Deepwood Motte, North Bailey.
While the Steel Fist were away washing up, Galon walked briskly toward the workshop near the hill.
This workshop had been specially built for Maester Beckman at Galon's request.
Half a year ago, when Galon became the lord of Deepwood Motte, Maester Beckman renewed his oath of loyalty to him.
Since then, the two had interacted frequently over the affairs of Deepwood Motte.
During that time, Galon learned that Maester Beckman was well versed in both military studies and medicine.
In particular, he had his own unique insights into weapons.
In his previous life, Galon had spent years arguing on weapons forums, constantly debating with others.
Right up until the moment before his transmigration, he had still been arguing about whether the Horse bow or the English longbow was superior, so his theoretical knowledge was quite extensive.
Under such circumstances, the two naturally got along extremely well.
Deepwood Motte lay within the Wolfswood, and as a result, nearly everyone who lived there was an excellent archer.
Thus, most of their discussions revolved around bows and arrows.
From Maester Beckman, Galon learned that on the continent of Westeros, bow materials generally included yew, fishbeam wood, goldenheart, dragonbone, and the like.
Each material had its own strengths and weaknesses, but overall, the most commonly used was the yew longbow.
The longbows of Westeros were similar to the English longbow, with fast firing speed and long range.
But to Galon, who had seen countless famous bows throughout history in his previous life, even the English longbow still had room for improvement.
Thus, he developed the idea of having Maester Beckman improve the longbow.
'If the longbow can be improved successfully, and combined with the natural archers of Deepwood Motte, then I will be holding a trump card.
When fighting the southern kingdoms, following England's example in crushing France would be no great challenge.'
In European history, England had once used the longbow to decisively defeat France at the Battle of Agincourt, achieving a classic victory of the weak over the strong.
It was also one of the most glorious triumphs of English archers.
With this in mind, Galon persuaded Maester Beckman to begin researching improvements to the longbow's craftsmanship.
To his surprise, Maester Beckman readily agreed.
But he had one condition.
Once the improved longbow was successfully developed, Maester Beckman wished to send the craftsmanship back to the Citadel in written form and publish it.
After some consideration, Galon agreed. And thus, the workshop before him was born.
At this moment, Galon pushed open the door and stepped inside.
A strong, fishy smell immediately rushed toward him.
He swept his gaze around. The workshop was in complete disarray, with barely any space to stand.
Either cut logs were piled about, or bow staves being shaped by bowyers lay scattered everywhere.
Loose wooden arrows were strewn across the floor.
On the right side of the workshop, an iron cauldron hung from a metal frame, with firewood burning beneath it.
Maester Beckman stood beside the frame, drenched in sweat, forcefully stirring the glue-like substance in the pot with an iron rod.
Galon hurried over. The closer he got, the stronger the fishy smell became.
Peering inside, he saw the cauldron filled with fish bladders, melting into glue under the roaring flames.
"Maester, why didn't you have servants come help you?" Galon asked, unable to resist speaking up.
The maester was about sixty years old, nearly bald, with only sparse white hair remaining on the sides. Around his neck hung a chain of iron and silver links.
For labor like boiling fish bladders, Galon had long since told him he could let servants handle it.
But Maester Beckman shook his head, "This concerns secrets. I feel safer doing it myself."
"My lord, your earlier guess was correct. Glue can indeed be extracted from fish.
I tested it before. Its adhesive strength is even greater than glue boiled from animals."
Previously, when discussing composite bows, Beckman and Galon had talked about using glue made from animal hides.
That glue was weak, resulting in composite bows with mediocre performance.
At the time, Galon had thought of fish bladder glue.
Fish bladder glue had far superior bonding strength. A composite bow made with it would surely surpass ordinary longbows.
So Galon had deliberately revealed the idea of making glue from fish bladders to Beckman, sparking his curiosity and pushing him to research it.
Sure enough, Beckman did not disappoint him.
At this moment, Beckman's face was full of delight.
"Even when the process was still crude, the fish bladder glue already surpassed animal glue.
Once this batch is finished and refined further, I believe your idea of a new composite bow can truly be realized!
When that happens, I will publish the technique at the Citadel. The archmaesters will surely be astonished!"
"Haha!"
Hearing the laughter, Galon's expression turned a little strange.
Everything about Maester Beckman was excellent, except for his enthusiasm for publishing his research at the Citadel.
It reminded Galon of graduate students in his previous life scrambling to publish papers, no matter how trivial the research.
Still, Galon reminded him, "Maester, we agreed before. If this is truly developed, you must not reveal it to anyone for three years."
"This concerns the safety of the North."
While stirring, Beckman smiled. "My lord, rest assured. I know what matters. The birth of this new bow will change the rhythm of warfare."
"If others discover it too early, your advantage will vanish."
As someone well versed in military studies, Beckman fully understood that the new composite bow would far surpass the old ones.
He also understood Galon's purpose in having him research it.
And since he had chosen to be loyal to Galon, he naturally would not reveal such a trump card.
"But my lord, the new bow places high demands on its users. You should be mentally prepared.
Among the people outside, at least half of them may find it difficult to draw the new bow continuously."
Beckman wiped his sweat and reminded him.
Galon nodded. "I already have an idea about that."
He did not continue, and Beckman wisely did not ask further.
Instead, he said, "My lord, the workshop environment is poor. You should step outside for now."
"Once the boiling is complete, I'll have someone notify you."
Galon inclined his head. "Then I'll leave it in your hands, Maester."
Seeing that Beckman had nothing else to say, Galon turned and walked toward the door.
Just as he was about to step out of the workshop, an image suddenly flashed through his mind, of his meeting with the Three-Eyed Raven in the godswood of Winterfell.
"Maester Beckman…"
He hesitated, then, facing Beckman's puzzled gaze, said, "How much do you know about the history of House Glover?"
"The history of House Glover?" Beckman paused, resting his hands on the iron rod as he thought.
"House Glover's history can be traced back to the Age of Heroes. What does my lord wish to know?"
Galon's eyes flickered. "Have you ever heard rumors that House Glover once made a promise to the old gods?"
At this, Beckman fell into deep thought and did not reply for a long while. Only the crackling of burning wood brought him back to himself.
He frowned slightly and said hesitantly, "My lord, I do not believe there are such rumors."
Galon pressed again. "Not even anything similar?"
Seeing how concerned Galon was, Beckman grew more uncertain.
"Well… it's hard to say."
"The history of House Glover is very long, with many legends. I cannot sort them out at once.
My lord, how about this. Once I finish with the fish bladder glue, I'll return to the maester's tower, search through the records, and report back to you."
Galon sighed inwardly.
The records in the maester's tower were vast as the sea. He knew Beckman would not find anything quickly.
So he said, "No need. I was just asking casually."
With that, he turned and left the workshop.
Leaving behind a bewildered Maester Beckman standing in place.
__________
Upto 20 chapters ahead on patreon :-
patreon.com/Xorath