tulip was not merely a flower, it was also a Magic Potion—a magical ingredient. Magic Potions were crucial auxiliary materials for cultivating magic and Dou Qi. The Magic Potion from the Tulip, as Liszt recalled, the highest-priced one could sell for a hefty sum of ten Gold Coins.

A new variety of Tulip, if it produced a Magic Potion, would undoubtedly be a powerful tool for economic revitalization.

Even if it weren't a Magic Potion, contributing it to Tulip Castle, allowing the Tulip Great Elf to assimilate it, would also enhance the Greater Elf's potential for evolution and development.

"Well, then, next up is to push the census strongly! A small town with at most a couple thousand people—what's so troublesome about it? Goltai is truly disappointing. If all else fails, I'll supervise it myself."

A couple thousand people were not much more than the size of a school in Liszt's hometown. Having served as president of the student body in his school, Liszt had great trust in his own abilities.

...

But for Goltai, it was an immensely difficult task.

He asked the previous administrative officer during the handover, a knight dispatched by the earl, about his duties in Fresh Flower Town. The knight had done only one thing—collected taxes.

The knight didn't concern himself with anything else, and hardly ever visited Fresh Flower Town himself; instead, he had one of his retainer knights manage on his behalf.

The retainer knight here did likewise only one thing—collected taxes and nothing more.

The taxes from Fresh Flower Town included peanuts, milk, wheat, barley, oats, tomatoes, and tulips. Coral Island's Count would collect taxes every three months, taking away the majority of the scant agricultural output from Fresh Flower Town. Once the knight finished collecting taxes, he wouldn't bother with Fresh Flower Town anymore.

Poor and remote, it lacked the prosperity and enjoyment of Coral City.

Thus, Goltai sat in the dilapidated administrative room of the small town, looking at his mere four clerks and six patrol members, and felt that completing a population census was an impossible task.

"None of you have ever read a book, recognized a single character? There's not a single literate person in the whole town?"

A clerk said embarrassedly, "Sir, there's no school in the town, and we've never left it..."

A patrol member with a bright red, wine-stained nose said, "Perhaps the old tanner can read. He came from another island. I saw a book in his house, so thick and large. I even flipped through it—it had pictures of little figures. But the old tanner gave me a beating. He's blind, stitches shoes very firmly, and is also tough at hitting people."

A blind man, Goltai didn't even think about it and disregarded the old tanner.

Since there was no one who could read, all he could say was, "You must at least know how to count, so each of you go to a hamlet and bring me the number of households and people!"

This should have been a simple task, but after a day had passed and the clerks and patrol members returned to report, Goltai felt like going mad.

He scolded loudly, "What, Peanut Hamlet has 18 households and 56 people? Mr. Teacup, are you jesting with me!"

Mr. Teacup, whose full name was David Teacup, was one of the clerks, and his face twisted with dilemma, "Sir, I didn't, uh, I counted several times, not sure if it's correct, but each time the numbers were different."

Peanut Hamlet had 23 households and 92 people, a figure Goltai personally tallied when Liszt came to aid the Peanut Fields.

He really couldn't fathom how David Teacup could have counted 18 households and 56 people.

No need to think about it.

The numbers for the other hamlets were surely made up as well.

Realizing this, Goltai waved his hand in resignation, "Alright, no more reporting, keep the numbers for your own amusement. Bring over my Mare Qian, I need to see Baron Liszt at the castle."

Riding his horse to the castle, Goltai exaggeratedly complained to Liszt, "You have no idea. Those clerks and patrol members can't even properly count from one to ten! It's impossible to rely on them to complete the census. Liszt, I've already written the letter, just waiting to send it; maybe we can wait for them to arrive before conducting the population census."

"And when would that be?"

"No need to rush, Liszt, we have plenty of time, don't we?"

"I cannot wait," Liszt tapped his fingers on the table, "Mr. Carter, who in the castle can read and write?"

Mr. Carter bowed slightly and said, "My lord, I can write letters and read books, Thomas can as well, and I think Mrs. Morson should be able to."

"Then, please ask Mrs. Morson and Thomas to come over, and call over Teacher Marcus and my four retainer knights as well. I remember they all can write."

Once everyone had arrived, Liszt announced publicly, "Now, let's set aside whatever we're working on and help me with the population census of Fresh Flower Town. Each person will be responsible for one hamlet: the town, Mushroom Hamlet, Peanut Hamlet, Tomato Hamlet, Barley Hamlet, Little Wheat Village, Fresh Flower Farm, and the dairy farm."