Lord of Rot

The voice sounded like someone speaking in a breathy whisper.

It was enough to give you goosebumps.

Leech’s vision blurred. The ghost had actually followed the Spiritual Power connection right to him!

Its Spiritual Power was far greater than his own.

”You offered greed, and I shall gift you despair in return!”

”I’m afraid you’re the one who’s going to be disappointed!”

Leech immediately severed his control over the slave’s corpse.

’I have to think of something, fast!’

It seemed the ghost was one of the measures left behind by the tower’s owner. Just as the ghost said, Leech’s greed had triggered all of this.

He hadn’t left with the gold and silver. Instead, he had taken a Magic Scroll, and then wanted to take another.

Leech was indeed greedy.

In fact, he was even greedier than the tower’s master might have imagined. ’It’s just a ghost, isn’t it? If I can find a way to kill it, won’t I be able to justifiably take all the remaining scrolls?’

”Despair.”

The voice was now coming from inside his mind.

’It’s invaded my mind!’

It was just like when Leech entered Corpse Ghost Aina’s body, where their minds could perceive each other.

The difference was that Aina had absolute trust in him.

But this time, the ghost that had invaded Leech’s mind was a brutish, violent intruder. What worried Leech the most was that its Spiritual Power was likely greater than his own.

In a direct clash of power, Leech could feel his own spirit being rapidly consumed. The energy-storing staff was quickly helping him recover, but that sinister voice showed no sign of disappearing.

”Despair!” the ghost rasped within Leech’s mind.

”Intimidation!”

Leech unleashed Intimidation Magic—a magical EMP—to forcibly sever the spiritual connection.

The ghost’s voice faltered.

’It’s weaker!’

Leech clearly sensed a change in the ghost’s condition; it was no longer as tyrannical as before.

”H-how is that possible!” The ghost’s voice grew shrill as it shrieked, ”A Dragon-kin?!”

’Looks like it’s working.’ Leech unleashed the Intimidation Magic once more.

It was now completely weaker than him, even weaker than the Red-haired Earthlings’ spirits.

Leech pressed his advantage, releasing the Intimidation Magic a third time.

”Damn you, Dragon-kin!”

With a final scream, the ghost perished.

WHOOSH! Leech nearly collapsed. He only had two units of Spiritual Power left. If the ghost hadn’t died when it did, he would have been the one to die. The process was perilous, but the result was gratifying—he had successfully eliminated that damn ghost.

”Dragon-kin? I’m the man who inherited the will of a Necromancer. Maybe I’ll ride a few Corpse Ghost Dragons in the future, but a son of a dragon? Forget it.”

He figured the ghost’s guess came from the Intimidation Magic. Since that Magic originated from the Jade Crystal, it must have some kind of dragon-identifying property.

This was as far as his exploration could go today. Leech expended another unit of Spiritual Power to have the black-haired slave’s corpse lead Betty away to rest.

Until he had completely cleared out the tower, it was best if no one went near it.

That night, Leech had a dream.

In the dream, he became a young apprentice named Mabu. He followed his master, working for Sir Lauren. Mabu’s main job was grinding herbs for potions, a tedious and arduous task.

He had to crush, grind, weigh the Magic Potion Materials, and seal them in jars.

Finally, he would hand them over to his master.

Day after day it was the same. Because his master had to produce a large quantity of recovery potions for Sir Lauren, all Mabu knew was that Sir Lauren was gravely injured and needed those potions to stay alive.

Though life was boring, Mabu always found ways to amuse himself. He stumbled upon the stables by chance. Hey! That place was magical. The first time he passed by while going for a piss at night, Mabu heard strange noises. He thought someone had a stomachache, but when he got closer, he was nearly beaten up. It turned out some people were having a secret tryst.

From then on, Mabu loved to hang around the stables. Sometimes, if he was lucky, he’d see a man and a woman ”fighting,” drenched in sweat. The sight always left Mabu with a dry mouth.

After some time, Mabu learned from Sir Lauren’s manservant where the maids bathed. He went, full of anticipation, and saw the girl he fell in love with at first sight. It was love at first sight, especially for her... generous proportions.

During that time, Mabu loved running errands, just for a chance to interact with the girl.

But later, he discovered the girl had disappeared.

Had she left? Died? Gotten married? There was no news at all.

When he asked others, they would just stammer and insist that she was still around.

Mabu worked up the courage to use Magic to search for her. He had secretly watched his master use Magic before, memorizing it, and was surprised when he actually succeeded in using it himself.

He gained a sense of smell like a dog’s—some kind of animal Magic.

Mabu then followed the scent, sniffing and searching, until he surprisingly ended up back inside the tower. The smell led him to a crucible, while part of the scent lingered in the recovery potions on the table.

Mabu asked his master about it. The master smiled, strangled Mabu to death, and sealed his soul inside a Scroll.

’The life of Mabu?’

Leech’s eyes snapped open.

He had actually slept until the afternoon.

GRUMBLE GRUMBLE.

His Spiritual Power hadn’t fully recovered. He tried picking up the energy-storing staff and injecting ten units into it, but his head felt heavy, so he had to stop.

It seemed a full recovery would take at least two days.

”Prepare some food for me,” he said to the personal manservant standing guard at the door.

”Yes, sir.” Fork immediately headed for the kitchen.

A cup of water mixed with Extraordinary Honey filled his body with vitality, but the deficit in his spirit was not replenished.

This must be an aftereffect from last night’s mental struggle with the ghost’s Spiritual Power.

After a simple meal to fill his stomach, Leech headed to the study. He wanted to transcribe the contents of all the Magic Scrolls. This Magic was a treasure more precious than gold or silver—a priceless fortune.

His consciousness once again connected to the black-haired slave in the cape’s catacombs.

He sent it to the tower to transcribe ”Enchanting Melody,” ”Prayer: Concealment,” ”Stone Skin,” and ”Awaken Zombie.”

He guessed these spells shouldn’t be hard to learn, but since his Spiritual Power hadn’t fully recovered, it was best not to experiment rashly.

The Scroll the ghost had hidden in was already destroyed. He estimated that when a hosted ghost died, its Scroll was destroyed along with it.

Whether that ghost was the apprentice Mabu from his dream last night, he wasn’t entirely sure.

Perhaps it was just his mind weaving a plausible dream because of the ghost.

But transcribing the Magic and acquiring more and more spells gave Leech the same joy as collecting cards.

’I don’t have to learn them, but I have to have them.’

”Spider Walking Skill.”

”Allows the target to move freely on any flat surface, whether it’s a wall perpendicular to the ground or a ceiling.”

A very peculiar Magic.

Leech mostly thought about how it would allow an assassin to infiltrate easily, or how he could use it on a horse he was riding. Riding a horse that could climb walls—of course, that was assuming he wouldn’t fall off.

”Fire Seed.”

”Ignite and control the direction of a flame.”

This should be similar to the Magic Betty used.

”Light Body Skill.”

”Reduces the target’s weight.”

That was all the Magic recorded in the scrolls. What remained were things that would make one frown.

”Blood Refining Potion.”

”Extracts the Life Force from blood to create a recovery potion.”

Recalling the men, women, old, and young on the previous procurement list, it wasn’t hard to guess what raw materials were used for the so-called recovery potions, and how they were made.

’And what about that hairy monster downstairs? Is it Sir Lauren? Did he drink too many recovery potions and turn into a monster? Or was it because of his prayers to a god, like the Donkey Knight recorded? Or maybe it’s Mabu’s master? Or is it just a random monster?’

There was too little information to confirm anything.

The remaining three were all alchemy formulas: ”Charming Perfume,” ”Fire-Water Lamp,” and ”Flesh-Growing Ointment.”

Charming Perfume: The user becomes the center of attention, attracting the notice of all living creatures. However, the Alchemy Materials used were ones Leech had never heard of. Perhaps Betty would know, but he wasn’t interested in this stuff.

Fire-Water Lamp: This was actually a type of Alchemy Creation lamp. It was an alchemical product refined from a substance called ”fire oil,” used by lighting an oil-soaked wick.

’Isn’t this just kerosene made through fractional distillation?’

However, distillation hadn’t been theorized in this era. Who would have thought that some old relic from countless years ago had already mastered fractional distillation.

The Flesh-Growing Ointment was the strangest of all. It could make wounds heal quickly, but there was a high probability it would grow things that weren’t part of one’s own body. For example, if someone with a severed finger used it, it was highly likely that a brain with independent thought would grow from the stump. It was extremely bizarre.

After confirming there was nothing else in the tower, Leech had the corpse leave. The original scrolls, of course, were all destroyed. Even if he hadn’t done anything, the scrolls had long since decayed from the passage of time; a little more handling was all it took for them to crumble into dust.

”How did it go?” Betty asked, watching the corpse walk out of the castle.

”It’s all clear now.”

The Mercenary group Betty belonged to had trespassed into Porcupine Territory without permission. To Leech, they were both a threat and a group of thieves.

That’s why he had mercilessly led them into the catacombs, making them scout the path for him with their lives.

Betty had used her knowledge of Magic Gunpowder to help Leech overcome the hairy monster in the castle, which he might not have been able to handle at his current stage. The relationship between them had eased, especially since Betty was completely dependent on Leech in these catacombs where there was no food.

This dependency was the reason Leech was willing to trust her.

”From now on, you can live in the castle’s tower. It will be your scholar’s tower.”

He wrote, ”You’ll have a few neighbors.”

’Maybe I can bring Aina in to keep her company. But I’ll have to warn Aina beforehand to be careful not to get blown up.’