Chapter 6 Recruitment
"Dear Lord Caesar, Todd Fohua is at your service under the order of Lady Olenna!"
Samwell looked at the knight bowing to him in front of him and the hundred soldiers of the Tyrell family behind him, with an unconcealable surprise on his face.
He had assumed that the hundred soldiers Olenna was talking about would be levies—a group of farmers who had just put down their hoes and picked up their swords.
But looking at the uniform movements and bloodthirsty temperament of these people in front of them, they are clearly the regular army of the Tyrell family!
And leather armor, long swords, shields, spears, bows and arrows... everything is available!
With such a well-armed elite infantry, it is not a problem to go to the Barrens to wipe out a small lord. Olenna just left it to herself?
Samwell suddenly felt that he might have underestimated the determination and skill of the "Queen of Thorns".
Of course, the other party obviously underestimated him.
He is not such an easy to control puppet.
Looking at the elite soldiers of the Tyrell family in front of him, the eagerness in Samwell's eyes could not be concealed.
He wants to let the women of the Tyrell family know what it means to beat meat buns—bah bah bah, how can they scold themselves.
Came back to his senses, Samwell took a closer look at the leader of this group of soldiers—Todd Flora Knight.
This person looks to be in his thirties, tall and tall, with a weathered face. The most striking thing is the horrible scar extending from his left ear to the corner of his mouth.
However, Samwell is more concerned about the other party's surname - Buddha Flower.
The seven kingdoms of Westeros all have their own customary illegitimate surnames, such as Snow in the North, Rivers in the Riverland, Sand in Dorne...and in the Riverbend , illegitimate children with noble blood generally take Flowers as their surname.
In the continent of Westeros, illegitimate children are not always inferior to others, because they only need a decree from the king to become legalized illegitimate children, with the right of inheritance second only to direct children.
There are not a few illegitimate children who can even affect the situation of the entire continent, such as the former "Duke of Blood Raven" Brynden Rivers, and Jon Snow who is about to become one of the protagonists of the plot.
So Samwell is very curious, which Todd Buddha flower in front of him is the illegitimate son of a nobleman in the river.
Seeing that Samwell didn't respond for a long time, Todd looked up and asked:
"Master Caesar, we are all ready, are we going to leave immediately?"
Samwell smiled and said:
"Don't worry, I have to recruit some more people."
Todd frowned: "Do you want to recruit again?"
"Yes." Samwell showed a look of fear, "There are many wild animals in the Scarlet Mountains, and there are wild men who don't obey discipline. Of course, I have to take more people there."
Todd secretly cursed in his heart that the useless eldest son of the Tully family really deserved his reputation, but he had no choice but to follow him into the city.
After walking for a while, Todd realized something was wrong, so he asked:
"My lord, aren't we going to the mercenary camp?"
"no."
Samwell didn't explain much, and continued to walk forward.
Not long after, a group of people came to the pier by the Mande River.
It was noon at this time, the weather was extremely hot, and most of the dock workers were resting in the shade.
Samwell told Todd next to him:
"Send some people to tell these laborers that I, Samwell Caesar, was ordered by the Duke of Metz to go to the Crimson Mountains to develop. If you are willing to follow me, you can come here to sign up. I will take care of their food and drink, and there will be a meal of meat every day. , In addition, a military salary of 70 copper coins will be issued every month. If unfortunately killed in battle, the family can receive a pension of five silver stags."
Todd hesitated, but reminded:
"Aren't you a little too generous to these people, my lord?"
Samwell waved his hand, with a look of "I am not short of money": "Only a generous lord can recruit soldiers who are good at fighting. Do as I say."
"Yes, my lord."
Soon, the news that Samwell was going to recruit soldiers to open up the Crimson Mountains spread throughout the pier.
"One meal of meat every day? Seventy copper coins per month, and five silver deer's pension after death? Is there such a good thing? Are you sure you heard it right?"
"Of course not, it's all over the pier now."
"Could it be a liar?" Gavin frowned, "Which family's surname is Caesar? Why haven't I heard of it?"
"Do you know all the gentlemen in the Reach?" The companion sneered, "And how could they be liars? There are hundreds of majestic soldiers standing there. If you don't believe me, go and see for yourself."
Gavin stopped hesitating immediately, and immediately ran over with the crowd.
Not long after, almost all the laborers at the dock heard the news.
Obviously, such superior treatment is enough to drive these low-level people crazy.
Samwell stood on a high ground, looked at the dark crowd in front of him, and said loudly:
"I am the pioneer knight just conferred by the Duke of Metz, Samwell Caesar! Today I will recruit a group of soldiers to accompany me to the Crimson Mountains to open up new territory. However, not everyone wants it. I still have the following requirements .First of all, I only want people between the ages of 18 and 35."
As soon as this remark came out, many people showed disappointment and left.
The crowd was thinner, but there were still thousands of people.
Samwell pointed to the lighthouse in the distance again, and said:
"Now, run to that lighthouse as fast as you can, and then run back!"
Many people froze in place after hearing this, but more smart people understood that this was a means of selection, and immediately ran away.
Samwell watched quietly, and after the first batch of fastest people returned, he asked Todd to send someone to stop the rest of the people behind, telling them that they had been eliminated.
After that, Samwell roughly counted the number of people in front of him, and found that it was still a bit too many.
He can't afford to support too many soldiers now, not to mention, these people are the subjects of the Tyrell family after all. It stands to reason that he should first seek the permission of the Duke of Metz before recruiting troops.
But he didn't want to meet the adult inflatable fish who obviously didn't like him, in case the other party refused.
So he is going to directly recruit about a hundred young and strong people. Even if the Duke of Metz knows about such a few people, he should not bother to care about him.
So, Samwell went to a high ground in front of the crowd, held the saber flat in front of his body, and ordered the rest of the laborers to line up and pass under the sword.
Seeing a person passing by with his head bowed, Samwell would say to him:
"You have been called."
For those who couldn’t reach the sword even when they stood up straight, he shook his head:
"Sorry, you were eliminated."
Gavin watched from the side, and soon realized that this time the master was planning to use his height to screen soldiers, and he felt a little nervous.
After all the people in front had passed by, he gritted his teeth and prepared to step forward.
Looking at the long sword getting closer, Gavin gradually began to despair in his heart, because he found that he was really not tall enough.
But when he walked under the sword, Gavin suddenly stood on tiptoe and closed his eyes at the same time—
Even though he knew that his small actions might be exposed mercilessly, Gavin couldn't care less.
He is not reconciled.
He was born in a slum, and he longed to be a knight's squire since he was a child, but why would the nobleman take a fancy to him, a pariah who doesn't even have a surname?
Hearing that a knight was going to open up this time, Gavin rekindled hope.
He knows that although it is difficult to open up the territory, once successful, a group of new nobles will be born.
He naturally did not dare to hope to become a nobleman, but only hoped to be favored by a new knight and become his attendant.
But now, this dream seems to be shattered again.
Gavin held his breath, waiting for the judgment of fate.
But the strange thing is that the voice of the knight master has never sounded.
Gavin didn't dare to turn his head to look, and was unwilling to give up, so he kept tiptoeing.
As time passed, Gavin's legs began to tremble, his face flushed, and beads of sweat kept dripping down, but he stubbornly refused to give up.
Of course Samwell saw that this kid was trying to cheat, but he never eliminated him, as if he was going to see how long he could stand on tiptoes.
The scorching sun in the afternoon was extremely hot, and the sweat that had just dripped evaporated before it soaked the ground.
Samwell began to feel his legs sore just standing normally, but the young man in front of him was still persisting.
He trembled all over and was on the verge of falling, as if he was about to fall in the next second, but he never fell.
Just when Gavin started to lose consciousness, a voice like the sounds of nature finally sounded:
"Okay, you've been drafted."
With a plop, Gavin fell to his knees, gasping for breath like a dehydrated fish.
Then, he saw the gentleman knight squatting in front of him, with a gentle smile on Yuanyuan's face:
"Boy, what's your name?"
"I, I, sir, my name is Gavin!"
"Okay, Gavin, from today on, you will lead the horse for me."
Gavin burst into tears instantly:
"Yes, sir!"
(end of this chapter)