Lord of Rot

The Bonta market at dawn.

Two rows of wheel ruts carved into the sand stretched northwest, disappearing where the sand met the sky.

A mercenary swordsman in leather armor, a sword slung over his shoulder, yawned and set out with the caravan guards.

Their journey would take them across the vast desert, through several towns and villages, before finally returning to Leon City.

Such was the life of a mercenary. Most days were just dull. Aside from the scorching sun and the grueling march, it wasn’t so bad. The worst fear was running into desert bandits—those hyenas didn’t listen to reason.

So the mercenary swordsman preferred his life to be dull. It was better than not living at all.

”What noble was that who arrived at the Bonta market yesterday? Such a strong cavalry force—they could probably sweep through the entire market!”

”The Porcupine Banner. Never seen it before.”

”You don’t even know that?”

”You do?”

”Of course! You haven’t heard of Baron Porcupine? They say he has a griffin-headed Winged Horse that can fly.”

Wars and conflicts erupted everywhere, but the fastest things to spread across the land weren’t tales of war and tragedy, but all sorts of fantastical legends.

If a thousand people died in a war, some might lament its cruelty, but most would just sigh, feel it was far removed from their own lives, and promptly forget.

But if they heard someone could ride a flying horse, the story would spread like wildfire. The tellers would be dying to claim they had seen it with their own eyes, or at least that their friend, their distant relative, or their wife’s distant relative had.

It was as if being associated with such a fascinating rumor gave them a bit of prestige...

The boss of this caravan wasn’t strict and didn’t mind a few men slacking off to chat.

Traveling through the vast desert was already monotonous and lonely; being strict would only torment their spirits. But after a day’s journey, the chatter gradually died down. Their mouths were dry, their bodies weak. It was better to shut up and march on, swallowing a little less sand and dust.

Suddenly, a caravan appeared up ahead, heading toward them.

The mercenaries tensed, their hands instinctively moving to the hilts of their swords. Their fingers tightened, ready to draw their blades at the first sign of trouble and fight to the death. They may have traveled far and wide for many years, and fearing death was one thing, but they would never shy away from a real fight.

But they breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the banner clearly.

A horseshoe banner.

”Ah, it’s a caravan from Mama City.”

The mercenaries relaxed their grip.

The other party slowly approached. The leader wore a cloak to shield them from the sun, with a scimitar for self-defense at their waist.

Behind them were a few cavalrymen and a caravan, but the caravan’s wagons were empty.

”Whoa!” The leader stopped, threw back their cloak, and pulled down a scarf that protected against the sand, revealing their entire face.

It was a woman with slightly tanned, wheat-colored skin.

She had short hair, revealing a pair of beautiful, delicate ears.

Her features were exquisite, especially her gorgeous eyes.

Paired with her armor, she had a look that people couldn’t tear their eyes away from.

The mercenary swordsman’s eyes lit up as he heard someone beside him say, ”It’s the Desert Pearl, Lisu Muma!”

The mercenary swordsman had heard of Lisu Muma. The story went that her mother was a common woman who had caught the eye of Mama City’s lord and been taken as his wife. Thus, Lisu gained the Muma surname. Because of her extreme beauty, she became known as the Desert Pearl.

Though only fifteen, she was skilled in riding and combat, hardly like a woman at all.

As much as the men were loath to admit it, they couldn’t deny that the girl galloping across the desert, her feet in the stirrups, was as dazzling as a pearl.

”Are you merchants from Leon City?” Lisu Muma asked. She didn’t speak with the affected tone of a noble lady. If it weren’t for her full chest and pretty face, it would be hard to even think of her as a woman.

Her charm was undeniable, yet her demeanor was hard to accept, a baffling contradiction.

The caravan boss nodded. ”Yes, we’re on our way back to Leon City.”

”Then you’d best be careful on the road,” Lisu Muma warned. ”Watch out for bandits.”

The boss smiled confidently. ”I’ve hired elites from the Wild Boar Mercenary Corps. I’m not afraid of any bandits!”

Hearing this, several men, including the mercenary swordsman, shifted uncomfortably.

They weren’t actually from the renowned Wild Boar Mercenary Corps. They were freelancers affiliated with them. Everyone knew the Wild Boar Mercenary Corps was strong and reputable, so naturally, they got a lot of business; no one could compete with them. Then, someone figured out a new system: ordinary mercenaries could register as affiliates under the Wild Boar Mercenary Corps. Their hiring price was cheaper than that of official members, and they would take any job. Once this method was introduced, both employers and the hired mercenaries were quite satisfied.

However, for every job they took, they had to give a cut of their earnings to the Wild Boar Mercenary Corps.

Take this job, for instance. The mercenary swordsman was escorting the caravan from the Bonta market to Leon City. The winding journey would take at least two months, and he would earn 50 Silver Moons. But he had to give the Wild Boar Mercenary Corps a 10-Silver-Moon cut.

The Corps did nothing but lend their name, while the mercenaries had to risk their lives, work themselves to the bone, and still hand over a fifth of their pay. And the fee had to be paid upfront. As soon as the job was secured, the money was due. What if the mercenary just earned the money and ran?

If a mercenary happened to die on a mission, they couldn’t expect the Wild Boar Mercenary Corps to return the money to their family. From the moment the job was accepted, anything that happened had nothing to do with the Corps.

So why was everyone willing to take the loss and become an affiliate? It was the same old story: ordinary mercenaries couldn’t get work. By affiliating with the Wild Boar Mercenary Corps, there was no shortage of business. Earning less was better than earning nothing at all.

After a few more words, Lisu Muma led her caravan past them. In the desert, the path was wide, but Lisu Muma’s group insisted on passing right beside them, shoulder to shoulder.

Some felt something was wrong and grew secretly wary, but many more were captivated by Lisu Muma’s beauty.

The mercenary swordsman suddenly recalled boasts from a tavern, listening to a friend describe how a woman had fallen for him at first sight and actively pursued him.

’This woman on horseback is so wild,’ he thought. ’Maybe as she passes me, she’ll give me a special kind of look?’

It didn’t matter if they’d been drinking or not; when men see an exceptionally beautiful woman, they instinctively preen, hoping she’ll glance their way, fall in love, and, ideally, strike up a conversation with them first.

Even if she only glanced at them by accident, a man would convince himself that she was smitten, fantasizing that she was madly in love with him.

She drew closer and closer.

Lisu Muma smiled and looked toward the mercenary swordsman. He was overjoyed. He had just managed to crack a smile in return when he saw a bright crescent of steel flash from her hand.

Then he felt his line of sight getting higher and higher.

’Oh, so she was holding a scimitar. What a fine blade. It cut off my neck without even a trace of blood left on it.’

THUD. His head hit the ground and rolled down a small desert slope, coming to a rest far from his headless body.

Lisu Muma put her fingers to her lips and whistled.

The ”merchants” from Mama City all drew their weapons, transforming into desert bandits in the blink of an eye and launching a slaughter against the Leon City caravan, which was right beside them.

The massacre didn’t last long. With the element of surprise, Lisu Muma’s group was, of course, completely victorious.

A desert bandit trotted over and reported loudly, ”Milady, we have two dead, one seriously wounded, and four lightly wounded. The enemy has been annihilated!”

Lisu Muma looked at the corpses strewn across the ground and said softly, as if in consolation, ”I told you to watch out for bandits... But who asked you to be from Leon City?”

She declared, ”Clean up the battlefield!”

She raised her arm and shouted, just like a man.

”Yes!” the crowd cheered.

”Cleaning up the battlefield” just meant collecting the spoils and tossing the bodies aside. The desert animals would take care of the rest.

”Milady, we’ve never seen some of their goods before... What is this wine? And this strange cloth.”

”A shame we killed them all.”

But Lisu Muma said nonchalantly, ”Just take it all to the Bonta market and find someone to sell it to.”