Hearing Lynd's bold words, Garlan and Vortimer were too stunned to speak, staring blankly at Lynd as if he were a rare animal.
The preciousness of Valyrian steel goes without saying; there are only a handful of weapons made from Valyrian steel on the entire continent of Westeros, such as Stark's Ice, and Tarly's Heartsbane, among others.
But these are all weapons, and armor made of Valyrian steel has never been heard of, which made Garlan and Vortimer both feel that Lynd was completely delusional.
Lynd was also well aware of the associations his words would evoke in Garlan and Vortimer, and he was helpless about it.
If he wanted to fully utilize all the extraordinary powers and swordsmanship of the Banished Knight, he would have to use weapons and armor made of Valyrian steel, because just as ordinary Dragonglass cannot bear the power contained in Dragon Runes, ordinary steel also cannot be inscribed with Dragon Runes.
Yesterday, when he tried to make an DragonglassDragon Rune necklace and found that ordinary Dragonglass could not bear the power of the Dragon Rune, he, based on the details in the Banished Knight's memory, had Raul take some silver stags to the Dragonpit in King's Landing to buy some Dragonglass that had been sprayed by dragonfire.
As a result, except for a few pieces of Dragonglass that had not been sprayed by dragonfire and shattered after being engraved with Dragon Runes, all other pieces of Dragonglass that had been sprayed by dragonfire were successfully imprinted with Dragon Runes without exception.
And after he put on the necklace, the effect he felt was the same as when the Banished Knight wore the necklace in his memory: all the violent emotions in his mind were dispelled by the cool aura emanating from the necklace, making his mind exceptionally clear.
The only pity was that these necklaces were consumables, and prolonged wear would gradually weaken their power, so new necklaces needed to be replaced from time to time; fortunately, the amount of dragonfire Dragonglass in the Dragonpit was very large, enough for him to use until the day he completely resolved the side effects of this Dragon Feast Ritual.
In addition, after discovering that ordinary Dragonglass could not bear the power of Dragon Runes, Lynd also couldn't help but wonder if ordinary steel would also be like Dragonglass, unable to bear the power of Dragon Runes.
So, he found some steel plates to test, and the result was as he expected: after the Dragon Rune was imprinted, the steel plates immediately shattered, and not only shattered, but those steel fragments even easily crumbled into powder like dirt when squeezed.
Clearly, the power of the Dragon Rune not only tore the steel but also destroyed the internal molecular structure of the steel, completely turning these steel fragments into another fragile material.
For this, Lynd carefully recalled the process of making armor again, and soon he discovered a wrong perception caused by a misconception.
Although in his memory, the material the Banished Knight used to forge armor and weapons was ordinary iron ore, the Banished Knight's ordinary iron ore and the ordinary iron ore of the Ice and Fire World were completely different matters.
The Banished Knight's world was a world where humans and gods coexisted, a world full of magic and divine power, and the iron ore in that world was also produced amidst endless magical power; the iron ore itself carried magic, and after being made into steel, the magic still existed, meaning that the ordinary steel used by the Banished Knight actually had magic, and in the entire Ice and Fire World, steel with magic, apart from a few steels forged from meteorites, was only Valyrian steel.
This is why Lynd abandoned ordinary steel and instead wanted to use Valyrian steel to make his Banished Knight armor and Greatsword.
However, his reason for using this to explain why he sold the cavalry team slots was merely an excuse to conceal his true purpose for doing so.
"Are you crazy? You actually want to make armor and weapons out of Valyrian steel?" Vortimer was the first to recover from his shock, unable to help but exclaim.
Lynd smiled and did not continue to explain, nor could he explain.
Garlan also recovered; he did not find Lynd's decision incomprehensible like Vortimer, but rather analyzed it as if he were providing a reference for Lynd: "Twenty thousand gold dragons are indeed too little to make Valyrian steel armor and weapons, but it might be enough to make just one Valyrian steel weapon. The problem is, where is Valyrian steel now, and who can make weapons out of Valyrian steel? As far as I know, all Valyrian steel craftsmanship sank into the sea with Valyria."
Lynd gave a wry smile; Garlan had perfectly pinpointed the difficulty of the matter, and he currently had no clue either.
He knew there was a blacksmith in King's Landing who understood Valyrian steel craftsmanship; a dozen years later, Lord Tywin would have this blacksmith melt down Stark's Ice and reshape it into two Valyrian steel swords, Widow's Wail and Oathkeeper, but he couldn't remember the blacksmith's name, and there were dozens of blacksmith shops in King's Landing, so he didn't know which one he worked at.
More importantly, that blacksmith should still be a young man now, and whether he had already mastered Valyrian steel craftsmanship was still unknown, so finding that blacksmith might not necessarily be useful.
As for Valyrian steel, he also had a small clue: he remembered that there was a city on the continent of Essos that possessed complete Valyrian steel craftsmanship, and perhaps there was enough Valyrian steel in that city to make armor, but he couldn't remember which specific city it was.
Vortimer clearly did not take Lynd's decision as seriously as Garlan; he merely believed it was an arrogant decision Lynd made after being carried away by winning the group martial arts championship, and that Lynd would likely come to his senses after some time.
He was more concerned about Lynd's decision to sell the cavalry team slots, an action that clearly had a very negative impact on Lynd.
So, in order to make Lynd realize the seriousness of his wrong decision, he directly informed him: "The Lord has learned about your selling of cavalry team slots to those guard soldiers, and some people believe your behavior is very bad and want to punish you severely."
Lynd was not surprised by this; what he cared about was whether things were developing as he wished.
Garlan, on the other hand, showed no signs of worry; instead, he smiled and said, "Lord Vortimer, you don't need to make it sound so serious. Father will not punish Lynd, after all, Lynd has rendered considerable service to our House Tyrell."
"That's because King Robert's invitation letter arrived; otherwise, the Lord would have punished him." Vortimer glanced at Garlan and said sternly to Lynd, "What you did was too out of line. If you are not punished, it will be detrimental to House Tyrell's management of its subordinate armies."
This time, Garlan did not refute Vortimer's words but instead gave Lynd a wry smile.
"Originally, Maester Lomys and Ser Roger wanted to take you to Highgarden for training. Although the Lord did not agree at the time, he also did not object, and it seemed very likely he would agree." Vortimer sighed and said, "But now, this matter is basically impossible. The Lord will not allow someone who privately sells cavalry team qualifications to command the Lord's Guard, and you won't even be allowed into the Highgarden garrison. It's highly likely you'll be sent to a local area to do some arduous tasks."
"Actually, you don't need to worry. Even if it's an arduous task, if you do it well, you can still have a chance to be transferred back to Highgarden." Garlan immediately comforted Lynd a few words, preventing him from being disheartened.
However, Garlan did not know that this was precisely the result Lynd hoped to see. In fact, from yesterday, when he had Scarface spread the word about selling cavalry team slots, he intended to use this self-damaging behavior to give the Lord Tyrell's confidants an excuse to veto his decision to go to Highgarden.
Although going to Highgarden seemed to promise a brilliant future, that was definitely not what Lynd desired.
Lynd's reputation had risen too quickly, from a country boy to a highly anticipated figure in a short time; even the King had firmly remembered him. Such renown had already aroused the envy of a group of powerful nobles around Lord Tyrell.
Perhaps these nobles could not do anything to him now, but once he returned to Highgarden, that would be their home ground, and they had plenty of ways to make him suffer.
After all, the power games those nobles played were not Lynd's forte. Being too close to the center of power in his current position would only put him in an extremely passive state, just as getting too close to fire would burn him. Therefore, staying away from the center of power and accumulating strength was what he needed to do most now. Only when he possessed sufficient strength would he not have his foundation shaken by schemes and tricks.
"Lord Garlan, do you know how the Lord will handle this matter?" Lynd tried to glean some useful information from Garlan.
However, Garlan didn't know either and shook his head.
However, Vortimer seemed to know something. After thinking for a moment, he said, "The cavalry team will definitely expand, and your position as cavalry team captain will not change. However, you'd best select your men in advance. Regardless of whether the people you choose have paid you or not, they must meet one requirement: they must be able to fight immediately, without needing extra training." He then paused and added, "Also, you'd best familiarize yourself with Tumbleton and its surrounding environment beforehand."
"Tumbleton?" Both Lynd and Garlan showed expressions of surprise, but the meaning of their surprise was completely different: Lynd was surprised because he had never heard of the town's name, while Garlan was surprised because he knew the town's situation.
As if he felt he had revealed too much, after speaking, Vortimer left the tent with Garlan, on the pretext of not disturbing Lynd's preparations for the evening's banquet.
After the two left, Lynd immediately turned and dragged out the box containing Maester Holly's books. He then found the book with information about Tumbleton among the many books. After quickly flipping through it, he felt a sense of longing for this town he had never heard of.
Although Tumbleton is now obscure, it left a significant mark in the history of Westeros, as it fully participated in the Dance of the Dragons, a major event that affected the entire political situation of Westeros and the rise and fall of the Targaryen Dynasty.
During the Dance, two battles that swayed the war occurred in Tumbleton. The Greens and the Blacks gathered tens of thousands of men to fight in this area. Two dragons, a prince, and countless nobles and soldiers died here. The entire town was reduced to ashes by dragonfire, turning into ruins, and remains so to this day.
It is said that the souls of those who died and the dragons still linger around Tumbleton, constantly emitting mournful wails, recounting everything that happened in that insane war.
Furthermore, although Tumbleton is currently a ruin, it still has an owner; it belongs to the Footly family, and the Footly family is one of the poorest noble families in The Reach. Apart from their noble title, this family is no different from ordinary farmers.
Therefore, even though Tumbleton's geographical location is extremely superior, located upstream of the Mander River, allowing direct boat access to Highgarden, which is much faster than traveling by land, it has still not been rebuilt after so many years and remains a ruin.
Vortimer's words just now should be hinting that Lord Tyrell intends to rebuild Tumbleton. As for the original lord of Tumbleton, House Footly, they might be moved to other places through land exchange, or perhaps other cooperation methods would allow House Tyrell to control Tumbleton and its surrounding lands.
Regardless of the method, for Lynd, what he cared about was his position in this matter. If there were no surprises, he would likely lead a cavalry team to be stationed in Tumbleton, overseeing the town's reconstruction while clearing out nearby bandits and restoring trade between the southern regions and the north.
Because Tumbleton is very close to King's Landing, only six leagues, which is about 300 kilometers when calculated in kilometers, it is located right on the edge of the Kingswood and only two or three leagues from the Rose Road.
Although the road connecting to the Rose Road has been abandoned for so many years, if it were cleared and repaired, it would still be a very good road, as it was built entirely to the specifications of the Rose Road when it was originally constructed.
Once the road is clear, merchant caravans from the north will have a high probability of transporting goods directly to Tumbleton, and then from Tumbleton, they can travel south along the Mander River directly to Highgarden, which will greatly save manpower and material resources, and even reduce transport time and potential dangers during transit.
Thus, the rebuilt Tumbleton will undoubtedly become one of The Reach's most important commercial and military strongholds.
This is an opportunity for Lynd, but becoming the lord of Tumbleton would probably be very difficult. How to achieve it, Lynd currently has no clue and can only wait for opportunities to slowly arise as the situation changes in the future.
However, the most important thing for him now is to become a knight. He doesn't know if he beat Robert Baratheon too badly. Yesterday, at the tourney grounds, although Robert expressed his admiration for Lynd, he did not directly knight Lynd, which made Lynd feel a little disappointed.
But he was not discouraged by this, because there were still many opportunities for him, such as the Iron Islands rebellion later, which would be a very good opportunity for him.
However, now that he had received the Red Keep banquet invitation, Lynd vaguely felt that at this banquet, the significant hurdle of his status might finally be overcome.