Lord of Rot

”We’re almost home~”

Leech stretched. He had collapsed onto his bed the moment he got on the ship. Perhaps he’d had his fill of dreams before, because this time his mind was blank, and he slept soundly without any.

Standing on the deck, he let the sea breeze blow away the stuffiness from the cabin.

He casually took the tea a male servant brought him and had a sip.

”How is Nia?” Leech asked.

”My Lord,” the servant replied. ”As you arranged, we’re only feeding her a small portion of food at each meal to ensure she’s never full.”

”Good,” Leech nodded. ”After we disembark, have the Alchemist check her over. Make sure to prioritize safety.”

From the waist up, the Snake Woman Nia looked like a pitiful little girl, but her lower half was undeniably the tail of a giant python. An ordinary person would surely die if caught in its coils, so controlling her physical strength through food was essential.

They arrived at the Pigtail Bay docks.

Leech was the first to disembark. He didn’t need to worry about the rest; the dock’s steward would handle everything.

A Soldier led a horse over for Leech to ride.

He waved off the others who were about to follow him, squeezed his legs against the horse’s belly, and shouted, ”Giddy-up!”

...

When Leech arrived at Scholar Toma’s residence, he found the man still engrossed in his study of Runes.

The Caster apprentices were learning at Scholar Toma’s side. A day or two had passed since the naval battle, and with the Porcupine still under repair, they had little else to do.

Upon seeing Leech arrive, they all stood up in unison. ”Good day, my Lord!”

”Mm,” Leech nodded, looking at the Caster apprentices. ”Your clothes are a bit of a mess. I’ll have a tailor make new ones for you. Caster robes...”

An idea sparked in his mind. ’It’d be best to make them in four colors: red, blue, yellow, and green.’

All the apprentices heard was that they were getting custom-made robes. They thanked their Lord profusely. As children born serfs or slaves, just getting new clothes was enough to make them happy for a long time.

Just as Leech was chatting with the young apprentices about whether everyone should also get a scarf and a broom, Scholar Toma finally came out.

”My Lord!”

”I have something good for you,” Leech said, taking out a ”book” he had simply bound together.

”What’s this?”

Scholar Toma flipped through it briefly. It was filled with symbols he didn’t recognize, yet for some reason, they seemed to possess a mysterious Magic Power. ”Could these be... Runes?”

”It’s mathematics.”

Because he’d been lazy, the thin book was filled with formulas and no fluff, packed as densely as runes.

”Mathematics?”

Leech opened it to a page. ”Like here, this symbol is X. It’s a simple linear equation with one variable. X is set as the unknown. Oh, and this is the number 1, this is 2, 3, 4... and this is a plus sign.”

He had previously written out a multiplication table for this world, something Scholar Toma had heard about. After studying it, Toma was completely astounded, realizing just how profound his lord’s knowledge was.

It was a pity the Lord was so busy every day; otherwise, he could surely become the greatest and most brilliant scholar on the Lu Leiyi Continent.

After this brief explanation, Scholar Toma’s heart began to pound. ”You mean to say... this entire book is an accumulation of the knowledge in your mind?”

Every line of characters was so complex.

Leech didn’t take credit for the knowledge. Although he had memorized it by rote, he didn’t actually understand it.

His intellectual peak had been in high school; now, all he really knew was what food he liked to eat.

”I saw it in a dream,” he said, choosing to tell the truth.

”You truly are a great Divine Favored!”

Scholar Toma asked, ”Are you willing to let me have this...”

”’Ninth Grade Mathematics, Volume One,’” Leech said. ”There’s a Volume Two as well, but I haven’t had time to bind it yet.”

In truth, he was just unwilling to hand it all over at once.

”Are you willing to lend me this great ’Ninth Grade Mathematics, Volume One’ to read?”

”Of course. I brought it mainly for you to see,” Leech smiled. ”However, I hope you can make a handwritten copy for yourself. I might take it with me when I leave Porcupine Territory.”

Scholar Toma nodded eagerly. ”I will, my Lord!”

Even if Leech hadn’t said anything, he had planned to secretly copy it anyway.

After Scholar Toma eagerly plunged into this ocean of knowledge, Leech, who had been left standing to the side, had no choice but to take the remaining books to Betty’s alchemy workshop.

Betty’s reaction was similar to Scholar Toma’s. After getting the books, she went off to study them alone, leaving him standing at the door without a second thought.

Although the Lord was a poor student himself, he greatly admired the star pupils.

...

Since he had to stay in Porcupine Territory for the time being to wait for Jonney’s ”evolution” to finish, Leech had some time to kill.

Upon seeing the patch of corn in his territory, Leech arranged for someone to pick some fresh ears, husk them, wash them, and put them in a pot to boil.

At dinner, a group of people gathered together.

Lacy, Quick Blade, Gelan, Kro, Jo, and others.

Without the Lord present, there would naturally never be such a sumptuous banquet in the castle.

But looking at the basin of boiled corn in the middle of the table, the faces of Porcupine Territory’s upper echelon grew troubled.

Gelan asked, ”My Lord, are you really going to eat this?”

”Is there a problem?”

”It’s pig feed.”

”Pig feed?” Leech frowned. ”It’s for people first, then for pigs.”

Lacy also spoke up. ”Of course, serfs can eat it, but... how can you eat something like this?”

As a nobleman, Lacy was well aware of his lord’s unconventional nature. For instance, potatoes, which many nobles openly disparaged or even forbade planting, were grown on a large scale in Porcupine Territory.

No one would complain that the Lord forced them to eat potatoes; they would only be grateful that he allowed them to have full bellies.

But there was a world of difference between serfs eating it and the Lord himself eating it.

Lacy was anxious; it was clear something was weighing on his mind.

”There’s no high or low class when it comes to food,” Leech said, standing up. He picked up an ear of corn and handed it to Lacy.

He couldn’t refuse something offered by the lord he had sworn fealty to, so Lacy had no choice but to take the corn.

Leech nodded in satisfaction, then handed out ears of corn to the others one by one.

Finally, he sat down, took a bite of his corn, and said, ”Corn is bountiful, it can fill your stomach, and it tastes sweet.”

Seeing their lord eat, the others had no choice but to follow suit.

The least inhibited of them all was, naturally, Quick Blade. He didn’t care what he ate.

It actually tasted pretty good.

”Just wait until I figure out a few more dishes for you to try. Then you’ll know just how delicious corn can be.”

He had eaten plenty of good things in his dreams, and the flavors were etched into his memory far more firmly than any mathematical knowledge.

Lacy lowered his head and said, ”My Lord, you shouldn’t eat such lowly food anymore. Some nobles used to call you the Potato Baron, and now some are even calling you the Baron of Dafen!”

This was the real reason he didn’t want Leech to eat the corn.

No one wanted the lord they were loyal to to be insulted.

”Hahaha!”

Leech burst out laughing. ”I can’t believe they saw the truth of the matter right away. Fertilizing really is the most important thing!”

But aside from Leech, no one else was laughing.

The atmosphere at the table was strange.

’Why do they care so much about a reputation that’s completely baseless? This team is hard to lead.’

’Does not using manure to farm make the food nobler? No, it just reduces yields and makes food more expensive.’

Leech put down his corn and called out sternly, ”Sir Quick Blade!”

”Yes!” Quick Blade, who was in the middle of gnawing on his corn, stood up.

”Two years ago, how many people were in Porcupine Territory?”

Quick Blade answered, ”A little over two hundred!”

Leech then turned to Gelan. ”Mr. Gelan, how many people were in Porcupine Territory last year?”

Gelan stood and replied, ”My Lord, there were over six hundred.”

Finally, Leech looked at Lacy Sith. ”Sir Lacy, how many people are in Porcupine Territory now?”

”Over six thousand seven hundred!” Lacy answered.

After answering, he understood Leech’s point.

”In two years, the population of my territory has multiplied thirtyfold, and not a single person goes hungry. Not only that, but we can also ship grain to Iron Valley,” Leech said. ”I think they should change my nickname. It shouldn’t be the Baron of Dafen, but the Baron of Harvest. And by the way... we’re eating right now. Let’s not use such disgusting words.”

Lacy Sith lowered his head. ”My apologies, my Lord!”

”Don’t pay any mind to those buffoons,” Leech said. ”Our population will only continue to grow.”

Those minor nobles calling him the Baron of Dafen behind his back were just jealous of his rapid development and bountiful harvests.

They lacked Leech’s courage. They were unwilling to make large investments, and even more unwilling to let their serfs eat their fill. They would rather let their money gather dust in a vault than put it to its proper use.

So, as they watched Leech’s territory prosper, they couldn’t help but slander him.

They had already seen the benefits of fertilization but chose to mock him instead of learning his methods. They thought Leech should be suffering just like them. Their inability to accept new knowledge doomed them to be nothing more than buffoons. Leech couldn’t even be bothered to acknowledge them.

If they ever met him face to face, they would surely be more reverent than a son meeting his own father.

Leech said, ”Let’s eat first. Tomorrow, arrange for people to clear a new plot of land. We’ll plant more corn.”