New Barrel City, located downstream of Golden Tree River, is the fiefdom of the great House Fossoway of The Reach. Because it is close to Rose Road and Golden Tree River, it is also a gathering place for traveling merchants. Almost all goods transported to Golden Tree City, Red Lake City, and Old Oak City are distributed here, instead of going through Highgarden.
The reason traveling merchants made this choice was initially due to Highgarden's heavy taxes. Transporting goods to Highgarden incurred an additional heavy tax, and merchants, driven by profit, naturally knew how to choose.
Later, House Tyrell of Highgarden significantly reduced the transit taxes for merchant caravans and abolished some unreasonable taxes, hoping to draw these merchants from New Barrel City.
However, merchants were already accustomed to distributing goods in New Barrel City. Additionally, the lords of cities like Red Lake City, Cold Howl Keep, and Old Oak City also built some simple roads for the convenience of merchants. Although these roads were crude and could not compare to roads like Rose Road, traveling merchants were already used to them. Therefore, Highgarden only attracted a small portion of merchants, with the vast majority still choosing to stay in New Barrel City.
However, in recent days, there seem to be an unusually large number of merchants gathered in New Barrel City. Not only have the caravans that have already unloaded their goods not left, but even some merchants from Highgarden have come to New Barrel City. They all seem to be waiting for something.
Well-informed individuals quickly gathered some information. It turned out that the previous encirclement and suppression campaign against the Red Lake Forest bandits by Golden Tree City, Red Lake City, and Old Oak City had yielded unexpected gains. The rumor that the Red Lake Forest bandits were remnants of the Dragon family turned out to be true. The three great Houses confiscated a large amount of supplies from the bandits, including not only food but also weapons, and a large quantity of valuable items that could be readily exchanged for money. Among them, they even found some important supplies that the Mad King had lost before his death.
Therefore, some speculated that the Mad King might have anticipated the fall of the Dragon family before his death, which is why he entrusted some supplies to loyalists of the Dragon family, and the Red Lake Forest bandits were among them.
Although a great deal of supplies were confiscated this time, there was very little money. The three great Houses did not need so many supplies; they needed readily available money. Another concern was that these supplies still bore the Dragon family's mark, and they worried that if they kept these supplies, Robert Baratheon might consider them remnants of the Dragon family and use it as an excuse to deal with them.
Therefore, they needed to sell these supplies as quickly as possible and exchange them for golden dragons and silver stags. In their vicinity, there were only two places capable of quickly dispersing these supplies: New Barrel City and Highgarden.
However, House Tyrell of Highgarden is currently dedicating all its efforts to repairing its relationship with Robert Baratheon, leaving no energy to deal with these commercial matters. But Count Tarx Fossoway, the head of the Green Apple House Fossoway and Lord of New Barrel City, has shown great enthusiasm for this matter. He even proactively contacted the three great Houses and offered very favorable terms, such as waiving taxes, to persuade the three Houses to sell these supplies in New Barrel City.
Some wondered if Tarx Fossoway would gain nothing by doing this, but shrewd individuals saw the intent behind Count Tarx's actions. The transaction tax on those supplies was not what Count Tarx valued. He valued the merchant caravans that gathered in New Barrel City because of these supplies. These caravans would make New Barrel City prosperous for a long time, and the Additional Benefits far exceeded the tax on a single batch of supplies.
However, for the common people of New Barrel City and the low-ranking guards of the merchant caravans, the profit schemes of the high-ranking nobles were too distant. They did not care about them. The only things they cared about were the legendary stories that emerged from this bandit suppression battle, such as Joel Flower, who broke through the formation alone and slew the bandit leader, and Alistair Oakhart, who led thirteen cavalrymen to rout over a hundred bandits, and so on.
However, among the legendary stories created by these famous knights, one person's legendary story stood out, and this person was also the most legendary of all the legendary stories. This person was the legendary story of Bear Hunter Lind.
Compared to those high-and-mighty knight lords, Bear Hunter Lind, who was also a commoner, clearly resonated more with the common people. When they heard the hunter of bears song from the bards in the taverns, they could always immerse themselves in it and create legends alongside the Bear Hunter in the story.
Before the battle to suppress the Red Lake Forest bandits, the story of Bear Hunter Lind was already circulating in the taverns of various cities in The Reach. However, at that time, those who heard it only regarded Lind as a lucky hunter, merely praising his heroic and filial character for avenging his father alone and hunting mountain bears. No one considered the Bear Hunter to be a true warrior.
However, now, after hearing the legendary stories of the suppression battle, everyone's perception of Bear Hunter Lind has changed dramatically, and this change even feels somewhat incredible, like a long-known acquaintance suddenly becoming a stranger they have never met.
Refusing assistance from ten soldiers, going alone to guard a vital point, single-handedly slaying nearly a hundred bandits who had fled from the battlefield, and among these slain bandits were two remnants of the Dragon family—such exaggerated achievements made anyone who heard it feel that it was simply a fabricated rumor. However, this achievement was acknowledged by Ser Roman Weber of House Webber of Cold Howl Keep and Ser Joel Flower, who ended the suppression battle. The integrity of these two men is well-known among the nobles of The Reach.
And so, the Bear Hunter's experiences in this suppression battle were compiled into songs by some bards and began to circulate in the taverns of Red Lake City, Old Oak City, and Golden Tree City, and they were loved by the common people, and the bards also made a fortune.
Upon seeing that this song could make money, other bards also began to actively spread it, and the Bear Hunter's reputation once again spread throughout the various cities in The Reach, and New Barrel City was naturally one of them.
After nightfall, the common people of New Barrel City, having finished their work, came to a tavern near the dock to relax. The mercenaries of the caravan also flocked into the tavern to spend their commissions and have a drunken night. The tavern's resident bard played the hunter of bears song for the third time today. Although the bard's voice was very ordinary, everyone still listened with great interest.
"To our hero, Bear Hunter!" When someone heard the Bear Hunter swinging his twin swords to slay the enemy, he couldn't help but raise his cup and shout loudly.
"To our hero, Bear Hunter!"
"To our hero, Bear Hunter!"
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