But now, the system's species interface shows that a giant dragon requires a full million gold coins!
"A million gold coins is simply an astronomical figure for me!"
Allen was a little speechless, but he felt this was already an extremely low price!
Giant dragons in this world cannot be measured by money at all!
Each of them is priceless!
If others knew that he could buy a giant dragon for a million gold coins, the entire world would go crazy!
"Even an Earl probably doesn't have a million gold coins; only Duke Ryan has that much money, right?"
Allen sighed; buying a giant dragon would likely be impossible in the short term.
Duke Ryan is the master of the entire Duchy, a powerful Dragon Knight, and the most powerful and wealthy person in the entire country.
However, this does not mean that this species function is useless; on the contrary, this function is too useful!
A glint flashed in Allen's eyes; he already had a plan in mind. This species function could completely allow his territory to have a more powerful army!
"Perhaps my army can use powerful magical beasts as mounts, or flying creatures, or sea beasts. This way, I can develop forces on land, sea, and air."
The more Allen thought about it, the more excited he became: "I heard before that some powerful kingdoms have Griffin legions! This is a powerful army that doesn't even exist in the entire Duchy…"
"Leaving aside other things, the Thorn Flower Familyalso has its own warriors. The combat power of the Thorn Flower Knight Order is also good, especially their horses, which are all excellent breeds chosen through careful selection!"
"For a Knight, having an excellent mount is extremely important. Let's not even talk about Griffins for now; I estimate Griffins won't be cheap either. Let's first build an army more powerful than the Earl's Thorn Flower Knight Order!"
Allen set his goal: as a Lord, besides developing crops to ensure the living standards and the basic needs of his subjects, the most important thing was to have strong military power!
Only with strong military power can territory be expanded little by little. It is well known that the fastest way to get rich is not to develop territory, but through war and plunder!
On this continent, what is least lacking is war!
The young dragon Safi could not be exposed for now, but the Natural Spirit Emi could be.
After all, he was the Earl's son, and possessing a Natural Spirit was not enough to attract too much attention, even if it was a wild spirit.
Allen played with the young dragon Safi for a while, then had the butler Edward retrieve some crop seeds he had received from the Earl.
Although Earl Albert was utterly disappointed with Allen, he was still his offspring, and the Viscount still prepared many things for Allen.
Wheat seeds, cotton seeds, pea seeds, and some fruit seeds, various crops were taken out.
Allen had the butler lead the servants to distribute the seeds to the townspeople, telling them to clear some unused land and plant these crops.
"May the gods forever bless the respected, noble Lord! Your generosity, sir, will be unforgettable for this humble servant for life!"
After learning that Allen was going to actively distribute those crop seeds to them for cultivation, all the townspeople were thoroughly grateful to Allen.
Crop seeds were treasures, and their prices were very expensive, especially high-grade crop seeds like wheat and peas, which were even rarer.
Before Allen arrived, Rose Town had no wheat fields at all, only barley fields, and not many of them.
Rough-textured and extremely unpalatable barley was basically the staple food here; in the Earl Territory, it was food given to livestock.
But here, it was the staple food of the townspeople, which showed how barren this place was.
The townspeople were too poor, which led them to not dare to buy and cultivate expensive crops.
After all, the townspeople felt that crops like wheat and peas had long cultivation cycles and were extremely valuable and fragile, with a risk of wilting if not cared for properly.
Compared to barley, the cultivation methods were too complicated.
Of course, the main reason was that they were poor.
Now, Allen's distribution of crops directly solved the most fundamental problem; they only needed to carefully tend to the crops.
It was late spring, not yet summer, and the climate in Rose Town, near the sea, was good, perfect for sowing seeds.
Allen had already surveyed the area; there was still a large amount of land that could be sown, and the labor force was also sufficient!
Of course, Allen would not give away the seeds for free.
These seeds and land were Allen's property; he merely let the townspeople sow the seeds, and after the harvest, sixty percent of it needed to be handed over to Allen.
The townspeople had no objection to this; they even felt that Allen was taking too little, as other Lords often demanded eighty percent.
To this, Allen stated that he temporarily did not need too much grain; enough was sufficient.
"Ding! Congratulations to the host for completing the quest!"
"Received one hundred experience points, new quest issued!"
"Quest: Construction. The dilapidated town has no decent buildings left, and even the roads are incredibly muddy. Please rebuild the town, Host!"
"Quest Reward: One thousand experience points, one Wheat Natural Spirit!"
A new quest immediately appeared in Allen's mind.
Rebuild the town? Another Natural Spirit?!
Allen nodded slightly; this was also something he wanted to do.
"Grandpa Edward, please find some craftsmen and some young townspeople to come over; I have something I want to say."
Allen did not hesitate and immediately spoke to the old butler.
Edward nodded upon hearing this: "As you wish, I will arrange it now."
Allen's previous miracle, coupled with his generous sharing of expensive crops, had completely won the allegiance of the townspeople of Rose Town to Allen.
Now, upon hearing that he needed craftsmen and some young men, many townspeople rushed to come forward.
Finally, after careful selection, Edward brought the town's craftsmen and thirty young men to the outside of Allen's castle.
"Greetings, Lord. It is an honor to serve you."
The townspeople saw Allen outside the castle and immediately knelt on the ground to show their respect.
"Don't be too nervous; I won't eat people."
Allen said in a gentle tone, his gaze distant, looking at the town in the distance.
"I called you here today because I want to discuss the issue of rebuilding the town. As you can see…"
Allen expressed his idea of rebuilding the town, which immediately surprised everyone present.
"Respected Lord, thank you for caring so much about our lives, but building the town requires enough timber, and if we want timber here, we must go to those big mountains to cut it down."
"But Lord, there are some very terrifying wild beasts in these mountains that we cannot approach!"
The only craftsman in the town was a burly man with a rugged face, taut muscles, tall and strong.
Behind him were three young apprentices.
"Oh? Wild beasts?"
Allen raised an eyebrow slightly: "No wonder the houses in the village are so dilapidated and you haven't rebuilt them. So there are wild beasts occupying the mountains."
Allen smiled: "Don't worry, I will send people into the mountains to clear them out once, and then I will also send people to protect you while you fell timber."
"Of course, we also need to quarry stone to pave the roads in the town. This is a very arduous but glorious task, and I will give you sufficient remuneration in the name of the Lord."
After Allen finished speaking, a hint of joy flashed in the eyes of the townspeople.
Being able to work for the Lord was a supreme honor for them, and at the same time, it was for the construction of the town, which made them even happier.
Who doesn't want to live in a good house, who doesn't want to walk on a flat road?
Soon, under Allen's arrangement, Marco led ten warriors towards the nearest mountain range.
They were going to hunt down the wild beasts.
Watching Marco's departing back, a smile flickered in Allen's eyes.
Just before, the system's notification sound rang in his mind.
"Ding! Congratulations to the host, side quest triggered: Hunt down the wild beasts. Rose Town has been constantly harassed by wild beasts, and the townspeople have been suffering immensely. As the Lord, you should deal with these damned hairy beasts!"
"Quest Reward: One thousand experience points!"
Allen didn't expect the system to be able to trigger side quests, which surprised him a little, after all, it was a thousand experience points, enough for him to level up again.
One must know that he had only leveled up once; leveling up again would make him a Level 2 Knight.
And his elder brother, the eldest son of the Thorn Flower Family, Eron, the future Earl, and the current Viscount, was only a Level 3 Knight at the moment, progressing towards Level 4.
One must know that he had the entire Thorn Flower Family as his backing, while Allen had nothing.
At this leveling speed, how long would it take for him to reach the Saint Realm?
Would he establish a kingdom then, just for fun?
Allen thought comfortably.
For the next week, Allen merely had Emi continuously cultivate magic plants, and the rose garden behind the castle was already in full bloom.
Roses with magical power could be exported as the main ingredient for magic potions, or directly combined with other magic plants to concoct magic potions.
Regardless, it would be a big business. If all else failed, he could also use them to cultivate the strength of his subordinates. As for himself, Allen felt he probably wouldn't need magic potions.
After all, magic potions weren't as fast as him gaining experience.
However, in the early stages, Allen did not have enough manpower to train his warriors, and even if he wanted to concoct magic potions, he would need an alchemist.
So, after some thought, Allen decided to first earn money to develop his territory and then slowly assemble a warrior team later.
Therefore, three days ago, he had dispatched the treasurer Sparrow to the Earl Territory to find people willing to buy magic roses.
Counting the time, it should be about right; Sparrowshould be back within these two days.
"Lord, Marco and his men have thoroughly cleared out the surrounding wild beasts. The surrounding forest is enough for us to rebuild the town."
Old Master Edward walked up to the pensive Allen and said respectfully.
Allen's eyes immediately lit up, and at the same time, he received the system notification in his mind.
"Ding, side quest completed!"