Lord of Rot

Blinding sand swept past.

When the sand settled, a glance upward revealed a high, ochre-colored wall in the distance.

An endless stream of packhorse caravans traveled to and from the city, stopping at the gates to be inspected before they were allowed inside.

”Lord, that’s Bonta Market.”

The speaker was one of the two Wandering Knights, a man named Ao Kai.

He was a relatively methodical man, though not without his hot-headed, impulsive moments. He understood his current predicament, however, and harbored no resentment about being a captive.

At least, after being purchased, they were spared the tragic fate of becoming arena slaves, forced to fight to the death.

As for the other Wandering Knight, a man named Hoover, he was nothing but hot blood and impulse.

Thankfully, they were both self-aware—or, to be more precise, aware of the power of Leech’s retinue.

Leech didn’t know what kind of organization this ”former regiment of Princess Sophia” was, but he had no intention of investigating. As long as the two of them did their jobs, that was all that mattered.

’In the end, they’re just a pack of strays. I’ve killed my fair share of proper Lords and Knights, so what do I care about a bunch of unwanted dogs?’

”Security’s this tight?” Leech murmured, gazing at the leather-armored soldiers on the wall holding heavy crossbows.

For an obscure little town, Bonta Market was considerably more prosperous than the small towns in Waterfall Land.

The Wandering Knight Ao Kai explained, ”Because the desert is full of bandits.”

”Is that so?” Leech glanced at the two of them. ’Probably because there’s no shortage of Wandering Knights, either,’ he thought.

He didn’t believe for a second that the two Wandering Knights had picked a fight with a slaver purely to save slaves. It was perfectly normal for words and thoughts to be two different things. Leech himself never shouted about wanting to be King, but in reality, he’d long been annoyed with his own liege’s heir, the Golden Stallion. He was just waiting for the day his army was strong enough to go slay a white serpent and follow the mandate of heaven.

At the main gate of Bonta Market, soldiers blocked their path.

Their attitude became quite amicable upon seeing the retinue behind Leech, but there was still a head tax to be paid for entry.

There were also taxes on trade within the city—a tax for this, a tax for that. It was enough to make Leech’s head spin. He just waved his hand, letting the two local Wandering Knights and his merchant go handle it. ’It’s just money, after all.’

’Push Baron Leech too far, and he’ll just fucking rob you!’

With a bit of military might under his belt, Baron Leech had grown considerably more impatient.

After some hassle, they were finally permitted to enter the town.

They passed through the town gate.

A stream of fresh water flowed through a simple, carved channel—the very same tributary that ran to the outpost in Bonta Canyon.

There was little vegetation inside the town; it was barren, and the swirling dust was not much better than it had been outside.

Leech was suddenly reminded of what Kuer Oasis had said about wanting to obtain a treasure that could create an oasis. He thought again that the man had some foresight.

Transforming the environment, managing the ecosystem, achieving sustainable development… that kind of vision was beyond an ordinary person. Even Leech, who understood all those concepts, was currently engaged in the destructive exploitation of nature.

There was no other way. The initial accumulation of wealth couldn’t stop. He’d worry about protecting the environment later, once he was rich and everyone had full bellies.

If they could really develop a small oasis here, business would certainly boom.

It was high noon. People were selling goods under makeshift awnings, but there were few pedestrians in sight.

They stopped in front of an inn.

For a moment, Leech was in a daze. He thought he saw a small desert building, the site of a legendary standoff between a sunset warrior and a nameless swordswoman. Just then, a gust of sand blew past, and he almost thought he heard a mournful song about a ”sea of bitterness” drifting on the wind.

It was just a shame he didn’t see a dog carrying a staff.

”Lord, we’ve arrived.”

The voice pulled Leech back to the present.

’I guess I’m the only one who gets that reference,’

he thought with some regret.

No matter how far he expanded his territory, he always felt alone. It wasn’t the lonely nights of a man sleeping without a beautiful woman in his arms, but a loneliness of culture and thought.

’It’s better to stay busy,’ he thought. ’Otherwise, the mind just wanders.’

He shook his head, swung himself off his horse, and walked into the inn.

The moment he stepped inside, his vision plunged into darkness. The inn’s walls were extremely thick, the windows were narrow and small, and the interior had to be lit with torches and candles.

This style of construction had its benefits, though. The moment he entered the inn, Leech felt his body cool down considerably.

After renting rooms and settling in, Leech dismissed his men to carry out their respective tasks.

The merchant was to find a market for their goods, the two mercenaries were to ask around for news of Kuer Oasis, and the two Wandering Knights were given a new job by Leech: scouting for talent.

When Baron Leech was on the road, he kept his eyes open for everything, especially talented individuals.

Even if he couldn’t recruit them, turning them into corpses to absorb their life experience or creating a couple of Corpse Ghosts would be an excellent alternative.

As for Leech himself… he was going to take a bath, change into some comfortable clothes, and then have a good, long sleep.

...

Four-Armed Trevor and Allen the Scorpion left the inn.

The two of them followed their noses to a tavern.

They hadn’t seen many people outside, but the tavern was a cacophony of noise.

A large crowd of people reeked of sweat, a stench so strong it made one’s head buzz.

Although Trevor’s four arms looked strange and frightening, when he slapped a Silver Moon down on the bar, he was rewarded with a large mug of ale and a wide grin from the tavern keeper.

Money is a thing of beauty!

The more money, the more beautiful!

”Hah!”

Taking a long swig of ale, Trevor let out a sigh of relief. ”Ahh, that hits the spot!”

It was as if he were exhaling all the frustration of being a prisoner for the past few months.

The Scorpion was much the same. All mercenaries loved this sort of thing. They lived for the day, with no thought for tomorrow. After this job, they’d head to the brothels. You had to enjoy life while you could, not missing a single pleasure.

”Bartender, we’d like to ask you about something.”

The tavern keeper glanced at the two of them and bellowed, ”Red Grape!”

”Coming!”

A young woman jogged over. Though plain in appearance, she immediately pressed herself against Trevor.

*Hiss…*

Trevor was surprised; he’d only been in the desert for a few days, but he was already getting good at pitching a tent.

Still, he was an old hand at this. He knew that paying the price for a steak and only getting a salad was a damnable ripoff, and he had no desire to pay ten times the normal rate just to get a little handsy. Later, he and his brother would find a different venue where they could try out any position and trick they fancied—a place to unleash their entire repertoire of martial arts. That was far more satisfying than a bit of copping a feel.

’She’s not a walnut, so what’s the point of polishing her forever?’

”My brother and I are new here, so we aren’t too familiar with Bonta Market.”

Red Grape took one of Trevor’s hands and pressed it against her own body. Her meaning couldn’t have been clearer.

’Want to know? That’ll be extra.’

This was clearly a salad being sold at steak prices.

”Sigh.” Trevor sighed. It looked like he wouldn’t be able to afford that second stop after all.

...

After dinner, Leech wiped his hands and listened quietly to the reports.

A small bowl of grapes sat on the table. He picked one up and popped it into his mouth, but his mind was already elsewhere, wondering which would be more profitable: planting grapes to make wine, or distilling spirits.

’Then again, doing both at once isn’t out of the question,’ he mused.

Trevor and Allen were the first to report, sharing the basic information they had gathered.

The Oasis Clan was the ruling power in Bonta Market.

Baike Oasis was the lord of the town.

He had two sons, Kunq Oasis and Kuer Oasis.

And a brother, Aba Oasis.

Their total military force numbered 120 men, nearly all of whom were equipped with crossbows. They had successfully defended the town against raids and sieges by desert bandits in the past.

In the Eastern Gorge, it would be considered a small but wealthy and powerful fiefdom.

A small town couldn’t hide many secrets. The Oasis family had been cultivating its power here for a long time and had certainly accumulated some influence.

However, as the mercenaries laid out one piece of information after another, Leech grew slightly surprised.

”This Oasis Clan is pretty useless,” he commented.

According to the intelligence gathered by the two mercenaries, the Oasis Clan might appear to be in charge of Bonta Market, but in reality, aside from the town’s walls, everything inside belonged to someone else.

”The arena is run by a slaver from Gaoxue City. The merchants in several of the major shops are backed by bosses from Oasis City. The blacksmith has ties to Leon City, and the horse market is managed by Mama City…”

They seemed to have everything, but in reality, they had nothing.

All they did was collect taxes.

Leech suddenly felt he had overestimated Kuer Oasis. Forget about whether he had a treasure that could create an oasis—even if he did, it would be useless in his hands. He definitely wouldn’t be able to make it work.

The two mercenaries withdrew.

Next, the merchants returned with good news.

The silk, in which Leech had placed high hopes, had also successfully found a buyer. The miraculous fabric—warm in winter and cool in summer—was immediately recognized by a major merchant. Being incredibly wealthy, he bought the entire lot on the spot. In the blink of an eye, less than half a cart of silk had been exchanged for 20 Jinri.

He remembered how he used to have his people vigorously roll dough balls to send to Iron Stone City, and it would take two months just to earn this much.

’At the current rate of production in Porcupine Territory’s sericulture, I can earn at least 100 Jinri a month. If I expand Silkworm Village and the textile mill, the profits would be even greater… Unfortunately, I can’t expand. Porcupine Territory is already at its limit supporting the current population of giant silkworms. Any more and we’d have to start feeding them people. Iron Valley has plenty of good land, but its beech leaves aren’t suitable for silkworms.’

When it came to places with large, lush leaves perfect for raising silkworms, the territories at Giant’s Foot were undoubtedly the best.

But a single Prince Hoffman was enough to keep him in line, forcing him to suppress any grand ideas.

But this new Silk Road had appeared out of nowhere, and he had no intention of letting it be severed.

Leech made a decision then and there: anyone who dared to cut off his revenue stream would get a personal visit from his Extraordinary Corpse Ghosts and be gifted with the complete annihilation of their entire household.

One group of men left, and another took their place.

The two Wandering Knights came to stand before Leech.

Ao Kai spoke, ”There’s a group in the market called the Fist Gang. If you’re looking for talent, Lord, they should be able to help.”

”Local thugs?” Leech asked, his interest already waning.

They were on completely different levels; it would have been strange for him to show any interest.

His Soldiers facing off against street thugs wouldn’t be a battle; it would be a massacre.

”The Fist Gang may be local thugs, but they have over a hundred members. They control the flow of gossip in town and train pickpockets. Even the Oasis Clan doesn’t dare to underestimate them.”

But Leech just waved a dismissive hand.

Seeing his Lord’s disinterest in thugs, the Wandering Knight hesitated before adding, ”We also saw an acquaintance in town.”

”An acquaintance?”

”Baron Jin Fu. He once served Princess Sophia, just like us, but he betrayed her. Now, Count Buffalo dislikes him as well and has assigned his fief to be near Bonta Market. If you were to make a move, Lord, you could seize his territory in an instant. The entire area around Bonta Market would fall into your hands.”

Leech immediately cut him off. ”If you want your freedom, give me ten Silver Moons and I’ll let you go. If you want revenge, go risk your own necks for it. Whether you live or die is none of my business. Besides, I have no intention of starting a war. I’m here to do business!”

He glanced at the row of Extraordinary Corpse Ghosts standing against the wall and said with the utmost seriousness, ”I’m here to open up a trade route. Harmony begets wealth, you understand?!”