New Barrel, located downstream of Golden Tree River, is the fiefdom of the great House Fossoway of The Reach. Because it is close to Rose Road and Golden Tree River, it is also a gathering place for traveling merchants. Almost all goods transported to Goldengrove, Red Lake City, and Old Oak are distributed here, instead of going through Highgarden.
The reason traveling merchants made this choice was initially due to Highgarden's heavy taxes. Transporting goods to Highgarden incurred an additional heavy tax, and merchants, driven by profit, naturally knew how to choose.
Later, House Tyrell of Highgarden significantly reduced the transit taxes for merchant caravans and abolished some unreasonable taxes, hoping to draw these merchants from New Barrel.
However, merchants were already accustomed to distributing goods in New Barrel. Additionally, the lords of cities like Red Lake City, Coldmoat, and Old Oak also built some simple roads for the convenience of merchants. Although these roads were crude and could not compare to roads like Rose Road, traveling merchants were already used to them. Therefore, Highgarden only attracted a small portion of merchants, with the vast majority still choosing to stay in New Barrel.
However, in recent days, there seem to be an unusually large number of merchants gathered in New Barrel. Not only have the caravans that have already unloaded their goods not left, but even some merchants from Highgarden have come to New Barrel. They all seem to be waiting for something.
Well-informed individuals quickly gathered some information. It turned out that the previous encirclement and suppression campaign against the Red Lake Forest bandits by Goldengrove, Red Lake City, and Old Oak had yielded unexpected gains. The rumor that the Red Lake Forest bandits were remnants of the Dragon family turned out to be true. The three great Houses confiscated a large amount of supplies from the bandits, including not only food but also weapons, and a large quantity of valuable items that could be readily exchanged for money. Among them, they even found some important supplies that the Mad King had lost before his death.
Therefore, some speculated that the Mad King might have anticipated the fall of the Dragon family before his death, which is why he entrusted some supplies to loyalists of the Dragon family, and the Red Lake Forest bandits were among them.
Although a great deal of supplies were confiscated this time, there was very little money. The three great Houses did not need so many supplies; they needed readily available money. Another concern was that these supplies still bore the Dragon family's mark, and they worried that if they kept these supplies, Robert Baratheon might consider them remnants of the Dragon family and use it as an excuse to deal with them.
Therefore, they needed to sell these supplies as quickly as possible and exchange them for golden dragons and silver stags. In their vicinity, there were only two places capable of quickly dispersing these supplies: New Barrel and Highgarden.
However, House Tyrell of Highgarden is currently dedicating all its efforts to repairing its relationship with Robert Baratheon, leaving no energy to deal with these commercial matters. But Lord Tarx Fossoway, the head of the Green Apple House Fossoway and Lord of New Barrel, has shown great enthusiasm for this matter. He even proactively contacted the three great Houses and offered very favorable terms, such as waiving taxes, to persuade the three Houses to sell these supplies in New Barrel.
Some wondered if Tarx Fossoway would gain nothing by doing this, but shrewd individuals saw the intent behind Lord Tarx's actions. The transaction tax on those supplies was not what Lord Tarx valued. He valued the merchant caravans that gathered in New Barrel because of these supplies. These caravans would make New Barrel prosperous for a long time, and the Additional Benefits far exceeded the tax on a single batch of supplies.
However, for the common people of New Barrel and the low-ranking guards of the merchant caravans, the profit schemes of the high-ranking nobles were too distant. They did not care about them. The only things they cared about were the legendary stories that emerged from this bandit suppression battle, such as Joel Flower, who broke through the formation alone and slew the bandit leader, and Alistair Oakhart, who led thirteen cavalrymen to rout over a hundred bandits, and so on.
However, among the legendary stories created by these famous knights, one person's legendary story stood out, and this person was also the most legendary of all the legendary stories. This person was the legendary story of Bear Hunter Lynd.
Compared to those high-and-mighty knight lords, Bear Hunter Lynd, who was also a commoner, clearly resonated more with the common people. When they heard the hunter of bears song from the bards in the taverns, they could always immerse themselves in it and create legends alongside the Bear Hunter in the story.
Before the battle to suppress the Red Lake Forest bandits, the story of Bear Hunter Lynd was already circulating in the taverns of various cities in The Reach. However, at that time, those who heard it only regarded Lynd as a lucky hunter, merely praising his heroic and filial character for avenging his father alone and hunting mountain bears. No one considered the Bear Hunter to be a true warrior.
However, now, after hearing the legendary stories of the suppression battle, everyone's perception of Bear Hunter Lynd has changed dramatically, and this change even feels somewhat incredible, like a long-known acquaintance suddenly becoming a stranger they have never met.
Refusing assistance from ten soldiers, going alone to guard a vital point, single-handedly slaying nearly a hundred bandits who had fled from the battlefield, and among these slain bandits were two remnants of the Dragon family—such exaggerated achievements made anyone who heard it feel that it was simply a fabricated rumor. However, this achievement was acknowledged by Ser Roman Webber of House Webber of Coldmoat and Ser Joel Flower, who ended the suppression battle. The integrity of these two men is well-known among the nobles of The Reach.
And so, the Bear Hunter's experiences in this suppression battle were compiled into songs by some bards and began to circulate in the taverns of Red Lake City, Old Oak, and Goldengrove, and they were loved by the common people, and the bards also made a fortune.
Upon seeing that this song could make money, other bards also began to actively spread it, and the Bear Hunter's reputation once again spread throughout the various cities in The Reach, and New Barrel was naturally one of them.
After nightfall, the common people of New Barrel, having finished their work, came to a tavern near the dock to relax. The mercenaries of the caravan also flocked into the tavern to spend their commissions and have a drunken night. The tavern's resident bard played the hunter of bears song for the third time today. Although the bard's voice was very ordinary, everyone still listened with great interest.
"To our hero, Bear Hunter!" When someone heard the Bear Hunter swinging his twin swords to slay the enemy, he couldn't help but raise his cup and shout loudly.
"To our hero, Bear Hunter!"
"To our hero, Bear Hunter!"
...
Once someone started, the shouts honoring the Bear Hunter in the tavern rose and fell, one after another. It was unclear if the sound spread and stimulated the people in another nearby tavern, but shouts honoring the Bear Hunter also rang out in that tavern, and these shouts gradually spread to other taverns in the city and around the caravans' campfires.
It's unclear when it started, but Bear Hunter Lynd became the embodiment of a commoner hero. Commoners took him as their idol, projecting their past aspirations for a life they wished they had but couldn't onto the Bear Hunter. When the Bear Hunter created a legendary story, they also felt a sense of participating in the creation of that legendary story, and thus their reverence for the unseen Bear Hunter grew even stronger.
"If things continue like this, I might soon hear someone shouting 'Long live the Bear Hunter!'" In an inconspicuous corner of the tavern, sat two cloaked strangers. One of them, a tall middle-aged man, took a sip of the mead in his cup, turned to look at his companion, who was quietly eating while leaning against the wall, and said teasingly.
The man slightly raised his head, looked at the other, and said, "I hope I won't be beheaded by our new King for this reason."
The other continued to tease, "No, I think with our new King's personality, you should be praised. Perhaps there will even be a place for you in the Kingsguard."
"Then forget it, I still want to have descendants." The Kingsguard, the highest and most revered honor for a knight, seemed worthless in that man's words.
"You are truly an ambitious fellow!" The middle-aged man took another sip of wine and said with appreciation.
The two men sitting in the corner of the New Barrel tavern were none other than Joel Flower and Bear Hunter Lynd, who was being praised in the songs. The commoners and mercenaries in the tavern who were shouting for the Bear Hunter had no idea that the object of their adoration was right beside them.
This also made Lynd wonder, what would happen if he revealed his identity now? Would he be carried around the streets of New Barrel by these people, or would he be treated as a madman and thrown out of the tavern? Lynd felt the latter was more likely.
The reason they were here was entirely because Joel was fulfilling his promise to recommend Lynd to Ser Vortimer Crane as a knight's squire.
After attending the celebration banquet in Goldengrove, Joel did not stay in Goldengrove to participate in subsequent discussions, nor did he return to Red Lake City with House Crane's entourage. Instead, he directly took Lynd south along Golden Tree River.
Originally, Joel planned to take a boat directly south to Highgarden, but when the boat docked at New Barrel, he overheard dock workers talking about Highgarden sending a contingent to King's Landing to attend the Tournament hosted by the new King for his first child. The leader of the contingent was Ser Garlan Tyrell, the Lord of Highgarden's second son, and Ser Vortimer Crane, who had become the Highgarden Guard instructor and Garlan Tyrell's sword master, was accompanying them. This group had already arrived in New Barrel and would continue their journey tomorrow after resting for a night.
Since Ser Fortimo was already in New Barrel, there was no need to go to Highgarden, so the two disembarked in New Barrel.
However, it was already late at night when they disembarked, and it was a bit inappropriate to go to House Tyrell's encampment at that time. All the inns in the city were full of people from various caravans, with no empty rooms. So Joel decided to spend the night in the tavern and go to see Ser Fortimo early tomorrow morning.
"Aren't you drinking?" Joel finished the mead in his cup, then pointed to the untouched mead in front of Lynd and asked.
Lynd shook his head and said, "I don't drink."
"What a boring fellow!" Joel took Lynd's drink and took a sip, then watched Lynd slowly chew his food, feeling that time was passing too slowly.
Their time together these past few days, especially the two days since leaving Goldengrove and traveling south by boat, had deepened his understanding of Lynd considerably due to their prolonged proximity.
Self-discipline, extreme self-discipline, was his latest assessment of Lynd. After two days of observation, he found that Lynd meticulously planned every activity: what to do at what time, how much time for sword practice, how much time for eating and resting, and so on. It was as if he held a time schedule in his hand, living every day according to this list, to an extreme degree of boredom.
This extremely self-disciplined character made Joel think of someone: Randyll Tarly, the Lord of Horn Hill.
Fortunately, the person in front of him could still joke and tease, unlike Randyll Tarly, who was extremely serious and unsmiling, like a cold piece of iron.
However, even so, he was somewhat glad that he hadn't taken Lynd as his squire. He knew that a few days ago, when he saw Lynd's achievements, he couldn't help but feel an impulse to take Lynd as his own squire, rather than letting Fortimo benefit.
After all, a knight's squire as powerful as this would be of no small help to him. At least on the battlefield, he would have a capable assistant to cooperate with, unlike the current few knight squires who still required his distraction and care.
But this thought only crossed his mind once before he dismissed it, because he didn't have that much time and energy to train a commoner. More importantly, he didn't believe Lynd would go very far in the future.
After gulping down the mead in his cup, Joel felt a strong urge to urinate. He stood up, his figure somewhat unsteady. Being a poor drinker, he was already a bit drunk after two large cups of mead. He staggered out of the tavern, looked left and right, then found a secluded spot beside the tavern, preparing to relieve himself.
However, as he took out his privates to empty his bladder, he was completely unaware that someone had snuck up behind him, raised a wooden club, and struck him hard. As he fell to the ground, the assailant quickly patted him down, took his money pouch, and also took his sword and other valuables, not even sparing the bearskin cloak he was wearing.
At this moment, Lynd, inside the tavern, had no idea that Joel was being attacked and robbed outside. He was still slowly savoring the food in front of him.
The reason he ate so politely was entirely because the food in front of him was truly unpalatable. Although the bread already had grapes inside and was coated with a layer of honey, the bread was simply too hard. Biting off a piece with effort required a long time of chewing before it could be broken down and swallowed.
Lynd really wanted to throw away the bread in his hand, but he thought that he would have to face more such unpalatable food in the future. If he didn't adapt now, it would be too late to adapt later.
Just as Lynd was struggling with the food in his hand, two people, one tall and one short, walked in from outside the tavern. Their gaze swept across the tavern. Seeing that only Lynd was sitting at his table, they walked over and, without greeting Lynd, sat down in the other two seats at the table in front of Lynd.