Equipment

Carter's death did not cause much of a stir.

Just as Samwell had suggested, Todd claimed that Carter had been murdered by passing bandits.

Upon hearing the news, the House Tyrell soldiers clamored to avenge Carter. Left with no choice, Todd took several men to sweep the surrounding area.

They actually managed to capture a few bandits wandering nearby.

With the crowd worked into a frenzy, those bandits ended up taking the blame for Samwell in utter confusion, and all had their heads cut off as an offering to Carter.

Well, at least they had gotten rid of some criminals.

Samwell, meanwhile, continued drilling the recruits.

The pioneering party also returned to its previous sluggish pace.

At noon that day, Samwell finished training and sat by the campfire roasting a venison leg when he spotted a lone rider on the distant road.

Upon seeing the pioneering party, the man actually turned his horse around and headed their way.

Gavin immediately took several men to meet him.

After questioning him, they learned that he was a messenger from Highgarden. This time, he had brought Samwell Margaery's reply, along with a large bag of Gold Dragons.

Delighted, Samwell instructed Gavin to treat the messenger well while he opened Margaery's letter.

The special ink on the parchment gave off a faint fragrance, but its contents were far from polite.

Margaery sternly expressed her dissatisfaction with Samwell's reckless spending and demanded that he immediately increase his marching speed.

Samwell simply ignored such demands.

Of course, when he received that bag of Gold Dragons, he still sincerely thanked the duke's daughter far away in Highgarden.

Then he began pondering what excuse he should use the next time he asked her for money...

Just then, there was another commotion on the road near the camp.

And this time, it was quite substantial—a caravan of over a hundred people and several dozen wagons.

Gavin once again took several men to investigate, then returned to report:

"Milord, it's a merchant caravan from Oldtown, bound for Highgarden."

Samwell nodded. He had already made out the caravan's banner—

A stepped white tower topped by a burning beacon against an ash-gray field.

It was the sigil of House Hightower, lords of Oldtown.

Samwell had not intended to pay the caravan any attention, but then he remembered something and changed his mind. He said to Gavin:

"Reveal my identity and invite the caravan's manager over."

"Yes, milord."

Before long, a short middle-aged man came trotting over behind Gavin.

"Honored Sir Caesar, I am Jace, manager of the merchant caravan of House Hightower, lords of Oldtown. Please allow me to convey Lord Leyton's greetings."

"Master Jace, what are you transporting?"

"A batch of weapons and equipment for sale in Highgarden."

"Weapons and equipment? May I have a look?"

"Of course."

Jace led Samwell into the caravan and displayed all sorts of weapons and equipment:

Longswords, steel blades, bows and arrows, spears, armor...

When he saw a wagon full of leather armor, Samwell's eyes lit up. He could not help picking up a piece and examining it closely.

Seeing this, Jace smiled and explained:

"My lord, this is leather armor made from gray lizard hide. It is sturdy and durable, yet very comfortable to wear. Would you like to try it on?"

Samwell did not try it himself. Instead, he called Gavin over and had him put it on.

Jace saw that Samwell was interested and quickly began his sales pitch:

"My lord, if you are satisfied with it, I can immediately send men back to Oldtown and have the leatherworkers rush out a batch of leather armor for you. The price will certainly be fair!"

Samwell rubbed his chin without committing himself, then asked:

"Do you have any other armor?"

"Yes, we also have several suits of mail. Would you like to see them?"

"What about plate armor?"

Jace shook his head with a wry smile. "My apologies, my lord. Plate armor takes a long time to make and costs a great deal. The smithies of Oldtown are among the best in the Reach, but even so, they can only make three or four suits of plate armor a year. And every one is reserved by the great houses before it is even finished."

Samwell was not surprised.

As the most protective armor of the cold-weapons era, plate armor was exceptionally difficult and expensive to make. Many minor nobles treated a finely crafted suit of plate as a family heirloom to be passed down through generations.

Even if Jace's caravan had some, Samwell doubted he could afford it.

As a firstborn son who had long been cast aside, Samwell naturally had not been provided armor by Count Randyll. When he had left Highgarden, he had considered the considerable expense of recruiting soldiers, as well as the fact that he would lose a great deal of weight, so he had not bought any armor.

Now that he had just swindled a sizable sum from the "Rose of Highgarden," Samwell could not resist upgrading the equipment for himself and the newly recruited soldiers.

After all, whether one had armor or not made an enormous difference in combat effectiveness.

"Then let me see your mail."

"Certainly, this way, please." Jace led Samwell to another wagon and took out a suit of mail. "This one should fit you rather well. Would you like to try it on?"

"Sure."

Jace cheerfully helped Samwell into the mail while introducing it:

"My lord, this was made by Oldtown's finest smith over three months, linked from thousands of iron rings. It weighs about thirty-five pounds and can effectively protect against swords, blades, spears, and lances. What do you think?"

Wearing the mail, Samwell moved his limbs around and found it fairly comfortable. Then he asked:

"If I take this suit of mail, plus one hundred and eight sets of the leather armor from before, how much will it cost?"

Jace's eyes lit up with the delight of encountering a major customer. He hurriedly said:

"My lord, the total would be seven hundred and thirty-five Gold Dragons. If you are certain, I will immediately send someone back to Oldtown..."

Samwell raised a hand to interrupt him. "The price is fine, but I want stock on hand. I want it immediately."

"This..." Jace looked troubled. "But my lord, these were all ordered by House Mullendore."

Samwell shrugged. "I understand your difficulties, but our party is heading to the Red Mountains to establish new lands, and we urgently need this equipment. If I cannot get it quickly, I would rather buy elsewhere."

Jace hesitated. But then he remembered that House Mullendore of Highgarden was a vassal of his own lord. They were allies, after all; the delivery date could be negotiated. Gritting his teeth, he said:

"Fine! My lord, I'll give you this batch first. As for House Mullendore, I'll send someone back to have another batch made for them."

"Now that's more like it!" Samwell beamed, then took out the Gold Dragons he had just received, still not even warm, along with some of the funds his cheap old man had given him. He gathered the full amount and handed it to Jace.

Afterward, he had Gavin lead men to collect the leather armor and distribute it among the recruits.

Gavin held the leather armor with overwhelming excitement, but he still could not help saying with a pained expression:

"Milord, you are far too good to us! But... spending money so freely, I'm worried..."

"Nothing to worry about." Samwell waved a hand carelessly. "Didn't I tell you? Your lord isn't short on money."