“Master, reading at night is bad for your eyes. You should take care. No matter how many candles you have, they can’t compare to the sunlight during the day.”

Edward Thompson smiled slightly, moving his eyes away from the thick parchment book on the table, and looked at the somewhat aged butler: “Carter sir, have you finished checking all the rooms?”

“Except for the rooms where the servants still need to work, all the other rooms have been locked.”

“Very good, then, let’s have a drink together.” Edward Thompson had already noticed the red wine in Carter’s hand. Nobles are addicted to wine, to the point that an unwritten tradition has formed: the master of the castle will have a few drinks with the butler before bed at night, chatting about matters of the castle.

Edward Thompson didn’t like drinking, but his predecessor loved it so much that his body had developed a need for alcohol.

However, the alcohol content here was very low. Unless he drank as much as beer, it was hard for him to get drunk.

Each had a glass of red wine.

They clinked glasses lightly.

Swirling his glass, Edward Thompson took a small sip: “Can the castle’s supplies last until this year’s taxes come in?”

“I’m afraid it will be difficult. You didn’t bring much wine from Tulip Castle, and there isn’t much wheat flour left either. Flower Town is in a very remote location, and no trade caravans are willing to come here. Even if we have gold coins, it’s hard to buy wheat and wine. But the good news is, there are plenty of wild fruits in Thorns Ridge, so we don’t have to worry about having no fruit to eat.”

Edward Thompson was not valued by the count, so naturally he didn’t get much during the division of the family property.

According to his memory, when his sister Sarah Thompson split from the family, thirty carriages were filled to the brim, while he… didn’t even have a single carriage, just a few horses and a team of laborers carrying some luggage.

The difference in treatment was worlds apart.

His predecessor had a lot of resentment in his heart, but for him, it wasn’t a big deal, since he wasn’t really the count’s son. At most, when meeting his “father,” he’d feel awkward about how to act close.

“We can’t do without wheat.” Edward Thompson put down his wine glass and said in a tone that brooked no argument, “Flower Town must develop quickly, and the trade route must be opened up!”

The staple food here is bread.

If there’s no white bread made from wheat, he’d have to eat coarse, hard-to-swallow black bread made from rye and oats. Edward Thompson already couldn’t eat his favorite hometown dishes, and if he couldn’t even have fine white bread, he’d starve.

“Opening a trade route is no easy task. Thorns Ridge is too dangerous.”

“Don’t worry about that, I’ll take care of it. The future of Flower Town will not be limited by poverty, and the castle will not remain so shabby, without even a name.” Edward Thompson said solemnly.

Only a grand and magnificent castle deserves a name. A shabby castle like Edward Thompson’s—calling it a castle is already an exaggeration—if it were given a name, the other nobles would laugh themselves to death.

“Are the sprite worms being taken care of?”

“Very well, sir.”

“That’s good.”

After finishing his glass of wine,

Old Carter tactfully took his leave: “Master, please rest early. Good night.”

“Good night to you too, Carter sir.”

After Carter left, Edward Thompson looked at the thick parchment book describing the customs of the Sapphire Duchy for a while. The book was very thick, about the size of a dictionary. But there wasn’t much content; the thick parchment certainly lived up to its name—each sheet was almost as thick as pigskin.

“How was paper invented again?” Edward Thompson recalled. He found that his memory was pretty good, and he could clearly remember the papermaking process he’d seen online. “When I have time, I’ll have to invent paper too… An industrial revolution seems unlikely, but there are still many ways to get rich.”

In a daze, he lost focus again.

Sure enough, the smoke-formed snake script appeared before his eyes once more.

“Task: As the lord, you need to understand everything about your territory. Please patrol Flower Town, learn about the crises facing your land, and prepare for future development. Reward: Dou Qi sublimation.”

Chapter 4: The Knight with Surging Dou Qi

Early the next morning.

Marcus arrived at the castle early, but did not enter. Instead, he waited outside. Looking at the low, dilapidated castle, his heart felt cold. Perhaps he was thinking that his own future was as bleak as this castle.

The castle was built on a slope in the southwest corner of the town.

There were no tall walls, no towering arrow towers, no battlements to stand on, no wide moat, and no massive gate.

It was just a rather large two-story mansion.

The stone walls already showed faint cracks. Several tiles had fallen off the roof over time, and it was uncertain whether it would leak when it rained.

It was said that this shabby little castle had a history of over a hundred years. Before Coral Island became the count’s fief, nobles once lived here, but it later fell into ruin. After the count was granted Coral Island, he had the little castle repaired as a villa for inspecting Flower Town, but he never actually lived here.

Until now, when Baron Edward Thompson moved into the little castle.

And he, once an earth knight of the Coral Island knight order, who had aspired to earn honors on the battlefield, would now become a frequent visitor to this little castle.

Together with Baron Edward Thompson, he would stand guard over Flower Town, which didn’t even have a single stone road.