Chapter 25: Sanctions

Arthur walked toward the Tully commander, taking the opportunity to observe the situation around him.

Over five hundred men stood between the soldiers of the two houses, preventing the two families from clashing again.

Some Tully soldiers were moving corpses, while half-dead wounded men were left where they lay, waiting for aid.

Every so often, small groups of four or five or a dozen soldiers arrived; they were likely landed knights and minor nobles from the vicinity who owed allegiance to House Tully.

The Blackwood weapons and equipment gathered by the Tully family were far more numerous than those of House Bracken; it looked as though the North Bank men had fared much worse than the South Bank men.

But in reality, not counting Arthur, the Bracken soldiers had paid a price of nearly four hundred men to barely manage to cut down three hundred of the opposition.

This was only thanks to Andrew having gathered the soldiers together into a large circle from the very beginning.

This way, each soldier only needed to consider the enemy in front of them, without having to guard against swords swinging from behind.

If they hadn't formed a formation and had fought in individual duels, these five hundred Bracken soldiers would have been cut down long ago.

There was no helping it; the disparity in numbers was too great.

As for Arthur, he had charged out as soon as the fighting began, then hammered through the Blackwood formation again and again.

He was a strength-based fighter, and being crowded together limited his performance.

Facts proved that this move was correct.

The Great Hammer captured from Santaga was unexpectedly easy to use; when dealing with fully armored warriors, blunt weapons were indeed better at breaking through defenses.

Arthur pondered whether he should have a heavier Great Hammer custom-made for use on the battlefield.

Count Tytos also headed toward the Tully commander, but only after seeing Arthur leave the ranks did he bring a dozen men to surround him in a circle before daring to approach.

A middle-aged, burly man wearing scale armor looked at Arthur and the Great Hammer in his hand, which was stained with red and white slime, and let out a clicking sound of exclamation.

"How is it that I have never heard of such a skilled fighter in Stone Hedge?" he said to Arthur with a smile.

Then he walked over and patted Arthur on the shoulder, "I am Desmond Grell, Master-at-arms of Riverrun."

Arthur nodded slightly, "I am Arthur, Lord Bracken of Red Mill."

Desmond nodded with a smile: "When you have time, come to Riverrun, and we shall spar."

"I shall certainly learn from your high skills." Arthur responded to the request.

After Count Tytos also arrived, a young man, also wearing scale armor, walked up to both sides.

Arthur guessed that this person was Edmure Tully, the marksman soon to be famous throughout the Sanhe lands.

"My father has strictly forbidden vassals from fighting each other; how is it that you are in this state?"

Edmure looked at the panicked-looking Count Tytos, then looked at the composed Arthur Bracken, who only appeared flushed from exertion, and decided to start his lecture with this unknown minor noble.

After all, the Count was of his father's generation and held a higher status, so it would not be good to make him lose face in front of everyone.

"You speak—why did you wage war against the Count? If there is no legitimate reason, you will receive an extremely severe punishment."

Arthur had been afraid that Blackwood House would be the first to lodge a complaint, but he had not expected Edmure to call on him to speak first, which improved his impression of this man.

So he organized his words, recounting everything from Brynden disguising himself as a bandit to rob Riverbank Village, to Santaga whipping three villagers to death—including a pregnant woman—and finally to his attempt to seek justice from House Tully only to be blocked here by the people from Raventree Hall.

He also had people bring over the remains of Brynden, Roger, Santaga, Daren, and his wife.

During this time, the people from Raventree Hall interrupted several times, but both Desmond and Edmure scolded them, letting Arthur finish first.

"I do not care for what reason this Brynden disguised himself as a bandit," Arthur concluded at the end, "but the consequences that arose from it should be borne by Blackwood House."

"I petition the Riverrun Protector, Duke Hoster Tully, to let me, whose territory was robbed, receive appropriate compensation, and to let poor Daren and the families of the other two women who died so miserably receive the justice they are due."

Edmure looked at Count Tytos, hoping for an explanation.

Although what Arthur said also made him feel that Blackwood House had gone too far, he still had to hear their side of the story.

Before the Count of Raventree Hall could speak, someone shouted a rebuttal.

"Nonsense, Lord Edmure, he is talking nonsense," the bound Roger shouted, "It is not like that at all; we were just passing through our own territory of Tianshui Quan, and never expected to be kidnapped by this liar full of deceit. Mr. Santaga came to rescue us out of Justice and was beaten into a serious injury by him. Please, Lord Edmure, investigate this clearly."

Tytos looked at his eldest son and said loudly: "I only know that my eldest son, the heir to Raventree Hall, was kidnapped by an unknown noble. I ask the Riverrun Protector to uphold justice for me."

Arthur was slightly angry: "If your son hadn't gone crazy and run onto my territory to play bandit and rob people, would I have been able to capture him? One must be reasonable! Besides, it was your people who killed first, and they even tortured a pregnant woman to death."

Daren had already been trembling with fear when the soldiers of the two houses were hacking at each other, but fortunately, he had been surrounded in the circle and was not injured.

After being brought over, he saw so many great nobles wearing exquisite and magnificent armor that he did not dare to speak, kneeling beside his wife's remains and watching her.

At this moment, seeing his Lord arguing on the basis of reason, and then looking at his wife's familiar yet pale face, he finally gathered his courage, opened his arms, and petitioned Edmure:

"My wife, and my unborn child, were whipped to death by this devil. Please, my Lord, make him pay for his crimes."

He pointed at the bound Santaga.

"Then I was also doing it to make them release the young master; who told them not to let him go?" Santaga argued, and glanced at Arthur; in front of this man, he truly felt a bit guilty.

Edmure asked: "So you killed first, then?"

"I was also doing it for the young master's safety."

This Duke's eldest son looked at the three corpses smeared with salt, and felt a sense of pity:

"No matter how you put it, you Blackwoods are in the wrong. How about this: the Count shall compensate each of these three families with one hundred Gold Dragons, and give Mr. Arthur five hundred Gold Dragons. Mr. Arthur shall release all the captives, and then you shall compensate each other for the losses of your armies; then this matter will be over."

"One hundred Gold Dragons? What kind of precious things are they?" Tytos shouted, disregarding his dignity, "They are merely commoners; one Gold Dragon each is already giving them respect."

Arthur was also not very satisfied with this verdict, and he shouted loudly: "The murderer Santaga must die; three human lives cannot be dismissed so easily. Furthermore, the compensation for me is also too little. Is the Count's eldest son only worth five hundred Gold Dragons?"

The two had their own reasons and began to argue with each other.

There were many people from Raventree Hall, and the few who were bound also shouted and yelled; Brynden even insisted on being untied first.

The scene suddenly became chaotic.

"Enough," Desmond barked, "Listen to Lord Edmure."

Both sides stopped arguing, but it was clear they were not convinced by each other.

"Every person's life should be respected," Edmure said, weighing his words, "I accept Mr. Arthur's point of view; Santaga must die. Furthermore, the Count must increase his offer."

Brynden also shouted at this time: "Yes, Father, give this backwater minor noble three thousand Gold Dragons. If the money is too little, it is our family's face that is lost."

Tytos glared at his troublemaking son, and after making the latter shut up, he said impatiently: "Fine, fine, give this greedy and barbaric Bracken more money."

Just when everyone thought he had agreed to Edmure's proposal, the Count shouted again: "But Santaga must live; he is one of my people. Crushing a few bugs to save my son should not be a crime."

Arthur was furious and shouted sternly: "Act like a human! What do you mean by 'bugs'? Is Santaga's life somehow more noble than that of Daren's wife and the other two?"

Daren also groaned: "My poor wife and that... that unborn child!"

Seeing that another argument was about to break out, Edmure hurriedly tried to smooth things over:

"Alright, the dead cannot come back to life, but Santaga is still alive. How about this, Master Arthur: let him live, and give this Daren and you more Gold Dragons as compensation."

Seeing Edmure supporting their side, the people of Raventree Hall began to clamor.

"Be content; you still want to extort us? A thousand Gold Dragons is enough for you."

"It is precisely because Lord Edmure and our Count are too kind that this barbarian has been allowed to get his way."

"Can the lives of your three commoners even compare to the life of Santaga?"

Seeing that Edmure, just like Blackwood House, advocated for letting the murderer Santaga live, Arthur suddenly felt an intense urge to do something.

Although he also wanted more Gold Dragons, that was only on the condition that Justice was served.

To let Daren's wife and the other two die in vain just for a few more Gold Dragons, while the murderer received no punishment at all—

That was clearly unacceptable!

Arthur walked toward Daren and asked softly: "Poor man, what kind of justice do you want? Is it more Gold Dragons, or for this murderer to pay with his life?"

Daren's eyes were filled with tears, and he was too sorrowful to speak a complete sentence.

"I... my Lord, I just want my wife and... and my child to receive fairness, and for this murderer to pay with his life."

None of the great nobles present cared about his thoughts; he could only pin his hopes on Lord Arthur.

Fortunately, Lord Arthur had been fighting for him, which brought a little comfort to his painful heart.

"Fine, I understand."

Arthur nodded, then slowly raised the Great Hammer in his hand.

He was determined to be serious about the things that everyone else ignored.

"If my people cannot receive the justice they deserve, if this murderer cannot receive the punishment he deserves, and if you all still believe that nobles can wantonly violate the lives of commoners and settle it with a few Gold Dragons—"

"Then I, Arthur Bracken of Red Mill, hereby swear that I will make you all receive the sanctions I believe you deserve."

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(End of chapter)