Lord of Rot

"Not enough people!"

Leech had already lost count of how many times he had said this.

For now, he could only hand over the task of researching self-heating to Little Limper and let him have free rein.

And because Little Limper had discovered the self-heating properties of quicklime, Leech rewarded him with one Silver Moon.

Although Leech had known about self-heating for a long time, he had been too busy to think of it. Besides, he wasn’t one to steal credit from his subordinates. In this world, the first person to propose the concept of self-heating was Little Limper.

The newly zoned land outside the castle was being cleared.

He was still mobilizing all available manpower. With a lot of money being thrown around, plenty of people were naturally scrambling for the jobs.

Some commoners in Porcupine Territory even started to think, ’If only I could work for the Lord all the time instead of farming. How much money can you make in a year from farming? Working for the Lord pays more than farming.’

But they also knew it was impossible. Porcupine Territory could be under construction for half a year, but for it to continue nonstop for one, two, or even three years? ’Is that even possible?’

’The crops in the fields are still growing, and the work doesn’t get in the way. I can earn from both!’

In fact, Leech was already considering the matter of demolishing Maitian Village.

Maitian Village, built haphazardly near the castle’s center, was a real eyesore—like a big mole on a beautiful woman’s face.

It was just that there was still a lot of construction to be finished and enough land for now. There was no need to spend extra money on demolition.

It wasn’t just the commoners whose lives were improving; even the slaves’ standard of living was on the rise.

Little Antelope’s hometown was Soaring Valley. It wasn’t a barren place. The people there trained Falcons to hunt game and catch fish. Sometimes they would personally climb cliffs to pick precious herbs or guide the adults searching for valuable minerals.

She had forgotten how she became a slave. Every day was either a beating or being forced to march from one place to another. She hoped someone would buy her, yet she was terrified of being bought only to die from abuse.

One by one, her companions fell ill and were left by the roadside, casually buried in a shallow pit or thrown to the wild dogs and wolves.

’Maybe I’ll be next.’

Numbly, she marched on. Numbly, she was shuttled across the Lu Leiyi Continent.

Sometimes, when passing through a place, children would point at her, shout "Slave!", and throw stones. Even when she was hit and injured, she couldn’t cry out in pain.

Until she and the other slaves were bought by a young merchant. She heard others call him "Lucky dog". It was said he was incredibly lucky to have escaped death once. ’Maybe I’m lucky too... Lucky, at least, compared to the companions who died on the road.’

"Lucky dog" Joe told Little Antelope and the other slaves that they were going to a territory filled with hope, where they could eat their fill and no one would die, to work for a benevolent and kind Lord.

’How could such a Lord possibly exist?’

’Nobles are the sharp talons of a Falcon, the teeth of a crocodile, the iron hooves of a warhorse, the thunder on a rainy day.’

’Sharp and terrifying, bloody and cruel, but never, ever benevolent and kind.’

’Those talons would tear at a slave’s body, ripping their flesh open.’

’Those teeth would bite into a slave’s body, making them bleed profusely.’

’Those iron hooves would trample a slave’s body, crushing their guts.’

’That thunder would strike a slave amidst a downpour, blasting them into a pile of dung, then let the heavy rain wash them into the mud, leaving no trace behind.’

’And then they’d tell the slaves not to be slaves in their next life. But she didn’t want to die. She was only fifteen!’

No matter how beautiful his words were, the slaves still had to march. ’If someone gets sick, they’ll just be left behind, right?’

But "Lucky dog" Joe exceeded Little Antelope’s expectations. He was different from the others. He said the slaves were the Lord’s property, and if they were exhausted, they could stop and rest. There was no need for everyone to march relentlessly to meet some unnecessary deadline.

At least no one died on the road. ’That’s a good thing.’

Then they arrived at Porcupine Territory. There were already many slaves here, but Little Antelope had never imagined slaves could live so happily. This group of people didn’t seem like slaves at all.

She was assigned to the women’s dormitory.

’Men and women actually live separately here.’ To be honest, most of them didn’t care about such things, but this subtle change was very surprising.

The rooms were clean, and someone checked them regularly.

Slaves had to bathe regularly, and someone checked on that too.

Little Antelope met a little girl called "Sister". She was very fond of her older brother. Oh, right, her brother was a slave too.

From here, life began to exceed Little Antelope’s imagination.

She could eat her fill and drink hot soup with droplets of oil floating on top. Even the cripple who managed the slaves said that as long as everyone worked hard, they could earn work points.

’Work points? I already have food to eat and water to drink. What do I need work points for?’

It turned out they wouldn’t be providing meals anymore.

’Just as I thought. There’s no such thing as benevolence.’

Little Antelope worked numbly. But when she took the token with her work points written on it to exchange for goods, she froze. She even felt like crying.

The work points she had earned could be exchanged for five black loaves of bread!

The person asked if she wanted to exchange for just one, but Little Antelope shook her head. She was afraid the Lord would go back on his word, so she exchanged all her work points for black bread.

That night, she hugged the black bread, not daring to sleep soundly. She was afraid others would try to snatch it, but no one did. Everyone was full and just lay on their beds, sleeping.

The work point system was never canceled. After a few days, the black bread became a bit hard to swallow. After finishing the loaves, Little Antelope decided to save up her work points and use them slowly.

’This kind of life is so good!’

A feeling she hadn’t experienced in a long time welled up, bringing a change to her numb and withered heart.

At night, when it was time to sleep, everyone would pray to the Divine Spirit they believed in. Soaring Valley worshipped the Eagle God. She, too, believed her current life was a gift from the gods, that the Eagle God couldn’t bear to see her suffer any longer.

Later, the work point system changed. It wasn’t just for black bread anymore; you could even get limited-quantity eggs.

A group of people wanted to fight for them, but they were limited. Those who hadn’t bought one before had priority. The rules were a bit convoluted, but in the end, Little Antelope managed to get an egg. She cradled it for a long time before eating it raw. It tasted fishy, but she was incredibly happy!

There was always endless work in Porcupine Territory.

Building roads, and then building more roads.

Sometimes they would even dig up a perfectly good road and rebuild it. ’Someone must be trying to swindle the Lord’s money.’ She felt sorry for the kind Lord.

But later she found out that the handsome man who often rode by on his horse was the Lord himself. ’He looks so young, so handsome.’

Building houses, digging canals, breaking rocks, sawing wood, shoveling sand, collecting manure... She was never idle, but she felt that this wasn’t so bad either.

Until the day "Sister" told her that her brother might become the Lord’s esquire.

’The little girl is too naive. Does she even know what a Knight’s esquire is? That’s someone who has the right to become a noble in the future. A slave wants to become a noble? Haha, how ridiculous.’ Though she couldn’t bring herself to laugh.

The Lord might be benevolent enough, but a slave was still a slave.

The day that changed Little Antelope’s mind came quickly.

A female slave had relations with a man from the territory. This sort of thing was quite common, but word was the Lord was furious and held a trial. During the trial, Lord Gelan asked the female slave for her opinion. If she was willing to marry the man, the man would be made to take her as his wife and pay to redeem her from slavery.

If she was unwilling, the man would be punished, and the female slave would receive a sum of compensation.

’What difference does it make who a woman marries? If they had the chance to be a prostitute, no one would choose to be a slave.’

The female slave, as expected, married the man and was freed from her slave status.

Little Antelope remembered the heated discussion in the dormitory that night. A few of the older women said they wanted to hook up with the commoners, showing off their flat, wide butts and boasting that no man could resist them sitting on them.

But the reality was not what they imagined. If it was just for fun, the men were more than willing.

But if they had to marry them and spend a large sum of money to do so, the men would avoid the female slaves like the plague. She didn’t know if the older women had managed to use their "talents" to make any commoner men beg for mercy with legs turned to jelly, but she certainly wouldn’t do something like that. She didn’t even know how to seduce someone.

She didn’t know when it started, but Little Antelope noticed that some people had secretly changed the object of their prayers. They no longer prayed to their gods, but to the Lord of Porcupine Territory.

One day, "Sister" told Little Antelope that her brother had really become the Lord’s esquire. She even said that he could buy his freedom in the future, as long as he had enough money.

Work points certainly couldn’t be used for redemption. That would be using the Lord’s property to buy the Lord’s private property, which was why slaves couldn’t redeem themselves.

Little Antelope was very envious and offered her congratulations.

’The Lord really is different.’ But no one would pay for her freedom. She was still a slave.

But "Sister" took the initiative and said that after she bought her own freedom in the future, she would work hard to earn money and then lend it to Little Antelope to buy hers.

She couldn’t help but hug "Sister", thanking her from the bottom of her heart.

The future was filled with hope.

’Maybe one day, I’ll be able to live in a beautiful house, walk on neat, flat streets, and occasionally go to the square to listen to a Minstrel sing praises of Baron Leech Clarence’s deeds, or maybe go to the seaside to feel the sea breeze.’

’The sea breeze will lift a corner of my skirt, and maybe then, I’ll imitate the noble ladies from my imagination, pressing down my skirt with one hand, a smile on my face.’

Tonight, it was time for prayers in the women’s dormitory again.

Little Antelope dragged her tired body and clasped her hands together. The object of her prayers had already changed from the Eagle God to the Lord of Porcupine Territory.