Lord of Rot

Night, and silence.

A short, stout figure hurried through the bushes.

After walking along the path for a long time, he came upon a small fishing hut. Two torches lit the doorway, their flames flickering on the water’s surface.

The short, stout figure raised his left hand, the fingernails still gray with dirt, and pushed open the door.

CREAK—

As soon as he entered, he saw three women sitting inside the room.

They turned in unison to look at the short, stout figure who had just entered. ”Yarrn, Mr. Pig.”

The ”beastman” Pig gave a sly chuckle. He had a weakness for beautiful women and often fantasized that they would fall in love with him at first sight, just like in the songs of the Minstrels.

However, these women were all too reserved and would never take the initiative to express their affection for him.

The one on the far left was buxom, sexy, and mature.

The one in the middle had short, neat hair, exuding an air of competence.

The one on the right was petite and cute.

”Yarrn, my three beautiful ladies.”

Pig clumsily imitated the etiquette of the nobility.

His unhealthy layers of fat made the gesture look incredibly strenuous.

The sexy woman on the far left was the first to speak. ”Grandmother is furious. She wants the head of Leech Clarence, and for that, we are willing to offer a reward of 100 Jinri.”

”I do love a filial lady,” Pig said, his face twisting into a smile he thought was handsome but was, in fact, utterly lewd.

”If you can bring back his head,” the sexy woman on the left said with a smile, ”you can be engaged to one of us three sisters. We could even have you ennobled as a Monkey Knight.”

HUFF! PUFF!

Pig’s breathing instantly grew ragged.

He wished he could pounce on them right then and there and drag all three women to bed.

’Since they’re destined to marry me anyway, why wait so long?’

But he was rational enough to know that using force would only bring him misfortune. ”I will definitely bring his head back!” he declared.

”If you’re gone for too long, those two will surely suspect you,” said the woman on the left. ”We await your good news, mighty Mr. Pig.”

”Haha, just you wait for my good news!”

Pig waved goodbye and turned to leave, leaving the three beautiful young women with a view of the two thick folds on the back of his neck and his swaying pig-tail braid.

Once the door was closed, the petite woman on the far right asked, ”Aya, do you really think that stupid pig can kill Leech Clarence?”

The long-haired, sexy woman rolled her eyes and said, ”Sister Nut, our talk of killing Baron Porcupine was just to please Grandmother. As long as she knows we’re making a move, that’s enough. Besides, that ugly beastman surrendered instantly before, and now he has the gall to come back and demand a higher price? We might as well have sent him to get himself killed by Baron Porcupine.”

”That’s true,” ’Sister Nut,’ the petite woman, nodded lightly. ”If he hadn’t killed Bill’s family, our Little Bill would never have become the real Bill.”

Aya nodded. ”Grandmother just wants to make a statement to the outside world, to show her stance.”

After this ”assassination” attempt, whether it succeeded or failed would have nothing to do with their Little Bill’s family.

The two of them suddenly stopped, both turning to look at the silent, short-haired girl in the middle.

Aya prompted gently, ”Lulu?”

”Huh?” The short-haired girl snapped out of her daze. ”What is it, Sister Aya?”

”What are you thinking about?” ’Sister Nut’ asked curiously.

The short-haired girl, Lulu, said, ”I was wondering if Leech Clarence really rides a Flying Horse that can soar through the sky. I heard he descended from the heavens on a Flying Horse and single-handedly defeated a group of Transcendents at Shanzhang Castle.”

”If you’re so interested, we’ll just have to let you meet him sometime, and then you’ll know.”

’Sister Nut’ stood up and said, ”Don’t forget the most important reason we came here. We head to the Bonta market tomorrow. With Bill’s entire family dead, we need to contact Oasis City as soon as possible.”

”Understood.”

”I’m going back to sleep.”

Everything fell silent again.

Meanwhile, the smile on Pig’s face as he left the fishing hut was full of mockery.

’They really think I’m that stupid!’ he snorted. ’Lord Leech already told me he’s willing to pay double for his own life! Why would I take your 100 Jinri when I can get 200 from him? Hmph!’

...

A kerosene lamp lit a corner of the castle.

It was time for the daily night school session.

After several consecutive months of instruction, the number of students in the night school had not increased; on the contrary, it was decreasing.

The knowledge being taught grew more and more profound, and the curriculum became heavier. Naturally, more and more students found themselves unable to keep up.

Another portion of the students, having learned enough to qualify for the jobs they desired, simply stopped attending.

Those who remained were the ones who were not satisfied with their current situation, or who truly thirsted for knowledge.

Leech had just finished dinner. The Giant Crab meat had given him a burst of energy, and since he also wanted to escape the onslaught of paperwork from Gelan, he decided to come to the night school to sit in on a class and aid his digestion.

When he arrived, Scholar Toma’s class was just beginning.

Leech had specifically instructed him not to teach overly profound material.

He had especially warned him not to go off-topic and to stick to the syllabus, but Scholar Toma still couldn’t control his own pace.

He had gone off on a tangent once again.

As Leech walked in, he heard Scholar Toma, full of vigor, lecturing a class of bewildered students about his latest research on Runes.

Leech simply couldn’t listen anymore. ”Ahem!”

He coughed aloud as a reminder.

Scholar Toma finally snapped out of it as if waking from a dream. ”My lord, was there a problem with what I was just explaining?”