The Glory of the Seven Gods of Ice and Fire

Chapter 190 Commoners and Nobles

"It's this miserable scene again. Killing, the killing never changes. The nobles kill for something that the common people can't understand. In the end, this is the scene."

A monk was walking in a village that had turned into ruins. Charred limbs could be seen everywhere in the charred ruins.

His hands and feet were large and leathery, and he had gray hair and a weathered face.

The monk sighed continuously as he looked at these scenes, but he did not show much reaction, because he had seen the same miserable scenes countless times.

The militiamen who came with the monks searched the ruins for anyone who might be alive.
However, the monks were concerned about those who were impaled on stakes. That was not a tactic of intimidation that the nobles of Westeros would use, but more like what the people across the Narrow Sea liked.

Yes, the monk went to the East, fought for the old sparrow as one of the sparrows,

His name was Meribald.

On the battlefield, Meribald and his devout Sparrow brothers faced the shield walls of Pentos, the spears of Norvos, and the Valyrian steel swords of Qohor. Many died, but he survived.

This brought Meribald a lot of honor and wealth, but when the old sparrow said that he would give him an important position in the Eastern Church for this, Meribald chose to refuse. If it were for these, he would never come to the East.

For him, when the evil slave owners were hanged and the oppressed and enslaved people were liberated, he felt unprecedented satisfaction. It was the first time he participated in such a war, a war fought for something greater than himself.

For him, these feelings were enough. He had never dedicated himself to the Seven Gods for these external things.

After a pilgrimage to the great city of Hugol, Meribald returned to Westeros with honor and wealth.

Before setting out, Meribald specifically exchanged all his wealth for various production tools and livestock, because he understood that for those he wanted to give gifts to, giving away wealth directly would bring them difficulties.

After distributing the various production tools and livestock brought from the East to the villages where he had wandered in the past, Meribald picked up his old hands and continued to perform his duties as a monk.

Meribald could not read or write, but he could recite the Book of the Seven Stars and various prayers, which made him qualified for the duties of a monk. He wandered in circles in the countryside of the Riverlands, from Maidenpool to Maidenpool, which took him half a year. He always performed sacraments for the common people, so he knew the towns and manors, the villages without names, the hedges and hills, the streams and caves, and every rugged path that was not on the map.

"Ah, the centaurs, the new beasts of the lion." Meribald saw a mass of horse hooves. He had seen this sight before. These were the traces of the centaurs. "Tywin's new beasts...are much faster than his old beasts."

Meribald recalled the series of ruins he had seen along the way, and all his confusion was resolved. Centaurs were like this. Maybe they were vulnerable in battle, but when it came to burning, killing and looting, no one could compare to them.

"Father, we found several survivors, all children, hidden by their parents in fireplaces or basements."

A militiaman walked up to Meribald and said, "Take good care of them, and they will come with us to the Silent Isle when the time comes."

The group of monks left the ruins of the village and continued on through the land between rivers.

During this period of time, there has not been a single peaceful day in Hejian. People from the North and West have fought fiercely on the land of Hejian. The princes of Hejian have taken sides and started fighting. All parties have brought blood and fire to each other's land. Whether it is lions, wolves, fish or any other beasts, they are inflicting countless pains on the people.

Disbanded soldiers, swift-moving centaurs, and mercenaries without moral integrity committed appalling atrocities across the river, terrorizing the populace and spreading fear on behalf of their masters.

No matter how noble the reasons for the wars between these nobles were, their attitude towards the people was the same - take away everything that could be taken, and this process was often accompanied by killing.

The river was full of displaced refugees. Having lost their homes, they could only flee to places they thought were safe. The river bargemen seized several opportunities. These heroes who had given up their banditry in peaceful years picked up this business again. They pulled the refugees into the river and robbed them of everything. Some of the more vicious ones would even throw the refugees into the water.

Amid this chaotic situation, the Order of the Seven in the Riverlands took action.

The Riverlands is a vast land where one can always find deep dense forests and uninhabited wilderness. The monks of the Seven Gods who have vowed to practice asceticism live here, silently praying for the great Seven Gods and reclaiming the wilderness. Many villages and towns were developed in this way. When the population increases, the devout monks often leave for more desolate and wild places.

For this reason, whenever war swept through Hejian, there were always refugees coming to the monks' settlements to escape the war. Each order also had this tradition, and as long as the refugees could escape the war, they would take them in - until the food in the settlement was not enough to feed more people.

But this time, the monastic orders in Hejian took the initiative to attack. Lower-level monks like Meribafen led makeshift militias and wandered around the suffering land of Hejian, gathering all the refugees they could.

They were able to do all this thanks to the generous donations from fellow believers across the sea.

The old sparrow of Andas has always been concerned about the affairs of Hejian. Moreover, since the various orders in Hejian made great contributions in the first expedition, most of their members hold important positions in the Eastern Church. Therefore, when the orders in Hejian sent their concerns to Hugo City, Hugo City sent a large amount of resources, which were all what they urgently needed.

With food in hand, the monastic orders felt more confident in their actions. They began to gather displaced refugees, then took them to the nearest east coast port and sent them across the Narrow Sea.

The people of Hejian had no objection to this. After all, if you calculate the proportion, the number of Hejian people in Hu Ge's army was very large. They had been listening to stories about Dongfang's entrepreneurship on a daily basis, and had seen those fellow villagers who returned home in glory. They were full of yearning for the East.

Naturally, such a large-scale action by the monasteries was noticed by the warring nobles, most of whom turned a blind eye and let the monasteries take in these refugees, which was better than letting them starve to death or desperately attacking the lord's army before starving to death.

Meribald's team expanded little by little. There were only dozens of people when they first set out, but now it has expanded to a hundred people. The young and strong have taken up the wealth like the militia. This is Hejian, and this is how the locals will protect themselves.

"So that's how it is. Wolf's army is heading towards the West." While resting at night, Meribald heard the news brought by a mercenary knight. The monk was relieved by the westward movement of the Northern army. Since the Northerners have gone there, the Lion's army will follow.

For them, this meant that it was unlikely that they would encounter a large-scale army, which was undoubtedly a good thing. Although the nobles basically turned a blind eye to their actions, Meribald was not willing to gamble on that extremely small possibility.

"Yes, the wolf cubs will surely cause chaos in the West. I don't know how much of Lord Tywin's wealth will flow into the hands of these northern barbarians. Tsk tsk tsk, what a waste."

The Hedge Knight, wearing a chainmail coat that smelled like a peculiar smell, was warming himself by the fire as he spoke, "It's been getting a lot colder lately. Is winter coming?"

"The academy hasn't sent out any information yet. Winter should still be here for a while. Seven Gods, please bless us and delay the arrival of winter. Otherwise, Hejian will probably..."

"Old monk, please don't pray to the Seven Gods. They are very busy. We are not the gods' favored ones, so they will not pay attention to us."

"I have seen the Lord Favored by God. At first, I did not think that he was a person with any divine power... but it was him who brought us the miracle of the Seven Gods."

"You...you have seen the Lord of God's Favor?"

"I am a veteran of the First Expedition." When Meribald mentioned this identity, he felt a surge of pride from the bottom of his heart, followed by nostalgia. That was such a good war. In comparison, this one was simply...

Meribald's thoughts did not last long, because the hedge knight kept asking him about Lord Hugo. Gradually, everyone was attracted and Meribald had to start telling everyone about his past.

.

As the Riverlands writhe in agony, the Westerlands burn.

After the northerners rushed into the West, they were dazzled by this land ruled by lions. The roads in the West were better than the repaired King's Road. The villages in the West also looked much richer than those in the North. There were pastures full of cattle, sheep and livestock everywhere. By simply taking down a castle, one could collect unexpected amounts of gold.

The impoverished Northerners plundered crazily here and took in huge amounts of wealth. However, it was not the Northerners who were so fanatical in the plundering and killing, but the River Lords who remained loyal to Riverrun. They shouted slogans that the Lannisters should pay the price for what they had done, and began to kill crazily.

Watching the beautiful westerly village reduced to ashes in the flames, Robb felt a strong sense of regret from the bottom of his heart and was ashamed of what he had done. He had tried his best, but in the end he could not enforce military discipline like his father.

Some things are easy to say, but when you really do them, you will find that they are so difficult. Robb now understands this sentence very well. All he can do is to try his best within the allowed scope.

"Lord Robb, we have conquered the Rock, and the Westerlings have surrendered to us."

One of the Karstark sons came up to Robb and said.

Westerling, Robb knew this family, a small family in the Westerly. Although it once had a monarchy, it has now declined. The head of the most recent generation is said to have married a woman with witch blood, which shows the decline of this family.

Only then did Robb notice the adoration in Karstark's eyes, a look Robb had grown accustomed to since his great victory over the Lannister beast.

Robb still remembers the scene of that battle. At the beginning, the Northerners defeated the Lannister centaurs and the enemy's vanguard, but they did not expect that kind of thing to appear in the Lannister camp, the kind of tricky Eastern war beast that his father mentioned.

The huge war beasts that Lannister brought from the east were loaded with huge crossbows, and when those crossbows whistled, a large number of northern warriors were skewered. And those armored gray beasts, when they rushed through the formation, the shield wall that the northerners were proud of melted like the remaining snow facing the spring sun.

While the monsters were wreaking havoc, the Lannister formation in front was steadily advancing, and the Westerlands were pressing down like a giant hammer.

At that time, Robb almost thought that the battle was lost, but his pride made him make one last gamble. With Grey Wind, Robb rushed towards the monsters despite the dissuasion of his bannermen, but it was also at this moment that the situation of the battle was completely reversed.

Grey Wind's presence drove the giant beasts crazy. After Grey Wind pounced on a war elephant and bit it, the elephant immediately went crazy and destroyed everything around it. Then it rushed towards the Lannister line, breaking the line of the Lannister new army into pieces.

Robb immediately realized the role of Grey Wind, and Grey Wind seemed to know what he was thinking. He rushed through the Lannister line without hesitation and came to the war beasts guarding the giant crossbows. Then what happened on the battlefield just now happened again.

The war beasts that the Lannisters had spent a huge amount of money to build and transported from the far east became the death knell of the Lannister army. The people of the North seized this opportunity and launched a desperate counterattack.

Lannister became the defeated party instead. In this way, he defeated Lannister and his prestige reached its peak, but only he himself knew how lucky all this was.

Can he pull off a victory like that again? Now that the Lannisters have learned their lesson, will they do it again?

Grey Wind seemed to know what he was thinking. He came to his master and licked his hand with his rough tongue. Robb patted his old friend's head and said, "Let's go and meet the people of the Westerling family."

The Rock was not far from Robb now, and soon they arrived at the poorly maintained castle, where Robb met the Westerlings.

Among those westerly nobles, Robb saw a young girl, but the moment he saw the girl, he felt his brain bombarded, and suddenly he could not hear anything.

(End of this chapter)