"Lord Gregor, we have brought a thousand golden dragons as you wished," said Alan Salloot.
Two family soldiers opened the box, revealing a box full of gleaming gold coins.
Sweet-talking Ralph revealed a contented smile.
He kept licking his lips.
Deng Sen placed his hand on the hilt of his sword, while Polliver's eyes widened in disbelief.
Julie was alright, but Ma Bing Thomas Mann's eyes practically popped into the coin box.
Scholar Harry was surprised; such a large sum of money shouldn't be coming from Salomon.
Gregor estimated that one thousand golden dragons were equivalent to ten million RMB in Earth's civilization.
For a high-ranking nobleman, a thousand gold coins is not much.
But it exceeded the usual ransom amount.
Generally speaking, a ransom of 300 to 500 gold coins is a reasonable price for hostages like this.
Gregor found it unusual that the other party was willing to offer a thousand gold coins in exchange for Ador Salot, even after losing Alva Salot's life.
Although he wasn't a business expert in his past life, he had experience buying vegetables at the market, and haggling was the most basic rule of buying and selling. A thousand gold coins was just his asking price; he was waiting for the other party to cut the price in half before agreeing to the deal.
But the other party did not counter-offer, and Gregor's asking price became the final price.
Obviously, no one does business this way.
Even if the Salomon family were incredibly wealthy, they wouldn't do business this way.
Especially when someone has lost their life and a blood feud has developed between the two sides.
Gregor sensed something was amiss.
He was fully armed and wore a huge flat-topped helmet with an iron fist pointing straight to the sky. It looked imposing, but it wasn't practical. Gregor decided to remove the iron fist from his helmet after this incident.
Every little bit of weight reduction counts.
Every bit of weight is a burden.
To protect against arrows, Gregor's mask was also thick, with only a small hole for breathing and a narrow slit in front of his eyes.
This world possesses highly advanced iron smelting technology, with sophisticated techniques for refining various ores of gold, silver, copper, and iron. The handcrafted decorations, armor, and coins made from various metals are more refined than those of Earth's civilization. Glassmaking is also advanced, capable of producing many beautiful glass ornaments. With these advanced metalworking techniques, Gregor hopes to build upon them to create something of his own choosing.
*
Gregor's expression remained expressionless. Since the other party was willing to pay a thousand gold dragons to submit without haggling, it was highly likely that they harbored thoughts of revenge. For someone about to be killed, giving them one gold dragon or a thousand gold dragons meant the same thing; why create unnecessary trouble?
Gregor was fully armed and carrying a greatsword, naturally to guard against a sudden attack.
He glanced at the doorway.
The cavalrymen Alan Saloth brought were all outside the gate; Gregor did not allow them to enter the courtyard. Standing beside Alan were only two guards carrying chests.
"Sir, one thousand gold dragons, shall we count them?" Alan Salomon asked.
Points?
Gregor recalled the image of biting gold. Many television shows and movies he'd seen in his past life featured scenes of people biting gold to test its authenticity, but what if the other person had smeared poison on the gold…
It's okay to have the intention to harm others, but it's even more important to have the intention to guard against others.
"No need to count," Gregor said. "Dunsen, Thomas Mann, carry the gold coin box inside."
"Yes, sir."
One thousand golden dragons, weighing around one hundred jin.
Dunsen and Thomas Mann carried the box of gold coins into Gregor's bedroom and locked the door.
They suddenly became very rich.
A thousand gold coins, haha, hahaha!
Rafferty no longer needs to pay on credit when he goes to Lannisport to have his family crest made; he can have it made from pure gold.
Tonight, the ladies of the upscale brothels in Port Lannisport will be welcoming their regular customers!
With money, drinking, eating, and going to brothels were Gregor and his men's three great hobbies.
"My lord, you have already accepted the Golden Dragon. Could you please return Sir Ador to us?" Allen asked humbly.
Gregor nodded.
His eyes, peering calmly and cautiously through the narrow gaps in his mask, were fixed on Allen.
If the other side makes any move, it will definitely be after releasing Adoo Saloort.
Adoo Saloth is no ordinary man; he is the eldest son of Count Tiger Saloth and the heir to the Saloth family.
Of course, with just these few men and the thirty-odd swords outside the courtyard, they were no match for Gregor. But who knows if his forces were hiding in the forests of the Silver Mountain Range not far away?
Gregor was several times more cautious than his predecessor.
The Gregor of the past would never have bothered wearing armor. In his own Clegane Keep, with his greatsword in hand, he feared no one, much less being injured.
However, the third-year male student who transmigrated had a different idea: what if the other party used an arrow and coated the arrowhead with poison?
In his past life, he had a deep memory of the scene in "Game of Thrones" where Gregor was tormented by the venom of snakes.
It's always good to be extra careful.
This world is a tapestry of intrigue and betrayal, darkness and passion. He's more inclined to trust criminals than nobles.
Ado Saloort's rope was cut by little Julie. Ado thanked Julie and strode towards Allen. He just wanted to leave as quickly as possible, without lingering for even a moment.
He was furious. His brothers had acted so rashly. Why did they have to exchange him for a thousand gold dragons? Five hundred would have been enough!
Ador Sharoth walked out of the courtyard without looking back and mounted his horse. Gregor remained silent as well.
From the moment the hostages left, Salomon could openly declare war on Gregor. However, they would have to weigh the consequences. If they angered Gregor, he would burn down the Silver Hall and slaughter all of Salomon's men.
Alan Saloth thanked Gregor, then called out, "Bring in the wine from Green Pavilion Island."
The wine from Qingting Island is a world-renowned wine, and in Gregor's eyes, it is the Rolls Royce of wines.
Sweet-talking Ralph chuckled, "Tyron, why not bring in the fine wine along with the gold coins to pay tribute to our Lord Gregor?"
Allen laughed and said, "Raff, if Lord Gregor takes the money but refuses to return it to our Sir Ador, we'll have to take back the wine we gave to Lord Gregor."
"Now that we've taken the money and returned the people to you, is that why you're willing to bring in the fine wine and give it to us?"
"Yes!"
Several jars of fine wine from Qingting Island were brought in.
Greentree Island wine is stored in large, round, bell-shaped wooden barrels. The barrels are blue with a design of a bunch of deep purple grapes. The blue background and deep purple grapes are the coat of arms of the Redwyn family of Greentree Island, and also the symbol of authentic Greentree Island wine, equivalent to a trademark in Earth's civilization.
Everyone, including Gregor, opened their throats.
The world's finest wines: the wines of Tsing Ting Island, are sold as far as the free trade cities across the Narrow Sea and even more distant eastern cities.
As soon as the barrel was set down, Sweet-talking Ralph, Executioner Dunsen, Notebook Mark, and Pollyver immediately surrounded it.
The fine wine is more appealing than the thousand golden dragons we just saw.
"These two jars contain red wine, while these two jars contain even rarer golden wine, a small token of the Salot family's appreciation," Allen said, patting the wine jars.
Sweet-talking Ralph and the others' eyes widened in surprise.
Scholar Harry also moved his lips slightly.
Everyone has tasted Qingting Island red wine, but they've almost never tasted golden wine. Golden wine is extremely rare, not only because it's expensive and produced in limited quantities, but also because it can only be purchased by the very elite.
Harry, Polliver, and the others had long heard of the Golden Wine's fame, but rarely had the opportunity to taste such a renowned wine.
Gregor and his gang were all heroes of the brothel and champions of the wine.
Polliver licked his lips, looked at Lord Gregor, and stammered, "...My lord...we..."
"Take it inside and get the cup," Gregor said.