Lord of Rot

The success of the soap business in East Port once again reshaped Leech’s perception.

A raven would often fly in with a letter in the morning, only for another to arrive in the afternoon.

More soap orders.

’Nobles are so damn rich.’

This reaffirmed Leech’s earlier conviction. ’Do the poor even have money? Making money off them is a difficult, thankless task. You should profit from those who have money, and since the nobles are rich, you should be making money off them.’

’Go to East Port, buy a storefront, and open a shop?’

Leech looked at the latest letter and gently shook his head.

’Impossible!’

’Rent, security, and the like are all minor issues. But going to East Port to do business myself would be a waste of manpower and resources. Ultimately, I’d just be generating revenue for them.’

’I’m definitely not going.’

The soap was just the bait. What he needed was for others to learn about Porcupine Territory and actually come visit.

Only the arrival of merchant caravans could get the economic cycle moving.

’I guess this bunch of nobles won’t be running out of soap anytime soon.’

Even if they used a bar to wash once a day, a small one could last for a month or two.

This latest batch of orders from East Port amounted to over 160 units, bringing Leech nearly 5,000 Silver Moon in revenue.

However, that amount of money couldn’t keep up with Porcupine Territory’s current rate of spending. He was shelling out 300 to 400 Silver Moon daily for infrastructure, public works, and other projects.

There were benefits, though. Once the commercial district was up and running, the commoners began to spend, and a portion of that money would flow back into the system, further stimulating development.

In addition to basic projects like paving the ground and building houses, things like the smithy’s production of farm tools and the carpenter workshop’s crafting of cupboards and beds could also earn money, slowing the rate at which Leech was spending it.

The only problem was that there weren’t enough goods available for purchase, and the Porcupine People were accustomed to saving their money.

’Stimulating consumption is the top priority.’

Leech wrote a reply to Miss Red Rose, formally thanking her for her help. After all, kind words were free, so he laid the praise on thick.

’If only I could figure out how to make perfume.’

A thirty-fold markup on the soap was already the limit of Leech’s conscience. He never expected it to sell so well, or he might have chosen to ignore his conscience and set the price at 40 Silver Moon. He couldn’t go any higher, though; if the price was too steep, some people would just opt for perfume instead.

”Some people,” in this case, referred to noblemen. Men weren’t fond of bathing, and perfume was simply more convenient.

Among Lu Leiyans, the proportion of people without natural body odor was 10% at most. That is, nine out of ten people had it, which was why noblemen also used perfume or other methods to eliminate the smell.

Leech hadn’t used perfume before, and after becoming a Transcendent, he barely sweated at all. Body odor was no longer an issue for him.

In the evening, many people had finished their day’s work.

It was also when the vegetable market was at its most crowded.

Leech headed to the commercial district’s vegetable market, his secretary in tow with a small notebook.

Ever since its completion, he had only observed it through his Eagle Eye and had never visited in person.

Upon seeing Leech, the people all stopped in their tracks and bowed in greeting.

It was their Lord who had brought about all these changes. Leech’s prestige in Porcupine Territory was unparalleled, not even by his father, Lieder.

Leech nodded lightly, remarking to himself, ’Such simple, honest folk.’

The ground was littered with trash, vegetable scraps, stinking mud, and carelessly tossed fruit pits.

’Excellent!’

At least it wasn’t a case of a trash can that could have no trash in it or a bed that couldn’t be slept in. This proved the market was genuinely in use, not just a facade put on to fool him.

If anyone had actually dared to do that, Leech wouldn’t have minded doling out ten lashes. Insulting the Lord’s intelligence was a grave offense that warranted severe punishment; demoting them to a slave would have been perfectly acceptable.

’Sanitation issues can be dealt with gradually. Habits are cultivated one step at a time.’

However, not everyone had noticed Leech.

A peasant woman was holding two cabbages, arguing heatedly with an old farmer. ”This one costs one copper star, and this one also costs one copper star, but they’re not the same size!”

The old farmer saw Leech, but Leech gestured for him to continue with his business, content to just watch from the sidelines.

Unsure of Leech’s intentions, the old farmer decided that since the Lord hadn’t said anything, he would just proceed as usual. ”They’re one copper star each,” the farmer said. ”You can pick the one you like.”

”But I want to buy two!” the woman said. ”And these two cabbages are different sizes.”

The old farmer was getting a headache.

Then the woman sensed that the atmosphere was a little strange. She turned and saw their Lord, standing quietly to the side and watching.

”My Lord, I...” She was startled.

She panicked, certain that her aggressive behavior would be seen as impolite by the noble Lord. But the cabbages were different sizes, and she refused to get the short end of the stick.

’Since they’re one copper star each, I want two of the exact same size. Otherwise, if one is smaller, I’m losing out.’

”I’ll just take this one, then.” She paid her money and took only the largest cabbage.

The entire market knew he was here now. All the expected haggling and clamor had vanished, and everything became very quiet.

Realizing he could no longer observe things as they really were, Leech had no choice but to turn and leave.

’No wonder rulers made inspection tours in disguise,’ he thought. ’My very presence is stopping people from doing business.’

”From now on, produce in the commercial district market must be sold by weight. Anything not sold as a single, fixed-price item must be weighed,” Leech said to his young secretary. The man immediately picked up his pen to take notes, drawing pictures for any words he couldn’t write, so long as he himself could remember the meaning. ”When Joe gets back, have him train a group of the small-time merchants who sell produce.”

The young secretary wrote furiously, recording Leech’s words.

He knew that when Joe returned with the caravan, he would need to be the one to remind the Lord of these tasks.

The Celestial Father, one of the Four Gods, held a set of scales and was considered the god of commerce.

Both balance scales and steelyards were well-established weighing methods, but the problem was that the people of Porcupine Territory were simply too poor. Previously, they could hardly afford to eat, relying mostly on bartering, and they were illiterate.

Now that they had money, buying items by the piece, where some were large and others small, naturally felt like they were getting a raw deal.

’I’d rather buy so much that I have to throw some away and let it rot than buy the smaller one.’ That mentality was perfectly normal; Leech would have felt the same way.

If Leech could open a school and teach people some knowledge and basic literacy, it would solve a lot of problems. But it always came back to that age-old question: why send a child to school to learn when they could be at the brick kiln digging clay or shaping pottery jars? Even if they didn’t work outside, they could still cook and do chores at home, so the family could eat as soon as they got back from work.

Even with the precedent set by the town hall apprentices, not everyone was willing to let their child go and learn.

Rather than forcing them to attend school, the apprenticeship system was the most suitable for the current environment.

They could earn money while learning and be able to support themselves as soon as their training was complete.

But having apprentices start on certain critical jobs was unreasonable. They might even be more of a hindrance than a help. And he would have to pay them? That was just a joke.

’Cultivating our own talent is an absolute necessity.’

Jobs would be divided into different ranks. If someone wanted a promotion to a higher position with a higher income, they would have to pass the corresponding assessment.

Some people might be content to earn a living making pottery jars every day, but others wouldn’t be satisfied with such hard, monotonous work and would also want to work at the town hall. By providing a path to learning at this stage, the talent that was filtered through would be the ambitious type.

These were just Leech’s preliminary ideas. This system of thought was at odds with the current era of Lu Leiyi. The Lu Leiyi Continent seemingly had a single King, but it lacked the concept of a strict hierarchy between ruler and subjects. Territories were autonomous, and every lord was the master of their own domain.

Since there was no ”unification,” there was no need to select talent based on merit. Lords could manage their lands however they saw fit. Most lords practiced nepotism, while a few appointed people based on personal preference and first impressions. It was not uncommon for a Minstrel to win the favor of some noble lady and leap to the position of chief steward of a territory.

In contrast, Leech, who only used talented people for management and cast aside incompetent nobles like Kro, was an extreme rarity.

However, there was one point Leech couldn’t deny: nobles generally received all sorts of education in etiquette from a young age. They had tutors to instruct them, and they dabbled in reading, literacy, military affairs, and combat. As long as there were no issues with their intelligence, the general knowledge and wisdom of a noble surpassed that of a commoner.

It was a feudal system with clear class divisions.

The son of a noble was a noble, the son of a merchant was a merchant, and the son of a slave was a slave.

Leech stood by the roadside, pondering the issues of education and talent cultivation.

A shout in the distance caught Leech’s attention.

The merchant caravan had returned.

A crowd of commoners swarmed it.

A returning caravan would never be empty-handed; it would naturally bring back local goods from other places. This was a time for the territory’s commoners to spend money.

”Everyone can head over to the commercial district!” Joe shouted. ”Everything we’ve brought back will be sold there.”

After shouting a few more times, he finally managed to disperse the crowd.

The caravan headed to the commercial district to unload its cargo and sell the goods from other regions.

”Yarrn, my Lord!” Joe said, walking up to Leech and bowing with a hand over his chest.

”Perfect timing. I have a few things I need you to do,” Leech said, happily patting Joe’s shoulder.

Ever since achieving his revenge, the burden on Joe’s heart had been lifted. Now, he only wanted to work for Leech to repay his kindness. At the same time, Porcupine Territory showed him a world of infinite possibilities, and his caravan’s reputation was now considerable.

”Yes!”

The two of them chatted as they walked toward the castle.

Leech asked, ”By the way, how did the Porcupine Brand soap do?”

He had been waiting for Linta Bay to replicate the success he’d had in Roaring Castle, but the continued silence from there surprised him.

’There shouldn’t be that much of a difference from one group of nobles to the next, right?’

”I gave the soap to Miss Stacy and the others. She didn’t say anything.”

”Uh...”

A possibility suddenly occurred to Leech.

’Could it be that Stacy hadn’t noticed the soap’s benefits at all?’

’Come to think of it, as a Transcendent, Stacy wouldn’t have body odor. She trains every day and doesn’t use perfume.’

’Wait, what about Fami Port? Did she not say anything either?’

”Miss Port has been sick. It seems she’s been bedridden this whole time.”

It was like winking at a blind man.

’And here I was, hoping to make a killing off the Linta Bay nobles. It seems that’s not happening for now.’

”But there is good news, my Lord,” Joe said with a smile. ”I met a merchant in Linta Bay named Gelang. He’s very interested in Porcupine Territory’s honey and might come by in a few days.”

”Haha, well done!” Leech was overjoyed.

Joe continued, ”But he said he’s hoping for a discount and wants you to promise him a few things.”

Leech frowned slightly. ’He hasn’t even arrived yet, and he’s already asking for perks?’

’It’s not that we can’t sell things from Porcupine Territory; it’s just that we’re off the beaten path. The fact that Joe always sold out of whatever goods he brought with him was proof enough of that.’

But the ingrained image of a poor Porcupine Territory ran too deep, and it had been less than a year since the territory’s rise began. Give it another three or four years, and Leech wouldn’t even need to advertise; people would be scrambling to come.

He had plenty of core products.

”A small discount is reasonable,” Leech said.

After all, this would be the first outside merchant caravan to come to Porcupine Territory. Merchants were profit-driven, so offering a small incentive was fine. It was just that his impression of this Gelang wasn’t off to a great start.