Lord of Rot

Leech watched the group of people feasting and drinking with great confusion. ’Aren’t these people the least bit concerned about the battle outside?’

His side had wiped out all their Soldiers, including 50 Cavalry and over a hundred infantrymen. There weren’t many people left alive in Pebble Castle now. All Leech had to do was open the castle gates, and the army outside would pour in and annihilate this group in an instant.

But they didn’t seem to care at all.

’Maybe Agnes knows something,’ Leech thought, looking toward Agnes.

She had been trapped for so many days; she must have learned a lot.

”What should we do with those Knights?” someone asked.

”The Grand Sorcerer said they’re useful,” the leader replied. He grabbed a goblet from the table with a greasy hand and poured some wine into his mouth.

Hardly a drop made it into his mouth; most of it splashed down his front.

They seemed to enjoy the act of wasting it more than the act of drinking it.

”Heh heh,” a buck-toothed person spoke up. To Leech’s surprise, it was a woman. She had a scarred, shaven head, a small face, and a prominent nose, but what was most memorable was her mouthful of buck teeth. ”Can’t you let me have some fun first?”

”Hahaha!”

The others at the table roared with laughter.

The person next to her suddenly reached out and ripped her clothes open, revealing her scrawny figure.

She showed no shame or anger, instead thrusting her chest toward him. ”Want a taste?”

”Get lost! I don’t want your stench!” As the man spoke, his gaze shifted to Agnes, who was beside the leader.

His meaning couldn’t have been clearer.

Agnes’s body trembled slightly. She shot the leader a pleading look. The leader’s expression soured.

’A beautiful woman devoted only to me, and now my own bastard subordinate wants a piece of her?’

But in the end, Agnes was just spoils of war, and they had always shared their spoils in the past.

The leader gave Agnes a reassuring look, then stood up and said, ”Alright, don’t forget our mission!”

”Everyone outside should be pretty much dead by now.”

The group started chattering all at once.

Leech couldn’t see any connection between this group and the Cavalry and infantry who had been dealt with outside. It was as if they couldn’t be happier that the soldiers were dead.

The more he thought about it, the less sense it made.

Seeing that the group would be eating for a while longer, he stood up and headed deeper into the castle. ’Time to find Philip. Since they aren’t dead, they must be locked up somewhere in here.’

After a quick search, Leech still couldn’t find Philip and the others. However, in one room, he saw their armor. It was stained with blood, which meant a major fight had broken out after they entered the castle. The five of them had been captured and were seriously injured.

By the time he returned to the great hall, the dozen or so people had finally finished their meal.

As they were leaving, the man who had been coveting Agnes suddenly reached out and slapped her on the rear.

”Ah!” She jumped in fright and shrank into the leader’s arms. Her action was deliberate.

The leader’s face darkened, but he couldn’t say anything in front of his brother-in-arms.

”When are we snatching some more noble ladies?” The man, completely oblivious to his wrongdoing, grinned and said, ”Heijin, you’ve had her to yourself long enough. Isn’t it our turn?”

”Of course,” the leader, Heijin, said with a cold expression. ”That’s not important right now. Help the Grand Sorcerer first. Don’t forget our deal with him.”

The man’s face fell, but he couldn’t disobey the leader’s command. He just muttered, ”I think you’re just trying to stall!”

The leader, Heijin, said to Agnes, ”You should go back now.”

He gave her a little push.

Agnes knew she had narrowly escaped once again and hurried away.

Leech hesitated for a moment but decided to follow Agnes first. He didn’t know anything about this Grand Sorcerer, but since the sorcerer was in the castle, running into him wouldn’t be difficult. First, however, he needed to find Agnes and get a clear picture of the situation.

Having lived in Pebble Castle for several days, Agnes knew the layout of the small fortress by heart. She pushed open the door and went back to her room.

The bed in the room was a complete mess. To protect herself at noon today, she had been forced to stoke Heijin’s desires again, which resulted in another ”great battle.” The bed was the trench left behind after the war.

But she knew that Heijin was slowly losing his ability to protect her.

Then again, if Heijin and his men really did capture a few more noble ladies, she might be a little safer. Someone else would be there to share the danger.

She even began to hope for someone else to share her burden.

BANG. The door to the room slammed shut.

Agnes looked in confusion at the man standing before her with a pot on his head. Since he was blocking her view, she tilted her head to look around him at the door.

’What’s going on?’ she wondered, completely bewildered.

Leech took off the [Pot of Invisibility]. The effect that made people subconsciously ignore him vanished, and Agnes was finally able to see him properly.

Her expression was one of slight shock, but her reaction was even faster. She clapped a hand over her mouth.

”I am Leech Clarence. I’m here to rescue you, Lady Agnes,” Leech said, getting straight to the point. ”How are Sir Philip and the others?”

Agnes accepted this very quickly. The reason was simple: Leech’s armor bore the Porcupine family emblem. In East Port, almost every noblewoman used Porcupine Brand high-class soap, so she was very familiar with the emblem.

”They were captured by the Grand Sorcerer. They’re locked in the dungeon.”

”The dungeon?” Leech had already searched the area and found no entrance. ”I just searched the whole castle. I couldn’t find a dungeon.”

”It’s evil Magic!” Agnes said. ”The Grand Sorcerer used Magic to forbid anyone from entering the dungeon.”

”Who is this Grand Sorcerer?” Leech asked. ”And who is Heijin?”

”I don’t know.”

Agnes shook her head. ”I’ve never even seen the Grand Sorcerer since I was captured. But I know he was the one who had Heijin and his men capture me.”

She probably couldn’t figure out how she had possibly offended the Grand Sorcerer.

”Heijin is a Mercenary from the north. I... I once heard him mention it... in bed.” It was difficult for her to speak of her experiences in bed.

If Leech could turn invisible—and yes, she believed he could—then he had likely already seen everything that had happened to her.

”Rest assured,” Leech said. ”I don’t know what happened here, and I won’t tell anyone. I can swear it on the Four Gods!”

He had no desire to embarrass a young woman who had been forced into this situation. In fact, he respected her intelligent, pragmatic approach: if you can’t fight them, use your greatest strengths to protect yourself as much as possible.

”What about the Black Cavalry?” Leech asked. ”Why are they so unconcerned about their deaths?”

Agnes breathed a sigh of relief. She said, ”I think it’s the Grand Sorcerer’s Magic. Heijin said that they were originally being hunted by the Black Cavalry in the north. Then they met the Grand Sorcerer, and he used his Magic to turn the Black Cavalry into his obedient minions.”

”And the infantry, too?”

”Yes,” Agnes nodded. ”They were from East Gorge. After being captured by the Black Cavalry, they were also turned into minions.”

’He can alter people’s minds and turn them into puppets... Sounds like we’re in the same line of work,’ Leech thought to himself.

A sudden thought struck Leech. Could the Grand Sorcerer be planning to turn Philip and the other four Extraordinary Knights into his puppets?

Fighting this way—the more you fought, the bigger your army grew—was great when you were the one doing it. But when your enemy used the same method, Leech could only feel a massive headache coming on.