The Mountain of Ice and Fire

Chapter 455: The Way of Evil

焚王塔 (Fen Wang Tower), Randyl's command conference room.

The Mountain and Earl Mooton entered, followed by their guards.

Randyl Tarly stood up: "Duke, you've arrived. Please, have a seat. Earl Mooton, welcome, welcome."

The Mountain didn't sit!

Mooton naturally couldn't sit either, and their guards certainly couldn't sit, so more than twenty people all stood in unison.

As the Minister of War for the Seven Kingdoms, Randyl Tarly knew that when The Mountain arrived, he didn't come down to meet him, nor did he order the guards to greet and respectfully invite The Mountain to the command conference room. This was blatant neglect!

Deliberate neglect!

Minister of War - The Mountain had the power to inquire about military affairs in the Seven Kingdoms. Although in reality, local nobles might not take The Mountain's nominal position seriously, politically and officially, The Mountain had the power granted by the king.

"Randyl, military situation?" The Mountain said lightly, standing.

Randyl had to stand up. The highest military officer of the Seven Kingdoms - the Minister of War - was standing, and he couldn't sit still no matter how arrogant and rude he was. With The Mountain here, his title was the highest, and his position was the highest. No matter how powerful Randyl Tarly was, he was still The Mountain's subordinate officer.

Randyl stood up, and his accompanying scholar and several officers had no choice but to stand up as well.

Military situation?

The Mountain was also very straightforward, directly asking about the war.

He could ask or not, but since he asked, Randyl had to answer. Otherwise, The Mountain had the power to question his guilt.

"Everything is going smoothly, Your Grace."

The answer was as good as no answer. He didn't say a word about the specific military deployments, strategies, tactics, the castles and territories that had been captured, or the prisoners and surrendered subjects that had been obtained.

Randyl's arrogance as a famous general was overwhelming!

Randyl disdained reporting to The Mountain. The Mountain's position as Minister of War was a compromise between various forces, a game between nobles. In fact, Randyl Tarly believed that he was more qualified to be the Minister of War.

"When will the entire Riverlands be taken?"

After The Mountain was rebuffed, his expression didn't change, and he continued to ask, specifically about the time.

"Four months, perhaps, to take the entire Riverlands."

"It will be February of next year."

"Yes, Your Grace," Randyl said unhurriedly and respectfully.

"Oh, I'm here to inform you that Earl Mooton has surrendered to King Joffrey and will be joining me in suppressing the Brotherhood Without Banners. Return the four hundred soldiers you captured from the Earl to him."

Return them to him! The tone of command, without discussion!

"Duke, the captured Mooton soldiers have been incorporated into the Reach army and are currently fighting against the Riverlands nobles under the command of Dickon Tarly. They are currently operating near Stone Hedge. After the Riverlands war is over and House Tully is destroyed, I will return Earl Mooton's soldiers one by one."

Randyl Tarly's answer was impeccable.

Of course, the Mooton soldiers were not sent to the front lines, but were incorporated into the cavalry and logistics. For an army of tens of thousands of people, logistics was already a top priority, requiring a lot of handyman labor, let alone an army of twenty thousand. The food needed to feed these twenty thousand people every day was a huge amount of supplies, as well as the transportation of the wounded, food, armor, and weapons. All kinds of hard, tiring, and dirty work needed people to do it.

The four hundred Mooton soldiers were doing hard labor and odd jobs for the Reach soldiers, with a status equivalent to servants.

When The Mountain and Earl Mooton entered Harrenhal, they saw several captured Mooton soldiers working: sweeping the courtyard, repairing armor, and sharpening arrowheads.

Randyl was perfunctory with The Mountain!

The Mountain stopped talking, reached out, grabbed Randyl Tarly across the table, lifted him up, used the Earl's body as a shield, and smashed him down hard. With a loud bang, Randyl Tarly's spine slammed violently against the hard oak table, and he was almost knocked unconscious. If the Earl hadn't had chainmail to protect him, his spine would have been broken.

The hard oak table couldn't withstand the fierce smash, and the table legs snapped, the table collapsed, and the maps, wine, and teacups on the table rolled around in a mess.

Several Reach generals and guards were shocked. The Mountain made his move without warning, suddenly attacking without any verbal threats or facial displeasure. Even Earl Mooton was greatly frightened.

As several Reach generals and guards were about to draw their swords, The Mountain's followers, such as Comm, Landon, and Captain Alyn, had already drawn their swords and were watching intently. Mooton's attendants were still in shock and hadn't recovered.

"Hand them over!" The Mountain lifted Randyl Tarly up, holding him in the air with one hand, and shouted sharply.

The force of the impact was still violently shaking Randyl's body, making him dizzy and his spine seemed to be completely broken, and he was in so much pain that he couldn't breathe.

"...Your Grace..." Randyl hummed, but he couldn't say anything begging for mercy. He still had a grudge in his heart about 'The Mountain driving away his soldiers and dissolving the marriage between Dickon and Aeliana'. "...Lucas Tarly...order logistics...gather the Mooton soldiers...and hand them over to Lord Mountain..."

"Yes, Your Grace!" General Lucas, who was in charge, said immediately. He glanced at The Mountain, who was like a fierce god, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead as he hurried downstairs.

"The property looted from Maidenpool, the antiques and gold and silver ornaments that your guards took from Earl Mooton's house, bring them out." The Mountain raised Randyl Tarly higher, and the Earl's head was dizzy, almost touching the high ceiling.

The rooms in Harrenhal's five towers were very large, and even true giants could live in them.

"Yes, Your Grace." Randyl Tarly tried to make his breathing smoother. "Maester Gord, count the property from Maidenpool and the property from Mooton Keep and hand it all over to Lord Mountain."

"Yes, Earl!" The scholar glanced at The Mountain with a frightened look, glanced at the guards behind The Mountain, glanced at Earl Mooton and his attendants, and left with two apprentices.

"Randyl Tarly, don't play any tricks, falsehoods, perfunctory excuses, or deceptions in front of me. One is one, and two is two. I like things simple and straightforward, getting to the point in one step!" The Mountain shouted.

The sound echoed轰轰in the conference room for a long time, and the power of the roar made people tremble.

"Yes, Your Grace." Randyl was suspended in the air, his chest grabbed by The Mountain, as if he was wearing an iron hoop.

"What is the current situation with suppressing the Brotherhood Without Banners?"

The Mountain was the highest military officer here, and he had the responsibility to answer when Randyl asked.

"...Your Grace...a raven just brought information that the Redwyne brothers encountered a small group of Brotherhood Without Banners bandits at the High Heart and captured two of them. One of them said he knew the truth about Duke Tywin's murder."

"Duke Tywin was killed?" The Mountain shouted, gathering his energy. The sound shook everyone's eardrums.

Earl Mooton and his attendants were following such a fierce man as The Mountain for the first time and were not used to it. They had never had a similar experience before and were all frightened.

"Lord Mountain, the captured bandits said that, maybe it's a lie, maybe it's the truth. That guy wants a reward in exchange. I don't know the specific situation yet."

"Give me the letter!"

"The letter was originally on the table, Your Grace."

Comm Warner found the letter in the collapsed table debris and handed it to The Mountain. The Mountain took it, read it, and put the letter in his pocket.

"Hmph!" The Mountain loosened his hand, and Randyl Tarly fell from the air. With a bang, his calf hit the stool, almost breaking it. With a thud, his back fell to the ground. The ground was stone, and the pain made Randyl suffocate again.

"Aeliana Mooton is my adopted daughter, and Earl Mooton is my in-law. He no longer pledges allegiance to House Tully, nor does he serve Stark of the North as king. Like me, King Joffrey is the only true king he serves. I, in my capacity as Minister of War, formally order you not to allow any of your troops to harass Maidenpool again."

"...Yes...Your Grace..."

"My daughter Aeliana Mooton and Angus Clegane were married the night before last. Aeliana is now Lady Clegane. Tell your son Dickon Tarly to stop having any improper thoughts about Lady Aeliana. Otherwise, I will break his spine and make him unable to stand for the rest of his life."

The Mountain threatened nakedly from a high position with a decisive tone. The words that followed were not what the Minister of War should have said, but purely the threats of a street thug.

Randyl was slowly helped up by several generals and guards, slowly sat on the stool, glared at The Mountain, his face turned green, his chest heaved, his breathing was rapid, and he didn't say a word.

*

Harrenhal. Afternoon.

Mooton's mixed infantry and cavalry regiment of a thousand men and The Mountain's five hundred light cavalrymen set off from Harrenhal's long doorway. The队伍 (duìwǔ, column) formed four columns: The Mountain, Mooton, Julia, and Angus each led a column.

Mooton saw for the first time the way The Mountain, who was famous throughout the Seven Kingdoms for his fierceness and evil, acted. The conversation was fine, and when Randyl Tarly deliberately made excuses, The Mountain immediately took action without any hesitation, directly beating Randyl Tarly, a famous general of the Seven Kingdoms, which greatly frightened Earl Mooton. At that time, he thought that The Mountain would throw the Earl out of the high tower in a fit of anger...and smash him into meat paste...If that were the case...things would be terrible!

The tyrant Mountain, with his rogue style, lived up to his reputation!

Any cunning, false, fake, or evasive behavior in front of him, as long as he felt that the other party was playing tricks and was not sincere, he would directly use his fists.

Randyl Tarly, who held 20,000 heavy troops, was so violently smashed on the conference table by The Mountain that all the problems were immediately resolved. Earl Mooton originally thought that he would have to spend a lot of time negotiating and haggling before finally reluctantly getting back some of his family's antiques and leading back a small number of soldiers, about a hundred or so. As a result, the money, goods, and people were all returned completely at the first time.

Earl Mooton was also a very experienced nobleman. It was the first time in his life that he had personally seen and experienced such a fierce person. His attendants, following him, although they had left Harrenhal, their eyes were still constantly falling on The Mountain.

This was the first time they had seen such a fierce adult! Before, they had only heard of The Mountain's evil reputation!

Seeing is believing!

He suddenly turned his face and beat people up. There was no noble etiquette, honor, dignity, tolerance, or leeway.

Leeway!

Yes, especially leeway!

The tradition of nobles leaving each other leeway when encountering things, which was common among nobles, was completely absent in The Mountain's case.

*

Harrenhal is about three hundred miles away from High Heart.

Crossing The Mountain is familiar with and understands High Heart.

High Heart is a high hill in the Riverlands. Although it is said to be a hill, it is actually a mountain-like highland. The surrounding area is all flat, and in the middle, a high mountain rises abruptly from the ground.

Legend has it that this was once a sacred place for the ancient Children of the Forest. The ancient Children of the Forest gathered here to discuss matters, pray, resolve disputes, and uphold justice and goodness. The name High Heart also comes from this.

At the top of the mountain, thirty-one weirwood stumps are arranged in a circle. Each stump is very wide and can be used as a child's wooden bed.

The top of the mountain is a flat ground. Because the terrain is very high, anyone approaching this high hill from below can be easily seen by the people on the mountain. Therefore, things like sneak attacks and lurking are根本 (gēnběn, fundamentally) non-existent for High Heart!

The nearby people generally avoid this place, and people passing by have to detour. It is said that the ghosts of the Children of the Forest killed by King Erreg of the Andals haunt this place.

But The Mountain knew that those were not ghosts, but a real dwarf - a witch of the Children of the Forest who didn't know how many years she had lived.

The Brotherhood Without Banners is a guerrilla folk 'righteous' organization that often divides into zero and integrates into a whole at any time. They have a secret contact point among themselves, or what if everyone loses contact with each other? How do the brothers find the Lightning Lord and other leaders? The Riverlands Plain is so wide that they will come to High Heart.

The Mountain had some understanding of this contact point of the Brotherhood Without Banners. When Randyl Tarly said that the Redwyne brothers had encountered a small group of Brotherhood Without Banners here, The Mountain immediately knew that Randyl was telling the truth. If you want to capture the Brotherhood Without Banners, coming to High Heart is the right thing to do, as long as you find the 'ghost' of High Heart - if the world plot has not affected this detail, then The Mountain knows that the witch of the Children of the Forest lives on a tree house here - the 'witch' of the Children of the Forest who doesn't know how many years she has lived, as long as you make her happy and comfortable, she will tell you what you want to know.

The witch has her own mysterious dark magic, and it is also easy to pry open the witch's mouth, as long as you bring good wine, and - a singer who can sing various songs. One of the members of the Brotherhood Without Banners, Tom Sevenstrings, is responsible for maintaining the most pleasant relationship with the 'witch' of the Children of the Forest. The secret is his singing and his seven-stringed harp.

As long as Tom Sevenstrings is there, it will not be difficult to ask for any news about the Lightning Lord.

The Mountain and Earl Mooton led the Clegane light cavalry and Mooton's mixed cavalry and infantry regiment and headed for High Heart.

Since Redwyne had captured two members of the Brotherhood Without Banners, one of whom wanted to exchange information for wealth, The Mountain decided to give that traitorous brother great wealth.

The team set out and camped before dark. After The Mountain and others had dinner, Earl Mooton saw The Mountain's guards tidying up The Mountain's saddle. The众 (zhòng, all) guards and two light cavalry generals were also preparing for battle.

"Your Grace, are we going to fight tonight?" Mooton asked doubtfully.

"No, Your Grace, arrange for scouts to patrol and rest normally tonight. I and the Clegane light cavalry will go out for a while and will be back soon."

"When will you be back?"

"Before dawn!"

The Mountain got on Red Smoke Beast, and with a military whistle - Earl Mooton had never played with this iron whistle thing, and the sound was sharp and high-pitched - the Clegane cavalry all mounted their horses. About three hundred riders disappeared into the night with lightning speed, watching Earl Mooton open his mouth and fail to close it, like a fish dying of thirst on the shore!

*

ps: Try to add one more update. So busy.