Lord Linde was immediately stunned after hearing Nameria's description; he hadn't expected Nameria to be so powerful.
But he quickly realized something was amiss; if Nameria was truly that strong, how could she let bandits run rampant in this area, and why would she need the people her father sent to protect the safety of her Tengshi Town?
Noticing the discrepancy, Lord Linde pondered for a moment and quickly realized Nameria's verbal trap. He looked at Nameria, who had turned her face away, unwilling to meet his gaze, and said with a wry smile, "Earl, may I ask if all thirty-seven villages are under your control? Not to mention recruiting soldiers, can you even collect a little tax from those villages?"
"Cough, cough!" Nameria coughed twice to alleviate her embarrassment, then said stubbornly, "Those villages are only temporarily out of my control because of the bandits, having lost contact with Tengshi Town. Once the bandits are eradicated, those villages will surely be brought back under my command."
"So, that means it's not you bringing troops to assist me in bandit suppression, but rather me bringing troops to assist you in reclaiming lost territory?" Lord Linde directly clarified their relationship, then couldn't help but laugh, "May I ask, Earl, was this idea yours?"
"Yes." Now that it was clear, Nameria saw no need to hide anything. She nodded and said, "Actually, this approach benefits you too, Lord Linde; it's not just me who gains."
"Tell me about it," Lord Linde gestured.
Nameria asked, "Lord Linde, you must know how the Kingsguard eradicated the Kingswood Brotherhood back then, right?"
"I do," Lord Linde nodded.
"Initially, the Kingsguard found it difficult to completely wipe out the Kingswood Brotherhood, mainly because the villages around the Kingswood provided cover and supplies to the Kingswood Brotherhood, practically serving as their logistical base," Nameria narrated slowly. "Later, the Kingsguard changed their strategy, deciding to first take control of those villages. They then used methods like bribery and concessions to win over those villages, ensuring they no longer provided supplies or cover to the Kingswood Brotherhood. Only then were they able to completely eradicate the Kingswood Brotherhood."
Lord Linde said, "You mean the situation with those villages is similar to the villages around the Kingswood, providing cover and supplies to the bandits roaming this area?"
"Not just providing cover and supplies; some villagers are ordinarily farmers, but once they see a caravan, they turn into bandits," Nameria smiled wryly, seemingly embarrassed that the villages under her rule were like this, but she didn't stop speaking. She continued, "If you want to eradicate the bandits here, you will inevitably have to deal with those bandit villages. This doesn't conflict with my proposed cooperation, and with my involvement, your actions against those villages will become legitimate."
Nameria's words were undeniably sound, and Lord Linde could not find any immediate points of rebuttal.
After a moment of thought, Lord Linde extended his hand to Nameria and said, "I think I have no reason to refuse this cooperation, Earl."
Nameria's face also showed a hint of a proud smile. She shook Lord Linde's hand and said, "Since that's the case, we have a deal."
Lord Linde nodded and said, "Yes, we have a deal. Of course, if you need to sign an oath contract with me, you may."
"No need! I never believe in oaths," Nameria said with a look of disdain.
Subsequently, the two briefly discussed the general direction of their cooperation. After confirming that Lord Linde would lead the bandit suppression operation, the subsequent details were left to Nameria's maester and Lord Linde's Official to discuss.
After returning to the ruined camp from the tower house, Lord Linde explained the discussions he had with Nameria to his subordinates. Although the matter was already decided, he still wanted to hear their opinions.
Brin-He Wen listened and couldn't help but exclaim, "This Countess is truly extraordinary. I feel as if I see the shadow of Countess Sheila of Harrenhal in her; both are fallen great nobles, both doing everything possible to ensure their families' continuation."
Raul and Scarface were not very familiar with such high-level politics; they instinctively felt that this matter was beneficial to them.
Bert, however, after a moment of contemplation, said, "Earl Nameria's mention of thirty-seven villages shouldn't all be villages east of the Mander River, right? There should also be many villages west of the Mander River nominally belonging to Tengshi Town. Now, Tywin's army is active over there. If we help the Earl reclaim those villages, we will definitely clash with Tywin's army. Wouldn't that go against your original intention, Lord?"
Hearing Bert's analysis, Lord Linde couldn't help but frown, and everyone else fell into deep thought.
After a while, Bert suddenly spoke again, saying, "Actually, we don't need to worry too much about the villages west of the Mander River."
"What do you mean by that? Are we just going to abandon those villages and let the people of the Westerlands occupy them?" Raul said displeased.
"Of course not." Bert shook his head and explained, "Actually, we can now focus on dealing with the bandits east of the Mander River and those villages that have broken away from Earl Nameria's control. After reclaiming these villages, we can have Earl Nameria write an open letter of gratitude to Highgarden, thanking Highgarden for sending Lord Linde to help Tengshi Town suppress bandits and reclaim villages. In the letter of gratitude, we can also mention that the Westerlands army is currently occupying those villages west of the Mander River, and that those villages belong to the lands of The Reach."
"I understand!" Brin then showed a look of sudden realization, saying, "You want to force Highgarden to intervene."
Bert shook his head, about to explain.
Lord Linde seemed to have already seen through Bert's thoughts, saying, "No, he's not forcing Highgarden to intervene, but forcing Highgarden to write a letter of complaint to the Iron Throne."
Bert nodded with a smile.
For any noble, unauthorized entry into another lord's territory and occupation of another lord's villages is a major taboo. Doing it secretly without being caught is one thing, but once discovered, the nature of the situation changes.
Once Highgarden writes a letter of complaint to the Iron Throne, then even if Tywin is as powerful as he is, he will not be able to withstand the questioning from the other Seven Kingdoms. Ultimately, he will only be able to withdraw the dispatched troops and hand over those already controlled villages. The only question is whether the relinquished villages will remain intact.
Given Tywin's character, he would certainly prefer to thoroughly destroy them rather than hand them over.
However, this is not necessarily a bad thing for Nameria. After all, those villages have been out of Tengshi Town's control for many years, and the villagers have long been disloyal to Tengshi Town. Even if reclaimed, it would require a long time and effort to regain their loyalty, and it might even be impossible to achieve the desired loyalty despite spending a lot of time and effort. After all, these villagers previously didn't need to pay taxes, and once they are reclaimed by Tengshi Town, the necessary taxes will certainly be unavoidable.
Therefore, if Tywin could completely clear out these villages, leaving only the land, Nameria could recruit Free Folk to farm again, which would make it easier to gain the loyalty of new subjects.
Moreover, not only Nameria would benefit, but Lord Linde could also gain a stable source of soldiers from this.
In the following days, Nameria, as agreed, led one hundred chosen villagers to the outside of the ruined camp to conduct coordinated training with Lord Linde's cavalry.
In fact, the coordinated training was very simple: the cavalry would encircle and kill enemies with mounted archery, and when the enemy's morale collapsed, Nameria would then lead her warriors to charge and finish them off.
Although Nameria's warriors were farmers not long ago, this did not mean their strength was poor. In fact, Nameria had consciously trained them in the Essosian sword-and-shield technique in the past. These farmers were already considered warriors, and like Nameria, what they lacked was actual combat experience.
So, after completing a few coordinated training sessions, Lord Linde arranged for the cavalry and these soldiers to conduct live combat training.
Interestingly, if fighting one-on-one, Lord Linde's cavalry could easily defeat Nameria's soldiers, but if the numbers became ten-person squad combat, then Lord Linde's cavalry had almost no chance of winning. The sword-and-shield techniques of those Tengshi Town soldiers, when coordinated with each other, formed a battle formation effect, easily suppressing Lord Linde's cavalry, provided, of course, that the cavalry were not mounted and not equipped with bows and arrows.
The performance of these soldiers undoubtedly gave Lord Linde a great surprise; the only problem was how to best utilize Nameria and her people.
Additionally, Nameria's participation greatly supplemented Lord Linde's geographical intelligence.
As a liege, Nameria also had a certain grasp of the situation within her territory. She provided a lot of intelligence regarding the activity areas of bandit groups, mountain village folk, and Savage Tribes, and also marked out the bandits and mountain folk who could be won over. As for the Savage Tribes, they were all marked as non-negotiable.
Regarding the classification of Savage Tribes, Lord Linde reserved a different opinion. Although Nameria was very intelligent, knowledgeable, and a qualified liege, her understanding of the Savage Tribes was no different from that of other noble lieges in the Seven Kingdoms, almost equating them with beasts.
However, Lord Linde, as an outsider, knew very well that the Savage Tribes were not incommunicable, especially those who had lived in the South for a long time. They could not only communicate but also accept employment; a decade later, Little Devil hired a Savage Tribes army to fight for Tywin.
In fact, in Lord Linde's view, completely tamed Savage Tribes might be more suitable for his requirements than ordinary soldiers hired for money, because single-minded Savage Tribes are not easily betrayed.
Upon learning that Lord Linde had the idea of reclaiming the Savage Tribes, not only did Nameria look at him with a strange gaze, but even Brin, Raul, and Scarface couldn't help but show peculiar expressions. Bert, however, appeared thoughtful.
"Bert, you seem to have a different opinion?" Lord Linde asked when he saw Bert's expression.
Everyone else also looked at Bert, because of Bert's recent performance, they had already come to regard him as one of their own.
"Yes, Lord." Bert nodded and said, "In fact, a few years ago, I spent some time with a Savage Tribes tribe. My leg was injured then, and I was abandoned by my companions in the forest. If that Savage Tribes tribe hadn't saved me and taken care of me until my injuries healed, I might have died."
Speaking, he looked at Nameria and said, "I think the outside world is too prejudiced against the Savage Tribes. In reality, if you trace back the ancestors of those famous great nobles and lords in the Seven Kingdoms, they all originated from Savage Tribes. The Savage Tribes are no different from us. I think your idea of reclaiming the Savage Tribes is feasible, Lord."
Lord Linde nodded, then turned to Nameria and asked, "Earl, do you know where the nearest Savage Tribes tribe is?"
"Although I still don't think the Savage Tribes can be reclaimed, I won't object if you want to try," Nameria thought seriously and said, "If you continue upstream along the Mander River, there's a place called Buttocks Ridge. A Savage Tribes tribe is entrenched there. They migrated from the Riverlands about a decade ago, and now number around three thousand people. They primarily engage in hunting and fishing and rarely attack surrounding villages. If you want to choose a target for reclamation, that Savage Tribes tribe should be very suitable."
"I know that Savage Tribes tribe," Bert interjected at this point. "We passed near that tribe while marching before. The tribe's warriors were monitoring us from the trees on both sides of the path, but I don't know how many there were exactly."
"If you are going to the Savage Tribes, you'd best bring it along," Nameria said, pointing to Glory, who was sitting by Lord Linde's feet, and smiled, "Many Savage Tribes worship Shadow Lynx, and your Shadow Lynx is so unique. With a little effort, it might even be worshipped as some kind of holy spirit by the Savage Tribes."
Although Nameria's words carried a hint of teasing, they served as a reminder to Lord Linde. Glory might indeed play an unusual role in reclaiming the Savage Tribes.
Glory was now much larger than when it left King's Landing. When standing on all fours, its back was already level with Lord Linde's waist, nearly the size of an adult Shadow Lynx. Moreover, Glory's growth had not stopped, and Lord Linde was unsure how large it would eventually become.
Lord Linde had also considered riding Glory in the future, but Glory was extremely averse to being ridden, even by its owner, Lord Linde.
Although Glory could play a significant role in reclaiming the Savage Tribes, Lord Linde had no immediate plans to bring Glory to interact with them, as the deterrent effect Glory currently possessed was not yet great enough.
Lord Linde could feel that after Glory absorbed the vengeful spirit energy from the old Tengshi Town ruins, its body would develop again within a short period. Based on previous experience, this developmental period might take about ten days or so.
By then, Glory's size might grow much larger, inevitably exceeding the normal size of a Shadow Lynx. Coupled with Glory's peculiar ability to constantly change its black and white stripes, Lord Linde believed that those Savage Tribes would be amazed when they saw it.
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