Experiments have proven that the defense of the Dragon Scale Armor is truly excellent.

To put it simply, it's a layer of dragon scales strung together with iron wire on the resilient leather of the Earth Dragon's belly.

Weighing only ten kilograms, its defense is at least three times stronger than Plate Armor. Even if the scales become loose or lifted, the dragon leather underneath still provides decent defense.

Losa used all his strength and wielded the very sharp Shining Cross Sword, only leaving a white mark on the scales.

It's probably gone through some kind of quenching process; the defense of the individual scales not only didn't weaken with the Earth Dragon's death but even surpassed its strength when alive.

"It's my turn!"

Jeanne took out the Holy Spear, eager to try.

Losa instinctively stepped back two steps: "To test the new armor, must it be damaged to determine its limit?"

"The perforation and installation of these scales, because of the hardness and resilience of the material, are time-consuming and labor-intensive processes."

He explained earnestly: "Jeanne, you must respect Marles's labor results."

"Are you scared?"

Jeanne asked in surprise.

Losa snorted lightly: "With my 'Cast Iron Body' and Prajna's talent 'Solid Stone', how could I fear you accidentally injuring me?"

Jeanne thought for a moment and felt he made sense.

…

The goods seized from the Rahman residence, counting only gold and silverware, and porcelain antiques, could at least be exchanged for three thousand Suludes. The landed estates and other real estate were even more countless.

This money had just fallen into Losa's hands, and he must be prepared to spend a portion of it.

The venue for the banquet, the Knight's Jousting Arena, and the hunting ground all need to start preparations in full swing. Although it's fine to be a bit simpler, this is, after all, her first banquet since taking office, and not being lavish seems untenable.

Why build a hunting ground?

The reason is simple, noble lords cannot possibly smear animal excrement and urine on themselves and climb mountains and trees to capture prey like hired hunters, can they?

They must sit with a wine glass on a cushioned chair.

Waiting for servants or knights under their command to gather the beasts together, then leisurely lifting a riding spear or a riding bow to hunt the game.

There must also be minstrels and fine wines and delicacies to entertain during the feast.

The Song of Winter and Summer describes this in detail—come to think of it, should I continue to release Song of Winter and Summer and the subsequent parts of the Demon Hunter series?

Losa pondered for a moment.

He felt this matter could no longer be delayed. Although he doesn't rely on selling books to earn money, releasing new books also gives a more justified reason to prepare for the creation of new card decks for sale.

He felt the demon-type card deck had too negative an impact, and although it had been significantly refined, it was still best not to release it for now.

The remaining coins, some went into Losa's private stash, and another part was directly handed to Mueller, preparing to let his shipyard help himself build a coastal defense fleet.

As for the farmer soldiers, Losa was determined to restructure them into a standing army, and their lands could be given to tenant farmers to till.

Because currently, he indeed lacks military power, and the defensive strength of the Alandler Bishopric is seriously inadequate. This might be improved when part of the Redemption Order under Urding moves over.

But for now, the farmer soldiers can foresee that it will be a long time before they can lay down their weapons and return to farming. So it's better to finalize this decision now.

Although this would place severe financial pressure on Losa, if things really get tough, doesn't he have the loyal Imperial Knight Mueller to back him up?

This big businessman, limited by vision, strength, and guts, has accumulated wealth over the years, and it could only surpass that of someone like Rahman, who amassed wealth by exploiting the oppressed peasants and farm estates.

...

Returning to the mansion in the city.

Losa walked into the inner house and heard bursts of laughter from a room inside, so he peeked in and saw Furinjira was still chatting away with the Witch Anna.

"My lord, you're here."

Furin called to Losa to come in after hearing the movement: "Miss Anna has agreed to send you a Meditation Method, asking when you'd like it. She'll send someone from the association to deliver it."

Losa approached and said, "I really must thank you, Miss Anna."

From the emblem, Anna's slightly teasing laughter came through: "It's nothing, but I advise you not to have high expectations. Warlocks in the field of meditation generally have less talent than witches, and you, being a Secular Lord, have limited time to allocate for meditation daily, making significant improvement challenging."

"It doesn't matter, I'm just trying it out."

The Meditation Method from Furinjira he also tried, and indeed, the effect was very average—in fact, he couldn't feel any effect at all.

With that time, he felt that he'd be better off training in the jousting arena. At the very least, when he first crossed over, training brought attribute enhancements.

However, as his attributes gradually increased, conventional training now provides very limited improvements for him.

"Oh, right, Miss Anna, I've now opened up the Red Sea's seaway, and pirates, heretics, are rampant here. Why don't you give me your Greek Fire formula?"

On the other end of the emblem, the Witch Anna in the Constantinople Imperial Palace couldn't help but show a tooth-itching expression.

This Losa, he's simply shameless!

"If you're sick, get treated; don't say crazy things here."

Losa, although he expected this result, still tried to say: "What do you need? I can make a trade with you. Anyway, I only have one ship under my command right now, and there aren't even any sailors. Borrowing Greek Fire would just be for dealing with pirates."

"Don't even think about it, it's a secret of our Empire people!"

Anna then said: "If you're truly worried about pirates, why not let me take my juvenile Sea Dragon to patrol your domain? Don't underestimate its size; sinking a few pirate ships is not much of an issue."

"I can't afford your appearance fee."

Losa chatted with Anna for a bit more before leaving the room. The Greek Fire was merely spoken of in passing, as it was the Eastern Empire Navy's most prized secret formula.

Even if it could be exchanged, the cost would probably be enough for Losa to elite-ify Captain Hog and summon his Norwegian Sea Monster.

Speaking of which, could the Norwegian Sea Monster be a match for an adult Sea Dragon?

"I also wonder if Captain Hog's Norwegian Sea Monster could still reproduce. According to this world's legends, there are also plenty of Norwegian Giants residing in Northern Europe."

Losa touched the stubble on his chin and thought that it was unlikely.

Because of the curse, both Captain Hog and the Norwegian Giant had become undead. This indeed granted them the powerful traits of the undying, but they also lost many things.

For example, Captain Hog never needed to eat or drink—because he had lost his sense of taste.

Walking into the next room.

Prajna was bent over the desk, writing something seriously.

Upon hearing the noise, she asked without looking back: "Where did you go?"

"Went out for a bit and tested the new armor sent by Marles."

Losa walked up behind her, his eyes sweeping over the black hair strands, glimpsing the fair shoulders, and following the collarbone, seeing a deep groove.

"Looks nice?"

"Nice."

Losa replied instinctively.

Caught by Prajna's calm eyes, he felt a bit guilty: "How is the preparation for the new book going? I mean Song of Winter and Summer and Demon Hunter, not the one you're writing."

Prajna was meticulous to the point of being rigorous with her original novel, scrutinizing every word and sentence, rewriting the manuscript over and over again.

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