Lord of Rot

Leech now had a little over four hundred Jinri left. ’Making money is never as fast as spending it,’ he sighed to himself.

The Captain and a crowd of sailors stood to one side, nervously awaiting Leech’s declaration of their fate.

’The nobleman would most likely dismiss them, but there was a small chance he might let them stay on.’

”Tell me your name, Captain,” Leech said.

Although the Captain looked to be nearly thirty and Leech was still a few months shy of twenty, the disparity in their status and demeanor completely overshadowed the age gap.

The Captain answered respectfully, ”My name is Lang, my lord.”

”Do you wish to remain as captain?”

”Of course!” Lang nodded excitedly.

”Congratulations, you’re hired,” Leech said with a smile. ”As for your salary, I’ll have someone discuss the details with you once we return to Porcupine Territory. You can tell the sailors that if they want to continue working on this ship, they can go home tonight, pack their things, and travel with us to Porcupine Territory tomorrow. If they aren’t interested, they’re free to leave immediately.”

”Yes, my lord!” Lang nodded eagerly.

’As long as they could keep their jobs on the ship, no one would possibly choose to leave.’

Besides, they had been on this ship for a long time. They were accustomed to every part of it and could walk the deck with their eyes closed without fear of falling overboard.

It would be difficult to secure long-term work on a new vessel, and if they were unlucky, they could very well end up as mere dockhands.

This also saved Leech the trouble of finding a new captain and training a new crew.

’The time investment is too great. It’s much more convenient to just hire talent directly.’

Leech asked, ”What is this ship called?”

Lang replied immediately, ”The *Sunken Ship*, my lord!”

Leech was speechless.

For some reason, he suddenly had immense faith in this crew’s seamanship.

They had to be exceptionally skilled to keep the *Sunken Ship* from sinking to the bottom of the sea.

”We’re renaming it. Now,” Leech said.

The ship had changed owners, so a new name was perfectly normal. Lang nodded.

”Let’s call it... the *Iron Valley*.”

”*Iron Valley*?” Lang was a little confused, but he nodded in agreement.

Deni, who was standing nearby, looked at Leech in astonishment. ”Congratulations, my lord!”

He hadn’t expected Leech to acquire Iron Valley with such ease. The young Baron never ceased to amaze him.

Hawke Wood was also extremely surprised. He knew Leech had been in talks with the Duke, but he never imagined the topic would be so monumental. ’Did the Duke just hand over a territory that Baron Ross and his men haven’t even conquered yet to Leech?’

”Congratulations, Lord Leech.”

Leech was in a rather good mood as he left the docks. A ship would significantly accelerate the development of Porcupine Territory.

In the distance, a familiar figure caught his eye.

The figure also paused for a moment upon seeing Leech.

The figure stood motionless, but Leech kept walking forward, seemingly not having noticed him.

”What’s wrong, Leo?” a young woman asked, looking curiously at her companion.

Leech slowed his pace. He looked at his fourteen-year-old brother, Leo, who was now only half a head shorter than him. ”It’s been over a year,” he remarked with a sigh. ”You’ve grown.”

Apparently, Leo had inherited his maternal grandfather’s excellent genes, growing tall and sturdy. While he bore some resemblance to Leech, his bone structure was more rugged than his brother’s handsome features. As his boyishness faded, a square jaw was beginning to emerge.

”Good day, brother,” Leo said, lowering his head.

The two brothers were reunited, but it was different from their parting that autumn day.

The once-confused youth’s eyes no longer held any trace of bewilderment, but they had also lost their former passion.

”You’re Leo’s brother?” The young woman beside Leo was surprised. She curtsied to Leech. ”I am Ella, Leo’s fiancée.”

”You’re getting married?” Leech looked at Leo, genuinely surprised.

He glanced at Ella. She seemed lively and a little mature for her age, but she was clearly not a noblewoman.

”Hello. I’m Leo’s brother,” Leech said with a nod.

Ella was taken aback. ’I think I recognize Deni, but in this group, Leo’s brother is obviously in charge. Then there’s the other nobleman, and finally, the merchant Deni.’

”If you get homesick, you can always come back and visit.” Leech raised a hand and patted Leo’s shoulder. ”And if you run into trouble, you can come to me. We’re both Clarences, after all.”

”Yes, brother.”

The brothers said nothing more, and Leech walked past him and continued on his way.

When it came to rumors among the nobility, Hawke Wood was clearly more knowledgeable than Deni. In fact, the title ”Divine Favored” itself was intrinsically linked to the story of Leech’s stepmother attempting to assassinate him, so he wasn’t surprised by the distance between the two brothers.

Deni had only heard vague rumors. He’d come across several different versions of the story, but in this instant, he knew which one was the truth.

Leech’s mood remained unaffected. ’I’m not who I used to be,’ he thought. ’And my brother and I have set upon paths destined never to cross again.’

He had no desire to engage in some cliché drama of fratricide. Leo had left the noble class; it was like he was on a leaking ship that had already struck a reef. There was no need to waste effort throwing him overboard—he was already a lost cause.

’Living an ordinary life is also good.’

...

「After Leech and his party had left.」

Ella looked at her downcast fiancé, unsure of how to comfort him.

She knew her father had arranged her engagement to Leo, a man a year her junior, because he was a nobleman without any backing. To a minor merchant, this was a way to climb the social ladder without any financial loss.

It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Merchants all over the world dreamed the same dream of nobility.

But she never expected Leo’s brother to be such a powerful-looking lord.

When the two returned home, Ella naturally told her parents what had happened.

”Clarence! And Mr. Deni was with him? Oh! I should have realized!” Ella’s father slapped his bald forehead, as if that patch of skin had been rendered hairless by his constant, frantic slapping.

His wife asked, puzzled, ”What is it? Didn’t you already know who Leo was? He’s Sir Qiao’s maternal grandson, a nobleman with no title or land.”

”But, he’s a *Clarence*!” Ella’s father stressed again.

”So what?”

”Remember how we begged Mr. Deni and Mr. Claude for ages and still couldn’t get a quota for Porcupine Brand soap? They wouldn’t spare a single bar for small-time merchants like us.”

At the mention of soap, his wife grew envious. ”You know Zhu En? She actually managed to get a set of Porcupine Brand noble soap!”

”And do you know that Clarence *is* Porcupine?”

”Porcupine!” his wife gasped.

Ella reflexively covered her mouth.

’Does this mean we could become relatives of Baron Porcupine? Could we even snatch a share of that soap quota from the tight fists of a merchant like Deni?’

Leo, who had been in his room, came out. He had heard his fiancée’s family talking; the house wasn’t large, and their voices drilled into his head even when he covered his ears.

”We won’t be getting any special treatment from Porcupine Territory,” Leo said.

”Why not?” Ella didn’t understand.

She thought Leech seemed like a kind older brother. He even said they could go to him if they had any trouble. ”You’re both Clarences.”

Leo said, ”Do you know why I came to East Port to live with my maternal grandfather, the Knight, instead of staying in Porcupine Territory with my own brother, the Baron?”

”Why?”

”Because my mother tried to kill him so that I would become the heir to the barony.”

The family of three was stunned into silence.

Their social class was too low to have any real contact with the nobility, let alone understand the sordid affairs that went on among them.

Fratricide was not unheard of among nobles, but for common folk, it was the stuff of shocking tales.

Commoners were more likely to sacrifice themselves just so their children could have a mouthful of food.

”But he survived and even made a miraculous recovery. The Four Gods healed him, which is why he’s also called the Divine Favored.”

There were many legends about the Divine Favored. They were believed to have been brought into the world to fulfill a divine mission.

Leo continued, ”He had no intention of harming me. Instead, he sent me here to East Port, to live with my maternal grandfather.”

Perhaps Leech never considered Leo an enemy, unlike other cold-blooded nobles. Or perhaps Leo simply wasn’t worthy of being his enemy. Regardless, the merchant family now understood: using the Clarence name to get on the fast track with Porcupine Territory was absolutely impossible.

They were merely strangers—and not particularly friendly ones at that.

After this emotional rollercoaster, the family’s mood actually settled down considerably.

Ella said, ”Then let’s just live this life as best we can. I believe what Lord Leech said to you today was sincere.”

”Mm,” Leo nodded. ”Living an ordinary life is good, too.”

’A small family, an ordinary life... it might not be any worse than the life of a noble.’

In fact, since coming to East Port, the constant scheming and backstabbing among the nobles had left him mentally exhausted.

There were suspicious circumstances surrounding his grandfather’s death, but he was just... tired. And powerless to do anything about it.

The merchant and his wife exchanged a look and nodded slightly.

’Even if we can’t get on the fast track with Porcupine Territory, the child our daughter has with Leo will still have the blood of the Porcupine line. Even if Lord Leech never acknowledges them, that can’t change their noble lineage.’

’What we wanted from the beginning was a connection to nobility, so we haven’t lost anything.’

’As for Porcupine Territory? It’s not like we had a connection to begin with, right?’

’The appearance of Baron Porcupine only served to confirm it: our dream of nobility has come true. Our grandchild will be part of a collateral branch of the Baron’s family. This is the most successful investment of our entire lives!’