Lord of Rot

The thunder of hooves echoed from the castle, followed by the surprised cries of the people.

Then Leech heard the sound of hurried footsteps.

He set down the cup of hot milk in his hand and looked toward the entrance.

A weather-beaten Kro Camel ran in. Leech hadn’t seen him for some time, and Kro’s skin had grown a few shades darker. But the moment he spoke, Leech was certain he was still the same Kro; the long journey hadn’t changed his spirit. ”My Lord, I’ve returned! Mission accomplished!”

The horses were here!

Leech set down his cup and stood up, overjoyed.

He hadn’t expected Kro to actually bring the horses back within the year.

Leech said, ”You’ve worked hard, Kro! I imagine your journey must have been quite interesting.”

Kro smiled. ”But I’m sure it can’t compare to yours, my Lord.”

Three major events had shaken the entire Eastern Gorge this year. The first was the bastard from Waterfall Land who raised tens of thousands of rebels to attack Longship Castle.

The second was the sudden appearance of a Black King in Iron Valley, who sought to overthrow Bor II’s rule.

And the third was that Lord Leopold’s daughter had been kidnapped, but Baron Porcupine and his men had turned the tide and saved the day.

Two of those events were related to Leech.

”I’d rather have nothing to do with any of them,” Leech said. ”A quiet life suits me better.”

Chatting, they walked out into the castle courtyard.

Dozens of fine horses with sleek, glossy coats were being held by horse traders.

”Fifty-four fine horses in total,” Kro Camel explained at Leech’s side. ”Fifty of them are swift horses, and four are desert warhorses. Among the desert warhorses, there is one stallion and three mares.”

”Excellent,” Leech nodded in satisfaction.

Leech walked over to the desert warhorses to inspect them. ’These three mares will be Rocket’s future wives.’

Stallions were much more expensive and difficult to purchase.

Leech planned to use the desert warhorses to improve his stock. He only needed light cavalry; heavy shock cavalry was currently too costly, not just in price but also in training.

Of course, in terms of sheer power, if Leech could raise a force of 5,000 cataphracts, he could sweep across the entire Lu Leiyi Continent, with no need to fear whether the enemy had a dozen or two Transcendents.

Beneath iron hooves, all are equal.

Of course, that was just a thought.

Five thousand cataphracts... how much would that cost per day, even when not at war?

The cost of feeding the men and horses alone would be the death of him.

”Take the horses to the stables first,” Leech ordered. ”Oh, and send someone to tell Sir Quick Blade that we will be selecting the cavalry this afternoon.”

The good news spread like wildfire.

When the Porcupine Soldiers learned that the cavalry selection was finally beginning today, they were all eager to try out.

Before this, the Lord had often used the pretense of ”selecting cavalry” to beat them up, taking on a hundred of them at once.

Every time, they just got a beating with no chance of actually becoming cavalrymen. Now, they were finally seeing some real benefits.

With 50 swift horses, they would probably select about 30 cavalrymen.

When the Soldiers arrived at the stables, the first thing they saw was the Horse-headed Eagle walking beside the Baron.

The Horse-headed Eagle, Rocket, had grown quite a bit during this time. Leech estimated that it wouldn’t be long before he could ride Rocket into the sky.

Rocket’s little face was filled with curiosity as he looked at his fifty-odd new equine cousins in the stables.

Its eagle head tilted back and forth, sizing them up.

As for Leech’s Flame-maned steed, Rocket’s ”uncle,” it looked upon the swift horses with disdain. Its noble warhorse bloodline meant it was only interested in the group of desert warhorses.

Leech grabbed a strip of meat as thick as a finger and suddenly tossed it into the sky. With his arm strength, the meat strip flew at least several stories high.

”COO! COO!” Rocket spread its wings, kicking up a great gust of wind as it shot into the sky and snatched the strip of meat.

Wings outstretched, it glided back down.

After its talons touched the ground, Rocket tilted its head back, swallowed the meat, and then cooed as it circled around Leech.

The Soldiers who witnessed this clicked their tongues in amazement.

Although they had often seen Rocket flying over Porcupine Territory recently and knew it was the Lord’s mount, this was the first time they had seen it up close.

But they hadn’t forgotten their goal for the day: to become cavalrymen.

’The Flying Horse belongs to the Lord, so we can’t ride it, but riding a fine horse should be no problem, right?’

The selection and training were conducted entirely by Leech himself.

Because among everyone present, he was the only one with extensive cavalry experience.

’The Lord seems to know everything.’

Sir Quick Blade never knew Leech could also train cavalry. Porcupine Territory didn’t have a single outstanding cavalryman.

Their previous Swordsmanship Teacher, the Warg Slayer, wasn’t much of a horseman either. Therefore, the only way to explain Baron Leech’s exquisite skills was to attribute them to his status as a Divine Favored.

’A Divine Favored... If he weren’t favored by a god, how could he possibly know so much!’

The entire selection and training process was very quick.

Furthermore, Pitz, the Beast Language user, was there to help.

He could tell them which horse was in what state, who it wanted to be partnered with, and so on.

It could be said that the examiners weren’t just Leech, but every horse present as well.

In the end, a total of 30 cavalrymen were chosen.

The Porcupine Cavalry Team was officially formed.

For the next few days, Leech put aside all other work and dedicated his time to overseeing the cavalry training at the stables.

Unexpectedly, Little Joel’s performance was quite good. After having his status as a Knight’s squire revoked, Little Joel had matured considerably. He trained diligently, so Leech appointed him as the Cavalry Captain.

Once the training was on track, Leech had to consider the cavalry’s equipment.

The equipment for mounted cavalry was certainly different from that of infantry, and he wanted light cavalry that balanced flexibility with survivability.

「The Smithy」

”Light cavalry usually wears leather armor, my Lord,” a blacksmith said to Leech.

They were brainstorming ideas for the Porcupine Cavalry Team’s equipment.

Since this cavalry unit’s primary weapon would be firearms, they would also carry swords but would not be used for charges.

Their main roles would be skirmishing, harassing, and pursuit.

Therefore, their armor couldn’t be heavy, full plate.

”No, leather armor offers too little protection.” Leech shook his head, rejecting the proposal. ”We must at least ensure the cavalrymen’s torsos and heads are protected.”

”Then how about we disassemble some of the lamellar armor, keeping only the breastplates and helmets?” the blacksmith suggested. ”Their arms and legs could be covered with light leather armor. Plus, the disassembled parts won’t go to waste; we can use them to make new sets of armor.”

’That sounds very cost-effective.’

Leech nodded. ”That could work. Go ahead and modify the armor for these thirty men to test it out.”

Simply disassembling the arm and leg pieces of the armor wasn’t much trouble. A group of blacksmiths got to work and quickly prepared 30 sets.

After receiving the armor, the cavalrymen mounted their horses and began training in the paddock.

Indeed, it didn’t hinder their movement much.

With all the problems solved, only hard training remained.

Just as Leech finished his temporary focus on the cavalry team, more good news arrived. The number of firearms he had ordered for production had finally been met.

A few dozen of them, enough for one gun per two or three Soldiers.

Once production ramped up, they could achieve one gun per person, or even two.

Wooden stocks, and barrels made from two layers of rolled iron sheets, with rifling carved inside.

The overall workmanship was so exquisite that Leech couldn’t tell they were hand-forged; they looked as if they had been machine-milled.

The forge-welding seams were almost invisible.

They had all been produced after extensive research by Betty and the blacksmiths.

Now that he had a cavalry team, it was time to put firearms training on the agenda.