After handling the affairs of his territory, Lynd received a raven from Bitterbridge, stating that Fotimo and Joel Flower's escort team had passed through Bitterbridge a day ago. At their current speed, they would reach Long Night Town, at the intersection of Tengshi Avenue and Rose Road, in only one or two days.
So, Lynd, accompanied by Glory, placed the Dragon Egg in his backpack and headed to Long Night Town to await Fotimo and Joel Flower's escort team.
The reason he didn't leave the Dragon Egg in Tengshi Town was that he needed to nourish it with Dragon Rune every few days. If the interval was too long, the previous nurturing effects would disappear. Traveling to the Wall would take several months, which forced him to bring the Dragon Egg along.
The intersection of Tengshi Avenue and Rose Road had now become the most prosperous place nearby. Earlier, Nameria had settled some recruited refugees and the original residents of Tengshi Town here, building a market town.
Originally, this market town was only meant to serve passing merchant caravans, providing them with a place to spend the night. But as Tengshi Avenue extended to Green Valley City, and then to Summerhall, this intersection became particularly important.
The original small market town grew into a large one. Lynd also built a fortress here, and Nameria stationed White Deer Wenda there as the fortress and market town steward. The market town thus gained a name.
Lynd did not enter the market town but waited in the fortress outside. When White Deer Wenda, who had completed her inspection work, learned of his arrival, she came to see Lynd, dressed in armor.
"Aren't you bringing some people with you on the journey?" White Deer Wenda asked, surprised to see Lynd alone.
"I'm not going to war, why would I bring people?" Lynd shook his head and said, "Besides, House Tyrell will send people. There's no need for me to do anything extra." As he spoke, he suddenly thought of something and asked White Deer Wenda, "Has Spark contacted you recently?"
White Deer Wenda shook her head and said, "There's been no contact for over a year. The last time was when you went to Dorne. You don't need to worry about her; as long as Kingswood exists, she'll be fine."
Lynd frowned and said, "I need to find her for something. Do you know of any way to contact her?"
After finishing his territory inspection, Lynd had visited Kingswood several times. He wanted to see Spark to understand the situation on the day of the Summerhall fire and the female dwarf she rescued, but he found nothing. Even when he deliberately activated the power within the Dragon Rune, creating a large disturbance in Kingswood, he couldn't make Spark of the Forest Children appear. It felt as if Spark of the Forest Children was no longer in Kingswood.
White Deer Wenda shook her head and said, "Sorry, Lord, Spark has always found me; I've never actively contacted Spark."
"When you last saw Spark, did she say anything?" Lynd asked again.
White Deer Wenda thought for a moment and said, "She told me to take good care of her garden. She was going on a long journey to see a friend."
"Friend?" Lynd frowned. He didn't continue to ask White Deer Wenda about Spark's friend, assuming White Deer Wenda wouldn't know about it.
People who could be considered friends by the Forest Children, besides the Forest Children themselves, included Green Seer and other nature-loving individuals. Throughout the Seven Kingdoms, there were only two rumored places where Forest Children existed: the Isle of Faces in the center of Gods Eye Lake and the swamps of Neck and the primeval forest to the west.
On the way to the Wall, he would pass through these two places. Lynd felt that if he didn't see Spark in Kingswood, perhaps when passing through these two places, he could ask Glory to help him search there to see if he could find Spark.
Lynd did not wait long in Long Night Town. Half a day later, the escort team arrived.
This team consisted of about five hundred people. Besides four hundred prisoners, the rest were soldiers responsible for the escort. Perhaps due to the previous incident, Velas was much more cautious this time. He not only sent enough escorting soldiers but also assigned Fotimo and Joel Flower, two famous sword masters from The Reach, to oversee the escort.
After the escorted prisoners were confined in the cells of the Long Night Town fortress, Fotimo and Joel Flower, guided by a servant, arrived at Lynd's room.
"Lord Fotimo, Lord Joel Flower, long time no see!" Lynd greeted the two as they approached.
"Earl, long time no see." Fotimo returned the greeting, his demeanor less casual than before, showing much more respect.
Joel Flower, on the other hand, remained casual, nodding to Lynd and saying, "Lynd, kid, don't think I'll call you Earl."
Lynd also smiled and nodded, saying, "Given our relationship, there's no need to be so formal at all. Lord Fotimo, you don't need to be so ceremonious either. Just call me Lynd as before. After all, we'll be together for another month or two, and being too formal will make things uncomfortable."
Joel Flower turned and raised an eyebrow triumphantly at Fotimo, then reached out his hand and said, "I told you, this kid hasn't changed. A bet's a bet, hand over the money."
Fotimo rolled his eyes at Joel Flower, untied a coin purse from his waist, and casually tossed it to Joel Flower.
Joel Flower caught the coin purse, then tossed it to his attendant, saying, "Tell those guys, today, I, Uncle Joel, am treating. Drink as much as you want."
Fotimo frowned and said, "We still have to travel tomorrow. If they get drunk..."
Joel Flower said nonchalantly, "It's fine. If they get drunk, just have the prisoners carry them. It won't delay our journey." He then pointed at Lynd and said, "Besides, we have a Godsworn here who can fight a thousand. Those prisoners would be foolish to seek death."
As they spoke, the group entered the house. Lynd had a servant prepare some drinks and food, and Joel Flower and Fotimo, with the help of their attendants, removed their armor.
Seeing that Joel Flower's identity badge had changed from House Crane's golden crane to House Tyrell's golden rose, Lynd couldn't help but smile and say, "I didn't expect you, Lord Joel Flower, to be working for Highgarden now. I thought you'd be a captain of the guard for House Crane in Red Lake your whole life?"
Hearing Lynd's words, Joel Flower couldn't help but roll his eyes, as if Lynd's words had touched a forbidden topic for him. Then he pouted and said, "Talking to you is really boring. You always poke at people's sore spots, making it hard to know how to respond."
Fotimo, who was beside them, smiled and said, "He was driven out. When Earl Alister Florent and his family were guests at Red Lake, he climbed into Lady Melara Crane's bed and was caught in the act by Earl Alister. He escaped, was then expelled by House Crane, and was also wanted by Earl Florent, so he could only seek refuge in Highgarden."
Lynd had been busy with his own territory's affairs and rarely paid attention to other territories in The Reach. He hadn't expected to suddenly hear such a big scandal.
However, after carefully recalling the information about Earl Alister Florent and Lady Melara, Lynd's face couldn't help but show a strange expression. He asked Fotimo for confirmation, "The Earl Florent you mentioned, is he Earl Florent of Brightwater Keep?"
"Yes," Fotimo clearly knew what Lynd was thinking, and a smile was hard to conceal on his face.
Joel Flower, meanwhile, was drinking with his head down, his face full of embarrassment.
Lynd directly hit the nail on the head, asking, "Isn't Earl Florent's wife, Lady Melara, an old woman?"
"I told you, talking to you is truly boring." Joel Flower drained his cup, had the attendant refill it, and then looked at Lynd with great dissatisfaction, saying, "She's a mature woman, and a very charming mature woman..."
"It's just a pity she's so ripe she's almost rotten," Fotimo added, timely, with a jab.
Joel Flower said nothing more, only lowered his head and drank.
"I didn't expect you, Lord Joel Flower, to have such a taste," Lynd sighed, then asked doubtfully, "After you were wanted by Earl Florent, you didn't flee The Reach, nor did you seek refuge with me. Instead, you ran to Highgarden. Could it be because of Olenna?"
Hearing Lynd's words, Fotimo finally couldn't help but burst into laughter. Joel Flower also glared at Lynd with a look of shame and annoyance. From their reactions, it was clear that Lynd was not the only one to make such a guess; similar rumors probably circulated in Highgarden's noble circles.
With some laughter and teasing, their relationship gradually returned to normal, and the previous social barriers quickly disappeared.
Afterward, they discussed recent events in their respective lives, further strengthening their bond.
Moreover, Lynd also learned some news from Highgarden through Fotimo's words, such as Highgarden's seemingly strained relationship with Dorne due to the canceled marriage alliance, which had somewhat deteriorated, but in reality, Highgarden and Sunspear had always maintained correspondence, and so on.
However, Fotimo mentioned Velas the most, because ever since Velas became paralyzed, Fotimo, the Highgarden drillmaster, became Velas's captain of the guard. So when Velas served as the enforcer in Highgarden, he was always watching.
Because Velas always made fair judgments that satisfied both parties when handling some family matters, he earned the nickname 'The Just Golden Rose'. Duke Mace also felt that giving Velas something to do would be good for him, so he appointed Velas as Highgarden's enforcer, responsible for resolving various disputes in Highgarden.
And Velas, by impartially handling every case, gained a great deal of prestige, recovering and even exceeding the reputation he had lost due to some strange behaviors after his paralysis. As a result, he still requires all lords of The Reach to gather death row prisoners in Highgarden and then send them to the Wall to join the Night's Watch, and the lords of The Reach have not objected.
Of course, this might also be related to the fact that the lords of The Reach found this method very suitable for dealing with troublesome individuals who couldn't be killed but were unwanted. Therefore, not all of the prisoners sent to the Wall were death row inmates; some were unfortunate souls considered thorns in the side by their respective lords.
For Velas, he only needed to increase the strength of the Wall. As for whether there were innocent people among those sent, he did not actually care.
Through Fotimo's account of Velas, Lynd could already feel that Velas's vigilance against the Others had penetrated to his bones. Everything he was doing now was to defend against the Others' southward advance from Eternal Winter Land.
Fortunately, Velas still maintained his sanity and did not make any overly drastic moves, nor would he do anything beyond his capabilities.
After a night's rest, the Highgarden escort team continued north along the Rose Road, only this time the team included one more person and one more beast.
Interestingly, among these prisoners, many were followers of the Seven Gods. When they rested, they would come before Lynd, kneel and confess their past misdeeds, treating Lynd as if he were a monk of the Seven Gods Church.
However, Lynd did not forgive their sins like a monk. Instead, he quietly listened to their stories, watching them calmly. Usually, these heinous individuals would burst into tears under Lynd's gaze, like children. Eventually, after their emotions settled, they would lean down and kiss Lynd's feet, then quietly leave.
"You're becoming more and more like a charlatan!" Joel Flower, who witnessed all this, said disdainfully, "I think you should place a wooden box in front of you, and everyone who confesses to you should put in a copper coin. Who knows, you might soon have enough copper coins to build a castle."
"I'm sorry, Lord Joel Flower, your suggestion is worthless," Lynd intentionally showed a smug expression and said, "My Summerhall Castle and Miracle Port don't cost money. The Church is willing to pay for all my construction costs, and I have too much money, so much that I don't know how to spend it. Only you, Lord, would care about these few copper coins."
"It seems the rumors are true; all the treasures the Iron Islands plundered from the Westerlands ended up in your hands," Fotimo said, looking at Lynd with envy, "You lucky fellow, all expenses on the road from now on will be on you."
On the road, the three of them enjoyed passing the time with sarcastic banter.
The team quickly passed through Kingswood and arrived at King's Landing.
The escort team stayed outside King's Landing for several days because King Robert, upon learning of Lynd's arrival in King's Landing, summoned Lynd and then took him back to Kingswood for a hunt.
At the same time, he also had Lord Jon Arryn extract some prisoners from the dungeons and hand them over to Fotimo, to be sent to the Wall together.
Although only about a year had passed since the rebellion, King Robert's physique had severely deteriorated. Layers of fat accumulated on his chin, completely obscuring his handsome appearance from a year ago, and his body had expanded by several sizes, making his old armor barely fit.
However, his changed physique did not mean his combat prowess had weakened. He could still wield his heavy warhammer.
During the hunt, he again proposed to spar with Lynd, but this time he did not insist that Lynd use the Lost Knight's Greatsword, instead allowing Lynd to use a broad-bladed hand-and-a-half sword.
The final result was naturally self-evident. Lynd held nothing back. When Robert launched his attack, Lynd used agile footwork to evade it, then pressed his broad-bladed hand-and-a-half sword against Robert's heart, defeating him in one move.
Afterward, Robert simply had the Kingsguard, including Barristan the Bold, collectively attack Lynd. The result remained unchanged; except for Barristan the Bold and Robert, who cooperated and exchanged two rounds of blows with Lynd, everyone else, including Kingslayer, was defeated by Lynd in a single move.
Afterward, King Robert marveled at Lynd's strength and was satisfied that Lynd had not held back during the fight due to his status. So, upon returning to King's Landing, he summoned his courtiers and, in their presence, once again bestowed a title upon Lynd. This time, Lynd was named the First Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.
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