Lord of Rot

The next morning.

Leech was preparing to leave Iron Stone City for Porcupine Territory with the blacksmith and his daughter, along with the horse-drawn cart they had rented to carry their family’s belongings.

To the father and daughter, there wasn’t much difference between living in Iron Stone City and Porcupine Territory. In either place, they would be living in the slums, forging nothing but farm tools. A blacksmith wouldn’t starve, no matter where he was.

In the poor Porcupine Territory, people still had to farm... right?

However, at the gates of Iron Stone City, they saw Fanong Gold waiting for them.

Old Toe didn’t look too kindly on Fanong Gold.

But after yesterday’s incident, Old Toe’s opinion of him had reluctantly improved. Even so, a boy who didn’t work, who spent his days begging, cheating, and swindling, was hardly a good match for Chuina.

"My lord," Fanong Gold said, greeting Leech first and indicating he wanted a word with him.

Leech nodded and walked a few steps aside with Fanong Gold.

Fanong Gold said, "I’d like to ask you to take good care of Chuina."

"Porcupine Territory isn’t that far from here," said Leech. "You can come and see her whenever you want."

Leech glanced over Fanong Gold’s shoulder. In the distance, a group of ragged children from the slums were huddled together, their ages ranging from three or four to their early teens. The older ones watched over the younger ones as they all stared in their direction.

Fanong Gold shook his head. "But I... I can’t leave Iron Stone City. I have them to look after."

’His identity is definitely not as simple as it seems,’ Leech thought. ’His job is probably to cultivate "little mice" for certain people.’

Leech gently patted Fanong Gold’s shoulder, then turned and walked away.

The distance between Porcupine Territory and Iron Stone City wasn’t great. It was only a day’s journey on a swift horse, or two days at the slower pace of a carriage.

But even that short distance could be enough to prevent a young man and woman from ever seeing each other again.

Leech and Radish were on horseback, while Chuina and her father rode in the luggage-laden cart.

This was the first time in all her life that Chuina had left Iron Stone City.

As she watched the tall city walls recede into the distance, her sorrow at their departure began to fade, replaced by a growing excitement and anticipation for her future.

The cart wasn’t fast, but it was a great deal better than walking.

They set out at first light, and by the time the sun had fully risen, they had already been on the road for quite some time.

After a short rest along the way, they pressed on, but it was clear they wouldn’t reach Porcupine Territory today.

Traveling at night was unsafe, and besides, both people and horses were growing weary.

Unexpectedly, they happened upon a group of merchants from Linta Bay by the roadside.

"Lord Leech?!"

One of the merchants was startled to see Lord Leech and his party approaching on horseback.

The other merchants immediately crowded around, bowing to Leech in greeting.

This enthusiastic reception startled both Chuina and her father. They had seen plenty of merchants in their time and knew them to be a profit-driven bunch.

’What business could merchants possibly have in Porcupine Territory?’

During their years in Iron Stone City, even without ever visiting, they had heard all about their impoverished neighbor.

It was a place where people couldn’t fill their bellies or properly clothe themselves, living in squat houses made of mud.

Some were even said to eat dirt when there was nothing else.

The only figure of any renown was Baron Porcupine himself.

Even in Iron Stone City, one often heard news of his military victories.

A powerful lord commanded respect, but a lord under whom people starved would surely not attract visitors.

But upon seeing Leech, these merchants acted like they were greeting a long-lost relative. They not only offered him food from their own wagons, but because Chuina and Old Toe were with him, they too were piled with delicious treats.

Leech accepted with a smile.

He also assured the crowd that they would certainly be able to purchase the goods they were hoping for.

It was likely this attitude—that wealth should be earned together—that was making business in Porcupine Territory better and better.

After the merchants who had swarmed around Leech finally dispersed, Chuina approached him, still holding an unfinished piece of jerky. Awkwardly mimicking the merchants, she bowed and said, "My lord, thank you so much for your help."

"It was nothing," Leech said. "Besides, I’m in dire need of craftsmen. When I see talent, I want to put it to use."

Especially a craftsman who was not yet Extraordinary, but had the potential to become one.

"Is Porcupine Territory really in need of blacksmiths?" Chuina asked.

She was worried that when she and her father got to Porcupine Territory, there wouldn’t even be work forging farm tools. The meager savings they had scraped together over the years wouldn’t be nearly enough to live on.

"Of course!" Leech said. "Miss Chuina, once you’re in Porcupine Territory, you won’t have to worry about a lack of work. You’ll only have to worry about not being able to finish it all."

Chuina simply assumed this was just the young lord’s boastful attempt to save face.

’Work that can’t be finished?’

’Even in Iron Stone City, they didn’t have forging work every single day.’

At daybreak, the group set out. The merchants’ caravan was slower, and Leech’s group soon left them far behind.

By noon, they had finally reached Porcupine Territory.

"This is Porcupine Territory?" Chuina felt as if she’d been lied to her entire life.

Leech placed great importance on Chuina, given her potential to become a Transcendent.

He ordered Radish to take Chuina and her father to a dormitory to settle in for the time being.

Porcupine Territory currently had just barely enough housing for its residents.

He also arranged for Chuina to visit the blacksmith’s forge to see the work, hoping she would adapt well to her job and new life.

...

The weather grew increasingly cold.

But the first snows were yet to fall, and before they knew it, the end of December had arrived.

Research on firearms and explosives continued to progress smoothly. Finished Flintlock Guns had been produced, and their manufacturing was now being scaled up.

Scholar Toma’s research, on the other hand, was facing significant problems.

The Magic Scrolls remained nothing more than drawings on paper. He was unable to focus energy into the Magic Array, so all he had were ordinary sheets of paper with complicated diagrams drawn on them.

Leech was debating whether he should use a Lucky Potion. Perhaps it could help Scholar Toma make even a sliver of progress.

’The Lucky Potion only nudges the small probabilities of imminent events in one’s favor; it can’t change the grand scheme of things or make wishes come true. As things stand, Scholar Toma hasn’t even scratched the surface of Magic Scroll research. Using the potion now would be a waste.’

’It’s better to let him continue his research on his own for now.’

Scholar Toma’s research on Magic Scrolls only consumed paper, so the costs were not high.

Leech was holding a cup of hot milk.

A light drizzle had fallen the previous night, forcing Leech to add an extra fur blanket to his bed when he left the study to retire. It had been wonderfully warm, and he had slept very comfortably.

He appeared to be lost in thought, but he was actually controlling Guy and the other corpses and Corpse Ghosts far away in Waterfall Land.

Recently, Shanzhang Castle had been intermittently sending more fine goods and large sums of money to Longship Castle.

According to letters from Lady Je Lin, Waterfall Land was gradually returning to normal.

On the surface, everything seemed to have returned to normal.

But they knew this was all just an upfront investment from the Monkey Clan. The moment the Monkey Clan demanded a return, the ruse would be up. Ceding Longship Castle’s profits to Shanzhang Castle would be a fool’s move.

War was inevitable.

Guy was still maintaining correspondence with Shanzhang Castle.

However, the contents of every letter were shown to Lady Je Lin, and with Leech’s Spiritual Power also present, they would discuss how to respond.

The Monkey Clan wanted to control Waterfall Land from the shadows, but not to the extent that they would pour unlimited funds into it as if it were their own territory.

’Once winter is over, the Monkey Clan will probably want to start reaping their rewards.’

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