Lord of Rot

Suddenly, Radish heard people walking toward them. It was completely dark out, so they hadn’t seen him and his sister.

"Kill that cripple," one of them said. "When the Lord can’t control the slaves, we’ll have our chance!"

’It’s those new slaves who arrived today!’

Startled, Radish clamped a hand over his sister’s mouth and slowly ducked down.

"I... I..."

"Do you have the guts or not? We take him out quietly, and the Lord will never know. Don’t you want to be like that cripple, eating and drinking every day without having to work?"

"We do!"

The men, also afraid of their plan being discovered, exchanged a few words and quickly departed.

There was only one cripple in all of Porcupine Territory who managed the slaves.

To be honest, Radish didn’t like Ark. The man was too harsh, making life difficult for everyone. But when Ark had heard Radish wanted to give his tart to his sister, he had still given him one. The memory of the sweet taste and his sister’s smiling face made Radish decide he couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.

’Ark acts in the Lord’s interest. He might be detestable, but what he’s doing isn’t wrong.’

Radish whispered to his sister, "You go back first!"

His sister grabbed his hand, refusing to let go.

"Don’t worry," Radish reassured her. "I’ll come find you in a bit."

After much persuading, he finally convinced his sister to return to the women’s dormitory, and Radish headed quietly toward Ark’s quarters.

But as soon as he arrived, he saw the new slaves had already surrounded Ark’s quarters.

’This is bad!’

Radish turned and ran, hoping to find help to save Ark before the group of conspirators could make their move.

A raven flew over Radish’s head, flapped its wings forcefully twice, and then sped toward the castle.

FLAP FLAP.

In the castle study, Leech read a book about Griffin Grass while simultaneously using his raven to patrol Porcupine Territory. He was finding it increasingly easy; splitting his focus like this no longer tired his mind.

He snapped the book shut. He had almost no leads.

Leech picked up the bell on his desk and shook it gently.

A moment later, the study door opened.

"Lord!" The manservant, Pitchfork, stood at the door.

"A cup of boiled water, no tea leaves," Leech ordered. "And bring some pastries."

"Yes."

The manservant obeyed and was about to leave when Leech spoke again. "Wait!"

Hearing the command, the manservant turned back in confusion, waiting for his next order.

"First, have someone check on the slaves. A new group arrived today, and I want to prevent any trouble."

"Yes, my Lord!"

Just as Leech was pondering how to dose and mix the Griffin Grass to avoid the side effect of growing red fur, he heard the sound of hurried footsteps.

"Lord!" It was Gelan.

"Come in."

The door opened, and Gelan said nervously, "There’s a problem with the slaves!"

"What happened?" Leech had only seen a slave boy running toward the castle through the raven’s eyes; he didn’t know the details.

"The new slaves nearly killed Ark." Gelan knew his Lord had a high opinion of the crippled "mad dog."

’His daughter was even brought into the castle as a maid. To be fair, Arkke is gorgeous—prettier than most noble ladies—but I’d hate for my Lord to be stained by rumors of sleeping with a slave’s daughter.’

’But after being around him lately, I’ve been able to relax. The Baron would never get involved with a maid. I was thinking too much.’

’I have to admit, Ark does keep the slaves in perfect order.’

"What happened?"

"It’s their first day, so it’s probably not a personal grudge," Gelan said after a moment’s thought. "A slave boy raised the alarm. He should know what happened."

"Let Ark investigate it himself." Leech wasn’t interested in the slaves’ affairs. He was the Lord; he just needed to pick competent managers and let them handle their own business. He didn’t have the energy to manage every single person.

’Still, this was the life of a minor lord in this world. Who lost a loaf of bread, who got chewed out—all these trivial, petty squabbles were more trouble than they were worth.’

"Wait," he added. "Tell Ark not to kill them. Put that group on rock-breaking duty. The castle could use some repairs."

He added one last thing: "No work points for them."

"Yes, my Lord!" Gelan accepted the order and withdrew.

Leech rubbed his temples. ’Being a lord is no easy task.’

His valet, Pitchfork, brought the hot water and some small cookies, then left quietly, taking care not to make a sound as he closed the door.

「Daybreak.」

Leech picked up the Grass of Life he had prepared earlier and was heading to the rear kitchen to find Wine Barrel when he saw Kolan in the distance. The man was leaning against a wall, joking and laughing with Oak Basin.

The young kitchen helper’s face was bright red. She wanted to leave but didn’t dare.

"Ahem." Leech cleared his throat.

"Lord!" Kolan Fosak jumped, his expression faltering.

Oak Basin kept her head down and hurried away.

Leech said, "Kolan, people are free to pursue romance in my castle, but I won’t have you toying with people. Every lady deserves to be respected."

Kolan immediately replied, "No, no, Lord! I was just talking to Miss Oak Basin about the delicious hamburgers from yesterday."

’He’s clearly trying to distance himself from her. Even without a title of his own, the son of a Knight wouldn’t get involved with a mere kitchen helper—not even in name.’

"You can talk to me about it," Leech said. "After all, I’m probably the one who invented hamburgers in this world."

Kolan, knowing he hadn’t made a good impression on Leech, gave an awkward nod and quickly excused himself.

After handing the Grass of Life to the busy Wine Barrel, Leech threw on an overcoat and went out. Porcupine Territory’s first watermill was officially complete. Today, they would transport the castle’s grain stores to be ground into flour.

’As for Kolan Fosak, he talks a big game about loyalty, but he’s probably just trying to cash in on Porcupine Territory’s new beginning and snag himself a noble title. I don’t know how other lords operate, but I can’t stand people like him. Here in Porcupine Territory, ability matters more than bloodline.’

’What a good-for-nothing. His only future here is being shown the door.’

「By the river, at the watermill.」

The current pushed the great waterwheel, and the sound of RUSHING water and grinding stone carried far into the distance.

The commoners stared at the watermill. None of them knew what it was, only that grain went in and flour came out.

"Magic?" one of the commoners shouted after running back from a closer look. "It’s Magic! It grinds flour without anyone doing the work! You just pour the wheat in one end, and out the other it comes... WHOOSH!"

The watermill had been under construction for a while, and being such a large structure, the commoners had long been itching with curiosity about it. Now, their imaginations were running wild as they tried to guess how it worked.

Their guesses came down to a few things: Magic, more Magic, a divine miracle, or Magic.

Far from the watermill, Leech sat atop his horse.

Gelan couldn’t help but ask, "Lord, do you intend to let the commoners use this amazing watermill as well?"

’This is the Lord’s property; it shouldn’t be for the commoners’ use.’

"Of course," Leech nodded. "They can choose to have their grain processed at the watermill. We’ll simply take a portion of the grain as payment, or we can accept coin."

"If we charge coin or grain, I’m afraid..." Gelan shook his head, not optimistic about his Lord’s idea. These commoners would rather do the extra work themselves than spend even a single copper star.

"Don’t worry, they will," Leech said. "We’re going to be hiring more workers soon. We’ll see if they’d rather stay home grinding flour for no pay, or if they’ll pay a small price to free up their time to earn more."

’A consumer mindset has to be cultivated, and it starts with exchanging grain for services.’

’If no one spends money, how is a lord supposed to make any?’

Soon enough, those who worked for the town watch and had no free time began sending their household grain to the mill for processing. It saved them a great deal of effort, and they could use the extra time to earn more wages. Little by little, this trend encouraged many others to bring their grain to the watermill.

The watermill was incredibly useful, and the Lord was truly amazing.