Lord of Rot

Betty was the only daughter of a lord of a small noble family in the south.

An accident made her come into contact with and fall in love with alchemy, and she studied with an old scholar. Magic gunpowder was accidentally created by Betty. With the magic of controlling flames, the magic gunpowder produced by failed alchemy can produce extremely terrifying things. power.

She thought she would become a knowledgeable scholar in the future, studying alchemy, exploring truth and mysteries, but the coming of a war broke her future plans.

The war from the East Gorge and Giant's Foot chose Betty's family territory as the battlefield. The knights charged in the canyon area, and the militiamen carried farm tools to guard the city wall. Corpses fell one after another, blood painted the city wall red, and the clouds were dyed. red.

Until the Dongxia army was defeated, it seemed that they had won the war, but Betty's family was completely ruined. The castle was divided up by other nobles, and she became a street rat.

Betty abandoned her surname, relied on explosive alchemy and magic, and became a mercenary, wandering all the way.

Last fall, she met Silver Hair.

Betty didn't have much introduction to the silver hair, and she didn't know much about this group of people. She only knew that they held silver steel swords, had silver hair that was different from ordinary people, were very powerful in combat, and had a lot of knowledge. They were a group of weirdos.

Some people say that wherever silver hair appears, there are endless treasures, while others say that the appearance of silver hair means that the devil is not far away.

One of the silver-haired companions came in the direction of the porcupine leader.

Betty's mercenary team decided to come to the East Gorge to try their luck, and happened to hear a giant bear burning with flames appear in the Porcupine Territory in the Iron Stone City Tavern.

After a period of investigation, they found out about the porcupine collar, and Li Qi knew everything about the next thing.

Li Qi couldn't help but twitch at the corner of his mouth. He really just made up a story to sell the bear skin at a high price. How could there be a bunch of second-rate people believing it!

It’s unclear how true or false Betty’s words were, but Li Qi was surprised when she gave her the secret recipe for refining magic gunpowder.

Because this is the gunpowder of the earth!

I understand the principles, but I can’t get the materials.

The main materials are sulfur, saltpeter and charcoal.

Whether it is sulfur or saltpeter, they are both difficult to find, and I have never seen them in the Porcupine Collar.

Especially the natural sulfur mines are in the hands of a few nobles.

Probably due to magic and alchemy, the price of such materials has always been high.

The idea of ​​​​having a musket or even a firebolt and meteor arrow can only be ruined for the time being.

You can't do gunpowder, but you can still do magic.

After all, Betty is also a scholar apprentice, much better than ordinary people, and she is at her own mercy.

She obviously didn't tell a lot of truths, such as the mercenary wearing iron armor who had been protecting her, and the magical wooden stick that could withstand explosions, etc.

There's no rush yet.

Li Qi distractedly controlled the corpse patrol and let Betty rest.

He wanted to dig out useful information from Betty while investigating the crypt. After the value of Betty's magic gunpowder dropped sharply, investigating the crypt became the first priority.

After the livestock village was recently planned, the first batch of buildings were not villagers' houses but pastures, and there was so much milk produced by the cows that I didn't know what to do with it.

The milk must be collected in the castle, and servants can take advantage of it, but they are never allowed to pack it up and take it home.

Li Qi would not make mistakes of a merciful nature. He did not want the people in the Porcupine Territory to develop the idea that taking advantage of the Lord was a matter of course.

If you don’t want to waste the remaining milk, you can only think of ways to make other desserts, cheese, etc.

The young maids and male servants were asked to take an excuse to go to the back kitchen, and even Mr. Barrel, who wanted to enjoy some delicious food, was thinking about the lord's suggestion recently.

"How about training more apprentices?"

In the past, if the wine barrel was not good enough, no one could try to steal the stove.

But things are different now. He is really busy, and the lord has given him a lot of recipes to study. Instead of taking time to study new dishes after having three meals a day, why not teach a few obedient and honest people? An apprentice can also save yourself some effort.

The little cook's oak basin looks like she can make some breakfast.

This method works!

But you must be an obedient apprentice.

It was evening, but the selection of the retinue was not over yet.

76 people were screened out and 35 were selected. There was no time limit, as long as the number of people. The competition at the beginning was physical strength. Those with poor physical fitness had been screened out, and the remaining people competed in willpower.

When Li Qi came over, there were still 38 teenagers left, some of whom were already staggering and probably unconscious, just relying on their faith.

Whether they were civilians or slaves, they gritted their teeth and seized this opportunity, absolutely unwilling to miss it.

Those who were eliminated on the spot did not leave because Li Qi promised that there would be dinner for them.

Of course, the ones who were eliminated the most were the slave boys. They kept their heads down, knowing that they had missed the opportunity to change their lives.

There are only seven slave boys left who are still holding on. They are struggling to support themselves, and they are inherently disadvantaged in terms of physical strength.

This also includes Ake's two sons, 16-year-old Akeli, and 14-year-old Akedo. The two of them can persist because of their good genes and good food.

My biological father is a slave in charge, so how could he not use his power for personal gain?

Soon, three slave boys were eliminated. Each of them had already reached their limit. It would not be surprising if everyone fell down in the next moment.

Finally, 35 people were left.

The first round of selection has also ended.

Those who persisted breathed a sigh of relief, and some fell straight to the ground. Their mental and physical strength had already reached their limits, and they didn't know what was supporting them.

The three teenagers who couldn't hold on in the end were holding back tears. They were just one step away, just a little closer! If only I had persisted a little longer.

But the reality is like this, just a little bit different!

A sumptuous dinner made the atmosphere a little better. The 35 teenagers who stayed will be taught the most basic writing knowledge by Gulen tomorrow.

The first batch of teenagers who can hold on have the value of training. Whether they are serving as a peace officer, a municipal administrator, a civil servant, or a knight's retinue, they have initially shown their value.

In Li Qi's eyes, all talents are cultivated. Since I can't recruit talents to be loyal, why don't I train the head office myself? It's not meant to be used as a manager, but it's definitely enough for running errands at the grassroots level.

The tired teenagers were driven to rest, and the losers had to go home. Those who should farm the land, and those who should be slaves, continued to be slaves.

Li Qi also sat down to prepare for dinner.

The little maids in maid uniforms are serving food one after another, which is really eye-catching.

Dinner was McDeer soup, salad, and a pudding, and also a luxurious crème brûlée.

Sugar is also a very luxurious seasoning.

The environment in Porcupine Collar is not suitable for growing sugar beets, and I will probably have to spend money on sugar for a long time from now on.

Development still has a long way to go. Li Qi glanced at Kelan, who smiled back.

"Those young men are good, one or two may be able to become knight servants." Coran thought that the lord wanted to hear his report, and he said: "The talents are very good. They are lucky to have received the opportunity you gave them."

Grant raised the wine glass from the side and said, "To your mercy, sir."

Finding the right opportunity to flatter someone is also a skill of municipal management.

"Haha, everyone says I'm very kind." Li Qi raised the wine glass.

It's the 500 reward from [Mayfly Wings], just like Mr. Barrel's salad mixed with pecans, grapes and cheese crumbs, oh, I mean, thank you, I like it very much.