Chapter 88: Rising Fame

Raymond, the Jiaodu of House Darry, was the oldest and clearly the backbone of this group. After a moment of thought, he replied:

"We have fifty-three cavalry and over a dozen servants. The Mountain has already headed north, so there is no more danger on the way to King's Landing. Take all the cavalry; we will just take the servants and the witnesses to see the King."

"Right, only Brave Arthur can fight The Mountain to a draw now. Give all the cavalry to him," Ma Ke, who had a straightforward temper, shouted.

This earned Arthur his second title: "Brave."

"Also, this is the order issued by Duke Hoster," Raymond said, taking out a roll of parchment written in the Common Tongue and stamped with the trout seal of House Tully.

"Carry this, and you can get whatever help you need from any noble, village, or town in the Riverlands."

"Right, give this to him," Ma Ke patted Arthur on the shoulder. "The heavy responsibility of pursuing The Mountain is left to you."

Karel also said, "You are the only one who can fight The Mountain; the rest of the Riverlanders are no good."

Arthur took the parchment and carefully examined the Common Tongue on it, discovering it only requested that the Riverlanders provide help, without specifying what the help was for.

This was a good thing; it would be very useful once the great war began.

Arthur accepted it with peace of mind.

"My lords, there is one more thing," Vargo, the leader of the Brave Companions, squeezed in beside them and rubbed his right index finger and thumb together. "My core members... twenty-seven of them died. Shouldn't you... shouldn't you pay the remaining Gold Dragons?"

When mentioning Gold Dragons, Vargo's speech became much smoother.

According to the agreement, it was twenty Gold Dragons per person, which included compensation for those killed in battle.

Arthur had previously given Vargo a deposit of five hundred and sixty-five Gold Dragons, and theoretically, the remaining three-quarters were to be paid upon completion of the task.

But since men had died, paying in advance was reasonable.

"Twenty-seven men, fifteen Gold Dragons each, that's over four hundred," Arthur muttered.

"Four hundred and five, my lord," Vargo beamed as soon as he heard about money.

This made his wrinkled old face look lively.

"You really are optimistic; you aren't even worried after losing so many men," Raymond remarked from the side.

"They are dead, so the money is all mine... all mine. Of course I am happy, my lord," Vargo explained.

"I only have twenty-some Gold Dragons on me. Do you have any money? Lend it to me first to pay Mr. Vargo."

Arthur pulled his small money pouch from under his plate armor and only found a little; the rest of his money was packed in a leather bag and had gone with the caravan to Red Mill.

Ma Ke, Raymond, and the others then took out money, but only managed to scrape together two hundred-some Gold Dragons.

Vargo was visibly unhappy, but he quickly adjusted. The financier in front of him had won sixty thousand Gold Dragons at the tourney; the money was there, and he would get it by following him.

Arthur looked at this mercenary leader who felt no sorrow for his fallen men and suddenly remembered something.

He was a Qohorik from the Free Cities of Essos, where mercenaries were very popular. He figured he could recruit more Essosi mercenaries through him.

Arthur mentioned this idea to him.

Vargo immediately patted his chest in guarantee, "No problem, I can recruit... recruit more mercenaries... as long as there are enough Gold Dragons..."

The core member who translated Vargo's meaning had also died in battle, which meant Arthur had to keep listening to the leader's stuttering.

Vargo meant that he had his own ways of calling for men, but he would have to send someone to the east of Essos.

Arthur agreed, so one of the four remaining men around Vargo was sent to do this.

This person would head south to King's Landing with Ma Ke and Raymond, then take a ship across the Narrow Sea to recruit men in Essos.

In one or two months, at least two hundred mercenaries would follow, Vargo declared.

Raymond, Ma Ke, and the others still had to take the witnesses to King's Landing, so they picked two articulate villagers from Xieercun to add to the witnesses.

After the group exchanged farewells with Arthur, they mounted their horses and left with the people.

Anguy, Vargo, and the others had to rest in Xieercun for half a day before they could set out to pursue The Mountain.

After all, these warriors did not have Arthur's monstrous stamina.

【Task: Save Xieercun completed. Experience +500, favor with all villages in the Riverlands +5, favor with Xieercun +30】

Arthur looked at the line about favor with all villages in the Riverlands increasing by five on the blue light screen and suddenly had a strange feeling.

It was the kind of surprise that comes unexpectedly when one wasn't expecting it.

The task experience, combat experience, and troop training experience allowed him to successfully reach level 7.

【Baron: Arthur Bracken】

【Level: 7】

【Experience: 6107/10000】

【Strength: 19】

【Agility: 12】

【Intelligence: 7】

【Charisma: 9】

【Skills: Ironflesh 5, Power Strike 8, Power Throw 1, Power Draw 1, Weapon Mastery 2, Shield 1, Athletics 2, Riding 5, Horse Archery 0, Looting 0, Trainer 0, Tracking 0, Tactics 1, Pathfinding 0, Spotting 0, Wound Treatment 0, Surgery 0, First Aid 0, Engineering 0, Persuasion 1, Prisoner Management 1, Leadership 3, Trade 0】

【Weapon Proficiency: One-handed Weapon 74, Two-handed Weapon 125, Polearm 97, Archery 31, Crossbow 31, Throwing 31】

He added the attribute points to Strength again; to fight against The Mountain, who had human-maxed strength, he couldn't afford to have low strength.

He added one skill point to Power Strike and one to Ironflesh. These two would make Arthur's attacks more penetrating and strengthen his defense.

He added the weapon point to Polearm; he would have to use the glaive more for mounted combat in the future.

The lord of Darry and the heirs of Pinkmaiden and Wayfarer's Rest had left, but Arthur still had to clean up the battlefield.

He summoned the old Village Chief of Xieercun and ordered: "Strip the armor off all the dead, then send a caravan to my fief. Red Mill is in the middle reaches of the Red Fork; there should be many people there now, and you'll know it if you ask around a little."

The Mountain's side had left behind over eighty corpses, and Arthur's side had lost over thirty men; that was over a hundred sets of weapons and armor.

They could not be wasted here.

Arthur then thought of The Mountain's triple-layered armor, so he told the old man to keep an eye out and strip a larger chainmail.

A real man wears two layers of armor.

Any more and his Plate Armor wouldn't fit.

"Very well, my lord, you are our god now; we will do whatever you tell us to do."

The old man agreed readily, then shouted for the villagers to come out and host Arthur's ten men and fifty-three Cavalry.

The rain had long since stopped, so everyone ate a very hearty feast in the open space at the center of Xieercun.

From roasted lamb and chicken stew to roast goose, every type of meat the village could produce was brought out, and there was plenty of ale, bread, and fruit to go around.

After eating and drinking their fill, Arthur put on the Chainmail that had been brought to him, then put his Plate Armor back on.

Afterward, he called the Village Chief over and instructed him carefully:

"Duke Tywin is preparing to attack the Riverlands, and it will not be safe here anymore. After we leave, you must immediately organize the villagers of Xieercun to head north, taking all the food, clothing, and money with you to seek refuge in my territory. I swear I will protect you."

The old man nodded, silently accepting all of this.

Rumors that House Lannister was preparing to start a war were already flying everywhere, and all the farms in the Riverlands were filled with panic.

It was even worse for the peasants on the lands of House Whent at Harrenhal; their lord's strength was waning, and they could not stop Duke Tywin's army at all.

Now that there was a noble with superior martial prowess who had promised to protect them, how could he, as the Village Chief, let this opportunity slip by?

"By the way, will you take in villagers from nearby villages? They also..." the old man asked tentatively.

"Yes, I will take everyone in. As long as they reach my territory, I will certainly protect them."

This was Arthur's reply.

The old man was overjoyed; Xieercun had good relations with the neighboring villages, so he sent people to notify them immediately.

After resting, Arthur set off with his party, including four core members of the Brave Companions led by Vargo, five Dornishmen including Anguy, fifty-three Cavalry from Pinkmaiden, Darry, and Wayfarer's Rest, and the red horse that had been boarded there previously.

Their target was The Mountain and the Western Lands Army, who were still on the run.

The Mountain's side was estimated to have over fifty people left; the two sides were now evenly matched in strength, and as long as they caught up, they would not be able to escape.

A few days later, the legend of Arthur Bracken began to spread across the entire east side of the Gods Eye.

The evil The Mountain was burning, killing, and looting, wreaking havoc on the world, but fortunately, the gods in heaven had sent the "just" Arthur to punish Clegane.

Whenever The Mountain led his army to burn a village, Arthur would appear with his men, carrying a golden Jiu Jiu Jiu Jiu Dadao, a sword in his left hand, and a hammer in his right.

He would arrive just in time to rescue the village before The Mountain could break through.

Thus, The Mountain and his men, tired and hungry after working for half a day, would be driven away, while Arthur, carrying the parchment warrant from Riverrun Protector Hoster, would be treated to the hospitality of each village, eating and drinking his fill before continuing the next pursuit.

Most of the rescued villages also followed Arthur's advice, packing up their food and daily necessities before taking their families north to escape the chaos of war.

At this moment, the "just" Arthur, spoken of by the thirty or forty thousand peasants on the east side of the Gods Eye, was heading toward Harrenhal with his thirty-plus men.

In the past few days, they had fought over a dozen small-scale battles with The Mountain.

Because Arthur was also wearing two layers of armor, the two leaders would duel, but after hacking away for half a day, neither could break the other's defense.

The remaining Western Lands Army, Riverlands soldiers, Brave Companions, and Dornishmen would then fight in their respective groups.

And whenever The Mountain felt his stamina waning, he would order a retreat.

Arthur felt that without that giant hammer, there was truly no way to deal with the triple-armored god of war The Mountain, so he let them slip away.

Thus, after fighting for five or six days, each side had only lost nearly thirty men.

Right now, Arthur was taking his warriors to the territory of House Whent to appease Lady Whent.

If Lady Whent did not flee later, Arthur could use the pretext of providing aid to lead his army into this largest castle in the Seven Kingdoms.

And with just a few thousand militia and a few hundred veterans, it would be enough to hold Harrenhal.

By then, it would be Tywin facing him in a standoff near Harrenhal with an army of twenty thousand.

The entire situation at the beginning of the War of the Five Kings would change significantly.

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(End of chapter)