Lord of Rot

The *Porcupine* finally reached the small dock below Iron Wall Castle.

Soldiers carried supplies off the ship.

Looking at the torch-lit tunnel entrance, the lead Soldier asked an Iron Valley Soldier, "Do we go up this way?"

The Iron Valley Soldier on watch nodded. "That’s right. The Lord’s two armadillo magical beasts dug it. It leads straight to Iron Wall Castle. If you went the long way around, it would take you at least ten more days."

"As expected of the Lord," the Soldier marveled, though it also felt perfectly natural. Their Lord just had a way of working wonders.

The sentry watched the Soldiers enter the tunnel one by one. His gaze suddenly landed on three Soldiers with strained expressions.

They were shouldering an enormous block of iron.

To call it a block of iron wasn’t quite right. The thing was about as tall as a person, incredibly thick and heavy, and as wide as a door panel.

But it clearly had a rather long sword hilt.

"What is that you’re carrying?" he couldn’t help but ask.

The Soldier he addressed caught his breath and said, "It’s a sword... I think."

’A sword? You think?’ ’Something about that doesn’t sound right.’

’A sword that takes three men to carry? Could anyone actually wield something like that?’

"I don’t know. The blacksmith told us to deliver it to the Lord."

"The Lord is going to use this sword?" The sentry wracked his brain but couldn’t begin to imagine what that would look like.

The Soldiers filed into the tunnel like a line of ants.

The tunnel was very long, with a gentle slope and a few turns.

But it was spacious. After some later improvements, the entire mountain tunnel was very well-constructed.

You could even pull a cart through it without getting too tired.

They walked for what felt like a long time, their way lit only by special kerosene lamps.

When light appeared at the opening ahead, they knew they had finally arrived.

A heavily armed sentry post guarded the entrance.

It was a typical barbican-style structure, with high walls that made any escape impossible.

Arrow towers flanked the sides, and crossbow-wielding soldiers were already watching them predatorily.

The Porcupine Soldiers were certain that at the slightest hint of trouble, they would be shot full of arrows until they ironically resembled their namesakes.

However, upon seeing their uniforms, the soldiers in the arrow towers lowered their weapons, and the tense, hostile atmosphere vanished in an instant.

It hadn’t been long since these Porcupine Soldiers had left Iron Wall Castle, but returning now felt surreal.

All the supplies were delivered to the courtyard of Iron Wall Castle’s inner bailey.

Lily told the Soldiers, "The Lord isn’t back yet."

"Not back? Then what about us?"

"SCREEE—!"

The cry of a hawk echoed from overhead, followed by a fierce gust of wind.

’The Lord is back!’

The Soldiers immediately stood at attention and shouted in unison, "Lord!"

Leech leaped from his saddle and asked, "How many men arrived?"

"Reporting, sir! One hundred thirty men in total! One hundred musket infantry and thirty musket Cavalry!"

"How many weapons?"

"Two hundred ten muskets, five Alchemy Bombs, two improved cannons, one improved sniper rifle, and one hundred twenty sets of armor!"

"Good." Leech nodded. ’To rush-produce 120 sets of armor in such a short time is already impressive. As for the other 80 Soldiers heading to the battlefield, they can wear the armor we stripped off the Mercenaries for now.’

’Some of the Mercenaries’ gear wasn’t half bad; some of them even wore plate armor.’

’It might not look as good, but the protection is solid.’

Leech said to the Porcupine Soldiers, "I have a mission for you. The Iron Valley Soldiers have never used muskets before. We have half a day before we depart. Before nightfall, I need you to teach the Iron Valley Soldiers how to load powder and shot, how to aim, and how to fire!"

"Sir!"

"Go. They’re inside Iron Wall Castle!" Leech waved his hand, dismissing the Soldiers to take the muskets, gunpowder, and armor with them.

In this world, perhaps only Leech had the confidence to train a batch of musketeers in such an absurdly short amount of time.

’They probably won’t hit anything anyway, so just forget aiming.’

’As long as they’re clad in armor and know how to fire a gun, even with only 300 men, I’m confident we can take on 1,000 to 2,000 enemies head-on!’

His gaze fell on the remaining items. The cannons and Alchemy Bombs were a given; he was very satisfied with their destructive power.

But two other things caught his attention. One was a long-barreled firearm.

This must be the so-called sniper rifle. Unlike the behemoth of a sniper rifle Leech had used before, this one didn’t require two people to operate. It looked quite light, but its powder chamber was massive, indicating it had been specially modified.

Leech guessed that building such a huge powder chamber was definitely a way to increase its power.

’The only question is, after firing a shot, will I be blown to bits by the exploding chamber, or will I successfully kill the enemy?’

"Another disposable toy," Leech said. "I’ll give it a shot on the battlefield when the time comes."

’At least the previous battle taught me one thing: Betty’s philosophy is right. We need to pursue large scale, big explosions, and massive power!’

His gaze then moved to the second item.

A large, iron door panel.

It even had a handguard and was wrapped in leather. It looked rather interesting.

"Lord, is that... a sword?" Lily, who was standing beside Leech, asked in disbelief.

"A sword?"

Leech was stunned. "This is a sword?"

’I did ask Chuina to forge a heavy enough weapon for me, but I didn’t ask her to make a door panel.’

’Could it really be a sword?’

’Judging by its shape, it only vaguely resembled a sword.’

’And only because of the hilt.’

He bent over and grabbed the hilt. The sword’s weight immediately pulled his arm down.

Leech’s fingers tightened.

With a sudden, powerful heave, he lifted the iron door panel with a single hand.

"It must weigh around 200 pounds," Leech said, gripping the sword with both hands and giving it a couple of test swings. "The balance isn’t bad, but the blade is still inevitably heavy. Still, it’s better than that welded Iron Ingot contraption."

He was extremely satisfied with this massive greatsword.

The blade was as thick as a flat palm.

It was as wide as a door panel and as tall as a man.

If you didn’t have a shield handy, this greatsword could certainly do the job.

And it was heavy enough.

It didn’t even need to be sharp. Gripping this sword, Leech was fully confident he could smash through the defense of heavy armored infantry.

Just crush them with sheer weight!

And that wasn’t even mentioning the fact that it *had* been given an edge.

Beside him, Lily, as well as the young maids and manservants watching curiously from a distance, were all dumbfounded. Their Lord could actually heft and swing such a monstrous piece of iron?

"Lord, what’s this sword called?" Lily asked.

Leech smiled at Lily. ’She’s been with me for a while now. It seems she’s starting to read my mind.’

’Just now, for instance, holding this sword, the first thing I thought of was giving it a name.’

"This sword shall be called—the Gazi Sword!"

"The what?" Lily felt like she must have misheard him.

"Haha, just kidding! It’s the Dragon-Slaying Sword!"

Lily’s eyes lit up. "A greatsword that can even slay a dragon?"

Leech shook his head slightly and thought, ’There’s no one in this world who gets the reference.’

’I’m only calling it that because it looks so similar.’

"BANG! BANG! BANG!!"

A series of gunshots echoed from outside the castle. The training had begun.

They had to master the use of muskets in the short span of half an afternoon.

And for the first time in this world, the musket would show its true power!

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