Lord of Rot

Night had fallen. The daytime stench of blood and madness had been blown away by the wind.

Leech sat in the hastily cleaned council chamber.

Compared to the oppressive great hall, Iron Wall Castle’s council chamber was quite plain, containing only a simple, long, solid wood table and four chairs.

Candles were lit, and the flickering flames made Leech’s shadow dance upon the wall.

Leech thought to himself, ’Even at its peak, Iron Valley had at most four administrators. And this room was hardly ever used.’

His most profound memory of an Iron Valley lord came from a book he had read. More than a decade ago, a lord of Iron Valley had been obsessed with flight and wanted to build a ship that could sail the skies.

And then, he fell to his death, right from the cliffs by the eastern wall of Iron Wall Castle.

’It’d be a miracle if the territory could develop when its lord only cared about his own pleasure.’

The feudal administration of the nobility was a layered hierarchy. The former lord of Iron Wall Castle’s domain was limited to the castle itself. The development of the other three villages was left entirely in the hands of the enfeoffed nobles, from whom he only needed to collect taxes.

This was the style of the vast majority of lords. A lord like Leech, who managed the work and daily lives of every single person in his territory, was likely the only one of his kind in the entire world.

At this moment, Corpse Ghost Aina and the Necromancer Ah Yamei stood on either side of him. It was safest to have the two Corpse Ghosts by his side.

At the entrance to the council chamber, the steward, Lidun, stood ramrod straight. ”My Lord, the others have arrived.”

”Let them in.”

Leech convened the first Iron Wall Castle meeting.

As for the Soldiers’ victory celebration, that would have to wait.

After Lacy, Kuai Ren, and the portly Manager Pang entered, the steward, Lidun, closed the door.

A castle absolutely could not do without a steward; Leech knew this from deep experience.

”Have a seat,” Leech said, pointing to the three chairs before him. ”Have you all had dinner?”

”We have, my Lord!” Pang nodded quickly.

Only then did he realize that the two noble Knights in armor had not yet spoken, and he quickly shut his mouth.

Lacy and Kuai Ren then nodded.

”You may not be able to rest well tonight. We have too many matters weighing on our shoulders, so you must eat your fill.”

Everyone, including the Baron, had to prepare to stay up all night.

Leech first turned to Kuai Ren. ”I need a report on the casualties from the assault.”

”We have 54 prisoners. Thirty of the enemy were killed in action, and another 16 died of grievous wounds. We suffered no deaths,” Kuai Ren reported. ”However, two of our Soldiers were grazed by ballista bolts. They have a few broken bones and will have a hard time wielding a sword again.”

Pang, who was standing to the side, gulped. He knew that of the thirty killed, the new Lord before him had personally slain at least twenty-five. The sixteen who were grievously wounded were likely his handiwork as well.

Because by the time those men in gleaming armor had mounted the walls, the militia of Iron Wall Castle had already thrown down their weapons and surrendered.

”Treat them first,” Leech said. ”Go ask their opinion. After they’ve recovered, if they want to return to Porcupine Territory, I’ll arrange some light duties for them. If they want to stay in Iron Wall Castle, even better. This place is in desperate need of people for its development.”

On the one hand, they could go back and live out their days in leisure; on the other, they could stay here to become managers and have better prospects for advancement, though it would be much more arduous.

Kuai Ren nodded. The fact that the Lord’s first order of business was to ask about casualties eased his heavy heart considerably. Leech was, as always, a benevolent lord.

Leech added, ”Tell them not to worry about their stipends. They will receive everything once Iron Wall Castle is stabilized.”

”Yes, my Lord!”

”Lock up the prisoners for now.”

Truthfully, Leech was getting a bit of a headache. His personal savings would have a hard time supporting the development of two territories.

Porcupine Territory was able to maintain a simple economic cycle and was developing steadily.

Iron Valley, however, was a wreck as far as the eye could see. It required a massive injection of capital, and now that it was his territory, he couldn’t possibly just let it be.

Moreover, Iron Valley bordered Waterfall Land, and to its south lay Monkey Territory and Burning City.

Any other lord would find this a huge headache, squeezed with no room to survive, but Waterfall Land was on his side.

’Bleeding Porcupine Territory dry to subsidize Iron Valley seems unavoidable,’ he thought.

He put that problem aside for the time being to focus on the issues at hand.

Leech looked at the portly manager, Pang. ”How is the census coming along?”

”Yes, my Lord!” Pang sat up straight, his belly pressing against the table.

He sucked in his gut, then said, ”There are a total of 1,012 households in Iron Wall Castle, with 3,035 residents. Of those, 1,020 are male, and 2,015 are female.”

Leech looked at Pang with some surprise. If these weren’t numbers he had just pulled out of thin air, it meant the man was extremely competent.

To be able to sort through the data and information of over three thousand people in just half an afternoon, and with such detailed numbers at that.

The deadline Leech had given him was to submit a detailed statistical report by tomorrow afternoon. For tonight, he had only required a head count.

Leech said, ”I’m very curious how you managed to complete the census in such a short amount of time.”

Pang immediately replied, ”I had them line up, then I questioned each one and recorded their information.”

’There’s no way he could have finished the count like that,’ Leech thought. ’Not unless these people had undergone strict training, were completely cooperative, and every single one of them could write.’

Even if all the information had been placed right in front of Pang for him to organize, he might not have been able to finish it in half an afternoon.

”I didn’t do it all by myself,” Pang explained. ”I found the headmen of Iron Wall Castle and had them divide the residents into two groups. Of course, your powerful Warriors were there to help. When people learned they were going to be separated, they automatically sought out their friends and relatives. Not knowing what was going to happen, they instinctively flocked together, like sheep.”

”That made the counting much easier,” Pang said, rising to place a stack of papers in front of Leech. ”I only recorded one name for each household.”

”Well done.” Leech glanced at the papers.

He had counted the population by household, treating those with no relatives as a separate household.

Leech hadn’t seen much of Pang’s administrative skills, but he clearly had a deep understanding of human nature.

When faced with a frightening and unknown situation, people would spontaneously seek out their companions and family, which prevented the need for shouting orders and dealing with disobedience.

He only needed to call out the head of each household.

The numbers were likely a bit inflated, as there might have been stragglers who couldn’t find their families, or some names might have been recorded twice. But the total population being around three thousand should be accurate.

Three thousand people—all of them potential labor.

Leech then looked at Lacy.

Lacy Sith began to report his progress. ”The craftsmen have been selected. There are 53 of them.”

Leech said, ”Good. Have them start by repairing the armor.”

Lacy replied, ”I’ve already arranged for it.”

Nodding, Leech turned to Kuai Ren. ”What’s the situation with the prisoner interrogations?”

”They said they weren’t just serving the Black King,” Kuai Ren reported. ”They were also guarding against the entry of any outsiders.”

Leech frowned. ”What does that mean? What about the Black King? Didn’t the Black King send them to guard the castle?”

”My Lord,” the portly Manager Pang raised his hand. As the gazes of the other three men fell on him, he swallowed hard and said, ”I think I know why.”

”Ah, I’d forgotten we have a local here,” Leech said, tapping the table lightly in a moment of realization. ”Go on, why is that?”

Manager Pang said with difficulty, ”The dead are rising!”

’The dead are rising again!’

It seemed the entirety of Iron Valley was connected to this rising of the dead, but Leech hadn’t seen anything of the sort on his way here. Baron Ross’s legion had also been quiet, though the Baron had reminded Leech that some strange things had been happening recently.

”What do you mean, ’the dead are rising’?”

”Some people have seen their dead relatives reappear,” Manager Pang said.

’So it’s the same Undead Magic, or some necromantic technique similar to my own.’ This wasn’t particularly strange; to Leech, it was just another ”colleague” in the field.

He was quite experienced when it came to dealing with corpses.

”Have you seen them too?”

”Of course not, my Lord,” Pang shook his head. ”Everyone who has seen them has died and then vanished.”

Leech asked, ”So the residents of the castle hid in here to escape the rising dead?”

”Yes, my Lord!”

’It seems that even if it weren’t for the Duke’s Pill of Immortality, I’d still have to investigate this matter for the sake of the territory’s development.’

He ordered, ”Kuai Ren, don’t slack off on the night patrols. Whether it’s the dead rising or the living looking to die, if there are any problems, fire a warning shot immediately. I want to ensure no one enters this castle without my permission.”

”Yes, my Lord!”

”Lacy, the craftsmen must begin repairing armor and weapons immediately. As for managing the residents... I see they are quite obedient. Sigh, just leave the residents be for now.”

There was no working environment within Iron Wall Castle. Even though Leech now had over three thousand people, he couldn’t put them to use.

Besides, this group of commoners who only wanted to hide in the castle didn’t require much management. As long as they didn’t cause trouble, he would leave them alone.

Leech turned to Pang again. ”Are there any survivors in the other three villages? What was their usual resident population? Never mind!”

He suddenly remembered that the latest census data was from three years ago. With the recent war and the dead rising, there was no telling how many people were still alive.

”Lacy, in a moment, you and Pang go check the castle granary and see how much surplus grain we have.”

”Yes, my Lord!”

The first meeting came to an end. The three men rose, bowed, and took their leave.

Pang clumsily mimicked them, then, sticking out his large belly, he hurried after Lacy’s retreating figure. At a glance, he looked like a ball stuck to Lacy’s heels.

Leech, however, felt a throbbing pain in his head.

’After the Black King comes out of his coffin tomorrow, I’ll first see what’s in his memories. It would also be best to send out some corpse birds to investigate the three villages we’ve lost contact with, and especially to find the location of the Petroleum Ore mine.’

Leech hadn’t forgotten the reason he’d come all the way to this godforsaken backwater. If it weren’t for the petroleum, wouldn’t he be better off happily developing Porcupine Territory?

He stood up and stretched. ’I’d like something to drink... Never mind, circumstances don’t permit it.’

He missed his life in Porcupine Castle. If he could have a bowl of ice cream and a glass of Extraordinary Honey water right now, he would surely feel much better.

Walking out of the council chamber, Leech asked the steward waiting at the door, ”Mr. Lidun, is there any wine in the castle?”

”I believe the castle has a wine cellar, my Lord.”

”No rush. First, take me to see Iron Wall Castle’s treasury.”

’The whole castle is mine now. It’d be a waste not to see what treasures are inside.’

”Yes, my Lord. Please follow me.”