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Liszt decided that he would spend the upcoming period amongst the thorns.

He publicly declared that he was going to eradicate the magical beasts of Thorn Ridge, and indeed he prepared to do so, but his most essential goal was to snatch that Bloodline Fruit.

An exhaustive search was indispensable.

“All game that can be hunted must be completely eradicated. Thorn Forest is destined to be cleared, and there’s no need to keep the beasts!” Marcus was the commander of the Knight Squad.

He scolded the Retainer Knights loudly, “Wayne, Evan, you two idiots who can’t even muster Dou Qi, are responsible for gathering the bodies of the beasts. Pile them up and hang them on trees, do you understand? We are going to take all this food with us when we return!”

This was a ruthless strategy.

In Liszt’s plan, apart from the wild fruit trees, all other trees in Thorn Ridge would be felled. Not only would the magical beasts be killed off, but all wild beasts as well. The area would later be transformed into farmland, stones would be extracted for road construction, and timber would be used for building houses and fueling fires.

Environmental protection was nonexistent.

Liszt’s hand rested on the Crimson Blood Sword hilt, and his pupils occasionally turned into spinning vortices as he used the Eye of Magic to locate the lurking positions of the magical beasts.

This was his biggest reliance for eliminating the Thorn Ridge Beasts.

Although Marcus did not know about the Eye of Magic, a mysterious Dou Qi Secret Technique that Liszt possessed, he vaguely guessed that Liszt had the ability to see through magic power—being a landlord from the Tulip Family with some secret methods was nothing out of the ordinary—thus he was equally confident.

Douson was probably the most fearless one; it was his first time visiting Thorn Ridge, and the entire dog trembled with excitement, darting back and forth, thoroughly enjoying itself.

“Douson, be quiet!”

Liszt gently called out.

In the field of view of the Eye of Magic.

Douson was yellow, Marcus was cyan, and the other Retainer Knights were vague gray-white Dou Qi, their Dou Qi properties not yet displayed.

Rustling sounds.

A hare jumped out of the bush.

Marcus did not move, but a Retainer Knight who had developed Dou Qi charged forward on his horse, piercing lightly with his longsword, and thus impaled the hare.

The motion was fluid and smooth, aided by Dou Qi and the relentless practice of knightly drills, this twelve-year-old Retainer Knight was already agile, far surpassing an adult.

The longsword quivered, and the body of the hare was thrown to the back of the group.

Wayne, who had not yet developed Dou Qi, hurriedly caught the hare’s body, pulled out a rope, bound the hare’s feet together, and hung it behind the horse.

There were already several small animals’ carcasses hanging behind the horses, with the largest being a roe deer.

In this way, the Knight Squad swept through the morning without encountering a single magical beast, but they did hunt a large number of wild animals. Once a certain number was reached, the carcasses of the animals were bundled up and hung in the trees—this prevented most wild beasts from stealing the carcasses.

The town was not short of food.

Some of this game would be cured or smoked for the castle’s stores; some would be distributed to subordinates and their families as a way to win their hearts.

The leftovers that couldn’t be eaten would be sold at the seafood shop, a castle business aimed at providing seafood to the populace—the prices for the game were already set by Liszt, just slightly more expensive than black bread. This allowed the residents of Fresh Flower Town to have a taste of the game from Thorn Ridge.

It was a kind of welfare gifted by the landlord.

Liszt was a good man, or so he always considered himself.

The serfs thought the same; never had there been a landlord who treated their serfs so well.

Lunch consisted of barbecuing game in the middle of Thorn Ridge, with the Retainer Knights bringing spices for the food. After cleaning, they sprinkled the spices, skewered the meat on sticks, and cooked it right there.

The flames quickly roasted the meat, tender inside and crisply charred outside.

The savory aroma spread, whetting appetites and successfully attracting nearby beasts, which then became targets for the Retainer Knights to practice their swordsmanship—over the course of the morning, the knights’ sword skills improved rapidly, with hands-on experience helping them grow quickly, becoming neither panicked nor clumsy.

“We’ll probably need three days to thoroughly search the southern part of Thorn Ridge. It’s inevitable that some will slip through the net. Without food in the forest, they are likely to spill over to Fresh Flower Town,” Marcus said while eating his roasted meat, contemplating the consequences of their military operations.

Liszt did not ask the Retainer Knights for help with roasting the meat.

He roasted a deer thigh by himself, cutting slits in the meat with his dagger, sprinkling it with seasoning, and brushing on several more layers of oil. He cooked it over a high fire until the skin was golden brown, and the oil and seasonings had thoroughly penetrated the flesh.

This skill, he had tested a few times in the castle, to great success—a Noble might not enter the kitchen, but it was common to grill meat oneself in the wild since it was considered a refined pleasure.

“Before I set off, I had already instructed Teacher Goltai to tell the residents of Fresh Flower Town not to leave their homes unnecessarily in the near future and to go out in groups when they had to work. After this period passes and the Lumberjack Team cuts down all the wood in Thorn Ridge, Fresh Flower Town will be completely worry-free.”

With his dagger, he prodded the deer thigh.

It felt like the meat was roasted enough.

He blew on the golden skin and took a gentle bite as if into a crispy cookie—the skin was crunchy. The meat was tender and easy to tear apart, its aroma bursting hot on his tongue. It was so hot that Liszt felt like spitting it out but couldn’t bear to because it was too delicious.

He ate the meat while exhaling.

“Delicious!”

In his heart, he praised himself fiercely.

After nibbling half of the deer thigh, he remembered that he should be observing his surroundings for any lurking Magical Beasts. The moment he used the Eye of Magic, he immediately noticed a yellow Magic Power-formed Fierce Earth Dog to the left front of the campfire—if Douson hadn’t been snuggled at his feet, he would have thought it was Douson!

“Teacher Marcus, do you see that thick tree trunk to the left?” he mentioned to Marcus without any change of expression, putting down the deer thigh and reaching for his bow and arrows on his back.

Marcus’s brows lifted: “I see it. Is there something afoot, my lord?”

“In the bushes to the left of the trunk, there’s a Magical Beast hiding. It could be a Wind Blade Wolf or a Fierce Earth Dog,” Liszt hadn’t been able to directly identify which Magical Beast it was.

Marcus nodded.

He became serious.

He turned and made a few simple hand signals to the Retainer Knights nearby—this was a common battlefield communication method among knights, as they couldn’t always rely on shouting—the signals meant to be on guard, that there was an enemy nearby in the direction he was pointing, and to pass the message around to each other.

Without a sound, all the Retainer Knights got the signal.

Each of them held their weapons and began to move slowly, surrounding the area of the bushes.

Douson seemed to sense the tense atmosphere, suddenly standing up with its fur slightly bristled. Liszt reassured him in a soft voice: “Don’t panic, Douson, wait for my command.”

Only then did Douson restrain its urge to charge, its dog eyes darting everywhere, sniffing the smells in the air—before, it was only busy smelling the roasted meat.

The net was set.

Liszt and Marcus exchanged glances, each raising their bow, with two arrows set to the string, aiming at the bushes.

With a loud command, “Fire!”

The two men instantly released the arrows from their bows, with four arrows shooting toward the bushes from different directions. Marcus, unaware of the exact location of the Magical Beast, had arrows that were slightly off, but Liszt’s were on target, aimed precisely at the head of the Magical Beast.

Thwack!

As expected.

Only one of Liszt’s arrows hit, striking the Magical Beast’s back—as it quickly reacted in a critical moment, twisting its body to dodge the dangerous attack.

With that move, the Magical Beast jumped out of the bushes, an arrow sticking out of its back—not too deeply.

It lunged directly at the nearest Retainer Knight.

Still daring to counterattack.

“It’s a Fierce Earth Dog!” Marcus raised his bow again, shooting first at the position where the Fierce Earth Dog was charging to save the life of a Retainer Knight.

Liszt also raised his bow to shoot, while simultaneously giving a command, “Douson, target the prey, cast Magic!”