The Mountain of Ice and Fire

"Brothers, form ranks!" a lazy voice said.

"Hah!" a company of a hundred men roared.

The sound of hooves thundered. Suddenly, torches lit up on the opposite side, and a squadron of lancers appeared, led by a man with a particularly large head.

Although Chiswyck the Big Head was an infantry officer, he and his guards all had horses.

It was only natural for an infantry officer to have a warhorse.

It was also reasonable for a hundred or so men out of a thousand infantrymen to have warhorses.

This time, the Mountain's mixed mountain infantry and cavalry regiment of a thousand and one hundred men did not send out their leaders to patrol.

The ancient heritage of the mountain people's pure First Men blood was their pride. Although they were poor, they looked down on the Seven Gods and the laws of the kingdom.

The Mountain feared that Teague of the Burned Men, little beauty Chella of the Black Ears, and the skinny Gonso of the Moon Brothers would not be able to control themselves. He worried that they might kill someone before properly reasoning with them, leading to bloodshed, which would be bad.

Ser Gratton, the deputy captain of the guard, informed the brothers in the barracks to patrol the Blackwater Rush, but he did not inform the mountain clansmen.

The brothers received Ser Gratton's notice and knew that someone might be looking for trouble in the Blackwater Rush area tonight. With a great battle imminent, Lord Mountain had ordered that there be no internal bloodshed. Therefore, the brothers divided up the patrol sections, hoping for better luck in running into those itchy-skinned fools.

Torches flickered, and the pikemen held their spears steady, shafts leveled, points forward, unmoving on the riverside avenue.

Behind them was the Blackwater Rush wharf. The wharf was wide, with hundreds of berths, and the harbor was filled with a hundred or so merchant ships of all sizes. Because Stannis Baratheon of Dragonstone had blockaded the sea route, the usual busy scene of hundreds of merchant ships was no longer visible. To the left of the commercial port was the port of the Royal Navy fleet.

A black banner with a bloody cleaver on it, the blade chipped—this was the battle flag of Chiswyck's Brave Companions.

The cleaver—the weapon of Chiswyck the Big Head's rise—street thugs were very poor and could not afford good knives and swords when they first started out. Most people's weapons were cleavers and wood axes.

Meryn Trant, with his imposing aura, was taken aback. The other side was not Jaremy Rykker, but the Mountain's regiment.

A crescent-shaped pike formation stood in front of them. The initial laughter and neighing were gone, and the formation became very quiet, blocking their way!

Meryn Trant glanced at Ser Mandon Moore beside him. Mandon Moore remained silent, his face as hard as iron.

Meryn Trant raised his other hand, slowing down. The entire formation was well-trained and immediately slowed down as if they were one man.

The cloaks of both sides' soldiers were the same color—the crimson of the Westerlands!

Clang!

Meryn Trant sheathed his longsword.

He was wise!

The Mountain's men were unreasonable, fearing neither heaven nor earth. Secondly, they were fearless and enjoyed fighting. The big-headed man in front of them was a desperado among desperados. He once went bareheaded in a street brawl, taking a knife to the head and challenging his opponent to a drinking contest, then taking him as a younger brother. A terrible scar remained on his forehead for life.

Meryn Trant had come to find Jaremy Rykker, not to fight the Mountain's lancers.

Clang!

Mandon Moore sheathed his longsword!

Clang, clang, clang!

The Westerlands guards of Maegor's Holdfast all sheathed their longswords!

"General, we are here on the orders of Her Grace the Queen Regent to invite Lord Jaremy Rykker to Maegor's Holdfast. May I ask if the general has seen where Lord Jaremy has gone?"

Chiswyck the Big Head and the others did not know the cause, course, or result of the matter. He and Raff the Sweetling and the others were only acting on orders, patrolling the long Blackwater Rush to prevent bloodshed tonight.

"Lord, I am patrolling the Blackwater Rush on Lord Mountain's orders. This place—" Chiswyck the Big Head circled his hand, including the entire Blackwater Rush, "—will not allow any bloodshed tonight. Anyone who disobeys military orders will be killed without mercy."

Meryn Trant was surprised. Could it be that the Mountain was involved in Jaremy Rykker's affair? Was the great demon siding with the little demon?

But that was a matter for the highest levels, and it had nothing to do with them. They also had no right to know the inside story and details of those matters.

"Lord, there will be no bloodshed, only acting on orders," Meryn Trant replied calmly, trimming his sails to the wind.

He had been a Kingsguard for a long time and had seen a lot, giving him an extraordinary bearing. Once he put away his violent aura, he appeared majestic.

Chiswyck the Big Head, however, had already seen through Meryn Trant's lie. He came from the streets, then unified the east, north, and south cities' thugs of Lannisport, and also annexed the Seagull mercenary regiment of the west city port, which was much stronger than him. His mind could not be easily deceived by Meryn Trant.

But Chiswyck the Big Head pretended to be confused: "Lord, since we are all acting on orders, then let's all do what is convenient. If you want to find Lord Jaremy Rykker, please!"

Chiswyck waved his hand, and the crescent pike formation dispersed, splitting into two, leaving the avenue open.

"Thank you, General!" Meryn Trant put away the arrogance and superiority of the Kingsguard and led his brothers through the pike formation in a proper manner, heading towards the docks.

Chiswyck raised his hand, and the divided formation merged again, remaining in a crescent shape, slowly following behind Meryn Trant's formation. The formation in front charged into the port, and the formation behind followed slowly.

The sound of hooves came from the north road of the riverside avenue, and a company of a hundred men charged over. It was the artist Polliver Clegane, Rafford the Sweetling Clegane, and the executioner Dunsen Clegane beside him.

"Big Head, running into something interesting?" Polliver's eyes shone, like the blue cat eyes in the night.

"We saw you light the torches from a distance just now," the executioner Dunsen said coldly.

"Lord Mountain would not suddenly order us to patrol the Blackwater Rush for no reason. Something must be happening," Rafford the Sweetling said with a grin.

"We have already cleared the garrison," Polliver said excitedly. "If nothing happens tonight, it won't be any fun."

The Big Head said, "Polliver, Lord Mountain didn't call us here to kill people, but to stop conflict. The Kingsguard has already led his troops into the port to find Jaremy Rykker."

"Jaremy Rykker is the new commander of the City Watch," Dunsen said.

"The Kingsguard represents the Queen Regent and the King, and the City Watch commander represents the Hand of the King. Hehe, this will be a good show," Raff the Sweetling laughed. "But they are both Lannisters. Lord Mountain wouldn't dare let them fight each other, would he?" Raff the Sweetling hit the nail on the head.

Of all the Mountain's men, Raff the Sweetling was the most cruel and intelligent.

Don't be fooled by his constant smiling, gentle, and friendly demeanor. When he kills, he is absolutely merciless, doing whatever is most terrifying!

"Let's go take a look," Polliver said excitedly. "If we can't kill a general, there's still a chance to chop down a couple of soldiers. If a general disobeys military orders, he needs to be restrained!" Polliver scratched his bald head. "I'll go first, lords." He squeezed his legs, and his warhorse charged out. Behind him, his twenty or so personal guards immediately followed.

The Big Head's hundred-man company and Sweetling's hundred-man company merged into one, slowly walking towards the port.

Lord Mountain suddenly ordered a patrol of the Blackwater Rush, and now it seems that it was naturally to stop the conflict between the Kingsguard and Commander Rykker. Just keep an eye on them. If they talk nicely, just watch. If they start fighting, stop them. If they disobey military orders, kill them.

The Mountain's military orders were always simple and clear, and the brothers would not be trapped in a dilemma when executing them.

Proceed step by step according to the actual situation, until the end, draw your sword and kill!

*

0352 Chapter 2

Meryn Trant arrived at the port docks, jumped off his horse, and stormed into the dock management staff's quarters.

The dock management staff were all Littlefinger Petyr Baelish's men. These officials were all promoted by Petyr Baelish from the common people. Whether they were in charge of trade or taxes, there were very few nobles, almost all commoners.

This was because Petyr Baelish himself was looked down upon by the real nobles as a 'shit lord.' His family had no foundation. His grandfather was a swordsman from Braavos across the Narrow Sea. His father was granted a lordship for military merit, and his territory was the poorest and most remote Fingers in the Seven Kingdoms—the bare Fingers, which could only grow moss, were all bare rock.

After Petyr Baelish became the Master of Coin, he vigorously promoted commoners to be officials in various departments. These commoners were all grateful and loyal to Petyr, thus forming a financial operation system—inseparable from Petyr Baelish—from the local level to the royal palace.

From top to bottom, the country's entire financial, trade, mint, and tax institutions were all Petyr's men. The key officials in each department were all loyal to Petyr alone. As long as Petyr himself fell, the country's finances could easily fall into paralysis. This was also one of the main reasons why Tyrion Lannister did not dare to touch Littlefinger after clearly learning that he had been framed by Littlefinger. —For the sake of the country's overall stability, Tyrion weighed the situation and endured!

The Kingsguard Meryn Trant never paid attention to the dock's—tax and trade management, customs inspectors, and others.

He broke into these officials' offices, his eyes sweeping over the surprised faces, and said, "Where is City Watch Commander Jaremy Rykker?"

The officials looked at each other.

They had just changed shifts and did not know where Lord Jaremy Rykker was. The sudden intrusion of the Kingsguard and the sudden question of this sentence, they did not know what was going on at all.

"…Lord…please give me time to ask, I will…soon…" A bearded official stood up tremblingly, stammering.

He was the chief scheduling officer in charge of dock management tonight.

A cold light flashed, and Meryn Trant's longsword struck the official's neck, deeply embedded in the neck.

"On the orders of Her Grace the Queen Regent, to invite Lord Jaremy to Maegor's Holdfast, those who disobey will die!" After Meryn Trant finished his official statement, he pulled out his sword and kicked the official, whose face was full of horror and throat rattled, to the ground.

The official fell to the ground, his body twitching, his legs kicking nervously, the wound in his neck was huge, and blood spurted out.

"Do you know where Commander Rykker is?" Meryn Trant's blood-stained longsword pointed at a boy with a childish face. He was a small assistant still learning to manage the docks.

"…I know…Lord…"

"Take me there!"

"…Yes, Lord…"

Meryn Trant wiped the blood from his longsword on the corpse of the official on the ground, sheathed his longsword, and turned to leave. The boy trembled, his face ashen, following behind him, shivering. The other petty officials stood there, suffocating.

The Kingsguard, the royal knights in the palace, were of noble status. To kill these petty officials was like crushing an ant.

Meryn Trant was wary of the Mountain's men, but he had no scruples about the petty dock officials. Meryn Trant's consistent dignity was to kill them if they displeased him.

The poor young petty official came out, and two white-robed knights were waiting outside, as well as a red-robed company of a hundred men. The light from the lighthouse on the dock, the light from the ships, and the torches on the dock flickered, making these people look like demons from hell.

The boy was frightened. He knew that if he was not careful, he would die!

"In front!" the boy said, his voice trembling, and he walked quickly. He saw Meryn Trant frown slightly, which made him know that he must not stop at all, but he did not know which ship Jaremy Rykker was on, and he did not know if Jaremy Rykker had ever been here.

He didn't even recognize Jaremy Rykker. But fortunately, Meryn Trant said that Jaremy Rykker was the City Watch Commander, the gold cloaks.

Along the way, every time the boy passed a ship, he shouted to the captain of the ship in the ship's national language. He was lucky. After asking a few captains, he learned that Jaremy Rykker and his party had boarded a ship: the 'Summer Dream' from Pentos across the Narrow Sea.

It was a large ship with oarsmen and sails, two stories above the water. It would travel north, unloading cargo along the way, then loading local cargo. Finally, its destination north was Eastwatch-by-the-Sea on the Wall, then it would cross the Narrow Sea, with Braavos as its last stop, and finally unload all the cargo and return to Pentos for repairs.

"Summer Dream, Lord, is at the seventeenth dock in front." The boy switched back to the local language of King's Landing in Westeros. Meryn Trant and the others did not understand a word of the alien languages from across the Narrow Sea.

King's Landing, the capital of the Seven Kingdoms, has more than a hundred docks.

"Take me there quickly!"

"Yes, Lord!" The boy secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

The group rushed to the fifteenth dock and saw that at the seventeenth dock, a ship had untied its cables and set sail.

"Summer Dream, Lord!" the boy shouted, pointing.

Meryn Trant and Mandon Moore immediately rushed over, but the large ship had not only sails but also oarsmen.

The oarsmen rowed together, and the large ship quickly turned around, leaving the coast and entering the rolling Blackwater Rush.

Meryn and the others rushed to the dock, but the large ship was already far from the shore.

"Lord Jaremy Rykker, are you leaving King's Landing?" Meryn Trant shouted.

The only answer he got was the sound of rushing water and the cold night wind.

Meryn Trant looked around and saw that the surrounding ships were smaller than the 'Summer Dream' and were sailing ships.

Tyrion had carefully selected the ship.

“Do you want to live?” Marin Trant said to the young clerk. “Find me a large boat with oarsmen immediately.” He turned to Manden Moore. “Go to the Royal Navy fleet and requisition a warship to assist. We must intercept them at the mouth of the sea.”

Manden Moore immediately mounted his horse and led a team of guards away.

The Imperial Iron Guards, under the orders of Empress Dowager, could request the mobilization of Royal warships.

A group of men entered the pier from the avenue, brushed past Manden Moore, and went straight for Marin Trant and his men.

Although Bolivar, who arrived first, was neurotic, he wasn't stupid. With his brothers behind him, they would naturally intercept Manden Moore. And the group of people in front of him were obviously looking for a boat, their motives were impure!

“Hey! Knight, what do you want? Are you preparing to set sail for a naval battle?” Bolivar rode his horse directly onto the pier, which was not easy to navigate. There were many goods piled up on the pier, and Marin Trant and the others were leading their horses on foot.

“General, we are under the orders of Empress Dowager…”

“That won’t do, I am under the command of Lord Mount Demos.” Bolivar interrupted Marin Trant, “This sea area is also under the jurisdiction of our Lord Mount Demos.” Bolivar ignored the chaotic goods on the pier. With his superb horsemanship, he arrived in front of Marin Trant like the wind. Suddenly, he changed the subject, his tone surprised, “Hi, Knight, I think the contours of your face are good, can you let me peel off your skin? Soak it in a wine vat and turn it into a work of art!” His right eye twitched, and the skin on his right face twitched, no matter how you looked at it, it was abnormal.

“General, don’t force me to draw my sword!” Marin Trant said grimly.

Clang!

Bolivar's long sword was unsheathed, and he slashed at Marin Trant with one strike!