*
Rhaegor did not choose to go to Griffins Roost with the three hired knights. For him, going to Griffins Roost was pointless. He planned to go directly to Storms End to see what Duke Baratheon intended to do.
"More and more people are coming," Legan said cautiously, looking at the camps springing up one after another next to their own. After more than ten days of travel, they finally reached Storms End. However, when they set up camp in the woods near Storms End, many mercenaries and wandering knights summoned by Duke Baratheon had already gathered there, along with farmer-soldiers from villages under Auckland's jurisdiction.
Knights like Rhaegor, who had tents, were a minority; most people could only rest by tree stumps.
Only those mercenary groups of decent size had relatively clean, habitable camps.
After their arrival, more and more people gathered in the vicinity. Even the blacksmiths and merchants of Storms End couldn't resist the urge to come out and make a fortune.
Before that, Rhaegor and his companions had made a small profit. On their way to Storms End, the three youths, with six horses and three complete sets of armor and weapons, successfully secured an order from a merchant to escort him to the market town near Storms End.
This trip earned them 120 silver deer, and along the way, Ailarion killed two bandits, from whom he even plundered two kinmony.
Unfortunately, after settling down and inspecting them, Rhaegor regretfully informed his two companions that these two kinmony were not very valuable.
The method of judgment was simple: one side of these two kinmony bore the likeness of Rhaenyra, and the other, the Usurper Aegon. The gold coins minted in those few months, due to both "Kings" being rather unscrupulous, had many impurities mixed in during their casting.
Thus, after the war, that batch of minted kinmony also lost their rightful status. Rhaegor then patiently explained the various currencies commonly used in Westeros to his two companions, who clearly hadn't paid much attention in class.
The complex copper coins were relatively much more stable. The smallest denomination was the copper plate, which was also the currency most people used daily. In this prosperous summer harvest year, a copper plate could buy a grilled sausage or a small amount of flour. Two copper plates were equivalent to one copper penny; copper pennies were also the most common type of copper coin, dominating the farmer's market along with copper plates. Additionally, there were several rarer copper coins, such as four copper pennies exchanging for one copper grain, and two copper grains exchanging for one copper star.
Slightly wealthier merchants, knights, and lords more commonly used silver and gold coins. There were two main types of silver coins: the silver deer, bearing the emblem of Aegon the Conqueror's friend and Kings Hand, Aulis Baratheon—which was actually the Storm King's emblem—was the most widely circulated silver coin, valued at fifty-six copper pennies. There was also another type of silver coin engraved with a moon, the silver moon coin; this silver coin circulated less frequently, and according to announcements from the mint and the Master of Coin, it was equivalent to seven silver deer. In this era, there was only one type of gold coin in circulation: the kinmony, with the Targaryen family's three-headed dragon on one side and the King's likeness on the other. The official value of one kinmony was 210 silver deer.
However, kinmony was not the only gold coin existing in Westeros. In the Riverlands, some people still used the gold scales left by the Fairman family. Because of their scarcity and the fact that the Fairman family truly lived up to its name, being generous with the gold content in their coins, one gold scales coin was worth approximately three kinmony. The gold hand coins once minted by the Gardener family of the Reach Kingdom also still appeared in the markets of the South, but the Gardener family was not as honest as the Fairman family; their gold coins were slightly smaller and only worth half a kinmony.
In Dorne, although the gold sun coins once minted by the Martell family still existed, very early on, while Dorne resisted the Targaryen unification, they did not resist the institutions and currency they brought. Thus, gold sun coins had long since ceased to circulate, and most had now been melted down to cast kinmony or other gold artifacts.
However, kinmony minted in different periods also varied in value. Kinmony with the likeness of Aegon the Conqueror, Jaehaerys I, and the dual likenesses of Aegon and Dragonzel were the most valuable gold coins. Those with Viserys I's likeness were somewhat inferior. Kinmony with Jacaerys I's likeness were of the best quality and highest value, though ordinary people generally wouldn't use them for trade. It was only at this moment that Rhaegor realized he had lost money when buying horses.
Such regret!
As for the kinmony minted by Queen Rhaenyra and the Usurper Aegon...
By the seven gods, whether they could compare in value to gold hand coins depended on their wear and tear, and how many impurities were mixed in.
"We won't compete with them," Rhaegor said, checking everyone's equipment to ensure it was in order before picking up the two captured kinmony. "Legan, we'll go find the blacksmith. Ailarion, I'll have to trouble you to stay and watch the camp."
In the camp, Rhaegor no longer needed to call them by their false names, and his composure meant he didn't have to worry about accidentally using their real names when outside.
"Huh?" Legan was a bit confused; their equipment was quite complete now.
"To get you a set of breastplates," Rhaegor said, pointing to the blacksmith who was loudly shouting something. Opposite him were several cowering mercenaries, and on a nearby cart, several tattered sets of armor were faintly visible.
Presumably, these mercenaries had gotten into a dispute with one or more well-equipped wandering knights, and those "knights" had not defeated these mercenaries.
This also meant Legan and Ailarion had new equipment.
"And a shield," Rhaegor calculated. These two kinmony were probably worth around 230 silver deer. If possible, they would need to add some more money to buy two breastplates and three shields.
So he pulled out another kinmony. Now it should be enough, the youth thought.
The blacksmith of Storms End was a burly middle-aged man with a pitch-black beard. He was currently quite content after having just bought five or six dilapidated pieces of armor at a low price from a group of plague-ridden mercenaries.
Even if he just took these back, he could still make a lot of money.
Just as he was pondering how to deal with this scrap metal, Rhaegor and Legan walked up to his stall and scanned the goods on display. They were mainly weapons, with oak shields neatly stacked at his feet; armor was barely visible.
The blacksmith also noticed the two of them. Although he was a commoner, he had served in Storms End for many years and was good at judging age. The blacksmith immediately saw that neither youth was very old.
Neither would be over fifteen.
He scanned the clothes worn by the two youths. Rhaegor wore a fitted leather jacket, which looked clean and tidy. Legan's clothes were much rougher, but not too much different; there wasn't much wear and tear, nor obvious bloodstains, which meant these young men either hadn't seen blood or were truly ruthless characters. There was likely a common possibility between the two.
These two young men came from a prominent family, either as a second or third son, or perhaps even the eldest son out for experience.
The blacksmith felt he needed to take this seriously.
"The shields are here. If you need weapons, you can look at those already displayed. Armor needs to be custom-made. If you need a coat of arms painted on your shields, you can tell me," the blacksmith said, collecting his thoughts and looking at the two youths. He confidently patted his chest: "I learned painting from the Scholar at the castle. As long as you can describe what you want to draw, I can draw it."
"We need two breastplates," Rhaegor said, pulling out the two kinmony. "And three shields."
The blacksmith paused, took Rhaegor's kinmony, glanced at them, and frowned. "Ser..." He looked up with some difficulty. "Two sets of breastplates, without other accessories, would be 230 silver deer. I can charge a bit less for three shields, making a total of 322 silver deer. It's enough, but..."
Rhaegor thought for a moment, preparing to take out the spare kinmony. But Legan quietly pressed down on his purse.
"The Usurper's gold coins are still gold coins, right? Even though he was a traitor, he still minted coins with gold, right?"
The blacksmith nodded. He had to admit that Aegon's coins were also kinmony, even if their value was much less.
"We admit that, and we'll calculate it according to the Usurper's kinmony price. But Queen Rhaenyra is the legitimate king, and her value is guaranteed by the Realm, so you..."
"I understand, I understand!" Cold sweat instantly broke out on the blacksmith's forehead. Duke Boros of Storms End was very careful about this matter now; he had always felt he had offended Queen Rhaenyra's line due to some well-known events during the Dance of the Dragons, and so he had been living cautiously.
And these two youngsters clearly knew these things, which further confirmed that they came from a prominent family.
He dared not offend them.
Nor did he dare to cross the Duke on this matter.
"Ser, no problem, absolutely no problem!" The blacksmith hurriedly rushed to his cart and painstakingly pulled out two almost brand-new breastplates.
They were not remelted goods; Rhaegor could even see the worn-off Auckland emblem on the breastplates.
"Ser, these two are in stock, and..." The blacksmith's eyes measured Legan and Rhaegor's figures like a ruler, then he decisively pushed the two breastplates in front of the youths. "They're a perfect fit, a perfect fit. How about this: just these two kinmony, and I'll even cover the painting on your shields."
"No charge," the blacksmith said with a hearty laugh.
Meanwhile, in the Riverlands.
By the Red Fork River.
A caravan slowly moved along the river.
The silver-haired man leading the way suddenly raised his hand and looked at the carriage behind him.
"Great Lord, this is the place."
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