Lord of Rot

”Every time I pick up this map, I can’t help but praise the Lord.”

Gelan held a bird’s-eye view map of Porcupine Territory.

The artwork was a bit crude, but the map was incredibly detailed. It was as if you were actually flying in the sky, looking down on Porcupine Territory.

”Lucky dog” Joe stood to the side, nodding in agreement. ”You’re right. He’s the most benevolent and knowledgeable noble I’ve ever met, just like a learned scholar.”

But Gelan smiled and shook his head. ”The wisdom it takes to manage a barren land like Porcupine Territory far surpasses that of any scholar.”

As the weather grew colder, the slaves were finally about to finish building their houses.

Ugly as they were, the houses—a mixture of wood, mud, and stone—could at least provide shelter from the elements.

”Hmm, the Lord had me send men to scout the dense forest of Pig Spine Valley. They should be back soon,” Gelan muttered to himself.

For some reason, the Lord seemed wary of something in Pig Spine Valley, yet he was also extremely interested in it.

”You have an enviable amount of work,” Joe said. ”All I do every day is help you out a little and eat. I feel useless.”

Gelan shook his head. ”No, you’re a merchant’s son, Joe! You can do far more for the Lord than I can. He needs the caravans to turn a profit.”

”But not now,” Joe said.

”That’s right, not now,” Gelan nodded.

Porcupine Territory had to be rebuilt from the ground up, and they simply didn’t have the manpower to run caravans. Besides, they had no goods to sell. They would have to wait. However, watching Porcupine Territory change day by day, both of them felt that its escape from poverty was near at hand.

「Training Ground.」

Roadblocks were set up on the path ahead, and in the distance stood several strawmen with paper targets attached.

Leech was mounted on his Fiery-Mane, holding the reins in his left hand. ”Hya!”

The Fiery-Mane broke into a gallop, quickly reaching the roadblock.

Without any visible cue from Leech, the horse reared up, and Leech rose in unison with it. Together, man and horse vaulted over the roadblock.

At the same time, he snatched a javelin from his back.

He threw it with a powerful motion.

WHOOSH!

The javelin flew out like a black shadow, covering twenty to thirty meters before accurately striking the paper target.

The strawman, pierced through in an instant, swayed back and forth.

Leech yanked the reins, pulling his horse into a sharp turn. He then drew his greatsword and swung it fiercely, cleaving a nearby strawman in two.

”Whoa...” He pulled the reins, bringing the horse to a stop.

A nearby guard hurried over with a lance.

He charged.

The Fiery-Mane sprinted forward, its horseshoes striking the ground in a rhythmic CLIP-CLOP.

His lance sent a strawman flying. The training session was over.

Leech dismounted.

An attendant led the Fiery-Mane away, while another took his lance.

’I still need squires to carry my lance, lead my horse, and help me with my armor.’ The Baron, however, couldn’t recruit such people at the moment. Serving as a noble’s squire was a fast track to knighthood, a position typically filled by the sons of other, closely-allied noble families. Once they were old enough or had sufficient experience, a knighting ceremony would be held, allowing the squire to become a Knight.

’A commoner as a noble’s squire? Unthinkable!’

’This is a path reserved exclusively for the nobility.’

’The path for commoners is to risk their lives on the battlefield and earn enough merit, just like my father, Lieder.’

Leech had already made a corpse of the black-haired slave. Without the aid of any Magic Items, it was merely an ordinary corpse, but Leech acquired the master-level throwing skill he desired, just as he’d hoped.

To that end, Leech had the blacksmith’s apprentice, Black Ears—who normally only made farm tools—forge a few javelins for him. They were terribly made, with poor balance. Leech was confident that if a master blacksmith had forged them, he could have turned them into ”Porcupine Brand missiles” on the battlefield.

A manservant approached with a basin. Knowing the Baron’s habits, he did not step forward to help him wash his face.

”My Lord, lunch is the stir-fried clams and garlic scallops you ordered.”

The concept of stir-frying didn’t exist on the Lu Leiyi Continent. People were not used to tossing food in a wok; they baked, stewed, and occasionally pan-fried.

Leech, however, had a blacksmith’s apprentice forge a handled pot and built a small stove for the cook, a man nicknamed Wine Barrel. After using it for the first time, Wine Barrel genuinely praised it, saying it was far more convenient than a hanging cauldron.

The stove’s chimney drew the smoke away from the back, preventing the cook from being blinded by tears.

The cook was thoroughly in awe of the Baron’s ingenuity.

Gelan and Joe joined Leech for lunch. Spices made the seafood all the more tempting.

”All the slaves have moved into their new houses. They are grateful for Your Grace’s benevolence,” Gelan reported on the situation in Porcupine Territory. Since Gelan’s arrival, Leech hadn’t needed to put so much thought into the territory; all he had to do was use his ravens to check on things from time to time.

Without needing to leave the castle, the development of the entire Porcupine Territory remained under Leech’s control.

”But those slaves will soon be idle.”

Neither Gelan nor anyone else wanted the slaves to be idle.

First, slaves had no rights, and second, everyone was afraid they would cause trouble.

All the Minstrels in the world had nothing good to say about slaves.

”Porcupine Territory has no craftsmen right now,” Leech said to Joe. ”Perhaps you could go and find some for me. Tell them there’s an endless supply of work here, and double the wages.”

’Since I can’t find anyone, I’ll have to poach them with a high price. Right now, thanks to the Little Pills, Porcupine Territory is still profitable. This is also a good opportunity for Joe to take this month’s batch of Little Pills to Iron Stone City.’

Joe, delighted to finally have a task of his own, exclaimed, ”They’ll come rushing to Porcupine Territory without a moment’s delay and fall in love with the place!”

”Oh, by the way, my Lord,” Gelan said. ”You asked me to arrange for men to investigate the dense forest. I’ve already done so. They didn’t find any ferocious beasts, but they did discover some large footprints, like those of some kind of giant beast. But strangely, after tracking the prints for a short distance, they suddenly vanished, as if the creature had suddenly flown up into the sky.”

Joe laughed. ”How is that possible, Mr. Gelan? If a bear could fly, how big would its wings have to be?”

Joe found it more believable that the men had simply lost the trail and made up an excuse than that a bear could fly.

”Good work,” Leech nodded.

He was now ninety percent certain that it was a Griffin.

’Griffin Grass, a giant beast that can fly... what else could it be but a Griffin?’

A powerful, impulsive idea began to form in his mind.

’Capture the Griffin? An absurd idea. Given Porcupine Territory’s current strength, they would have trouble catching even a simple male lion.’

’And even if they managed to capture the Griffin at great cost, how would they tame it?’

’However, capturing a Griffin might be hard, but seducing one shouldn’t be, right?’

’According to the books provided by the Taven Scholars, Griffins eat horses. But there’s a one-in-ten-thousand, or even one-in-a-hundred-thousand, chance that instead of eating the horse, the Griffin will choose to ”play” with it first. If that happens, it’s possible for a magical creature to be born: a Horse-headed Eagle!’

’And my blue herbs could greatly increase those odds.’

’As long as I’m bold enough, even a Griffin will have to take maternity leave!’

’But first, I need to confirm whether that Griffin is male or female.’

’A Griffin might have the guts to mount a horse, but a horse probably doesn’t have the guts to mount a Griffin.’