Lord of Rot

’Send Aina and the Red-haired Earthlings with the Giant Lizard to Longship Castle to take out that greasy, powdered pretty-boy?’

’Not very realistic.’

’But it would be much easier to lure him out first.’

Leech had to admit he was in a rather foul mood.

Just the next morning, Leech received a letter from Green Forest Castle.

The letter was from his cousin, Bode.

”My dear cousin, I never thought you’d be so popular.”

Leech strongly suspected the writer wasn’t actually Bode. As he read the letter, mimicking Bode’s tone in his head, he felt as if he were facing a man with a smirking, crooked smile, and a strong sense of unease welled up inside him.

He shook his head, casting the messy thoughts aside.

’It must be love. Love can turn a crafty old fox into a little puppy.’

Leech continued reading.

”You’ve only visited Green Forest Castle once, yet I feel like you’re here every day. I hear about you constantly from Stacy, from Grandfather, from Father, and from Miss Fami Port.”

’I’m not even there, but my legend is everywhere.’

”As I was about to write this letter, Stacy and Miss Port saw me. They’re insisting I send you their best wishes. Anyway, on to business. I know you’re interested in the Black Market. The next one is in Iron Stone City at the end of this month. I hear some very interesting corpses will be showing up. Unfortunately, Iron Stone City is too far for us to make it.”

”Your cousin, Bode.”

Leech smiled. Bode was the stoic, reserved type—outwardly cold and ruthless, but secretly adorkable.

’Blessings received.’

Bode might have misunderstood his reasons for buying corpses, but the end result was the same. Leech needed powerful bodies.

It was also a perfect opportunity to buy some Magic Potion seeds at the Black Market and grow them himself.

’Should I make a trip to Longship Castle on the way?’

Actually, going to Longship Castle from Iron Stone City was pretty convenient... or rather, if you were going to Longship Castle, you’d pass through Iron Stone City.

It was all the same. It was on the way. Which was on the way for which didn’t really matter.

The end of the ninth month. Only a few days left.

He had already made up his mind. After attending the Black Market in Iron Stone City, he would take a ”detour” to Longship Castle. Everything in Porcupine Territory was on track, and his days were spent petting cats, beating people up at the training grounds, and sampling food. It was utterly boring.

...

The lime foreman, Little Limper, was clutching his trouser leg.

The sweat from his palms had soaked through the fabric.

Leech nodded in satisfaction. ”Mm, the results are good.”

Little Limper had perfected the research on the heat packs. Furthermore, by working with the masons to mix furnace slag and iron powder from the blacksmith’s forge with clay from the brick kiln, he had preliminarily developed a cement with stronger adhesive properties. Of course, it was nothing compared to Earth’s, as everything was still in the exploratory phase.

The materials were readily available, and the construction team immediately switched to the new mixture.

Hearing Leech say the results were good, Little Limper breathed a sigh of relief.

”Stop researching this for now.”

Little Limper looked at Leech, confused.

Leech said, ”I have something new for you to make.”

He really couldn’t spare anyone else with talent; everyone already had their own jobs. Little Limper worked hard, had an inquisitive mind, and most importantly, he was loyal.

His entire family was in Porcupine Territory, making him one of the true Porcupine People. The chance of him turning traitor was naturally lower than that of an outsider.

”Yes!” Little Limper nodded. There was no need to ask what it was; the Lord would give his orders.

”What we’re about to create will be classified as Porcupine Territory’s most important secret,” Leech said. ”I will require you not to get drunk and never to speak of this to anyone.”

”...Yes!” Little Limper began to grow tense.

His palms started sweating again.

His heart began to pound wildly. THUMP THUMP THUMP.

It was excitement!

’Even though I made a mistake before, the Lord never gave up on me. He keeps giving me chances.’

’Now the masons are using the cement I developed.’

’And the traveling caravans take my heat packs with them.’

’The Lord is never stingy with his rewards.’

”This stuff is called soap,” Leech said. ”The crafting process is very simple. You can make it by yourself.”

”Soap?”

”What does that make you think of?” Leech asked, seeing the gears turning in Little Limper’s head.

”Soapbeans.”

It was just an association based on the name.

”Exactly,” Leech nodded. ”It works similarly to soapbeans, only it’s much better. It’s not just for washing clothes; you can use it to wash your hands and body. It will leave you smelling fragrant and make your skin better.”

The history of soap’s discovery back on Earth was also related to a cook.

A cook accidentally spilled some grease. Afraid of getting caught, he covered it with wood ash from the fire. He then kneaded the mixture into a ball and threw it out to ”destroy the evidence.” But later, when the cook went to wash his hands, he found they became incredibly clean.

Little Limper was a lot like that cook. He might not be famous for his culinary skills, but he had a similar knack for stumbling into major discoveries by accident.

”I’ve had someone bring over some raw materials,” Leech said. ”But the most important thing is that you protect the recipe.”

”Yes, Lord!”

Leech had mentioned keeping the recipe a secret multiple times before they had even begun, so Little Limper understood the gravity of the situation.

’Where there’s profit, there’s the risk of leaks.’ Leech didn’t expect the secret of soap to last forever. ’Hopefully, at least until my economy really takes off.’

A bucket of rendered lard.

This was the fat component, the easiest type for Porcupine Territory to obtain. Pigs were slaughtered daily, so there was no shortage of lard.

Next was the alkaline solution.

Heating quicklime and then adding water created limewater, which served as the alkaline solution. Another material that was available everywhere.

Following Leech’s instructions, Little Limper poured the two ingredients into a large cauldron.

After lighting a fire underneath, he began to stir the mixture with a long wooden stick.

After it had boiled for a while, some of the water evaporated.

”That should be enough,” Leech said. ”Ladle it out and put it into a bucket.”

”Yes!”

Little Limper took a large wooden ladle and scooped the soap slurry into the bucket.

Aside from the heat of the boiling, the work wasn’t particularly tiring.

After a while, the liquid in the bucket solidified.

”This is soap?” Little Limper asked in astonishment, staring at the solid block that had formed in the bucket.

He cut out a small piece with a knife.

He drew a basin of water, wet his hands, and rubbed the soap on them.

As he rubbed his fingers together, foam began to appear.

It felt smooth and slick.

His skin, which was normally dry and cracked from frequent contact with lime, seemed to be soothed at that moment.

He dipped his hands back into the water to rinse off the foam.

They were spotless!

”This is proper soap,” Leech said with a smile, looking at Little Limper’s astonished expression. ”What do you think?”

”It’s miraculous!” Little Limper nodded emphatically.

And it was so simple! No wonder the Lord insisted on protecting the recipe. Anyone who saw the process just once could easily copy it.

”This is just the most basic version,” Leech said. ”Go to Beekeeping Village, find some fragrant flowers, and add them to the mix. *Then* it will be true scented soap.”

”I understand, Lord!”

’Things like sulfur soap, goat’s milk soap, horse oil soap... there are countless varieties that can be researched later. But they all follow the same fundamental principle: mix an alkali with an oil. Saponification.’

Little Limper was a quick study. Soon, a bar of soap infused with the scent of some unknown flower was presented to Leech.

’It’s not square or round. Even if people know it’s soap, it looks too crude.’

From the very beginning, Leech had no intention of selling his soap to the poor.

The common folk, who had to be frugal even when using soapbeans, were not his target demographic.

He immediately summoned the carpenter, Pointy Nose.

”Lord!”

”I need you to design a wooden box for me. It must be exquisite and ornate. You can get help from the blacksmith’s forge, and it can be decorated with some inexpensive Gemstone Shards.”

Even ”inexpensive” Gemstone Shards couldn’t be bought without using Silver Moon coins.

”I have only two requirements,” Leech said. ”First, it must look noble. Second, it must look very expensive!”

”Noble” was easy enough to understand. It had to make the nobles who used it feel superior to others.

It had to make the wealthy merchants, who could just barely afford it, feel like they too could buy their way into the noble class.

It had to satisfy the vanity of every customer.

The second point was even simpler: ”very expensive.” It had to look valuable at a single glance.

”Have every carpenter submit a design,” Leech said. ”I’ll be the judge.”

”Yes!”

Pointy Nose left.

But it wasn’t just carpenters who were summoned to the castle. There were also several craftsmen skilled in decorative carving. If the outer box was getting a design, how could the soap inside be ordinary?

He would hire people to carve them.

He had three requirements for the soap itself.

First, it had to be small!

If it wasn’t small, a single bar could last for half a year. How was he supposed to make money like that?

Second, it had to be precious and exquisite.

It needed a unique, refreshing design that would catch the eye.

Third, the brand.

The brand design was the easiest part. Soap from Porcupine Territory would be called Porcupine Brand.

He just needed to have his family crest carved onto the packaging and the soap itself.

When the first finished set was placed before him, Leech mused, ’With this design and this packaging, selling it for 30 Silver Moon a bar shouldn’t be too expensive, right?’

’I could also make a mold. Just pour the soap slurry in, let it set, and then touch it up a bit afterward.’

He did a quick calculation. The labor cost for each bar of soap was still very high. To make a whole batch of basic soap, the oil and limewater were his own, costing no more than 5 copper stars. But hiring people to carve the packaging and the soap itself shockingly raised the cost to 1 Silver Moon per bar!

Both the carved wooden box and the shaping of the soap inside required skilled artisans.

It was a small item, but the level of detail required meant the production cost couldn’t be brought down.

’The packaging costs more than the product itself. Perfectly normal!’

Leech wasn’t concerned about the cost. He was confident the nobles would love this product. It was cheaper than perfume, for one. The perfumes made by scholars were not only overpowering, but their yields were also incredibly low, making the prices shockingly high.

Plus, spraying too much wasn’t good for one’s health.

And due to the local physiology in Lu Leiyi, most people had body odor.

Pinching one’s nose and fanning the air was considered the height of disrespect toward a lady.

But his Porcupine Brand soap was different. It was rich in oils that moisturized the skin, carried a natural floral fragrance, and came in beautiful packaging. One bath, and the scent would linger all day.

Next came selecting the target customers.

He needed to find people to help him promote it.

Leech’s method was simple: give free samples to noble ladies with ”influence.”

The queen, with her ten thousand dresses, was the biggest influencer in the entire kingdom. Whichever dress she wore could spark heated discussions among the nobility. But Leech didn’t know her, and she certainly wouldn’t know some country Baron like him.

Stepping back a bit, the Red Rose he’d interacted with before was a good choice.

’I can send one to the Red Rose. And Green Forest Castle—Stacy will definitely get one. I’ll give one to Cousin Bode to give to his girlfriend. And Miss Fami... what was the name of that busty girl I danced with?’

He wasn’t going to pass up any noblewoman.

Longship Castle was a given, of course. But given Lady Jie Lin’s situation, it would probably be difficult for her to ”promote the product.”

Then there was the ’Charming’ lady of Iron Stone City. Although she was a type of woman Leech detested and had no fondness for, her appeal was undeniable. Some noble ladies even liked to imitate her, hoping to become as captivating as she was.

’Since I’m heading to Iron Stone City anyway, I can just give it to her personally.’

Leech tentatively decided that he would personally deliver the gifts for Iron Stone City and Longship Castle.

And just like that, the initial target customers for Porcupine Brand soap were decided.

’I hope their influence is big enough.’

If the soap sold well, it had the potential to be even more profitable than honey.