Chapter 496: Return

The troop passed through the desert, crossed Bonta Canyon, then went through Monkey Territory. After heading north into Waterfall Land for a stretch, they turned east into Iron Valley.

It was another long journey. By the time they officially entered the territory, it was already October.

Leech, riding his fine steed, tilted his head back and glanced at the sky.

Rocket’s temper was growing more and more volatile. Being in heat was a major problem, and Leech and the grooms had reached a consensus: they had to select a mare of outstanding lineage and couldn’t just let him breed with any random horse.

‘Gelding him… would be too cruel.’

Fortunately, Leech didn’t need to go to the battlefield often, so he just let Rocket be.

With Rocket’s piercing, eagle-like cry, he announced to the land that its Lord had returned.

Hoofbeats sounded on the packed, level main road. Leech had spent a fortune building roads to connect the villages, felling trees, breaking rocks, and filling pits to ensure the roads were perfectly straight.

Now, after more than half a year of construction, a portion of the main roads was officially in use, as proven by the crowds of people hurrying to and fro.

A merchant caravan pulled over to the side of the road, voluntarily making way for the approaching procession. One of the apprentices, confused, whispered a question, “Who is that?”

“Keep your head down!” The caravan’s merchant pressed his hand on the back of the young apprentice’s head, forcing it down. “I tell you to learn the noble house crests, and it’s like it all goes in one ear and out the other! That’s the Porcupine Banner!”

You weren’t supposed to look directly at a noble lord, as it was considered an offense. There was no such written law, but the noble masters’ whips had a law of their own.

The young apprentice, curious, tried to look up, but the hand on the back of his head was too strong. He could only roll his eyes upward, barely managing to see a pair of exquisite noble’s boots.

Like this small caravan, quite a few people feared Leech as they would a tiger.

As they traveled, they saw many small merchants hastily lowering their heads, cowering in fear, terrified that some aspect of their demeanor might be found wanting and displease Baron Porcupine.

Only after Leech’s retinue had ridden far into the distance did the merchant straighten up, as if a great weight had been lifted. The caravan then returned to the road and continued on its way.

“Why are we afraid of the Baron? Doesn’t he welcome us to do business here?” the young apprentice asked, still confused. He pointed a finger at their wagon. “Didn’t we just pick up a batch of mushrooms? And haven’t you chatted and laughed with the noble masters of other villages before?”

“Ow!” Seeing the merchant raise his hand, he instinctively flinched and cried out.

The pain didn’t come. He peeked upward.

*THWACK!* Only then did the blow land.

The young apprentice vigorously rubbed the back of his head, hissing and sucking in air through his teeth.

The merchant grimaced, shaking his hand. “You’ve got a hard head!”

Then he continued, “Can the lords of those villages even compare to the Baron? Have you forgotten the news about the Lord of Bloodsand? I should let a green-eyed toad burrow into your head to see if it’s full of brain-eating maggots!”

The young apprentice just shook his head, mumbling noncommittally. In his heart, he resolved never to ask questions again; otherwise, he’d get hit every time.

It was said that Baron Porcupine had been in the desert for no more than half a year, yet he had constantly stirred up storms and launched wars. That barren land had been stained red with blood; if you dug up the sand, all you’d find underneath was gore.

The only strange thing was that the exceedingly warlike Baron Porcupine hadn’t been criticized by the King and continued to do as he pleased. Furthermore, not a single lord who considered himself righteous had stepped forward to denounce him.

The specific reasons, perhaps, were known only to the lords themselves.

Regardless, people had subconsciously placed Baron Porcupine as the number one figure beneath Duke East Gorge—and a bloodthirsty, ill-tempered lord at that. Naturally, one had to be meek and obedient in his presence, daring not to offend him.

…

A towering city wall appeared in Leech’s sight.

‘A wall that could once resist an army of thousands can now be torn down by a single Palace Level master.’

Leech’s gaze shifted from the Porcupine Banner to a large banner.

The banner, hung on the wall, read: “Hard Work is Glorious, Slacking is Shameful.”

Similar slogans appeared in various places.

Unlike the high degree of unity in Porcupine Territory, Iron Valley had recruited many outside talents, which also meant it was a mixed bag, with all sorts of people from every walk of life.

Although he wasn’t afraid of his ideas being plagiarized, Leech still consciously had his own people control the core technologies. Important technical factories—for things like alchemy, firearms, cannons, bombs, and so on—were restricted to research within Porcupine Territory to ensure the technology did not leak out.

In the current environment, the power of cannons was still terrifying, especially when combined with a Caster’s precision guidance. To put it in Earth terms: “You have been illuminated and locked on by our fire-control radar. Unfortunately, you won’t even have a chance to hear the alarm.”

Back inside the castle.

Iron Wall Castle hadn’t changed much. Lily, the chief steward Leech had specially selected, had clearly remembered his instruction to use resources where they mattered most.

Leech didn’t have any particular orders to give. In truth, he wasn’t in a great mood. After leaving Monkey Territory, Tangkx Scholar had parted ways with him. The man had taken his apprentices and headed straight for Burning City, even though Leech had repeatedly offered to let the apprentices travel with him for safety.

‘If not the scholar, his apprentices would have been fine too.’

But Tangkx Scholar clearly had no such intentions, much to Leech’s disappointment.

Still, the magic knowledge he had obtained from the scholar was proving very useful. He was now trying to use Meditation to train his Spiritual Power. Perhaps due to some extraordinary talent, his Spiritual Power was increasing very rapidly. It had finally broken through the bottleneck at 45 units and successfully grown to 55 units.

He had also learned quite a few minor spells, but had yet to come into contact with magic like Firestorm or Avada Kedavra.

That evening, Leech held a banquet.

He invited all the higher-ups in Iron Valley to dine together.

After not seeing them for several months, the state of those once high-spirited young nobles had changed. A few had slightly chubbier cheeks, a sign they had been eating well. Others looked utterly exhausted, and one could only wonder what they were doing at night.

But on the whole, they were all slowly maturing and had been tempered by experience.

“No business talk today,” Leech said, raising his glass. “To glory, cheers!”

“To glory!” everyone chorused, raising their glasses high.

After the banquet, the crowd dispersed.

The fat manager, Hay, who had been making himself scarce in a corner all evening, stumbled out looking a bit dizzy. A gust of cool wind made him shake his head, instantly sobering him up.

He smacked his lips. ‘As expected, only the Lord gets to enjoy the best wine.’

Even with money, there was no way for him to acquire such precious wines.

Especially after drinking the fine wine from the desert today, going back to ordinary beer would just taste wrong.

After looking left and right to make sure not too many people were around, he spotted a certain noble leaving alone and quickened his pace to follow.

“Sir Alex,” Hay said, trying to sound familiar.

The young noble called Alex stopped and frowned at Hay. Almost none of the nobles had a good impression of the greedy, fat manager. If not for the man’s knack for making money, the funds he had embezzled alone would have been enough for the Lord to send him to meet the Four Gods.

“Manager Hay, do you need something?” Alex asked.

“Good things, good things,” Hay said, rubbing his hands together. “Care to join me for a cup of tea? I had a merchant caravan get it for me last time. It’s from Endor.”

Alex shook his head, refusing. “Sorry, I’m busy.”

But Hay was unhurried. “I hear Hahn has earned several military merits in the desert and is about to be conferred the rank of Knight. Actually, I have a way…”

Alex stopped the step he was about to take and looked at Hay.

Their group had all pledged allegiance to Leech together, naturally in pursuit of honor. It was fine if no one had something, but it was a problem when suddenly one person had it and another didn’t.

“Tea from Endor~” Hay said with a smile.

Alex smiled and said, “As it happens, I could use some tea to sober up.”

“Hahaha, excellent! Please, follow me.”