Outside Lion's Den, dusty and towering scaffolding wraps the mountain like the bones of Giants.
Countless workers were walking between the ropeway and the cliff, and the sound of knocking and commanding merged into a noisy scene.
Roderick looked at the construction of Lion's Den strangely. He could not understand why he had to dig into the mountain and what was transported out of the mountain was not minerals but stones.
At the construction site outside this bustling valley, there is an open space that has been specially cleared.
A rough wooden table and a few simple wooden chairs were all the arrangements, and a negotiation was going on.
Suleiman was sitting safely in the main seat, behind him was Lushen who was standing with his sword in hand, and a dozen other soldiers.
Roderick, wearing a tailored silk coat, seemed out of place with everyone here. Several caravan representatives behind him also looked luxurious, but their expressions were impatient.
Suleiman's voice was calm, skipping all the red tape and getting straight to the point. "Your Excellency Roderick, welcome to my territory."
"I need horses, a lot of horses, especially war horses that can be used as cavalry. Please give me a price."
Suleiman's tone is like talking about a business of buying and selling bread, fast, simple and direct.
As soon as he finished speaking, a young caravan representative behind Roderick couldn't hold back. He looked at the child lord in front of him and let out a rapid laughter in his throat, which was so harsh.
This laughter was like a pebble thrown into a pond, causing a series of ripples in an instant. The other people in the caravan looked at Suleiman with expressions of laughter. It was ridiculous to be so ignorant. They exchanged looks as if they had heard the most ridiculous request in the world.
Their eyes were like those of wealthy citizens in the city looking at their poor relatives in the countryside, full of superiority and pity.
Roderick did not smile, but the slightly upward corners of his mouth showed that he also felt that this little lord had a great reputation, but had little knowledge. After all, he was still a little country lord.
Suleiman's brows furrowed slightly, what's so funny.
He didn't even need to speak, but the soldiers behind him could no longer bear it. At Westeros, the vassals and Warrior were required to protect the dignity of the lord with their lives.
"A crisp sound of the sword being unsheathed cut through the simple negotiation venue and the noisy construction site.
Lushen's long sword has been half-edged out of its sheath. The cold blade reflects a brilliant white light in the sun, pointing directly at the caravan members.
The laughter and mocking looks stopped.
The air seemed to be evacuated at this moment, becoming solid and heavy. The smiles on the faces of the caravan attendants froze, replaced by shock and a hint of uneasiness.
Lushen pointed the tip of his sword at the caravan representative who was the first to laugh out loud, and ordered the two soldiers beside him with a cold voice:
"Break his teeth! Cut his tongue!"
"Let him laugh next time! Just remember to shut up!"
The voice of the command was calm and without any emotion, but it made everyone in the caravan stand on end.
Roderick frowned and looked at Suleiman, but saw that the young lord had no expression or movement, but his face was still so warm.
The two soldiers stepped forward without hesitation and crossed Roderick. The blood on the caravan representative's face instantly faded.
As pale as white paper, he screamed in terror, looked at the caravan for help, and tried to dodge backwards.
"Suleiman-sama! I am leaving..." Roderick also reacted from the shock, stood up suddenly and turned his head, but when he saw the scene of blood splattering, he could only say "Damn it!"
These Suleiman soldiers accepted orders so quickly that they directly carried them out without even thinking about them. Everything was too late.
One soldier grabbed the young caravan representative by the collar, and another soldier picked up the handle of his sword scabbard and hit him hard in the mouth with the heavy scabbard handle.
The dull crashing sounds, one after another, mixed with the sounds of broken bones and falling teeth, echoed clearly in everyone's ears, and the rest of the caravan members were all chilled.
The young caravan representative's screams and pleas for mercy turned into inarticulate moans. Blood gushed out from the corners of his mouth, instantly staining his front. He collapsed on the ground like a puddle of mud, twitched, and passed out. Another soldier took out a dagger, opened his mouth, cut off his tongue, and blood spurted out. In order to prevent him from directly choking to death on his own blood, he even pulled him up and sat on a tree.
The whole process was neat and tidy, without any sloppiness. It was said that he smashed his teeth, or cut his tongue, without doing any unnecessary things.
Roderick and the caravan representatives turned pale. They had indeed heard that the young lord in front of them and his soldiers had some vicious reputations, but they did not expect this young man to be so ruthless. Although Suleiman did not say a word, it was obvious how the soldiers could go against their master's wishes.
Suleiman seemed to turn a blind eye to the bloody scene in front of him. He bet that the other party would accept this loss for the things. Besides, there were many people who wanted his things. At worst, they would wait until the next large guild.
Suleiman picked up the water glass on the table, took a sip, and then turned his gaze to Roderick, whose face was ashen.
Suleiman's expression and tone were still gentle and gentle, even with a hint of inquiry, but it made Roderick feel cold all over. "Now, can you tell me why?"
"Why can't I buy a horse?"
Roderick's chest heaved violently. He stared at the attendant on the ground with his mouth full of blood, and his fists turned white. But after all, he was a businessman who had seen big scenes. He suppressed the anger and fear in his heart. He sat down slowly, and his voice became hoarse because of his efforts to restrain himself:
"Lord Suleiman, he mocked a hereditary noble and deserves to be punished like this."
Suleiman's expression did not change at all, and the spring breeze was still warm, which was exactly what he had imagined. Sure enough, this showed that the other party would give up the initiative for his own things.
Roderick kept expressing his apologies and stance, characterizing the incident as lax discipline of his subordinates. Then, he took a deep breath and restored the businessman's calmness:
"But in Westeros, war horses have never been a commodity. There are even many run-down knights without fiefdoms who don't have war horses."
"No lord will sell horses that can be used to form cavalry, and no knight, no matter how dilapidated, will sell his own horses."
"As for ordinary draft horses or farm horses, maybe you can buy some, but what you want is a war horse."
"It is a controlled product among controlled products. Although there are no explicit rules, if the merchants of the Reach sell war horses to Dorne or the Westerlands, and vice versa, the merchants will only die in the end, even within the same territory, between various families."
Although the condescending tone in Roderick's words has been restrained a lot, it still exists. The implication is,
You, a country lord who doesn't even know this common sense, actually want to form a cavalry.
"So that's it." Suleiman smiled noncommittally, seeming to accept Roderick's explanation.