Lord of Rot

A small party of noble Knights rode toward Porcupine Territory.

Banners streamed in the wind above their prancing warhorses.

Before they even drew near Porcupine Territory, they could see thick smoke billowing on the horizon.

The group was completely silent, no one speaking as they traveled. After nearly half a day of riding, they followed the direction of the smoke and arrived at Porcupine Territory.

A squad of Soldiers in lamellar armor guarded the road. Their weapons and armor were brand-new, and the youthful looks on their faces showed they were not veterans.

As they drew closer, the Knights slowly reined in their horses.

The golden-haired Knight in the lead spoke, "I am Philip Cavendish, commander of the First Knight Order. I am here on urgent business to see Lord Leech Clarence."

The lead Soldier replied, "His Lordship is already waiting for you in the castle."

’Waiting?’

Philip was astonished.

They had force-marched the entire way on excellent warhorses and hadn’t encountered any scouts. How could Leech possibly know they were coming?

’Still, this is for the best. It saves a lot of explanations.’

They were all nobles. Although Porcupine Territory looked quite decent, it was a far cry from East Port. They couldn’t discern the value of the buildings, but they did notice that life in Porcupine Territory was orderly and the freemen were living and working in peace and contentment.

It left them with the impression that Baron Porcupine was a good lord.

Just as they entered the castle, they saw a handsome, black-haired young man standing by the entrance. He was talking to a young woman in leather armor who had a cat perched on her head. The two of them seemed to be having a pleasant conversation; even the cat was listening intently, as if it could understand every word.

The arrival of the noble Knights in their shining armor instantly drew the attention of everyone in the castle.

The young woman scooped up the cat and left.

"Good day, Sir Clarence!" Philip Cavendish dismounted, speaking with some urgency. "I am Philip Cavendish, and I’ve come with a conscription order from Grand Duke Leopold."

"A conscription order?" Leech was rather surprised.

’So, the Golden Thorn Sword Clan really is fighting someone? Whatever you fear most is sure to come true.’

’What exactly happened? Even with Leopold paralyzed and bedridden, I don’t believe those nobles would dare cause trouble behind his back... unless the Grand Duke’s condition is more than just being paralyzed in bed.’

Unfortunately, Leech couldn’t get his hands on any firsthand information.

His maternal grandfather, the Crocodile Baron, was far from East Port. Although he was a vassal of the East Gorge, he wasn’t a staunch supporter of the Leopold faction. Old, established nobles had their own positions and ideas; some were not even vassals of the same liege lord, yet they maintained close ties.

Meanwhile, in the eyes of others, Longship Castle had clearly become a vassal of the Monkey Clan, making it even more impossible to obtain key information from them.

"That’s right."

Philip Cavendish nodded, looking at Leech with great earnestness.

Everyone in the East Gorge knew that Baron Porcupine was a firm supporter of the Grand Duke’s faction. The late old Baron Porcupine, Lierde Clarence, had performed countless meritorious deeds for the Grand Duke. Otherwise, how could the son of a blacksmith have risen from nothing to become the noble lord of a territory?

He took out an unopened, wax-sealed letter and handed it to Leech.

Leech broke the seal, read it quickly, and frowned slightly. "This wasn’t written by the Grand Duke."

The contents were simple, ordering Leech to assemble his Soldiers and follow Philip Cavendish to Three-fork River Castle to fight under his command.

But the signature was not Duru Leopold’s.

"It’s an order from Lord Pine," Philip explained. "The Grand Duke is gravely injured and cannot attend to political affairs at the moment. And since the matter is urgent, Lord Pine had to be the one to issue the order."

On the Lu Leiyi Continent, "Lord" wasn’t a specific title but a general, more respectful term for a lord’s heir who had not yet received their own title. Of course, one could also use the all-purpose title "Sir"—as long as you weren’t the King, all nobles were "Sirs."

’But it’s rare for anyone to actually address others as "Lord" unless it’s out of sincere respect. It’s considered a win if they’re not calling Pine the "Golden Stallion" behind his back.’

"Please, come into the castle and rest," Leech said. "I will issue the order to assemble the Soldiers at once."

"That would be wonderful," Philip Cavendish said, his face lighting up with joy.

The group of men behind him also looked relieved.

’This... this is weird. I’m just a minor Baron of Porcupine. Even if I sent every single person in my territory, it would only be a little over two thousand people. What are you all so excited about?’

Leech said to his attendant, Carrot, "Go tell Sir Quick Blade to assemble the troops. Have him come to me only after he has *confirmed* that they are ready."

He deliberately stressed the word "confirmed," fearing that the moment Sir Quick Blade heard about a war, he would actually go and prepare the troops.

’This "confirmed" doesn’t mean when Quick Blade is certain, but when *I* am certain. I need to figure out what’s going on first.’

Given the current training level in Porcupine Territory, it would take no more than twenty minutes to assemble and depart, even accounting for the time needed to don armor.

His father, Lierde, had been part of the pro-Grand Duke faction. Leech himself never had a chance to choose sides; everyone had pegged him as a supporter of the Grand Duke from the very beginning.

If the Grand Duke himself had issued the order, he would have obediently followed it and fought hard. But since it was from Pine Leopold, that put a question mark on the whole thing.

’Besides, I never had a good impression of Pine Leopold to begin with. I much prefer the Red Rose—she’s beautiful, kind, and even helps me sell soap.’

A dozen or so noble sirs, clad in plate armor with varying decorations, walked into the castle, looking as if the situation was so urgent they couldn’t even remove their armor.

"Someone, bring honey wine for our sirs. They must be thirsty from their journey."

It was the first time Porcupine Territory had hosted so many noble sirs, and the male and female servants were somewhat hesitant and clumsy.

’They really haven’t seen much of the world,’ Leech thought to himself. ’Who are these nobodies anyway? Other than Philip Cavendish, who seems to have some background, I’ve never heard of the rest of them.’

He took another look at Philip Cavendish. Flashy, gleaming plate armor, golden hair, and looks that were just a tiny bit inferior to his own... ’As expected of the Midnight High-Beams Knight.’ Leech squinted at him under the sun, almost getting a bout of road rage.

Moreover, Philip’s aura was very strong; he had to be a Transcendent.

He believed Philip had also recognized that he, too, was a Transcendent.

The honey wine was brought out, and the Knights all raised their mugs. A chorus of hearty gulps and satisfied sighs echoed through the castle.

"Sir Philip, if I may ask, what great matter has occurred in the East Gorge?" Leech inquired. "My Porcupine Territory is a remote backwater, so information doesn’t reach us in a timely manner. Why the sudden need for conscription?"

"Miss Leopold has been abducted by a group of Black Cavalry."

"Miss Evangelina?" Leech was shocked. ’No, that can’t be right. I just wrote a letter to comfort Evangelina two days ago, and even sent her a bar of soap with Porcupine Territory’s newest scent. She even wrote back. The timing is off.’

’Unless these noble Knights can fly, they must have set out before Evangelina wrote her letter.’

"Of course not! Miss Evangelina is at Roaring Castle!" Philip’s tense emotions made Leech give him a second look.

’I’m all too familiar with this vibe. It’s like looking in a mirr—no, wait. This is the look of someone with a crush on Evangelina. It’s written all over his face.’

He added, "And I will absolutely never let Miss Evangelina get hurt!"

’Yup, just as I thought. A total simp.’

Leech admired the man, but he was skeptical about this affection. There was no other reason than this: the Red Rose was already seventeen. If their feelings were mutual, they would surely be engaged by now, but he had never heard any news of the sort.

"Then which Miss Leopold is it?" Leech asked.

Philip said, "Miss Agnes, Miss Evangelina’s younger sister. She was on her way to Three-fork River Castle some time ago to marry Lord Steven. However, she was abducted by a group of Black Cavalry in front of the castle, by the Three-fork River. Lord Steven, who went to greet her, was also injured."

’So it was someone from a side branch of the family who was taken.’

’The Leopold family is huge. They must have, if not a hundred, at least eighty female cousins from side branches. Her importance just took a nosedive.’

’This has even less to do with me. This is a slap in the face to the Leopolds. Shouldn’t they be sending their own troops?’

’Or is it that Leopold’s own Soldiers are unwilling to act?’

"Sir Philip, how many nobles and how many Soldiers have you gathered in total?"

"The Knights you see here are all of them," Philip Cavendish said. "We currently have 200 elite Soldiers, 500 militia, and 300 Mercenaries, all camped outside Pig Spine Valley."

"..."

Leech suddenly understood something.

’That’s it?’

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