Lord of Rot

Leech left Ramsnor’s Magic Cottage with the two remaining bottles of Lucky Potion.

Now that he knew her address, he could visit whenever he pleased. Besides, they had already established a relatively long-term partnership—a financial one.

Ram brewed Magic Potions at a snail’s pace. For Leech, the most effective of them all was the Lucky Potion. It allowed him, amidst a sea of unknown possibilities, to nudge the future toward an outcome more favorable to him.

Using the Lucky Potion only in a life-or-death crisis wasn’t very effective. At best, it might make an enemy suddenly feel a pang of pity and decide to spare him. But if their killing intent was firm, that fleeting change of heart would be utterly ignored.

Its true purpose was to secure the best possible outcome when faced with multiple choices.

He already had a rough idea of when he would use the remaining two potions.

Leaving Iron Stone City tonight was no longer realistic, unless he was willing to travel in the dark. Leech decided to stay the night in Iron Stone City.

The trio returned to Iron Stone City, where Leech’s status as a noble spared them any trouble.

The city gates would be closed late at night, and they had returned just in the nick of time.

A little boy in tattered clothes had been squatting by the city gate, waiting. Upon seeing Fanong Gold return to Iron Stone City with Leech, he scrambled over in a panic.

His small figure, darting through the twilight, looked like a little black mouse.

Someone the boy bumped into began to curse, but upon seeing Leech, they immediately composed themselves.

’How could I scold such an adorable child in front of an elegant nobleman?’

The boy shouted, "Fanong Gold, it’s terrible! Old Toe, and Miss Chuina! They’re being hassled by a bunch of mercenaries!"

"What?" Fanong Gold’s expression changed. "I’m going right now!"

Leech watched Fanong Gold sprint away without hesitation, then turned to Robo after a moment’s thought. "Let’s go take a look."

"Yes!"

Leech was still quite interested in the blacksmith girl, Chuina.

The pair hurried through the streets and arrived at the blacksmith shop.

When Leech arrived with Robo, the blacksmith shop was already surrounded by a dozen or so mercenaries.

There were two people inside the shop. One was a silver-haired old man with a stooped back.

The other was the young blacksmith, Chuina. She gritted her teeth, a large smithing hammer clutched in her hands.

She swung the hammer whenever a mercenary tried to get close. Seeing how easily she wielded the weapon, which must have weighed dozens of pounds, none of them actually wanted to be hit by it. So, the mercenaries didn’t dare to rush forward, merely surrounding them and inching closer.

Fanong Gold, who had just arrived, tried to push his way in to help, but a mercenary kicked him to the ground. With his slight build, he stood no chance of getting through.

The mercenary whose tooth had been knocked out by Chuina pointed at her and shouted, "It was her! She came on to us first! How dare she make a fool of the Red Stone Mercenary Corps!"

The other mercenary who’d been kicked nodded. "That’s right! She kept winking at us and even told us to cop a feel."

The more they spoke, the more aggrieved they sounded. "We hadn’t even done anything, and she beat us up!"

"Y-You’re lying!" Chuina retorted anxiously.

The mercenary who appeared to be their leader smacked his subordinate on the back of the head, sending the man stumbling forward so hard he almost fell flat on his face. "SHUT UP!"

The mercenary leader’s face was thunderous. Getting beaten up over such a trivial matter... "You’ve completely disgraced the Red Stone Mercenary Corps!"

"Old Toe!" The mercenary leader looked at the white-haired old man in the shop. "Your people started this, beating my men up like that. I think asking for a little compensation is more than fair, right?"

"Not at all," Old Toe said, hurriedly shaking his head.

He knew how difficult these mercenaries were to deal with. They probably wouldn’t dare kill anyone, but they would stick to them like leeches, making it impossible for them to do business.

The mercenary leader said, "I hear you have a treasured sword, one that can slay magical beasts. Costs a gold coin just to look at it, right? I want that sword."

"That sword..." Old Toe hesitated.

"You’re not willing?"

"Fine, you can have it!" Old Toe saw how things were going and immediately turned around. ’It’s better to avoid trouble than to court it.’

But the young blacksmith, Chuina, grew frantic. "Father, you can’t give them the sword! They’re just bullying us!"

The mercenary with the missing tooth retorted furiously, "Bullying you? We came to your shop to get our blades sharpened and you beat us up! How is that not you bullying us?!"

"Then pay up. Right, and compensation for the tooth," the mercenary leader said, pointing at his two men. "We of the Red Stone Mercenary Corps make our living out there, a life of licking blood from the blade’s edge. We can’t just get beaten up and not hit back, can we? We’ve already contacted the Iron Stone City guard! If you don’t want to settle this privately, you can take it up with them in the dungeons."

The mercenaries were clever. They wouldn’t start a fight inside the city, especially with such a large crowd gathering. It was out of the question.

"Here, the sword’s for you," Old Toe said, walking over with a sword clutched in both hands.

Among the crowd of onlookers, Leech’s eyes lit up slightly when he saw the sword in Old Toe’s hands.

From Chuina’s reaction and what had happened earlier, Leech could tell that she had been the one to start trouble with these mercenaries.

’With Chuina’s strength, would she really be taken advantage of by two men who couldn’t withstand a single punch from her, and then go crying about it?’

He glanced over at Fanong Gold, who was being held back.

’Chuina was trying to give that kid a chance to be the hero saving the damsel in distress. A shame he was just an ordinary person without the strength to back it up, getting a beating for his troubles instead.’

But what Leech hadn’t expected was that the sword Old Toe brought out was a Hunter’s Silver Steel Sword!

Although there were slight differences in its design, it was remarkably similar to the one Leech had acquired from the Griffin’s nest, as well as the personal swords of Thorny Snake Elo and Wind Falcon Ma Wei.

’In other words, could Old Toe have once been a Hunter?’

No matter how closely he observed him, Old Toe was just an ordinary person.

’Unless the man surpassed my own power, was beyond the rank of Extraordinary, or had a method for concealing his aura, there was absolutely no way he could fool my eyes.’

"Wait," Leech said, taking a step forward. "Is this sword yours?"

His sudden appearance caused an abrupt shift in the atmosphere.

A noble.

Here, in the slums, a noble had actually appeared!

As Leech moved, Robo stepped out as well, his right hand resting on the longsword at his waist.

Robo knew full well that with Leech’s combat prowess, these dozen or so mercenaries were no threat. Even ten times their number would be no match for his Lord. But as a retainer, he had to fulfill his duty.

Robo’s full armor glinted in the light. Seeing this, the mercenaries didn’t even dare to utter a harsh word.

They were just a small mercenary team of about a dozen men; there was no need to provoke a noble.

Old Toe said, "It’s not mine. It was a gift from a friend."

But Leech shook his head in disbelief. "From what I know of those people, they would never give their sword away as a gift."

Hunters treasured their Silver Steel Swords. No matter the reason, a sword was definitely not something that could be allowed to fall into outside hands.

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