Ice and Fire: Reign of the Dragon.

Chapter 180: The Ringol Expedition (II): Friends, Brothers and Knights (II in One)

Lingol held the necklace on his chest. It was secretly given to him by Uncle Lei. It was not a valuable item. Compared with the jewelry that his sisters wore when he was still in the family, it was like a little duck meeting a white swan. But it was better in material, workmanship and the rubies inlaid on it. If sold to a merchant who knew the goods, it could be sold for at least 10 gold royals. Even if sold to those small merchants, it could be sold for two or three hundred silver deer, which was enough for Lingol to survive for a while when he was in the most difficult time.

However, if we look at the actual situation in Westeros, there is actually no need for Ringol to prepare additional property.

He had armor - although it was not Valyrian steel armor, it was also made of Varese bloodsteel. The original plate breastplate and shoulder armor had heraldic patterns and complex patterns inlaid with pure silver and enamel, but Hoffa and his craftsmen erased them before setting off.

He has a warhorse - a Varese Silver-Blood horse. This kind of horse can be recognized as a good horse by those who know the goods at a glance. However, because it has only gradually become the standard warhorse of the Silver-Blood Army Cavalry in recent years, many people actually don’t know that it is a regulated military warhorse, nor do they know that it is a new breed.

More importantly, he had swords, more than one, and even a spear with distinct Borderland and Dornish characteristics.

Although he didn't know that the rapier on his waist was the Valyrian steel sword "Starsinger", he knew that in the land of Westeros, a guy with armor, a warhorse, and weapons would basically not go hungry.

Even in peacetime, small lords need people to protect their lands, because feudal lords rarely pay attention to their interests, with the exception of Jacaerys and Longzel. Merchants need to hire warriors to protect them on the long trade routes, and lords also need people to prove their bravery. Regardless of whether a wandering knight or a warrior wins the tournament, they have the possibility of earning the lord's money. At least they can earn the lord's food and bed - unless he is stupid.

Lingol felt that he was not hopeless.

At least with my own abilities, I will never starve to death.

No wonder he is confident.

"Huh." The young man stuffed the necklace back into the collar of his armor and patted the warhorse under his crotch. The warhorse, which he also named "Star Song", obediently and slowly quickened its pace. "Sorry, Star Song." Lingol apologized to his dragon in his heart. Who said he was a bad namer? He thought for a long time and still couldn't figure out what to call his warhorse. He counted the money on him. He usually lived a frugal life. Most of his annual salary was used to help his friends in the Purple Palace. The rest was secretly saved by him to buy gifts for his younger brothers and sisters, so now he has 92 silver deer and 8 gold dragons in his purse. Danyla also hid a small gold bar in the hilt of the Star Singer.

The money was secretly taken out by his mother from her hiding place in her room. Lingol knew that his mother knew he had hidden the money, but he didn't expect that his mother knew where he had hidden the money. Of course, his mother didn't take out all the money.

The money that Ringol had saved over the years was enough for him to buy a manor and become a wealthy knight.

"We need to buy a packhorse, or preferably two." Lingol knew that Xingge was a warhorse, and it would be a problem if he had to carry him in armor for a long time. At this time, Lingol's usual learning gradually occupied the top of his brain again. "The price of horses in my father's territory is lower than the surrounding areas. A normal warhorse costs about 800 to 900 silver deer, and the price of a packhorse is between 600 and 700 silver deer. However, the cheapest is definitely Uncle Ago's Karasa settlement. If you give the Kou in the settlement a valuable enough gift, you may even be able to exchange it for a silver-blooded horse."

Just as Lingol was daydreaming on horseback, suddenly, the sound of horse hooves reached the boy's ears, which instantly cleared Lingol's mind. He reined in his horse vigilantly and slowly retreated to the woods beside the road.

No, it shouldn't be an enemy.

Lingol closed his eyes and carefully judged the direction and source of the horse's hooves sound. He could hear it with his naked ears, which meant that the riders were very close to him. If Lingol guessed correctly, there were two horses galloping in his direction and they would catch up with him soon.

who can that be?

He knew there would be basically no enemies on this road.

Over the years, Longzel's most frequent duties were to build towns, and to prepare roads and bridges. The original Bone Road - Stone Road, which connected the Stormlands, the Borderlands, and East Dorne, was renovated. The Bone Road went all the way north and successfully intersected with the King's Road. In addition to the Bone Road, two roads that traversed the Prince's Territory in the Borderlands from east to west, with the Prince's Pass as the axis, were also built over the years. The Silver Blood Avenue in the north started from Summerhall and intersected with the Bone Road, then went west all the way through the mountains of the Crimson Mountains, and extended like a spider web to various castles, manors, and towns along the way, finally ending at Starport City at the western end of the River Bay.

Rey has been trying to push Star Harbor City to replace Old Town.

Unfortunately, the Old Town has unique water conservancy conditions. The Mead River is not as flat as the Mander River. It is covered with reefs and sandbanks, making it an excellent waterway. Even though the Old Town is no longer as prosperous as it used to be and the urban area is in decline, it is still the most important port in the river bay.

Therefore, Star Harbor ultimately did not become the next Wine Harbor and Silver Crown Harbor.

The second Silver Crown Avenue starts from Silver Crown City and splits into two branches at Prince's Pass. One branch connects with Silver Blood Avenue to the north, replacing the sandy road of Prince's Pass, and the other continues westward to Starfall City.

After Daemon's death, Longzel took over the power of the kingdom. The Silver Blood Road was officially connected to the King's Road and the Rose Road. The desert road starting from Yangjing City and finally merging into the Bone Road-Stone Road and Silver Crown Road was also finally built during these years.

The road network linking the Seven Kingdoms, begun during the reign of King Jaehaerys, was completed during the reign of Dragonzel.

Merchants had already begun to gather on the road before it was completed. For these land-based merchants, a flat and wide road was enough for them to do many things.

No bandits would dare to rob on this road, after all, there is a Silver Blood Army manor nearby that is responsible for protecting the road.

So Ringol was just wondering why someone was running towards him in such a hurry.

When the two horses appeared in sight, Lingol couldn't help but frown.

Why are they the two?
Regen Kaon quickly glanced at the crowd in front of him, behind him, and beside him, then squeezed his legs against the horse's belly and slowed down.

Strange, why didn't I find His Highness Ringol? He shouldn't be walking in the wilderness or on small roads?

However, Ella Rion who was standing next to him suddenly came to Lei Geng and quietly touched the silver-haired boy's arm: "Lei Geng, look, does that person look like His Highness?"

Regen looked in the direction where Elarion was looking, and sure enough, he saw Ringol, who was standing on the side of the road and also looking in the direction the two men were coming. The two young men hurriedly rode forward.

There was no mistake. Even though the hair was black and the eyes had changed color, there was no mistake about that face.

Regen recognized Ringol at once, but Alarion hesitated for a moment.

Interestingly, the Kaon family that Regen came from was the chief retainer family of the Varese family and also a branch of the Varese family. After the Varese family moved to the Blackwall, this family was established by the child born to the first generation head of the family, "The Lost Dragon" Ringol, and a woman without dragon blood.

However, by the time of Regen's generation, the dragon blood in the Kaon family had almost disappeared. But he could still recognize Ringol at a glance, whose appearance had been changed by blood magic and disguise magic.

It's not just because the two of them are very familiar with each other, but also because Lei Geng is more familiar with the "smell" of his distant relative.

As for what it was, Lei Geng couldn't explain it clearly.

Seeing that Regen had already pulled Elarion to his side, Ringol knew that he could no longer hide his identity. He knew that Regen was familiar with him enough for him to recognize him at once.

Then there is no need to quibble.

"You two." What Lingol wanted to say at first was, why are you two here to see me instead of studying hard in the Purple Palace? Did you skip class again? But when the words came to his lips, he remembered the look his father gave him before he left, and the words Uncle Hoffa had told him.

Hoffa is very self-aware. He knows very well that he abides by the rules and laws because he is Longzel's subject and he has to serve Longzel. Therefore, he has to do his best to follow the rules set by Longzel. But Ringol is not like that.

In the future, he would not only follow the rules set by his father, but also make his own rules. But he actually only said one sentence to Ringo.

"Be like me as a minister, like me as a monarch."

Ringol swallowed the words he was about to say and looked at his friends who had caught up with him a little embarrassedly. Reagon was one of his best friends and the only friend from another family who had secretly ridden Starsong with him. Although Alarion was not as close to him as Reagon, he was also one of the few children who got along well with him in the Purple Palace.

Ringol almost knew the reason why Regen was looking for Alarion. This kid was full of brute strength, and was the best among the children in the Purple Palace in swordsmanship and riding, especially swordsmanship. Whether it was a two-handed sword, one-handed sword, half-hand sword or rapier, Alarion was very skilled in it and was no worse than those adults.

Of course, I still couldn't beat Aslan.

"How did you get here?" Ringol looked at his two good friends and jumped off the horse. The two teenagers followed him and dismounted. Ellarion took Ringol's reins with ease and tied them together with his own horse and Regen's horse. The three teenagers went into the woods beside the road.

This forest was newly planted when the road was built. After more than ten years of growth, it has now grown to a considerable size. Under the shade of the trees, the three teenagers found a clean piece of ground and sat down. Regen looked at Ringol in surprise.

"Your Highness, you shouldn't have said that first." Regen pretended to be serious and continued, "Why are you two skipping classes and coming here instead of studying with the maesters and knights in the Purple Palace? Do you want to be punished?"

Lingol scratched his brown hair a little embarrassedly. Lei Geng was the only outsider who dared to make such a joke in front of him. There was no special reason. It was simply because this kid was shameless, or thick-skinned. Even if he was punished, he would stick to him next time. Over time, Lingol found that he could tolerate Lei Geng's jokes.

And this guy's jokes are often really on point.

Just like today. He directly said what he wanted to say, which made him feel very embarrassed.

The fact that Reagon and Alerion were able to escape and find him despite the risk of being punished by Hoffa was enough to prove their loyalty and friendship to him. My father had such friends around him, and so did I.

But will my past actions hurt my friends?

Ringol didn't know.

But what Ringol knew was that his father had taught him that when he found that he didn't know something, he should learn and explore. "I will know, and I will let my friends see a new me."

Ringo said in his heart.

My thoughts gradually returned to Regen and Elarion.

"To be honest, I suspect that Sir Hoffa and his men let us escape on purpose, Your Highness. I was wondering why the walls of Dragonzel Palace were so low. Wasn't it intentional to leave us a way out to play? That's why we never dared to take that route before. As a result, when Alarion and I climbed out this time, we really didn't see anyone. Sir Hoffa and his men would never have let go of such a hidden place."

"And we got the horses easily." Alarion realized something was wrong. Everything was going too smoothly.

Lingol smiled and shook his head. He naturally knew why this was the case. His father "exiled" him because he was too naive, so naive that he didn't seem like someone who had been with him for so many years. However, his father also cherished him very much.

After all, if we talk about bloodline.

He and Samantha are the only two pure-blooded dragon kings in the world.

A true, pure-blooded Dragon King without any impurities.

Just like what he and Samantha could understand from Star Song and Gnaw Fire every time they went to the dragon cave to visit the dragons of their family. The dragons called their father Longzier "the dangerous kind" and called themselves and Samantha "the same kind" and "the cubs".

This is also the fundamental reason why the two of them cannot get together no matter what. If they get together, it is basically impossible for them to have offspring.

Even if there is, it would be a monster that killed my mother.

"You two, even though my father exiled me, he couldn't just watch me starve to death or get killed by some unknown person." Lingol hugged his two good brothers' necks: "So he also sent you two to assist me."

Having said this, Lingol suddenly lowered his head.

"thank you all."

Lei Geng was stunned for a moment, tilted his head, and shouted loudly, somewhat deliberately: "Alas, alas, Your Highness, your armor is too uncomfortable. Aren't you tired of wearing this piece of iron?"

Only then did Alarion notice that Ringol was still wearing plate armor, and he couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Lingol blushed: "I haven't bought a packhorse yet, so I have no place to put the armor."

"Use my horse." Alarion stood up and patted his chest. "Regen is weak, Your Highness, you can't be without a warhorse, so use mine."

Anyway, if it comes to fighting, Alarion on horseback is confident that he can defeat most enemies.

"This..." Lingol immediately frowned: "Elarion, you are also a warrior. How can a warrior be without a warhorse?"

He raised his hand and said in an unquestionable tone: "At least I'm not tired now. Xingge won't consume too much energy if he walks and stops. I can hold on until the horse market."

Ringol remembered that there was a small market town called "Horse Market" nearby, which was governed by a knight under the Cavolon family. Merchants in the market would regularly bring gifts to the nearby settlements to exchange horses with the Dothraki.

The Dothraki of the khalasar of Aggo are now very skilled in "trade," though they still stubbornly refer to trade as "returning gifts to friends."

But anyway, everyone has made money and doesn't care about these nominal differences.

"You are my friends and subjects of my family. How could I sacrifice your interests to satisfy my own selfish desires?"

Ringol said firmly.

The one in the early morning and the first update of today are combined and sent out, 4500+, and there will be another chapter later.

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(End of this chapter)