Lord of Rot

The Horse-headed Eagle banked slightly, its left wing slicing through the water’s surface and kicking up a white wake.

Leech lay flat on the Horse-headed Eagle’s back.

He had kept to a low altitude, skimming just above the water as he flew.

Barging through the airspace of other nobles’ territories would most likely get him treated as an invader.

He had already seen Ostrich Eagle Knights, so it wouldn’t surprise him if there were other ways to fly. There might even be Dragon Knights by now, so it was best to be as low-key as possible.

Only when he was near Pigtail Bay did Leech have Rocket gain altitude.

Looking down from the sky, he saw four foreign ships anchored in Pigtail Bay, but the dock could only accommodate one at a time.

At the dock, a few men were arguing with Gelan and the others.

”Down,” Leech said, gently patting Rocket.

...

”We have brought the slaves as promised,” the slave trader said, glancing at the four-armed man standing behind Gelan and the Soldiers in Scale Armor. He tried his best to keep his tone calm. ”According to the rules, you should start counting the slaves now, then pay up.”

”We can’t make that decision,” Gelan said, shaking his head. ”We must wait for our Lord to return.”

The slave trader said, ”Then count the slaves first!”

Gelan could guess why the man was so anxious. Over four thousand people had been stuffed into four ships, spending months at sea to reach Porcupine Territory. The holds were probably filled with a crowd of sickly, dying slaves. These detestable desert Barbarians wanted his side to hurry up, count them, and settle the bill. If the slaves died on their hands, it would no longer be the traders’ problem.

Once the deal was done, his side would be in the weaker position.

As the chief steward, Gelan had to prioritize the territory’s interests. ”We can only wait for our Lord to return.”

”Your Lord isn’t in the territory. Waiting for him to return will... will waste a lot of time. We have urgent matters to attend to,” the slave trader said, his words rushed and his Common Tongue stumbling.

Every extra day they waited, more people would die, and those were shining Silver Moons slipping through his fingers.

”It won’t be long,” Gelan said with a shake of his head. ”I sent a raven to inform the Lord before you even drew near.”

”A raven?” The slave trader thought the man before him was joking. Needing to use a raven for contact meant the distance was great.

’The slaves on my ships can’t wait that long.’

SKREEE—!

A sharp eagle’s cry suddenly echoed from overhead, followed by a fierce gust of wind that blasted down on them.

”It’s huge!”

”What is that?”

Hearing the gasps of surprise, the slave trader snapped his head up.

A magnificent Horse-headed Eagle grazed past his head, then folded its wings and landed smoothly.

The slave trader stumbled forward in the gust of wind, nearly falling to the ground. He pushed himself upright, hands on his knees, and stared in shock at the figure on the Horse-headed Eagle’s back.

”By Avalado!” he exclaimed, pressing both hands to his chest.

’What am I seeing? A Knight who can fly?!’

”Are you Avalado?” the rider asked, turning around on his Horse-headed Eagle.

”No, esteemed Lord!” The slave trader bowed his head. ”I am a servant of Avalado.”

”Oh,” the man replied nonchalantly, as if he had lost interest.

”We have brought the slaves as promised,” the slave trader said. ”But your men won’t allow them to disembark.”

”Everything they do is in accordance with my orders, and they have done the right thing,” Leech said. ”Now, we can begin the count.”

The slave trader was overjoyed and immediately turned to order his men to get the slaves ashore.

”Quick, get all the slaves off the ships!”

”Not so fast,” said Leech. ”I told you before, I require healthy slaves.”

He called out to a nearby Soldier, ”Have someone bring Vic and the Alchemists. They are to conduct physical examinations on the slaves as they’re being counted.”

”Yes, sir!”

”Lord, this... we of Gaoxue City, when we do business, we never accept...” The slave trader’s face turned ugly. He had quite a few slaves on his ships who were barely breathing. If they went by Leech’s terms, he stood to lose several Jinri!

But Leech ignored him, simply riding away on Rocket.

The fact that Leech could even speak calmly with these slave traders was a testament to his self-restraint. If the man tried to lecture him about ”rules” again, Leech was worried he’d just follow the rules of Lu Leiyi and cut him down on the spot.

The rule of Lu Leiyi: Might makes right.

One of the ships docked. Without a word from the slave traders, the slaves obediently filed off.

After months at sea, some of them were still unsteady on solid ground, swaying as they walked. A few simply collapsed and sat on the ground.

”Get up!” a nearby slave trader barked, brandishing a hardwood club.

But a hand seized his wrist.

He looked at the person who had stopped him—a Soldier clad from head to toe in armor. He had no idea what the status of a Soldier wearing such fine armor was here, but he knew it was best not to start a conflict with them.

”What is it, sir?”

The Soldier replied with a cold expression, ”These slaves are all the Lord’s property now. Hitting them means damaging the Lord’s property! Do you intend to destroy a Lord’s fortune on his own land?”

”No, of course not!”

They just wanted to sell slaves and do business. Who would want to cross the entire Lu Leiyi Continent just to start a war?

After this incident, the other slave traders were a bit gentler, though they still shoved slaves who were walking too slowly.

The Soldiers could only pretend not to see it. As long as no one was seriously hurt, it was fine.

’Once you’re in Porcupine Territory, you’ll have a chance to escape your status as slaves. You’ll have a better future,’ the Soldier thought to himself. ’I was once a slave myself.’

All available Soldiers were pulled over to maintain order. To prevent any chaos, Leech also had the town watch come to help.

The Alchemists also got busy.

They only needed to perform the simplest checks to determine if the slaves had any diseases. It was especially critical to identify anyone with contagious illnesses immediately, or Porcupine Territory could very well become a plague-ridden graveyard.

The entire counting process lasted for half a day.

Finally, a list was handed to Leech.

1,000 able-bodied male slaves. None had died or were sick; their strong bodies could withstand some hardship.

However, a dozen or so were unwell, suffering from vomiting and diarrhea.

But Vic had already confirmed it wasn’t dysentery, just simple seasickness.

Male slaves were 10 Silver Moon each, for a total of 10,000 Silver Moon.

There were 2,803 adult female slaves; 197 had died during the voyage.

Total price: 8,409 Silver Moon.

There were 811 children. It was unknown how many had died along the way, as young children are the most vulnerable on long journeys and when exposed to illness.

Because Leech had specifically emphasized that women with children would fetch a higher price, the slave traders had deliberately thrown in many young child slaves who were clearly orphans.

The total cost came to 18,409 Silver Moon, but the final price quoted by the slave trader was double that.

Leech met with the head slave trader. ”You intend to double the price?”

”It was a long journey,” the slave trader said with a smile. ”We spent a lot of time, some people fell ill, and we were attacked by pirates. Naturally, we have to factor those costs in.”

”Mm,” Leech nodded. ”It certainly wasn’t easy for you. However, I’m still going to pay the original price.”

The smile vanished from the slave trader’s face.

”Gaoxue City does not stand for being strong-armed.”

He had the expression of an aggrieved party, yet he was the one trying to force the sale.

”Hear me out,” Leech said. ”This batch of slaves you brought includes several hundred who are sick. I’ll take them all, and at the original price.”

”Thank you for your mercy,” the slave trader said. ”Without your kindness, they would have only died at sea.”

Leech ignored the flattery and continued, ”For the children, I can pay you an additional 100 Silver Moon as compensation for food costs.”

The slave trader said gleefully, ”It is their honor to be able to settle down here!”

Female slaves were a different matter than the males. The trader had worried that only the women who could be paired with the 811 children would fetch the price of 3 Silver Moon each, and that the childless ones would have to be sold for even less.

But he hadn’t expected the Lord before him to be willing to pay the original price for all of them.

”And... I can pay in Jinri.”

”Jinri! Are you certain?”

”Of course I’m certain. For the total price of 18,509 Silver Moon, I’ll pay you 185 Jinri. What do you think?” Leech said. ”Eighteen thousand Silver Moon is too cumbersome. I think Jinri are more convenient to carry.”

”Thank you for your mercy!” The slave trader nodded vigorously, afraid Leech would go back on his word.

While the official exchange rate was one-to-one hundred, anyone who wasn’t a fool knew that Jinri were actually worth more.

As for how much extra profit he could make, that would depend on how he handled it.

”Alright, you can leave Porcupine Territory now,” Leech said, standing up and dismissing them without ceremony.

”May Avalado bless you!”

”Sorry, I believe in the Four Gods,” Leech said, shaking his head. ”I cannot accept your blessing.”

The slave ships didn’t linger; they left immediately after being paid.

Leech watched the slave ships recede into the distance. He had originally considered just killing them and taking the money back, but then he thought about how difficult Avalado of Gaoxue City was to deal with. An army of 500,000 slaves was no joke.

He could only put that thought aside for now.

’I won’t kill them outright, but there are other methods.’

It was precisely because of that other idea that Leech had taken the ”loss” and paid in Jinri.

He took out the [Unseeable Pot], stared at it for a long time, and made a small decision.

’Jinri are more convenient to carry, after all.’