Lord of Rot

After a short rest, Leech changed his clothes and went to the evening banquet.

He was relieved that he wouldn’t have to dance again. Dancing with the ladies and baronesses was a fragrant form of torture. He couldn’t very well disappear into a room or a quiet hallway with some lady under the watchful eyes of his uncle, Lewis, and the others.

The lavish banquet was served buffet-style, allowing the guests to move about freely, chat, and find their friends.

Although Leech had made a name for himself in the eastern part of East Gorge, it meant little to the nobles of central Lu Leiyi. There were no mutual interests. Even if he married Stacy, she would be the one leaving with him, so Leech would still have no influence here.

Compared to old, established families like that of Old Crocodile and the Aix Clan—one being a local power and the other connected to the King through marriage—an outsider like Baron Porcupine was nothing special.

Leech was more interested in the small muffins at the banquet than in the minor nobles.

To his pleasant surprise, the food selection had changed quite a bit since his last visit.

Someone approached.

A young man with an ordinary face and a cane-emblazoned family crest walked up to Leech.

It was the heir of Red Heart Castle, the eldest son of the marriage-obsessed Aix Clan, ’Mr. Curious’ Kunber Aix.

He took the initiative to greet him. ”We meet again, Leech.”

Beside him was a woman with slightly dark skin. Although she wore a long dress, Leech found something awkward about her presence. She didn’t wear perfume, and his first impression was that she was the same type of woman as Stacy—unfussy, needing no makeup, and possessing a charm all her own.

Leech said, ”Kunber, how could you not introduce this beautiful lady first?”

”This is Grelli Koch, my fiancée,” Kunber Aix introduced with a smile.

Then he turned to his fiancée and said, ”This is Baron Porcupine.”

Grelli’s eyes lit up. ”I’ve been hearing your stories a lot lately!”

”I hope meeting me in person isn’t a disappointment,” Leech said.

”You’re more handsome than in the stories, like a protagonist blessed by the glory of a knight.” Grelli was quite artful with her words. Although Leech didn’t know what these stories about him were, he guessed his image in them was the complete opposite of what she described.

An ugly, dark, and forsaken villain.

He didn’t even care about the title ’Baron of Dafen’, let alone being cast as a villain.

He looked at Kunber Aix. ’Given the traditions of the Aix Clan, it’s impossible they’d let him marry a noble from some obscure, minor family.’ Leech had never heard of the Kochs; they were surely a minor noble family with no land.

Kunber said, ”The Kochs are a family of Knights from the Golden Wheat Field. Grelli’s father helps His Majesty the King manage the Golden Wheat Field.”

The Golden Wheat Field was a good place—fertile, productive, and peaceful. Although Leech had never been there, from what he’d heard and read, anyone born in the Golden Wheat Field would never go hungry in their lifetime.

His Majesty the King possessed a great many domains.

His landed titles alone included: Baron Mother River, the Count of Soaring Valley, the Earl of Monkey Island, Baron of the Golden Wheat Field, the Baron of Death Land, and so on.

Beyond those, he had a plethora of vanity titles, such as King of Lu Leiyi, Lord of the New Sun, Favored of the Four Gods, Guardian of the Faith of the Four Gods, the Unbeaten Golden Bear... and so on. The list was so long it would make one’s mouth go dry just reciting it.

”She loves adventure, and I am Mr. Curious,” Kunber told Leech. ”We had a small misunderstanding between us, but the Matron smiled upon us. It actually helped us get to know each other, and then we fell in love.”

The Matron is the god of love among the Four Gods.

”Congratulations on finding a kindred spirit,” Leech said.

Kunber let go of his fiancée, allowing her to chat with others while he stayed to talk with Leech. ”I’ve recently acquired a batch of good stuff. Are you interested?”

This was the real reason he’d approached.

”Good stuff?” Leech was puzzled.

They had only ever made one deal before.

”Wondrous items! But... their effect isn’t that great,” Kunber said awkwardly. ”They only increase a Caster’s Spiritual Power by a tiny amount.”

But Leech heard another meaning in his words. ”You’re short on cash?”

He wasn’t in a desperate hurry to find wondrous items right now. With two beings above the Transcendent level, he already had plenty of security.

Kunber rubbed his hands together in embarrassment. ”Grelli and I like to go exploring, and our expeditions often require a great deal of funding. Sometimes we have to hire a lot of people.”

In short: adventuring was indeed very expensive.

”How much are you selling them for?” Leech asked.

”Alright, strictly speaking, they don’t quite count as wondrous items, but I got a huge pile of them,” Kunber said, a little embarrassed. ”How about 5 Jinri per portion? Oh, no, 2 Jinri. 1 Jinri would be fine too.”

He was even bargaining against himself.

”Silver Moon would also be acceptable.”

If they weren’t wondrous items, Leech was even less interested.

Leech saw right through him. ”It seems you’re in quite a bit of debt.”

”Haha,” Kunber laughed dryly. ”Indeed, funds are a bit tight.”

Leech didn’t continue talking about the so-called ”wondrous items.” He was sure they were just some unremarkable trinkets Kunber was hoping to trade for a little cash. He changed the subject, asking, ”How are your relations with the nobles of the royal capital?”

”Quite good,” Kunber said. ”Those profligate sons of nobility are loaded. They’ll buy magical beasts or Sub-humans without batting an eye. All they do every day is compete with each other, and they spend money like water.”

’If I had those kinds of resources, I’d be happy to be a rich wastrel instead of the Baron of Dafen,’ Leech thought to himself.

Leech cut off Kunber’s resentful rant against the rich. ”I don’t have money, but I do have a batch of treasures. If you can help me sell them...”

He leaned in and whispered in Kunber’s ear, ”I can give you a 30% cut of the profits.”

”What kind of treasures?” Kunber asked.

A 30% cut was a lot, but only if the items were valuable and easy to sell. Otherwise, 30% of something worth 1 Jinri was still worthless.

”Treasure from Prince Hoffman of Giant’s Foot.”

”He’s a mysterious and powerful figure,” Kunber said in surprise. ”You have contact with him?”

”Whether we have contact or not doesn’t matter. As long as the goods are good, that’s enough, right?”

”You’re right!” Kunber nodded. ”As long as it sells for money, who cares where it came from.”

Leech suddenly realized Kunber was a bit like a tomb raider. Someone who only excavates things hidden by history is an explorer, but someone who does it to make money is, without a doubt, a tomb raider.

”You’d better not try to bully Leech.” Bode had appeared beside the two at some point, his words a clear threat to Kunber.

Kunber shrank back. When an ordinary person faced a Transcendent, it was like encountering a natural predator—a suppression that came from a higher Life Level.

Bode seemed to be serious; he released a bit of his Extraordinary aura.

Everyone present felt that something was off in the air.

Leech lightly patted Bode’s arm, signaling him not to get too worked up.

The atmosphere returned to normal somewhat.

Kunber felt the strange pressure disappear. He stuck his neck out. ”Leech is the one who wanted to do business with me. You wouldn’t understand, you lizard-skinning, frigid man! Go on, get lost!”

”But I can make Leech stop doing business with you.”

”Bode, it’s true, we were discussing this,” Leech had to interject. ”I have a collection of treasures worth at least twenty thousand Jinri, but I can’t find a buyer.”

”How much?” Kunber’s eyes went wide.

Although his family wasn’t particularly short on money, there’s a big difference between fixed assets and liquid capital. Besides, as long as his father was alive, the title wouldn’t pass to him, and the Baron of Red Heart Castle looked like he had at least another twenty years in him. His mother was even more domineering, keeping him on a very tight leash financially.

Kunber could have been one of those profligate nobles who throws money around, but thanks to the Lady of Red Heart, he lived a very frugal life.

”Thirty percent! I’d get at least six thousand Jinri!” Kunber’s heart pounded wildly.

That was enough money for him and his fiancée to go grave-robbing—ah, exploring—and splurge all over the world.

”He’s not reliable,” Bode said, shaking his head.

Kunber was the most anxious of all. He said, ”How about this: I’ll only take a 20% cut from the sales. The extra 10% can go to Bode, and he can act as a witness. The three of us can sign a contract under the eyes of the Four Gods.”

Contracts were only useful when both parties were of comparable strength.

But Bode shook his head. ”I can be the witness, but you don’t need to give me a share of the money. And we need to change the terms. You get a 10% cut, Leech gets 90%. If you dare to swallow this money, I’ll ride my Giant Lizard and attack Red Heart Castle!”

He was the future heir of Green Forest Castle. Although it would be decades before he became the Crocodile Baron, he really didn’t lack for money. After all, unlike Kunber, he had no expensive hobbies. The most he did was buy a few corpses now and then to skin.

”Fine!” Kunber gritted his teeth. 10% was still 2,000 Jinri, so it wasn’t a loss. And if he managed to sell everything for a higher price, he’d earn even more.

”How about this,” Leech said. ”Kunber gets 30%, Bode gets 10%, and I’ll just take 60%. I’ll store the items at Green Forest Castle, so I’ll have to trouble you to look after them, Bode.”

Bode, who was originally just a witness, now had the additional role of warehouse manager and would even get a 10% cut. It was basically free money.

With Bode’s help, Leech wouldn’t have to worry about Kunber pocketing the money.

And the amount wasn’t so large that Kunber would risk angering two powerful lords.

Right now, Leech just wanted to sell the items as quickly as possible. It was all pure profit with no initial investment, so however much they sold for was a gain.

”No, it’s all your stuff.”

Bode didn’t agree to this arrangement. Finally, to Kunber’s resentful expression, they settled on 70% for Leech, 20% for Kunber, and 10% for Bode. All that was left was to find the time to sign the contract.

The process no longer required Leech’s attention. Kunber would find the buyers, Bode would supervise, and the profits from each transaction would be divided accordingly.

A collaboration that pleased everyone.

None of the three really cared about the contract. A piece of paper held no real power; only strength could guarantee the cooperation would continue.

As things stood now, the Porcupine and the Crocodile combined could easily annihilate all of Red Heart Castle.

Leech just had to wait until he returned to Waterfall Land to write a letter back to Iron Wall Castle, then have Lily arrange for people to deliver the treasure to Green Forest Castle.

’The money from the pelts, plus the treasure money... I should bring in at least thirty thousand Jinri this year.’

Thirty thousand Jinri would be enough to inject powerful vitality into his two domains.

Bode and Kunber left to discuss the details, and Leech was happy to wash his hands of it. He grabbed something to eat and enjoyed the rare moment of peace.

Now that he was about to make money, his mood had improved considerably.