Lord of Rot

The bodies were left where they lay.

Soon, carrion birds came and fed on the corpses.

Those birds, too, were taken over by the vines, with flowers sprouting from their eyes.

Fortunately, the soldiers on the castle walls reacted quickly and killed the vine-birds in time. Had they flown into Iron Wall Castle, it might have triggered a terrifying Magic Plague.

Leech had no choice but to add another rule: all bodies must be cremated, including the militia members killed inside Iron Wall Castle earlier.

After the flurry of activity, Leech finally had some time to return to the inner bailey and rest.

"Alice?"

"Yes, Lord!" Alice, who was sweeping with a broom, heard Leech's voice and immediately turned her head. "Shall I pour you a mug of beer?"

She didn't really know how to perform a maid's duties, but she was quick-witted, which made her stand out from the other young maids.

Leech asked, "Do you know of the church in Iron Valley?"

Alice, holding the broom with one hand, turned and said, "The church? You must mean the monastery."

A monastery was a dwelling for ascetic monks, but according to Leech's memories, they were also sometimes used to imprison or place nobles under house arrest.

Leech nodded. "That must be it."

"The monastery is in Maoshan Beech Village," Alice said. "I went there once with my sister. It's very large, but life there is harsh."

'Maoshan Beech Village, huh?'

Leech remembered the map of Iron Valley he had seen. Maoshan Beech Village was to the northeast of Iron Wall Castle, the farthest point from it.

The church he'd seen in the Black King's memories must have been that monastery.

'Once I've raised some of those corpse-birds, I can have them fly toward Maoshan Beech Village first to see what's going on there.'

Leech said, "Please bring me a mug of beer."

"Yes, Lord!" Alice placed a hand over her chest and bowed.

"That's a gentleman's bow," Leech said with a sigh. He now had a more direct understanding of what Lidun meant by a 'reckless' Alice.

"If you want to learn about etiquette, you can go to Lidun the steward. I'm sure he would be happy to teach you."

Clutching her broom, Alice nodded quickly. She also knew she had just made a foolish mistake. "Yes, Lord. I will go and ask Mr. Lidun for his guidance!"

...

Old White Hair gripped a dull-edged bastard sword with both hands, grinding it and sending a shower of sparks into the air.

He had been busy all day, repairing three swords and two helmets. He had the heaviest workload among all the craftsmen.

The reason he worked so desperately was that he had a young grandson to feed.

If he didn't work himself to the bone, he and his grandson would starve to death in Iron Wall Castle.

For the first six months after they came to Iron Wall Castle, things were manageable and their food supply held out. But who knew that the number of those *things* outside would just keep growing.

And those things were clever, too. They knew how to avoid the army.

They were completely trapped here, too afraid to go outside.

As for the castle's flag changing to the Porcupine Banner, not many people cared. It didn't matter who the lord was. They just wanted to live safely behind the city walls.

"Do you think the new Lord can hold back those things?"

"Even if he can't, we still have the walls. What's there to be afraid of?"

"The walls might not be able to hold them back. If they break in, the Lord will definitely force us onto the battlefield!"

The people chatted as they worked. Everyone was skeptical about whether the Porcupine Soldiers could defend Iron Wall Castle, but at the end of the day, this army was stronger than the Black King's militia, which made their lives a good deal safer.

Only half of the sun's head remained visible, hiding behind the western wall. The sky burned a fiery red, like a scarlet blanket.

The day's work was over.

The craftsmen didn't leave immediately. Instead, they waited for their wages.

"Come on, time to get paid," a portly manager named Hay called as he walked over. "Old White Hair, 25 copper stars in total!"

For this much work, he would have earned at least 3 Silver Moon outside, but Old White Hair was content.

With this money, he could buy a good amount of food and make sure his little grandson had a full belly.

Times had changed. Before, 1 copper star could buy a filling loaf of black bread, but now a single loaf cost 5 copper stars!

Having food was better than having money. People hadn't reached the point of starvation yet. Otherwise, even without an army breaking in, the people of Iron Wall Castle would have gone mad and started killing each other.

The men lined up one by one to receive their pay. With soldiers in shimmering silver armor standing by, they became the first to learn how to form a queue.

"Ah, that's right," the portly manager said, as if suddenly remembering something. "The Lord knows that everyone is short on food, so he's preparing to open a shop to sell grain."

"Selling grain?" Old White Hair's spirits lifted.

Grain was always cheaper than bread. They could stretch their money further.

Manager Pang chuckled smugly and said, "As you all know, grain isn't cheap. A pound of coarse flour used to cost a few copper stars, but now it's over ten. And that's not even mentioning meat or beer."

"There's meat and beer, too?" The craftsmen were completely stunned. The new Lord was actually willing to part with such fine goods?

"Hear me out," Manager Pang said, scratching his belly. "Don't think these things will be easy to buy. They're limited each day. Count yourselves lucky. Because you've been helping the Lord repair armor, he sent me to give you a special benefit! I have some ration tickets here. An oat ticket for one pound is just 4 copper stars. A fine wheat flour ticket for one pound is 15 copper stars. And a Meat Ticket for one pound is also 15 copper stars."

This meant you could buy a pound of oats for just 4 copper stars.

And for 15 copper stars, you could have meat.

In peacetime, these prices would be absurdly high, but many people in Iron Wall Castle hadn't eaten meat in a long time.

Manager Pang, Hay, waved a stack of papers. "Anyone want some?"

"Can you really get meat with this?" Old White Hair asked.

He thought of his little grandson, who would cry from hunger at the smell of porridge being cooked with lard next door. Now that he had a chance to buy meat, he didn't want to pass it up.

"Of course you can," Manager Pang guaranteed, patting his large belly. "With the Lord here, who in Iron Wall Castle would dare to cheat you?"

Old White Hair said, "I want one Meat Ticket and one oat ration ticket."

Manager Pang said, "Why not buy more? The price of grain goes up every day. After today, the ration tickets won't be this price anymore."

"Just these!" Old White Hair said through clenched teeth.

He had some savings, of course, but what if he spent all his money on ration tickets and they couldn't be exchanged for food?

"That's 19 copper stars in total." Manager Pang didn't insist. After taking the money, he handed two slips of paper to Old White Hair and advised, "Don't get the front dirty. If the red seal on it gets smudged, you won't be able to exchange it for food."

"Yes!" Old White Hair looked down at the two slips of paper.

There were pictures drawn on them. One showed oats, the other showed meat. There were words written on them, too, but he couldn't read. The drawings were so vivid, however, that it wasn't hard to tell what kind of ration ticket it was just by looking at the picture.

There was also an exquisite red seal stamped on the paper.

These were the ration tickets.

Not many people bought ration tickets on the spot. Only Old White Hair bought a Meat Ticket; the others bought an oat ration ticket at most.

As they left, the craftsmen headed home in small groups, chatting in low voices. "Wouldn't it be better to just buy with money? Those ration tickets... they just look like slips of paper to me. If the Lord runs off one day, we'll be left with nothing."

"Exactly!"

"Didn't they say they were selling grain? I'm going to go buy some."

"Me too!"

Those who had bought ration tickets felt uneasy, worried that Manager Pang had swindled them.

When they reached the grain shop, they found several hundred people crowded around the entrance. If not for the Porcupine Soldiers in their armor maintaining order, the crowd probably would have swarmed the place.

Having arrived a step too late, Old White Hair and the other craftsmen could only obey the orders and line up to make their purchases.

The line inched forward.

Old White Hair watched from the side. Some people left with just a small handful of oats, bran and all, but they were overjoyed.

Others carried a whole sack of grain, but grumbled as they went, "10 copper stars for a pound of oats? That's highway robbery!"

'10 copper stars?' Old White Hair shuddered. 'Didn't the manager say it was 4 copper stars? The price has gone up way too fast!'

"If you think it's so expensive, don't buy so much!" someone behind him said. "You bought over a hundred pounds. Aren't you just trying to hoard it to sell for a profit?"

His intentions exposed, the man didn't get angry. Instead, he chuckled and said, "I am hoarding it to sell. In a few days, when grain gets even more expensive, you'll see just how cheap my prices are."

Old White Hair didn't care about any of that. There was never a shortage of damned merchants like him. He was just afraid the grain would be sold out before he got his share.

The line moved forward bit by bit, and at last, it was his turn.

"How much for the oats?"

"10 copper stars a pound."

"I have this," Old White Hair said, taking out the ration ticket. He was worried Manager Pang had swindled him.

"A one-pound ration ticket? Wait a moment!"

Soon, a small sack of oats, bran included, was placed in front of Old White Hair.

'It really can be exchanged for grain!'

'I only spent 4 copper stars on the ration ticket, and now the oats have gone up to 10 copper stars. I made out like a bandit!'

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