Evil dragon has a warm heart
Chapter 349 - 349 348 Hoping the Master Rides the Great

Chapter 349: Chapter 348: Hoping the Master Rides the Great Dragon Chapter 349: Chapter 348: Hoping the Master Rides the Great Dragon The midday feast was a joyous occasion at Fluorescent Castle.

In the afternoon, they visited the Blackflame Plains.

The evening banquet featured another grand ball at Fluorescent Castle.

The entire Dragon Riding Festival didn’t have too many special procedures, just a larger scale than a regular banquet.

However, the serfs throughout Glowing Valley were all together in their admiration of Mr. Russell’s dragon riding, because like Mr. Russell, the Fluorescent Fungi Family scattered money to the sixty to seventy thousand serfs of their territory—not much, just two copper coins per person.

But for the serfs, this was equivalent to eating bread for two days for free, so naturally they cheered and leapt for joy for Mr. Russell.

They even wished that every member of the Fluorescent Fungi Family could ride dragons and do so every day.

“Mr. Russell is remarkable, praise the Great Dragon, praise the Fluorescent Fungi Family!”

“The Fluorescent Fungi Family now has two bipedal flying dragons, and no more Snow Ghosts would dare to invade our Glowing Valley!”

“Praise Mr. Roman, praise Mr. Russell!”

“When will Mr. Roland ride a dragon?”

“Princess Anxia has also come to Fluorescent Castle—and it’s true! My aunt’s cousin’s wife’s brother’s sister works as a maid at the castle, and she even caught a glimpse of Princess Anxia when bringing water into the room!”

“Oh, how envious!”

“Who is Princess Anxia? I only know the Roman family. Does Princess Anxia’s family also have a bipedal flying dragon?”

“Mr. Russell has ridden a dragon, blessed by its radiance. I used to be in the same class as Mr. Russell at the Knight Academy, and even then I knew he would ride a dragon. I’m telling you, Mr. Russell has a certain charm, not only captivating people but also captivating the dragons!”

The entire Glowing Valley didn’t just praise because they received money, but during the past few days, all conversations over tea and meals revolved around Mr. Russell riding a dragon.

For the isolated and entertainment-starved manor life, Russell riding a dragon was the biggest news they had ever seen in their lives.

The last biggest news was Baron Roman riding a dragon.

Over at Wuyao Snake Manor, things were even livelier, with all serfs and freemen invited to the small market.

They enjoyed performances by a comedic troupe from the town at the small market and joined the subsequent dance party.

They lit the bonfire.

The serfs sang and danced around the bonfire, loudly praising the Lord for riding the dragon and wishing his house more dragons and elves.

“Ever since the master came to the manor, life has been getting better day by day!” Barton, a serf from Magic Medicine Tun, puffed on his pipe as he watched the young men and women of the manor dancing by the fire, including his daughter Barbara.

Barbara was not pretty and had freckles on her face, but she worked as a maid at Cigar Courtyard!

A kitchen maid is also a maid!

So many single young men wanted to ask Barbara to dance, to be attentive to her, to win her heart.

“Isn’t that right, now we no longer worry about going hungry, and even in winter we can eat sprouts and tofu!” another old serf chimed in, “Praise the master, and may he ride a Great Dragon one day!”

“Under the Great Dragon’s watch, this is truly under the Great Dragon’s watch, I heard the officials say that the master is really being watched by a Great Dragon!” yet another old serf declared earnestly, “I bet the Great Dragon would like to be ridden by the master!”

“Shush, keep your voice down, don’t let the Great Dragon hear you, it might get embarrassed!”

“What’s there to be embarrassed about being ridden by our master? Our master is both handsome and tall, with great talent in cultivation. Even the formidable Baron Marcus was brought down by the master… And now the master has become a Flying Dragon Knight, no one can beat the master!”

In the simple worldview of the serfs.

After mounting a bipedal flying dragon, Russell was practically invincible.

…

At Fluorescent Castle, the ball had been underway for an hour.

Russell did not join the dance, as among the distinguished young ladies who had arrived, he had not found one who could stir his heart, hence he naturally had no interest in dancing.

Initially, Mel was there to keep him company with tea and idle chatter.

But when several young ladies came by to invite him, Mel followed them into the dance floor with a cocky stride, leaving Russell alone to his tea.

He was, after all, of a different generation from the great nobles, so he also had no desire to chat with Earls and Barons.

At that moment, he suddenly saw a familiar figure approaching, it was Baron Marcus’s daughter, Malena, accompanied by a tall young noble.

“Mr. Russell, hello.”

“Malena, hello.”

“This is my fiancé, Mikel,” Malena introduced the young noble with ease.

“Hello, esteemed Lord Russell,” Mikel bowed to Russell, his eyes filled with admiration, as a Flying Dragon Knight who had tamed and ridden dragons, unquestionably was the standard idol for a knight of minor noble birth like himself.

“Hello, Mikel,” Russell said with a slight smile, “Please, take a seat.”

“No, we won’t disturb Mr. Russell any longer,” Malena also smiled, “I just wanted to introduce Mikel to you. He has always wanted to greet you… Mr. Russell, we will head to the dance floor now.”

“All right, go ahead,” Russell nodded.

Watching Malena and Mikel walk away arm in arm, he felt rather contemplative.

There was a time when Lady Meryl, his mother, wanted to introduce Malena to him, even going so far as to show her interest proactively.

But he rejected her.

He thought there would be no further interactions after that, but clearly, the future might still hold some: “Just to greet me, I suspect it’s not that simple… Mikel probably wants to follow me, hence Malena brought him to meet me.”

This was not Russell’s baseless confidence.

Rather, among the guests who had come these past few days, especially the Duchy’s Lords, many had hinted more or less that they wanted their sons or relatives, these young knights, to become Russell’s followers and fight for the Blackflame Plains.

The ultimate goal was definitely to curry favor for a title of nobility.

Whether it was a title conferred by Russell himself or one he recommended to the Duchy, it was a shortcut to advancement.

Certainly much quicker than tirelessly fighting and accumulating pearls to earn a title through their own merits.

In the end, conferring titles was a power game among the nobility, with knights who had connections having far greater hope of gaining titles than those who only knew how to perform arduous feats.

However, at present, Russell’s true knight followers numbered only a few.

Charles had already transitioned to a civil official, Tom, Jack, and James had limited talents, and Katie, being female, had slim chances for ennoblement, leaving only Eric, Grove, and the recently arrived Grontan Bainroot.

Oh.

There was another, Baron Marcus’s son Mask, whom Baron Roman was proposing as a follower to Russell as an apology to Baron Marcus.

So strictly speaking, Russell now had only four followers.

“I’ll need to evaluate and see if these knights who wish to follow me are worth my efforts to cultivate,” Russell silently mused.

Following him would inevitably lead to a broad and smooth path.

Therefore,

He would not lightly give away this opportunity to just anybody, only knights who satisfied him with their character and strength could gain his attention.

“I also need to train my own knights. I’ll have Eric pick out some more prospects to send to the Knight Academy for further training… Right, I’ve got to mention it to Butler Morris, to have him assign Carter to train a group of servants in Fluorescent Castle.”

Knight training is necessary, and so is the training of servants.

“And for the various technicians needed for future development of my land… maybe I should open a technical school in Yuanguang Town?”