Lord of Rot

Leech chose to first open the letter from Longship Castle, sealed with wax.

”To Sir Leech Clarence, with greetings and due respect. The commoners of Longship Castle are suffering immensely under the frenzied attacks of the false bastard. They destroy farmland, burn villages, and hang all nobility. Longship Castle is willing to repay and complete your allotment of 500 slaves and will allow you to freely recruit craftsmen from Waterfall Land. In exchange, we hope to receive your assistance.”

A straightforward plea for help.

’Five hundred slaves? It seems I only had a few dozen stolen. But factoring in those who were killed, injured, or suffering from diarrhea and unable to acclimate, it’s probably about a hundred.’

As for the craftsmen from Waterfall Land, they were excellent sailors. While they didn’t know how to build naval vessels, making small boats was not a problem for them at all.

The construction of docks, the development of a fishing industry.

Leech was extremely tempted.

But for Longship Castle to beg so humbly, there could only be one explanation: Wado Eighteen’s forces must have grown stronger again.

He opened the second letter.

This was the result of the investigation into Betty’s background from the crypt on the cape. Leech had always been suspicious of Betty’s true identity.

What was written on the letter was very clear.

The nobles of Giant’s Foot had helped Burning City repel the East Gorge army and had occupied Flame Castle. They put forward Miss Betty Bone as the sole heir to the Borne Clan’s bloodline, to become the mistress of Flame Castle. They intended to use this as a pretext to carve up the interests of Burning City. However, someone soon pointed out that the trembling Betty Bone was, in fact, an apprentice from the Scholars’ Tower.

The apprentice was executed. The Giant’s Foot nobles are currently still fighting amongst themselves over carving up Burning City’s interests. Because no heir exists, no one dares to stretch their claws out too far, as their claims would be illegitimate.

’This is the complete opposite of what I thought.’

’Betty really is a noble lady after all.’

”’Flame Castle is in a major city in the south, I think.’ Leech knew the information on the continent’s major cities like the back of his hand. The Borne Clan of Flame Castle occupied Burning City, a metropolis bordering the north and south, which had a volcano.

A volcano... A massive treasure trove. Fertile land suitable for farming, and abundant mineral deposits.

If Leech could take Betty back, he might be able to use her status as the sole heir of the Borne Clan to gain control of a volcanic city. But that was just a fleeting thought. If he actually tried it, he’d be the first one to get killed.

’Better to play it safe.’

Leech opened the third letter.

The handwriting in the letter was extremely sloppy; it was clear Kro had written it in secret.

”This might be the only letter I can write to you for a while. I have gained Eighteen’s trust, and everything is fine. The administration here is a chaotic mess. They’re all bandits and robbers with no manners, but their methods are extremely cruel. I will continue to complete your mission here and provide you with intelligence. If you have other questions, you can ask the farmer. Please give him a reward, because I promised to repay him for sparing my life.”

Leech put down the letter, a look of astonishment on his face. ”When did I tell him to go gather intelligence? And he actually managed to infiltrate them?!”

He had initially thought that Kro Camel would back down in the face of difficulty. He never expected the man to actually have the courage to risk it all.

The situation was developing beyond his imagination, and everything was looking up.

In the courtyard of Porcupine Castle, a farmer clutched his linen cap. The cap was an inheritance from his grandfather, something to shield him from the wind and rain. This time, after receiving Kro Camel’s ”repayment,” he had set out on his journey with only this heirloom.

He had run for many days, asking for directions along the way, before finally rushing to Porcupine Territory.

He had never been to Porcupine Territory before, and had never even heard of the place.

When he explained his purpose, he was brought into the castle before him.

The farmer had never entered a castle before; in the past, he had only ever glimpsed Longship Castle from a distance.

Upon entering the castle, his legs began to tremble uncontrollably.

After a long, agonizing wait, a young man dressed like a noble lord walked over. ”Come with me. The lord has questions for you.”

”Yes, yes!”

The farmer followed him into the castle, unable to stop himself from looking around curiously. He had once secretly peeked into Baron Wado’s room in the village, which was filled with all sorts of gold, silver, and treasures. But Baron Wado sat on a wooden chair, the same kind as in the farmer’s own home, and the guards beside him wore ill-fitting armor. In every respect, it couldn’t compare to Porcupine Castle.

When he finally stopped, he found himself in a spacious room.

A handsome, black-haired young man in a brightly colored robe was looking at him, a letter in his hand.

It was the letter he had brought.

The young man who had led the way made the introduction. ”This is Baron Porcupine, master of Porcupine Castle, the Divine Favored, Lord Leech Clarence.”

Leech asked, ”Can you tell me how you came to know Kro?”

”Yes!”

The farmer stuck out his tongue to wet his lips.

”Pour this gentleman a cup of beer,” Leech said. ”He must be exhausted from his long journey.”

The beer was quickly brought over. The farmer hugged the cup, gulping it down greedily. GULP, GULP. He drank more than half, his stomach bulging.

He burped. ”We caught him while we were out on patrol. His horse kicked Long-Nose-Hair to death. We were going to kill him, but he said that if we presented him to Baron Wado, the Baron would definitely reward us. He also said he would remember our mercy in sparing his life. But then, somehow, he disappeared.”

The farmer scratched his head. After drinking the beer, he seemed much more relaxed in Leech’s presence. ”But by the afternoon, he had become one of the important figures around Baron Wado. He found me and said that if I delivered this letter, you would give me 20 Silver Moons.”

Leech was curious, however. ”When you left, wasn’t there anyone who tried to stop you?”

”Nobody’s in charge of that,” the farmer said. ”There are too many people. Every day, new people come to join us, and some run away because they’re afraid of the fighting.”

The situation on Wado Eighteen’s side was even worse than Leech had imagined. The fact that they could even wage war like this was truly absurd.

Then he questioned the farmer about other aspects of Wado Eighteen’s operation—from military affairs and policies to operational planning and so on. In short, they had none.

”Then how do you fight? How do you attack?”

”We listen to the chief,” the farmer replied. ”Every village has a chief. The chief receives the orders, and then they tell us what to do.”

It seemed like an army of tens of thousands, but in reality, it was just a disorganized mob.

Leech could even imagine their endgame. An army of tens of thousands of undisciplined people, marching to war with no preparation and no logistics, relying entirely on plunder.

A force that gathered in the blink of an eye would likely scatter in the blink of an eye.

A few more questions further confirmed what Leech was thinking.

Wado Eighteen must have come from a background of bandits and robbers. He practiced cronyism, surrounding himself with bloodthirsty thugs. He had no strategists; his only plan was to kill his way from one place to the next.

Once they gained momentum, they would snowball, sweeping up farmers and forming a terrifying sea of people. But among the tens of thousands in the rebel army, very few could actually fight.

Only the isolated and helpless Baroness of Longship Castle would find this situation difficult to handle. If it were Leech, or any other castle with an heir, a situation like this would absolutely never occur.

Seeing that the handsome lord hadn’t spoken, the farmer finally couldn’t resist whispering a reminder, ”My lord, about the Silver Moons...”

”Rest assured, you two already made an agreement. You won’t be shorted the money that’s yours,” Leech said, then asked, ”Would you like to earn another 20 Silver Moons?”

”Yes! I would!” the farmer said, looking at Leech with anticipation.

”Help me deliver a letter to Kro.”

The farmer thumped his chest, guaranteeing, ”I’ll definitely get your letter to him!”

”Rob, take him to collect 40 Silver Moons.”

”Yes, my lord,” the young squire nodded.

Leech stood up and returned to his study. He picked up a pen and began to write quickly.

One letter was finished and given to the farmer, to be secretly delivered into Kro’s hands. The other was sent by raven to Longship Castle. In it, Leech would clearly state his position.

He didn’t really understand warfare, and his military knowledge was purely theoretical. But he could see very far—literally, in terms of his field of vision—which gave him a natural, unbeatable advantage.

”Go catch a few dozen birds for me. Any kind of bird will do!” Leech ordered someone outside.

A raven carrying the ”Eagle Eye” Magic took wing from Porcupine Territory.

Ravens with magical bloodlines could always deliver letters with unerring accuracy. It was quite miraculous.

And behind this raven, a dozen or so carefully selected dead birds spread their wings and followed, flying toward Waterfall Land.