Lord of Rot

Leech had no doubt that the scholar’s wisdom and knowledge were on par with his own. Perhaps Toma had simply read books he hadn’t.

Leech felt a pang of disappointment. ”So you’re saying this thing is completely useless.”

’I thought I’d found a great bargain, but it turns out to be a Supreme Magic Ring.’

’And you really shouldn’t wear something like this.’

”If you want to avoid problems you can’t control, you’d best never touch it.”

”I won’t,” Leech nodded.

’Never get curious when you lack the strength to back it up.’

Leech took the crown back into the castle, went to his Undead Scholar crypt, and tossed the crown inside.

’There. Now no one can get their hands on this thing.’

Back in the castle, Leech suddenly remembered something. He’d forgotten to ask the scholar, Toma, about the island. Why were the creatures there all so shockingly large? There were crabs as tall as a man, moths the size of calves, and glowing sea snails the size of two fists.

”Meow~”

Hearing the meow, Leech turned to see Qingtian, the cat with the crescent moon on its forehead, with the Brass Dragon in its mouth.

Just as it opened its mouth to meow at Leech, the Brass Dragon seized the opportunity to escape the cat’s jaws.

It landed on Leech’s shoulder. ”You’re finally back!”

”You two seem to get along great,” Leech said.

”How could you possibly think that!” the Brass Dragon cried, aggrieved. ”After you left, this monster carried me around in its mouth every day, treating me like a mouse!”

Leech bent down, scooped up Qingtian, and held it in his arms.

Qingtian raised a paw, trying to swipe at the Brass Dragon, but it was too far away to reach. Besides, Qingtian remembered Pitz repeatedly warning it not to be too unruly in Leech’s arms.

’Might as well be good and let him pet me. Meow.’

’This is my job. A cat’s life isn’t easy; I have to keep the Lord happy.’

”Oh, right,” Leech said. ”On my trip, I found a very strange island. The creatures on it are enormous.”

”Enormous?”

”Perfect. I’ll take you to have a look.”

As a bona fide foodie, Leech had no intention of letting that Giant Crab go to waste. He’d been thinking about bringing it back to study, and if it wasn’t poisonous, to have a feast.

He put Qingtian down to go play on its own, then took the Brass Dragon to the castle’s open-air courtyard.

It took four or five Soldiers working together to barely manage to move the Giant Crab off the wagon.

It had to weigh at least 500 to 600 pounds.

He hadn’t gotten a clear look at it during the night. Seeing it again now, the sight was truly shocking.

The Giant Crab’s thick shell was covered in moss and encrusted with barnacles.

Many smaller shrimp and crabs had taken up residence between its legs, apparently treating it as their home.

The most eye-catching part was the small section of the shell Leech had smashed in. As the crab was tilted, seawater gushed out from the broken area.

”Go bring a dog over,” Leech ordered.

”Yes, sir!”

A dog was quickly led over. Leech drew his sword, carved out a fist-sized piece of crab meat, and tossed it to the dog. As he cut into it, the crab’s leg actually twitched.

’It’s not dead? No, that’s not right! Its body isn’t dead.’

Leech was stunned. A whole night had passed, yet the crab’s body still retained such powerful vitality.

The dog happily gobbled up the crab meat, its tail wagging furiously and kicking up a cloud of dust.

After a good while, the dog was still perfectly fine and full of energy.

”Not poisonous. Excellent.” Leech had the dog led away.

”Well? Do you know anything?” Leech asked, turning to the Brass Dragon on his shoulder.

The Brass Dragon’s voice was tinged with jealousy. ”You’re really lucky. You actually found a High Magic Land.”

”High Magic?”

”That’s right, High Magic. Creatures that grow in this type of area absorb a high concentration of energy, allowing them to break through their growth limits. It seems this crab’s bloodline was pretty ordinary, so it only ended up getting bigger. Areas like this are perfect for growing Magic Potions. The Dragon Race usually likes to find places like this to take a nap, just casually sleeping for a few decades.”

Leech couldn’t be bothered to comment on how sleeping for a few decades could be considered ”casually.”

’Humans can also sleep for decades, but we call that being in a coma.’

”Growing Magic Potions?”

’The island was quite large. It would certainly be possible to grow Magic Potions there.’

Leech asked, ”If I had some people with good potential live on the island for a while, would they turn into giants?”

’Wouldn’t that mean I could create a powerful new race?’

”Impossible. Humans can’t grow into giants. However, by living in that kind of environment for a long time, it’s possible for humans to awaken the power within their bloodline.”

”But a crab can grow as big as a person, and a moth can grow to the size of a calf, so why doesn’t it work for humans?” Leech sighed. ”Just when this world is supposed to be about Magic, it suddenly throws some science in to mess things up.”

The power in their bloodline would either turn them into an Extraordinary or a Caster.

Leech even started to wonder if he should just move the school in Porcupine Territory to that island.

But after some thought, he decided against it.

There was no telling how many more giant crabs like this one there were. He hadn’t explored the island thoroughly and didn’t know the specifics of the situation there.

The chefs, having suddenly received the Lord’s command, arrived in the courtyard in a flurry.

Seeing the enormous crab, the chefs couldn’t help but exclaim in shock.

”My Lord, it’s huge!”

”Hmm?” Leech’s eyes darted down for a moment. But seeing the chef’s serious expression, he concluded he must have gotten the wrong idea. The man was obviously talking about the crab.

”Try to make a dish with this crab,” Leech said. ”Steamed, braised, or with garlic—any of those would be fine.”

”Yes, sir!”

The chefs approached, holding axes.

One of the chefs gripped an axe with both hands and swung it fiercely at one of the crab’s legs.

With a cry of pain, the chef stumbled back two steps, the axe dropping from his hands. He shook his hands vigorously.

Judging by the Giant Crab’s size, its shell was bound to be hard, so the chef had braced himself beforehand, using all his strength in an attempt to crack it open.

But to his surprise, the crab leg didn’t even budge, while the force of the rebound nearly made his hands bleed.

Someone picked up the axe and found that the blade was already dented.

Looking back at the crab... it was completely unharmed.

The mighty blow hadn’t done a damn thing.

”Let’s try a saw,” one of the chefs suggested.

They quickly brought over an iron saw, but after sawing for a long time, they found only a barely perceptible white mark on the crab leg.

Then they had the Soldiers try. Their strength was far greater than the chefs’, but the result was more or less the same.

This crab was harder than iron.

”Let me try.”

Leech picked up a Longsword, took a deep breath, and swung down hard.

CRACK!

He sliced off one of the crab legs.

The crowd immediately cried out in amazement.

In anyone else’s hands, the same weapon couldn’t even scratch the Giant Crab.

But when the Lord used it, he could sever a leg in a single blow.

”My Lord, could you trouble yourself to cut here as well?”

”My Lord, please help us split the leg in half.”

”My Lord!”

The chefs swarmed him, all asking for Leech’s help in butchering the ingredient.

Since all this deliciousness would end up in his stomach anyway, Leech didn’t mind. So what if he had to do a little manual labor? At least all the good eats would be his.