Once someone started, the shouts honoring the Bear Hunter in the tavern rose and fell, one after another. It was unclear if the sound spread and stimulated the people in another nearby tavern, but shouts honoring the Bear Hunter also rang out in that tavern, and these shouts gradually spread to other taverns in the city and around the caravans' campfires.
It's unclear when it started, but Bear Hunter Lind became the embodiment of a commoner hero. Commoners took him as their idol, projecting their past aspirations for a life they wished they had but couldn't onto the Bear Hunter. When the Bear Hunter created a legendary story, they also felt a sense of participating in the creation of that legendary story, and thus their reverence for the unseen Bear Hunter grew even stronger.
"If things continue like this, I might soon hear someone shouting 'Long live the Bear Hunter!'" In an inconspicuous corner of the tavern, sat two cloaked strangers. One of them, a tall middle-aged man, took a sip of the mead in his cup, turned to look at his companion, who was quietly eating while leaning against the wall, and said teasingly.
The man slightly raised his head, looked at the other, and said, "I hope I won't be beheaded by our new King for this reason."
The other continued to tease, "No, I think with our new King's personality, you should be praised. Perhaps there will even be a place for you in the Kingsguard."
"Then forget it, I still want to have descendants." The Kingsguard, the highest and most revered honor for a knight, seemed worthless in that man's words.
"You are truly an ambitious fellow!" The middle-aged man took another sip of wine and said with appreciation.
The two men sitting in the corner of the New Barrel City tavern were none other than Joel Flower and Bear Hunter Lind, who was being praised in the songs. The commoners and mercenaries in the tavern who were shouting for the Bear Hunter had no idea that the object of their adoration was right beside them.
This also made Lind wonder, what would happen if he revealed his identity now? Would he be carried around the streets of New Barrel City by these people, or would he be treated as a madman and thrown out of the tavern? Lind felt the latter was more likely.
The reason they were here was entirely because Joel was fulfilling his promise to recommend Lind to Ser Fortimo Klenne as a knight's squire.
After attending the celebration banquet in Golden Tree City, Joel did not stay in Golden Tree City to participate in subsequent discussions, nor did he return to Red Lake City with House Crane's entourage. Instead, he directly took Lind south along Golden Tree River.
Originally, Joel planned to take a boat directly south to Highgarden, but when the boat docked at New Barrel City, he overheard dock workers talking about Highgarden sending a contingent to King's Landing to attend the martial arts tournament hosted by the new King for his first child. The leader of the contingent was Ser Garlan Tyrell, the Duke of Highgarden's second son, and Ser Fortimo Klenne, who had become the Highgarden Guard instructor and Garlan Tyrell's sword master, was accompanying them. This group had already arrived in New Barrel City and would continue their journey tomorrow after resting for a night.
Since Ser Fortimo was already in New Barrel City, there was no need to go to Highgarden, so the two disembarked in New Barrel City.
However, it was already late at night when they disembarked, and it was a bit inappropriate to go to House Tyrell's encampment at that time. All the inns in the city were full of people from various caravans, with no empty rooms. So Joel decided to spend the night in the tavern and go to see Ser Fortimo early tomorrow morning.
"Aren't you drinking?" Joel finished the mead in his cup, then pointed to the untouched mead in front of Lind and asked.
Lind shook his head and said, "I don't drink."
"What a boring fellow!" Joel took Lind's drink and took a sip, then watched Lind slowly chew his food, feeling that time was passing too slowly.
Their time together these past few days, especially the two days since leaving Golden Tree City and traveling south by boat, had deepened his understanding of Lind considerably due to their prolonged proximity.
Self-discipline, extreme self-discipline, was his latest assessment of Lind. After two days of observation, he found that Lind meticulously planned every activity: what to do at what time, how much time for sword practice, how much time for eating and resting, and so on. It was as if he held a time schedule in his hand, living every day according to this list, to an extreme degree of boredom.
This extremely self-disciplined character made Joel think of someone: Randyll Tarly, the Count of Horn Hill.
Fortunately, the person in front of him could still joke and tease, unlike Randyll Tarly, who was extremely serious and unsmiling, like a cold piece of iron.
However, even so, he was somewhat glad that he hadn't taken Lind as his squire. He knew that a few days ago, when he saw Lind's achievements, he couldn't help but feel an impulse to take Lind as his own squire, rather than letting Fortimo benefit.
After all, a knight's squire as powerful as this would be of no small help to him. At least on the battlefield, he would have a capable assistant to cooperate with, unlike the current few knight squires who still required his distraction and care.
But this thought only crossed his mind once before he dismissed it, because he didn't have that much time and energy to train a commoner. More importantly, he didn't believe Lind would go very far in the future.
After gulping down the mead in his cup, Joel felt a strong urge to urinate. He stood up, his figure somewhat unsteady. Being a poor drinker, he was already a bit drunk after two large cups of mead. He staggered out of the tavern, looked left and right, then found a secluded spot beside the tavern, preparing to relieve himself.
However, as he took out his privates to empty his bladder, he was completely unaware that someone had snuck up behind him, raised a wooden club, and struck him hard. As he fell to the ground, the assailant quickly patted him down, took his money pouch, and also took his sword and other valuables, not even sparing the bearskin cloak he was wearing.
At this moment, Lind, inside the tavern, had no idea that Joel was being attacked and robbed outside. He was still slowly savoring the food in front of him.
The reason he ate so politely was entirely because the food in front of him was truly unpalatable. Although the bread already had grapes inside and was coated with a layer of honey, the bread was simply too hard. Biting off a piece with effort required a long time of chewing before it could be broken down and swallowed.
Lind really wanted to throw away the bread in his hand, but he thought that he would have to face more such unpalatable food in the future. If he didn't adapt now, it would be too late to adapt later.
Just as Lind was struggling with the food in his hand, two people, one tall and one short, walked in from outside the tavern. Their gaze swept across the tavern. Seeing that only Lind was sitting at his table, they walked over and, without greeting Lind, sat down in the other two seats at the table in front of Lind.