22 – The Almost Gelded Blackdragon Horse

Without waiting for Liszt to give the order to search for the dragonhorse, Gort, who was responsible for changing gra.s.s for alfalfa in the dairy farm, had hurriedly rushed to the castle early in the morning.

“Liszt, good news! The newly planted alfalfa has sprouted and is growing quite well. Most importantly, a wild horse was drawn over from somewhere. It had come to eat the alfalfa. It is very majestic. Oh, it is even grander and more majestic than your Fierydragon!”

“Call Teacher Marcus. We are going to the dairy farm to take a look at the wild horse. To eat the alfalfa, it has to sell itself to pay for the food expenses, right?”

“Good point. It is responsible for its own food expenses, ha ha.”

Everything inside a fief belonged to the lord. Without a doubt, the wild horse was Liszt's private property.

A group of people quickly arrived at the dairy farm. Sure enough, they saw a black wild horse leisurely eating the newly germinated alfalfa on the pasture supposedly belonging to the cows. This wild horse was grand, its fur glossy, its physique majestic, its muscles clearly distinguishable.

“Teacher Marcus, you are an expert when it comes to horses. What do you think of this wild horse?”

The wild horse had already discovered Liszt and the others. However, it seemed to be rather bold. Seeing that they did not approach, it lowered its head, and grazed leisurely.

Marcus' eyes flashed, and he said in excitement: “Sir, it is an excellent steed! The bones are fine yet the skeleton is large, the shape of the bulging muscles is quite beautiful, the limbs are quite long, and the tendons are also very long. The neck is long and straight, slanting forward. The back is upright. The fur is unusually glossy, proving that it is healthy. Most importantly, the eyes are sharp!”

“How does it compare to the Blueblood Horses?”

“I am sorry, Sir, but I have never seen a Blueblood Horse. The best horse I have ever seen was Sir Counts' White Leopard, which is said to have the bloodline of the Dry Wood Leopard magic beast. However, this wild horse is far more majestic than White Leopard.”

The horse's forehead was white, which was why it was called ‘White'. (The character, 馰, used for ‘white' is used to describe horses with a white forehead – 馰顙)

White Leopard was the Count of Coral Island's mount. Naturally, Liszt was also familiar with it.

The black wild horse before them was by far more grander than White Leopard. After all, dragons were the most sacred life forms, and dragonhorses had a special status among horses.

“How can I capture it?”

Marcus replied: “As it is just a horse, I could knock it out while unarmed. However, if Sir wants it as a mount, then Sir should subdue it personally. Wild horses only yield to people who can subdue them.”

Liszt did not want to subdue the dragonhorse and take it as his mount, he wanted to turn it into a stallion to breed his own dragonhorses,

However, taming a wild dragonhorse was an interesting affair. Liszt did not let Marcus do it.

He walked towards the wild horse.

As he approached, the wild horse, which was grazing, immediately became vigilant and turned around. It fiercely stared at Liszt, as if warning him not to cross the line.

As Liszt was getting closer, the wild horse had finally become impatient and rushed to bite at Liszt.

With his fine equestrianism, Liszt's body twisted and he instantly mounted the wild horse. Being ridden by a human, the wild horse felt greatly humiliated. It madly shook and jumped about in an attempt to throw Liszt down. However, Liszt, who had hooked his arms around its neck, remained unmovable as he erupted with his qi.

Earth Knights could go toe-to-toe with genuine magic beasts, let alone a horse.

Half an hour later, the tossing wild horse got tired and finally stopped. As it gasped for air, it allowed Liszt to ride it, directing it left and right.

Wiping the sweat off his forehead, Liszt laughed: “This big fellow is rather stubborn. Its fur is purely black, without any blemishes. I will just call you Blackdragon.”

The horse was purely black, which was why he had called it ‘black'. (The character, 驪, used for ‘black' is used to describe black horses)

The dragonhorse with a meager dragon bloodline was appropriately named Blackdragon.

“Karl, get me a wheat bran cookie.” Liszt dismounted the horse. Although taming the wild horse was not too difficult, but he still got very tired. He was sweating all over.

At this moment, Fierydragon had so happened to come over. It was a young mare.

While rubbing against Liszt's shoulder, it looked at the tall Blackdragon with widened eyes. However, Blackdragon did not look Fierydragon in the eyes. It still held its head high, not going to fawn on Liszt. It still preserved a trace of unruliness.

Even though Liszt had taken out a wheat bran cookie to feed it, but it still did not show any intimacy.

“Sir, Blackdragon is an adult horse. If it is to be kept as a war-horse, then it would be better to geld it so as to avoid weight loss because of estrous.” Said Marcus.

“Geld it?” Liszt waved his hand, “That will not do. I have decided to use it as a stallion in Flower Town. It would be a huge loss if such an extraordinary steed could not have offsprings.”

“To use it as a stallion?” Marcus nodded in approval.

Even though he did not know that Blackdragon was a dragonhorse, but he still could see that it was extraordinary. To geld it would indeed be a pity.

Without showing the slightest intention of escaping its calamity, Blackdragon ate the wheat bran cookie. It had already regained its previous feeling of contentment.

Occasionally, it would nibble the alfalfa on the ground.

Gort wanted to step forward to stroke it, but was scared back by a snort of Blackdragon's. He had no choice but to change the subject: “Where did Blackdragon come from? Was it from Thorns Ridge?”

“Perhaps there are other Blackdragon Horses… There are wild horses on the island. Come to think of it, it really is strange.” Marcus conjectured.

Horses generally lived in gra.s.slands.

Coral Island did not have enough gra.s.sland to sustain wild horses; the natural breeding of wild horses was not very realistic.

“Maybe it had wandered over from another place, or it was a horse raised by the island's residents that had turned wild. In short, it could not have come out of nowhere. Besides, Liszt, I think that there might be other Blackdragon Horses coming over from Thorns Ridge. By that time, there might be a Blackdragon Horse herd.”

“That would be great.”

Liszt had also his doubts.

He did not know whether Blackdragon had lived on this land or it had been created by some kind of being behind the smoke missions. He preferred it to have lived on this land instead of being just created, with the smoke mission being merely a kind of trigger mechanism.

As for the mystery behind the smoke missions, it temporarily could not be unraveled.

It could only be postponed and be slowly answered some time in the future.

He looked at the beautiful meadow formed from the tender alfalfa before suddenly thinking about the uncultivated land outside the castle: “Teacher Gort, say, how about we plant alfalfa on the uncultivated land surrounding the castle? By then, we could establish a horse field outside the castle and raise a Blackdragon Horse herd.”

“Oh, it should be feasible. We might as well try it.”

“Then, I will let you take care of it, Teacher Gort.”

……

Liszt rode Blackdragon back to the castle.

Gort and Marcus were also intending to go back. On the way, Gort suddenly asked: “Marcus, you now address Liszt by sir?”

“I do.”

“To make up your mind so quickly, it is unlike the usual you.”

“I do not have many choices, Mr. Gort.” Marcus looked into the distance, at the radiant little castle bathed in the suns.h.i.+ne, “Besides, do you not often say that he has the demeanor of Sir Count? I do not believe that he would seclude himself in Flower Town, this desolate place, forever.”

“Perhaps.” Gort could not dispute it.