Chapter 86 Punishment

Villas, who had just completed the silent prayer ritual from the Starry Cathedral, rushed back to the military camp outside the city regardless of his fatigue, and convened a meeting with all the knights, junior officers, and accompanying bachelors to tally the losses.

After he saw the final calculated losses, his face became extremely ugly. The ordinary soldiers and cavalry were relatively good, with only less than 300 people lost. After all, when they came to support, the Ironborn's retreat horn had already sounded. , the most difficult period has passed.

What really made his face look ugly was that more than 200 of the more than 500 sworn knights and mercenary knights from different noble families and lord families in the Reach actually lost their lives, and most of the more than 200 people died. So stupid, he was drunk or in bed with a prostitute, and he was hacked to death by the ironborn who broke in before he could grab a weapon.

Although the remaining people died in battle, they had no honor at all, because under normal circumstances, they should have stayed in the military camp and led the army to the city for rescue in time.

As a result, all the knight officers and generals ran to the taverns and brothels in the city, leaving only some junior officers in the military camp. If Linde had not sent people to integrate the army in time, and Jon Bulwe decisively carried out Linde's order, After leading the army into the city, they happened to eliminate a group of ironmen who rushed to the city gate. They rushed to the dock area and the city hall in time. Maybe all the knight officers were dead.

What really gives Willas a headache now is that among the more than two hundred people who died, more than twenty were the heirs and second sons of some nobles in the Reach.

Originally, these people were just sent to train with him, but they ended up dying in Old Town. He didn't know how to explain to the noble families behind these people. This was undoubtedly a disaster for High Court.

"All the knights who died were recorded as having died heroically. All the knight officers who were not in the military camp when the incident occurred were dismissed from their military positions and were incorporated into the cavalry together with the knight squires and accompanying knights, under the command of Sir Lynde Terra. Vilas made a decision quickly and said: "While serving as the captain of the guard, Sir Linde Terra also serves as the commander of the cavalry and the military judge."

"Lord Vilas..." They could accept the abolition of military duties, but letting Linde become the commander of the cavalry made them feel very uncomfortable.

Linde, who was standing aside, also frowned, surprised by Vilas' decision, because he didn't know that Vilas would make such a decision in advance, and if he knew, he would definitely stop it.

Commanding a group of knights from different families, many of whom are family heirs, is definitely a thankless job in his opinion.

"Stop talking, I've already decided." Vilas, who had always behaved very gently, acted extremely tough this time, glaring directly at everyone, and everyone lowered their heads slightly.

"Lord Vilas, are you sure you want me to serve as the commander of the cavalry and military judge?" Lind thought for a while and asked in a deep voice.

"Yes, Lord Linde." Vilas said to Linde with a serious expression: "I am here, and I still need to apologize to Sir Linde. You have warned me about the hidden dangers of the team in advance, but I did not listen. That led to so many unnecessary losses last night, and I have an unshirkable responsibility in this matter.”

Hearing that Vilas apologized to Linde in public and admitted his mistake in public, the knight representatives and officer representatives in the tent all looked ashamed.

Linde was not affected by the surrounding atmosphere at all and asked calmly: "How much power do I have in these two positions?"

Vilas thought for a while and said: "The greatest right."

Linde continued to ask: "In other words, the knight commander can govern all the knights under his command, and the military judge can punish all those who violate military law in the military camp, right?"

Vilas felt something was wrong, but he still nodded and said, "Yes."

Linde said extremely coldly: "In this case, all the former knight officers who left the military camp without permission last night will go to the camp square to receive ten lashes."

When everyone heard what Linde said, they immediately became extremely angry. They were allowed to be tortured in front of everyone. This was a great insult to them, so they all reprimanded Linde for his rudeness.

Villas immediately appeased everyone and suggested to Linde: "I agree with punishing knights who violate military law, but knights are knights after all. Letting knights be punished in front of everyone is really damaging to the honor of knights. Can it be done in Being tortured in the knight's tent..."

"No, you must be tortured in the middle of the camp, and there are no soldiers performing guard duties in the camp, including people from the logistics team, who must be present to watch the execution." Lind interrupted Vilas's words extremely forcefully, and then expressed indignation at the surrounding people. The knights said: "If you feel that doing so is detrimental to your honor, then you can leave the team now. After all, I have not officially served as a military judge, but if Lord Vilas announces that I have become an official military judge, If you are still in the military camp and do not intend to accept military punishment, then your behavior will be regarded by me as violating military law, and I will personally execute you."

When Linde said these words, the murderous aura on his body was also faintly released. I don't know if it was because he had just killed so many people in front of the Stars Temple. Now the murderous aura on his body has become extremely stronger. The suppressive effect of the human spirit is also more obvious, and some people even vaguely smell the rusty smell that is only found in blood.

I don’t know whether it was because Linde’s words were too shocking or the effect of the killing aura, but in short, everything in the tent became silent.

Linde was not affected by the atmosphere in the tent. He turned his head and said to Vilas on the side: "Sir Vilas, as the coach of this team, you have extremely neglected your duty and allowed the knights to be loose and free. This led to the situation last night. "So many knights have been killed in a very dishonorable way. After the punishment for the derelict knights is completed, you must also accept the punishment, and it is a double punishment, twenty lashes."

"Linde Tailen, you are crazy! How dare you..." As soon as Linde finished speaking, the tent immediately exploded, with everyone reprimanding Linde for his transgression.

On the contrary, Vilas, the person involved, seemed very calm. He raised his hand to signal everyone to quiet down, then turned to look at Linde and said in a deep voice: "Lord Linde, I accept the punishment."

Everyone in the tent was immediately stunned, looking at Vilas in great surprise, not knowing what to say.

For the soldiers in the Villas barracks, they saw a strange scene today. Dozens of nobles, hundreds of knights, knights, and knights all took off their shirts and lay neatly on the makeshift cross. On the execution rack, behind them stood an executioner with a hood on his head and whose face could not be seen clearly. It is said that these executioners were specially recruited from the Hightower family to avoid using the soldiers in the military camp. Retaliation followed.

Each executioner held a long whip in his hand. Under the order of Linde, the new cavalry commander and military judge, all the executioners swung their whips at the knight being tortured in front of them, and bursts of screams suddenly sounded. It was heard one after another on the military camp playground.

Whipping is a technical job, and only an experienced executioner can control the whip drawn out, and can also decide whether the whip is a fake or real whip at the moment it hits the executioner.

It was obvious that the soldiers recruited from the Hightowers were not skilled executioners. The whips they drew actually fell on the victims. In addition, there was no such thing as public whipping of nobles. , which made them vent all their usual resentment and jealousy towards the nobles, and use every whip with all their strength.

Soon the execution of the ten whippings was completed, and when the executioners returned the whips, they were still a little unfinished.

Although the victims' backs were bruised and bruised, they did not immediately send them to the tent for treatment. Instead, they stood aside and looked at the empty space with a gloomy expression.

Then a scene that surprised everyone in the military camp appeared. As the commander of this team, the heir to Highgarden, Willas Tyrell, was also shirtless at this moment, walked to the execution rack, and lay down on the execution rack. , and Lind, who had just served as military judge, stood behind Vilas with a whip, and then Lind's adjutant Jon read aloud the punishment order for Vilas.

Everyone in the military camp was in an uproar. In the eyes of ordinary soldiers, the knight officer left his post without permission, resulting in the army having no officer to command the battle when the accident occurred. Therefore, it was correct for the knight officer to be punished, but it was unjustifiable for Vilas to be punished, because He was not the one who asked the knight officer to leave his post without permission, and he was still in the Starry Temple when the incident happened. He should not bear any responsibility at all. He was completely implicated.

Many soldiers shouted to let Willas go, saying that Lind's punishment was unfair. However, Lind ignored these shouts. After Jon read out the punishment order, he picked up the whip in his hand and pointed towards Violas. Lars was slapped hard on the back.

Everyone present immediately saw a bruised whip mark on Vilas's back, and at the same time heard Vilas let out a scream, and the entire military camp fell silent instantly.

Then the whip hit Vilas's back one after another. Vilas's back was beaten to a bloody pulp, and his screams gradually weakened. When the last whip was applied, Vilas passed out directly.

At this time, Linde put away the execution whip, signaled the accompanying bachelor waiting nearby to take Vilas back to the tent for treatment, and then ordered the people in the military camp to disperse.

At this moment, everyone in the military camp remembered the name Bear Hunter Lind, and remembered this taciturn knight who usually wore a gorgeous suit of armor and stood beside Willas.

No one dared to despise the military laws promulgated by the military camp anymore. They wrote down every law conscientiously, for fear that they would be dragged to the square and tortured if they violated it.

What happened in the military camp quickly spread throughout Old Town. Even though everyone had not recovered from the Ironborn invasion last night, they were all shocked after hearing the grand scene of executions in the military camp outside the city. The name of Bear Bearer Lind also resounded throughout the old town, and everyone couldn't help but put two labels on Lind, one was crazy, the other was justice.

Using two words with different praise and blame to describe the same person at the same time makes the bear hunter Linde more complex and mysterious in the eyes of people who have heard of his reputation, and also makes more people talk about him.

In the towering tower, Leighton Hightower looked at the documents submitted by his intelligence chief, with no expression on his face, and no trace of joy or anger.

"It has been clearly interrogated that the ironborn who attacked Old Town this time were commanded by Euron Greyjoy." The intelligence chief reported from the sidelines: "These people were originally planning to attack Lannisport, but Euron suddenly changed. The target of the attack was our old town.”

"Why did he suddenly change his goals?" Layton asked in a deep voice.

The intelligence chief shook his head and said, "No one knows, not even the ironborn."

Layton did not continue to ask this question. In his opinion, Euron's purpose in attacking Old Town was no longer important. It was much more important to count the losses and appease the emotions of Old Town residents and merchants.

Layton then asked: "Has the investigation revealed the reason why the observation tower did not sound an alarm?"

"It has been found out." The intelligence chief replied: "All the lookouts and guards on duty were poisoned to death. The person who poisoned was the maid in charge of laundry, but we found that the maid was dead, and two The person who died three days ago must have been someone who killed the maid and then disguised herself as her to sneak into the Tower..."

There was a hint of solemnity and solemnity on Leighton's expressionless face, and he said: "You mean to say that two days ago, when my grandson Vilas came to attend the banquet, there was a person in the towering tower who could poison him at any time. People hide in the dark.”

"Yes, sir." The intelligence chief responded truthfully.

Leiton said coldly: "I don't care what you do, you must clean up the Towering Tower within three days, and clean out all the guys that shouldn't exist." After saying that, he paused again and said: " If necessary, you can ask Moroya for assistance."

When the intelligence chief heard this, he was stunned and said, "Miss Moroya is no longer in the Tower."

"What?" Layton was stunned and asked, "What happened? When was she not here?"

The intelligence chief replied: "Just now she left the Tower with her maid."

Layton was completely stunned. He remembered that this was the first time that Moria had left the towering tower in more than ten years. It took him a long time to come back to his senses and asked, "Where did she go?"

"Going to Lord Willas's military camp outside the city." The intelligence chief replied: "She said she wanted to go to Dorne with Lord Willas' team to take a look."

Layton's face became a little ugly. He knew why his daughter went to the military camp. This made him feel extremely embarrassed, but he couldn't say anything. After all, this was the first time that Moroya had shown any affection towards a member of the opposite sex. Such strong interest.

"Do we need to bring Miss Moroya back?" the intelligence chief asked.

"No, no need!" Layton shook his head and said: "Let Baylor send a few more knights... No, let Gars take some knights and soldiers to protect his sister! Didn't he always say he wanted to go out? Let’s see, this time we can go to Dorne to see something. In addition, Vilas’ men also lost a lot of people when they supported us last night. We should make up for the loss of these people.”

"Yes, I will inform Mr. Garth later." The intelligence chief nodded, then took out another piece of intelligence, placed it on Earl Leighton's table, and said, "This is what happened in Mr. Vilas's military camp just now." News from the side.”

After receiving the intelligence, Layton looked at it with a strange expression on his face, then smiled, handed it back to the intelligence chief, and ordered: "Use the best messenger crow to send it to the High Court immediately."

The intelligence chief responded: "Yes, sir."