Lord of Rot

East Gorge.

Three-fork River Castle.

Lamplight illuminated the entire castle. The wealthy Three-fork River Castle never skimped on beeswax candles; lighting up the whole castle every day was a huge expense.

The father and son of the Linsen Clan were talking.

"No!" The eldest son of the Linsen Clan, the young Steven Linsen, was emotional. "Father, I want to be like the Knights of legend, riding a swift horse across the battlefield! I want to meet my lover, just as the Knights of legend did! That is why I refuse this arranged marriage!"

"This is about the Leopolds," Hawke Wood said, looking at his son with a calm expression.

His tone left no room for doubt. "We need this alliance with the Leopolds."

"So you’ll sacrifice me? Or do you want to force me to swear an oath before the Four Gods to protect a lady I’ve never met for the rest of my life?" Steven paced back and forth anxiously, trying to persuade his father with his knowledge and eloquence.

But his father always wore a cold expression, rendering all his well-reasoned arguments useless.

"Miss Agnes is very beautiful," Hawke Wood said. "I’ve met her. We had a pleasant conversation, and she will be your wife."

Steven said, "Perhaps she doesn’t want to marry me."

"The Leopolds wouldn’t do that," Hawke Wood said, shaking his head.

Knowing he couldn’t convince him, Steven turned to leave, dejected.

Hawke Wood’s voice rang out from behind him. "Someone will deliver a portrait of Miss Agnes tomorrow. Perhaps you can look at it before you decide."

"No!" Steven gritted his teeth. "I don’t care what she looks like! I will never agree!"

He pushed open the door and left. He hadn’t gone far when a beautiful young woman, holding up her long skirt, walked toward him.

"Did you argue with Father again?" the young woman asked, blocking Steven’s path.

"He wants me to marry a Leopold," Steven said. "Jennifer, you know me. I would rather be a stallion galloping across the plains, my iron hooves treading upon the world, than be bridled."

"We are Linsens," Jennifer said softly. "Have you forgotten our family motto?"

Steven said resentfully, "Flames light the path ahead."

"Yes, flames light the path ahead," Jennifer nodded. "You are destined to become that flame—the future flame of Three-fork River Castle."

"But, my dear sister," Steven sighed deeply, "our family crest is a torch."

Before you can light the path ahead, you must first set yourself alight.

"That’s it!" Steven’s spirits lifted. He said in a low voice, "Jennifer, you look just like Mother, and Father has always doted on you the most. Why don’t you go and talk to him?"

"Ah, me?"

"Yes. If you’re the one to ask, Father might just agree."

"Well..." Jennifer hesitated. She was never one to meddle in family affairs, but seeing her own brother beg her like this, she finally nodded. "But I can’t make any promises."

"I’m sure you’ll succeed!" Steven pushed Jennifer along at a light jog, bringing her to the door.

He reached out, knocked on the door, and then quickly left.

"Come in," Hawke Wood’s voice came from inside the room.

Jennifer entered. "Father."

Hawke Wood, sitting in his chair, looked at the newcomer. His expression grew distant for a moment, but he quickly came back to himself. "Ah, Jennifer. You’ve come about Steven, haven’t you?"

"Yes."

Jennifer walked to her father’s side and began to massage his shoulders.

"The times are turbulent," Hawke Wood said. "Do you know why the Leopolds want this marriage alliance? It’s a statement. If we refuse, the Golden Thorn Sword Clan’s army will be at Three-fork River Castle tomorrow. Our position is too unique. The Leopolds can’t allow us to remain neutral."

Her father had never spoken to her about such things before, and Jennifer didn’t know how to respond.

"So you need Steven to marry Miss Leopold?"

"Yes," Hawke Wood nodded. "This Three-fork River makes us wealthy, but it also puts us in a perilous position. Whoever controls this place has an absolute geographical advantage."

Jennifer didn’t understand. Under the rule of the powerful Duke Leopold, who in East Gorge would dare to rebel?

"It seems you don’t understand." Hawke Wood turned to look at his daughter. His expression grew distant again, as if he were seeing his late wife. A flicker of conflict crossed his eyes. It was a long while before he came back to himself. "Duke Leopold... his old injuries have flared up. According to my information, the Duke can no longer get out of bed."

"What!" Jennifer’s hands, which were kneading his shoulders, froze.

For the lesser nobility, the Duke of East Gorge being bedridden with a serious illness was no different from the sky falling.

"He needs the Three-fork River," Hawke Wood sighed.

"And we must give him the Three-fork River. Don’t worry, I know Steven’s personality," Hawke Wood said. "Once he sees the portrait, he is sure to fall in love with Miss Agnes."

Jennifer nodded, still not having recovered from the shock.

...

Leech’s expression was grave.

’News might travel slowly in this era, but word of anything involving the nobility could spread to every corner of the continent overnight.’

’Duru Leopold is actually paralyzed and bedridden.’

It had all happened so suddenly.

Leech was suddenly reminded of his own cheap old dad, Lieder. He had also been struck by a sudden, serious illness before kicking the bucket.

’He must have had some hidden ailment that had been building up, and this latest flare-up put him in bed for good.’

As the pillar of all of East Gorge, Duke Leopold being paralyzed and bedridden was definitely not good news.

Being paralyzed and bedridden wouldn’t necessarily affect his lifespan; Duke Leopold could very well live for another ten or twenty years. But a paralyzed duke’s ability to rule would be significantly weakened.

A healthy and powerful Leopold inspired awe. A Duke Leopold tormented by illness would only be seen as meat for the vultures.

’And all I want to do is farm in peace.’

Leech could guess that some of the nobles who had long been discontent with Leopold would now stand up to cause trouble and stir up conflict.

For that faction, the best outcome would be Duru Leopold’s death, with his son, Pine Leopold, becoming the Duke of East Gorge.

Leech had met Pine before. He was a standard-issue incompetent heir who knew how to do everything—partying, drinking, you name it—except for actual business.

As their future liege lord, he couldn’t even be bothered to visit Porcupine Territory a second time.

With a new liege lord like that, it would be a miracle if the other nobles behaved themselves.

’A war probably won’t break out that quickly. If it does, I can apply to go to Iron Valley first,’ Leech thought. ’Porcupine Territory’s foundation is weak; we definitely can’t afford to get dragged into a war with them.’

To think that the seemingly chaotic Giant’s Foot had been unified by a suddenly-appearing prince, while East Gorge, always known for its peace and stability, was about to be plunged into turmoil.

When Leech saw Deni and Claude, the smiles on their faces were also diminished.

They were the ones most directly affected. War always had the biggest impact on merchants, though whether it was for better or for worse was still impossible to say.

Claude said, "My lord, we’ve come to take our leave."

"Be careful on the road," Leech said.

The convoy departed.

Life in Porcupine Territory would continue as usual.

Nevertheless, Leech immediately assigned a portion of his people a new task. The alchemy workshop had to be built as soon as possible. If only for the oil in Iron Valley, technologies like flintlocks and Alchemy Bombs had to be matured quickly and proven ready for the battlefield.

Then Leech went to find the "useless scholar," Toma.

When he found Toma, the scholar was staring blankly at a pile of paper.

He only turned his head after hearing the sound, then eagerly asked, "My lord, what is this?"

"It’s paper. Didn’t the person who gave it to you tell you?"

"Of course, he did," Scholar Toma said. "But... you can make this kind of paper? Mass-produce it?"

"That’s right, and the process isn’t very complicated." Leech smiled and nodded. "I call this technique ’papermaking’."

"Papermaking!" Scholar Toma was deeply shaken.

"What a great invention!"

Scholar Toma said, "This paper will make it much more convenient for me to record Magic Arrays. It’s so much better than parchment."

"You want to record Magic Arrays on paper?" Leech asked. "You mean like recording a spell on it, and then you can just tear the paper to use the magic directly?"

’Isn’t that just a Magic Scroll?’

Scholar Toma gasped in astonishment. "My lord, you are a true genius! I may not believe in the Four Gods, but I am willing to believe you possess god-like wisdom."

He muttered to himself, "Recording magic on paper, then releasing it through the paper... Why didn’t I ever think of that before?"

"If you want to research that kind of magic, I have something I can lend you." Leech thought of his [Casting Crystal] artifact, which could store and release recorded magic.

After some research, they might actually be able to create real Magic Scrolls.

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