Lord of Rot

Having enjoyed a thrilling flight, Rocket was in a great mood. Its appetite surged after it returned to the castle courtyard.

It devoured not only two rabbits but also several strips of meat.

If Leech hadn’t been there to keep it in check, Rocket might have knocked the Groom right over and snatched the food from his hands.

This served as a reminder to Leech that he had to be careful when training the Horse-headed Eagle. No matter how smart it was, it was still a magical beast and could easily harm an ordinary person.

Leech was in an excellent mood as well. The day he could ride Rocket and soar through the skies was just around the corner!

Every time he saw Rocket, he was reminded of its father—the injured Griffin.

’If only I could have kept that Griffin back then.’

As impressive as Horse-headed Eagle Knights were, they were no match for Griffin Knights. The thought of riding a Griffin in the future, leading a squadron of Horse-headed Eagle Knights... Just imagining the scene made him take a sharp breath.

Other than Dragon Cavalry, there was probably nothing more thrilling.

Before leaving the courtyard, Leech told the Groom that if he didn’t have time the next day, the Groom should take Rocket to the training grounds. He added that he could bring Pitz, the one who knew Beast Language, hoping Pitz could figure out what Rocket was trying to say.

Pitz’s command of Beast Language wasn’t particularly strong—nothing like the person Leech had met at the round table in Burning City, who could control animals directly.

His thoughts on Cavalry training, Leech returned to his study. He planned to organize the knowledge in his head and write it down for future use in training his own Cavalry.

Once he put pen to paper, he ended up writing four or five pages with ease.

He only realized how much time had passed when Pitchfork came in to light a beeswax candle for him. ”Is it dark already?”

Leech stood up and twisted his sore neck and waist, which let out a series of CRACKS.

On his way out of the study, he scooped up a strolling Qingtian and gave him a couple of pets. ”Pitchfork,” Leech asked, ”is dinner ready?”

Pitchfork nodded. ”Yes, my lord. It’s ready.”

”Then let’s eat.”

When dining in the castle, Quickblade was never absent.

Lords typically feasted with their subordinate nobles to display their status.

Another way to flaunt one’s status was to leave food on one’s plate.

Finishing all the food on one’s plate would lead to being looked down upon by other nobles.

But surprisingly, when it was time for dinner this evening, Quickblade was nowhere to be seen.

”Lord Quickblade is still selecting Soldiers,” Pitchfork explained.

Leech said, ”I hope Kro brings the horses back soon. Otherwise, Quickblade will definitely go mad.”

In all of Porcupine Territory, no one was more eager for a Cavalry unit than Quickblade.

Then again, what man can resist a good ”charge”?

Leech had just washed his hands with soap and was sitting down after drying them when Gelan burst in.

”Gelan, what’s the rush?”

Gelan forced a smile. ”My lord, this is about your winged horse.”

He then explained the situation in detail.

Before today, rumors had already been circulating that the castle housed a strange, winged creature with the head of an eagle and the body of a horse. Not many people took it seriously, though. There were also wild theories, like the one about a secret castle under the current one, filled entirely with corpses—a rumor even its tellers didn’t believe.

But today, Rocket had flown across the skies of Porcupine Territory. Anyone who hadn’t seen it with their own eyes had surely heard about it.

This led to two conflicting narratives in Porcupine Territory. One claimed Rocket was a fearsome magical beast that would eat people, while the other proclaimed it a Divine Beast bestowed upon Porcupine Territory by the Divine Spirits.

’First a demon, now a deity.’

Leech thought for a moment. ”Hmm, let’s just put out a statement. Say it’s my mount, and I’m the first Sky Knight in all of Porcupine Territory... I like the part about it being a gift from the Divine Spirits, but let’s tweak it. Change it to... the Divine Spirits have gifted me one of the Divine Horses that pull their chariots, to ensure I am victorious in every battle.”

In Porcupine Territory, he set the trends. Controlling public opinion was child’s play.

A year ago, owning a flying Horse-headed Eagle would have been incredible. Now, however, it wasn’t quite as unique.

As someone from Earth, with its five thousand years of history, Leech knew a thing or two about spinning minor events into grand, unifying legends. It was second nature. His ancestors had built an entire epic around slaying a simple snake; his horse, on the other hand, actually had wings and could fly.

”But...” Gelan’s mouth fell open.

’Can you just make up stories about receiving gifts from the Divine Spirits? Isn’t my lord afraid of their wrath?’

But as Gelan thought it over, he suddenly realized that Leech’s words might not be a fabrication after all. Leech already held the title of a Divine Favored, having made a miraculous recovery from the brink of death.

He now possessed a mind brimming with seemingly divine knowledge, using it to create all sorts of incredible and miraculous tools.

Besides, the Flying Horse was real.

’In other words, my lord isn’t lying! It truly is a divine gift!’

”Yes!” Gelan nodded.

He decided he would weave all of Leech’s past deeds into an epic tale. The young Minstrel, Pilite, had been singing the same dull songs lately; this was the perfect opportunity for some new material.

After dinner, Gelan departed in a hurry.

He would have to burn some extra candles tonight to get his ideas down on paper.

This wasn’t just an assignment; he was chronicling a legend in the making. The thought filled Gelan with boundless energy.

Leech had no idea his casual remark would get Gelan so fired up. He had underestimated just how much of an impact a string of ”miracles” could have in a world where worship of Divine Spirits was the norm.

Leech decided to turn in early that night.

The Water Nymph had yet to return, and he couldn’t contact her for the time being.

He extended his Spiritual Power deep into the promontory caverns. The Corpse Ghosts continued to plant herbs; a few had died, but a good number had survived. All in all, things were proceeding well. However, judging by the density of the poison mist, Leech decided he wouldn’t enter the underground part of the caverns again unless it was absolutely necessary. He didn’t want to get himself poisoned to death.

He was also thankful he’d gotten Betty out in time; otherwise, he’d only have been able to retrieve her corpse.

In the massive pool of Magic Antiseptic, soaking alongside the Corpse Demon Giant Lizard, the corpse of a black-haired slave opened its eyes.

Elsewhere, the Necromancer Ah Yamei also ceased her work.

Aina sensed Leech making his presence known, so she paid no mind to the Necromancer who had abandoned her post.

’Next, ”carry” and ”fetch,”’ Leech thought, using the Necromancer’s body to cast a spell. He began adjusting the command logic of the Undead Magic.

Thankfully, it was just a matter of importing the concepts.

”Run!”

”Drop!”

”Fetch!”

”Squat!”

Leech tested it again and again. The corpse, which required only a sliver of Spiritual Power, moved like a common Undead. Upon receiving the signal, it began to slowly act out each of the commands Leech had just issued.

’Not bad,’ Leech thought, looking at the corpse squatting on the ground. ’The response is a little slow, but it executes the commands without any major errors.’

With his Spiritual Power acting as a backstop, all the thought processes and Computing Power were offloaded onto it. The corpse itself handled no thinking or decision-making; it was merely responsible for performing a corresponding action upon receiving a fixed signal.

Once the basic commands were defined, Leech tried giving the corpse a task.

’Bring the stone blocks from the collapsed castle over here.’

The corpse turned with a blank stare, ambled toward the castle, and picked up a stone block. Then it clumsily turned around, walked back, and dropped the stone in front of the Necromancer, Ah Yamei.

It didn’t stop there. The corpse turned, left, brought back another stone, dropped it, and turned around once more.

’It’s practically a machine that never gets tired, never complains, and never needs to eat.’

Although he had long suspected this was possible, seeing it in action still left Leech amazed.

He didn’t order it to stop, so the corpse continued to bring stones over, one after another. Its strength was limited—it could only carry one block at a time—but it had incredible stamina and could repeat the task indefinitely.

All it required was an occasional soak in the Magic Antiseptic and a minuscule amount of Spiritual Power.

But since he hadn’t given a stop command, an error occurred. Once it ran out of loose blocks to carry, the corpse started dismantling a wall.

”Stop!” Leech could no longer just sit back and watch.

’I still need a Corpse Ghost to supervise. A truly ”set it and forget it” system isn’t possible yet.’

However, the ability to give a single command and have the corpse execute it in an infinite loop was extremely useful to Leech.

Simply put, if he commanded a batch of corpses to ”mine and return,” they would mine, bring back the materials, and immediately turn around to mine again, endlessly.

Leech was confident that with sufficiently detailed programming, he could one day have these corpses perform simple, highly repetitive, and mind-numbingly dull jobs.

When the first rays of dawn crept through a crack in the window, Leech forced his eyes open.

”What? Did I pull an all-nighter again?”

Programming the behavioral logic for the Corpse Ghosts and running all those tests was so engrossing that he’d completely lost track of time, forgetting to eat or sleep.