Lord of Rot

For the rest of the journey, Leech had Aina remain in the Fishman’s Grotto. She could return naturally once the grotto was established inside Porcupine Castle.

The Extraordinary Corpse Ghost’s rate of decay was very slow. At least for the past few days, there had been no sign of it completely rotting away.

The long-bearded Fishman, on the other hand, was already dead.

There was no coffin, so he controlled Aina’s body to build a makeshift one. The grotto was filled with wooden crates, and since the Fishman wasn’t large, making a coffin wasn’t difficult.

Then she drew a Magic Array.

There was no shortage of gold.

But something went wrong. The long-bearded Fishman was refined into a dead body, but it didn’t grant Leech the ’Deterrence’ magic he wanted, only a fragment of meaningless Fishman memories.

Usually, Leech would try to study the emerald green Fishman skeleton crystal, but he spent most of his time training Aina.

A Corpse Ghost shouldn’t just speak Lu Leiyi. That would ruin the sense of mystery and risk exposing too many secrets. It was highly likely that a Corpse Ghost would be noticed, so secrecy was essential.

The block script had obvious advantages. First, it was concise. Given how verbose Lu Leiyi was, calmly saying "Porcupine Territory is by the sea" would take about ten seconds, while the block script only required two or three.

Leech was consciously using a language from Earth to influence the Corpse Ghost. What could be a better secret language than one from a completely different world?

Moreover, the two languages were based on completely different modes of thought. Trying to understand the block script using a Lu Leiyi mindset would only lead to a head full of questions.

Furthermore, the advantages of the block script were too numerous to list: it was "information-dense," "a single character could have multiple meanings, yet a compound word held a precise one," and so on.

Most importantly, it was the language of his past life.

Making an Earth language circulate in this Otherworld was also a way for him to channel his longing for home.

"If you’d ever seen the cavalry of Mama City—a thousand horsemen charging at once—they’re invincible!"

Leech turned to look at the boasting Kro Camel. Over the past few days, he had determined the man’s strengths: he could hold his liquor, he knew how to read a room, he was well-versed in noble etiquette, and he was shameless.

As for his weaknesses, he was utterly incompetent. He couldn’t fight or handle combat, knew nothing about business, had zero accomplishments in agriculture, and didn’t understand management.

He was a good-for-nothing playboy. If Leech were looking for a companion to visit brothels with every day, or to go hunting, Kro Camel would be the undisputed choice.

"A cavalry charge? You look like you can’t even stay on a mule, HA HA HA!" the Soldiers laughed.

Kro smoothly snatched a roasted rabbit leg from a Soldier’s hand, took a bite, and said, "I’m not a Knight!"

He seemed quite proud of that fact.

Leech glanced at Kro. ’What could this guy possibly do?’ he wondered. The answer was that there was no place for him in the entire Porcupine Territory.

’I’ll see when we get to Porcupine Territory,’ Leech mused. ’Maybe in the future, the territory will need a silver-tongued diplomat. Making people happy at the dinner table is a skill in itself. But for now... forget it.’

With Kro along for the journey, everyone had fun mocking him, which certainly made for a more cheerful trip.

After eating, Leech returned to his carriage and closed his eyes, continuing his study of the emerald Fishman skeleton crystal. He had Aina try to smash it, but the crystal was incredibly sturdy. Even an Extraordinary Corpse Ghost could only manage to create a tiny crack.

Nothing magical happened. The crystal remained a crystal.

The journey was smooth.

Taking a ferry across the river gorge saved them a great deal of travel time. Along the way, Leech heard that the last illegitimate son of Baron Wado who had blocked his path was gone. Now, the eighteenth illegitimate son of Wado had emerged and was recruiting soldiers.

Leech was sure the Baroness must have a headache as well, and he hoped she would hold on. As for him, he was sorry, but even if his route took him past the gorge, he had no intention of helping.

They traveled much faster than they had on the way there.

At last, Leech returned to his Porcupine Territory.

Upon seeing Porcupine Territory, Kro Camel and the craftsmen from Green Forest Castle were stunned.

’This was the rural fiefdom in a small corner of the Eastern Gorge?’

Although it lacked the tall buildings of Green Forest Castle, the streets here were so wide, straight, and flat, and the houses were built in such neat rows.

From a distance, they could see pastures full of cattle and sheep.

As they passed Maitian Village, they saw fields of yellowing wheat, not far from a bountiful harvest.

Having received news of Leech’s return, Quickblade, Joe, and Gelan immediately rushed over.

"Arrange for the craftsmen to be housed," Leech said to Gelan. "Put them in the empty dormitories for now. We’ll consider assigning them houses later."

"Yes, my lord," Gelan nodded. He then looked up and added, "But my lord, perhaps you should dismount and rest first. You can leave these matters to us."

"My apologies. I should trust you to handle things better," Leech nodded.

He no longer needed to concern himself with the remaining tasks.

The flower seeds and saplings would be sent to Beekeeping Village to be sorted and planted.

The Soldiers would depart with Quickblade the Knight to rest.

The craftsmen would follow Gelan to be settled in.

Porcupine Castle.

Leech swung himself off his horse.

The male servants, female servants, chefs, kitchen assistants, and apprentices were all lined up.

Simon the butler said, "Welcome back, my lord. Perhaps you would care for a glass of iced honey beer?"

"Is this Mr. Barrel’s creation?"

"It was Miss Oak Basin."

Leech looked at Miss Oak Basin, who blushed slightly. Her cooking skills were not yet on par with Mr. Barrel’s, but she was bolder in her culinary innovations, making her well-suited for creating desserts and small beverages. Most importantly, she didn’t go to the bizarre extremes that Little Limp did.

He said, "I can’t wait to try it."

Taking a bath on a hot summer day, followed by a sweet, ice-cold beer, was a truly sublime pleasure.

But he didn’t go to rest right away. Instead, he waited for Gelan, Quickblade, and Joe to finish their tasks before meeting with them to hear their reports.

Fortunately, everything was on the right track.

The tavern was officially open, and some commoners would go in for a drink after work. Joe was coordinating with several outside villages to purchase beer made from fermented wheat or wild fruits. Though a bit sour, it was cheap, and they didn’t have to worry about price hikes from Iron Stone City, so the commoners were more than willing to enjoy a cup on a hot summer day.

The commercial district that Leech had previously designated had been completely cleared. Over the past month or so, the team of masons and builders had marked out the plots according to the initial plans. The whole project was tedious, and a shortage of manpower was one of the reasons for the slow progress, but the foundations were nearly complete.

Now, they were just waiting for Leech’s "miraculous red bricks."

The winter wheat in Maitian Village was almost ready for harvest. This was something Leech no longer needed to manage himself, but he still had to be briefed on it.

The castle’s granaries could hold a sufficient amount of grain, which meant the wheat harvest would be a bountiful one. Of course, the vast majority of the yield had to be given to the lord to be used for paying taxes.

The wheat grown by the slaves was almost entirely turned over to the lord. They would receive some work points as a reward, while the worst performers could even face punishment.

The number of pigs, cattle, sheep, chickens, and ducks in Livestock Village had increased again, meaning the village needed to be expanded. Feed was a problem, but compared to the value of the fattened livestock, the cost of fodder seemed insignificant.

Life in Beekeeping Village remained peaceful. With the Insect Control Clan present, the bees were exceptionally docile and obedient.

Besides all this, there was also bad news.

Someone’s house had caught fire and burned down. Fortunately, there were no casualties.

There was also a long financial statement, which they had only started calculating this month. Despite Porcupine Territory’s seemingly booming development, the financial statement actually showed a negative income.

Currently, their only real income came from selling the Little Pill and honey. Other ventures, like selling meat and alcohol to the commoners, weren’t very profitable.

With hundreds of people mobilized, they were spending large sums of money every day.

Thankfully, he could completely handle these expenses.

There weren’t many matters that required Leech’s final decision.

So, Leech gave his first order: recall Arkke from Beekeeping Village.

SLAP! He swatted his hand, leaving a smear of blood on his palm.

The mosquitoes were getting more numerous. He needed a maid who could prevent him from being bitten.