Lord of Rot

Leech dismounted Rocket and asked the young maidservant jogging toward him, ”How is it?”

She nodded quickly. ”They’re already producing honey.”

”And raising the Extraordinary bees?”

”We have a few already.” Arkke raised her hand, and a few distinctly different bees quickly flew over.

They flew incredibly fast, like stones hurled with full force, creating a rapid WHOOSHING sound in the air.

And they could stop on a dime.

”Not bad.” Leech nodded. ”By the way, your father told me your brother Akelie’s wife is about to have a child. I’ll take you back with me this time.”

”Really!” Arkke was delighted.

Her eldest brother, Akelie, was three years younger than Leech. Thanks to his bloodline ability, he managed Beekeeping Village quite effectively, and together with his younger brother, Akedo, was responsible for the village’s regular honey production.

It was far too extravagant for commoners to eat Extraordinary Honey. Besides, even regular honey was priced beyond the reach of the average person.

Leech knew that Akelie and Akedo had each married a slave woman, but he hadn’t expected a child so soon.

This just went to show the shrewdness of the current slave overseer, Ark. Though he had a lame leg, his eyes were sharp. He always kept an eye out for well-behaved and attractive female slaves, whom he would then introduce to his sons.

Though it was an abuse of his position for personal gain, none of the slave women were unwilling. The Ark family was good-looking, with good genes, and they were all thriving in Porcupine Territory. The father was the slave overseer, the two sons managed a village, and the daughter was a maidservant favored by the Lord. Marrying into their family was a path to a comfortable life.

One thing, however, did put Leech at ease: Ark had not forced his own daughter to marry.

’She’s just a thirteen-year-old kid. Marrying her off this young... even Leech himself felt it was cruel.’

Arkke’s beekeeping and honey collection proceeded without the slightest hitch. The bees followed her commands, gathering honey in peace.

The Extraordinary bees were also very obedient, which put his mind at ease.

Leech drew a cask of honey to take back for some culinary experiments. Summer had arrived, and chilled honey beer was definitely on the menu.

...

The other agricultural projects on the High Magic Land island were also progressing well; the planted crops were growing.

He stood on the ridge of a field, hands clasped behind his back, and bent over to look.

A serf squatted in the field, dug away some soil, and gave a potato plant a tug. Out came the rootstalk, trailing a string of egg-sized potatoes.

”Lord, they’ll be ready for harvest in a little over a month,” the serf said excitedly.

Leech took a potato and brushed the mud off it.

’It doesn’t look any different.’

He took the potato straight to the kitchen stove, had someone wash a pot and boil water, and steamed it until it was cooked through.

Once it was out of the pot, he took a bite. He could pretty much confirm it: completely useless!

Fortunately, the crabs were all brought back by evening. Over three thousand of them filled more than twenty burlap sacks of various sizes.

Leech’s dinner consisted of crabs.

Rocket ate its fill as well.

Though each was only the size of a fist, they had a surprising amount of meat. After eating, Leech could feel a faint energy flow into him, eventually settling into his very cells.

’Getting stronger by eating crabs... This could actually work!’

It wasn’t until he woke up the next morning that he saw the *Iron Valley* docked at the shore.

The sailors aboard the *Iron Valley* were dumbfounded to learn that the Lord had arrived before noon the previous day. That meant that shortly after leaving their ship, he had crossed the vast sea and reached the island!

’Sailing is just way too slow compared to flying.’

Riding Rocket, Leech could get from Porcupine Territory to the High Magic Land island in well under an hour. The same trip by ship took a full day and night—a speed difference of at least fiftyfold, and that was with Rocket not even flying at full speed.

If Rocket really went all out, it would likely be even faster.

Leech thought to himself, ’Breakfast in Porcupine Territory in the morning, handle official business in Iron Valley at noon, and then off to Longship Castle to sleep at night... Hmm, that doesn’t seem impossible.’

’Now *this* is the life in an Otherworld.’

He left some of his people on the High Magic Land island to build and organize a small dock and construct a crab-trapping shack.

Leaving the remaining Giant Crabs to cannibalize each other would likely result in only a dozen or so survivors, which was far too wasteful. So, Leech planned to have people come periodically to take away the newly hatched young Giant Crabs, ensuring a plentiful supply of seafood.

Leech and Arkke boarded the ship back to Porcupine Territory that very day.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t have ridden Rocket back. Rather, while resting in the ship’s cabin, Leech could mentally converse with the Water Nymph and use the time to plan the captive breeding of the remaining Giant Crabs.

’Time is something you have to make.’

Once the busywork was done, gazing out at the sea from the deck was a rare moment of leisure.

If he returned to Porcupine Territory immediately, he would just get busy all over again.