Chapter 56 Let Lord Lance Return to Enjoy the Good Life
Lance....Earl?
Lance thought he had read it wrong, so he recited it word by word in his heart a few times and confirmed it, he didn't read it wrong—somehow, without doing anything, he had inexplicably become an earl in a human kingdom.
Oh, and he might have also gained the notorious reputation of being a traitor. It's like a dragon getting hit by a pot while just sitting at home. He never dreamed that someone as pure and honest as him would one day be labeled with such infamy.
The key point was, he hadn't issued any commands to the viscounts.
He had left the Red Maple Kingdom five or six years ago. Normally, having been away for so long, his noble title might have been annulled by some more influential nobles of the kingdom.
He was prepared for that possibility, but as it turned out, in all this time, not only had his noble title not been revoked by those minor nobles of the Human World, but it had also been upgraded to that of an earl…
This was somewhat preposterous.
His fief wasn't large, with six villages and a poor small town, barely mustering a population close to three thousand.
Six knights, more than two hundred soldiers, weapons not particularly refined, shields with gaps, no armor, and leather armors tattered and torn…
How did such armed forces blend into McDonna's grand duke's troops?
He remembered now; this was the state of his fief when he first became a viscount. Later, after his management, the condition of the fief did indeed improve a bit.
At the very least, the humans in the six villages were no longer skinny and starved, struggling between fullness and hunger. They began to eat their fill more regularly. With his dragon dung fertilizing the lands, the crops grew better and better.
He remembered when he left... there seemed to be dung thieves in the fief…
As a viscount, he had only one requirement for himself, which was to ensure that the humans in the fief could eat their fill. As for developing the economy, building roads, constructing an iron smeltery, and so on… he hadn't done any of that.
He wasn't striving for dominance, nor did he plan to be a viscount for life. Doing just this much was already good enough.
One could say that during his time as a viscount, he was a hands-off leader; his greatest contribution was making sure everyone in the fief was well-fed.
He was ready to relinquish his status as a viscount, yet, somehow... he had inexplicably become an earl, while also being labeled a traitorous villain... Oh, no... rather, a kingdom hero who helped the "New King" overthrow the "Old King."
"Lan Lan... Lance... are you still a viscount in the Human World? No, now an earl... are you still a dragon with a noble title?"
So absurd. Even though everyone knew evil dragons could take human form and often operated in the Human World, who could have imagined that an Evil Dragon would actually become a viscount of a human kingdom?
Reading those words in the sky, the Evil Dragon was still a viscount with a fief, not just an "Honorary Viscount" with a titular nobility.
No money to maintain followers...
Got money for an army?
"I'd almost forgotten that I'm still a viscount of a kingdom in the Human World."
"Do you have money to maintain an army?"
"No."
"Then, are the soldiers of your fief willing to be loyal to you?"
"They don't need to be loyal to me, they just need to follow my orders."
"They rebelled... was that your intention?"
"It was their own doing; I haven't paid attention to this domain for five or six years."
"....."
Damn it, why couldn't she encounter such a group of elite troops?
If one day, they suddenly contact her from the imperial capital, telling her... that her stinky older sister has been controlled by them and that she has become the Emperor of Farolan...
That would be so great.
Explore new worlds at empire
"You... aren't you going to go back and check things out?"
Now that he was an earl, the Evil Dragon should be interested in visiting the Human World to see what's going on, right?
If he goes to the Human World, regardless of whether he acts coy or playful, he should take her with him.
Even if she can't return to the imperial capital, being in the Human World and seeing people would be fine.
While staying here is also okay... if the Evil Dragon makes her stay for a few years, or even a decade or more... that would drive her insane…
Going to the Human World for fun, then coming back to live on Black Dragon Island for a while—she could accept that.
But if she has to stay on the island for numerous years, a decade or more... as time goes by... she might even forget her identity as a princess of the empire...
"No rush, I'll ask around about it later."
Lance focused on making his grilled octopus. Cooking deserved serious attention; it was a basic show of respect for the food.
Not wasting food was also a way to respect it.
Grilled octopus, octopus balls, roasted beast leg, and hotpot with vegetable soup.
Paired with white wine, perfect.
After cooking the remaining food, Lance took off his apron and set it aside, picked up a skewer of grilled octopus and took a bite. Hmm... not bad in taste...
The taste wasn't as good as the severed tentacle of the squid mom.
Different grades of ingredients, different tastes in the dishes they make to some extent.
Er Gouzi was munching on the grilled octopus in his dog bowl, one skewer for each of his two heads.
Evil Dragon Lance never shortchanged it when it came to eating.
If only he stopped using it as bait from now on, that would be even better.
Turtle ate her vegetables and fruits, and when she got a craving, occasionally she would let the Young Dragon feed her a piece of meat.
She drank the fruit wine bottle by bottle, downing three before the Evil Dragon wouldn't let her drink any more...
He had said that drinking too much isn't good for one's health.
The stingy Evil Dragon was probably just worried she'd finish all his fruit wine.
When it came to testing medicines on her, Lance the Evil Dragon never mentioned that drinking medicine recklessly was harmful to her health.
The Young Dragon, with one Dragon Claw holding a skewer of grilled octopus and the other holding a roasted beast leg, was munching on octopus meatballs.
Er Gouzi was eating so fast with his two heads that she had to do this or worry the Evil Dragon might miss out on the roasted meat.
The roast beast leg was prepared for the Evil Dragon.
She wanted to try some of the hot pot vegetable soup that the Evil Dragon was making later; it looked really tasty.
Especially when the Evil Dragon put that seasoning base into the pot, that aroma... it made her drool...
Back in the imperial capital, she'd never drooled over delicious food.
Lucia wondered if the drooling was because her mouth had gotten bigger...
The mouth of a Young Dragon... way larger than a human's mouth...
Squatting on the beach, Lance felt... ever since the Young Dragon arrived, the island seemed to have become more lively.
After finishing his grilled octopus and taking a sip of white wine, the Jade Seal flew out from one of Lance's Dragon horns, hovering in mid-air.
Lance turned his confusion into symbols and sent them to the Human World, over to the Red Maple Kingdom.
The Young Dragon noticed the Jade Seal and started paying close attention quietly.
It was just that she was somewhat puzzled by the message sent by the Evil Dragon.
The message sent by the Evil Dragon was: ???
Three question marks?
Could the people over in the Human World understand them?
......
In the Human World, Red Maple Kingdom, Pharaoh Province, Saint Blue City, at the Earl's Mansion.
"Message back! Message back! Captain Tixia, the Viscount... no, I mean... the Earl has messaged back! The Earl has messaged back! After five and a half years! The Earl has finally sent a message back!!!"
The excited shouting echoed in the hall of the mansion, as a plump maid carefully carried a square Amethyst Stone down from the second floor to the hall.
In the hall, a woman dressed in blue and gold knight's armor looked surprised. A message returned? The Viscount, who had been gone for five and a half years, sent a message back?
"Give me that."
Tixia took the projection stone from the maid's hands and saw the Viscount had sent back three question marks.
She couldn't help but laugh.
The Viscount must be bewildered right now, having done nothing and becoming an Earl out of the blue.
And even getting involved in a civil war within the kingdom, becoming what some citizens think of as a treacherous subject...
"Captain Tixia, the Earl..."
"Let's continue to refer to our Viscount like before."
"Ohh, Captain Tixia, could you please tell the Viscount to come back. After five and a half years... our Viscount has been ceaselessly working hard to find Dragon dung for us... letting us escape poverty and hunger thanks to batch after batch of precious Dragon dung, and even developing our fief...
It's time for Lord Lance to come back and enjoy the rewards, it's our turn to repay the Viscount."
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