The Mountain and Lord Gavin led the way, followed by his bandits.
The first row consists of cavalry officers.
Sweet-talking Ralph Clegane, the knight who trained all the noble generals of the Westerlands in the 'Military Sentinel Command' method, saw his status, prestige, and relationships with the nobility greatly improve in just over a month.
Dunson Clegane, the executioner, was a highly skilled fighter and a master swordsman. Apart from the Mountain, no one in the entire Legion could match his fighting prowess.
Neurotic, die-hard fan, and enthusiast of human organ art—Pollivor Clegane is a tall, bald man with a simple mind and a mad look in his eyes. The Mountain's Four Swords had just killed four Marble knights, intimidating the northern nobles and leaving them unable to move. This had ignited Pollive's passion, and he longed to collect some of their 'artwork'.
Big-Headed Chiswick, with his bull helmet, looked even bigger, giving him a top-heavy appearance, making one worry he might fall off his horse due to his enormous head. Although his neck was actually quite thick and his shoulders extremely broad, everything about him appeared too slender in comparison to his massive bull helmet.
Julie Clegane, the adopted daughter, stood out among the beasts, her body slender and graceful. Whether it was armor or weapons, everything Julie used was custom-made. Others were fortunate to have one good father, but Julie had two. Her father, the Mountain, had just displayed such imposing power and unparalleled skill with his greatsword before so many nobles, filling Julie with an indescribable admiration for him.
This gave her the illusion that she could act with impunity! The little girl also subconsciously learned the bloody tyranny and crushing cruelty from her father.
The cavalrymen behind them had all had their souls cleansed by Lord Demon Mountain's earlier slaughter.
The group included death row inmates living in anonymity, hardened criminals with nowhere to turn, down-on-their-luck wandering warriors, natives of the territory, strong miners, and young citizens. The bloodlust from the crushing of the Demon Mountain had infused their bodies with an invisible force of violence, making them more cruel and ruthless, and subtly making them more ferocious.
Sheep led by lions will all turn into lions.
If a sheep leads a lion, the lion will turn into a sheep.
The magic of the Mountain is that it can make its followers more and more devoted each day, and can turn them from sheep into lions.
Along the ten-mile-long official road, warhorses galloped, and three-dog banners fluttered in the wind. People, seeing them from afar, hurriedly moved aside. As the warhorses galloped by, everyone lowered their heads, looking down at their toes. Whether knights or nobles, all made way to the side of the road.
The Mountain stood on horseback at the Lion's Mouth gate of Casterly Rock!
On the roadside near the Lion's Mouth, the still slightly weak Stinky Mouth waits on horseback.
Chiswick rode out of the ranks, and together with Stinky Mouth, bowed to the Mountain before riding off along the coastal road.
As per the Mountain's prior orders, Chiswick's wedding was over, and his mission was to go to Lannister Harbor to gather his old followers and establish his own mercenary group there: the Clegane Blade Company.
His dozen or so brothers from the Lannister Port death row had been released before Lord Mountain's wedding. Because they were death row inmates, and because of their notorious reputations, their menacing appearances, and their sinister aura, and because they were all commoners, none of them were knights, and they had not yet been formally incorporated into the Mountain's ranks, Chiswick did not invite them to the wedding that Lord Tywin Lannister of Casterly Rock was holding for the Mountain and Jenny.
Earl Odd's hopes that Chiswick would persuade the two pirate ships to surrender may have been dashed. During breakfast, Jenny cleverly got Duke Tywin to say something supporting Clegane's plan to establish a mercenary group in Lannister Harbor to make money. Because it came from the Duke, this statement carried a special significance.
Even if a king and a beggar say the same thing, the effect will be vastly different.
Count Auder felt he had fallen into a trap. He should perhaps be more wary of Lady Jenny from now on, because Lady Jenny had a maternal grandmother who was very famous in Lannister: a witch who could see fragments of the future through blood!
Count Odd deduced that Clegane's idea of establishing a mercenary army in Lannesport was sudden, and that the plan must have originated with Jenny. Count Odd highly suspected that Jenny's actions were revenge for his secret advice to the Duke.
*
In the Duke's study.
When The Mountain entered, Squire Potter felt that the study had shrunk.
The Duke sat behind his desk, staring at the Mountain.
"Is anyone dead?"
"Four were killed."
The Duke remained expressionless, but his eyes held a stern warning. Maester Potter, however, knew the Duke's true thoughts were quite the opposite; he was likely praising the Mountain for his actions. As long as the Mountain committed evil and made enemies, no matter how great his achievements, how unparalleled he was, how intelligent he was, or how many inventions he made, the Duke would not fear him in the slightest. If the Mountain stopped doing evil, became benevolent, and gained popular support, his demise would surely be imminent.
"who?"
"Four little rabbits."
The Duke stared at the Mountain, his lips pressed tightly together.
The Mountain began to feel uncomfortable, and finally, in front of the Duke, he said awkwardly, "Father, I was wrong."
The Duke's expression gradually softened.
"I want to remind you again that unauthorized minting of coins violates national laws."
"I know." The Mountain shrugged indifferently.
The Duke fell silent again, and no one knew what he was thinking. Finally, he glanced at the scholar: "I was unaware that you were minting coins without my knowledge."
"clear!"
"You need military force to maintain that area; no one is allowed to enter."
"I will have soldiers."
How much money do you need from me?
The Mountain knew that Lord Tywin Lannister was not a generous man!
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"Give my invention a reward of two hundred gold dragons. I'm prepared that once I get to the north, in order to establish my authority there and ensure that no one dares to trespass, I might have to fight a few fierce battles, but I promise I won't kill any nobles, just their cats, dogs, and rabbits."
"good."
"Father, I heard that the price of iron ore in the Iron Islands has gone up again."
"Yes, this is a very tricky problem."
"Iron ore is everywhere on Great Wake Island in the Iron Islands. Let's go and get it. The Iron Islands aren't far from our western border either."
"We cannot defeat Baron Greyjoy at sea."
"Then we won't fight at sea. Give me the army, and I'll go tonight to land on the island and fight. I will destroy the Iron Seed!"
Another silence followed.
Lord Tywin said, "Now is a time of peace. Ten years ago, Balon rebelled, and we conquered Balon and took the Iron Islands. I advised the King to eliminate House Greyjoy, but the King refused."
"Yes, in peacetime," the Mountain repeated dismissively.
The Mountain knew perfectly well that ever since Cersei, the Duke's daughter, had an incestuous relationship with her brother Jaime, fathering three children who grew up, the King had been cuckolded three times, and Jon Snow, the Hand of the King, was poisoned after intervening in the investigation. The peace of the Seven Kingdoms had, in fact, come to an end. Even without Littlefinger's meddling, the seed Jaime planted in Cersei's womb was a seed of turmoil, a seed that had taken root and sprouted into a large tree over the past decade.
Once the first person knows about a scandal, there will be a second, and a third.
The truth will eventually come out; it's just a matter of time.
"Father, besides praying to the Seven Gods, perhaps we could also ask the Witch," the Mountain suggested.
This was an era of absolute superstition, an era of absolute belief in God, where the prophecies of wizards had a very powerful influence.