"I could hear Lorey bullying Tess outside the door," said a serious and steady voice, followed by a middling-looking middle-aged nobleman stepping into the room.
His flaxen hair was slightly curly, and his features unremarkable.
Yet, his upright figure, dressed in an appropriate home tailcoat, had a certain attractive gentlemanly charm.
This was the master of the entire Fluorescent Castle, the third-generation Baron Youguang, Roman Youguangxun.
"Chirp, chirp, chirp!" The mushroom bird Lorey immediately flew off Meryl's shoulder and landed on Baron Roman's, casting a disdainful glance at Tess before tilting its head to preen its glossy green feathers.
Tess stood on Meryl's shoulder, still with one hand on her hip and the other pointing at Lorey, squawking away.
"Quiet down, little ones!" the Baron scolded.
"They are so rowdy, Roman, you really should separate them," Meryl said with a chuckle.
The personal servant following the Baron quickly pulled out a chair from the dining table, and the Baron sat down, saying, "No use, they always find each other and start quarreling... It's simply that there are too few little sprites in the castle."
Carter, the butler, bowed and asked, "My lord, my lady, may we start serving the meal?"
Baron Roman nodded, "Please, Carter."
Lola covered her mouth and said, "Father, you could put Lorey and Tess in my room, I won't mind their noise."
Meryl smiled and stroked Lola's hair, "My Lola, children can't keep sprites."
"Why?" Lola didn't understand.
"Because you haven't cultivated Battle Qi yet," Baron Roman said, "Only with Battle Qi can you provide the potential for sprites and endow the force that allows the Magic Potion to grow."
"Can Russel keep sprites?" Lola asked again.
Only then did Baron Roman glance at his second son, not answering Lola's naive question, but instead asking Russel, "A Youguangxun Mushroom Bug, a Rainflower Spirit Insect, and a Parsley Spirit Insect, no problem, right?"
Russel, not daring to hope for more, nodded, "No problem."
A single Spirit Insect could influence Magic Potion over an area of about 10 hectares, which is equivalent to 150 acres.
Together, three Spirit Insects could cultivate Magic Potion for 450 acres of land, enough to sustain him and his retinue of knights in the future at Wuyao Snake Manor.
"Wuyao Snake Manor is well situated, though occasionally Snow Ghosts and Ghost Beasts cross the line, Echo Water River Cavern will block them for you, preventing any large-scale conflicts."
"I understand."
"More than the Snow Ghosts and the Ghost Beasts, you need to be wary of the Cavern Freemen. As a noble lord with fiefs, you must screen them strictly. Never let these Freemen disrupt the order of your land for the sake of population."
"Got it."
The Baron briefly shared some advice about the work a lord should do, all based on personal experience and insight.
Meryl listened to the conversation between father and son with a smile while dining.
She had borne two sons, the eldest, Roland, inheriting Baron Roman's talents for cultivation, already a Great Knight at a young age; the younger, Russel, though less gifted, had inherited the beauty of the Rainflower Family, and was her pride as well.
The servants brought dish after dish to the table.
In fact, the meals in the castle weren't that diverse, only five or six dishes for dinner, but because of the separate plate system, each person would have five or six plates in front of them, requiring many servants to attend to the meal.
Russel was distractedly multitasking.
Filling his stomach was his primary concern, but of course, heeding the Baron's guidance was equally important—it concerned his future.
Baron Roman was not just his father, but also his lord.
"Roland will soon retire from the Dragon Blood Knights, and Shadowflame Castle hopes our family can send another heir to serve in the Dragon Blood Knights," Baron Roman suddenly remarked about another matter, "Russel, would you like to go?"
"Serve in the Dragon Blood Knights?" Russel frowned.
But quickly, he relaxed his brow and calmly responded, "I do not plan to serve in the Dragon Blood Knights."
Baron Roman wasn't surprised, simply asking, "Give me a reason."
A reason?
Russel had a sound reason; the Dragon Blood Knights were the most elite of the Shadowflame Grand Duchy's regiments, but also the most dangerous, fighting against real Snow Demons.
As a person who favoured peace, he didn't want to go!
But he couldn't very well say that; in the world of noble honor, avoiding battle was a great disgrace.
So he found another reason, "My brother is with the Dragon Blood Knights, able to be close to the monarch, but with the monarch now crowned, my going to the Dragon Blood Knights has lost its significance. Better to cultivate Battle Qi in my own land and strive to train a knight regiment early, to follow in your footsteps, father, and establish great achievements."
Meryl didn't want her son to be too far from home.
So she agreed, saying, "Yes, the Duke has already ascended to the throne, and Roland has already established a good relationship with him, so there's no need for Russell to go there anymore."
The Duke of Shadowflame is the monarch of the entire country, as well as Baron Youguang's lord.
As the heir to Baron Youguang, it was natural to curry favor with this young monarch and establish a good personal relationship.
Roland had done well.
Therefore, Mr. Luo Man did not insist and nodded in agreement, accepting the statement from his second son Russell.
"Then, starting tomorrow, recruit retainers and servants for managing Wuyao Snake Manor," declared the Baron, turning his head to look at the old butler Carter attending to the dinner service. "Carter, I'll leave the hiring of the servants to you."
Butler Carter bowed slightly: "As you wish, sir. I will hire a group of excellent servants for Mr. Russell's staff."
Hearing this, Russell smiled and said, "Thank you, Mr. Carter."
Butler Carter responded, "It's my duty, Mr. Russell."
After a delicious, yet not quite satisfactory dinner, Russell bade his parents goodnight and returned to his room.
His room was on the third floor of the castle.
Facing northwest, the window was not particularly large.
The view was obstructed by the castle's outer walls, allowing only a view of the inner lawn and the playground of the fantasy beasts.
By now it was night, and the fantasy beasts were resting.
"Mr. Ross must have turned in for the night as well," Russell thought, realizing that from his room, he couldn't see the tower where Ros the Clay Dragon liked to squat.
His former self was quite dissatisfied with this, feeling it hindered his chances of getting closer to Mr. Ross.
Riding dragons!
That was every boy's dream.
But the present Russell felt it was for the best, to avoid being an eyesore under Mr. Ross's watchful eye and giving away his identity as a traveler from another world.
"Dragons? I've got one too!"
With no nightlife to speak of, and after bathing and washing up, Russell lay down early and soon fell asleep.
In a hazy unknown amount of time, his consciousness arrived in a desolate, dim environment, where he could see the silhouette of a castle, drawn as if with the dimmest of inks. There were no thick walls, no large stones, just sketch-like lines.
Darkness was the prevailing theme, and silence was unaccompanied by anything else.
"Fluorescent Castle, this is the Fluorescent Castle in my dreams..." Russell had long since grown accustomed to this unique dreamscape.
His personal golden finger.
"Ga!"
Accompanied by a crisp cry, a small creature with a bright golden glow slowly flew from the corners formed by the lines of the castle.
It resembled a dragon, but was amusingly cartoonish.
With a head as large as a bull's, it had horns, scales, vertical pupils, and sharp little teeth, perfectly fitting the characteristics of a dragon.
Its nostrils opened and closed, emitting a faint smoke, like dragon breath, but this dragon breath was even thinner than secondhand smoke, completely harmless.
The most ridiculous part was its body, which was nearly as large as the head.
Disproportionate torso, disproportionate wings, disproportionate limbs, and a disproportionate little tail.
"Four limbs, that's a feature of great dragons. Little Dream Dragon, tell me, are you a great dragon?" Russell asked with a smile.
The Little Dream Dragon hovered in front of him, wings flapping, its body swaying up and down.
It cocked its head, seemingly puzzled by Russell's question.
Russell had asked similar questions many times before, and since the Little Dream Dragon in his dreams was a bit of a simpleton, he didn't bother to speak further.
With a leap, he mounted the back of the Little Dream Dragon.
Hmm!
In this dream, he too was just a cartoon character.