Ice and Fire: Reign of the Dragon.

Chapter 181: Ringol's Expedition (Part ): Buying a Horse
Seeing that they couldn't persuade Ringol, Regen and Ellarion stopped trying to persuade him. They had come out in a hurry and didn't even bring extra clothes, let alone armor or swords.

However, Lei Geng had a lot of money on him, and when all the money was added together, it looked like seven or eight golden dragons.

If the quality of the armor is not important, the money Lei Geng has can buy two full sets of chain mail with helmets in good condition.

Or a meal that would keep the three teenagers occupied for a long time.

"Your Highness, even a hedge knight would not wander around in armor every day. You will only draw attention to others." Although Alarion was not as attentive and interesting as Rhaegon, his father Teclis Hoth was once a very poor wealthy knight, and his sister married Oberyn, who was once a hedge knight. When he was a child, he heard his father and others tell stories about the past.

"It may be fine in your Highness's territory, but if we enter the Stormlands, the situation will probably be very different." Alarion knew more about this issue than Regen: "The mercenary knights in the Stormlands are not as easy to talk to as those in the Borderlands. The three of us are young, and if we have too good equipment..."

"Wait a minute." Lingol noticed something was wrong: "The three of us?"

The young man opened his mouth and wanted to say something. He actually wanted to persuade the two friends to go back. The conditions Longzel gave him were very harsh. He needed to cross the Stormland, go all the way to the Great Wall, and then turn back and walk through all the areas south of the Great Wall before he could return to Dragon's Nest. He was unwilling to let two innocent friends suffer with him.

Regen and Elarion looked at each other, knowing what Ringol wanted to say, and showed a bitter expression together: "Your Highness, if you want to send us back now, we can't go back."

Regen pretended to wipe away his tears and said, "Your Highness, although Sir Hoffa and the others may know that we escaped for you, if we return the same way we went, Sir Hoffa will definitely break our legs together with Count Aslan."

"If you don't go back, I will break your legs too." Lingol threatened the two teenagers.

However, Regen and Ellarion only needed to look at each other to realize that their young master must have hesitated at this time. If it were based on Ringol's previous temper, he would not have said such soft words. If nothing unexpected happened, the original Ringol might have started fighting while talking. Obviously, Ringol was finally conquered by their dead pigs not afraid of boiling water expressions.

"Your Highness, if you want to punish us, just make us serve you." Regen looked into Ringol's eyes and said with a grin, "Anyway, according to the rules of the Purple Palace, the punishment for skipping classes is to serve as servants of the scholars or Sir Hoffa's servants, and it's the same with you!"

Lingol found that he couldn't refute Lei Geng's words.

He couldn't really stubbornly refuse the help of his good friends. After all, they were actually his arms. Longzel had Longzel's blood sworn brothers. He treated Hoffa and the others almost the same as Valar and Rey. So now the five fingers of Varezes are united as one, indestructible. He will also have his own blood sworn brothers in the future. Regen and Alarion will definitely become important members of them, and they will most likely become one of the five fingers in the future.

After thinking for a while, Lingol finally made up his mind.

He needs to change his temper, and perhaps accepting the following of his two friends is the start.

Having made up his mind, Lingol said awkwardly: "Okay"

Before he finished speaking, Regen almost jumped up, with an expression of success: "Elarion, you see, I told you that His Highness would not reject us this time."

"But I have a request."

"Please go ahead." Alarian seemed much more stable than Regen at this time. For the two of them who were familiar with Lingol, it was very rare for Lingol to make such a "concession". This even showed that Lingol might have changed his habits.

is a good thing.

"Three points." Lingol looked at his two friends seriously: "First, the rules you follow at home must also be followed outside. Don't break the rules unless it is necessary."

Alarion nodded. He would have felt strange if Ringol hadn't said this.

"Second, I am now in exile by my father. My name is no longer Ringol Vareses, but Regen Silverblood. Regen, I'm sorry for using your name."

Lingol sincerely apologized to Lei Geng.

Rhaegon didn't care, anyway, his name "Rhaegon" itself is a homophonic variation of Ringol's High Valyrian. However, Rhaegon felt that he should change his name. After all, the surname Kaon is also a well-known surname of a noble in Westeros today.

"So I am now a wandering knight, you..."

"Hehe, Your Highness, oh, no, good sir." Regen patted his chest. They had thought about this problem before they escaped, and a little friend helped them.

Although Robert Vartarken, the eldest son of Lynn Vartarken, Loras Tarly, the hypocritical man of the Tarly family, and Renly Caullen, the little guy of the Caullen family, did not run out with them, they gave them a lot of "bad ideas".

For example, fake identities and fake names. The hypocritical Loras Tarly specialized in this. He received a secret mission from his aunt Diana. If Reagon guessed correctly, guiding these young men of suitable age and martial arts to follow Ringol was the task Loras Tarly received from Lady Diana. Although the names and nicknames he gave were disliked by the two young men, they did give them a lot of inspiration.

such as
"I am Haggar the Falcon." Rhaegon knew that with his obvious Valyrian appearance, it was best not to give him a Westerosi name, nor those high Valyrian names, so he chose a name that was very common among the Valyrians brought by Dragonziel. "My father was a falconer brought by Lord Dragonziel. He saved some money to make me a knight. Your father took me in and made me your squire."

Of course, the nickname changed a bit, after all, the sanctimonious Tully was originally called "Cheat" Hago.

"I'm Roger the Bold." Alarion said his alias. He was different from Regon. Although his face was not bad, it was a typical frontiersman's face. He was not even as distinctive as Hoffa, so he didn't need to deliberately create an identity background, nor did he need to think of a background introduction for his nickname like Regon did.

Ringol didn't know what to say.

It seems that what his father said was right. He really needs more experience. Otherwise, even in front of these friends and retainers who will become his arms in the future, his "wisdom" and "ability" are somewhat lacking.

"Finally, if you are in danger and I tell you to run, you must not disobey me."

Ringol looked sternly at Rhaegon and Elarion.

This is his bottom line.

Reagon and Elarion looked at each other and saw determination in each other's eyes.

The new and old gods and Prince Longzel are above, if there is a danger that the three of them cannot solve, even if they put their families aside, they are still Ringol's friends and "retainers" who have received his favor.

How could they abandon Ringol and run away first?

But the two of them finally nodded in agreement.

When Regen took off Ringol's armor and put it on his warhorse despite his objections.

Dragon's Nest City, Dragon's Lair.

Xingge hesitated in the huge hole of the dragon's lair a little irritably, as if ready to fly out, but seemed to be blocked by something again, and could only circle weakly in the hole.

Womisol lazily poked his head out of his nest, took a look at the man standing in front of Xingge, roared decisively, and then shrank back to sleep.

Because that person is Longzel.

Longzel just stood in front of Xingge, but Xingge, who had grown into a giant beast, didn't dare to fly out directly.

"Quiet, Xingge," Longzel scolded.

But Xingge still yelled at Longzel a few times in a somewhat anxious manner, and did not completely comply with the arrangements of this dangerous "fellow". After all, he was not his partner and had no power to order him around.

Longzel didn't understand what Xingge meant, but he could roughly guess what Xingge was roaring about. It was Ringol's companion dragon, and after being tamed, the connection between it and Ringol was quite close. As soon as Ringol left the range of Dragon Nest and Midsummer Hall, the dragon sensed it and wanted to fly out to find its companion, but was stopped by Longzel.

"Alright, alright." Longzel sighed. He also knew that he couldn't be too harsh on his silly dragon. "Don't worry, I'll let you go find that silly boy when necessary."

Longzel stretched out his hand, and as if there was some magic, Xingge tilted her head, and the anxiety and anger just now suddenly disappeared. The huge disc-shaped horn crown slightly nudged Longzel's outstretched hand, and Xingge slowly turned her head, crawled a few steps, and then flapped its dragon wings and flew back to her cave.

Longzel looked at his hands. He had a sense of his own blood. No matter where Ringol went, he could sense it and know whether he was in danger.

"Lingol, my foolish son." Longzel suddenly smiled: "I hope you won't let me down."

Collection of fine horses.

This is a fairly busy market in the Young Deer Village territory. After learning that Karasa of Ago has set up a settlement nearby, the wealthy knights who own this land keenly discovered that an opportunity to make a fortune is coming.

So the smart knight took the initiative to pay for the construction of an inn, stables and taverns in the village in front of the castle. He even led his people to build a dirt road connecting the bone road, just to attract merchants to gather here.

He also took wine and gifts to the settlement and established good relationships with the Dothraki elders and women who stayed there, so that he could exchange them for horses steadily.

Over time, although the wealthy knight was almost reduced to begging on the streets, he eventually turned his life around and became wealthy thanks to the prosperity of Junmaji.

"Ding"

After hammering the last nail in, the stable owner carefully examined the horseshoe he had just nailed.

Not bad, it seems that the hand is not yet raw.

The stable owner wiped his sweat and looked towards the edge of the market town. Now was not the season for horses to be put on the market, and the Dothraki and other horse dealers had not yet raised a new batch of horses, so their market town was quite deserted.

have a guest?
On the dirt road leading to the Bone Road in the market town, three dusty young men slowly emerged from the edge of the sight. The leading boy was wearing a nice-looking riding outfit, and seemed to be the young master of that family, or a good knight who was visiting other lords. The two people next to him were also very young, one walking and the other riding a horse, but they also walked into the market town slowly.

The destination seemed to be his own stable.

The owner of the stable hurriedly lowered his head, pretending to be busy with other things, but his eyes still secretly glanced at the three young men.

That’s right, the clothes of these three little guys all seemed to be made of good materials and the workmanship was exquisite. The owner of the stable also noticed the sword at Ringol’s waist and the things on the empty horse’s back.

Wait, horse?

The stable master then realized what he had overlooked. The three horses were all top-quality horses, which could only be seen in big cities like Summerhall and Silvercrown, as well as the castles of noble lords such as Fawn City and Black Harbor.

This shows what?
The owner of the stable was ecstatic. This could only mean one thing, that these three young men were at least the heirs of some noble family. Although no one knew what they were doing, they must be very rich.

Even if they had no money, they could still make a lot of money by selling the horses.

Merchants from the north loved the horses produced in the frontier areas and were willing to pay high prices to buy horses that could be sold and those that could not be sold.

Lingol glanced at the market town. Compared with the market outside the Silver Blood Army Manor he had been to, this market town was very simple and there were very few goods. Even the horses in the stables looked a little "unsightly".

But there was no way, they couldn't let the war horses they brought with them carry their equipment.

The owner of the stable did not expect that the silver-haired boy was so eloquent and seemed to be an expert. He had originally planned to sell three pack horses to them at the price of 620 silver deer each, but in the end, he was defeated by Regen's sharp words and Ringol's intimidating gaze.

The stable owner compromised.

"Take a look." Lei Geng lowered his voice and approached the stable owner and said, "Do you think the hoofs of these three horses are the same as you said?"

"And the breed." Lingol looked at Leigen and finally lowered his voice: "You told us that this is a purebred frontier heavy draft horse, but both the coat color and hoof are..."

"Alright, alright, seven levels of hell." The stable owner wailed, knowing that his plan to squeeze some money out of these three boys today was going to fail. "Three young masters, ah, no." The stable owner noticed that among the three young men, Ringol, who was carrying a sword, was the most respected.

"Good Sir, please let me go. Five hundred and thirty silver deer per horse. No lower." The stable owner said with tears in his eyes. "Although these three old horses are a bit old, they are still very strong and have bad tempers. Look, look." The stable owner patted the horses one by one, but there was really no movement.

"Be obedient. Five hundred and three, no less. I'll also provide you with horseshoes, my good lord. If it's any less, I won't even be able to afford gifts for those barbarians."

Lingol frowned when he heard the word "barbarian".

"Three horses, one price, fourteen thousand." Regen reported the stable owner's psychological bottom line. "My ser has to go a long way to visit Lord Cleggan in Winterfell. Your packhorse is so old. If something goes wrong, it will be my ser's loss." Regen said in a tone that did not allow for argument.

The stable master struggled for a moment.

Finally the deal was done.

He bit the golden dragon handed over by Ringol and checked the head portrait on it. The stable owner suddenly frowned.

The head portrait on the golden dragon is not King Aegon on the throne, nor is it the face-to-face profile of Prince Dragonzel and King Aegon, nor is it the most circulated ones of King Viserys and King Jaehaerys.

It was the head of King Jakaris with the iron sword and crown.

This kind of golden dragon is rare. It is a gold coin minted before the minting of golden dragons, which are called "double-headed coins".

It was mainly produced in the royal mints of Summerhall and Silvercrown, and some were also minted in the royal mints of Casterly Rock, White Harbor and King's Landing. However, the amount minted was not very large overall.

It seems that my guess was correct. These three young men do have some status.
But shouldn't these young nobles of status spend money lavishly? They haggled over just four gold royals for so long.

The owner of the stable felt like crying but had no tears left as he watched the three people leave.

"By the way, boss." Lingol suddenly turned around and looked at the owner of the stable.

"Please don't call them 'barbarians' anymore." Lingol said seriously, then turned around and continued walking.

This left the stable owner confused for a while.

Barbarian? What happened to that word? He remembered that the Dothraki and the First Men did not dislike the name.

It's really baffling.

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(End of this chapter)