The Mountain of Ice and Fire

“I will pay you back!” Gregor interrupted Septon Harry roughly, his tone brooking no argument. He ignored Harry’s fearful compliance and watched indifferently as the scribe handed three gold dragons to the last three families.

Of the eleven families, the four women never dared to look Gregor in the eye. Gregor’s infamous reputation for ‘bullying’ women had spread far and wide, and any remotely eligible women among the eleven families had been married off long ago. The remaining young women were all mothers, and upon hearing that Lord Gregor had returned to Clegane Keep, they had smeared coal ash on their faces days in advance, preparing to make themselves look ugly.

Gregor looked at the four young women and felt ashamed of his sins.

To have his own people fear him like a venomous snake, Gregor’s past had truly been filled with wickedness.

“You—go back and cut down all the poppies in the fields, and plant corn, wheat, and rice instead,” Gregor said.

The eleven families exchanged glances, but no one dared to answer.

Cutting down the crops and planting poppies had also been Gregor’s order. The Mountain needed a large amount of poppy milk to satisfy his needs.

What trick was Gregor up to now?

Why were the people so poor?

Their fields were all planted with poppies, and the only buyer for the poppies was Gregor, and their lord, Gregor, only paid them a pitiful amount of money each time.

“This gold dragon is compensation for the loss of cutting down the poppies. You can still plant three seasons of corn, wheat, and rice this year.”

The seasons on the continent of Westeros were quite unique. A year did not have four seasons, but rather a season could last for several years. For example, this summer had been ongoing for the ninth consecutive year.

During years of continuous summer, hardworking people could harvest four seasons of grain in a year, and then store it up to prepare for the potentially equally long winter.

“Don’t just stand there, go back and cut down all the poppies, and plant rice, wheat, and corn,” the scribe said in a strange, sarcastic tone.

“From today onwards, our land will never again be used to plant poppies,” Gregor said.

“Yes, Lord!” the people replied without any confidence.

“I will compensate you for your losses. I don’t have any money right now, so I’ll owe you the money for now, compensating you for ten years of losses. One gold dragon a year, for ten years, how many gold dragons does each family get? Scribe!”

“Each family is owed ten gold dragons, Lord,” the scribe’s math was indeed quite good.

“Then how much money do I owe everyone in total?” Gregor had always been slow at calculations. He was illiterate and couldn’t do arithmetic. The only thing he was good at was wielding his sword.

“Lord, you owe everyone a total of one hundred and ten gold dragons… Uh, that’s a lot of money, Lord… We… can’t afford to pay that…” the scribe said.

“Well, we won’t discuss money-making matters here. People, if any of you have been wronged, or have been bullied by other nobles, you can speak up. I have never held a political affairs meeting at Clegane Keep in all these years. Today is the first time, but it won’t be the last time.”

The people exchanged glances, and the women also secretly raised their heads to glance at this demon.

They felt even more uneasy in their hearts.

The demon was acting very strangely.

The demon’s face was also very strange, looking as if he had suffered a severe injury.

A political affairs meeting was a meeting that every lord would hold. If the people under the lord had any grievances, disputes, conflicts with neighbors, encountered crimes, or any other problems, they would all come to the lord for a resolution. The lord was the highest local official for the people to resolve all their troubles.

“This is the first time we’re holding a political affairs meeting, so say whatever’s on your mind, even chatting about everyday life is fine,” Gregor said.

However, both the pitifully few people and the subordinates around him felt quite uncomfortable with Gregor’s words and actions.

Everything is difficult at the beginning!

For Gregor, who had been ‘out of office’ for a long time, holding a political affairs meeting with eleven families for the first time made him feel awkward himself.

But things had to change.

The current Gregor was no longer the Gregor of the past.

“…Lord… I am very grateful for the… gold coin… that you rewarded me… When I go back, I will immediately cut down all the poppies and plant rice, wheat, and corn,” a man said hesitantly. He was trembling with fear, and was almost kneeling down to kowtow.

Gregor said, “Citizen, do you have any troubles you want me to solve?” He tapped his head, “For example, seeds for rice and wheat. If you’re afraid of being overcharged, I can order the scribe to buy the best seeds at the Lannisport market, guaranteeing that no one will overcharge you.”

“…No, no, no, no… Thank you for your kindness, Lord… May the Seven Gods bless you, may the Old Gods and the New Gods favor your good heart… Under your leadership, it is the greatest honor for my entire family… Uh… We can buy the seeds ourselves, we wouldn’t dare trouble you, Lord…”

“May the Seven Gods also bless you. You will feel truly honored to serve me, citizen. Do you have any other requests?”

“No, Lord.”

“Oh! Then you can leave.”

“Yes, Lord!”

The citizen immediately felt a sense of relief, as if a large stone had been removed from his body.

Gregor felt a sense of frustration.

It seemed that being a good person was more difficult than being a bad person, much more difficult.

Everyone watched the ‘honored citizen’ walk out of this terrifying courtyard.

Gregor was silent for a while, then said, “Since everyone has no requests, and has not encountered any violations that need to be avenged, then go back and cut down the poppies in the fields, and plant rice, wheat, and corn.”

“Yes, Lord!” This time, the people answered in unison. They were all eager to escape from this place. The Mountain was too unusual today, making them feel very uneasy. It was safer to leave this dangerous place as soon as possible.

Thus, the four women left the courtyard timidly but with great speed.

The rest of the people also followed closely behind.

Gregor gestured to the scribe, and the scribe stepped forward and stopped an elderly man: “Thomasman, you stay.”

As soon as the other people left the courtyard, they quickly walked away. They all secretly felt sorry for Thomasman, but they couldn’t help the unlucky Thomasman. Who dared to go against the Mountain? No one could!

“Thomasman, is there anything you want to say to me?”

Earlier, Gregor had seen this old man open his mouth when he asked about political affairs, but he hadn’t said anything.

“…No… Lord…” Thomasman quickly knelt on one knee.

“Speak quickly.” Gregor frowned, “You are my people. If you have been subjected to any violations, I will help you, no matter which knight offended you.”

“…Lord…” The old man suddenly broke down, tears streaming down his face, “…Lord… my little girl… at the end of last month… ten days ago… was… taken away by the Silverhall mine guards…”