Chapter 28: White Harbor (Part 2)
[POV AQUILES VIRIDIUM – YEAR 276]
Next to the wall surrounding the house, there was a carriage parked right next to the gate, as well as 100 guards. Aquiles judged them to be knights, given their full armor, swords, and horses ranging from about 1.80 to almost 2 meters that they were riding.
"Sir, this is it. The best barber in town lives in that house." Stated the beggar as he pointed to the house behind the carriage and the knights.
Aquiles didn't speak, just took out the coin and tossed it to the man. The coin hit the man's hand, but he struggled to catch it. It flicked up, but before hitting the ground, the beggar tried to catch it again, now as if trying to kill a mosquito, and managed to grab it. He then turned to Aquiles and said, "Thank you very much, Septon."
Aquiles waved to him, and the beggar left smiling like a fool, hopping with joy. Aquiles found the man's reaction quite comical and smiled as he watched him walk away. Despite being in this world for over 5 years, Aquiles still didn't know the real value of the gold dragon he had paid the man. If he had known that he had practically given the boy the equivalent of 2 years' salary for a commoner just to guide him for a little over 10 minutes, he wouldn't have initially offered a gold dragon as payment.
Without further ado, Aquiles led the horse to the front of the majestic house, dismounted, and tied it to the wall. Ignoring the curious gazes of the soldiers, he passed by them and entered the mansion.
The interior of the mansion revealed a luxurious and refined atmosphere. Blue rugs adorned the floor, complementing the white stone walls nicely. Three sofas were placed in the corner for clients to sit on, and they seemed quite comfortable. On the ceiling, an iron chandelier with candles illuminated the area. Luckily, the place seemed to have no one else besides the man sitting while a woman trimmed his thick brown beard.
Just as the beggar had told Aquiles, there was a woman cutting hair in the spacious room. Aquiles, however, was surprised to see how fat the man whose beard was being trimmed was. Even considering both of his lives, that was by a large margin the fattest man Aquiles had ever seen.
"What do you think, Lord Manderly?" Asked the woman as she finished trimming his beard, still holding a pair of scissors and a comb.
Lord Manderly is a man with pale skin and his 1.71 meters in height, so fat and corpulent that Aquiles doubted the man could stand up and leave. His face is somewhat marked by the passage of time, with wrinkles spreading across his forehead and the corners of his eyes. He sports a thick, brown beard that couldn't hide his fat, round, rosy cheeks. His eyes are blue, and his hair is thin, sparse, and gray due to his advanced age, leaving him almost bald. The nobleman wears blue clothes adorned with the symbol of his house and also has a cloak of white fur draped over his shoulders, and on his feet, very light blue boots.
The man looked towards the small mirror attached to the wall, turning his face from side to side to assess the result. His triple chin of fat jiggled, trembling as if made of jelly. The scene prompted a slight urge to smile in Aquiles, but he restrained himself. The woman had called the man Lord Manderly, and Aquiles remembered that this was the title given only to the leader of House Manderly.
As he analyzed the result, the fat man smiled. "It looks excellent, Tereza..." The man affirmed with satisfaction. "As always, excellent." The smile that formed on his face and his tone of voice betrayed that the Lord was pleased. With a forward movement, he rose, making the chair creak a bit before managing to stand with a little help from the woman.
Without uttering many words, Lord Manderly pulled a silver coin from his coat pocket, handing it to Tereza as payment. Then, he headed towards the door, and Aquiles stepped aside while making a slight bow to the fat man. He did not fear him, but he also did not plan to offend the man; in this world, status was very important, and Aquiles knew that.
As he passed, the fat Manderly completely ignored Aquiles' presence, not even giving him a glance, as if Aquiles wasn't there. But Aquiles didn't mind; the less attention he drew from a nobleman, the better. When the fat man left, Aquiles stood up and turned his attention back to the woman named Tereza. "Ma'am, can you cut my hair and beard?" Inquired Aquiles.
The woman nodded. Then, she gestured for Aquiles to sit in the chair where Lord Manderly had been before. Aquiles took the designated seat, and after sitting down, Teresa asked him how he wanted the cut, to which Aquiles requested a short cut on the sides and slightly longer on the top. He also asked for the beard to be completely shaved. Efficiently, Teresa began making the changes, following Aquiles' instructions.
Not even two minutes had passed since Teresa had started cutting Aquiles' hair when a knight entered the place, capturing the attention of both Aquiles and the woman. "Hey, you! Lord Manderly summons you, get up and come with me," ordered the soldier with a cold and impolite tone. From the man's posture, Aquiles immediately realized that it was not an invitation but rather an order that Aquiles could not refuse to obey.
"What have I done now?" Aquiles speculated internally, but nevertheless complied with the order in silence, getting up and following the knight. There was no fear in Aquiles' eyes, just a slight gleam of curiosity. Truth be told, after the training he had received from Luna in the last five years, except for the Night King, he was not afraid of anyone else.
The knight led Aquiles to the street, where Aquiles immediately spotted the corpulent Lord Manderly comfortably seated in his carriage. As he positioned himself beside the window, the nobleman turned his gaze to Aquiles and declared, "That horse is now mine. I will pay fifty silver dragons for it!" The authoritative manner in which he spoke indicated that it was not an offer but a statement, igniting a slight anger that began to burn within Aquiles.
"Arrogant bastard," Aquiles thought angrily, but despite the anger he felt, he maintained a stoic expression on his face. If possible, he didn't want to get into trouble with the Lord who owned the city.
After taking a deep breath and carefully weighing his words, Aquiles said in a neutral tone, "Lord Manderly, the horse is an inheritance left to me by my father. I do not wish to sell it!"
The knight who had escorted Aquiles, now standing beside him, looked at him with offense. He then grabbed Aquiles' arm while saying, "Filthy scum, dare you to retort? This is Lord Manderly. Be glad he wants to pay so much for a mere horse." As he spoke, he grabbed and squeezed Aquiles' arm tightly, as if to intimidate him, then continued, "It would be wise of you to accept." His tone and the way he reached for the hilt of the sword at his waist were clearly a threat.
Aquiles didn't care about the grip on his arm, merely remaining still as he looked at the Lord. Lord Manderly's eyes narrowed in displeasure, and he exclaimed, "I'm offering you five times the price of a horse, and you refuse?"
Aquiles remained silent for a few moments, pondering what would happen if he killed Lord Manderly, the knights, and then departed. However, there was a problem with this plan: he didn't know the territory of the North, and White Harbor was the only city that would allow him to depart immediately for Braavos. If he killed the Lord, he would make the entire city his enemy. "Ah, screw it... It's just a common horse, a gift, but still just a horse. But since I'll have to sell it, I'll sell it for as much as I can!" Aquiles thought.
"Sir, it's just that the price you're offering me is too little for a family heirloom. Could you offer a more fair price?" Aquiles inquired in a respectful tone.
"I'm offering 5 times the normal price of a horse, and you think I'm not offering a fair price?" the fat man asked with a displeased expression. He then threw a small brown sack on the ground for Aquiles to pick up. "Inside this bag are 100 silver dragons, and that's my final offer! Now take it and go, before I have my knights whip you." Lord Manderly threatened with a coarse tone. As the fat man spoke, Aquiles saw from the corner of his eye that the soldier who had escorted him had a slight smile forming on his face.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone