Lord of Rot

Chapter 478: Chapter 423: Puppet Figurine Fighting Game

The pair’s pause to converse at the entrance had naturally caught Leech’s attention.

“Lord Leech,” she said, “Tangkx Scholar has time now.”

“That’s great!”

The two left the City Lord’s great hall and stopped before a tall, narrow building on the outskirts of Mama City.

The city had few residents, a fact related to its overall design. With no arable land and no grain production, there were naturally very few serfs to “pay taxes.” A large portion of Mama City was dedicated to breeding warhorses.

The building’s overall shape resembled an inverted boot. Its base was cylindrical, but near the top, a room jutted out to the right. Leech had only ever seen such an illogical structure in MC.

He knocked gently on the door.

The door was opened by a little girl, about the same age as Arkke.

“Hello?” she asked, looking at Leech with curiosity.

“We’re looking for Tangkx Scholar,” Lisu Muma said.

“Teacher is upstairs.” The girl stepped back, pulling the door wider. “Please, come in.”

Leech nodded. “Thank you.”

The pair entered. The first-floor room was impeccably tidy. In addition to the girl who had opened the door, two other girls were sitting opposite each other at a table.

Leech walked over and saw a small wooden puppet, about the size of a thumb, moving stiffly in front of each girl.

CLICK. CLACK. CLICK.

The small figures stiffly crashed into each other, engaged in a “fierce” battle.

Leech watched, fascinated. ‘This is definitely a use of magic,’ he thought. ‘She must truly be a scholar specializing in it!’

The battle only ended when one of the puppets’ heads was knocked off and it toppled onto the table.

Surprisingly, the puppet’s body had no connecting joints. Upon falling, it scattered into a pile of small parts.

Footsteps came from upstairs, and Leech shifted his gaze.

A woman who looked to be in her thirties came down the stairs. She wasn’t particularly beautiful and was very thin, but she lacked the “neurotic” air common among scholars. She wore a dark-colored long dress, adorned with small lace flowers that ran from her left shoulder to her waist.

Her hands were adorned with several rings of various colors. Leech could tell at a glance that they were all wondrous items.

A sudden realization struck him. ‘Why didn’t I think of forging Extraordinary materials into easily wearable wondrous items like rings or necklaces before? Even if I don’t use them myself, my subordinates could easily use them to boost their combat strength.’

‘But on second thought,’ he mused, ‘just because they’re easy to carry doesn’t mean they’re practical to use. I’ll have to wait for Chuina to return from her studies before I can slowly research the specifics.’

After descending the stairs, the woman took the initiative to greet them. “Yarrn, Lord Leech, Miss Lisu.”

Hearing her voice, the playful little girls stopped their game. They gathered at her side, looking curiously at Leech and Lisu.

“Yarrn, Tangkx Scholar,” Lisu returned the greeting, clearly uncomfortable.

She was accustomed to a life of slaughter, but the sudden emergence of magic these past two years had completely upended her world. It was as if she had strayed from her own reality into another, one where the power of her prized blade had diminished and her terror had grown.

Beneath her excessively tough exterior, her heart was actually quite soft and vulnerable. She didn’t dare embrace new things, because she was so used to dominating in her own area of expertise.

Standing before this woman made Lisu Muma feel deeply uneasy.

“Yarrn,” Leech nodded in greeting. “It seems you already know who I am.”

The woman was exceedingly polite, which was only to be expected. ‘As long as she isn’t deaf and blind, she knows what happened in Mama City,’ Leech thought. ‘No scholar ever intentionally provokes a lord. They might act a little “haughty” within acceptable bounds, but their intelligence prevents them from doing anything truly foolish.’

Tangkx nodded. She had high cheekbones, and when she smiled, the skin stretched taut across them. “You’re curious about magic?”

“Yes.” Leech pointed to the puppets on the table. “Is this some sort of alchemical device? I have a scholar in my own territory, but he hasn’t managed to create anything like this.”

“Those are just toys. They use animation magic,” Tangkx explained. “It grants temporary life to objects, allowing a wooden dog to guard a house, an iron rooster to crow, or a paper bird to fly.”

“Fascinating,” Leech commented with great sincerity.

He then stated the true purpose of his visit: his curiosity about magic and his desire to explore it.

This was a very broad topic, but as a scholar of Magic Research, Tangkx had a deep interest in this area and could talk about it for a long time.

“The arcane, or magic, or miracles, or witchcraft… they all lay dormant before the Magic Tide. Back then, I could only use magic to light my fireplace or peel potatoes…” She paused abruptly. “A potato is a type of…”

“I know what potatoes are,” Leech interrupted. “Tell me about what happened after the Magic Tide.”

‘They’re practically calling me the Potato Baron, so how could I not know what a potato is?’ In his territory, potatoes were a year-round staple for filling bellies.

Tangkx looked a little surprised. In her eyes, Leech was a high-born noble who shouldn’t have any contact with peasant food.

Potatoes had a monotonous taste, and eating too many caused heartburn and acid reflux. No one would eat them unless they were desperately poor, no matter how easy they were to grow.

Every time magic was mentioned, someone would bring up the blood moon that Leech had never seen, and the emergence of the Magic Tide.

“From that day on, I could feel the world changing,” she said. “Spells that were once impossible can now be cast with ease. My own understanding of magic is deepening. This is the best of times—the renaissance of magic!”

‘But it could also be the worst of times,’ Leech thought grimly.

‘The strong get stronger, and the weak get weaker. In the past, someone shouting, “Are kings and nobles destined to rule by birth?” might have sparked an uprising. But from now on, high-level power will be concentrated in the hands of the nobility. The weak will no longer even have the right to resist.’

‘Good thing I’m one of the nobles.’

As they talked, Leech realized how little he knew about magic. He was ignorant of many fundamental principles, and his own attempts at magic were little more than rote applications. Of course, he hadn’t had the chance to properly learn any magic, but even gaining this rough overview was enough to excite him.

He didn’t hide his intentions, openly inviting Tangkx to his territory.

“You could stay in the desert, but if you ever want a change of scenery, East Gorge can offer you a place. Besides, there are many other scholars in Porcupine Territory.”

Tangkx shook her head, declining Leech’s offer. “I’ll be staying in the desert for a while. If you need my help with anything, please don’t hesitate to ask. But as for meeting other scholars… I’d rather not. We don’t share the same philosophy.”

Simply put, she tended to argue with other scholars.

“That’s a shame,” Leech said, shaking his head.

‘At least she didn’t refuse to help me, or even work for me.’

In stark contrast to Leech’s enthusiastic conversation, Lisu Muma listened from the side in a daze, repeatedly stifling yawns. The moment she heard Leech decide to leave, she shot to her feet, vowing to herself that she would never follow him to this place again.

Leaving Tangkx Scholar’s residence, Leech said, “I’m going to take a walk on the city walls. You can go back and rest.”

“Yes.” Lisu didn’t object. She was truly exhausted.

The defensive battles over the past few days had made it difficult for her to rest properly. Perhaps tonight she could finally get a good night’s sleep.

He reached the city wall and gazed down below.

The mercenaries were camped near the city gate. Since Viscount Matthew had prepared for a protracted war, providing food and lodging for over three thousand people was not an issue for the time being.

The night was deep, yet the mercenaries were not asleep. They were chatting boisterously, their voices punctuated by occasional shouts.

After watching for a few more moments, Leech turned back to his room. It had been tidied up, but to his surprise, the young maids previously arranged by the Mama Clan were all gone, replaced by male servants.

He told them he didn’t need help undressing, then closed the door, removed his clothes, and lay down on the bed.

Time passed. Suddenly, a dozen or so vultures flew out from the dungeon, flapping their wings as they soared into the distance.

Rocket, resting in its nest, lifted its head, then lowered it again and closed its eyes.