Lord of Rot

After class ended, the crowd gradually got up and left.

Conditions were limited, and they couldn’t afford to waste firewood on lighting at home. So, it was impossible for them to continue studying after they returned. Most wouldn’t touch a book again until after work the next evening.

Leech found Scholar Toma and posed his question. ”Is it possible to extend the range of a person’s Spiritual Power?”

”The range of Spiritual Power?” Scholar Toma asked, puzzled.

”A Magic... er, an arcane art I’ve mastered allows me to link my vision to other animals,” Leech explained his problem. ”When the animal flies out of my control range, I lose my sight. I was wondering if there’s a way to increase the effective range.”

”Well...” Scholar Toma pondered for a moment before saying, ”It should be possible.”

After saying it was possible, Scholar Toma froze as if struck by Petrification Magic.

Leech waited quietly for him to think.

After a long while, Scholar Toma finally spoke. ”It is possible. There are two solutions.”

”Two?”

’He had thought even one would be good enough.’

”Yes,” Scholar Toma nodded. ”The first is to use Space Magic. In the situation you’ve described, distance is a critical issue. If you could establish a link between two points with Space Magic, distance would no longer be a limitation.”

A Space Gate could make the farthest corners of the world feel close, completely eliminating the problem of distance.

”No, I need something long-term,” Leech said. ”The method you’re describing would require the continuous use of Space Magic.”

The consumption was too great and the cost too high. This method was currently unusable and impractical.

”Then the other method,” Scholar Toma said, ”is to create some kind of Alchemy Creation that can amplify your Spiritual Power, thereby increasing your range of influence.”

Leech’s understanding was more direct: build a signal tower.

”Have you mastered this technology?” Leech asked.

’That’s the most important part.’

’A tower is easy to build, but how would the signal be transmitted?’

”I have not mastered it yet.”

Scholar Toma immediately said,

”If you are interested, I can begin researching it ahead of schedule.”

”No need,” Leech said, shaking his head. He appreciated Scholar Toma’s dedication to research but firmly refused his offer to take on the project.

’Given his reputation as a ”useless scholar,” expecting him to successfully invent something would be a complete waste of time.’

Although being unable to remotely supervise the island for now made him uneasy, he could send the Water Nymph. She enjoyed swimming in the water and listening to sailors sing, so the island environment was perfect for her.

After discussing the signal tower issue, Leech called all the teachers over for a meeting.

Everyone knew the Lord must have instructions for them since he had attended the class, so the other teachers didn’t go home to rest after their lessons. Instead, they waited quietly.

”I have some suggestions regarding your classes.”

Leech said, ”I hope you all will interact with the students. You can ask them questions, or you can have them ask you about things they don’t understand. It shouldn’t just be you lecturing up front and them listening below.”

As he spoke, Leech paused. He felt like he’d heard this spiel before.

’In his past life, before class, his teachers would always tell them to be active in raising their hands. He even remembered a system his middle school teacher invented: raise your left hand if you were just participating, and your right hand if you really knew the answer. That way, the teacher could accurately pick out a student who actually knew the answer from a sea of uniformly raised hands.’

’This kind of face-saving project must never be implemented in Porcupine Territory!’

However, the chances of such a disingenuous system being implemented were low. The night school was a product of the Lord’s benevolence, not compulsory education.

No one’s grades would be assessed. Those who didn’t want to learn didn’t have to. It was all based on personal willingness.

Seeing everyone nod, he nodded in return, setting aside his minor worry.

”Also,” Leech said, ”writing on paper is too small. Have the carpenters prepare a large board to hang on the wall. The teachers can write on it with charcoal, and try to write as large as possible to ensure every student can see.”

”Yes.”

”I need everyone to prepare their lessons in advance. At the very least, write a few notes to confirm what you’ll be teaching in class.”

This point was mainly aimed at Scholar Toma. Without a drafted lesson plan, Leech was worried Scholar Toma might end up lecturing about Space Magic tomorrow.

After covering a few more points, Leech dismissed the meeting.

As he was leaving, he also told Scholar Toma that he would assign the two young maids, Arkke and Pitz, to him. It wouldn’t take much time; he just needed to give them a little guidance on applying their Spiritual Power before or after class.

Back in his study, Leech sat down and began to write a plan for clearing the high-magic island.

’Muskets are of little use. Against a Giant Crab, a musket ball can’t even penetrate its shell, so we’ll still need Transcendents. But if I don’t go to the island myself, the Corpse Ghosts won’t be very mobile... I can send the four-armed Trevor.’

His attitude toward mercenaries was that they were useful, but couldn’t be trusted with great responsibility.

This was especially true for one who knew he had wiped out people from the Monkey Clan. Although Leech himself didn’t care too much, it was best to keep it a secret for as long as possible.

Clearing the island was a good option, because the Water Nymph would be guarding it. The four-armed Mercenary would have nowhere to run once he was on the island.

After he finished writing the plan, Leech looked over the new proposal sent from the town hall.

’Pull some of the women to spin silk. The carpenters should be able to build looms. Those nearly one hundred cocoons can produce a terrifying amount of silk, but we have to master the technology first.’

Just as he paused, a signal arrived.

’The new Corpse Ghost is out of its coffin.’

Leech quickly sent his Spiritual Power into the body of the new Corpse Ghost in the catacombs of the cape.

He now had a total of eight Corpse Ghosts.

The first was the Red-haired Earthling. Then came Aina, ”Poisonous Touch,” with her powerful self-healing ability; the Corpse Demon Giant Lizard; Guy Marvin, who possessed the ”Phantom Badge” and was blessed by the Water Nymph; Niels Bohr, the ”Clay Puppet”; the super-Extraordinary Water Nymph made entirely of gold; the Necromancer Ah Yamei; and the newest agile-type Corpse Ghost.

Its name: Rabbit.

Rabbit, who had fused with the Wind Cavalry Helmet, unsurprisingly became a Corpse Ghost. However, its intelligence was far inferior to that of Corpse Ghosts like Aina and Guy, only slightly better than the Red-haired Earthling.

’Wondrous items must also have tiers, with varying levels of strength,’ Leech mused. ’The more powerful the item, the more it influences the Corpse Ghost.’

Rabbit had been a typical native of Monkey Territory who had been a fast runner since childhood.

In his youth, he had roamed the docks, making a living by stealing the purses of passing travelers. But he rarely succeeded and was usually caught and beaten severely.

Rabbit, half-thief and half-beggar, slowly grew up. Then, last year, he suddenly awakened an Extraordinary power and became incredibly fast.

He began operating as a master thief in Monkey Territory, stealing many things and gaining great notoriety.

Soon, he caught the attention of the Bill family. Soldiers, having laid a Heaven and Earth Net, easily captured Rabbit and threw him in a cage.

Dreden Bill appeared and said he could save Rabbit’s life, but he needed Rabbit to serve him.

Rabbit said to Dreden Bill, ”I will repay the life I owe you. After that, we’ll be even.”

’So that’s why you charged at me, ready to die?’

’If Rabbit had chosen to flee back then, I would have only captured him, just as I did with the four-armed Mercenary, not killed him. It seems Rabbit was truly determined to give up his life.’

Leech thought, ’Well, now you’ve paid it back.’

As a speed-type with the power of the wondrous item, the Wind Cavalry Helmet, Rabbit could push his speed to the absolute limit.

The convenient thing about Corpse Ghosts, compared to mere corpses, was that you only needed to give them an idea and they could act on their own; they weren’t just puppets on a string. Leech directly handed it over to Aina, the most intelligent of the group, to have it plant Magic Potions with her after they obtained the seeds.

’If I get the chance, I should also find someone skilled at brewing Magic Potions.’

Buying Magic Potions from Ram was too much trouble. The biggest problem wasn’t the price, but that her brewing depended on her mood.

In the dead of night, the Water Nymph dragged the Necromancer Ah Yamei back from the water. Leech had no choice but to interrupt his pleasant dream of playing Gwent Card with Red Rose, open the catacombs, and let Ah Yamei soak in the Magic Antiseptic.

Dawn broke.

Leech opened his eyes and said with regret, ”As I thought, the dream didn’t continue. It was 1-1, and I was about to secure my win.”

...

The breakfast waiting for Leech after he got up was a bit of a surprise.

Besides the portion of crab meat reserved exclusively for the Baron, there was also a thick soup. The meat in it gave off a green glow and looked very unappetizing.

”What’s this?”

Leech looked at the male servant who had brought the dish.

Duck Feet hurriedly said, ”Lord, this is from the glowing sea snails you brought back. The chef made a sea snail chowder.”

Scooping up a spoonful of the green soup, Leech asked, ”Have you tried it?”

”We have,” Duck Feet nodded quickly. ”It tastes very good.”

”Very good?”

Leech frowned and tentatively took a taste.

The taste was a bit like meat that had been mistakenly left in the refrigerator’s crisper—faintly spoiled, but in a way that almost felt like an illusion.

’Poor kid. He’s probably never eaten anything good to think this stuff tastes decent.’

”Tell the kitchen not to make this dish again,” Leech said. ”For now, just keep the rest of those glowing sea snails in water.”

”Yes, Lord.”

’We can build a pool in the new square and toss the glowing sea snails in. It’d be a minor spectacle.’

It would enrich the daily lives of the residents. The Baron was very particular about humane development and a balance between work and rest.

Leech took a sip of water to rinse his mouth, spitting out the strange taste.

After eating the portion of crab meat, Leech felt a minuscule increase in heat in his body and sighed at the old saying: ”scholars are poor, warriors are rich.” Without money, you really couldn’t afford to eat this stuff.

After breakfast, Leech left the castle with his retinue and little secretary.

A light snow had fallen the previous night, blanketing the ground in a shallow layer of white fluff. The cold temperature was no longer enough to stop people who wanted to work and earn money. Without any need for Leech to issue a direct order, all the factories had started up, aside from those involved in work affected by special conditions.

The team of masons and builders, for example, was still on its winter break. Once the temperature rose a bit more in February, they could choose to work around noon.

Leech first visited the brewery to confirm that it could produce alcohol stably, then went to the carpenter’s workshop.

His main purpose, of course, was to have the carpenters build looms.

The blacksmith’s forge recently no longer needed to make gun barrels. Upon asking, he learned that Chuina had taken over the entire production of musket barrels herself. Betty even refused to have anyone other than Chuina forge metal for her.

However, the blacksmith’s forge was by no means idle, as the armor for the hundred-plus new recruits had not yet been fully forged.

The consumption of iron shot was also extremely high. It didn’t require much skill, so the blacksmiths were mass-producing it.

”Why are these iron balls different sizes?” Leech asked.

The blacksmith replied, ”It’s an order from the Alchemy Workshop. They said to forge a type of close-range iron sand, and that it must be fine.”

”Hiss... Iron sand?”

Leech suddenly understood what kind of weapon Betty was trying to create.

’She must have heard my descriptions and decided to make a shotgun. But shotgun power isn’t all that great; it’s hard to pierce armor.’

’It’s probably an experimental piece.’

”And what about these weapons?”

”Those are bayonets,” the blacksmith answered. ”Lord Swiftblade asked us to research them.”

Bayonets were indeed a good idea. They could improve close-quarters combat capabilities to a certain extent.

But these bayonets were too long and heavy. If attached to a musket, they would make it front-heavy and unbalanced.

”You can try making the bayonets shorter and thinner,” Leech said. ”This won’t be their primary weapon, just a secondary one. It just needs to be good enough for stabbing.”

He hadn’t even suggested it, yet his subordinates had already thought of it. Baron Leech was very gratified.