Lord of Rot

Leaving the Duke’s Castle.

Leech noticed an extra carriage had joined his retinue. On it sat an iron cage draped in cloth. ”What’s this?” he asked.

The guards exchanged glances, none of them knowing how to answer.

It was his manservant who finally spoke up. ”My lord, it’s from the Tuna family. They said you bought it.”

”I bought it?”

Leech’s mind was currently swimming with formulas. The moment he closed his eyes, he saw hydrogen, helium, lithium, beryllium, boron, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, fluorine, neon.

He took a few deep breaths to clear his head.

”Oh, right, I remember now. The gnome sent it, didn’t he?”

He was more interested in the griffin corpse on Monkey Island; the two were now inextricably linked in his mind.

”Yes, my lord.” His own lord could casually jest about a noble like the gnome, but the servants wouldn’t dare.

”He did say he wanted to sell me a Snake Woman back then. For 50 Jinri, I believe.” Not that Leech ever intended to pay.

Leech walked to the cage and lifted a corner of the cloth.

A jade-green serpent’s tail was coiled in the corner.

His gaze traveled upward.

There, cowering, was a pretty girl who looked no older than fourteen or fifteen. A smattering of fine scales dotted her terrified face. Her burlap clothes did little to cover her body.

She stared fearfully at Leech, arms crossed over her chest.

Her lower half was that of a snake, her upper half that of a human.

It was like seeing a creature from a dark fairy tale.

”This isn’t what I was expecting,” Leech noted with surprise. He knew some nobles had a taste for sub-human companions. The Snake Women they kept usually just had a long, forked tongue, a few scales, and unusually flexible bones. He had never seen one that was this... serpentine.

His curiosity was piqued.

There probably wasn’t much one could *do* with a Snake Woman, he mused. The novelty seemed to outweigh any potential for actual pleasure.

”I wonder what the males are like,” he thought. ”Snakes have two hemipenes. If a male Snake-man also has two... they’d probably be sold out on the market for noble ladies.”

Leech offered the young Snake Woman a gentle smile. ”Don’t be afraid. I’m not like those other vile nobles. What’s your name?”

”Nya~” The Snake Woman opened her mouth, revealing a slender, forked tongue.

Definitely not your average girl.

He could almost understand the perverted tastes of the nobility.

”Nia?”

Leech turned his head. ”Has anyone fed her?”

”No,” one of his men replied.

”Bring some food and water.”

A few pieces of fruit, some water, bread, and dried meat were brought over.

Leech gestured to the Snake Woman in the corner. ”Nia, come on. Have something to eat.”

”Nya~ nya~” she whimpered softly. She eyed the food with longing but didn’t dare move closer to Leech.

Leech sighed in admiration. ”Such a pleasant sound. No wonder the Golden Stallion coveted her. Just keeping her around to listen to her cries seems worth it. Fifty Jinri is a bargain, really.”

Listening to her ”nya, nya” was like having a kitten pawing at his heart.

”I’ll leave the food here for you. Eat up,” he said, placing the food inside the cage before lowering the cloth again.

”She can’t speak, only ’nya.’ They say sub-humans came from across the sea... perhaps they’re from the same land as the elves.” He didn’t know for sure, but he could take her to the desert and ask the elf maiden, Bai Lu.

It would be a good opportunity to learn more about the Panbo Continent.

He would definitely go to that continent one day.

...

”You only sent him a Snake Woman? What about Jonney?” Morton paced back and forth.

A wave rolled in, making the boat sway gently.

They had set sail while Baron Porcupine was still in the castle, hurrying to get away for fear of running into him.

The Tuna family truly didn’t dare fight Baron Porcupine again.

The main reason was simple: Baron Porcupine had woken up, but Lady Malin hadn’t.

The gnome, sitting in a chair, tried to cross his legs, found the motion difficult with his short limbs, and gave up. ”Oh, my dear brother, I’m just a gnome. The moment I saw Baron Porcupine, I knew he wanted to kill me—and you too, of course. Thank goodness he isn’t as unhinged as the Eldest Prince. The Snake Woman was just a small token of gratitude for letting me go.”

He poured himself a drink. ”Did you really think a single Snake Woman could be traded for Jonney? My guess is he’ll either kill Jonney or win him over. Baron Porcupine doesn’t lack for money. From what I hear, he just closed a massive deal with Giant’s Foot worth tens of thousands of Jinri... Tens of thousands! He could bury us with that kind of money.”

”Jonney would never betray us!” the Ostrich Eagle Knight declared, snatching the cup from the gnome’s hand and downing it in one gulp.

”Hey!”

The gnome, thoroughly annoyed at having his cup stolen, simply grabbed the bottle and drank straight from the neck.

”Anyone can be turned,” the gnome retorted. ”It’s just a matter of price.”

Morton remained silent. He knew it was the truth.

”Our losses were catastrophic.” He snatched the bottle from the gnome’s hand and took a long swig himself.

The gnome’s face was a mask of resentment. ”I told you not to make a move. Is the only thing you know how to do snatch things from your little gnome brother?”

”Malin is finished,” Morton continued, ignoring him. ”She’s trapped in a dream. Unless we can find another Dreamer to go into her mind and pull her out.”

The gnome shrugged nonchalantly. ”I actually quite liked Malin. Sure, she always called me a gnome, but she was by far the best-looking person to ever insult me.”

They both knew it was impossible to find another Dreamer. Even if they could, no one would take on such a dangerous task. A dream that could trap Malin was a bottomless pit, likely to swallow anyone else who entered.

This also forced them to repeatedly reassess the danger Leech posed. Their initial intelligence had pegged him as a mere flesh-and-blood enhancement Transcendent. He had combat experience, yes, but he should have been helpless against Malin. Instead, she was the one trapped in an endless dream.

By now, Baron Porcupine surely knew that Malin was one of theirs.

”There’s no chance of reconciliation with him now,” Morton said grimly.

The gnome hopped off his stool and grabbed another bottle of wine. ”Treasure hunting at sea is filled with endless dangers. Riches don’t just fall into our laps. When you go hunting for treasure, you have to be prepared to get bitten by sharks. Don’t be so pessimistic. As long as the Kingdom stands, and as long as East Port stands, he can’t launch a direct attack on us.”

”You certainly have a sunny outlook, my little brother.”

”In business, you win some, you lose some. The ones who only ever win are the ones who end up losing everything in the end,” the gnome said. ”But those who lose early on... they learn how to win.”

”Are you saying that losing to Baron Porcupine was a good thing?” Morton retorted.

The gnome bit the cork off the bottle and spat it out. ”Pah! What I’m saying is that choosing to follow the Eldest Prince was a terrible move. A losing strategy. I truly can’t imagine what it would be like if a manic, arrogant man who once forced me to count his nose hairs became king. Would everyone in the kingdom just start screaming and shouting like him? Awful!”

He took a few heavy swigs of wine. ”I still think the younger Prince is a better bet. Just imagine it, in the future kingdom, men will be in pairs, embracing each other... even the women in the brothels would lose their jobs! Hahahaha!”

Morton rubbed his arms, unnerved. ”You have a twisted body, and a twisted mind to match.”

”But I’ve at least thought of a way to stop Baron Porcupine from coming after us,” he said.

”What is it?”

”We abandon the routes near Pigtail Bay. We should also avoid East Port. From now on, our merchant ships should only sail to the Northern Territory. The Baron only has three ships; he can’t blockade us everywhere forever.”

”What a brilliant suggestion,” Morton said through gritted teeth.

”But it will keep us alive,” the gnome said, sitting contentedly on the floor and sipping his wine. ”We’re almost home. You’d better start thinking about how you’re going to explain things to Lady Malin’s family.”

Morton looked out over the deck, his gaze fixed on the distant island that was slowly growing larger on the horizon. ”Almost home.”