Lord of Rot

Everyone in Porcupine Territory was busy.

Logging, building houses, relocating, quarrying, raising livestock.

And so on and so forth.

At the breakfast table this morning, Gelan began reporting on some minor issues he couldn’t handle. They had harvested a huge number of eggs, and letting them sit for too long would surely cause problems. But they couldn’t eat them all, and they couldn’t just give them away to the villagers.

It sounded a bit like a humblebrag.

’We have so many eggs we can’t eat them all, what a problem.’

"First, incubate a portion," Leech said, his fingers tapping lightly on the table. "Sell the rest to the villagers... If they don’t sell, we can let the slaves exchange work points for eggs, but with limits on quantity, time, and purchase per person! You and Ark can discuss how to handle it. The price can be raised, but don’t make it too ridiculous."

The ultimate goal of animal husbandry was to sell the products; internal consumption alone wasn’t enough. Of course, if Leech could abduct more people, that wouldn’t be an issue.

Gelan immediately nodded. "Yes!"

The roosters had treaded on all of them, so the eggs could be hatched normally.

Currently, Porcupine Territory had about 150 chickens, 100 ducks, 60 rabbits, 10 pigs, 4 dairy cows, and 6 watchdogs for catching weasels, rats, and other chicken thieves.

The watchdogs had repeatedly performed brilliantly.

So far, they had caught several grain-stealing hedgehogs and foxes, and had bitten dozens of rats to death.

It was said that a fox had even given birth and decided to stay in Livestock Village, living comfortably in a cage just like a dog.

This was only because the Lord had forbidden killing the foxes for their pelts; otherwise, they never would have received the same treatment as dogs.

The daily consumption of fodder, wheat bran, and so on for the livestock was also a significant investment, but for now, they could manage.

Thanks to the "Grass of Life," the animals they raised were all fat and strong. Leech had also thoughtfully arranged for an Alchemist with some medical knowledge to act as a veterinarian—not to cure diseases, but to detect things like avian flu or swine fever at the earliest possible moment and handle them immediately.

Porcupine Territory’s current total population was around 600. He hoped that after successfully leeching off his cousin, he could use her grandfather’s power to get more people. Through both births and purchases, his goal for this year was to surpass 2,000 people.

"One more thing, my Lord," Gelan said, watching Leech deftly and lightly handle the two wooden sticks in his hands. "We’ve had a pest problem recently, and rats have also been chewing on the crops in our territory."

When life improved and harvests became bountiful, the first to know were always the pests.

"Have someone prepare linen sacks. Tell Arkke to take Akelie and Akedo to catch the pests. It’ll be an extra meal for the chickens and ducks."

With the Insect Control Remnant People here, Leech really didn’t believe that pests could run rampant on his land.

"Raise more dogs. And those foxes—put them on iron chains and place them in the fields."

There was a saying about a dog catching a mouse—whether it was minding someone else’s business or not, dogs were excellent at catching rats.

As for foxes, even less needed to be said. In a certain island nation on Earth, they were considered divine envoys of the Inari God, presiding over bountiful harvests, and they were also very skilled at catching rats.

Letting them roam free was impossible. Whether it was the dogs or the foxes, if left to their own devices, they would definitely charge into the chicken and duck pens, stirring up a chaotic and bloody mess.

Next, they discussed apprentices for the cook, Barrel, as well as a few youths Gelan had taken a liking to recently.

Qiao would be heading out again in a few days. With Leech’s instructions, this small merchant caravan, whose combat strength was nothing special, would no longer focus its trade on Iron Stone City, but would instead venture further out.

He could try heading toward Linta Bay, or to places like the Golden Wheat Field, entering the heartland of the Lu Leiyi Continent. They would definitely have a need for Porcupine Territory’s specialty smoked cured meat and Little Pills.

Everything was just waiting for the trade route to open.

’Porcupine Territory having aphrodisiac Little Pills is no big deal, but shipping out barrel after barrel of honey will definitely attract the attention of other lords!’

This was "Sweet Gold," after all.

The prerequisite for cooperative development was that both sides had comparable strength. With Iron Stone City right on his doorstep, Leech didn’t dare bet on whether Baron Simon would make a move.

’Maybe I can ask Grandpa for help? We’re all family, after all.’

When it came to interests, there was only more or less, not close or distant.

However, once mutual interests were involved, it was like adding a new layer to their kinship.

The name "Old Crocodile" was still quite intimidating.

When the White Raven flew in as usual, Leech did not write this idea down on paper. Even if it was just an act, he had to be a little more "devoted" in his romantic correspondence. Besides, this kind of business wasn’t suitable for a letter. What if the White Raven was shot down by an arrow?

Trade secrets couldn’t be leaked!

This was a good opportunity to inform Qiao, telling him to change his destination this time directly to Green Forest Castle. The round trip might take quite a while, but by the time he returned, the first batch of honey should be nearly collected.

Leech wracked his brain for some poetry, mocked himself for his "pretentious artist" phase, and then wrote the verses into the letter.

’I can’t believe I’m plagiarizing literature in an Otherworld just to woo my cousin.’

The White Raven spread its wings and departed, and with it departed the merchant caravan led by Qiao.

...

The selection of Knight squires had finally entered its final stage.

Since the multiplication table recitation last time, the Lord hadn’t eliminated anyone, but many had been pulled away for other duties.

For example, Black Nose, who had a mole on his nose, and Wheels, who had no eyebrows, were taken away by Lord Gelan. It was said they would become apprentices and might even have the chance to become city officials, just like Lord Gelan!

Those two were the cleverest and had the best arithmetic scores.

Then there were Akelie and his brother, who were said to have gone to work in the third village, earning the Lord’s high praise.

Fast-Talker, Big Toe, Little Limp, and others were selected by Mr. Barrel to be his cooking apprentices.

Four people remained. The Lord would decide how many of them could become squires. It could be all of them, or it could be none.

Leech glanced at the four nervous youths and said, "Little Joel, Radish, from now on, you are my squires."

The two boys who were named were ecstatic, but they remembered the rules of their training and stood ramrod straight, not moving a muscle.

"As for you two," he said, looking at the ones who weren’t chosen, "your results for the Knight training were also excellent. It’s up to you whether you want to become blacksmiths, carpenters, masons, or follow Gelan, Qiao, or the security patrol."

He didn’t need that many Knight squires. Two were enough to lead his horse and carry his spear.

Of the two boys, one chose the security patrol—the most impressive job in Porcupine Territory, the one everyone feared.

The other chose to follow Gelan, taking the civil servant route.

Leech nodded at their choices.

As for the two Knight squires he had chosen to keep...

Radish’s overall performance was excellent. He wasn’t just hardworking and resilient, but also loyal. He was the one who had reported the slave uprising last time.

Little Joel’s father, Old Joel, had followed Lieder into battle and died on the field. His loyalty was beyond question.

That’s right. In the end, the most important thing Leech looked for when selecting squires was loyalty—the kind of loyalty demonstrated through concrete actions he could see. Otherwise, he probably wouldn’t have taken any squires at all, and would have thrown them all into other positions.

Leech arranged for a male servant to take the two of them to get settled and prepared. Simon would teach them some etiquette, but Leech himself would likely have to handle their actual training.

’How can a dignified Lord do everything himself?’

Training them once in a while was one thing, but he was far more interested in dozing off in his chair, occasionally opening his eyes to see the little maids in their skirts wiping the table, mopping the floor, and dusting the bookshelves in front of him, while he enjoyed some delicious snacks or closed his eyes to delve into a dungeon.

He was starting to miss Kolan Fosak. That guy wasn’t loyal enough, but he was useful. It would be hard to find another instructor-type talent like him in Porcupine Territory.