Lord of Rot

”Do you want to enter my body?”

”Ahem, that won’t be necessary.”

Ultimately, Leech and the Water Nymph maintained only the most basic level of mental communication, forgoing entering each other’s bodies to examine their memories.

The hope of accessing her memories became a pipe dream, leaving him feeling like he’d suffered a double loss.

The only saving grace was that she belonged to a friendly faction.

He hadn’t gone out all day. After ordering his men to investigate the ”good-for-nothing scholar,” he spent his time communicating with the Water Nymph. This inefficient mental link was obviously no substitute for a deep dive into her body, but it was far less offensive.

After their conversation, he could confirm with certainty that the Water Nymph was a blank slate.

Her memories from before her death were, to her, like a story she had merely observed—much as they were to Leech. They had little to no effect on her.

Leech strongly suspected the Water Nymph Corpse Ghost had skipped over a great deal of the content, just as he had.

The crypt opened.

The pool reflected the light of the setting sun.

SPLASH. The water’s surface broke, and a figure glowing with golden light slowly emerged, head first.

She was like a female statue wrought from gold and jewels, exuding an inexpressible allure.

A cold mask of gold and jewels concealed her face from view.

Leech jumped down into the crypt, watching as the golden Corpse Ghost emerged bit by bit from the pool, eventually standing upon the water’s surface.

She strode forward on long, slender, golden legs, approaching Leech one step at a time.

One stood on the bank, the other in the water, only a fist’s breadth between them.

’The golden mask is embedded in her flesh, and the jewels have become her skin, rather than her body healing into soft flesh,’ Leech looked down at the jewel-covered Water Nymph, unable to hide his amazement.

With Corpse Ghost Aina, for example, after the gold repaired her body, her wounds became golden scars, like tattoos.

But the Water Nymph before him was completely different.

Leech raised his hand, tentatively brushing the Water Nymph’s cheek. The texture of the gems and the ridges of gold were still there, as was the cold, metallic touch.

He guessed, ’Perhaps this is an inevitable outcome for a being beyond the Extraordinary level when turning into a Corpse Ghost. Or maybe her body was just too severely damaged, and this is what happens when it’s repaired with so much gold.’

Unlike other Extraordinary Corpse Ghosts, the Water Nymph was clearly a higher form of life.

As Leech looked at the Water Nymph, she looked up at him in turn, mimicking his gesture by raising her own hand to gently touch his cheek.

In the daylight, the two looked like lovers.

”I’m sorry, but if you want to go outside, you’ll need a disguise,” Leech said. ”Your appearance is likely to cause a commotion.”

”I don’t want to go out,” she said. ”I only want to be in the water.”

’In the water, huh...’ Leech gazed at the pool.

’Is a Water Nymph an aquatic Magical Creature? An aquatic magical monster? A type of sprite?’

Upon learning she was a blank slate, Leech’s mind started turning. Unwilling to make a losing deal, Baron Leech wanted to bring her back with him, but how could he take her away without water?

’I’ll figure something out after the Round Table meeting.’

He thought to himself, ’If I’d known, I would have brought the crypt back to Porcupine Territory before setting it up.’

The Water Nymph suddenly retreated, her body tracing a graceful arc.

Her every movement was like a dance, her entire being exuding an elegant air.

She slipped into the water without making a single splash.

After a moment, she surfaced. ”This is yours.”

Leech looked at what she held in her hand. It was the artifact, the [Wind Cavalry Helmet]! This meant she had become a Corpse Ghost on her own, without needing the artifact’s help!

”Thank you,” Leech said, taking the helmet.

’This scene gave him a sudden sense of déjà vu. Wasn’t she supposed to pull out three helmets and ask him which one was his—the gold, the silver, or the iron one?’

”What should I say?” the Water Nymph asked.

”That was me thanking you,” Leech explained. ”To show that you’ve accepted my thanks, you can say, ’You’re welcome.’ It’s a humble way to respond.”

Water Nymph: ”You’re welcome.”

”I have to go,” Leech said. ”Do you need me to close... the opening up there?”

The Water Nymph nodded gently, and the light reflecting off her golden form danced in Leech’s eyes.

”I’ll come back to chat with you later. You can also talk with Aina in the meantime.”

”I’ve been communicating with her, and with Guy.”

Leech: ”...”

’I had no idea they were getting chummy behind my back!’

Clutching the helmet, Leech leaped out of the crypt.

Just as his feet hit the ground, the Water Nymph’s voice echoed in his mind, ”Thank you.”

Leech turned and looked down at the calm, rippleless surface of the water, and said, ”You’re welcome.”

He closed the crypt, leaving only a tombstone standing in the corner.

Gold is alluring, and so are beautiful women.

Eerily captivating.

While it was still light out, Leech quickly got ready and headed out.

He went with only his squire, Radish.

It was best not to be too conspicuous on someone else’s turf.

Radish had already found the residence of the ”good-for-nothing scholar” in Burning City.

A genuine scholar, not an apprentice. Leech couldn’t understand how he’d been labeled a ”good-for-nothing scholar.”

They stopped in a more remote part of Burning City, in front of a detached house.

Radish stepped forward to knock.

The moment he knocked, a voice from inside called out, ”Coming!”

But after waiting for quite some time, the door remained closed.

Leech said, ”Radish, knock again.”

KNOCK KNOCK. Radish stepped forward and knocked again.

The voice immediately called out again, ”Coming!”

They waited foolishly at the door for another long while, but still, no one came.

Just as they were preparing to knock for the third time...

”Are you looking for me?” A voice suddenly came from behind. Leech turned to see a plain-looking, middle-aged man.

”Scholar Toma?” Leech asked.

”I am,” Scholar Toma said with a slight bow. ”And you might be...?”

Radish immediately announced, ”This is the Baron of Porcupine Territory, the Divine Favored, Lord Leech Clarence.”

Realizing he was speaking to a Baron, Toma’s expression lit up with pleasant surprise. ”Please, come in!”

’It seems the merchant Deni was right. The ’good-for-nothing scholar’ has fallen on hard times.’

Scholarly research requires a great deal of funding. Without a lord’s patronage, a scholar can’t possibly support their work.

”Sorry to intrude,” Leech said politely.

Then he turned to his squire. ”Radish, stand guard outside.”

Scholar Toma raised his hand and pushed the door.

”Coming!” the voice called out.

Leech: ”...”

”It’s a little magical trinket,” Scholar Toma explained to Leech as he pushed the door open. ”I made a little device. Whenever someone knocks, it says that.”

He added, quite proudly, ”Otherwise, if an important person such as yourself were to arrive and I failed to hear it over my research, I would be disrespecting you.”

’Leech couldn’t comprehend Toma’s definition of ’disrespecting.’ The man’s brain was clearly wired differently from a normal person’s.’

”So, Scholar Toma, do you stop your research and come to the door when you hear the voice?”

”Of course not!” Scholar Toma said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. ”That would interrupt my research.”

’So your idea of ’not disrespecting’ important people is to have them knock repeatedly, then stand around foolishly outside your door while you do your research, waiting until you finally have a free moment to answer?’

’For someone with such terrible social skills to still be alive and well, he must have some real talent!’