New chapter! Thanks for all the support!
x
The heavy iron door of Casterly Rock's underground storeroom finally could no longer withstand the repeated impacts of great force. It collapsed heavily to the ground.
"Light the braziers!"
Theon, standing beside Robb, looked into the pitch-black storeroom hall and ordered the ironborn nearby.
Several ironborn moved along both sides of the hall, using the torches in their hands to light one brazier after another. The unusually broad storeroom was suddenly bright with fire.
The storeroom was a square hall about six yards high and fifty or sixty yards long and wide.
Thick pillars carved with roaring lions stood throughout the hall, steadily supporting the wide underground space.
On the left side of the hall were neat rows of weapon racks stacked nearly to the ceiling, holding brand-new weapons of every kind.
Most of them were swords: greatswords, broadswords, bastard swords, and more. There were also spears, axes, hammers, bows, crossbows, and arrows in full supply.
These weapons had likely been treated against rust. Under the flickering firelight, their sharp edges flashed coldly now and then.
On the right side were similarly neat rows of armor: heavy plate, ordinary plate, scale armor, mail, and leather armor. Every piece bore the roaring lion sigil of House Lannister.
If northern soldiers wanted to use them, they would still need to spend some money hiring smiths to alter the style and replace the sigil.
'As expected of the golden house. These finely made weapons and armor could equip an elite army of nearly ten thousand at any time.'
Robb walked down the central aisle of the storeroom hall with Theon and the northern lords who had taken part in the battle.
Having always lived in the poor North, he finally saw today what true wealth meant.
"Gods. The workmanship on this equipment is excellent, and the quality is outstanding."
"The soldiers of my house still take turns using worn equipment left by the previous generation."
"Surely this is not only the Lannister family's storeroom? Are we certain this is not the storeroom of all Westeros?"
Listening to the northern lords behind him exclaim and talk among themselves, a smile appeared at the corner of Robb's mouth.
It seemed he was not the only country bumpkin from the North.
After walking for a while, Robb and the others reached the end of the storeroom, where twelve black wooden chests had been arranged in a row.
Each chest was roughly two feet wide and a foot and a half high.
"Open them."
Robb stared at the chests and ordered without turning back.
Hearing him, Theon did not have the ironborn beside him open them. He personally stepped forward, wanting to see whether the contents were what he imagined.
Creak!
Theon reached the chests, glanced back at Robb and the silent northern lords behind him, then directly lifted the lid of the black wooden chest.
Gulp!
Someone swallowed too loudly. In the silence, the sound was especially obvious.
But it could hardly be blamed on him. Wealth could move any heart.
Inside the black chest Theon had opened, gold ingots as thick as forearms were stacked neatly.
Under the surrounding firelight, they gleamed with a mesmerizing yellow luster.
Creak, creak!
Seeing that the black chest was filled with gold just as he had expected, Theon excitedly opened all the other chests.
All of them held gold ingots.
Every black chest in the row was the same as the first, filled with gold neatly stacked to the top.
Even if the Lannister gold mines had already run dry, even if House Lannister had lent the crown millions of gold dragons, a starving camel was still larger than a horse.
The remaining gold Tywin had stored in Casterly Rock alone was already wealth the North could not accumulate in decades, or even a century.
"Lord Rickard. Lord Jon."
"Yes, Your Grace!"
"Your Grace, I am here!"
Hearing Robb call their names, Lord Rickard Karstark and Greatjon Umber stepped out from behind him and saluted.
"In this attack on Casterly Rock, House Karstark and House Umber charged bravely at the front and suffered great losses. At the same time, your merit is great.
"I allow you to choose freely from these spoils."
Robb looked at the two northern lords, both extremely loyal and willing to charge into danger for him, and smiled.
Hearing Robb acknowledge their merit and allow them to choose spoils first, Lord Rickard and Greatjon immediately saluted happily. "Thank you, Your Grace!"
Greatjon had a straightforward nature and did not think too much. After saluting in thanks, he rushed directly to the black chests.
He grabbed forearm-thick gold ingots with both hands and stuffed them into his clothes. These ingots were not only large, but also heavy. After Greatjon had stuffed in only three, his armor was already packed full, and the weight had pulled it somewhat out of shape.
Seeing that nothing else would fit, Greatjon thought for a moment, then took one more gold ingot in each hand and turned to walk back.
As soon as he turned, he saw Robb and all the northern lords quietly looking at him.
Only then did Greatjon react. An awkward smile appeared on his fierce face. "Did I... take too much?"
"Haha, Greatjon, one of those gold ingots is worth at least a thousand gold dragons.
"You took nearly five thousand gold dragons at most. That is not too much.
"But does your castle's savings from all these years amount to five thousand gold dragons?"
From among the northern lords came a teasing voice.
"Five thousand gold dragons? If you can find five hundred gold dragons in Last Hearth, I will give you the whole castle."
Greatjon did not hear the mockery in the words. He rolled his eyes and honestly revealed his family's wealth.
Hahaha!
Robb and the others could not help laughing together.
"Not too much, not too much, Lord Jon. I said you may choose as you wish."
Robb laughed, then shook his head and spoke seriously.
He was never stingy toward subordinates who were willing to risk their lives for him.
To establish military discipline and his own authority, harsh punishment was necessary. Generous reward was just as necessary.
Beneath Lord Rickard's rough appearance was a rather shrewd mind.
Seeing that Robb allowed Greatjon to take five gold ingots, he secretly compared their value, then pointed to the armor stacked nearby and said to Robb, "Your Grace, I would like six hundred full sets of that armor."
Robb looked at the armor he indicated. It was a set of fine mail, including gorget, greaves, and full helm.
One set was worth about ten gold dragons. Counting the cost of altering the Lannister sigil and other work, the value was roughly equal to the gold Greatjon had taken.
"As you wish, Lord Rickard."
Since Lord Rickard knew his limits and was not greedy, Robb nodded and agreed directly.
Seeing both Lord Rickard and Greatjon receive heavy rewards, Theon looked at Robb with shining eyes.
But Robb did not continue distributing rewards as Theon expected. Instead, he turned to the other northern lords and said, "House Lannister has also stored a great deal of food. There are two thousand warhorses in the stables as well. In short, anything of value is to be moved out."
"Yes, Your Grace!"
Everyone nodded, then turned and left the storeroom, each taking charge of moving Casterly Rock's wealth.
"What? Are you unhappy because I gave you no reward?"
Robb turned and saw Theon's displeased expression, then asked.
"I led the men who opened Casterly Rock's left gate. Even if that is not first merit, it should count as second-tier merit.
"And yet I get nothing?"
Theon rolled his eyes and answered irritably.
"Brother, outsiders need rewards to win their hearts.
"Do not worry. When the time comes, whatever your Iron Islands need, I will supply."
Seeing that no one else was present, Robb spoke with complete sincerity.
"Brother. Right, Robb. You and I do not need to stand on ceremony so much."
Theon savored the word "brother," then immediately answered with a bright smile.
In truth, he had not really been angry over the reward. After all, Robb had helped him gain his throne as king of the Iron Islands.
He had simply risked his life to attack Casterly Rock as well, and he badly wanted Robb's acknowledgement.
"Right. I forgot to ask earlier. How did you learn that Barbrey and her father had betrayed us?"
Robb patted Theon's shoulder, then suddenly jumped to another topic.
Hearing the question, Theon was about to tell the truth. Then he remembered Ramsay, who had given him all the credit and feared being implicated.
Thinking that it would not matter much, he paused, then answered, "After you killed Roose Ryswell, I saw the hatred on their faces, so I sent men to follow them in secret.
"That night, my spy heard them plotting betrayal and came back to report it to me.
"Their contact at Casterly Rock is also in my hands. If you want to send Tywin some false intelligence, you can make use of it."
"Oh? Theon, you are becoming rather impressive. You are already a qualified king of the Iron Islands.
"Remember to reward that spy properly. It is fortunate their betrayal was discovered in time.
"Otherwise, if Barbrey and her father had leaked my next plan, it would have been trouble."
Seeing Theon handle matters cleanly, Robb nodded and praised him, also telling him to reward the spy.
"Heh, of course."
Theon smiled at the praise. Thinking of Ramsay, who had become more and more useful lately, he nodded.
"Also, keep a close watch over those Lannisters. We will take them with us when the time comes.
"They still have some value."
"Mm. Do not worry. I have Quenton guarding them with men."
"Finally, release all the ravens in Casterly Rock. Tell everyone in Westeros that this castle that had never fallen has been taken by us."
Caw, caw!
A raven flew from Casterly Rock and followed the coastal road south. Its destination was Dorne.
Below its flight path was the road from Lannisport to Crakehall. At this moment, a group of ten riders was moving slowly south along that road.
"Barbrey, why do we not simply find a port and take a ship back to the North?"
Lord Rodrik had been in a foul mood throughout the journey. He spoke to his daughter beside him.
"Father, the northern army cannot win this war. If we do not choose a side and invest now, the next Warden of the North will certainly use the northern nobles to establish his authority.
"You do not want our family to become the example, do you?"
Barbrey persuaded her father. She saw things clearly enough to know that northern nobles like them could not remain above this war.
"You are right, but..."
Neigh!
At the front of the column, a House Ryswell rider was suddenly tripped by a taut horse line. The falling horse gave a mournful cry.
Lord Rodrik and Barbrey had been riding near the front. They had no time to rein in before their horses were tripped by the fallen horse ahead, sending them tumbling to the ground.
"Kill them!"
Shouts of killing suddenly came from both sides of the road. Nearly twenty Lannister soldiers rushed toward Lord Rodrik's group, who had been thrown into chaos with horses and men sprawling everywhere.
Slash!
When Daven drove his longsword into the chest of the final House Ryswell rider, the ambush was completely successful.
Several days earlier, Daven had led more than twenty guardsmen back from the road to Casterly Rock to Lannisport, hoping to find horses and ride to Crakehall to deliver a warning.
Who could have known that Lannisport had been plundered clean by tens of thousands of northern soldiers and ironborn? Valuable things like horses would never be left for them.
And with so few men, they obviously did not dare try to steal horses from the heavily guarded harbor district. So they had found some dry rations and set out toward Crakehall on foot.
After several days of walking, they unexpectedly discovered this small party of northern riders coming from the direction of Lannisport.
Seeing that the other side had only ten riders, they simply set an ambush and caught them completely unprepared.
"Stop! You are Lannister soldiers? I am Lord Tywin's spy. We are on the same side!"
Lord Rodrik, who had been seeing stars from the fall, finally came to himself after all his family riders had died. Seeing the roaring lion sigils on Daven and the others, he immediately waved and shouted.
"Yes, yes. We are on the Lannister side as well!"
Barbrey, held at swordpoint by one of the guardsmen, also recovered and hurriedly shouted with a nod.
"Haha. If you say you are Lord Tywin's spies, then you must have something to prove your identity. Take it out and let me see."
Daven clearly did not believe Barbrey and her father. With a laugh, he directly ordered them to produce evidence.
But how could Barbrey and her father possibly do that? They had not even received Tywin's reply before being sent off to Bitterbridge as envoys.
"Heh. Brothers, give them a proper welcome. I want every scrap of intelligence they have on the northern army."
Seeing Barbrey and her father look at each other wordlessly, Daven sneered and gave the order to the guardsmen behind him.
"No, no, my lord. We are willing to tell you everything we know!"
Seeing the ill-faced Lannister soldiers approach, Barbrey cried out in panic.
"My apologies, but I do not trust a word you say now.
"Enjoy yourselves. I will question you afterward."
Daven found a piece of jerky in one of the food bags on the ground, put it into his mouth, and chewed dryly as he answered.
"We truly are Lord Tywin's spies! Believe us!"
Lord Rodrik, held by several guardsmen, shouted at Daven, but Daven paid no attention at all.
"Ah! Ah!"
These guardsmen, whose comrades had been killed and whose home had been occupied by northern soldiers, poured out all the anger of the past few days onto Lord Rodrik, beating and kicking him until he screamed again and again.
"Save some strength. I want him alive."
Listening to the shrill screams while chewing his jerky, Daven shouted an order to his men.
"Heh, Lord Daven, this northern woman. Are you interested..."
A guardsman with an ugly smile leaned close to Daven and asked.
Daven naturally understood his meaning. He looked up and assessed Barbrey, whose face bore wrinkles, whose figure was tall, and whose brown-gray hair was tied in a widow's knot. She was a woman past her prime, and he shook his head.
"No interest. I prefer young girls."
"Heh. Then can we..."
Hearing the subordinate's question, Daven remembered the mother and daughter he had saved, and then thought of the many more smallfolk in Lannisport he had not been able to save.
He said to this subordinate who had followed him from beginning to end, "Do as you like. But I want her information."
"Heh. Rest assured, Lord Daven. We will make sure to question it out of her."
x
x
x
If you're enjoying the story so far, consider supporting me on Patreon ❤️
You'll get weekly early access to chapters, along with some exclusive content:
https://www.patreon.com/cw/TheDevotedReader