Lord of Rot

”...” Lady Jie Lin was silent.

In her eyes, Leech was a truly mysterious person.

She was also certain that her judgment was clouded by a trace of personal feelings. If Leech were standing before her, she might have believed him, but the one here was Guy.

Lady Jie Lin couldn’t tell if Guy was being truthful.

Guy said, ”We should discuss how to continue deceiving Shanzhang Castle after the Soldiers arrive. In the meantime, you should work to develop Longship Castle and build up its military strength.”

It was all a delaying tactic; a war with Shanzhang Castle was inevitable.

Lady Jie Lin weighed her options. She could trust Guy and buy Longship Castle time to develop. Or, she could refuse, and Shanzhang Castle’s army would soon be at their gates.

”Fine, we’ll do as you say.” She had no choice.

”I’ll write a letter at once,” Guy said. ”I’ll demand that they not only bring Soldiers, but also craftsmen and Jinri.”

If things really went as Guy said, Shanzhang Castle would undoubtedly suffer a great loss.

After all the turmoil it had been through, Longship Castle couldn’t possibly muster 200 elite soldiers. So, in Shanzhang Castle’s view, as long as their own 200 Soldiers entered Longship Castle, it meant they had completely taken it over.

’Once our Soldiers have control of Longship Castle, any money we spend on it is just an investment in our own business. It’s a surefire profit, with no chance of loss.’

But what if all 200 of those Soldiers rebelled?

The catch was, could Guy really control those 200 Soldiers?

’For anyone else, it would be impossible. But for Leech, it’s just a matter of slaughtering them all and refining them into corpses. No problem at all.’

’Others couldn’t do it, but for me, it’s easy. I’ll just have Aina go and poison them.’

Leech was also well aware that this was a delaying tactic. The Monkey Clan wouldn’t be satisfied with just Longship Castle; they needed to profit by carving up land, taking over commerce, and so on. Eventually, they would demand money directly, and as soon as Longship Castle refused, the ruse would be exposed.

Coincidentally, Leech had no intention of giving the Monkey Clan even a sliver of profit. He only wanted to take advantage of them.

’So I have to make money before the truth comes out, ruthlessly exploit the Monkey Clan, and take what I can. Only what’s in my own pocket is truly mine.’

He still remembered how La Bill had sent pirates to raid Porcupine Territory.

’And now they want to take advantage of me again.’

’A Porcupine has quills, and I’m going to make them feel every single one.’

Far away in Porcupine Castle, Leech couldn’t help but smile.

He had just finished writing the reply while controlling Guy.

In the letter, he not only told Shanzhang Castle to send the 200 Soldiers, but also demanded craftsmen and money to help revive the ”conquered” Longship Castle. He even had Guy ask Shanzhang Castle to gather rare items as a reward for the great service he had rendered the clan.

No reward of prestige, no marriage to a sister to form an alliance—just rare items.

He believed Shanzhang Castle wouldn’t refuse such a simple request. Rare items could be bought with money. A reward of prestige, on the other hand, was something they were reluctant to give.

Even if their methods were dirty, the nobles still considered themselves lofty and would not allow an illegitimate son possessing evil powers of bewitchment to tarnish the family’s honor.

”The Monkey Clan is just too generous.”

They were delivering 200 elite corpses right to his doorstep, along with money, people, and treasures. It almost made Baron Leech feel a bit embarrassed.

’I have to squeeze them for all they’re worth. If you don’t take advantage of an opportunity like this, you must have a screw loose!’

Leech’s attention returned to the emerald-green Fishman skull crystal. The last time, he had obtained the ”Shock” Magic from it, which was very useful. He wanted to see if he could get a new Magic from it.

’When the two hundred Soldiers arrive, if I shatter this crystal, could I create two hundred Corpse Ghosts?’

...

「Autumn.」

In any other lord’s territory, people would work less after the autumn harvest.

They would spend their days after the bountiful harvest in the tavern, shooting the breeze and gossiping about major recent events—like which widow’s ass had gone flat, or which widow’s house was haunted at night with strange banging sounds.

The poor, meanwhile, would be trying to figure out how to survive the harsh winter.

But in Porcupine Territory, not much had changed. Everyone was still very busy.

Infrastructure projects were proceeding at the fastest possible pace; you could say the place looked different every day.

The biggest changes, aside from the wasteland the serfs had reclaimed and planted with crops, were in the residential area.

Rows of exquisite, square red-brick houses stood in neat order.

To the residents’ great regret, however, the Lord had still not announced any news about selling the beautiful red houses.

The houses were sure to be expensive, but who wouldn’t want to live in one?

Besides, with all the recent work, everyone had a good bit of money on hand.

’Look at those spacious houses, and the clean concrete floors! Even the walkways outside the residential area are made of concrete. So beautiful!’

The commoners from Livestock Village, who had been the first to be allocated houses, suddenly felt that their own homes weren’t so great anymore.

They desperately wanted to move in.

Leech, however, was calm. The houses were built for people to live in, and living in more beautiful and comfortable homes would help increase the loyalty and cohesion of his subjects.

When hard work is rewarded, people will naturally work harder.

His goal from the beginning was for everyone to live a good life, including himself. He had never considered oppression or exploitation. At most, he would just persuade the slaves and farmers to have more children. ’If you don’t have children, where will I get enough labor?’

To be fair, the houses weren’t actually that beautiful; they were just like the red-brick houses in the countryside back on Earth.

But arranged in neat rows, they looked quite pleasing to the eye.

The reason he hadn’t let anyone move in yet was, for one, that construction wasn’t finished. Having people move in would interfere with the work.

Another reason was that there weren’t enough apprentices at the town hall; they were overwhelmed by the calculations, as the workload was too great.

He was planning to redevelop Maitian Village. This would likely be the first demolition and relocation project in Porcupine Territory. He wanted to build a town hall, a security post, and a series of other core functional buildings on the site of Maitian Village, moving some functions out of the castle.

Just considering the town hall apprentices, there were far too many people coming in and out of the castle every day. It was annoying to watch.

Of course, Leech had no intention of abolishing the castle’s function. Porcupine Castle would remain the territory’s supreme political and military center.

For this first demolition and relocation project, many plans needed to be made.

The first point was that the Baron’s interests must not be harmed. The second point was fairness.

The third point was that Leech didn’t want to foster the idea that relocation was a life-changing windfall. The entire Porcupine Territory belonged to him alone. He had the right to forbid anyone from setting foot in his domain, including the King.

Of course, the result of doing so would probably be getting besieged by an army and having Porcupine Territory razed to the ground.

...

”Rocket!”

TAP TAP TAP, it trotted over with small steps.

Rocket came over, flapping its wings and circling Leech.

The Horse-headed Eagle grew quickly. In just over a month, it was already about the size of a three-month-old pony. When it looked up, it could bite Leech’s thigh.

A Groom standing nearby came over with a rabbit and threw it on the ground.

The rabbit hit the ground and tried to run. Rocket’s eagle head swiveled, its eyes fixed on the rabbit, but it didn’t move, waiting for Leech’s command.

”Go,” Leech said.

Only then did Rocket charge forward, flapping its wings and pouncing. Like a Falcon diving from the sky, it caught the rabbit in an instant, lowered its head, and pecked, crushing the rabbit’s head.

The rabbit’s body was still twitching.

”Not bad,” Leech said, satisfied with the Groom’s training.

”Lord,” the Groom said, ”we should put a bridle on Rocket now. Otherwise, it might not get used to it when it’s bigger.”

As Leech’s flying mount, a harness was essential.

”Have the craftsmen made one?”

”They have, but...” The Groom’s face soured. ”I can’t put it on. Rocket doesn’t like it.”

Alright, Leech knew he would have to handle this himself.

”Rocket! Come here.”

Rocket, who was in the middle of eating the rabbit, heard the command and immediately ran to Leech. But when it saw the bridle, it began to paw restlessly at the ground with its sharp front claws.

The Groom was too scared to get close. He had no desire to get pecked.

With no other choice, Leech had to use his authority as its master, along with a little bit of Extraordinary power, to get Rocket to wear the bridle.

In other words, he forcibly held Rocket down and had the Groom come over to put on the bridle.

The Groom’s hands trembled as he worked. Several times, he feared the Lord would lose control of Rocket’s head, and if he got pecked... Thankfully, the Lord easily controlled Rocket. The bridle was on, but the Groom felt as if all the strength had been drained from his body.

It was the feeling of having survived a disaster.

Rocket shook its head uncomfortably and scratched at the bridle with its claws, just like a dog hating its first collar.

Leech had no choice but to spend more time persuading it with both emotion and fists, telling it that the bridle was non-negotiable. If it was obedient, it would get live rabbits; if not, it would only get dead fish.

”It’s just like a person wearing clothes for the first time. It’s normal to not be used to it.”

Rocket gave Leech a resentful look, as if to say, ”How about we trade? I’ll wear clothes, and you wear this thing?”

Leech could only try to console it.

They fussed about in the courtyard until dark, but finally, Rocket accepted the existence of the bridle.

In the future, there would be a saddle, and maybe even a full set of barding, so it could follow Leech onto the battlefield.

They could only take it one step at a time.