Lord of Rot

At night, under the guard of elite soldiers from the Monkey Clan, Longship Castle was like a cage that locked away freedom.

Guy brought some wine and found Nils wandering on the castle walls.

”It’s been a while,” Guy said, shaking the bottle in his hand. ”A fine vintage from Porcupine Territory. Care to try some?”

”Porcupine Territory?”

The nobles of Shanzhang Castle were familiar with Porcupine Territory. If not for Baron Porcupine’s awe-inspiring display of might, Longship Castle would be in a much worse predicament.

Fortunately, it seemed Baron Porcupine had been genuinely provoked by the foolish imposter, the so-called bastard son. After killing the man, he had departed in a hurry, showing no interest in taking control of Longship Castle. This allowed Shanzhang Castle to swoop in and claim the prize.

”That’s right. A rare vintage,” Guy nodded.

Nils licked his lips. He had been traveling all day and had only just finished his work. He was truly thirsty.

The fine wine was exactly what he wanted.

’The whole of Longship Castle is under my control. Nothing can possibly go wrong.’

’Besides, what harm could come from getting a little drunk? He and Guy had known each other for years. Aside from his disgust for Guy’s demonic charm, their relationship was friendly enough.’

”Keep a close watch,” Nils told his subordinate. ”I’m having a drink with Guy, so I probably won’t be back tonight.”

”Yes, sir!” the subordinate replied.

Nils followed Guy through the castle. The maids they passed gazed at Guy with expressions of adoration, a sight that disgusted Nils.

No one liked people who could bewitch others; such control over hearts and minds brought Abyssal Monsters to mind.

But that was Guy’s purpose. Without him, taking Longship Castle would have been far more trouble. It would also have drawn the attention of the Leopold family, making the gains far less than what they had acquired by acting in secret.

When they reached the dining hall of Longship Castle, food was already laid out on the table.

A maidservant stood quietly to the side, holding a wine flagon.

”You’re living well,” Nils said as he sat down.

Guy shrugged but didn’t reply.

Nils’s eyes narrowed as he looked at Guy, who was seated at the head of the table. ”Where is the Baroness? Is she not joining us?”

’The seating speaks volumes. For Guy to sit at the head of the table means he has more power than I thought... He might even have complete control of Longship Castle!’

”Right now, she wants nothing more than to tear your face to shreds.”

”Haha, I’d be honored,” Nils said, quite pleased with himself.

’Who cares about some pregnant woman with no power and no soldiers? The Baroness? Hah!’

The maidservant came over and poured Nils a cup of wine, then took the flagon and poured a cup for Guy as well.

Nils lowered his head and sniffed. ”What kind of wine is this?”

”It’s a strong spirit,” Guy said, taking a sip from his cup. ”Much stronger than ale. I bet one cup will put you on your back.”

”I’ve tasted every kind of wine there is! The drink that can get me truly drunk doesn’t exist!”

Seeing Guy drink first, Nils cast aside any lingering suspicion. The wine’s aroma had already stirred his craving; he lifted his cup and took a large gulp.

”Tch!”

He set the cup down.

Nils felt the alcohol rush to his head. It was completely different from any wine he’d ever had. ”Amazing!”

”I never thought Porcupine Territory could produce such a fine vintage.”

The words had barely left his lips.

THUD!

Nils collapsed to the floor, bleeding from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. He was dead.

Guy, however, calmly finished the last of his wine. ”Let’s go, Aina.”

The maidservant holding the flagon, who was none other than the Transcendent Corpse Ghost Aina, nodded.

They had planned to eliminate Nils without a sound, adding a massive dose of poisoned blood to the wine. A single cup was potent enough to kill a lion.

She led the way while Guy wiped the blood from the corpse’s face, then propped the body up and guided it out of the dining hall.

They encountered no soldiers from the Monkey Clan on their way. No one would have believed that inside a Longship Castle they supposedly controlled completely, their most reliable ”ally” would make a move against Nils.

Even the deceased Nils hadn’t suspected the wine was poisoned—after all, he had seen Guy take the first sip with his own eyes.

Guy, who was no longer human, could drink any amount of poison without effect. He was already a corpse; how could he die again?

Nils’s body was brought to a dungeon that had been prepared in advance. Inside was an inscribed Array and several waiting coffins.

There were ten coffins in total, enough to refine ten corpses at once.

Since the corpse was perfectly intact, it would save some of the gold required for the process.

A small piece of gold was placed on the corpse’s chest.

Then, the Clay Puppet curio was placed on top of it.

Everything was ready. The coffin lid was closed, and they waited for the result.

After a long while, the coffin lid stirred.

Leech immediately began absorbing the memories.

Leech quickly skimmed through Nils’s entire life. As his Spiritual Power grew, he found he could extract increasingly more memories from the dead. He suspected that one day, he might be able to absorb a person’s entire life, every memory from every day and night, from birth until death.

’No wonder they sent a Knight—he was supposed to keep an eye on Guy. Tsk, tsk, Old Monkey Baron, you really overplayed your hand this time. You’ve lost your top man and gained nothing.’

The Monkey Clan believed they had Longship Castle completely under their control, little knowing that their efforts had only served as nourishment to make Leech stronger.

Leech also came to understand why the Monkey Clan, a family that prided itself on the motto ”the wise conceal their strength,” had suddenly chosen to send troops to seize Longship Castle by force instead of biding their time.

It was because the Old Monkey Baron of the Bill family was on his deathbed. Before he died, he was desperate to secure a larger inheritance for his unimpressive son and lay a firmer foundation for the Monkey Clan’s future prosperity.

The Baron’s impending death was one reason for the Monkey Clan’s sudden, uncharacteristically bold move.

There was another reason as well.

In a territory called Iron Valley, bordering Monkey Territory, a ”Black King” had recently appeared.

Leech knew of Iron Valley. It bordered Monkey Territory, with steep, thorny mountains to the north, Burning City at the Giant’s Foot to the south, and the sea to the east.

Though it appeared to be on a key transportation route, the rugged, mountainous terrain meant that travelers from both Monkey Territory and Burning City preferred to take a detour rather than attempt to cross it.

Iron Valley’s environment was harsh. The terrain was hilly and uneven, and the soil was unsuitable for farming.

The Iron Valley People survived mainly by logging and making charcoal to sell, and their lives were difficult.

To put it bluntly, Iron Valley was a backwater, a poor region that no one would even bother conquering in a war.

But this ”Black King” seemed to have gone mad. Not only had he declared himself king, but he also intended to overthrow the rule of Bor II.

The Monkey Clan operated by a simple code: never show your face in a fight, only cause trouble from the shadows. So, upon sniffing the scent of war, their first thought was naturally of personal gain.

With a war brewing, the attention of the wider kingdom would surely be focused on the ”Black King.” This meant that even if the Monkey Clan used slightly more forceful means to seize Longship Castle, it would likely go unnoticed.

By the time anyone did notice, the Monkey Clan would have already secured its prize.

A classic case of fishing in troubled waters.

The situation was even better than the Monkey Clan had anticipated. Because they had completed the takeover so quietly, the news would not get out for some time.

’Well, actually, it will *never* get out.’

The great wars had ended, but the small ones would never cease.

After finishing with the memories, Leech began to take stock of his gains.

First were the combat skills. As an arena champion, Nils had been a master of all forms of combat, especially fighting on horseback. This experience raised Leech’s own abilities by a whole level. He was now confident enough to call himself an all-around Knight in the presence of other nobles.

He had even mastered archery, his former weak point, and could now shoot with decent accuracy.

’Still, I probably won’t be using a bow and arrow much. I’ve already figured out how to make muskets, and those things are far more effective.’

Next was information on the deployment of the 200 men who had arrived at Longship Castle.

Nils had four lieutenants, each commanding a portion of the soldiers.

They would be Leech’s next targets.

Once the accounting was done, Leech tried using the ability of the curio that had fused with the corpse.

Stones flew through the air and fused with Corpse Ghost Nils’s body, transforming him into a stone golem two-and-a-half meters tall.

”Not bad!”

Leech was very pleased. Nils hadn’t been an Extraordinary, but now that his body was made of stone, his strength and durability were likely no less than that of a common Transcendent.

There was another problem: as a Corpse Ghost, Nils couldn’t speak.

His dead body wouldn’t allow him to make a sound.

’There has to be a form of Magic that can make the dead speak.’

Right now, he knew of two ways to acquire Magic. The first was to buy it on the Black Market, which was a matter of luck.

The second was to have Guy search for similar Magic through the Round Table.

’The Round Table meets periodically. I can have him ask then.’

He released his control over Corpse Ghost Nils. The creature’s intelligence was considerable; having completely absorbed all of Niels Bohr’s memories, it could perfectly impersonate its living self.

Next up: Nils’s four lieutenants.

When the four men were confronted by Guy and Nils, they followed them away without the slightest suspicion.

They couldn’t have imagined that overnight, their master, the Knight, had been completely replaced.

Three Corpse Ghosts against four ordinary Warriors. The fight was over in an instant.

Leech didn’t have enough Extraordinary Magic Potions or curios to spare, nor did he intend to waste such resources on common soldiers. Thus, they were merely refined into simple corpses.

In a way no one could have foreseen, the soldiers sent from Shanzhang Castle were called away one by one, only to return as walking corpses.

Gradually, the number of living soldiers defending Longship Castle grew smaller and smaller.