The Mountain of Ice and Fire

Lord Steward Mark looked at Chiswyck before him, and he really wanted to draw his sword and chop him to see if his big head was really made of iron.

It was a particularly strange head. The Steward had never seen anything like it, and was really quite curious.

In the armory, after working together with the Steward, Chiswyck found the sword, sword belt, dagger, short knife, steel awl, shield, armor, gorget, leg guards, and boots he liked, but he couldn't find a helmet that fit his large head.

So, the Steward took Chiswyck to the blacksmith's shop and asked the blacksmith's apprentice, Gendry, to forge a special helmet for his big head.

Chiswyck immediately took a fancy to the bull helmet hanging on Gendry's wall. This bull helmet belonged to Gendry himself.

The helmet was black, shiny, thick, and heavy, with two majestic and domineering bull horns.

Gendry measured the size without a word and told Chiswyck to come and pick up the helmet in two days. The helmet had a rough shape already formed, and it only needed to be returned to the furnace for processing and shaping, so it was very fast.

Bull helmet. Chiswyck chose the same style as Gendry.

Then, the Steward took Chiswyck to the stable to choose a horse.

The stable's steward was Thomasman, the biological father of Julie Clegane.

Thomasman, who was good at raising horses, had raised more than two hundred horses to be fat and strong.

"Do we have two hundred cavalry?" Chiswyck asked the Steward.

"No."

"So many horses?" Chiswyck looked at the horses one by one, and was very sorry to see that many of them were numbered and already had owners.

"Ser Gregor is going to form a hundred-man cavalry regiment. One cavalryman needs two horses."

Chiswyck nodded, indicating that he understood.

Thomasman, who was accompanying them, just watched the horses and didn't speak. He was silent and simple, enjoyed his current life, and was deeply grateful to Lord Gregor Clegane. The people who moved into the new Clegane village had completely changed their perception of Lord Gregor. An invisible hand in Clegane village united everyone into one person without a trace.

Having been by Gregor Clegane's side for a short time, the old horse soldier had completely adapted to the vicious and brutal appearance and temperament of these villains. Chiswyck's strange big head only attracted and shocked the old man's heart at the beginning, and soon the old man got used to it.

In the end, Chiswyck chose two good horses, and his number was ranked 86th.

This indicated that there were already 85 cavalrymen ahead of him.

The newly added twenty-three cavalrymen came from twenty households in the newly added territory.

All adult men and young men in the territory were conscripted into military service.

Being a member of the Clegane cavalry was already the greatest and most ardent expectation of the people in the Clegane territory. Some families had young boys, and their parents hoped that their children would grow up quickly so they could become members of the Clegane cavalry.

Being a professional cavalryman was already a special honor and absolute luck.

Earning one gold dragon a month was an even bigger sum of money with super appeal.

The old men in Clegane village were too old and weak to join the Clegane cavalry regiment.

This core cavalry team only had one hundred people, and it was Lord Gregor's personal guard cavalry regiment, with a respected status, and the combat training was harsh to the point of being cruel. They were absolutely unified, like an arm and a finger. Their combat power was trained according to the requirement of being one against ten.

When the cavalry regiment had enough one hundred people, a reserve cavalry team would also be recruited. The number of reserve cavalry team was unequal. But the monthly military pay was only ten silver stags, which was one-third of a gold dragon.

Unless they had outstanding skills or were replenishing combat losses, the reserve cavalry would only be a reserve team for the rest of their lives.

Chiswyck was a little excited after learning that the hundred-man cavalry regiment was still fourteen people short.

He thought of his dozen or so good brothers in the black cells.

If they could all be released, then Lord Mountain's hundred-man cavalry regiment would be fully staffed.

He knew that his brothers were all good at fighting. If they were to undergo complete and strict military training, then they would be invincible.

"Who is the captain of this cavalry team?" Chiswyck asked the Steward.

He rode on his warhorse, put on his armor, and looked majestic, but his big head made him look top-heavy.

The Steward smiled. He saw Chiswyck's ambition. This guy had just arrived and already wanted to be the captain.

"Ser Raff the Sweetling is the captain, and Ser Polliver and Ser Dunsen are the vice-captains."

"They're all knights?" Chiswyck felt the pressure.

The Steward chuckled: "Not only are they all knights, but they all have the Clegane surname."

"They are all blood of the Clegane family?"

"They weren't before, but now they are," the Steward said in an undisguised tone of envy.

Chiswyck's eyes lit up, and a cold light flashed from the sharp hooks: "They were all knights and surnames bestowed by Lord Mountain?"

"Yes!"

"Then I will be the fourth," Chiswyck said with certainty.

"No, you will be the sixth," the Steward said with an arrogant tone.

"Why do you say that?" Chiswyck squinted at the Steward.

"The fourth is Maester Tob Mott, and the fifth will be me, so you'll be at most sixth."

"Maester Tob Mott has a surname!"

"As soon as his wife and children move over from the south, Lord Mountain will grant him knighthood and take his son as a squire," the Steward said. "I am convinced that Maester Tob will become a knight before me."

"What about the other three?"

"Hmph!" The Steward snorted softly.

Arrogance was written on the young man's face.

"I didn't see a knight named Raff the Sweetling in the sanctuary where Lord Mountain held the oath of allegiance?"

"He's in Casterly Rock, training the entire Westerlands' noble generals for Lord Tywin. Teaching military whistle and military management techniques, which are unique to the Westerlands."

"Lord Mountain's original method of military whistle and military management is indeed very magical," Chiswyck said, then changed the subject, "Steward, I want to go to the armory to find a black head wrap."

The Steward reined in his horse and stopped, staring at Chiswyck without speaking.

Chiswyck explained: "Steward, the scars on my head are too obvious, and I don't want Miss Jeyne and Lady Ellaria to feel uncomfortable."

The Steward slowly smiled: "Although your head was cut hard, it hasn't become stupid. Chiswyck, you are very smart, but your painstaking efforts to please Miss Jeyne make me a little uncomfortable. I will not allow you to become a knight and obtain the Clegane surname before me. I have been following Lord Gregor a year earlier than you."

Chiswyck said: "Steward, if you weren't Lord Mountain's chief steward, if you weren't a Clegane, I would have smashed your teeth out."

"You can try it!" The Steward laughed. "Are you going to use a knife or a sword, or get off your horse and use your fists?" The Steward made a gesture of invitation.

He also wanted to test the hardness of Chiswyck's head.

"Yesterday, when I swore allegiance to Lord Mountain in the sanctuary, we all said to each other in front of the Seven Gods that Cleganes are all brothers, are a family, so I am just warning you, and will not use force against you. My swords and fists are only for outsiders, not for insiders. But if someone provokes me, that's another matter. Miss Jeyne is a noble lady, and I wear a black head wrap to cover the scars on my forehead out of respect for Miss Jeyne and Lady Ellaria. Tell me, Mark, are you going to give me a black head wrap or not?" By the last sentence, Chiswyck's tone had turned cold.

*

Half an hour later.

Gregor Clegane, with his adopted daughter Julie, Polliver, Dunsen, the Steward, Chiswyck, Maester Potter, father-in-law Gavin, fiancée Jeyne, and several servants, left Clegane Village and headed for Lannisport not far away to visit Count Ode.

As for Chiswyck's newly acquired brother Foulmouth, he was recovering from his knife wounds in the maester's infirmary, cared for by the maester's apprentice—Lady Ellaria's youngest son.

The purpose of their trip to Count Ode was to ask for Chiswyck's dozen or so brothers in the black cells. Chiswyck, without a helmet but with a black cloth wrapped around his head, persuaded Lord Mountain, because as long as these dozen or so fierce brothers were released, Lord Mountain's hundred-man cavalry regiment would be fully staffed.

Gregor Clegane also wanted his personal guard cavalry regiment of one hundred professional soldiers to be fully staffed as soon as possible, and he would personally carry out the most rigorous cavalry training.