The city garrison of Lannisport is renowned for its formidable strength, famous throughout the seven kingdoms.
For a long time, the Ironborn dared not raid Lannisport anymore, firstly because the Lannisport fleet was not to be trifled with, being too powerful, and secondly because the city's garrison was simply too formidable.
As soon as they landed, the garrison gave the Ironborn a crushing blow.
Apart from the poor areas of the city, the other bustling streets were well-maintained and orderly, with taverns, inns, brothels, blacksmith shops, gold and silver markets, vegetable markets, livestock markets, cloth streets, cosmetic shops, and all sorts of other businesses lining the streets in perfect order.
Every day, in addition to the soldiers stationed on the city walls, centurions lead their soldiers to patrol the main busy streets of the city. Any forced buying or selling is not allowed in Lannisport.
Whether you are a nobleman or a commoner, everyone is treated equally. People abide by the law, and the market is harmonious.
If anything happens, contacting the city's garrison is quick and easy; it's like the saying that college student before he transmigrated into the Demon Mountain knew well: "If you need anything, call the police."
But there are exceptions.
When Dunson Clegane and Polliver Clegane barged into the city's busiest street with a dozen menacing-looking thugs, trying to do some business, conflict seemed inevitable!
*
Count Aude looked at the several centurions with bruised and swollen faces in front of him, and a fire burned in his heart.
When the centurion came to report, he saw the Mountain there and turned to leave, which in itself constituted a choice. But the Mountain's thuggish henchmen went too far, even daring to assault him.
But the key point is that the matter is over, the people have been beaten, and everyone has returned to the Earl. The Earl knows that it was the Mountain's men who were arrogant and domineering because of the Mountain's power, but the key point is that the Earl cannot immediately order his guards to chase after them and fight back.
This infuriated the Earl!
Although the Mountain and his gang of scoundrels haven't gone far, the key question is whether they can catch up and bring them back.
The answer is clear: No!
Count Od was also a formidable general; otherwise, the Ironborn wouldn't have been so thoroughly defeated that they had become cowards for many years and dared not invade the Western Territory again.
Some of Count Auder's centurions had broken lips, some had black eyes, some had swollen faces, and some had rags stuffed in their nostrils because they were still bleeding.
Several sergeant officers who were maintaining order and law in the city were beaten and left in a rather disheveled state.
"What happened?" Count Od asked in an unfriendly tone. He knew perfectly well that it was the work of those killers from the Mountain, but he had to maintain his dignity as a count.
An earl must have dignity.
*
The city garrison of Lannisport fought with any noble's knight in the city, and Count Od had a rule: they had to win.
Fighting is completely different from drawing knives and swords.
The knights' fight, ending with their swords drawn and fighting hand-to-hand due to a verbal altercation, was a manageable brawl, not serious, and unlikely to damage the genuine harmony between the lords. The outcome was merely a matter of face, whether pleasant or frustrating, not a matter of life or death, and wouldn't lead to any greater trouble.
But because of pride, winning is still very important.
Over the years, Count Ode's rule has never been broken.
The fearsome Mountain had spent years either in Casterly Rock or patrolling the western border, bullying the people of the Riverlands or the Reach. Even when he came to Lannister Harbor, he accompanied Lord Tywin Lannister. This ruthless bandit general naturally followed him, so there was no opportunity for him to clash with the garrison at Lannister Harbor.
However, it seems that this rule is no longer valid, because that guy no longer lives in Casterly Rock, and Tywin no longer needs him to lead troops to patrol the border. He has returned to live in Clegane.
The Clegane Territory and Lannister Port are very close to each other.
*
"They're from the Mountain," Centurion Bard Lannitz said with a hint of shame, touching the wound on his face.
"So what if the Mountain is here? I am the lord of Lannisport." Earl Odd raised his voice, his tone stern. "I respect Duke Tywin Lannister, and I also respect the Mountain's wedding in ten days. Otherwise, I will lead you here right now to catch up and fight back."
The count has started his hypocritical, righteous-sounding pronouncements again.
The centurions were well aware of the count's frivolous nature.
Everyone knows the truth, but no one dares to say it out loud.
The Earl is indeed brave and not to be trifled with, but the key point is that the Mountain is not human; he is a brutal and terrifying monster.
Centurion Bard Lannitz hesitated for a moment before saying, "Sir, we did not fight with the Mountain's mad dogs."
The implication is that although everyone was injured, it was not caused by fighting.
The centurions all nodded.
It seems that they all injured themselves.
"Then what happened to your faces?" the count asked, frowning.
He also knew that encountering people from the Demon Mountain would be troublesome. The Demon Mountain was not human, and those who followed him so devotedly were naturally not normal people either.
Normal people wouldn't be so bewitched as to follow the Demon Mountain, willingly becoming its henchmen and accomplices, and even taking pride in it.
Centurion Barrow Lanny said, "Sir, Dunson and Pollifer are sending noodles to every tavern in the city, big and small..."
"Delivering noodles?"
Bud Lannitz immediately corrected Barrow: "Sir, it's not that Barrow is delivering noodles, they're having the owner pay first, then giving him the noodles."
"What do you mean?" Count Od didn't understand. "How could they possibly make so many noodles to serve?"
Noodles are almost never sold in the taverns of Lannisport, except in the two most prestigious taverns, which cater to nobles and propertied knights.
In the Western Regions, in the Seven Kingdoms, and throughout the continent, everyone is accustomed to eating bread, whether commoner or noble. Noodles are a high-class food prepared only by servants of the great nobility. Making noodles is troublesome, and they don't keep as long as bread; moreover, they require very high-quality flour. Commoners eat black bread, and so do the proletarian knights.
The noodles are all made fresh at home by the maids, and they're soft and moist. Once packed, they stick together and revert to dough. How can they possibly be delivered door-to-door like that?
Count Ode didn't understand at all.
Bud Lannitz noticed the adult's confusion.
"Sir, the noodles from the Mountain are unlike anything we've ever seen before. They're dry and very thin. They even have a name: Clegane noodles. They're bundled up in strips of cloth, with the Clegane coat of arms—three black dogs—drawn on them. Dunsen and Pollifer assured the innkeepers that the noodles would last a long time and would never stick together."
"That's absolutely impossible," Count Ode said decisively.