Lord of Rot

Chapter 475: Chapter 420: For the Greater Good

“Oh, my pearl~”

When Leech saw the lord of Mama City, Lion·Ma Ma, he was, to be honest, very disappointed.

Among the many lords on the Lu Leiyi Continent, Mama City’s domain was by no means large. It couldn’t even compare to the Porcupine Territory. After all, the Porcupine Territory bordered the sea, had rivers, dense forests for lumber, and land that could be farmed. One could say that aside from being a little small, having poor transportation, a sparse population, and limited farmland, it was actually quite nice.

It wasn’t like his father Lieder’s extreme management model: relying entirely on warfare to build military merit and plunder, too lazy to farm, and completely ignoring the territory itself.

So, for the two or three hundred people in the Porcupine Territory, it wasn’t difficult to achieve a basic level of subsistence.

Especially when compared to the barren Mama City, built on sand…

But this small clan, which could only hide behind its city walls and had no way to grow its own food, had somehow relied on its own special methods to make Mama City famous.

Leech had expected to see a man more ruthless than Baron Jin Fu, but also more intelligent. Or perhaps someone like his maternal grandfather, Old Crocodile—gentle on the outside, but decisive and vicious in his actions. But what he saw with his own eyes was a doughy, middle-aged man with a vacant gaze, constantly muttering, “Oh, my pearl~”.

The greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment.

“And this is?” he asked, looking at Leech with some confusion, as if only just realizing there were extra people in the room.

The Soldier standing behind Leech took a step forward.

“Before you stands the Baron of Porcupine Territory, Baron of Iron Valley, the Divine Favored, Conqueror of Flames, the Dauntless One, Lord Leech Clarence!”

‘I’ve managed to accumulate quite a few titles without even noticing,’ Leech thought to himself. ‘I wonder if I’ll be able to compare their length with King Bor II’s in the future.’

As Leech’s mind wandered, no one could detect any change in his expression.

“I am the lord of Mama City, Lion·Ma Ma.” Lion·Ma Ma was obviously taken aback by Leech’s numerous titles; his own was much simpler by comparison.

Every title represented a legend that others would undoubtedly recognize, and one that was difficult to replicate. Otherwise, if you boasted of a title that no one had ever heard of, it would be quite embarrassing.

“Divine Favored” represented Leech’s revival after an assassination attempt by his stepmother. “Conqueror of Flames” signified that he had made a name for himself with muskets and cannons, slightly skewing the developmental path of Magic. “The Dauntless One” represented how he had led the charge, cutting down all the guards on the city walls.

“Baron, could you tell me about Princess Sophia’s background?” Leech asked.

Lisu Muma also looked toward her father. She was very clear about her own origins.

But seeing how serious Leech was, and with a group of Wandering Knights insisting she was Princess Sophia’s daughter, she couldn’t help but start to doubt herself.

‘Could I really be a princess?’

“She is indeed not my biological daughter,” Lion·Ma Ma sighed. “But she can’t possibly be Princess Sophia’s daughter.”

Leech smiled, waiting for Lion·Ma Ma to continue. He knew perfectly well that Lisu Muma was not Princess Sophia’s daughter. But to righteously intervene in the desert war, he needed a reason that could stand on its own. Whether anyone believed it was irrelevant; he had found his pretext.

Directly helping the daughter of the previous Princess Sophia to crush the rebellion and reclaim everything that belongs to her—that was an excellent excuse.

‘Once the story is out, we fight. If I win, then everything I said is true.

If I lose, then everything I said is bullshit.’

The only enemies in his eyes were the Half-Beastmen. The Buffalo Count, the Wild Boar Mercenary Corps, and whoever else… all of them together weren’t even worth his consideration.

It was a clear indicator of the whole situation. For the Buffalo Count to treat the Wild Boar Mercenary Corps as a prize to be won over, even bestowing upon them the title of Viscount, proved his own strength was lacking. Leech was certain of one thing: the Count was definitely not Palace Level.

Lion·Ma Ma said, “She is the daughter my sister gave birth to.”

Beside them, Lisu Muma’s eyes widened. She had no idea!

‘I thought I had no blood relation to my father, but to think this was the truth!’

“My sister had the wild streak of the Mama Clan in her bones.” As he recalled his sister, Lion·Ma Ma seemed like an old man at the end of his life, fond of reminiscing. “Lisu is just like her. But back then, she didn’t listen to my advice and secretly ran off with a desert bandit. By the time I found her again, she had given birth to Lisu, but she herself died on her sickbed from complications in childbirth.”

Lion·Ma Ma looked at Lisu, his eyes filled with boundless affection. “I could not allow my sister’s daughter to wander about with a desert bandit. They weren’t even married, meaning Lisu would be an illegitimate child. That man also saw Lisu as nothing but a burden.”

There was no need to state the rest; Leech could already guess what happened.

The best solution would have been for Lion·Ma Ma to find a woman willing to become Lisu Muma’s mother. He would then marry her, and the child would naturally follow her mother into the new family, taking the Mama surname.

Leech was basically immune to the melodramatic stories of the nobility. To be honest, aside from Lisu’s mother choosing to elope with a desert bandit, the rest of the story was actually quite heartwarming.

But this didn’t change Leech’s impression of the father and daughter. He just figured that even a bandit who murdered and set fires without batting an eye could have familial affection; their heart wasn’t truly as cold as a knife.

He even suspected that Lisu Muma’s biological father hadn’t so much voluntarily given up raising his daughter as he had been *persuaded* to give up raising her.

“From this day forward, she will be Princess Sophia.” Leech looked at Lisu Muma. “Years ago, Princess Sophia secretly gave birth to her. But the princess had already discovered the Buffalo Count’s ulterior motives, so she had a handmaiden swap the baby with a cat. The Buffalo Count believed that Princess Sophia had given birth to a monster. After secretly disposing of the cat, he suppressed the news. In reality, the handmaiden secretly took the princess’s daughter away and went into hiding…”

Leech turned to Lion·Ma Ma and said, “And eventually, she married you, Baron!”

People don’t care about the truth of a story; they care about the eye-catching elements. Swapping a baby for a cat was clearly a good angle. It also explained why there was no news of Princess Sophia giving birth.

Most importantly, it had precedent.

His tone was firm. This was not a negotiation, but a demand.

‘The moment I arrived and they accepted my help, they should have been prepared to lose all their sovereignty.’

“Yes, my lord.” Lion·Ma Ma understood. From this day forward, the city would have a new master. He had to follow Leech’s instructions and tell the story he had been given.

‘This is for the best,’ he thought. ‘At least my beloved sister’s daughter has become Princess Sophia. Her safety and her future are now guaranteed.’

Lisu Muma’s emotions were in turmoil. She had never imagined her origins were so bizarre, but now she had to accept an even more bizarre identity—that of a princess.

Leech wasn’t afraid of angering the Buffalo Count. Besides the Half-Beastmen in the desert, the slaves waiting to be liberated in Gaoxue City were also his targets. They were all part of his planned population growth.

‘Since things have come to this, let’s just drop all pretenses. This will give me a perfect excuse to sweep across the desert in the future.’

For example: in the name of Princess Sofia.

Restoring a kingdom—that was a fine casus belli.

Ever since the Half-Beastmen landed, Leech had a faint feeling that future conflicts would become increasingly unavoidable. He needed to take firm control of this area and prepare for the possible return of the Half-Beastman Expeditionary Corps.

He didn’t believe for a second that he could live a peaceful life and happily farm his lands after the Half-Beastmen invaded.

A certain line came to mind: “For the greater good.”