The military meeting, attended by representatives from the five parties, ended successfully in a slightly awkward atmosphere.
Titus, under the protection of the Earl guards, is preparing to go out for a walk around the city, get some fresh air, and change his mind.
Today, Duke Jon is full of energy, his back no longer hurts, and his waist is no longer sore. He seems to have regained his lost youth in the little daughter of Duke Hoster.
On the contrary, this guy Ned, although he did not hold on to the wall and walked away, was extremely sleepy and yawned all the time, like a husky who had demolished his house.
Could it be said that the eldest daughter of the Tully family is still a lively and energetic little fish?
Look at the big bad wolf being tortured----
Taking Wenda, Dodge and others out of the castle, Titus discovered that the ribbons from the previous wedding were still hanging on the city top of Riverrun.
In the air, there is still a bit of the aroma of wine from the wedding banquet and the moist smell of river water.
The atmosphere of grand ceremonies related to family, military, and state affairs is still there. After the marriage of the three dukes, the relationship has become more complicated and at the same time, their alliance has become more and more stable.
Only Robert and him are still "bachelors".
Robert has his own "destiny";
Titus As the leader of a clan, he can make decisions for himself, so he doesn't think he needs to think about it now.
It's not easy for him to think about it for the time being.
The current possible marriage directions for Titus are only Blamont and Dayne, both of which are south of Starpike----
Lora·Blamont----or Ashara·Dayne?
If you marry any one of them, you are afraid that the other family will immediately launch a new round of "Vulture King war" or Starfire turmoil----
Hiss-
Take a deep breath and contribute to Westeros climate warming.
As the saying goes: everyone is responsible for fighting the cold god.
While Titus was thinking wildly, he walked out of Riverrun and saw an endless flow of people outside the city, which was very lively.
Because now there are more than 50,000 people stationed in groups outside Riverrun. The camp where the army is located is surrounded by various vendors and cheap prostitutes dressed in scantily clad clothes.
These Riverlands people want to take out a steady stream of coins from the pockets of a large number of soldiers who cannot save money.
Under a city wall, there is a notice board.
The sign was surrounded by a group of people carrying swords and wearing armor. They were local or mercenary teams coming from other places to read the recruitment regulations of Riverrun.
They wore all kinds of armor, some even without armor. The woodcutters carried big axes, and the Hunters carried longbows. They all seemed to want to fight with their lives in the next battle.
If the brave ones are beaten to death and the timid ones are starved to death, maybe they can become a knight lord?
Riverlands people are quite classy----
All they need is someone who can unite them.
The surrounding guard members are responsible for blocking the hedge knights who are talking about promoting their own force-at least they have horses.
After seeing the posture of Titus and others, the hired swordsmen without horses did not dare to come forward, let alone recommend themselves. Only the down-and-out knights with unknown names as "knights" dared to come forward and try, hoping to be spotted by the big shots and recruited to be their subordinates.
At the very least, you can earn a commission for participating in the war. If you are lucky, you will make military exploits, be brought back to the territory by the nobles, and be accepted as a personal knight of the family - or even a wealthy knight who owns a small territory - this can directly change your own destiny!
Titus, wearing a dark cloak, walked leisurely on his street, paying no attention to the "jazzes" who tried their best to introduce him through the guards.
In this way, those people will no longer be entangled and go looking for new buyers.
We are going to fight a big war soon. We are just working hard. Are we still worried that we won't be able to sell it?
Titus was casually looking at the large and small goods at the market outside the city. When he stopped in front of a matryoshka stall, he vaguely heard a familiar voice amidst the noisy sales.
The voice was a little rough and mixed with a bit of impatient yelling, which was incompatible with the bargaining and counter-offering sounds around him.
"What do you mean?"
The voice was a little higher.
"It was you who sent someone to find me and said you wanted to hire me as a guard. Well, for the sake of the money you gave me, I promised to save your life on the battlefield!
What do you mean now, you met me and told me to think about it again? "Let me tell you, my Lord Knight, I, Rosso, also have my own reputation in this industry, and I am not just for you to call me here and there and quit whenever you want."
You can give me the money today if you want to, or if you don't want to--even if you don't use me, the agreed price cannot be less!"
Another voice said angrily, "Didn't you take my deposit and I want to change to someone else? Do you know the coat of arms? Do you know who I am? How dare you talk to me like this!?"
The rough voice at the beginning choked back with a louder voice than his. "You should go and find out for yourself, who doesn't know the rules of my Luo Suo?"
I recognize money but not people, just give me money and I will do things for you, it's as simple as that. If you think about it again, "or if you want to change someone else", it's none of my business. Since you've come to me, you have to pay me whether you do anything or not! It doesn't matter if you don't do anything less!"
Ouch, these words sound a bit familiar. Whose Party B is so arrogant?
Let me go and have a look----
Titus signaled the other team members to stay where they were, leading only Captain Wenda, who was wearing a sword on his right waist, and Hunter Dodge, who was carrying a tomahawk. He followed the sound with a smile and walked over, intending to take a closer look to see who the master was making the noise here.
Take a look.
He is indeed an acquaintance.
At the wine stall in the corner of the market, I saw a strong, gray-haired man grabbing the collar of a young nobleman and demanding a debt in an imposing manner.
The debt collector was wearing an old leather armor with frayed corners and two swords, one long and one short, on his waist. His hair was messy and there were some wine stains on his face.
It was Rosso Brune whom he had briefly met at Harrenhal more than a year ago.
At that time, he also spent a bag of silver deer and a golden dragon, asking the other party to test the depth of Rhaegar·Targaryen.
Now one or two years have passed.
The gray-haired young man who is distantly related to Crackclaw Point's Brown Cave Mountain House Brune has not changed much.
I vaguely remember that in order to complete the task he was given, Rosso went out of his way to "kill relatives" and killed his "loved distant relative" and "brother of the same race" - a certain Brune knight from Dyre Den in the Harrenhal jousting competition.
Rosso, who likes others to add money, Brune was a free rider at first, and is still a free rider now. This is too bad.
Unlike Starpike Earl, there are already many new titles on his head, which is very heavy.
Captain Wenda has a very good memory. He was afraid that Master Earl had already forgotten this little person, so he leaned into Titus's ear, whispered softly, and helped him briefly recall it.
Earl did not refuse.
The little nobleman who hired Rosso and wanted to regret it was probably a wealthy knight. After being caught by the other party, he just said harsh words and did not dare to take action.
Come to think of it, what kind of background does a guy who wants to hire a cheap mercenary go to the battlefield to save his life have?
The young knight was about two years old, his face was pale, but he was still trying to save his face. "You----you are robbing! I am a knight loyal to House Tully, you dare to touch me?"
"What's wrong with the nobles? Can the nobles just play tricks on others?"
Rosso sneered, dropped a piece of clean apple core, and pulled the knight's hand harder.
A voice came at the right time to answer, "Can't nobles do that? I thought nobles were specialized in this. If nobles can't fool people, who would want to be nobles?"
"Who is putting----"
Rosso turned his head sharply, then froze, and he saw the person clearly.
That was his former employer, the most generous employer he had ever encountered in his short mercenary career.
Compared to the brief meeting outside Harrenhal, the other party is now the famous "Black Earl". The same name, but comes from different backgrounds: the competition field and the battlefield.
"Uh, sir, please listen to my explanation, I didn't know it was you----"
The money-added knight, who had been very arrogant just now, immediately let go of the collar of the little nobleman in his hand, scratched his messy gray hair, and the fierceness on his face instantly faded. For some reason, he felt a sense of shame that he was getting worse and worse after seeing an old friend again.
He had a very good impression of this black Earl, so he was not afraid, but felt a little more embarrassed. "Uncle--Sir Earl? Why are you here?"
As soon as the words came out of his mouth, he knew he had asked a stupid question.
Among the mercenaries who came to Riverrun to make a living, who didn't know that the black Earl had just given a severe lesson to the royalist army in Stoney Sept to the south?
It was precisely because they felt that the royalists had no future and the rebel army was prospering here that they came here to seek a living.
The little noble took the opportunity to take a few steps back. Seeing that Rosso and "Black Earl" were old acquaintances, he did not dare to make trouble, bowed slightly, and hurried away.
Titus didn't care about the real little character. He walked up to Rosso, looked him up and down, and raised his eyebrows slightly. "We haven't seen you for several years, but you are becoming more and more "majestic". Even the knights of the Tully family dare to threaten you?"
"Hey, there's nothing we can do about it. It's all about making a living and raising that precious war horse——"
Rosso shook off the feeling of shame and sighed with a sigh of relief, his tone full of helplessness.
"I was working with a little lord a while ago. After the battle, he ran away and hid in his own little castle and couldn't come out——
All the money I have has been spent a long time ago, and now Riverlands is going to fight again. If I don't get some hard work money to renovate my equipment, I can only fight in leather armor--not to mention making money from fighting, I'm going to starve."
As he spoke, he seemed to remember something, and quickly added, "But sir, don't worry, Rosso is still the same Rosso. As long as the money is enough, I will definitely try my best! Back then, with Lei----"
Talking about Crown Prince is originally a very sensitive matter.
But when he thought about it, he was in the anti-king camp, and he was so scared!
"----When I competed with that white-haired Rhaegar, I tried my best and tried my best----but the opponent was too strong, and my cooperation with the new horse was not very good, so it was so useless----"
If that was all useless, then at least three-quarters of the knights who participated in the Harrenhal spear competition were useless trash.
Rosso·Brune is not an ordinary person either.
Most people cannot survive the third round in the hands of Prince Dragonstone.
Just like the skilled Gates of the Moon manager and Seaguard Earl who have participated in many competitions, they were quickly defeated and dismounted by the black Earl.
Black Earl saw him eager to show off his merits and couldn't help but laugh, "Okay, Russell, I know your skills and I like your attitude even more. It just so happens that I still lack some manpower here. If you are willing, please join my bodyguard first."
He paused and reported the commission with the other party's expectant eyes, "You are new here. Try being a team leader first. You will get a hardware dragon every month. You will be in charge of food and housing. If you perform well in battles, you will get extra rewards."
Rosso's eyes widened suddenly, and his mouth opened so wide that he could fit a fist into it, as if he didn't expect that he was so lucky today.
It was just an ordinary bill collection, but it actually resulted in a long-term meal ticket?
Seven Do you care about me so much?
This is a very generous and stable salary for a free rider, and it is more than what he earned when he was a solo gang before.
He was stunned for a few more seconds, then suddenly with a "pop" sound, he knelt down on one knee, exerting so much force that he was not afraid of hurting his knee.
He clenched his right hand into a fist and pressed it against the leather armor on his chest. His voice trembled with excitement. "Master Earl! I have been wandering for so long - you are really my wise master! I have nothing but strength and this pair of swords! From today on, I sell my life to you! I will kill whoever you ask me to kill, even that white-haired prince, without any hesitation!"
Titus and Wenda exchanged glances, smiled, helped Russell up, and patted his shoulder. "Get up. First go to the camp where Three Castles Banner is hanging in the south, and report to the regiment commander Sir Duncan Vic there. Tell him that I asked you to go, and let him arrange temporary accommodation and change equipment for you.
Wait for a while, I will ask Captain Wenda to pick you up into the city, and work hard from now on. As long as you are capable here, you will be indispensable. By the way, are you satisfied with the salary I give you? If it is not enough, remember to tell me now, don't worry, can you give me more money?"
Rosso was embarrassed by his joke. Who would be willing to "increase money" whenever he could join the official guard and become a serious knight?
He nodded vigorously, his eyes were shining, and he replied without holding the door shut, "Sir, with your salary, I will live with you for the rest of my life!"
Rosso was already thinking in his mind that Starpike Earl treated him so well, so he couldn't hide it. When the female captain came to see him later, he would tell Lord Earl about his pretending to be a knight.
He wants to rely on his combat skills to win the qualification of a "knight" on the battlefield!
There was a basis for cooperation between the two. The other was hard-working and tight-lipped. When they met again this time, they bowed down very quickly.
After listening to Rosso's words, Titus laughed again. This guy is really interesting, with a weird sense of practicality and simple shrewdness.
It sounds like he has a huge appetite and shows that he is very greedy for money. In fact, he is just expecting the attention of the superiors and giving him a chance to prove his strength.
Naturally, the white-haired prince cannot be dealt with by Rosso, and even Titus may not be able to deal with him.
That is a special opponent that can only be matched by Robert·Baila Theon who transformed into a deer-headed warrior after being NTR----
Rosso Brune, who has a small appetite but loves apples: