Lord of Rot

Gelang bought forty pounds of honey, and he could clearly sense something was off about Joe’s attitude.

His face burned with embarrassment. Gelang had to admit he’d been boasting—just a little... But he truly believed Baron Porcupine was just the lord of some backwater village who had stumbled upon a swarm of wild bees.

The small barrel of honey was loaded onto his wagon, leaving plenty of empty space.

Just by selling this bit of honey, Gelang could make dozens of Silver Moons—more than he earned in several months of doing business in Linta Bay.

Seeing that the other caravan was still loading in the distance, Gelang sidled up to Joe.

”My friend, what are they buying from Porcupine Territory?” For a merchant, having a thick skin was the first requirement.

Joe answered, ”Porcupine Brand beer, Porcupine Brand spirits, and Porcupine Brand soap. They’re from East Port.”

”A caravan from East Port!” Gelang exclaimed in surprise.

At the same time, Gelang grasped a key piece of information: Porcupine Territory’s goods were so good that even a major caravan from East Port had made a special trip here.

”That liquor... and what’s soap?” Gelang had only been drawn here by the honey. His information network was on a completely different level from this major caravan’s.

Joe smiled. ”This way. Let’s have a proper chat.”

「A short while later.」

The caravan from East Port still hadn’t left, but Gelang was already driving his wagon away.

”So expensive!”

He had bought a small cask of liquor and a dozen or so bars of soap, and the price was nearly as high as the honey.

At the same time, he was excited about the potential for a huge profit. Even if he didn’t strike it rich, the honey alone would be enough to cover all his expenses.

’So Porcupine Territory has this much honey.’

’As for negotiating terms with Baron Porcupine to buy up all the honey in Porcupine Territory? I might as well have been talking out of my ass.’

’But I can find a group of people to partner with. There’s honey, soap, and fine wine here.’ Although Gelang wished he could keep this place a secret for himself, the sight of the large caravan from East Port told him that was impossible.

Besides, they were used to doing big business and would probably look down on his small-time operation. He needed to gather a group of merchants to come with him, lest he be refused service next time.

When Leech learned that the merchant from Linta Bay had already come and gone after buying just one small barrel of honey, he was taken aback for a moment.

”A one-man caravan?”

”Yes.” Joe was helpless. He hadn’t expected to be duped; he too had thought it was a major caravan from Linta Bay.

If the soap hadn’t attracted the merchants from East Port, Porcupine Territory would have become a laughingstock.

”You did very well.”

Leech said, ”Porcupine Territory needs channels to sell its goods. We welcome all merchants, big or small.”

’Let him brag. It’s not costing me anything. As long as he’s here to buy my goods, I don’t care if he claims to be a projection of the Four Gods.’

Porcupine Territory welcomed any fellow with money in his pocket.

The ten thousand bars of soap weren’t finished yet, but the wine, honey, and cheap pottery alone were enough to fill Claude’s wagons.

He would send more caravans later, bringing with them the magical materials Leech required.

The materials for making Magic Gunpowder, in particular, were much cheaper when purchased in bulk through the caravan.

「Pigtail Bay.」

Leech strolled with a plump and slightly breathless Claude. He was always friendly to merchants who brought him money.

On this trip alone, Claude had spent 80 Jinri. Since the soap wasn’t fully produced yet, he could only take a portion. Once the full ten thousand bars were ready, Leech stood to gain another 200 Jinri.

Leech was investing about 3 Jinri a day in developing the territory, keeping 2,000 people employed. Money was being spent every second of every day. He had only just managed to go from operating at a loss to turning a profit.

He was finally starting to make money, even if it wasn’t much.

Leech paid the commoners’ salaries. The commoners developed the territory and produced goods. Then, the commoners spent their money on things from the merchants. The merchants, in turn, spent their money buying goods from Leech. It was a nascent economic cycle.

The money made a full circle and came back into his pocket, and everyone came out ahead.

”My lord, have you never considered building a port at Pigtail Bay?” Claude asked, gazing at the two-masted ship in the distance.

Leech nodded. ”My father once thought about building a port at Pigtail Bay, but the war delayed everything. I would very much like to fulfill his final wish.”

Porcupine Territory was hemmed in by Pig Spine Valley. To get out, one had to take a long detour, and beyond that, Iron Stone City stood guard.

But if they could build a dock at Pigtail Bay and use the waterways, Porcupine Territory would instantly reverse its awkward predicament of being stuck in a forgotten corner.

Claude said at once, ”If Pigtail Bay had a port, our merchant ships could get from East Port to Porcupine Territory in two or three days, tops.”

If Porcupine Territory’s port were built, his transportation costs would plummet, and he wouldn’t have to make the arduous journey with a train of wagons.

”But we lack craftsmen,” Leech sighed.

He had craftsmen, of course. He’d recruited a batch from Waterfall Land, but they were busy with other construction projects, so he just hadn’t gotten around to building a port.

That didn’t stop him from wanting more craftsmen, though. Acquiring more talent and increasing the population had always been Leech’s top priority.

”I can introduce a group of craftsmen to you,” Claude said, confidently patting his large, round belly. The buttons on his clothes were strained taut, making one worry they might pop off at any moment. ”As long as you can pay them well enough.”

”Thank you for your help, my friend!”

Leech clapped Claude on the shoulder. The man himself didn’t budge, but his belly jiggled.

It was like slapping a water balloon.

With money in hand, Baron Leech’s urge to build grew ever stronger. The dock and the watchtower he’d planned earlier—he would build them all.

After leaving Claude and Joe to discuss the recruitment of craftsmen and other matters, Leech stepped back and let them handle it.

’My subordinates are already excellent. I can’t hog all the chances to shine. I need to let them prove themselves, too.’

In simpler terms, he wanted to slack off.

Claude departed in his wagon, his goods fully loaded.

Leech watched the caravan depart from a castle window.

’I have to continue developing high-end soaps. The nobles’ influence on trends is far greater than I imagined. The entire society has an air of admiring and imitating the aristocracy.’

’This is just from East Port. In the future, merchants from other territories will come.’

He wasn’t worried about the nobles getting angry when they found out commoners could buy the same soap for two or three Silver Moons.

It was like on Earth. Everyone knew how low the production cost of ice cream bars was, yet some people ate ones that cost dozens or even hundreds of yuan, while others ate ones that cost fifty cents a pop.

The people who spent more didn’t feel it was expensive; on the contrary, they felt superior. Were they paying for the flavor? No, they were paying for the brand!

They could even find countless reasons to justify it to themselves.

On Earth, you could have two woven bags of the same type—one selling for twenty-six thousand yuan, the other for ten.

The same principle applied to clothes, shoes, lipstick, and perfume.

And the Lu Leiyans’ idolization of the nobility far surpassed how ordinary people on Earth chased after the upper class.

It was time to give the Lu Leiyans a little taste of commercial shock and awe.

’Look at the common soap—it’s just a plain block, with no intricate carvings, no exquisite box, and no fragrance. It can’t possibly compare to the noble soap used by the aristocracy.’

Little did they know, Leech’s plan was precisely to sell low-priced soap. High volume, low margins—the cost was so low it was practically a no-cost enterprise.

An idea struck Leech. ’I should use a few different boxes for packaging. The nobles have money. A single bar of soap might last a long time, but I can sell them the same product with different packaging and different scents. Wouldn’t they buy more that way? This isn’t just about making money, of course. Imagine how awkward it would be if everyone at a party discovered they were all using the same scented soap.’

Leech felt he was being incredibly considerate, painstakingly researching more scents just to ensure the noble ladies could have pleasant social gatherings.

Researching new scents was simple. If he hadn’t held him back, he estimated that ”Little Limper” would have already developed a dozen different fragrances.

Some were interesting, while others were completely useless and had to be filtered out. But Porcupine Territory was already capable of producing soap with new fragrances. Technological innovation moved just that fast.

With this in mind, he returned to his study, picked up a pen, and wrote a letter to the ”Red Rose.”

”To the beautiful Miss Evangelina,”

”After tireless research by our masters, Porcupine Brand soap now comes in three new fragrances: a refreshing citrus scent, a grassy scent reminiscent of the earth after a rain, and an ocean scent that calls to mind a gentle sea breeze. I will have them delivered to Roaring Castle. I hope you will like them.”

”Your Knight, Leech Clarence.”

Leech rolled up the letter. He had to admit he’d embellished things a little, but the soaps truly had those scents and were made with genuine ingredients.

The citrus-scented soap, for example, was made by boiling orange peels. Thanks to the oranges Claude had brought among his goods, the castle’s manservants and maids had eaten so many that they were all getting canker sores.

’Every batch of soap needs new packaging.’

In any case, since each soap box was handmade, changing the packaging wasn’t difficult. You had to keep releasing new products to keep reeling in the customers.

’As for the names... the ordinary one will be called Porcupine Brand Soap, and the expensive one will be Porcupine Brand Noble Soap.’

It wasn’t that he couldn’t think of better names; he could have easily copied some gimmicks from Earth. But what he wanted was something simple and blunt that created a clear status distinction.

And it wasn’t just about creating a status difference. Limiting the supply was a fundamental tactic.

This was the beauty of having a technological monopoly.

By establishing the Porcupine Brand’s effect among the nobility, he could mitigate the blow to his soap business if someone discovered the secret and successfully replicated it in the future.

By the time someone cracked the soap-making technique and began mass production, Porcupine Brand Noble Soap would already be firmly established in the public consciousness.

However, to maintain this advantage, he needed sufficient military power. Otherwise, if some noble got the idea to snatch his business, he might not be able to resist and could even face annihilation.

The money he earned had to be invested in his military.

’When Claude brings the craftsmen next time, the first thing to build is the dock.’

First, he’d build a small dock to facilitate trade, then slowly expand it into a port. Pigtail Bay couldn’t match the scale of the port at East Port, but it could certainly serve as a small port for small- to medium-sized cargo ships.

Good news continued to roll in. The 200 Soldiers sent from Shanzhang Castle to Longship Castle, along with craftsmen and provisions, had also arrived.