Lord of Rot

Back then, Leech could barely control four farmer corpses. Now, he could command nine dead bodies at once.

He didn’t find much useful information in the monsters’ memories, probably because their low intelligence meant they couldn’t retain much.

All he learned was that they were terrified of the castle. Within it dwelled a dreadful shadow, and any who dared approach would die.

Three harpies beat their wings and flew into the sky. Their movements went unnoticed by the others; the sky outside the castle belonged to the harpies.

From high above, the layout of the area was instantly clear.

The small, blue-skinned monsters on the ground picked up spears. Before long, each of them held ten.

A harpy flew down, grabbed one of the small, blue-skinned monsters, and carried it to a rooftop.

Before long, the corpses of all five small, blue-skinned monsters had been carried to the rooftop.

Leech set his first target on the river district.

The three harpies moved out, flying toward the wide river.

GLUG.

A bubble like a black pearl rose from the swamp. A phantom wind popped it, and a head, hidden beneath the mud, lifted.

It was a lizard’s head. Its eyes were covered by conical, scaly lids, with only a small, round hole in the center of each. A pupil peered out through the pinhole.

As a harpy descended, the swamp water exploded upward. A lizardman shot out, lunging straight for the harpy.

But the harpy, as if by design, abruptly halted its descent and beat its wings to gain altitude.

The lizardman, landing in a spray of filth, roared with rage at having missed its prey. All around, other heads rose from the swamp to look at the harpies in the sky, only to sink back down again.

Creatures in the sky were not their prey.

The first lizardman also sank back into the swamp, but then the harpy descended again, giving it no peace.

Chunks of half-dried mud showered off the lizardman as it craned its neck to look up at the harpy.

The harpy was too high, out of reach.

It lay down again.

But then the harpy dropped down once more.

This repeated taunting finally infuriated the lizardman. It let out a strange cry like a wailing child and, with its legs splayed, ran upright like a desert lizard, chasing the deliberately low-flying harpy into the commercial district.

The small, blue-skinned monsters, lying in wait, brandished their spears.

They aimed.

Throw!

A volley of five spears, all on target. But the small monsters were not strong; at most, they only chipped off a few scales, leaving a couple of superficial wounds.

The attack only infuriated the lizardman further, and it let out a series of shrieks.

The lizardman couldn’t understand. Why did the birds in the sky dare to cause it trouble? And why did that pack of blue-skinned snacks dare to provoke it?

It tried to leap onto the rooftop, forgetting it couldn’t even reach the low-flying harpy, let alone a building. Its attempts were nothing more than a few futile kicks and hops.

The second volley.

With the advantage of high ground and the lizardman standing there like a moron without dodging, they couldn’t miss.

This volley struck true and with force. The lizardman’s belly was pierced, and it writhed on the ground in pain.

Then came the barrage.

With his Master-level Throwing skill, hitting a fleshy target at such close range was a guaranteed bullseye every time, even while he was splitting his focus five ways.

By the time the spears ran out, the lizardman below had gone still.

Leech had one of the harpies land. Looking at the lizardman, which was now bristling with spears like a porcupine, he sighed to himself.

’What a pity. It would have made for excellent raw material otherwise.’

The lizardmen weren’t smart, but they were fast, with tough hides and thick flesh. Their only drawback was their short legs, which made them unsuitable for spear volleys. At best, they could serve as meat shields.

Over the next while, he killed five more lizardmen using the same method.

Hiding in the house, Betty had already heard the commotion outside. She said nothing and asked no questions, simply eating her rations in silence.

But a thought she hardly dared to believe formed in her mind.

’The one controlling the corpses... it seems like they’re planning to kill every monster in this underground labyrinth!’

If Leech had known what she was thinking, he would have nodded in gratification. Of course he was killing them all; only after clearing out all the monsters could he loot the place at his leisure. Wasting resources was a cardinal sin.

After cleaning up the battlefield, Leech directed the corpses back to Betty’s side. ’The future Magic Gunpowder Princess can’t have anything happen to her!’

This time, he made a point to bring back some food.

Betty stared at the food and water on the ground. Their appearance meant that more of the mercenaries were dead. ’They were the ones who locked me in here,’ she thought. ’So why do I feel like the one controlling the corpses is actually being kind to me?’

Leech withdrew his consciousness.

He made the undead Kolan Fosak appear before everyone.

At the same table, he played two parts.

At the dinner table, Leech said, "I’m heading to Iron Stone City today. There are some questions I’d like to ask a Taven Scholar in person."

No one objected. They believed every decision their Lord made had a deeper purpose. With each of them performing their duties for the territory’s development, there would be no issues in the short term.

"Coincidentally, don’t this month’s pills need to be delivered as well? We can go together," he said to Qiao.

Qiao nodded immediately.

After the meal, Leech and Qiao set out with their men and a carriage.

Gelan also had to attend to his duties. He assigned lessons to the knight-squires who were awaiting selection. Having understood the Lord’s intentions, Gelan didn’t mind training a few of them to be literate.

Kolan Fosak, however, remained idle. No one found this odd. He wasn’t needed for the selection of knight-squires, but his status as an instructor remained unquestioned.

’I feel like I’m developing a split personality,’ Leech thought as he rode out of Porcupine Territory with the convoy.

Along the way, children watched him with awe and adoration. He smiled back, and a few of the shyer ones covered their faces.

The waterwheel, pushed by the river, turned with a steady CREAK, CREAK, kicking up a SPLASH of water.

From Porcupine Castle to Maitian Village and then to Livestock Village, the people’s faces shone with hope. Even as they penny-pinched and haggled over their interests, they were all filled with anticipation for the future.

Watching this, Leech felt his own heart swell with fulfillment as their lord.

"Yah!"

...

「Iron Stone Castle.」

"Leech Clarence has arrived in Iron Stone City."

"What’s he here for?" Becky stretched languidly, showing off her curvaceous figure.

One benefit of the warmer weather was that she could wear thinner clothes; her gauzy robes left her figure faintly visible underneath.

Her personal maid answered, "It seems he’s looking for a Taven Scholar."

It was no secret that Baron Leech Clarence enjoyed reading. He sent his men to the Scholars’ Tower every month. Behind his back, people even called him the ’Bookworm Lord’ or the ’Scholar Lord.’

"Pay him no mind," Becky said. "What about Kolan? Any news?"

"No," her personal maid said, shaking her head.

"Useless in bed, and useless out of it!"

The personal maid didn’t dare say more and simply stood silently to the side. ’I’ve never tested whether he’s useful or not,’ she thought, ’but the Groom is definitely quite useful. That’s something my lady and I can agree on.’