Lord of Rot

Some of the soldiers sensed that something was amiss, but seeing Guy, Nils, and the four other leaders strolling along the battlements every day, they dismissed that faint feeling of unease.

’The big shots are all here. There’s no way anything could be wrong.’

’Life in Longship Castle must be too comfortable. Besides, the lords aren’t looking into it, so those guys are probably just hiding somewhere to rest. Or maybe they have other assignments.’

The only problem was that when the men who had disappeared for a few days returned, they became quiet and had a strange smell about them.

HUFF!

In Porcupine Castle, Leech let out a long, heavy breath.

He felt like his brain was about to explode.

In ten days, he had successfully turned over one hundred and fifty soldiers into animated corpses.

This meant that in ten days, he had absorbed the memories of 150 people, nearly bursting his brain. Fortunately, he was able to quickly skim through them, but even so, it left him feeling disoriented, his own sense of self thrown into chaos.

’Am I a fisherman, a hunter, or the son of a prostitute?’

He felt he needed a good, long rest.

Through these days of practice, his Spiritual Power units had increased to 40. With the 20 from his energy storage rod, he had a total of 60 units.

However, making two hundred animated corpses move in unison was no easy task.

’If only I could program a set of behavioral logic into the corpses,’ Leech mused as he rested, his imagination running wild.

Even in battle, he could only micromanage sixty animated corpses at most, which wasn’t particularly useful.

But if he could program a set of behavioral logic—for example, setting a keyword to make the corpses perform a corresponding action—it would certainly save him a lot of trouble.

’But they’re just corpses. They can’t possibly hear sounds, nor do they have the ability to think.’

For now, Leech could only put in the extra effort himself, controlling fifty animated corpses for daily patrols while the rest of the bodies soaked in preservative fluid.

To this end, he had taken complete control of Longship Castle’s dungeons, which were now filled with coffins.

After another four days, all the Monkey Clan soldiers had finally been taken down and refined into animated corpses.

With that, the crisis in Longship Castle was officially over.

...

”You want the Longship Castle soldiers to be responsible for guarding the castle?”

Lady Jie Lin looked at Guy in astonishment, then a realization dawned on her. ”Don’t tell me... you’ve actually resolved the situation?”

’Why would two hundred elite soldiers obey Guy Marvin? Why would even the arrogant Nils choose to submit? Just what had happened here?!’

She didn’t understand any of it, but that didn’t stop her from feeling happy. For half a month, she had been under someone else’s control, like a caged bird, and her mood had been utterly abysmal.

Now, the storm had finally passed.

’Leech is truly that resourceful!’

”Nils will lead the troops out of the castle,” Guy said with a nod. ”You only need to assign them an area to rest and make camp. I will have them wait there quietly and not approach Longship Castle again.”

”Agreed!” Lady Jie Lin nodded.

’As long as the Monkey Clan soldiers are sent away from Longship Castle, everything will be fine.’

Lady Jie Lin immediately designated an area for the army of animated corpses to make camp.

Longship Castle could finally begin its recovery at full steam.

Order was restored, productivity resumed, the militia was trained—everything proceeded in an orderly fashion.

...

「Porcupine Castle.」

’I estimate that after war breaks out in Iron Valley, the Monkey Clan will have a much stronger reaction. When that happens, the troop’s rebellion is bound to be exposed.’

’Failing to receive the expected benefits, coupled with his own deadline looming, the Old Monkey Baron’s suspicious nature will surely lead him to suspect something is wrong at Longship Castle.’

All Leech could do for now was stall. The longer he delayed, the more time Longship Castle would have to rebuild, and the more time Leech would have for his own development.

But giving up his gains to the Monkey Clan in exchange for a brief peace? Absolutely not!

What he had swallowed, he would work to digest. It could only come out one way, and he would never, ever spit it back out.

Transcendent Corpse Ghost Aina, Transcendent Corpse Ghost Guy, and Corpse Ghost Nils remained at Longship Castle. Guy had just received a magical message: the Round Table Society would be holding a gathering in Burning City, which members could attend.

Leech was planning to go himself, gather all the Extraordinary powers at his disposal, and see if he could capture a couple of Transcendents.

Along the way, he could also solve the problem of the red dot in his vision. The Water Nymph’s grotto had yielded no results, but the dot remained in his field of view like an eye floater, affecting his concentration so much that it was starting to feel like an obsession.

”My lord, Claude’s caravan has arrived. He’s brought craftsmen with him.”

Hearing that more skilled people had arrived, Leech’s spirits lifted, and he immediately pushed his troubles to the back of his mind.

”They’re finally here!”

Outside the castle, Claude was drinking a beer to cool off.

Even though it was the end of October, the weather was still muggy.

”Good day, my lord!” Claude said, bowing immediately upon seeing Leech. It had been some time since they’d last met, and Claude’s belly had gotten noticeably larger.

Leech smiled. ”It’s good to see you again, Claude.”

”Porcupine Brand soap has been a huge hit,” Claude said. ”But what I didn’t expect was the Porcupine Wine. The sales of that fine vintage are even better than the Porcupine Brand soap. You’re sitting on two gold mines, my lord.”

Soap and wine.

’Gold mines? How could mining actual gold be more profitable than this!’

”Oh, and the honey,” Claude added. ”The Porcupine honey is so reasonably priced. I must be sure to buy a large quantity this time.”

”For a friend, I’ll be sure to give you the best possible price,” Leech said.

Leech felt much more confident now. He had five Corpse Ghosts under his command, two of whom were Transcendent Corpse Ghosts. Including himself, that made for three Transcendents in total.

He also had 200 elite animated corpses and 100 elite Porcupine soldiers.

Even if someone were to grow envious of Porcupine Territory’s profits and try to come looking for a handout, they would first have to see if they’d survive to take it.

Anyone who rashly tried to take a bite would only end up with a mouth full of bloody quills.

”My lord, I’ve also brought you craftsmen to build the wharf,” Claude said.

Craftsmen were what Leech needed most.

Claude then added, ”However, I borrowed all these craftsmen from an old friend. They’re from Monkey Island, and I have to return them once the wharf is finished.”

’Return them?’

Leech’s eyebrow twitched. ”Of course,” he said. ”Once construction in Porcupine Territory is complete, they will certainly go back. And you needn’t worry about them working here; I will offer them compensation they will find more than satisfactory.”

’As long as the price is right, there’s no talent that can’t be poached.’

Baron Leech had only one rule when it came to talent: once it was in his hands, it stayed to work for him. Returning it was out of the question!

Even if they weren’t skilled, they were still population. Still a labor force.

He handed the wharf construction plans over to the town hall for preliminary organization. Once the residential district was complete, he could transfer a large number of masons and builders to construct the wharf at the fastest possible speed.

However, amid all this good news, there was also a letter that took Leech by surprise.

It was a letter from ’Red Rose’ Evangelina.

In the letter, she informed him that their younger brother Leo’s maternal grandfather had died of a stroke. This left Leo in an awkward position as a young page, with nowhere to go.

Leech immediately wrote a letter in reply.

First, he made his intentions perfectly clear: he would absolutely not allow Leo to return.

Leo’s mother had killed his predecessor, and he, in turn, had sent her to be trampled to death by the hoof of an iron ox. Although they were brothers, there was no real affection between them—only a great deal of conflict.

Second, he asked ’Red Rose’ to help out, suggesting she could perhaps place Leo under another Knight to continue as a page, or find something else for him to do.

In short, the core message was simple: don’t come back.

Otherwise, his safety could not be guaranteed.

Finally, Leech expressed his gratitude to ’Red Rose’.

Watching the raven fly away, Leech sighed. ”Oh, my dear brother, it seems you don’t possess the kind of cliché, heaven-defying talent you read about in stories. The whole ’thirty years the river flows east, thirty years it flows west’ comeback story? It’s not that easy. The Porcupine Clan’s bloodline isn’t particularly noble, and there are no hidden talents to be found.”

Leech, at least, could claim that half his blood came from Green Forest Castle, an old noble line.

Leo’s maternal grandfather, the ”founder” of his own family, hadn’t even been as successful as Lieder. Genetically speaking... well, there wasn’t much worth inheriting.

Most of the time, the second son of a minor noble could at best hope to marry a noble’s daughter and have three square meals a day. If he failed to accomplish anything of note, his children could hardly be guaranteed a noble’s life and would have to roll up their sleeves and become landed gentry who worked their own fields.

Becoming a Knight was a pipe dream; becoming a lord, a fantasy.

The roads were littered with the bodies of such dreamers.

It wasn’t that Leo had no chance of becoming a lord. He would naturally have the right of inheritance the moment Leech died. That, however, would be rather difficult. After all, Leo’s mother had the very same idea, and now the grass on her grave was three feet tall.