Evil dragon has a warm heart

Chapter 95: Chapter 94 Charles’s Meritorious Service

Chapter 95 -94 Charles’s Meritorious Service

The drizzle could not stop the serfs from working; near the manor’s outbuilding, Rib Jimmy, the fisherman, dove into the small pond and groped underwater.

Moments later, he knocked on the manor’s outbuilding door with a dejected face.

Russell welcomed him in the living room, “What’s the matter?”

“Sir, I have an unfortunate piece of news to report. The clams we’re raising in the pond are dying one after another,” Rib Jimmy said despondently. “I noticed some clams had died during the days you were fighting in the Snowfield.”

Then today, when he went to check the pond again, he found more dead clams: “Their wounds have festered, leading to their deaths… Just a small incision on the membrane, how could it lead to a festering wound, Sir?”

“Festering wounds?” Russell frowned.

Rib Jimmy then showed him some dead clams. When opening their shells, it was indeed clear to see the mantle, where the grains of sand were lodged, had rotted away significantly.

The festering wounds gave off a putrid smell.

Holding his nose, Russell carefully examined the rotting clams, somewhat at a loss: “I remember clearly, if sand or something similar gets inside a clam, and it can’t expel it, the clam secretes nacre to wrap around the grain of sand…

In time, a small pearl would form around the grain of sand as a nucleus.

He had never expected that these clams would die from infections in their wounds.

The grand pearl plan had seemingly failed before it even begun.

But Russell was not one to easily give up, his brow furrowed. “Rib Jimmy, throw these clams away and clean out all the dead ones from the pond. Also, go and catch two alive ones right now; I want to take a look at the situation.”

“Right away, Sir.” The deflated Rib Jimmy no longer had his earlier enthusiasm.

Nevertheless, he quickly leapt into the pond and fished up a few living clams for Russell; these clams were all on the smaller side.

Russell didn’t wait for the clams to open their shells naturally; he had Rib Jimmy forcefully pry them open.

Then.

He saw that the wounds where the sand grains had been inserted had healed, but there seemed to be no secretion of nacre. The grains were just embedded in the flesh, showing no sign of developing into pearls.

Of course, this could be due to the lack of time. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

But regardless, the fact that these clams hadn’t died and their wounds had healed meant that pearl cultivation could be possible.

“Perhaps the larger clams grow too slowly to heal their wounds,” Russell concluded. “Rib Jimmy, later bring some people to catch a batch of smaller clams and repeat the previous steps, implanting grains of sand in them.”

“As you wish, Sir!” Rib Jimmy, upon hearing there was still hope for the project, immediately became as excited as if he had been injected with adrenaline.

He cherished his job as a fisherman.

By the evening, Charles, holding an oil-paper umbrella, came over to report the estate’s affairs to Russell and, incidentally, scrounge a meal.

“The mill is being tested, Sir, and in a few days it will be ready to start operating. Then our serfs will be able to grind flour nearby, and the outbuilding will gain another source of income,” Charles reported the good news first.

He then prattled on to introduce other matters.

The earthenware jugs and wooden barrels ordered from Fluorescent Castle have been placed on order; the land for the compost heaps and the cesspit has been preliminarily leveled; officials’ lodgings for the small market are also being planned… All in all, there is always a pile of miscellaneous affairs on the estate.

“Very good, you’re managing it well,” Russell told Charles as he invited him to stay for dinner.

As they dined and chatted leisurely, the conversation soon turned to the clams that had perished in the pond, and, still, Russell’s anticipation for the grand pearl cultivation plan was high.

“Sir, do you really think that clams can be artificially cultivated to produce pearls? It feels somewhat incredible…” Unconsciously, Charles, when addressing Russell, had ceased to use “you,” and had started to employ the more respectful “Sir.”

He muttered under his breath, glancing out the window as if to hide something, and said softly, “If you succeed, this would be akin to the tactics of a Bipedal Flying Dragon… Even if the dragons of the Grand Duchy are generous, they surely wouldn’t look this way, right?”

In the strictest sense, this was indeed tantamount to encroaching on the prerogatives of the Great Dragons.

After all, every wondrous creation within the Shadowflame Grand Duchy existed because of the Shadowflame Dragon, whether found or gifted, all originated from the power of the Shadowflame Dragon.

Russell cultivating pearls on his own seemed unrelated to the Shadowflame Dragon, yet in reality, he was still taking advantage of the Shadowflame Dragon’s power.

“But, cultivating pearls, no matter how you look at it, can’t compare with the yield of a mine. I believe the Shadowflame Dragon wouldn’t be so petty,” Russell said, and then he shook his head, “Moreover, it may not be successful; it seems that simply planting sand grains does not provoke a reaction from the clams.”

“Pearls are creatures of Magic Power, certainly not so easily yielded. Sir, expecting ordinary sand to transform into pearls seems too difficult,” Charles said, taking a bite of bacon and speaking casually, “Perhaps you could try something a bit more valuable, like gemstone fragments?”

“Eh!”

Russell suddenly exclaimed in surprise, “Charles, what you’ve said seems to make a lot of sense… Ordinary sand is too common!”

On Earth, in the cultivation of pearls, the pearl itself is just an ordinary thing.

But the pearls he now sought to cultivate were creations of Magic Power, and if ordinary sand could be used to grow pearls, it really would be against the natural order.

However, if one were to use an inducer of the same Magic Power, then it seemed barely plausible.

“I merely mentioned it offhandedly, Sir, and I can’t guarantee its success,” Charles shrugged his shoulders, not optimistic about the success of pearl cultivation.

But Russell replied with a smile, “It’s for the dragons of the Grand Duchy to judge whether it’s a success or not. However, if this method really works, I’ll give you credit for the idea!”

“Ah,” Charles expressed his delight, “Sir, you are certain to succeed!”

After Charles had left, when night came, Russell was still pondering the issue of pearl cultivation. One problem was the mortality rate of the clams, and another was the choice of nucleus for the pearls.

If mortality was high, they could only slowly improve the process and select clams with higher tolerance and stronger recovery abilities.

As for the pearl nucleus.

Russell, too, would have to experiment gradually, “Gemstone fragments are an option, and perhaps clay particles might work as well?”

When it came to creations of Magic Power, Glowing Valley didn’t have much, save for an abundance of clay mineral resources.

Moreover, compared to the hard gemstone fragments, clay particles were softer and more conducive to absorption, perhaps more suitable as a nucleus for pearls.

“Let’s try them all, no need to rush the production of pearls; first get the most suitable pearl cultivation technique sorted out,” Russell wrote and sketched on paper, organizing his thoughts, “Not only gemstone fragments and clay particles but others like metals, magic materials, fantasy beast bone residues…”

As he continued writing.

He suddenly thought of something else, “The clam that produced the Magic Power pearl the other day, though I ate its flesh, I still kept the shell. Maybe I could crush it and use the clamshell as the pearl nucleus? Being part of the same clam, it should be more readily accepted, right?”

With this thought, he recorded the clamshell as another potential material for the pearl nucleus and decided to arrange for someone to collect all the materials the next day.

Then he would let Rib Jimmy arrange for experiments with the clams.

Stretching and yawning, Russell felt satisfied, “That settles it… The approach is sound; if it doesn’t succeed, then it can only be chalked up to the unfathomable nature of supernatural powers.”