Lord of Rot

Early morning.

”COO! COO!”

The Horse-headed Eagle Rocket looked around the courtyard of Iron Wall Castle.

Four or five children were hiding behind a wall, a row of small heads peeking out.

One boy asked, ”Is that the Lord’s mount?”

”I know! I know!” another little boy said excitedly. ”That’s Lord Rocket! He can fly!”

”It’s just an ugly flying horse,” a chubbier boy with a fleshy face said disdainfully. ”Why call him ’Lord’?”

But his eyes were glued to Rocket, and only he knew if he truly meant what he had just said.

”But, I think Lord Rocket is very handsome,” a little girl said timidly, her eyes full of curiosity as she gazed at the distant creature. ”Look how beautiful his feathers are. I wish I had one to sew onto my hat.”

”COO! COO!”

Rocket tilted its head, looking at the small heads.

”Ah!” They shrank back in fear.

”I-it saw us! Is it going to eat us?”

”N-no way,” the chubby boy stammered, trembling.

Silence fell behind the wall. The children cautiously peeked out, but they didn’t see the Horse-headed Eagle anywhere.

”Phew!” The children breathed a sigh of relief, their bodies slumping to the ground.

”Coo coo.”

The sound came from above their heads.

They timidly looked up to see the Horse-headed Eagle Rocket perched on the wall, its wings spread, looking down at them with curiosity.

Its enormous wings blotted out the sun, completely awakening their deepest fears.

”AHHH—!!”

The children’s screams echoed throughout the area.

”Don’t, don’t eat me!” the chubby boy yelled. ”I can get you something good to eat!”

The other children nodded vigorously. ”Yes, good food!”

”Coo coo?” Rocket hopped off the wall and circled the group. ”Coo coo?”

It seemed to be looking for food.

”The food isn’t on us! Wait here, we’ll go get it right now!”

With that, the children fled.

”Let’s just go home and not come back!” one child suggested.

But another refused. ”No way! It recognizes us. What if it brings the Lord here?”

”But does anyone know what it eats?”

”Bugs, probably. It has an eagle’s head, so it must eat bugs.”

”It must be fodder,” the little girl said. ”It has a horse’s body and even a saddle, so it must be a horse.”

The chubby boy made the final decision. ”Some of us will look for bugs, and the rest will get fodder!”

”Okay!”

The children scattered in a flurry.

After a good while, they finally hurried back.

The children cautiously approached Rocket.

”Here’s the fodder we found for you.” The little girl tossed the fodder in front of Rocket, snatching her hand back quickly, terrified of being pecked.

But Rocket didn’t even glance at the fodder.

”What do we do if it doesn’t eat?” The little girl was on the verge of tears.

”It must prefer bugs!” another boy exclaimed, throwing the insects he had caught in front of Rocket.

Rocket lifted its front talons and squashed them one by one, but showed no intention of eating them.

”It won’t eat bugs either?”

The other children were scared, but seeing that Rocket didn’t seem to mean them any harm, they figured their lives weren’t in danger.

”Coo coo.” Rocket leaned its head toward the chubby boy.

Faced with the giant Horse-headed Eagle, the chubby boy was so frightened he fell right on his bottom. But he noticed Rocket’s gaze was fixed on the inside of his shirt.

He reached into his shirt and pulled out a roasted chicken leg. ”You want to eat this?”

”A roasted chicken leg?” The other children stared greedily at the chicken leg. That was something only truly rich people could afford.

Even before the events of the past few years, not every child could afford roasted chicken.

Most couldn’t even get enough to eat.

The chubby boy said, ”My father bought this for me!”

Everyone knew the chubby boy’s father was a minor steward who got to eat meat every day, but they never imagined the boy would be carrying a roasted chicken leg as a snack.

The others were lucky to eat meat even once a month.

Rocket swiftly ducked its head. By the time the chubby boy realized what was happening, the roasted chicken leg in his hand was already in Rocket’s beak.

It dropped the chicken leg on the ground, pinned it with its talons, and tore into it, finishing it off in just a few bites.

”So cool!” The children’s eyes lit up.

”COO! COO!”

”I don’t think he’s full yet!” one boy said.

The chubby boy scrambled to his feet, dusted off his bottom, and announced, ”I have two more chickens at home! Wait here, I’ll go steal them!”

He was incredibly fast, returning to gleefully offer the chickens to Rocket.

Rocket accepted them without hesitation.

The children watching Rocket eat grew incredibly excited.

The chubby boy subconsciously rubbed his bottom, but seeing the Horse-headed Eagle eating happily and feeling the admiring gazes of the other children, he immediately decided it was worth it.

’So what if I get my ass whipped? Hmph, a small price to pay!’

...

Last night, the Lord had suddenly returned on Rocket, covered in injuries. At the time, the maid, the ’clumsy’ Alice, had been going to the Lord’s room to clean when she saw him.

Alice quickly went to find ’Cinderella’ Lily.

On the Lord’s orders, the two of them told no one what had happened.

But as they applied ointment to the Lord’s wounds, they couldn’t help their eyes from turning red.

’What a terrible enemy! To hurt the Lord this badly... He sacrifices so much for the territory!’

Leech didn’t explain. He could hardly tell the two young maids that his injuries weren’t from an enemy, but from his own carelessness while playing with Alchemy Bombs.

It was as embarrassing as burning his hand with a firecracker as a kid.

After a night of rest, his body’s self-healing ability had already healed most of his wounds.

Moreover, Leech had used this time to successfully turn Annel Bill into an undead corpse.

His reason for killing her was simple: to cut the weeds and pull out the roots.

Besides, a woman who was indifferent to the deaths of her own brother and father was very dangerous.

Annel Bill’s memories were unremarkable. All he learned was that her name came from Beck Little Bill’s grandmother, who was also Wells Bill’s aunt.

Her name was Annel Little Bill. This old woman had some skills, but she never made any major moves, so she wasn’t well-known.

Aside from Guy Marvin, the young woman’s memories were filled with other members of the Monkey Clan and daily trivialities not worth a closer look.

Beyond that, he had also successfully acquired Annel’s ability.

It was a non-combat sixth sense. When it perceived danger or killing intent, it would focus his mind, even allowing him to sense danger slightly ahead of time.

”Spider Sense!”

Leech turned his head toward the door of the room.

The maid, Alice, walked in carrying breakfast. ”My Lord, your milk.”

”Thank you.” Leech sat up, walked over to take the cup, and said, ”I’ll be leaving Iron Wall Castle in a bit. Have Lily send people to survey the terrain, and also see if anyone knows how to cultivate rice.”

Food was still a major problem. He planned to find a few mountainsides in Iron Valley and build terraces for farming.

To be selfish for a moment, Leech’s Chinese stomach had grown tired of bread. Without rice to accompany it, the grand cuisine of China was missing far too much of its flavor.

The armadillos had been busy lately helping to dig roads, build drainage ditches, and so on.

They would be perfect for helping to create the terraces.

Besides, the rainy season was fast approaching, which would be perfect for storing water for the fields.

Whether the planting would be successful was something he would just have to wait and see.

As he went downstairs, Leech saw several children gathered around Rocket.

”Ah, it’s the Lord!”

One of the little boys had a clear, loud voice. The other children immediately lowered their heads. Although they had never been to school or learned to write, they knew that they were not to look directly at a noble Lord.

”Good day, my Lord!” Their greeting was not in unison.

Leech smiled. ”Good day, ladies and gentlemen. I’m sorry to interrupt your conversation, but Rocket and I have business to attend to. Perhaps you can come and play with Rocket again when I return.”

The chubby boy looked up in pleasant surprise. ”My Lord, can we really play with Lord Rocket again?”

The other children also looked up excitedly.

”He likes you very much. Why would I stop him from making friends?”

”Thank you, my Lord!”

At that moment, the children felt that Leech was an incredibly gentle person. It was wonderful to have a Lord like him.

Leech swung himself onto Rocket’s back. After cooing twice at the little ones, Rocket galloped forward.

It reached an open area and spread its wings.

Dust flew into the air.

Rocket soared into the sky, carrying Leech away until they disappeared, leaving the expectant children behind.

Right then, more than anyone, they hoped for their Lord’s triumphant return.

He left Iron Valley in an extremely short time, arriving in the skies above Longship Castle.

Just as he landed, he saw a nervous Tyler Rose approaching.

Leech smiled and asked, ”Lord Tyler, not sleeping in this morning?”

Tyler gave a wry smile. ”If you hadn’t returned, I certainly wouldn’t have dared to sleep.”

”Is that so? Well, you can sleep soundly now.”

”Could it be...” Tyler Rose asked cautiously.

He couldn’t believe that Leech had actually managed to sneak into Shanzhang Castle in a single night and successfully assassinate the old monkey, Wells Bill.

But Leech’s confident appearance made him hesitate.

Leech said, ”If you don’t believe me, you can send someone to inquire.”

’That’s right, sending someone to gather intelligence would be the most accurate way, but it would also waste a lot of time.’

’If my letter is sent too late, Leech will truly become the uncrowned king of Monkey Territory and Waterfall Land!’

”I want to send the letter back to Roaring Castle now,” Tyler Rose said. ”It was too late after I finished writing it last night. Now is the perfect time.”

”Then hurry!” Leech urged. ”Replying to the Duke is what’s most important.”

His behavior, however, left Tyler Rose baffled. Why did Leech seem so uninterested in Waterfall Land and Monkey Territory? Although he had two territories, Iron Valley and Porcupine Territory combined couldn’t compare to a single Waterfall Land.

With such a great prize right in front of him, and with no one able to take it from him, all Leech had to do was stand firm and refuse to withdraw his troops, and even the Duke would have to accept the outcome.

But Leech was truly not going to seize it?

”Alright.”

Tyler Rose quickly sent the letter.

He breathed a sigh of relief only after the raven had departed. As long as he informed the Duke of the situation here, his mission would be complete.

Besides, he was very optimistic about Leech. Baron Porcupine was, at the very least, more willing to maintain the peace and stability of the Eastern Gorge than the Monkey Clan. Otherwise, why would Leech have come when Longship Castle was under siege?

It was because of his sense of duty!

After parting with Tyler, Leech headed to the church.

The church doors were open.

When the Priest saw Leech, a smile appeared on his face. ”Good day, my Lord.”

”Good day, Priest,” Leech nodded. ”I didn’t come to pray to the gods today. Rather, there is something I would like to ask you about.”

”Please, speak,” the Priest said, still smiling.

Leech asked, ”I was wondering if you’ve ever heard of the Moon God?”

”The Moon God?” The Priest was puzzled. ”Why do you ask this question?”

”Because I encountered Believers of the Moon God last night.”

The Priest frowned and said, ”Those heretical madmen. They twist the hearts and minds of the believers of the Four Gods. The church launched a Holy War back in the day and nearly annihilated them. I can’t believe they’re showing their faces again.”

”A Holy War?”

Leech was quite interested in this unheard-of piece of history, but unfortunately, the Priest had no intention of giving a history lesson. Instead, he said, ”The Moon God, also known as the Night God. The Believers of the Moon God think that the world was originally a dark and empty void, with the moon ruling over everything. But then someone lit the sun, forcefully splitting the darkness in half and giving one part to the day.”