Lord of Rot

A White Raven spread its wings and flew into the Night.

In the cape catacombs, Betty awoke in a daze, her wounds aching.

In the gardens of Porcupine Castle, the Baron stood before a gravestone, lost in thought.

”My lord.”

Kolan Fosak strode under the moonlight into the ”garden” of Porcupine Castle. He had been to the gardens of noble lords more than once; the gardens of Iron Stone Castle had even been a battlefield for him and Becky, the ’Charming’ one. They had rolled around in the flowerbeds, laughing as they kicked their heels to the sky.

Nobles who cared about appearances put enormous effort into their gardens, but Kolan had never heard of a noble who would erect a gravestone in his own garden!

It was already spring, yet the flowers and grass had been completely cleared away, leaving only barren earth.

Only a few burial mounds and gravestones remained.

If no one had told him this was a garden, he would have thought he’d stumbled into a cemetery.

”Are you curious why I’ve put up gravestones in my garden?” Leech asked.

Kolan Fosak shook his head. ”I do not know.”

’Pure bullshit. In other words: You’re the one who put up the damn gravestones, and you’re asking me? How the hell would I know?’

”Come, come,” Leech beckoned. ”Over here.”

Kolan walked over but kept a certain distance from Leech. He didn’t really think Leech would do anything to him. First, he didn’t believe the man could beat him in a fight. Second, if someone who had come to pledge fealty died in Porcupine Territory, Leech would be in deep trouble.

Leech turned his head and glanced at Kolan’s waist. It was empty.

’No weapon. Right. Why would you bring a weapon to a late-night meeting with the lord you’re ”pledging loyalty” to?’

”What do you think of Porcupine Territory?” He walked to the side with his hands behind his back, leaving Kolan standing alone.

”The commoners lead prosperous lives. The waterwheels, plows, canals, and watermills are all great inventions I have never seen before. This place is full of vitality,” Kolan answered earnestly. Even though he had no intention of staying to build a future in Porcupine Territory, he couldn’t help but marvel at how it changed day by day.

’Is this really the same Porcupine Territory that was rumored to be dirt-poor?’

’Even with an income of a few Jinri a month, your development is just too fast. And did you really sink all the money you earned back into developing the territory? I’ve never seen a lord like this.’

If Baron Spark were to learn from him—not even investing everything he earned, but just half—Iron Stone City could probably soar to the heavens and become a fortress.

But they would rather let their money gather dust in their vaults than let it realize its proper value.

”Kolan, I’m sorely lacking talented people under me.”

Kolan understood. ’So he’s trying to win me over, to make me serve him loyally!’

’Tonight is about showing my loyalty.’

”I will definitely...”

Before he could finish, a sudden rush of air came at the side of his face. He reacted in time, raising a hand to block, only to be struck in the abdomen by a knee, his body doubling over in pain. But Kolan’s reaction was swift. ’The Baron wants to kill me!’

’Why?’

’Could it be that he found out I came to steal the secret formula?’

As his back hit the ground, Kolan’s thoughts snapped back to the present.

’Run. I have to run.’

Flames leaped, drawing closer from a distance.

When his consciousness focused, Kolan realized it wasn’t flames at all. It was a head of fiery red hair.

Beneath the red hair was an ugly woman’s face. She reached out with a strange, scaly hand, but Kolan reacted quickly. He grabbed her wrist, then kicked her in the stomach, forcibly shoving her away.

He scrambled to his feet, not daring to look at the distant lord. ’He lured me to the garden to make his move, he must not want any complications. If I can escape and cause a commotion, I might be able to save my skin.’

But just as he got up, he found a massive figure blocking his path.

He slowly raised his head to look up.

The Iron-Hoof Knight!

The red-haired figure was perched on the Iron-Hoof Knight’s shoulder like a kitten.

A strange smell wafted into his nostrils, trapping Kolan like a shackle.

”Y-you... aren’t you supposed to be dead?” Kolan couldn’t tell if his voice was trembling from fear or shaking from pain.

’The Baron can control corpses! I’ve learned the Baron’s greatest secret.’

”My lord, it was Becky who sent me, but I haven’t done a single thing detrimental to Porcupine Territory, I...” In that moment, his speech quickened, desperate to spit everything out at once.

He understood what this meant.

If he hadn’t learned the secret, he might have been allowed to escape.

But now that his opponent had willingly revealed this secret, there was surely only one option left for him.

Only the dead can keep secrets.

The Iron-Hoof corpse and the commoner Corpse Ghosts attacked simultaneously. Unsurprisingly, Kolan fell to the ground, remaining ”intact”...

「The Cape Catacombs.」

In the sealed room, Betty’s eyes fluttered open from the pain.

She was the only one in the room.

Panic seized her. Although the one who had been by her side was a corpse, she felt a sense of dread when she opened her eyes and didn’t see it.

’How am I supposed to survive on my own?’

The door opened, and Betty tightened her grip on a wooden club.

Thankfully, it was the corpse that had returned. However, it didn’t look to be in good shape; its body was covered in wounds.

It was also missing an arm, a truly miserable sight.

Three large sacks were thrown to the ground, one of which was tossed to Betty.

She recognized it. It was the sack of one of her Mercenary companions, containing water and food. With these supplies, she could hold on for a few more days. At the same time, she stole a glance at the other two sacks. One was filled with various jewels, the other with gold.

’The person controlling the corpse wants treasure?’

’These new wounds must have been from its trip outside.’

’Just these two bags, what a haul.’ Leech, however, paid no attention to Betty.

Within the territory buried underground for who knows how many years, there were many things worth scavenging. In a single night, he had found over ten pounds of gold and jewels. After being worn down by time, even the less-pure gold had only turned slightly reddish, unlike the weapons and armor, which were completely rusted.

Of the six major areas, he had only plundered a small part of one. There was bound to be even more wealth in that mysterious castle! Even at its poorest, Porcupine Territory had 8,000 Silver Moon. How could this underground city, which looked like a prosperous town, have any less?

Most importantly, there were also the ”wondrous items” Betty had mentioned.

Even if Porcupine Territory itself generated no income, as long as Leech kept exploring, he could ensure it continued to develop at the fastest possible pace.

Betty ate the dried rations to fill her stomach, took a sip of water, and then looked at the corpse.

This was her way of saying she was ready to set out.

Far away on his bed in Porcupine Castle, Leech controlled the corpse to kill two small blue-skinned monsters and ambush a harpy. He ensured the corpses remained as intact as possible before dragging them into a tailor’s shop on the roadside.

Inside were already four other corpses, all of them highly intact.

Betty followed behind him, completely unable to understand what he was doing. She just played her part, constantly providing information and telling Leech about the surrounding situation.

One for development and wealth, the other for survival—it was a mutual cooperation.

’Hm? It’s already done refining?’ Leech’s consciousness shifted.

His mind was like a multi-tentacled octopus. One tentacle was in the commoner catacombs, guarding Kolan Fosak’s coffin.

Another was with the raven, keeping an eye on Porcupine Territory.

A third was with his own body; he had to keep some attention on himself, just in case.

The largest portion of his consciousness was in the cape catacombs, used for combat.

Even with his consciousness split like the tentacles of an octopus, Leech felt spread thin. Personally controlling corpses was ultimately not the proper path. Corpse Ghosts were the key to future development!

His consciousness transferred from the commoner corpse to Kolan’s body.

A segment of memory flooded his mind.

Perhaps it was another evolution of his Spiritual Power, but Leech found he could view far more memories than before, like watching half of a short film.

In the memories, Kolan Fosak was the second son. His family life was relatively harmonious. Since his father’s Knightly title was not inheritable, and with no property or rank to fight over, the two brothers were certainly very close.

His life was fairly smooth until he got involved with Becky Simon and became her lapdog.

Then again, calling him a lapdog wasn’t quite right. He actually got rewarded for his efforts, which was better than most lapdogs back on Earth.

After viewing the memories, Leech made his assessment.

’Average strength, average skill, useless memories. Other than his status as Becky Simon’s ”bed pet,” he has no value whatsoever. Overall, spending over ten ounces of gold to ”resurrect” Kolan Fosak was a huge loss!’

But that wasn’t the right way to look at it.

A living Kolan Fosak was of little use, but a dead Kolan was very valuable indeed.

In the cape catacombs, Betty watched as the corpse in front of her suddenly stopped moving. Though confused, she also remained still.

After a long while, it resumed moving the corpses and began to build coffins from scavenged wooden planks.

It also started scribbling and drawing on the ground, but Betty was too far away to see what it was drawing.

’What happened?’

Betty didn’t know, but the corpse waved its hand. After cooperating for some time, she understood its meaning.

That was all for today. Go back and get some rest.

”That’s it?”

’Today was surprisingly easy.’

There was no day or night in the underground world. Betty closed her eyes to rest. She was seriously injured and truly needed to recuperate.

When she opened her eyes again, her heart couldn’t help but pound violently.

Five small blue-skinned monsters and three harpies were crowded silently into the room. The monsters didn’t seem to see her at all, their heads bowed low.

She scrambled up, grabbing her wooden club, wanting to launch a sneak attack and kill one first.

But the decaying corpse at her side waved its hand, stopping her.

The monsters also opened their eyes at the same moment, watching her quietly.

In perfect unison, they raised their hands. Their body types were completely different, but their movements were identical.

Betty felt her throat go dry.

All of this... it was too insane!