"A dwarf?" Leech asked, looking at the half-height man.

"My name is Fla, a dwarf carpenter," the man said, seemingly long used to being looked down upon. "Lord, only people with a special status were allowed to survive on this ship."

"’I suppose so,’" Leech said with a nod. Then he asked, "Where is your home, Fla?"

"Golden Wheat Field."

"That’s a bountiful land." Leech raised an eyebrow. It was located in the center of Lu Leiyi, not far from the capital, and its lord was the current King.

But what surprised Leech even more was that the place was landlocked. ’How did this guy get captured and brought onto a ship?’

The dwarf carpenter seemed to guess Leech’s thoughts and explained, "Because of my stature, it was hard to find steady work back home. So I thought I’d try my luck in other cities, and then..."

Leech nodded in understanding. People with disabilities were bound to face discrimination everywhere. Fortunately, Fla had a valuable skill.

"If you’re looking for a job, perhaps you could stay in my territory," Leech said.

"Of course!"

Fla was overjoyed. He had been worrying about what to do next.

Leech turned to the boy. "And you? What is your status?"

"A Minstrel, Lord."

"You’re younger than any Minstrel I’ve ever seen," Leech said.

The boy’s face flushed. "My father was a Minstrel, and I will be one too."

"He sang on the ship," Fla interjected, growing bolder. He had noticed that the young Lord was gentle and wanted to help the unfortunate boy. "He has an excellent voice. Otherwise, those bastards wouldn’t have spared his life."

"Alright," Leech said. ’I’m not actually a fan of Minstrels, but a boy leaving on his own probably wouldn’t have an easy life.’

’He needed all kinds of talent. All of it!’

Leech glanced at the three dazed women and sighed. "If the three of you are willing to stay, Porcupine Territory welcomes you. If not, perhaps a merchant caravan from Iron Stone City would be willing to carry a message to your families."

’It was a tall order. If the women weren’t in the East Gorge, their parents wouldn’t have the means to bring them home even if they wanted to. Leech certainly wasn’t going to waste manpower on it.’

’Besides the heir of the Bills, staying in Porcupine Territory was the best option for these people.’

From interrogating the last surviving pirate, he learned that this group of pirates had clashed with the Leopold family’s fleet. The reason was in that naval log.

The group was given a place to stay, with further arrangements to be considered the next day.

’As for the pirate, I’ll just hand him over to the peacekeepers. I don’t think there’s anything about the man’s corpse worth spending 10 ounces of gold to reanimate.’

Leech sat in a chair in his study, wrapped in the clothes a manservant had thoughtfully draped over him.

He flipped through the naval log. Pirates clearly didn’t have a habit of bookkeeping; they spent whatever they plundered. This log came from one of the Leopold family’s merchant ships. It clearly recorded a cargo manifest from one of the ship’s port calls, as well as the estimated arrival and departure dates for each port.

The pirate said that merchant ship was transporting about one million Jinri.

One million!

He sucked in a sharp breath. Upon hearing that number, Leech’s heart nearly stopped. He understood why a band of only twenty-odd pirates would be crazy enough to try and take a bite. ’A piece of meat that big... even I would be tempted.’

’The difference between me and the pirates is that while I’m greedy, I also cherish my life. I know this isn’t money I can touch.’

’Top-tier nobles are truly wealthy.’

’While I was still pinching pennies and racking my brain over a few Jinri a month, they had liquid assets in the millions. It was just like in his past life, when he was making a few thousand a month and agonizing over whether to get the cheap packet of instant noodles or splurge on the cup version, only to hear that others were evading taxes in the hundreds of millions. The absurdity and unreality of it all felt more fictitious than a novel.’

Beyond that, the ship itself had also become his private property. However, it still lacked sailors, a Captain, a navigator, a doctor, a cook, a helmsman, and so on. It could set sail as soon as he gathered a full crew.

’I’ll worry about that after I’ve built a dock.’

Leech stretched. Today’s great victory in battle was entirely due to his remote control, which had left him mentally exhausted. He needed a good night’s sleep.

「The next day.」

Leech arranged for someone to escort La Bill from Porcupine Territory to Iron Stone City. From there, he could hire a team of Mercenaries to escort him home.

「Lunchtime.」

Leech was eating pork and onion stew. He gracefully and calmly picked up a piece of meat with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth.

Incidentally, this world not only lacked chopsticks, but it didn’t even have knives and forks.

There was a type of Little Knife for cutting bread, which resembled a dagger, and spoons for soup. Beyond that, people had to eat with their hands or use bread to scoop up a dollop of vegetable puree, often served with mashed potatoes or a thick soup.

Gelan, who was eating at the same table, looked at the two wooden sticks in front of him. He had tried to use them, but he couldn’t manage them with the same dexterity as his Lord. In the end, he had to resort to eating with his hands.

’Gelan had always considered his table manners to be quite elegant, but in comparison, he felt like a savage.’

"Is everything alright in the territory?" Leech asked, unaware of Gelan’s inner thoughts.

"Everything is fine, Lord. It’s just that the Divine Calendar’s New Year is approaching."

The first year of the Divine Calendar was the year the Lu Leiyi Continent was unified. The King of Lu Leiyi at the time was enthroned in the capital, blessed by a Bishop of the Four Gods Sect.

Leech didn’t know much about that period of history.

"What should we prepare?" he asked. ’In my mind, a new year should be celebrated properly.’

"As far as I know, you didn’t hold a celebration when you became the lord?"

"’Porcupine Territory was too poor at the time,’ Leech nodded. ’I didn’t want to make a big fuss.’"

’He hadn’t transmigrated yet back then. He only knew that the previous Leech was shy, timid, and cowardly.’

Gelan nodded and, after a moment of thought, said, "Perhaps you could hold a celebration on New Year’s Day. It would fill the people of the territory with motivation for the future. Besides, Porcupine Territory’s victory over the invading pirates is also worth celebrating. A festival would sweep away their weariness."

"’Yes,’ Leech nodded. ’I’ll leave this matter to you.’"

’He had saved up a good amount of money. The celebration might cost a portion of it, but it was nothing compared to what he had earned. A few hundred Silver Moon at most.’

"’Porcupine Territory has a very promising future,’ Gelan said. ’Everyone is full of hope for their lives—and I mean everyone, including the slaves. They are all praising your benevolence.’"

"They are everyone’s slaves, not just mine. That includes every one of you," Leech said with a smile.

In the afternoon, Joe returned.

He brought back the profits from this month’s sale of the Little Pills. Following Leech’s instructions, he had first spent the money on goods—talent, food, tools, slaves, etc.—and brought back the remainder.

Joe truly was the son of a merchant; the things he brought back this time far surpassed what Leech had acquired last time.

Dozens more slaves arrived, their hearts full of anxious fear for the future.

Besides the items Leech had specifically requested, Joe also brought back valuable craftsmen.

They included masons, gardeners, leatherworkers, and an Alchemist. ’Leech strongly suspected they had been lured by the offer of double wages, but regardless, having skilled people come to Porcupine Territory was a joyous occasion worth celebrating.’

Especially the Alchemist. They were well-versed in pharmacology and were practically half-doctors.

Lu Leiyi had no true doctors. Some scholars were proficient in medicine and could even perform surgery, but ordinary people still had to rely on the Alchemists’ bitter but effective remedies to save their lives.

"You’ve returned at the perfect time," Leech said to Joe. "We’re going to hold a New Year’s celebration. Have everyone attend. They’ll grow to like it here."