Lord of Rot

The red brick houses in Porcupine Territory had been completed for some time, just sitting there.

Having worked for nearly a year, the residents of Porcupine Territory, with a good bit of money in their hands, gazed at them with longing.

They had heard from various channels that these beautiful red brick houses would be their future homes. Among them, the most expectant were the villagers still living in the mud houses of Maitian Village.

They had missed out on the last relocation for Livestock Village. Surely, they would make the cut this time, right?

There was no shortage of people counting the houses every day. Even Leech hadn’t expected that the thing to teach the Porcupine People simple addition and subtraction would be counting houses.

The move-in of the scholar, Toma, seemed to set a trend.

With the first person allowed to move in, could the second and third be far behind?

After work, some people would go and count the houses, their eyes filled with yearning, to see how many were left. After factoring in a few what-ifs, they would try to calculate if they themselves could be allocated a red brick house.

After counting the houses over and over again, everyone realized that not everyone would be able to move into a new home. Porcupine Territory had over two hundred commoners. When Leech had the houses built, he had planned according to the initial population, resulting in a few dozen small, square, red brick houses. However, during this time, some of the young and single people had gotten married. The population hadn’t changed, but the number of households had increased.

There were also the craftsmen, sailors, and other talented people brought in from outside, some of whom were still living in dormitories. This group was certainly not short on cash.

Most importantly, there were the craftsmen and workers brought in to build the pier for Porcupine Territory. Leech very much hoped they would settle down in the territory. If the houses were built well and available for purchase, these people would become his own once they decided to stay.

Currently, the probability of this group staying was very high.

In short, the demand for housing in Porcupine Territory was increasing. The houses were built quickly, but talented people were arriving just as fast.

This was not even mentioning other factors, such as slaves regaining their freedom, which also increased the demand for housing.

Normally, this wouldn’t have been an issue. The masons and construction team in Porcupine Territory were extremely efficient and numerous. They could build many houses simultaneously, finishing a batch in a few days. Including the time for the houses to dry before moving in, the entire process would take a month at most.

However, construction had to be temporarily halted to build the pier. Opening up the waterway was more important.

For now, while he couldn’t guarantee everyone lived in the same kind of house, he could guarantee that everyone had a home to shelter them from the wind and rain.

Having unknowingly pulled an all-nighter, Leech arrived at the town hall and asked Gelan, who was busy at his desk, ”How’s it going?”

”Lord Leech.” Seeing Leech approach, Gelan immediately stood up and offered him his seat.

Waving his hand to signal for Gelan to remain seated, Leech said, ”By my calculations, it’s time to begin the first round of demolitions in Porcupine Territory.”

The plan had been set from the beginning: complete the demolitions before the new year, then build new houses on the residential lots in Maitian Village, and move some functional buildings out of the castle and into the territory proper for easier personnel management.

It also wouldn’t do to have people casually wandering into the castle whenever they were bored.

Gelan handed a document to Leech and asked, ”When do you plan to start?”

Leech said, ”Today is fine.”

Although he said ”today,” the policy had actually been leaked long ago by the apprentices in the town hall. Everyone in Porcupine Territory knew about it; it just hadn’t been officially announced.

The brick kiln was constantly producing red bricks, and the clay pit was getting bigger and bigger. In the future, everyone in Porcupine Territory would surely live in a nice house.

Leech casually scanned the housing allocation rules. They were mostly fine. There was a priority system: after the demolition, the people of Maitian Village could pay a small fee to move in first.

You couldn’t just tear down people’s homes and leave them with nowhere to live.

Besides, the residents of Maitian Village were the earliest inhabitants of Porcupine Territory and had the highest loyalty.

The houses varied in size, demand, and so on, which was why the town hall had been struggling with the calculations.

It was indeed a difficult task for apprentices who had just mastered their multiplication tables. However, after going through this, this batch of apprentices would have practical experience and could be tasked with other work.

The allocation of housing eligibility was by household, not by population.

With housing resources currently scarce, what would happen if the wealthy bought ten houses each, clearing out the entire stock, and others wanted to buy? A purchase limit was necessary. Once there were enough houses in the future, this would no longer be a concern.

This was the happy problem that came from expanding the population from over two hundred to over two thousand in just a year.

As he put the document down, Leech happened to glimpse a few pages on Gelan’s desk. They were densely covered in writing, and he had to admit, Gelan’s handwriting was quite nice.

”Lord Leech is revered by the people as a Divine Favored. He once miraculously recovered from severe injuries overnight, he slayed a giant bear wreathed in flames, he killed a massive lizard as large as a dragon...”

After a quick glance, Leech hastily looked away. ’Well, I’ll be damned. I haven’t even written my own autobiography yet, and Gelan’s already writing short stories about me.’

’I never would have guessed. You, Gelan, looking all prim and proper, are such a suck-up.’

Leech was very pleased. ’I definitely didn’t make a mistake promoting Gelan.’

The flattery had struck a chord deep in Baron Leech’s heart.

’He can definitely write more praise. I should give Gelan some ideas—especially emphasizing my handsome looks! When future generations read stories about me, their first thought will be, ”Leech Clarence was so handsome! The most handsome man on the entire continent!”’

’Should I strike a few more poses in front of Gelan later to show off my handsome features?’

As his mind wandered, Leech turned to look at the apprentices hunched over their desks, writing and taking notes. ”Why is the town hall so empty?”

Due to the lack of systematic instruction, most of the apprentices had poor posture, hunching over with their noses nearly touching the paper as they wrote.

”Because some of them are getting married,” Gelan answered.

”Huh?” Leech didn’t understand.

”Housing is allocated per household,” Gelan explained. ”So, to get an extra spot for their family to buy a house, some are having their single members get married immediately. Yesterday and today, a dozen couples have gotten married. The youngest is only twelve, and the oldest is over sixty.”

”...”

Lu Leiyi had no age restriction on marriage. Nobles had a coming-of-age ceremony, but there were plenty of ways to be considered an adult.

Nobles could live to be seventy or eighty, but commoners lived to thirty or forty at most. Anyone over forty was considered elderly. At sixty, one was definitely considered long-lived in Porcupine Territory.

On the Lu Leiyi Continent, the average life expectancy was about thirty. Due to war, government policies, famine, and other problems, very few people died of old age.

He hadn’t even officially announced the housing policy yet, but some people were already rushing to get married. He didn’t have to think hard to know that the town hall apprentices had leaked the information.

Leech instantly grasped the key point and asked, ”Are most of them from Maitian Village?”

”Yes,” Gelan nodded. ”And many girls are choosing to marry men from Maitian Village first.”

’Where there are policies from above, there are countermeasures from below.’ Leech wasn’t surprised.

’Who would have thought a simple rural demolition project would turn Maitian Village into the hottest ticket in town.’