Lord of Rot

「Early morning.」

Longship Castle. The church.

Today was the baptism of the newborn Baron of Longship Castle.

Leech and the other nobles were already waiting inside the church.

He looked up at the statues of the Four Gods.

No one knew what Leech was thinking. They just assumed that as a faithful believer in the Four Gods, he was praying to them.

He was, in fact, praying, but Leech’s faith was one of convenience. He’d offer a quick prayer if he happened to see a statue and thought of it, but he was too lazy to go out of his way for it.

Porcupine Territory had no church. Iron Valley, on the other hand, had a large, abandoned monastery, but Leech had already taken it over and filled it with Undead.

So, in terms of piety, Leech had none whatsoever.

”Lord Leech, you are a faithful servant of the Four Gods,” the Bishop of the Four Gods Sect in Waterfall Land said, smiling at Leech.

In his subconscious, he believed that Leech, as a Divine Favored, must be a faithful believer of the Four Gods. The reality, however, was likely completely different from what he imagined.

Leech just smiled. He had just made a dozen more wishes to the Four Gods, including but not limited to stumbling upon a Dragon Egg or accidentally salvaging sunken treasure.

’The gods have no use for treasure and gold, so they might as well give it to me. I could even use it to save those poor Believers who can’t afford to eat.’

He felt it was a very good deal, but he wasn’t sure what the Four Gods thought of it.

”May the Four Gods bless you.”

”May the Four Gods bless you.”

As the church doors were pushed open, Lady Jie Lin arrived, holding her child.

Everyone turned to look at the tiny figure swaddled in blankets.

Black hair, and born of Lady Jie Lin—he must have the blood of the Wado family.

Lady Jie Lin carried the child to the foot of the statues of the Four Gods.

The ceremony officially began.

The crowd fell completely silent. You could hear a pin drop.

”Oh, Four Gods, hear our prayer!” The Priest looked at the infant in the swaddling clothes.

The infant stared back at him with wide, black eyes.

The Priest couldn’t help but reveal a warm smile, but he quickly composed himself and began reciting the prayer: ”O great Four Gods, without your help, we are all sinners. We pray to you, please grant us the right to enter your Divine Kingdom.”

He gave Lady Jie Lin a slight nod.

Lady Jie Lin placed the bundle on the table and unwrapped the blankets, revealing the little one kicking his legs in the air.

A basin of warm water that had been prepared earlier was brought forward.

The Priest continued to recite: ”Lirde Wadu, with this first baptism you receive today, you shall become a believer of the Four Gods. The Four Gods promise to protect you for your entire life.”

He reached out and tested the water’s temperature with one hand. Once he was sure it was fine, he took hold of Little Lierde and slowly immersed him in the wooden basin of warm water for the baptism.

The baptism of the Four Gods was a full immersion, but they were always gentle when it came to children.

Especially since this infant was the future Baron of the fief; no one dared to let anything go wrong.

”Today, I baptize you in the name of the Celestial Father.”

Submerged in the water, Little Lierde didn’t seem uncomfortable. In fact, he leisurely waved his arms.

He was slowly lifted up, his body clearing the water’s surface.

Nearby, Lady Jie Lin watched nervously the entire time.

Leech was also staring from below.

”I baptize you in the name of the Knight.”

With that, he immersed Little Lierde in the water once more.

”I baptize you in the name of the Woman.”

He was lifted up, then immersed again.

”I baptize you in the name of the Prisoner.”

After the four immersions were complete, Little Lierde was placed on a waiting blanket. Lady Jie Lin quickly dried the water droplets from his body, then placed him back in his swaddling clothes, wrapping him up carefully for fear he might get sick.

The Priest continued, ”This child is a gift from the Four Gods and the fruit of worldly love. May this love accompany him as he grows.”

The entire baptism was quiet. People held their breath, afraid of interrupting the sacred ceremony.

Some people’s gazes on Little Lierde were particularly fervent.

’A young lord for Waterfall Land. When he grows up, he will surely bring greater glory to our home. The nobles of Waterfall Land are not finished; we have a new and brighter future ahead of us.’

Their loyalty rapidly increased.

However, another group of people had more complex expressions. ’Lierde?’

’The Wado family history does mention an ancestor with that name. His power was apparently decent, and he had some achievements, but that was about it.’

’In contrast, the name Lierde Clarence—the deceased old Baron Porcupine—was far more famous. Nearly all the nobles of the Eastern Gorge had heard of him.’

’It must be a coincidence. Otherwise... could this child actually be Leech’s? Impossible!’

Thinking of the old Baron Porcupine, they subconsciously compared him to the new one and came to a firm conclusion: the old Baron couldn’t hold a candle to the current one.

Once word of Leech’s military achievements spread, the entire kingdom would hear his name.

Defeating 2,000 men with just 300, without a single casualty—if you told anyone, they probably wouldn’t believe it.

Some people looked toward Leech, truly suspecting the child was related to him. Otherwise, why would he have come?

But when they saw the faint smile on his face, their hearts began to pound with uncertainty again, feeling the possibility was too low.

The baptism ended.

Lady Jie Lin would hold a celebration in a month. Originally, it was supposed to be held today, but the previous battle had consumed a year’s worth of Waterfall Land’s development, setting them back to where they started.

But to have solved the problem of the monkeys’ harassment with such a small sacrifice, they felt it was an incredible gain no matter how you looked at it.

The coffin Leech had been painstakingly waiting for was finally opened.

His Spiritual Power drilled into the corpse’s body, and he soon saw its memories.