Chapter 65: A Small Job
The sun blazed high in the sky.
After meeting up with Steward Rosser and the others, Glyn's party left the Rose Road and traveled southwest for about two hours.
Glyn pulled on the reins, stopping his horse. "Is that the village up ahead?"
A House Clegane soldier replied, "Yes, my lord. The Sleepless Brotherhood has been camped in that village for the past few days."
The Sleepless Brotherhood was a group of bandits active near the borders of the Crownlands, the Riverlands, and the Reach. Because they usually only killed and plundered at night, some also called them the Night Raiders.
Glyn looked at the distant village and asked Anguy, who was beside him, "Do you think it's better to attack now?"
Anguy replied respectfully, "Yes, Lord Glyn. They only returned at dawn. They must be exhausted now."
Bandits are always vigilant. Glyn estimated that if they advanced any further, they would be spotted by the bandits' lookouts.
Even for nocturnal bandits, they wouldn't forget to post sentries during the day.
...
Glyn paused for a moment before saying, "The terrain around the village is open. We'll be easily spotted if we get any closer."
Montun and Anguy exchanged a look.
Montun gestured with his eyes, telling him to speak.
Anguy gave a subtle nod. He said to Glyn, "My lord, if I go alone, they won't spot me."
Glyn raised an eyebrow and clapped Anguy on the shoulder. "In that case, you plan the raid. Have Montun assist you."
Anguy felt Glyn's trust, and his heart swelled with gratitude. He nodded firmly.
...
Anguy and Montun led most of the clansmen away. Glyn's new squire, Marciel, started to get restless, looking at Glyn with an expectant expression.
Glyn noticed Marciel's intense gaze and frowned. "Marciel, don't forget your duties as a squire."
The lord sent out Montun and Anguy, his personal guards, to fight!
Marciel was displeased but didn't dare to voice his opinion.
...
Marciel was the descendant of a vassal knight of House Clegane. Due to clan rules, he had been stuck in his family's lands siring children and had never been in a battle.
Having been carefully trained since childhood, Glyn believed Marciel's skills were commendable.
As he was the descendant of a vassal knight, Glyn couldn't help but look out for him a bit more. He wouldn't let him go into battle before he was clad in a layer of steel.
Right now, Marciel was like a wild horse that had broken its reins, far too impatient.
Glyn had his ways; first, he would calm Marciel's restless heart.
...
After quickly finalizing the plan, Anguy and Montun wasted no more time. One of them snuck towards the village.
Perhaps for an ordinary person, avoiding sentries in an open field in broad daylight would be difficult, but for a natural-born archer like Anguy, it was hardly a challenge.
A band of forty to fifty robbers hadn't posted many lookouts.
Having already snuck into the village, Anguy observed for a while and found only two lookouts in this direction.
One in the open and one hidden; one under a tree, and one in it. It was a clever arrangement.
Swish! Swish!
Anguy rapidly fired two arrows.
Anguy's firing speed was incredibly fast. The two arrows seemed to fly without a pause, piercing the necks of the two lookouts almost simultaneously.
The lookouts' bodies fell to the ground with a dull thud.
...
Montun, lying in ambush in the distance, saw the signal flag waved by Anguy.
Montun lowered his visor and gave a hand signal.
Peering through the slit of his visor, Montun led the men forward at great speed. His burly figure didn't hinder his agility in the slightest.
Watching the massive buttocks swaying in front of them, the men were actually quite impressed.
...
Glyn led the remaining dozen or so men to a nearby river.
Glyn had his squire, Marciel, lead the horses to water while he found a shady spot to sit down.
Because of the royal hunt in the Kingswood, the nearby bandit groups had chosen to stay far away. No band of robbers was foolhardy enough to provoke the queen's party.
Most of Glyn's clansmen had learned to ride, but that was all. To be precise, they were infantry who could ride horses.
Glyn's willingness to expand the patrol radius was also partly to train his clansmen's riding skills in the field.
As they widened their patrol area, they inevitably discovered traces of several bandit groups.
The cautious Glyn ordered Anguy to take a group of clansmen and follow the tracks to investigate further.
As of today, Glyn had already gathered accurate intelligence on several bandit groups.
...
Glyn sometimes wondered if he had "unlocked this part of the map" too early.
Glyn always had a feeling that his trip to Highgarden would not go smoothly.
This feeling intensified, especially after the messenger from Highgarden suddenly appeared in the Kingswood.
The fiercely competitive Glyn guessed that perhaps he had been pursuing speed too much and had become a bit anxious.
Since he had intelligence on the bandits, Glyn made a last-minute decision to slow the pace. He would "farm" some bandits for a few days, eliminating a threat to the people and acquiring some horses at the same time.
According to Anguy's tracking and scouting, these bandit groups all possessed quite a few fine horses.
...
Highgarden had its Rose, whose goal was the queen's crown.
Glyn was going to Highgarden as Queen Cersei's chief steward. It would be abnormal if everything went smoothly.
Therefore, facing difficulties now was normal.
"Normal is good." Glyn thought about it from a different perspective, and that bit of anxiety suddenly vanished.
Glyn smiled freely.
Everything is difficult in the beginning.
Ahem, it's also difficult in the middle, and it will be difficult later on... I just have to get used to it.
...
With a bang, Montun's massive frame slammed into the wooden door, which shattered on impact.
The absolute strength Montun displayed made everyone pause for a moment.
Anguy couldn't help but marvel; there was a reason Montun could eat so much meat.
The men's already high morale soared once again.
(end of chapter)