The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

Chapter 81: Groom One-Eyed Barton

Translator: 549690339

The Li Dragon Horse is a dragon breed horse, and to develop a Li Dragon Horse herd, the quality of the mares cannot be too poor.

The Fire Dragon Horse is the most suitable mating partner, but as there is only one fire Dragon Horse, any battle-ready horse can be brought in for breeding.

Marcus’s mount, the dun horse, is one such battle-ready breed, though it is a stallion.

The horses of Goltai, Isaiah, and Blair are all capable of battle and, moreover, are mares—mares are usually not easily sent into battle, are more docile, and suitable for the kind of nobility or noble descendants who are not very fond of entering battle.

“I think we will be out of horses to ride very soon,” Goltai looked at his mount, which was being passionately whipped by the Li Dragon Horse, with an indescribable expression on his face.

The most crucial point was that this mare was clearly not in heat, and it was being forcibly mounted by the overpowering Li Dragon Horse.

This was Liszt’s perverse taste; his mount, the Fire Dragon Horse, had already been despoiled by the Li Dragon Horse, so the mounts of others were naturally not spared.

Marcus had a smile on his face.

It was unclear if he was taking pleasure in Goltai’s mount being overpowered or if he was looking forward to a future with herds of horses in Fresh Flower Town.

He simply said, “Even pregnant mares can be ridden, with about 11 months of gestation. They can be ridden for the first seven months, but after that, riding should be reduced. Also, avoid intense, long-distance sprinting, which could increase the risk of miscarriage for the mare.”

Marcus was quite knowledgeable about horses, but he was not the most knowledgeable person about horses in Fresh Flower Town.

The most knowledgeable about horses was One-Eyed Barton, a serf who had drifted from Little Papa Island; he had once transported horses for the Pa Pa Family, traveled to the south, ventured into the north, drunk water behind toilets, and encountered many kinds of horses.

“Lord Landlord, I have never seen a more magnificent horse than the Li Dragon Horse. It must possess extraordinary lineage,” One-Eyed Barton was around forty-five years old, with a bushy beard and one blind eye while the other squinted into a slit.

To test his expertise,

Liszt had him inspect the Li Dragon Horse.

“So, what lineage do you think it has?”

“I’ve seen horses with low-level magical beast lineage, like the Fire Dragon Horse the Lord Landlord often rides, which is of a low-level magical beast lineage. I’ve also seen crossbred horses resulting from the mating of an intermediate magical beast, the Black Nightmare Horse, with ordinary horses, a new breed cultivated in the horse fields of the Blast Furnace Fortress Kingdom.”

As Barton spoke, he shook his head: “But that breed does not possess the spirit and majesty of the Li Dragon Horse… It is taller than the Li Dragon Horse, but it lacks the look and vitality. So I speculate that its mixed lineage must be higher than that of an intermediate magical beast… Perhaps it is from an advanced magical beast, but I cannot be certain.”

His high estimation of the Li Dragon Horse’s lineage was still not close enough, for this was a dragon breed horse.

Liszt, with plans he did not intend to reveal, remained low-key and asked One-Eyed Barton several more questions about horses, to which Barton responded very competently.

So he directly said, “Barton, tell me your surname.”

One-Eyed Barton’s face darkened: “Lord Landlord, Barton was once an orphan without a surname, raised by a horse merchant. Later, Lord Little Papa bought Barton from the Blast Furnace Fortress Kingdom, and I have been trafficking horses for Lord Little Papa ever since.”

“Is that so.” Liszt nodded, “Have you ever been married?”

“No.”

Not being married implied that having a surname was rather irrelevant—had he been married and had descendants, some legacy would be needed, and perhaps at that time, Barton might change his name to Barton the Cyclops?

“In that case, you will no longer need to till the fields. I hire you as the castle’s stableman, specifically responsible for managing the stables and caring for the castle’s horses.”

Barton happily kowtowed: “Barton will take good care of your lordship’s stables!”

A stableman’s role was not simply that of a horse caretaker, but also a servant belonging to the castle, who would not need to worry about food and clothing as long as they did not make any missteps.

In the aristocratic system, servants play a crucial role, bearing the burden of all the work in the castle and maintaining its internal operations.

Essentially,

servants can be divided into five categories: upstairs servants, Retainer Knights, downstairs servants, kitchen servants, and outdoor servants.

Upstairs servants include tutors, family doctors, and companions for the elderly nobles; they generally do not reside in the castle but are allowed to dine with the nobles upstairs.

Retainer Knights involve those retainers who carry out menial tasks on the battlefield and those who accompany in combat, with their own families.

Downstairs servants encompass the butler, male servants, and maids, who are the main workforce of the castle and live downstairs.

Kitchen servants are servants who work in the kitchen.

Beyond that are the outdoor servants; this is a general term because it includes coachmen, foresters, gamekeepers, doorkeepers, gardeners, etc. They usually reside in separate houses outside the castle and do not work in the castle on a daily basis but maintain horses, grow flowers, and hunt for the castle.

If it is a Noble, the servants will be further subdivided.

The hall greeters, meal servers, wine stewards, laundry attendants, chief house officers, personal valets, secretaries, wardrobe attendants, Horse Tamers, Dog Trainers, jesters, harpists, drummers, flutists, and so on—in short, nobles can hire a specific servant for any task they need.

For commoners, becoming a servant is a matter worth mentioning.

In comparison to serfs, servants clearly enjoy a more comfortable life and lighter work. And among nobles, it is common for lesser nobles to serve as servants to the greater ones. For instance, Goltai, a downtrodden Honored Knight, serves as a tutor in the Liszt household.

Even the Earl of Coral Island, a Sky Knight who holds the power of life and death over the island, takes pride in serving as a stable hand for the Sapphire Duke.

The longer Liszt lived in the countryside castle, the more he felt that there was no equality among people.

“First, take good care of the Li Dragon Horse, Barton; it has worked hard lately, and I do not wish to see it collapse one day under some mare,” Liszt said gravely, looking at the tirelessly working Li Dragon Horse.

Barton inspected the horse’s mouth through the gap as it opened its mouth: “This is still a young stallion, a bit of restlessness is normal, and as the weather gets hotter, its rut will gradually subside over time. However, we must regulate the number of times it mates with each mare.”

“The top priority is to ensure the Fire Dragon Horse is impregnated.”

“Understood, Lord,” Barton quickly fell into the role of a horseman, addressing Liszt as Lord.

In order for the Fire Dragon Horse to become pregnant as soon as possible, Liszt had decided against riding the Li Dragon Horse and the Fire Dragon Horse; he switched to a nag and continued practicing archery.

By mid-July, when he could move swiftly on the nag and hit all the targets, never straying too far from the bullseye, Marcus announced that his “Basic Archery” training was complete and he could begin studying “Multi-Arrow”. All in all, it had only taken him a week.

Therefore, he was very confident about learning “Multi-Arrow”, hoping to have it mastered by the time August arrived.

“Lord, your ice cream,” Thomas presented a cup of fragrant ice cream.

Liszt, diligently practicing archery even in the scorching heat, took the ice cream and ate it voraciously. A refreshing chillness spread from his head to his toe, an indescribably delightful sensation. Without the aid of ice cream, cold beer, or chilled juice, he would never practice archery in the sweltering summer heat.

Fortunately, the Miniature Saltpeter Mine mining had concluded, yielding a total of three hundred catties of saltpeter, enough to produce ample daily ice for the castle.

At night, blocks of ice would also be placed in Liszt’s study and bedroom to cool the temperature.

With ice, this summer was not too hard to bear.