Lord of Rot

”But I’m still uncertain about the firearm’s power...” Quickblade hesitated.

”Power?” Leech turned and waved at Rob. Rob immediately picked up a breastplate that had been placed to the side and tied it to the trunk of a tree.

Quickblade understood what Leech meant, and he couldn’t hide the anticipation in his eyes.

’To see its power, all we have to do is fire a shot!’

Leech quickly picked up the firearm, loaded the gunpowder and a bullet, aimed, and then pulled the trigger.

The flint clamp slammed against the frizzen.

A puff of white smoke rose.

”BANG!”

The firearm, which would have practically leaped into the air in anyone else’s hands, was uncharacteristically still in Leech’s, not wavering at all.

Given his strength, the slight recoil was nothing to him.

Before the thick smoke had even cleared, Quickblade couldn’t wait and rushed forward.

He ran to the tree trunk where the armor was, lowering his head to inspect it.

There was a sunken crater in the armor—the firearm had shot straight through it.

He untied the armor from the tree trunk.

There was a clear bullet hole in the trunk.

The bullet hole was much shallower than it would have been without the armor, and half the bullet was still exposed. He picked at it lightly with his finger, and the bullet fell out.

’But ordinary bows and crossbows have a very hard time piercing a breastplate.’

”HISS!”

The armor of the Porcupine Soldiers wasn’t that much inferior to a Knight’s plate mail.

’In other words, the days when a Knight could don a suit of plate armor and dominate the battlefield are over. To put it more bluntly, a group of militiamen with firearms could even kill a charging noble Knight!’

’Facing a charge might cost ten or twenty lives.’

’But a single noble Knight is more valuable than hundreds of militiamen!’

Leech watched Quickblade and knew what he was thinking. The man wanted to use the firearm’s power to dominate the battlefield outright.

’But... unfortunately...’

’After the Magic Tide, high-level combatants emerged endlessly, and the number of creatures impervious to firearms grew.’

’The firearm wasn’t meant to help Porcupine Territory dominate the battlefield.’

’It was to keep them from being left behind by it.’

’Of course, if I could develop large-caliber weapons, the situation might not be as bad as I think.’

’But Magic is the dominant force.’

Having witnessed the firearm’s power once more, the Soldiers were completely hooked and couldn’t bear to part with them.

Leech had two requirements for his Soldiers.

First, they had to know how to shoot.

Second, they had to train their close-combat abilities to ensure they could survive.

In other words, while they could function as ranged riflemen, their melee skills remained paramount.

They say even militiamen can fight with a gun, but at the end of the day, militiamen are just militiamen. They’re fine when they have the advantage, but the moment things turn against them, they’ll panic and flee in disarray.

The combat effectiveness of professionally trained Soldiers was far beyond what common militiamen could achieve.

They could use firearms from a distance, but in close-quarters combat, militiamen were destined for a one-sided slaughter.

It wasn’t just the infantry training.

Cavalry training was also proceeding in an orderly fashion.

With Pitz’s help, the current Cavalry had just begun to form a decent bond with their horses. They could take them for a leisurely ride, but it would take much more training before they could gallop without being thrown off or maneuver with agility on the battlefield.

According to Leech’s plan, once the Cavalry’s preliminary training was complete, they would also be trained to use firearms from horseback.

...

「It was the end of the year.」

Leech gave the entire Porcupine Ridge a day off.

There were slaughtered chickens and pigs for a bonfire feast, and Leech had even arranged for Gelan to contact his daughter and have her troupe return to Porcupine Territory for another performance.

This also fulfilled Gelan’s wish to see his daughter.

Gelan was deeply moved by his Lord’s decision. To show his gratitude, he kept Leech cooped up in the town hall for the entire morning!

Throughout the morning, Gelan went over various organized reports with Leech, presenting a year-end summary and beginning to draft plans for the future.

The development of Porcupine Territory was plain for all to see.

From being unable to afford food last year, the territory had grown to over two thousand people, with every family now well-fed and warmly clothed. Factories had been built, the pier was nearing completion, and they had finally escaped poverty.

The number of Soldiers alone was equal to the entire population of Porcupine Territory the previous year.

However, one thing caught Leech by surprise: his total net income for the year was 50 Jinri.

”Is there a mistake?” he asked after a moment of silence.

”No, Lord,” Gelan said, holding the documents. ”And that’s not even counting the money you personally paid to construct the factories. Our Porcupine Wine, soap, and honey are all profitable, but we spent everything we earned this year. The money went to outfitting over two hundred Soldiers, purchasing warhorses, constructing buildings and factories, paving roads, paying salaries, and allowing the slaves to redeem their work points.”

”And if you want to purchase heavy plows for the spring tilling, we’ll need even more money for oxen.”

Most of the money spent was from the treasure Leech had acquired from the catacombs at the cape.

”So you’re saying, in the end, these 50 Jinri aren’t even mine?”

’Easy come, easy go.’

’On the surface, it looked like I’d only earned 50 Jinri, but in reality, I was basically paying out of pocket to develop the whole territory.’

’But at least the territory is developing. If I keep at it, it’s bound to generate greater profits in the future.’

’Thinking about it, raiding dungeons for loot is a much faster way to make money. Clearing out just one could fund the territory’s development for a good while. If I had to rely solely on Porcupine Territory’s own earnings to fund its growth, we wouldn’t be building factories or new homes. The cost of the slaves’ work-point redemptions alone would have crushed me.’

”The territory doesn’t need so many slaves,” Leech said. ”Next year, turn them all into serfs and have them farm the land!”

’At least serfs don’t require work points. They can be self-sufficient, which would save me a chunk of money.’

’Besides, the food supply is a major issue. We need more people farming.’

’I don’t want to have to buy massive amounts of grain to survive the winter every year.’

With the arrival of the comedy troupe, Gelan’s report concluded, and he went joyfully to see his daughter.

Leech stood at the entrance to the town hall. A blast of cold wind cleared his head.

The maids and manservants had also changed into new clothes for the day. After receiving Leech’s permission, the butler, Simon, reluctantly let them go on their holiday.

Arkke also went home to be with his father and brothers.

Betty was deep in her research on explosives.

Toma the scholar was still tirelessly researching the Magic Scroll, having unknowingly pulled out a good deal of his hair in the process.

Quickblade had long since dragged Kro and Joe off to drink.

Although it was a day of rest for everyone, they all seemed even busier than usual.

But it was a happy sort of busyness.

After returning to the castle, Leech lingered in his study for a long while before finally taking a few letters to find Pitz.

”Once you’ve sent these letters for me, you can go home and rest, Pitz.”

”Yes, Lord,” Pitz replied, taking the letters cheerfully.

She was dying to go out and have fun with her friends.

”Send this one to East Port.” Leech handed a letter to Pitz. He watched as she spoke a few words to a raven, which then spread its wings and flew off.

One letter was for Red Rose, thanking her for her help with his business ventures.

’After all, maintaining a relationship is all about staying in touch.’

The remaining letters were addressed to Green Forest Castle and Longship Castle.

Once the letters were sent, Pitz turned and took her leave.

”Is this one of your human festivals?” the Brass Dragon flew over and landed on Leech’s shoulder.

”Don’t Giant Dragons celebrate holidays?”

Leech asked as he stood on high, gazing out over Porcupine Territory.

”Giant Dragons can’t be bothered to keep track of time,” the Brass Dragon said. ”But human holidays look quite nice.”

”It’s a happy day to celebrate the end of the year,” Leech said. ”Come on, let’s go take a look around, too.”