Lord of Rot

A caravan arrived before a towering town after several days on the road.

”It’s taller than Porcupine Castle.”

The lead merchant took off his wide-brimmed hat, clutching it as he craned his neck to look at the town perched atop the sand dune.

”But it’s nothing compared to the towering walls of Iron Wall Castle,” another merchant said with a laugh, his voice filled with pride.

Both men were merchants in Leech’s service. Their expansive trade routes had taken them from the Eastern Gorge to the Giant’s Foot and now into the desert, allowing them to experience a wide variety of cultures and customs.

This time, they came bearing their Lord’s command: to extend a helping hand to Mama City.

Even though they planned to raise the price of their grain at least tenfold, in a time like this, it could still be considered an act of charity.

Following the sandy road up and over a small dune, the entirety of Mama City finally came into full view.

The town was situated atop a massive sand dune, making it look like a solitary spire rising from the desert.

To the west of the city gates was a massive lake, its shores lined with greenery rarely seen in the desert. A few animals were drinking at the water’s edge.

The escort included not only merchants, but also the Transcendent mercenaries Trevor and Allen, Vendra, and the young boy, Black Sand. They were accompanied by flesh-reinforced corpses and Corpse Ghosts, whose sturdy bodies were resistant to decay, as well as a troop of firearm-wielding Cavalry.

If a conflict were to break out, the combat strength of this contingent was more than enough to ensure an easy escape, even if they couldn’t annihilate the enemy.

”The woman from last time who caught our Lord’s eye... the one he went out of his way to clear a path for. Is she from here?” Trevor asked, lounging on a wagon. He had two hands cradling the back of his head and his other two resting on his stomach.

Allen shot him a look but said nothing.

The young boy, Black Sand, however, glared at him fiercely.

”What are you staring at, kid?” Trevor lifted a third hand to rub his face. ”I’m not into men, but hey, if you wash your ass and come find me tonight, I might consider giving it a try blindfolded. HAHAHAHA!”

Black Sand drew his short sword.

The atmosphere grew tense.

Vendra, who was on horseback, glanced at the silent escort Knights before saying to Trevor, ”You’d best not joke about Lord Leech. That kid really respects him... and besides...”

’After experiencing countless deaths, Vendra could faintly sense that this group of taciturn escort Knights had some kind of connection to their Lord—perhaps through Magic, or some other means.’

’He believed his Lord could be watching him even now.’

”I wasn’t really joking,” Trevor muttered, but feeling the boy’s undisguised fury, he raised all four of his hands in surrender. ”Alright, alright! I was wrong. I’ll shut up. We’ll just talk about the woman, okay?”

Black Sand sheathed his weapon.

The topic died there. It wasn’t that Trevor feared a boy who couldn’t even properly use his abilities. While he ranked near the bottom among Leech’s Transcendents—stronger than only a few non-combat members—he was still leagues beyond some kid who had yet to experience a real life-or-death struggle.

What actually brought them to a halt was the encampment ahead. There were about four or five hundred men of all shapes and sizes, clad in a motley collection of armor.

They were in the process of building siege engines.

”They’re Mercenaries,” Trevor said.

Allen nodded in agreement.

”Halt!”

Someone shouted the sharp command as soon as they saw the caravan, and crossbows were leveled at them.

The caravan stopped.

A small squad approached. ”You’re not allowed any closer!” one of them said.

”We’re here on business,” the lead merchant said. ”We heard grain is fetching a good price in Mama City, so we made a special trip.”

He gestured behind him.

A dozen or so wagons loaded with grain, and an escort of several dozen elite Cavalry.

The squad members exchanged glances, then burst out laughing. ”Haha, Mama City is definitely short on grain, but you’re out of luck, fellas! You’ve made this trip for nothing!”

”Why is that?”

”Because our Lord Viscount is about to attack Mama City!” the man explained. ”If you go any further, we’ll assume you intend to make an enemy of him!”

”But if we can’t sell this grain, our Lord will be very angry,” the merchant said, shaking his head. ”And when our Lord gets angry, the consequences are severe.”

”Oh? And which lord do you serve?” the man asked, his interest piqued.

The merchant smiled proudly. ”Baron Porcupine!”

Silence fell over the scene.

A gust of wind blew past, kicking up a fine spray of sand.

The Mercenaries who had just been roaring with laughter now looked grim. As members of the Wild Boar Mercenary Corps, they might not have been core members, but they were part of the inner circle and knew plenty of crucial information.

Even those who weren’t core members knew about the incident, unless they were deaf.

The Wild Boar Mercenary Corps had dispatched fifteen Transcendents to attack the Bonta Market... and every last one of them had been wiped out!

Afterward, there were even over three hundred who’d experienced it firsthand and paid a ransom to get out, a thousand more who’d ”heard it directly from their cousin” who’d been ransomed, and several thousand more who’d heard it from a ”friend of a friend’s cousin” who’d been released.

The stories grew more and more outrageous with each retelling, but one detail remained consistent: Kuer Oasis in the Bonta Market had received help from Baron Porcupine and had annihilated somewhere between 15 and 150 Transcendents with absolute, crushing force. The exact number varied depending on the storyteller.

Another thing: the Wild Boar Mercenary Corps played deaf and dumb on the matter, not even daring to mention it.

It was common knowledge that the Wild Boar Mercenary Corps was terrified of Baron Porcupine.

”Wait here... Please, wait!” The squad hurried away, not even daring to keep the crossbows aimed at them for fear of a misunderstanding.

The merchant patted his chest in relief, then looked to the firearm-wielding Cavalryman beside him. ”At this distance, if a fight did break out, we wouldn’t be shot to death, would we?”

The Cavalryman shook his head. ”Their crossbows have a maximum range of seventy paces. We’re two hundred paces away. They can’t hit us, but we can hit them.”

”Good,” the merchant sighed in relief. He didn’t understand the first thing about warfare, but he remembered his Lord’s instructions perfectly.

Sell the grain for a high price. The higher the price, the better. The more arrogant they were, the better.

If Mama City or the Wild Boar Mercenary Corps dared to make a move, they would be rewarded.

If they were unfortunately killed for their provocations, the benefits for their families would be even greater. The merchant’s family would receive a house in Phase Two of the Porcupine Territory’s development. His children could study Magic to become scholars or enter military training with the potential to become nobles in the future.

Still, the merchant hoped he wouldn’t have to die to get it.

Meanwhile, the leader of the Wild Boar Mercenary Corps wore a grim expression after receiving the news. ”Go buy all of their grain!” he ordered. ”Then tell them to leave!”

But a message soon came back that nearly made the commander cough up blood.

”They say the grain has to be sold in Mama City.”

”They won’t sell even if we offer a high price?”

”They said their minimum price is thirty copper stars per pound.”

”A pound of fine-milled wheat flour sells for seven copper stars at most in the desert! This is daylight robbery!” He made a snap decision. ”Just slaughter them! I still haven’t settled the score with Baron Porcupine over Jones and his men. I’ll start by collecting some interest!”

He stormed out with his four remaining Transcendent subordinates, full of aggression. But as they approached...

Trevor and the other Transcendents unleashed their Extraordinary auras.

The Wild Boar Mercenary Corps commander’s rage cooled in an instant.

’What kind of caravan uses eight Transcendents to escort ten wagons of grain? Do you people not consider the cost of doing business?’

’If one wagon holds 2,000 pounds of grain, and they’re hauling ten of them... at thirty copper stars a pound, they actually wouldn’t be losing money.’

’But still, who the hell would pay thirty copper stars a pound for grain?!’

’Then again, a desperate Mama City, backed into a corner, might just be willing to be that sucker.’