Lord of Rot

The Lord will be selecting boys to become Knight squires.

The moment the news broke, it swept through the entire Porcupine Territory. Not only did the commoners busy in the fields take notice, but even the slaves digging foundations for new houses looked up.

Knight squires. It was the only proper way for a commoner to cross class boundaries.

Of course, there were improper ways as well. For example, a daughter could be beautiful enough to catch the eye of a noble lord and bear him an illegitimate son. Then, if by some wild coincidence all the lord’s other children died, all his extended relatives perished, and he lost the ability to have more children, the illegitimate son would be welcomed back as the new lord. With the mother gaining status through her son, her family could then ascend to the nobility.

Alternatively, one could invest a massive amount of Jinri in a down-on-his-luck lord. When he eventually rose to power, you could only hope he’d remember your financial support and grant you a noble title.

There were many such underhanded ways to become a noble, but they were all incredibly difficult to pull off and hardly applicable to the residents of Porcupine Territory.

Becoming a Knight’s squire, however, was a legitimate method.

「Porcupine Castle’s training grounds.」

All the eligible boys from across Porcupine Territory were gathered. ”Eligible” meant unmarried, able-bodied boys between the ages of twelve and sixteen. At this age, their personalities were not yet set, making them easier to train and instill with the concepts of loyalty and honor.

In truth, squires for true Knights usually began their training between the ages of eight and ten. Leech’s own younger brother, Leo, was already a Knight’s squire.

But Porcupine Territory didn’t have many boys to choose from. Besides, Leech had no intention of training them for seven or eight years before they saw action. He had to be cost-effective; the Porcupine Clan was all about cost-effectiveness.

Beyond cost-effectiveness, he also expanded the recruitment range because some boys had good genes and grew tall, giving them decent combat strength even at a young age. Others, due to parental or family genetics, weren’t as tall. As long as they met a minimum height requirement, they could come and try out.

Other lords didn’t have this problem. How could a noble’s genes possibly be bad?

They were all handsome and beautiful, one after another. Just look at the Leopold family, rulers of the Eastern Gorge—not a single ugly one among them.

If you were unattractive, your bloodline would surely be called into question.

Those summoned today included not just commoners, but also boys from the slave population.

This was against regulations, but Kolan Fosak only mentioned it briefly. After receiving Leech’s confirmation, he didn’t press the issue. After all, he didn’t plan on being an instructor forever.

For the commoner boys, this was a chance to change their lives.

For the slave boys, it would determine whether they would live as men or dogs. They would cherish this opportunity even more.

Putting the two groups together would naturally create competition.

Leech wanted a competitive grind. He himself was lazy, but that didn’t stop him from wanting his subordinates to push each other to their limits. Whether someone was a slave or not was decided by his word alone. What he wanted were boys with talent and perseverance.

To outsiders, it looked like he was treating everyone equally, which seemed unfair to the commoners.

But only Kolan understood just how difficult it would be for these slave boys to succeed in the selection. It wasn’t a matter of willpower. They were underfed every day, lacking proper nutrition, each one as thin as a blade of grass. In contrast, the commoner boys had some muscle on them, were well-fed and well-rested. Pitting them against each other on the same stage, the slave boys were bound to be crushed.

There are many things that willpower alone cannot decide.

Kolan had once served as a squire for a Knight. Although he never became a true Knight himself, he knew how to train them. However, the Lord had given him a new method and asked him to combine the two approaches.

There was no reason to refuse. Since Mr. Kolan Fosak had no intention of truly pledging loyalty to Porcupine Castle, he might as well play along.

He looked at the boys, their eyes shining, chests puffed out with pride, and said, ”There are seventy-six of you in total. Maybe one of you will pass, or maybe none of you will! Whether you pass or not is up to me!”

Feeling the boys’ fervent gazes, Kolan continued, ”Before we begin, I must first tell you what a Knight’s squire does.”

”A squire’s most important duty is to help his Knight polish his armor and weapons.”

Weapons and armor rust easily and must be constantly maintained. Magic Armor is an exception, but Porcupine Territory didn’t have any of that stuff. Leech couldn’t afford it even if he sold everything he owned.

”You will help your Knight put on and take off his armor, look after his belongings, and stand guard.”

Simply put, a squire’s job is mostly chores.

A Knight’s armor is typically heavy plate, suitable for charging. But wearing dozens of pounds of armor is physically taxing, so it must be removed when not in combat. Furthermore, the armor restricts mobility, making it impossible to put on or take off without assistance.

”But a squire does more than just chores. You must assist your Knight in battle, carry spare weapons and horses, tend to wounds, and even... bury his remains!”

The air grew cold. The boys subconsciously glanced toward their Lord in the distance.

’He’s just saying that outright?’

”Of course, by becoming a squire, you will have the chance to help a Knight win honor. You will also receive an education, learning knowledge, music, etiquette—everything that is normally only accessible to nobles. This even includes... the chance to become a Knight.”

In fact, Kolan hadn’t originally planned to say all this. Even though everyone knew it, Leech had told him to state it directly.

’A soldier who doesn’t want to be a general is not a good soldier.’

Only with ambition and ideals would the boys not just slack off.

However, there was a second part to that saying: ’A soldier who can’t be a good soldier can never be a good general.’

It was up to Leech and Kolan to screen for that second part. Leech wasn’t afraid of Kolan being too strict. In any case, the squire program was just one of his ideas. He wanted elite squires, not just bodies to pad the ranks.

Sure enough, upon hearing these words, the boys’ breathing grew rapid. Some of their cheeks flushed red, overcome with excitement.

Since the Lord hadn’t denied it, that meant... it could be considered a promise!

’After we select this batch, we can always pick a second one later,’ Leech thought, watching the boys dream about their futures. He knew the vast majority of them would return to ordinary lives, but that was reality. Whether they could seize this opportunity was up to them.

It wasn’t hard for the son of a noble to become a squire; the difficulty lay with the commoners.

What they didn’t know was that Leech also intended to train some female Knights. It wasn’t because he, having already acquired maids in maid outfits, now wanted to form an eye-catching ”army of women” to satisfy some special fetish. Rather, it was because female Warriors could sometimes play a role that completely surpassed men. For example, during village construction and public order maintenance, those bastards in the patrol always found excuses to bother the women, which made the existence of female peacekeepers absolutely necessary.

Besides, Earth’s medieval history was not short on powerful and heroic female knights. Women might be slightly weaker than men due to innate physical differences, but this was a world of Magic. Compared to a trivial difference in aptitude, things like willpower, wisdom, and loyalty were far more valuable.

As far as Leech knew, there were several noble daughters who preferred armor to finery. The most notable example was the cousin from his maternal uncle’s family whom he ”admired.”

Leech had discussed the squire selection process with Kolan and found the traditional method to be extremely simple, even crude.

It was just fighting.

The winner stays, the loser goes.

But that wasn’t what Leech wanted. Being fierce and brave was important, but it wasn’t everything. He proposed a more suitable selection plan.

To put it simply, it was military-style training.

For Leech, he needed few squires, but he was short on peacekeepers and Soldiers. Once trained, they could immediately take up their posts. This was the first wave of talent selection and training.

”Attention!” Kolan bellowed, but the boys just stared blankly, not understanding what it meant.

”When you hear ’Attention,’ you focus on me!” Kolan shouted. ”Everyone look at me, at your instructor! And stand up straight at attention.”

He explained the commands one by one.

After a few tries, they finally started to look somewhat uniform.

Every boy was giving it his all, trying his best not to make a mistake.

Once he had drilled them sufficiently...

”First, eat!” Kolan announced. ”The Lord has prepared a meal for you.”

The boys couldn’t help but cheer. Whether they were chosen or not, this meal alone made it all worth it.

Young maids in maid outfits arrived, and the boys’ eyes lit up. For a moment, they thought they were looking at young noble ladies.

’Lord Leech really has excellent taste,’ Kolan had to admit. ’This outfit is really... stimulating. Too bad I can’t act on it until my mission is complete. But once I’m back in Iron Stone City, I can have a tailor make a set. Find a woman to put it on... Heh heh.’

The boys’ attention quickly shifted from the youthful maids to the fragrant food.

Drool was already uncontrollably spilling from their mouths. After receiving the instructor’s command, they lowered their heads and began to wolf down the food.

The castle’s food was rich and oily, a comforting meal.

After eating and resting for a while, the training began. Kolan would now conduct the first round of screening.

This was the training method the Baron had given Kolan: standing at military attention.

It was also the ”open tryout” method Leech had come up with after some thought. He wanted boys with strong willpower. This would filter out the duds first. Those who couldn’t endure could go back to farming. Porcupine Territory needed all kinds of talent.

The boys stood ramrod straight, not daring to move an inch. Instructor Kolan had told them beforehand that there was no time limit for standing at attention. He would reduce their numbers to thirty-five!

The test would only stop when just thirty-five people were left standing!

This was destined to be a contest of willpower.

Just as Kolan had thought, this selection was incredibly unfair to the slave boys. With their weak physiques, it was impossible for them to hold out. They were at a natural disadvantage from the start.

Meanwhile, Leech had already closed his eyes, his consciousness sinking into the Headland Tunnels. A new round of battle had begun.