Lord of Rot

If his territory lacked qualified Casters, he would just have to ”raise” his own.

He could train new talent at the same time; it was a win-win situation.

With this in mind, the night school officially began operating.

The Lord didn’t care in the slightest about the cost of candles. As long as someone was willing to attend the night school for advanced study, there was a place for them.

However, enrollment wasn’t indefinite. If a student’s performance didn’t meet the standards, they would lose the opportunity to return.

The main focus was to select and cultivate those with either perseverance or talent.

Although the weather had yet to warm, making it difficult for some to work, the merchant caravans brought business, and Porcupine Territory was still turning a profit.

The territory was finally starting to move past the point where Leech had to personally fund everything. It was barely managing to sustain its own economic cycle.

If things continued developing this way, life in Porcupine Territory would steadily improve even without Leech’s intervention.

’The Water Nymph found the Monkey Clan’s ship again?’

The Water Nymph sent another message, and Leech’s mind snapped to attention.

Before Leech could ask any questions, the Water Nymph directly sent him a segment of her memory.

She had discovered this method to be incredibly convenient. Explaining things herself always led to omissions, but letting Leech experience the memory firsthand ensured one hundred percent of the information was conveyed.

There was one prerequisite: the recipient had to possess the same abilities as Leech—either being a Corpse Ghost or having the Magic of a Necromancer. Otherwise, if a memory was suddenly dropped into someone’s mind, they wouldn’t be able to process it and would instead be driven mad by the foreign recollections.

Leech closed his eyes and began to carefully sift through the Water Nymph’s memories.

Most of the memory consisted of her swimming through the water.

Suddenly, the Water Nymph detected something. Without any visible effort, her body shot forward at high speed.

Previously, Leech had no point of comparison, so he couldn’t tell just how fast the Water Nymph was in the open ocean.

But when she instantly overtook a Swordfish, Leech finally had a clear reference point. He suddenly understood that the Water Nymph’s speed in the water was likely comparable to a Horse-headed Eagle’s flight through the sky.

You could say she was flying, too—flying through the water!

Her innate Magic Radar allowed her to easily catch up to the Monkey Clan’s ship.

It was the same vessel as before. The crew’s morale seemed low, indicating that they hadn’t returned to shore since the Water Nymph first spotted them. They had been at sea the entire time, searching for something.

The Water Nymph hid beneath the ship, easily picking up every sound from inside the vessel above her.

”That female Mercenary is seriously hot.”

”She says there’s treasure, and we’re just supposed to believe her? I’m not buying it.”

”Since when has Monkey Territory been short on cash?”

”I heard Guy went to Longship Castle and even bagged the Baroness. Damn, some guys have all the luck.” ”What’s so lucky about that? He was supposed to marry Annel, you know.”

There was a mishmash of all sorts of voices. She didn’t filter any of them out, as the Water Nymph couldn’t be sure which ones would be useful to Leech.

The chaotic noise gave Leech a headache, but he did his best to search for useful information within the din.

’If this doesn’t work, I’ll just have them attack. The Water Nymph has a clear sense of the enemy’s numbers and strength, anyway.’

”Are you sure this is the place? We’ve been circling for a long time.” It was a man’s voice. The Water Nymph seemed to realize whose words were more important and began to focus her listening on a specific conversation.

A woman’s voice replied, ”I can only guarantee that the sailing log is correct.”

”If the log is correct, then the treasure should be too,” the man said. ”Jenny, you know how important this is.”

”Sir, it will be a boundless treasure, all that money,” the woman named Jenny replied.

’That’s what she considers ’important.’’

”The treasure isn’t important, Jenny,” the man said, his tone haughty. ”As long as that crown is there... I only want the crown.”

The woman said in a low voice, ”Of course, future Grand Duke Dreden!”

”Haha,” the man’s voice was smug. ”Poor La. He’ll never understand how he lost. Primogeniture? As long as I get that helmet, I will be the sole heir to Monkey Territory. Oh... and our Lord Duke of East Gorge? I’m sure he wouldn’t mind one more duchy.”

The woman replied, ”Once they witness your power, all dissent will vanish.”

”You’re right. Hahaha!”

The sound of their conversation suddenly grew much quieter.

Then came a RUSTLING sound, as if clothes were being unfastened.

”Jenny, you can become my mistress,” his voice sounded a bit rushed.

Judging by the sound of the woman being thrown onto a bed, he really was in a hurry!

”It is my honor~, Your Grace.”

”Hahahaha!”

The sounds that followed were not suitable for all ages, so Leech fast-forwarded.

’If there were a live video feed, I wouldn’t mind studying it. After all, I’ve never seen how the people of Lu Leiyi go about their mating rituals. Watching that kind of broadcast would be an excellent research project. But if it’s audio only, then I’ll pass.’

’Listening just gets you worked up.’

And from the fragments of their conversation, he seemed to have picked up on some rather extraordinary things.

During the Age of War, Leopold was a Grand Duke, and East Gorge could be called a grand duchy.

But after the lands of Lu Leiyi came to recognize the Golden Bear Clan, the titles of grand duchy and Grand Duke, while still existent, fell out of favor. Faced with the might of the Golden Bears, people would choose to say ’Lord Duke’ instead of ’Grand Duke’.

This change in title was a reflection of power and status.

Leech wasn’t surprised that Leopold was unwilling to remain a subordinate for long.

’It’s just that too much independence would be bad for my trade business.’

’I just finished building a pier, and now there’s going to be a war?’

’The moment war breaks out, tariffs will skyrocket. My little business can’t handle that kind of expense.’

The other bombshell was even more unexpected: a Monkey actually wanted to become a Duke. And he wanted to do it by openly challenging the Golden Bear Clan, even at the height of their power.

’If the Monkey Clan wants to produce a Duke, Monkey Territory’s land is obviously not enough. The best way for them to expand would be to swallow up Waterfall Land.’

There are a total of four Dukes on the entire Lu Leiyi Continent.

Namely, East Gorge, Endor, the Northern Territory, and Giant’s Foot.

Among them, the Northern Territory is far from the capital and prefers to keep to itself, so it’s hard to say who their Duke is, or if they even have one.

Giant’s Foot is in a state of perpetual chaos, but a certain Prince Hoffman, who can control lightning, has emerged recently. If the King desires stability, he’ll likely grant the title of Duke to Prince Hoffman.

As for Endor, Leech held some strong stereotypes: Barbarians on horseback. He doubted the whole system of nobility held much sway there.

’From the sound of it, this seems to be Dreden Bill’s own idea. The old monkey probably doesn’t know about it.’

Dreden Bill, a son of the Bills. Leech had no idea who his mother was; the old monkey had plenty of wives who had died, and Leech had never bothered to research which one gave birth to whom.

’What’s this about a crown, anyway? Don’t tell me it’s the legendary Crown of Whats-his-name, and they’ll say something like ’He who wears the Dragon-Slaying Helm...’ no, that’s not it. More like ’He who holds the crown rules the world,’ and then the Monkey Clan will rise up in rebellion.’

Even Leech had to admit the idea was pretty ridiculous.

Finally, the ruckus died down.

He sped up his review of the memory. At last, the Water Nymph left the ship’s hull, her head half-emerging from the surface of the water.

’It was because of the singing again.’

Leech sighed in resignation.

The Water Nymph had moved away purely because of the sailors singing on the ship.

The Water Nymph was perfect in every way but one: she loved to listen to little tunes.

Whenever she heard singing, she was completely captivated.

The memory sped up again, and the Monkey Clan’s ship finally made landfall.

The Water Nymph hid in the water, quietly watching the sailors and Soldiers from the ship land on the island.

After a long while, seeing no new developments, the Water Nymph turned and dove back into the water. The moment she turned, the memory ended.

’Countless treasures, a crown, and the audacity to proclaim himself a Grand Duke.’

Leech made his decision on the spot: he would attack them and rob the robbers!

His conflict with the Monkey Clan was already irreconcilable.

It might seem like they didn’t know he existed, but as soon as the truth about Longship Castle and the 200 corpses came out, the Monkey Clan would surely want to slaughter Leech, flay him alive, and serve his flesh as sashimi.

The enemy’s numbers, their overall strength, and even how many Transcendents they had—the Water Nymph had figured it all out.

’It’s a battle I’m guaranteed to win. Why wouldn’t I fight it?’