After returning from King's Landing, Lynd gathered the knights waiting outside the camp who intended to follow him.
From them, he selected the most reputable knight, a collateral relative of Rio Lyford from Golden Tooth, named Jason Fryed, a frequent participant in the martial arts tournament in the Westerlands.
Although he had never won the martial arts tournament, everyone who had fought him acknowledged his strength, stating that he was an extremely difficult opponent.
Lynd handed the letter he had written to Nameria to Jason Fryed, instructing him to take these knights to Tengshi Town to meet Nameria.
In the letter, he wrote about when he would likely return and asked Nameria to wait for him at Summerhall.
He also mentioned recruiting these knights into Summerhall's command, asking Moroya to test their abilities and assign them to suitable positions.
Additionally, he entrusted the knight with items brought back from the Wall, such as the sacrifice stone tablet of the Others and ancient books from Black Castle, to be delivered to Moroya.
The following evening, Lynd accompanied Robert on a hunting trip to the nearby suburbs.
During the hunt, Lynd specifically warned Robert that hunting while drinking was foolish and tried to motivate him to change his habit of drinking while hunting by out-hunting Robert, but it was useless.
In the evening, Robert dragged Lynd to a dinner party at a courtier's home.
This courtier was Ser Rick of House Massey from Stone Dance Castle in the Crownlands, Robert's squire, who was knighted by Robert during the Usurper War and had since resided in King's Landing, serving as captain of the Red Keep's guard.
"Lord Linde, welcome," Ser Rick, always smiling, said as he led his beautiful wife to entertain Robert, then approached Lynd with a smile and greeted him.
"Hello, Ser Rick," Lynd calmly looked at him, showing no disdain for his actions.
In fact, many courtiers in King's Landing, after understanding Robert's character, adopted similar practices to Ser Rick, some even more excessive, serving Robert while he slept with their wives or daughters, all to curry favor with him.
However, Robert was also shrewd; he usually feigned ignorance after getting what he wanted, and only a few individuals gained his favor.
Rick Massey was one of them; on the way to the banquet, Robert casually mentioned to Lynd that he hoped to find an opportunity for Rick Massey to inherit Stone Dance Castle.
"I wonder if the food here is to your liking, my lord?" Ser Rick's demeanor before Lynd was extremely subservient, not at all like a knight, but more like a servant.
Lynd looked at Ser Rick and said, "Ser Rick, speak plainly. I don't like beating around the bush."
Ser Rick smiled and said, "Since that's the case, I'll be direct. Someone wishes to meet you, Lord Linde."
Lynd frowned upon hearing this.
His attendance at this banquet with Robert was a spur-of-the-moment decision after hunting, so logically, no one should have been waiting for him.
Therefore, it could only be that the person was initially attending the banquet and decided to meet him on the spur of the moment.
"Lead the way!" Lynd was also curious about who wanted to see him, so he nodded and said.
Seeing Lynd agree, Ser Rick led Lynd towards a small building next to his villa, then entered the building, passed directly through its back door, and through another door, arriving at a house adjacent to Ser Rick's villa.
Upon entering the house, Lynd was surprised to see the person waiting inside and asked, "Stannis, are you the one who wanted to see me?"
To be honest, Lynd had guessed who might want to see him on the way, even including Cersei and Jon Arryn in his speculations, but he never expected it to be Stannis.
Because Lynd and Stannis's relationship was truly not good, Stannis had always resented Lynd for taking Summerhall, which he believed rightfully belonged to him.
Even in the Small Council, he was unwilling to say another word to Lynd, his displeasure clearly written on his face, without concealment.
That's why Lynd, when making his guesses, directly listed Stannis as someone who would not meet him privately, but unexpectedly, the one who wanted to meet him privately was Stannis.
Stannis, still with his cold face, waved to Ser Rick, signaling him to wait outside, then looked at Lynd, hesitated, and said, "Lord Linde, the Seven Gods Church says your pet is a Holy Beast of the Seven Gods, and it possesses the Mother's healing ability.
I want to ask if its healing ability can cure greyscale?"
"No," Lynd quickly realized that Stannis had gone against his dislike and actively sought to meet him in secret solely for his daughter.
It was evident that Stannis deeply loved his daughter, even willing to go against his own nature and meet someone he disliked for the sake of her illness.
Upon hearing Lynd's answer, Stannis's face showed disappointment, and he did not continue to ask why, nor did he have any intention of further chatting with Lynd, simply stood up and prepared to leave.
As Stannis walked past him, Lynd said, "If Your Grace trusts me, you can send Shireen to Summerhall.
Moroya Hightower, my chief administrator, is skilled at treating peculiar illnesses and might be able to help Shireen."
"The madwoman of House Hightower?" Stannis paused, hesitated, then shook his head and said, "Never mind, I don't trust her."
After speaking, he strode out of the room.
Lynd did not stop him; although he was fond of Shireen Baratheon, that strong-willed little girl, he had no interest in pursuing someone who gave him the cold shoulder.
The meeting between Lynd and Stannis ended so quickly that Ser Rick was also somewhat surprised.
He wisely did not inquire about what Lynd and Stannis discussed and led Lynd back to the banquet in his villa.
As Ser Rick prepared to leave, Lynd suddenly asked, "Ser Rick, aren't you King's man? Why are you also with Stannis...?"
"My lord, perhaps there's a misunderstanding. I am loyal to Baratheon," Ser Rick, clearly having anticipated Lynd's question, immediately replied, "To me, pure steel and black iron are no different; they are both part of the stag."
With that, he excused himself and went to attend to Robert, who was drinking heavily.
Lynd did not stay at this banquet for too long; when Robert went to the villa's backyard, he left, knowing that Robert would not be leaving this villa tonight.
Ser Barristan led the Kingsguard guarding the villa, with only Jaime absent, clearly implying that while Robert slept with someone else's wife, his own wife was also being slept with by someone else.
On his way back to the camp, a small sedan chair blocked his path.
When the curtain was drawn, Varys's bald head appeared before him.
"My lord, if you're not in a hurry to return, we can go to Tob Mott's smithy now.
He has already repaired your gauntlet," Varys suggested.
Lynd considered it and nodded, agreeing to Varys's suggestion.
Fortunately, because he was attending a banquet, Lynd was not wearing his armor, and his mount, Black Wind, was left at the camp.
Although his appearance, carrying two Lost Knight's Greatswords, was unique, countless official knights and wandering knights in King's Landing were now imitating his attire out of admiration for him; not to mention two knight's Greatswords, there were even people equipped with four swords.
Without Glory and Black Wind to complement him, and not wearing fallen knight armor, Lynd, even with two knight's Greatswords, looked quite ordinary.
From the noble residences next to the Red Keep, he walked all the way to Steel Street, and not a single person he encountered along the way recognized him as the Godsworn.
Even late at night, the smithies on Steel Street were still brightly lit, and the sound of hammers striking anvils was incessant; unless one was accustomed to such noise, it would be impossible for anyone living on Steel Street and its vicinity to sleep peacefully in such an environment.
The main reason these smithies did not close until late at night was the sheer volume of orders they had.
These orders were also somewhat related to Lynd, because with the appearance of the wights, everyone felt fear and unease.
Under the influence of this emotion, many people chose to buy weapons to feel more secure; even some noblewomen and ladies intended to carry a dagger or similar weapon, which led to a tenfold or more increase in weapon orders in a short period.
Moreover, those placing orders were powerful figures in King's Landing who could not be offended, forcing the smithies on Steel Street to work overtime through the night.
However, unlike the incessant busyness of other smithies, Tob Mott's smithy was completely silent at this moment.
Several Gold Cloaks were guarding the entrance of the smithy, indicating that the smithy's owner must have offended a powerful figure in the city.
"Stop, this smithy has already... Lord Linde?" When Lynd, riding a horse, and Varys, in a sedan chair, arrived at the entrance of Tob Mott's smithy, the Gold Cloak guarding the door immediately stepped forward to stop them.
However, halfway through his sentence, he recognized Lynd, who had dismounted, and quickly stopped.
"What happened here?" Although Lynd knew that the smithy being sealed was likely related to Cersei, he deliberately feigned ignorance and asked.
"Uh! Someone reported that the owner of this smithy was selling contraband, so it needs to be supervised," the Gold Cloak quickly offered an excuse.
Lynd looked at the Gold Cloak in front of him and said, "Tob Mott, the owner of this smithy, has accepted my invitation to become the Chief Craftsman of Summerhall.
Now, if you say he's selling contraband, it's tantamount to saying I'm selling contraband.
Do I also need to be supervised by you and undergo an investigation?"
"Of course not, of course not!" The Gold Cloak quickly shook his head.
Lynd was currently the most influential person in the entire Seven Kingdoms.
This influence was not only reflected in his sway over the lords and nobles of the Seven Kingdoms but also in his far greater influence among the common people at the bottom than anyone else.
If the Gold Cloak dared to detain Lynd, they would likely be torn to shreds by the fanatical followers of the Seven Gods Church even before the King gave an order.
"We also think this is a misunderstanding. Now, your presence, my lord, proves that this smithy is absolutely fine, so we naturally don't need to guard here anymore."
One of the Gold Cloaks reacted extremely quickly, casually fabricated an excuse, and then hurried away from the smithy with his companions.
After the Gold Cloaks left, Varys stepped out of the sedan chair.
At this moment, Tob Mott, hearing the commotion outside, also came out to check the situation.
Upon seeing Varys and Lynd, his face immediately showed relief and joy, and he immediately stepped forward to bow to both of them, then welcomed them into the smithy.
"Gendry, you rascal, quickly bring me the gauntlet I forged this afternoon!" Tob Mott yelled at a young apprentice about six or seven years old.
The young apprentice hurriedly ran into the warehouse at the back of the smithy and, carefully holding a steel gauntlet, walked towards Lynd and Varys.
When he reached Lynd, the young apprentice tripped over something and stumbled forward, but Lynd immediately steadied him, and the gauntlet that had fallen from his hand was caught by Lynd.
"You rascal, always so careless! I shouldn't have taken you in for that bit of money!" Tob Mott, fearing that Gendry's carelessness would anger Lynd, quickly reprimanded him.
Lynd ignored Tob Mott's words, helped the extremely nervous Gendry stand steadily, looked at him, and immediately recognized him as Robert's bastard, Gendry, from his resemblance to Robert.
Then he looked at Varys, and it was not difficult to tell from Varys's expression that he also knew the identity of this young apprentice.
"Since you've taken the money, you must teach him well so he can become a true blacksmith, understand, Master Tob?" Lynd did not show any special favoritism towards Robert's bastard, merely offering a word of advice to Tob Mott.
"Yes, my lord, I understand! I will certainly teach him well!" Tob Mott immediately responded, then signaled Gendry to return to the house and rest.
Lynd looked at the newly repaired steel gauntlet, then tried it on his hand, nodding with satisfaction.
Because the Lost Country Knight's gauntlet was designed with damage and replacement in mind, if the outer steel armor was damaged but the inner components were intact, only the outer steel armor needed to be replaced, so it was quickly repaired and looked no different from before.
"Who exactly did you offend, and why are the Gold Cloaks targeting you so much?" Lynd flexed his fingers a few times with the steel gauntlet on, then asked.
"My lord, I don't know who I offended. I was targeted out of nowhere, not only losing the orders I had, but also having restrictions placed on all the raw materials used for forging," Tob Mott said innocently.
"The order sent to Commander Slynt came from the Prime Minister's Office," Varys interjected at this point.
"Prime Minister's Office?" Tob Mott looked bewildered and said, "Seven Gods above, I've never offended the Prime Minister..."
"Although the order came from the Prime Minister's Office, it doesn't necessarily mean it came from Jon Arryn," Varys prompted, "Your recent actions have angered someone."
Tob Mott still didn't understand Varys's words, or perhaps he had angered too many people recently and couldn't recall who it was at the moment.
"Gulltown," Varys hinted directly.
"Is it Petyr Baelish?" Tob Mott immediately understood and exclaimed.
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