Chapter 66: Armor

"This is Arthur, the invincible Arthur," Horas Redwyne introduced him thus.

After his leg had been simply bandaged, he had hurried over to attend this evening party.

Thanks to the protection of his plate armor, he had only suffered a flesh wound and bruising on his thigh, with no damage to the femur. Thus, he only walked with a slight limp and was otherwise fine.

"I've heard of him; he's that warrior who beat up Cersei's cousin Cleos, right?"

"That's right, a true warrior who does not fear power."

"Come to think of it, House Lannister and House Frey are a match made in heaven as relatives; seeing their people get beaten up is something I'm happy to see."

Several Reach nobles discussed the matter, their words filled with schadenfreude toward House Lannister and its relatives.

Their liege lord wanted to rise to power, and the best way was to displace the political niche of the Lion family and have the Rose family produce a Queen.

These nobles had all received extremely strict training as lords; unlike Jaime who was sent to be an Attendant, or Eddard who was sent to be a ward, they possessed a certain breadth of vision and insight.

At a gathering like this, they knew better than anyone what to say.

Although in other places, what they said might mean something entirely different.

Hobber, the other of the twins, was also nearby. Seeing Arthur there, he first leaned in to express his admiration for Arthur's freakish strength, then proceeded to tirelessly introduce to the many nobles how he had been thoroughly conquered by Arthur today.

He even wildly boasted about how the Lord of Red Mill had fought a thousand single-handedly, pierced through the army of Raventree Hall, and killed hundreds of enemies.

He even fabricated the details so vividly, as if he had been there on the scene himself.

His conversation was full of affirmation of Arthur's strength and reverence and worship for the man himself.

In fact, this behavior of his was easy to understand: the more he boasted about how strong Arthur was, the more natural his own swift defeat seemed.

It was a typical case of convert fanaticism.

Desmond and Patrick also added details at the right moments, adding a few more layers of credibility to Arthur's exploits.

The circle of high nobles also cooperated with their boasting, occasionally letting out gasps and clicking sounds.

As straight men, they were professionals.

Arthur did not bother to correct the errors in Hobber's mouth, quietly eating the delicious pastries made by the court pastry chef and drinking the fine wine produced in the Arbor.

As the second wealthiest family in the country, the food provided at the Rose family's party had a refinement and deliciousness that matched their status.

Reflected in the details, every single pastry was stamped with a rose pattern.

This was quite terrifying.

Commoners ate from big pots of stew with random flavors, yet top nobles could even have their family crest stamped onto a pastry.

The inequality was evident.

Even more exaggerated was the Tourney; the champion of the jousting competition received forty thousand Gold Dragons, compared to the annual living cost of a Riverlands Peasant which was no more than a few Silver Stags, and under normal circumstances, one Gold Dragon could exchange for a full two hundred and ten Silver Stags.

It was clear that the extravagance of the top nobles' lives had reached a magical level.

Of course, these were things Arthur could not change; he could only sigh in his heart and then hold his plate and eat voraciously.

Eating is the priority!

Just then, someone's voice spread throughout the hall.

"Apologies, my friends, if I had known about this gathering in advance, I would have arranged for it to be held inside the Red Keep."

Arthur turned his head and discovered it was King Robert's youngest brother, the liege lord of the Stormlands, the Duke of Storm's End, Renly.

This man really knew how to win people over; he had to do a favor wherever he went.

Arthur absolutely did not believe that Renly did not know the location of this party beforehand.

Because the host of the party, Loras, was his intimate friend and bedfellow.

But this gathering was still held in a courtyard of the Rose family, which showed that Renly did not care about this matter at all.

As soon as these words were spoken, the expressions of the nobles present changed visibly; it seemed this useless piece of small talk had earned Renly quite a bit of popularity.

Although Arthur could not perform such an act now, he still silently learned a lesson.

Once he succeeded in the future, he would always be able to use such small tricks to win people over.

Some high-ranking Reach nobles immediately crowded over, surrounding the Duke of Storm's End.

Arthur and his group were very self-aware and stayed where they were, chatting about this and that.

After all, they really had no connection to people at the level of a King's brother or a Duke.

Besides the interesting things they had experienced themselves, reminiscing about ancestors and discovering the relationships between their respective ancestors was also an important topic for many nobles.

Fortunately, although Arthur's title was a bit low, the history of the name Bracken was long enough.

In fact, considering that most Reach noble families could trace a connection to the long-vanished Gardener Dynasty of the Kings of the Reach, and that the Brackens had once been Riverlands Kings during the era of the First Men—at least they claimed to be—a considerable portion of the families present did not have a more illustrious history than Arthur's ancestors.

Once they had common topics, relationships were always drawn closer very quickly.

Coupled with the Redwyne twins' vigorous promotion of Arthur within their own circle, and Arthur's clearly expressed anti-Lannister stance, by the time more than half the party was over, the Lord of Red Mill had actually become the focal point of the party.

Arthur could not remember exactly how many nobles from the Reach had introduced to him the origins of their own families and the name Bracken.

Even the sides taken during the Blackfyre Rebellion were brought up for discussion.

During the Blackfyre Rebellion, Reach nobles and Stormlands nobles who were dissatisfied with the Iron Throne getting too close to Dorne joined forces to support a "noble Bastard" of House Targaryen, Daemon Blackfyre, to launch the Blackfyre Rebellion.

And even though the several Blackfyre Rebellions were all suppressed, the Black Dragon Party and the Red Dragon Party that supported the Iron Throne mostly looked down on each other.

The legendary Knight Blackfish Brynden Tully refusing to marry a daughter of the Black Dragon Party's House Redwyne was a perfect example, because House Tully was of the Red Dragon Party.

Coincidentally, House Bracken had also followed the Black Dragon Party to rebel at that time.

This brought everyone's relationship even closer.

Upon hearing of Arthur's conflict with the forces of Raventree Hall to the north of his territory and his desire to purchase some Plate Armor and weapons from the Reach families, the many nobles present readily agreed to sell him a batch at market price.

One family might sell a dozen sets, but seven or eight families combined would be quite substantial.

Added to the three hundred sets of standard Plate Armor and weapons promised by the Redwyne twins, the total reached the magnitude of six or seven hundred sets.

This made Arthur very happy, but he also felt a little anxious.

After the Tourney, he must act quickly to purchase Plate Armor in the Reach, otherwise, once the War of the Five Kings broke out a few weeks later, these shrewd people might not be willing to honor their promises.

After all, in chaotic times, armor is more useful than Gold Dragon and grain.

My neighbor farms while I forge spears; the neighbor is my granary!

PS: Seeking recommendation votes and monthly votes.

(End of this chapter)