Chapter 107: The Imp

The small town of Lord Harroway is located on the south bank of the Trident, named after the late House Harroway, and is the fief of the minor noble House Root.

The main buildings of the town are a sept with seven domes, a two-story inn, and a stone circular keep.

On ordinary days, this town is packed with travelers wanting to cross the Trident, and at the docks slightly north of here, they can have their wish fulfilled.

But now, the town is filled not with travelers, but with soldiers wearing various types of plate armor and cloaks of different colors.

These soldiers supporting the Tully family of the Riverlands crowd the open space in front of the sept, stretching their necks to watch the performance of that Qohor Mercenary leader inside.

It couldn't really be called a performance, after all, the Qohor man had truly drawn his blade, preparing to chop off the heads of the captive leaders in one stroke.

Considering that among the captives there was a Lannister, and the very son of the renowned Taiwen Laoye, these soldiers felt that standing on tiptoes and craning their necks was worth it.

"Speak, what kind of death do you want, halfman!" Locke Hoat rubbed his knuckles, causing them to make a series of cracking sounds.

The Tyrion Lannister who was asked swallowed his saliva and said cautiously: "I hope to die of old age in a feather bed at Casterly Rock when I am eighty, holding a glass of Arbor wine in my hand, with my brother being kissed by a beauty famous throughout the Seven Kingdoms."

The surrounding Root soldiers, Maidenpool soldiers, and Qohor Mercenaries laughed one after another.

"This Lannister has quite the imagination; his father killed so many of us in the Riverlands, yet he thinks of a peaceful end."

"Damn nobles, they live better than us, and they want to play so many tricks when they die."

"Locke, kill him, hurry up, I can't wait."

The mercenary leader who was called looked back and replied to his hideous-looking subordinates: "Right away, my sweethearts."

He raised the curved blade in his hand, took aim, and prepared to swing.

"Wait, wait, wait." Tyrion said with the fastest speed of speech since his birth, "I am a Lannister, as everyone knows, a Lannister always pays his debts. As long as you let me go, the Gold Dragons of my house, counted by the tens of thousands, are yours for the taking."

Locke put down his blade, raised his left hand to start counting his fingers, muttering to himself.

Seeing this, Tyrion whispered to induce him: "Gold Dragons are gold, ten thousand pieces, that's over a hundred pounds."

Locke swung his blade over the head of Tyrion Lannister, and a lock of ash-gold hair fell from the top of his head.

The startled Lannister retracted his head, then pursed his lips and stopped speaking.

"There are two kinds of people in the world, those who are good at math and those who are bad at it; I am the good kind, so you don't need to remind me what ten thousand is, I can count my fingers just fine."

Locke waved the curved blade in his right hand and threatened the halfman.

Beside Tyrion Lannister, tied up were several leaders of the Mountain Clans, including the leader of the Burned Men, Timmett, the leader of the Stone Crows, Shagga, and the leader of the Black Ears, Chella.

Timmett whispered: "What this halfman says might not be true."

"Exactly, he promised to give us the Moon Mountains and lead us out of the mountains to cross the great river, but only let us get a beating and the ropes that bound us." Chella echoed.

They had seen a similar scene more than ten days ago, but at that time they were playing the role of Locke, and the halfman was threatened with death just as always.

Shagga looked left and right, "If only there were a goat, I could feed half of the halfman's body to it."

Locke, who was counting on his fingers just how much "ten thousand" was, heard the word goat and was instantly furious, raising his curved blade to hack at Shagga's head.

"Say the word goat again, and I'll split your head open." His own surname meant goat, so naturally, he couldn't stand others mentioning goats in front of him.

The three leaders of the Mountain Clans were frightened by this and stopped speaking.

The surrounding soldiers jeered one after another, shouting for Locke to kill him.

Locke himself was unsure whether to kill the halfman or let him go to get the Lannister gold.

If only his uncle Vargo Hoat were here, he wouldn't have to count so hard or worry about who he was selling his life for.

Although his uncle had a lisp, his mind was sharp.

Just then, Raymond Darry, who had returned from pursuing the Westerlands Army, returned to the town with dozens of cavalry.

He saw the infantry crowded in front of the sept at a glance, so he rode over.

The attendants cleverly made the surrounding infantry move aside, so Raymond was able to see the scene in the middle.

"By my Seven Gods." He hurriedly dismounted and rushed to Locke's side to stop him, "This little man cannot be killed, he is a very important hostage."

Locke glared at this Westerosi noble and asked defiantly: "Why should I listen to you? Which leading goat are you?"

Raymond knew that this mercenary leader's brain was not good, so he explained: "Your employer is named Arthur Bracken, I am his friend, and now that your employer is not here, you must listen to me. I now order you, you cannot kill Tyrion, the other three people and their subordinates can be killed at will."

Locke recited the name Arthur Bracken, finally remembering why he had crossed the Narrow Sea this time.

"Well, you halfman, you actually wanted me to betray my patron halfway and ruin the reputation of us Qohor Mercenaries and the Brave Companions."

Locke felt he had seen through some conspiracy, was instantly furious, and raised his curved blade to kill Tyrion Lannister.

He did not consider at all whether the Brave Companions had the reputation he spoke of.

Raymond hurriedly blocked the front of this Qohor Mercenary, while calling for the Maidenpool soldiers behind him to help.

"This is the son of Duke Tywin, if he dies, the old lion will sweep through the entire Riverlands, and it will be even harder to clean up then."

But the Maidenpool soldiers ignored the words of the Lord of Darry; they hated the Lannisters and the Westerlands Army extremely, and just wanted to watch the Qohor man hack Tyrion Lannister to death.

Raymond and Locke became entangled, and after a few shoves, Raymond was pushed to the ground.

"Hold him until I have hacked the hateful halfman to death."

Several top-tier Qohor Mercenaries wearing Bronze Rune Plate Armor received the order and pinned Raymond to the ground.

Seeing that the situation was not right, Tyrion Lannister was no longer silent and said hurriedly: "Why must you kill me? I have never met you or your employer before! I really can give you a lot of gold."

Locke counted on his fingers and said: "My employer is named Arthur Bracken, who is fighting with some Westerlanders, you are a Westerlander, what is wrong with me killing you?"

"Besides, if I kill you, won't your gold still be mine."

He felt his logic was reasonable, stopped talking, and aimed to kill.

Tyrion Lannister looked at the reflective blade with a terrified face, his bound hands raised to protect his eyes.

His heart was pounding, and his hands began to tremble. In order not to be so afraid, this Lannister closed his eyes.

If only my brother Jaime were here.

He could even imagine his small body being taken to feed the goats.

"Stop—"

A loud shout came from afar.

Having his desire to kill interrupted, Locke turned sharply toward the source of the voice, swearing to his uncle that before he hacked the Halfman to death, he would definitely kill whoever had interrupted him.

A troop of riders appeared from the plains outside the town and then rushed into the small town with extreme speed.

The leader rode a giant horse in gold armor; Locke felt it was the largest horse he had ever seen.

Of course, what caught the attention of this Qohor Mercenary and the soldiers present even more was the clear and handsome face beneath the rider's hair, which fluttered in the wind.

He was so handsome that even Locke, who could not tell ugly from beautiful, felt this was a beautiful man.

Hearing the fighting stop, Tyrion opened his eyes and looked at the newcomer from the south.

He swore to the Seven in heaven and the seven-sided Sept behind him that these were the most wonderful words he had ever heard, so wonderful that he wanted to hold the newcomer's pretty face and kiss it hard a few times.

Among the banners carried by the cavalry, several belonged to the nobles of the Riverlands, so the Riverland soldiers did not put up a defense but instead cleared a path.

Arthur, who led the team, was able to ride his horse to reach Locke and the bound Tyrion Lannister.

"Damn Westeros noble, I will definitely make you pay the price for interrupting my desire to kill," Locke said through gritted teeth.

A mercenary beside Locke suddenly ran to his side to remind him that this was their employer, Arthur Bracken.

Before the Lord of Red Mill could express anything, Locke changed his face entirely.

"Since it is you, my lord, who told me to stop, then I will listen to you." He smiled as he greeted the dismounting Arthur and prepared to assist his employer.

"Who are you?"

Arthur recognized the mercenary beside this man, whom he had sent to Essos to recruit people while at Xieercun, but he did not recognize the mercenary who had been holding a scimitar ready to kill Tyrion Lannister.

"I am Locke Holt, the commander of the Brave Companions is my own uncle, and I have come from the east with these men to fight for you in response to the call of you and my uncle."

Locke sheathed his scimitar behind his back and pointed at the circle of Qohor Mercenaries to explain to his patron.

Arthur nodded, simultaneously noticing Raymond, who was being pressed to the ground, and repeatedly told the mercenaries to let him go.

Raymond, who had been pinned to the ground for a long time, scrambled up, glared fiercely at these few mercenaries, and then walked toward Arthur.

"You aren't guarding Harrenhal, so why have you run here?" the Lord of Darry asked.

"You aren't off to Maidenpool to fetch reinforcements, so why have you run here?" Arthur countered.

The two looked at each other and smiled, explaining their reasons to one another.

After leaving Harrenhal several days ago, Raymond had headed straight northeast toward Maidenpool; upon reaching his destination, the local lord, William Mooton, had indeed agreed to lend troops and pointed out to Raymond that taking the water route to the small town of Lord Harroway would be faster.

Thus, Raymond took five hundred infantry and one hundred cavalry onto the large ships gathered by Lord William and traveled west, arriving at the small town.

Coincidentally, he ran into the Qohor Mercenaries led by Locke there.

Locke then also explained the reason for his appearance here.

After seeing the men sent by his uncle, he gathered two hundred and thirty-four mercenaries he knew and was on good terms with, and came toward Westeros.

It was just that King's Landing Port, which usually served as a transport hub for the two continents, was blockaded by the longships of the Royal Fleet under Stannis of Dragonstone, so they could not get in or out for the time being.

Thus, the Qohor Mercenaries took their ships around the Crab Peninsula and entered the estuary of the Trident, preparing to land in the Riverlands from this small town and then find Vargo Hoat.

The two groups met here, exchanged their origins, and recognized each other as friendly forces.

Raymond had gathered some nearby Riverland nobles and their soldiers and was preparing to take them south to Harrenhal, never expecting that many ships would come up the river from the north, carrying the Mountain Clans and Tyrion Lannister heading south.

Thus, the Riverland forces coordinated their efforts and tied up all the Mountain Clansmen who came off the ships.

Afterwards, the small town was attacked by a Westerlands cavalry unit led by Amory Lorch; Raymond, with sufficient forces, routed the Westerlands cavalry, then took the Riverland cavalry to pursue Amory, and upon returning, this was the current situation.

"It looks like I arrived just in time." Arthur glanced at the shaken Tyrion Lannister, "I have great use for this person; you cannot kill him."

He had been worrying about not having enough capable management personnel under him, never expecting that the clever and wise Tyrion Lannister would be delivered into his hands.

According to the original plot, after subduing the Mountain Clans, Tyrion Lannister would have left the Mountains of the Moon and encountered the main Westerlands force that had crossed the Trident to engage the North Army.

It was just that after Tywin was wounded by his sword throw, the main Westerlands force had stopped near Harrenhal, so Tyrion Lannister, unaware of the news, could only take this group of First Men, the Mountain Clans, south, delivering them into Arthur's mouth.

Locke Holt naturally obeyed the patron's order, but he still had some questions.

"Where is my uncle Vargo? I need to discuss the... pay for these mercenaries with him."

Locke felt he couldn't count the pay for these people on his fingers, so he had to discuss it with his uncle.

After all, this group of Qohor Mercenaries were not all from the Brave Companions, and the prices varied.

"Well, your uncle died at the hands of those Westerlanders that Raymond was pursuing just now."

Arthur explained the ins and outs to him roughly and emphasized that the Gold Dragons Vargo Hoat was carrying had been obtained by Amory Lorch.

"My uncle, my poor uncle, all your gold is mine now." Locke felt that since his uncle was dead, he naturally inherited that large sum of gold, so he wailed happily.

He felt the primary problem now was to find that person named Amory and take back the gold that belonged to him.

But Arthur stopped him, "Let's settle the pay for the mercenaries you brought first; shall we stick to the twenty Gold Dragons per person as agreed with your uncle?"

Although Locke was happy about his uncle's death and obtaining the gold, he still counted on his fingers.

"One, five, four, nine... twenty, that seems like quite a lot, alright, I'll listen to you, my lord." He replied.

The muddled leader agreed, but the mercenaries under him were not stupid and immediately started a commotion.

"Twenty is too little; with the current situation, it should be at least one hundred Gold Dragons per mercenary."

"My lord, look at my Plate Armor; this is a magical Plate Armor passed down for thousands of years, the same thing as the ancestral Plate Armor of House Royce. Just for this Plate Armor on me, you cannot give only twenty Gold Dragons."

House Royce is the second most powerful family in the Vale, second only to their liege lords, House Arryn; the most famous thing about them is that there are many Plate Armors in the family etched with bronze runes, so some family members are adorned with the adjective "Bronze."

For example, the current Jiaodu of House Royce is called "Bronze Yohn."

The people of Qohor have a custom of wearing armor passed down by their fathers, so it is not strange for some Bronze Rune Plate Armor to appear.

Arthur examined the mercenaries wearing Bronze Rune Plate Armor closely and felt that twenty Gold Dragons was indeed too low.

"Then let's count the mercenaries wearing this special Plate Armor and Locke at one hundred Gold Dragons each, and the rest at eighty Gold Dragons; is this price fair enough?"

After the mercenaries discussed it among themselves, they agreed to the employer's proposal.

【Two hundred and thirty-five Qohor Mercenaries have joined your party】

After settling the mercenary matter, Arthur sent Raymond to take the soldiers present to build defensive fortifications.

The main Westerlands force would soon know the news of Kevan's defeat, and this small town would certainly be attacked next; defensive fortifications were still very necessary.

Arthur himself tried to subdue Tyrion Lannister and these Mountain Clans he had brought along.

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(End of chapter)