The king on the Great Wall

A sword for a hero, says Bran—hey, what a wish.

Leading thousands of troops and fighting against the sea of ​​ghouls, cutting off the head of the Night King's dog with a knife in hand, ending the cold winter and saving all mankind... Not only is it full of epic and heroic flavor, but also feels cool to think about it, just thinking about it It is the happy ending that fantasy should have.

What's more, even if you don't consider the existence of the White Walkers and just look at it from a personal point of view, hanging a Valyrian steel sword around your waist is definitely a matter of style and dignity.The most wonderful thing is that the family of the original owner of this sword has long been destroyed, leaving no descendants, and no one will come to ask for it.

It is an instinctive reaction for anyone to keep good things for themselves, but Iger changed his mind: I am neither a famous and powerful warrior, nor in the circle of nobles. His sword is hung around his waist as a decoration... It is too ostentatious and wasteful, and if he is not careful, he will conceive his own crime and cause trouble.

As the nemesis of ghosts, the dragon steel sword is naturally effective only when it is used to kill ghosts.And Iger, by chance, is one of the few people in the world who has actually fought against the White Walkers - his understanding of the powerful qualities of this magical creature is far more abstract than "throwing a sword can pierce a tree" and "throwing a spear can shoot a dragon" .

Memory can no longer restore all the details of that desperate fight in the forest, but physical senses can help at this time: Thinking of the ghostly blue eyes of the Other, the tiger’s mouth of the dominant hand holding the sword felt like it was cracking. ——This is the result of his own steel sword being shattered and broken in time, removing most of his strength.

But the enemy is far more than the characteristic of "great strength".

The White Walkers know magic and wisdom, and they have learned from the failure of the War of Dawn.Although the Valyrian steel sword can restrain them, but these existences who have already damaged the same kind will foolishly send their bodies to the edge of the dragon steel?

As long as the tens of thousands of ghouls lie between him and the human warriors, even if he stands still and let Iger use the "Dark Sister" to chop him, he will be exhausted and collapsed.

I am the supreme leader of the Night Watch Corps, the helm and backbone of the entire land-grant, and human energy is limited. A better way to say it is—specialization in art: despite the busy work, I still retain a minimum of Exercise, but it is absolutely impossible for an ordinary adult man who has passed the best martial arts training age to become a master of the night watchman while climbing from a small soldier to the commander-in-chief of the night watchman.

Iger can lead the army himself, but it is impossible to rush to the front every time... Ruoyin holds the White Walker Buster in his hand, rushing to the core of every battle, regardless of looking for the Night King to fight If you choose, it is like winning a tire in the lottery and then paying for a car.

This sword is a waste in my own hands.

……

Strong rationality made Iger make this judgment in a moment against human nature.

The second idea is naturally to use it for others. "Dark Sister" is a female sword, and it was brought back from outside the Great Wall by Brandon Stark... According to the urine nature of the original book, it will probably end up in the In the hands of Arya, who became an excellent assassin, became the sword of the girl Faceless, and finally came in handy in the final battle with the White Walkers.

Unfortunately, due to her blending and protection, Arya didn't get the chance to go to Braavos to undergo the devil training of the Academy of Black and White.Although relying on talent and hard work, he still has a good swordsmanship, but it is nothing more than outstanding among his peers. It is not enough to put it on the ultimate battlefield of ice and fire.

As soon as Aigle thought about it, he completely threw this whimsical idea into the trash, and thought of other candidates: This is indeed a female sword in his hand, but you must know-there are no "male" and "male" weapons in the serious weapon classification. The difference is that the Dark Sisters only need to change to a larger hilt and slightly adjust the center of gravity, and it is an ordinary one-handed sword that is a few centimeters shorter and slightly tapered.Considering the strong and tough properties of Valyrian steel, there is not much difference in actual use.

Who in my own circle of swordsmanship is worthy of a Valyrian steel sword?

In the case that Jon already has the "Longclaw" gifted by the old bear, Eggs thought about it, and it seems that only Jaime Lannister is eligible.

Iger was not very satisfied with this, and the reason was simple: the kingslayer just knew him earlier, got closer on weekdays, and rarely disobeyed orders... "It seems to be his own person".He is now honestly staying with the Night Watchman because he is willing to do so, not because he is loyal or convinced to himself as the new commander-in-chief.For such an unruly character that he can't completely control, giving him a precious Valyrian steel sword to attract people's hearts really makes people unable to bear the worry that they might "beat the dog with a meat bun".

What's more, an excellent warrior who holds a dragon steel weapon, or a soldier who sells this sword and gets a huge sum of money to arm hundreds of thousands of soldiers, which one is more profitable...is really debatable.Jaime Lannister is well-known in the Seven Kingdoms, and his martial skills are indeed extremely high, but even if the kingslayer can deal with a dozen ordinary soldiers at the same time, how can he kill enemies more efficiently than Dragonglass when facing the sea of ​​ghouls? Bomb higher?

After struggling for a few seconds, Iger suddenly had a flash of inspiration: the two do not conflict, and sold the "Dark Sister" to the Lannister family at a discount, but the additional requirement is that the sword must be used by James until the end of the war So far, wouldn't he have money and be able to temporarily leave this White Walker slayer in the Night Watch Corps for the next final battle?

As for whether the sword will continue to be carried by James after the war, or sent back to Casterly Rock for safekeeping, this is a matter within the Lannister family themselves!

Simply perfect.

Iger was thinking as he walked towards the Great Hall of the Nightfort, and within a few minutes he figured out how to deal with the sword in his hand, but just as he was about to make an order, he heard loud greetings from guards in his ears.

"Good day, Ms. Melisandre."

Several loyal guards have joined the night watchman industry since King's Landing and were elected to the guard class. It has been two years now, and there is naturally some tacit understanding between the master and the servant. This greeting seems to be out of respect for the red robe woman. , but in fact it is reminding Iger who is distracted.The latter raised his head, and sure enough, he saw the red-robed woman walking towards him with a frown, full of travel and dust, obviously she came here immediately after hearing the news.

"Is that kid back from beyond the Great Wall?"

"Well, what?"

"At this time, is it possible for a normal person to come all the way back to the Nightfort from beyond the Wall alive? Let alone a... crippled one!" Staring into Iger's eyes, "You're not worried at all, is this a spy, a spy...or even an assassin of that incomprehensible Ability God?"

……

Iger's brain hurts.

This kind of Red God priest who believes in dualism is very similar to all kinds of extremists and keyboard warriors in the real world before time travel.In the eyes of Melisandre, the world is either red or white. Those who are not comrades-in-arms that I approve of, or those who disagree with my point of view, are enemies—as long as they are not followers of Rhllor, they are heretics, and they are suspected of running dogs of the Cold God.

Iger didn't have the time and strength to reverse Melisandre's way of thinking. He shook his head: "There will only be one Green Prophet out of a thousand skinchangers. Now he can see the past and the past through the eyes of weirwood and thousands of creatures. What is happening now is one of the most powerful helpers of the Night Watchman, not an enemy."

"No wonder I felt a strong breath of alien gods as soon as I entered this castle. How dare you use this kind of evil spell for yourself?" If Iger was not the son of prophecy she identified, Melisandre would never May be so calmly persuaded.She was anxious and angry like an old mother who hates iron and steel: "You are shouldering a heavy responsibility now, and the enemy is likely to try to deal with you. You have to be extremely vigilant. How can you be so gullible to outsiders!"

Melisandre was right, and Iger was also somewhat vigilant: before crossing, he had also heard the idea that "Bran is the Night King".But... Robb Stark's younger brother is here alive, there is no real evidence, how could he be rashly burned to death, and then in the upcoming decisive battle with the White Walkers and the Northern Territory, it will fail ?

"I just chatted with him. Bran offered to join the Night Watchman, and he will probably settle in Houcrown Town. You will have a lot of opportunities to observe him in the future, so don't bother him for now." The tired commander-in-chief of the Night Watchman had no intention After talking more, he only lifted up the Dark Sister in his hand, "Here, this is what he brought back to me from beyond the Great Wall—I don't think the enemy will take the initiative to give me such a big gift."

The witch frowned and lowered her head, and was about to reprimand Iger a few more words, but was attracted by the fire-attributed magic power rushing towards her face, and then looked closely at the shape of a sword, and her expression changed drastically: "Lightbringer?!"

-

Chapter 354 Dragon King Sword

"Can you stop being 'Lightbringer' all day long, and just a Valyrian steel sword." Iger was not surprised by the witch's reaction at all, resisting the urge to roll his eyes, and weakly poured cold water on Melisandre.He pulled out the sword with a little force, exposing a section of the blade to increase his persuasiveness: "Look, it's neither bright nor hot."

"Do you think I'm a village woman who hasn't seen the Valyrian steel sword?" Melisandre narrowed her eyes, her expression suddenly becoming dangerous and alluring: "From Asshai to Slaver's Bay, from the Free Trade City to the The Seven Kingdoms of Westeros... There are hundreds of Valyrian steel swords in the two continents, and one was kept in the Red Temple of Volantis. The tile-steel sword I have seen is better than your name There are many more names... And you are holding this one in your hand now, the magic power surging around it is stronger than all the dozens I have seen combined, you describe this as 'a handful of Valerian' It’s just a sub-steel sword’?”

Iger was taken aback, and looked down at the sword in his hand again, but he didn't see any difference—after all, this was indeed the second Wagang sword he had seen.

He and the red-robed woman have had countless in-depth exchanges in various senses. Although they are not completely candid, they have established some mutual trust and understanding: Melisandre is good at using means or words. To gain the trust or awe of others... In short, she can fool people, but I don't know whether it is due to her character or the requirements of the doctrine, she rarely tells lies bluntly and without artistic treatment-maybe, but at least she has not been exposed by herself.

Could it be that this sword is really different from other Valyrian steel swords?

Melisandre asked with a serious expression, "What's the name of this sword?"

"Dark Sister."

"'Dark Sister'?" Melisandre muttered, and after thinking about it in her mind, she quickly remembered the origin of this sword: "It's the one owned by Visenya Targaryen, sister of Aegon the Conqueror." ?”

"Yes."

"This sword is outside the Great Wall? Interesting, um... now it seems that the rumor I heard is probably true." After pondering for a while, the red-robed woman looked at the guards following Iger, and wanted to speak He stopped, "Let your people avoid it for a while."

Although full of doubts, Iger still nodded to his people, signaling them to stand far away to give himself and Melisandre some space to talk privately.

……

After several soldiers walked far enough away, Melisandre spoke again: "This is not an ordinary tile-steel sword, this is a Dragon King sword."

Oh, so, do you have to wait until you ask yourself what the Dragon King Sword is before continuing to speak?Iger shrugged helplessly, and cooperated with the other party's performance: "The difference, please explain."

"Valyrian steel has been known as a magical metal since its inception, and it has another name called 'Dragon Steel'. It has long been believed that this is the reason why the metal was mixed with keels during the forging process. , but the actual reason is not so complicated: Valyrian steel has always been the metal that the most noble dragon kings in the Fortress of Liberty are eligible to order and use, hence the name dragon steel. But it is the most powerful metal in such a powerful empire However, shortly after its birth, the rare resources exclusive to the group of people with identity began to be sold openly—not only to the dignitaries of the colonies, but also to the countless kings of Westeros, large and small, who have no intersection across the narrow sea. Do you think it’s reasonable to put the price on it?”

Iger heard this, and roughly guessed what Melisandre wanted to say: "Could it be that the Valyrian steel that is exported is not real Valyrian steel?"

"I don't know, no one can provide evidence, because no one has ever been able to compare a dragon king sword with an ordinary tile-steel sword." The red-robed woman shook her head, "The Valyrian steel sword bought by outsiders , has all the characteristics of the legendary dragon steel weapon: extremely strong, sharp, lightweight, and infused with magic—since this product meets all the characteristics claimed by the seller, how can we accuse it of being a fake? ?When Valyria was the most prosperous and powerful, no one dared to question it publicly, and after the doomsday catastrophe, almost all the dragon king swords were buried with the Freedom Fortress, and no one had the opportunity to verify the authenticity of this suspicion. I saw a real Dragon King sword."

It was only then that Iger recalled that although Targaryen was not the top few core rulers, he was indeed one of the orthodox Dragon King families in Valyria's Freedom Fortress.If there are really high-grade and low-grade Valyrian steel, then what Aegon the Conqueror and his sister hold is definitely the internal version!

The Dark Sister is not an ordinary "wa steel sword", it is a real "dragon steel sword"!The two may have the same physical composition and similar properties, but there must be a difference in a certain key step at the end—maybe "whether the enchantment is successful" or "whether the most important process has passed" The difference, in short, they are not the same!

"Do you know the reason for the difference between them?"

"I don't know, but I can guess. It is said that the real dragon king sword, in the final step of forging... the master craftsman will notify the owner who reserved it, and then the Valyrian dragon king will ride a dragon to the scene and use his own blood Water and strengthen it." Like facing a rare treasure, Melisandre carefully stretched out her hot slender hand, and gently stroked the small part of the dark sister's sword that Iger pulled out of its sheath, " Noble dragon kings, how could they use their own limited blood to enchant other people's swords? Some craftsmen in Kohor tried to restore this craft, but unfortunately they failed. They got a key wrong: blood magic does not work This body fluid itself is the power contained in the blood. It is not the blood of any cat or dog that can be used to cast spells."

The witch stroked the Dark Sister slowly, her eyes lit up, and she was full of admiration: "Imagine—this sword was once sacrificed by Visenya Targaryen, or even one of her ancestors with purer dragon blood. It Not only is the intensity of the magic power emitted dozens of times stronger than that of ordinary tile-steel swords, but I can also feel that the ability of this sword to absorb and store magic is far superior to that of ordinary tile-steel swords. You understand what this means What are you wearing?"

"What?" Iger humbly asked for advice.

"Do you still remember the White Walker you killed? I went to Donghai Watch not long ago to find your friend named Will, and saw the obsidian dagger you used to kill the White Walker. The magic power of fire attribute contained in it There's not much left, just a little more than air."

Obsidian can restrain the ghosts, and it is also lethal to ghouls. It relies on the magic power of the fire attribute. This is the conclusion that Iger and the red-robed woman have discussed and agreed. If this magic power will be consumed, wouldn’t it be It means... Iger was taken aback: "Is obsidian a consumable?"

If this is the case, then the layout and arrangement of the land-grant defense will almost be overthrown and restarted!

"Of course, what do you think?" Melisandre gave him a reproachful look, "But don't panic, that dagger consumes all its internal magic power once, because you stabbed the White Walker with it... Or are there more White Walkers? The possibility of the same dragonglass weapon stabbing two White Walkers is very slim, and it is not too demanding to use it to deal with ghouls."

She moved her eyes from side to side, and said in a low voice: "What I want to tell you is that obsidian does not have the function of self-recovery magic power, and its killing effect on the enemy has a limit. This is not the case with Valyrian steel: this magic metal It can absorb the free magic power in the air, and slowly restore its own magic attributes—and the sword in your hand, whether it is killing the ghosts or self-recovery ability, is dozens of times stronger than ordinary tile-steel swords!"

"That's good, but it's a pity... I can't feel the difference between 'one sword can kill one ghost' and 'one sword can kill dozens of ghosts', they are not stacked papers."

"Don't be funny." Melisandre frowned again, and moved closer to him, "What I mean is, if I put magic on this sword to make it glow and glow, the magic effect will last for an unbelievably long time— —It will be exactly the same as the legendary Lightbringer..."

It turned out that this sentence was the real reason why Melisandre wanted to dismiss her guards.

Iger's heart is like a mirror, but before the witch finished speaking: "Enough, I have said it many times, I will not use this method to gain the approval of Red God believers!"

……

Melisandre, as one of the high priests of the Red Temple, has such a detached position, who has ever experienced the feeling of being unable to speak to the end?After a moment of daze, he narrowed his eyes slightly, and looked directly at Iger's face with displeasure.

But the man also stared at her without giving in at all, until the witch reluctantly looked away after a few seconds.

She felt bad, but there was nothing she could do.This is the case between people: once they are at a disadvantage at the beginning of contact with each other, under the action of inertia, this inequality will continue and even deepen, until one party finally gets used to this weakness, or decides to explode out of patience.

Of course, Melisandre could not be tamed by Iger, but it was obviously not to the point of being unbearable—her mood at the moment was like a big sister facing a rebellious brother, furious, but helpless, who made the other party the son of prophecy?

What's more, she also made a slip of the tongue just now: she shouldn't have said "it will be the same as the legendary Lightbringer".This sword... is clearly the Messenger of Light!As for the name on the surface, whether it is Dark Sisters or Bright Brothers, what does it matter?In later legends, these details are of no importance at all.

"You can do whatever you want, but remember to keep this sword well and never let outsiders handle it. It will definitely be the key to victory." Melisandre was full of joy at this moment, and she no longer wanted to trouble Bran Stark. Indeed - how could the person who sent the messenger of light to the Son of Prophecy be the lackey of the Cold God?

"Uh..." This time, it was Iger's turn to be speechless.

"What's the matter?" Melisandre asked casually, but she didn't get the quick answer she imagined. She opened her eyes suspiciously and stared at the night watchman again.

"I originally planned to sell this sword to Tywin Lannister. Of course, the condition is that the sword must first stay in the Night Watch Corps and be used by the Kingslayer."

"You—" Melisandre was almost choked, her tone became sharp instantly, and the volume was so high that the guards who were far away turned their heads and looked sideways, "What are you kidding? !"

-

Chapter 355 True - The Messenger of Light

Iger confessed his plan, not because he was an honest man.

In addition to considering the need to maintain a fairly good mutual trust between himself and the red-robed woman, there is another point: after knowing that this is not an ordinary tile-steel sword, he was shaken.

Since the original sale plan is likely to fail, so what if you tell it?

Valyrian steel swords, as an item with more symbolic meaning than use value, basically have no circulation-no price and no market.If you have to forcibly estimate how much it is worth, be conservative, it is about 30 to [-] gold dragons.At this critical juncture, selling [-] golden dragons to Tai Wen at a discount of half... Seems like a small loss, but generally speaking, both parties are happy.

However, how should the value of a Dragon King Sword be measured?The spells cast on the inside and outside of the Dark Sister's sword are dozens of times stronger than ordinary tile-steel swords. Does this mean that the price should also be dozens of times higher?

No, even the most layman should know that as the performance of a magic item increases, its production difficulty and value should increase exponentially—the value of the Dark Sisters is not too high if it is set to tens of millions of gold dragons!

But... just like the Great Wall: as the largest magical creation in the world of ice and fire, its value is simply inestimable.But no one will pay to buy its ownership - all the Lannister family wants is an ordinary tile-steel weapon that will not rust and fade with the passage of time as a "clan sword" to support the table.The magical powers of the dragonsteel sword meant nothing to Tywin, or anyone who wasn't fighting the White Walkers.

However, Iger is now the one who is about to fight against the ghosts.

It is acceptable for him to sell the tile steel sword worth hundreds of thousands of gold dragons at a low price of [-] gold dragons, but if he sells the Dark Sisters at a price of [-]% of it... The extent of this transaction is so violent that Iger would scold him in his dreams The point where he wakes up as a prodigal.

……

"Well, I admit that this sword may indeed be extraordinary." Iger forcefully explained with a bitter face, "But... what I think is that if a large sum of money can be used to purchase military equipment and improve the overall combat effectiveness of the land-grant army, Isn't it better than having an extra sword that can kill aliens?"

Melisandre sneered at Iger's statement: The light emissary that countless believers of the Lord of Light have been looking for for so long but has not been found has finally been delivered to the Son of Prophecy, but the person concerned wants to sell it. funny!

Her eyes were sharp: "Who are you looking for to buy?"

Although the question was short, it hit the point, and Iger was speechless for a moment.

In a world with backward productivity, what is lacking is not money, but commodities.

……

In the most peaceful era, a wandering knight only needs ten gold dragons to buy weapons, mounts, and even head-to-toe armor. employer.

But if there is a boss like Tywin Lannister who suddenly wants to buy equipment and equip a 1000-man Lannisport guard, is [-] gold dragons enough?

Far from enough, one hundred thousand is enough.Because no supplier or craftsman can produce so many weapons and equipment at once, once someone starts to buy in large quantities, the price of similar products will skyrocket to a prohibitive level.

In fact, no matter where the lords are, in the peaceful age when prices are cheap, they continue to purchase weapons and equipment made by blacksmiths in advance at low prices, and hoard arsenals for war.

Now, there are smoldering flames everywhere in the four seas, and no one from the Seven Kingdoms is involved in the great war caused by the internal strife of the Baratheon family.Not to mention those who are fighting each other fiercely, even if they are not in the fighting state for the time being, they are still looking forward to someone's return, and they also stay on all night without disarming their armor and fighting against each other... The arsenal is guaranteed to be empty, even the ones that can make new equipment Most of the craftsmen and technicians were forcibly recruited by the lords to provide customization and maintenance services for the army for free.

Someone must ask, what about the other side of the narrow sea?

Thanks to the "Freedom Fighter" Daenerys Targaryen disrupting the situation in Slaver's Bay, and the Red God Cult's hype about doomsday, Essos's large and small city-states and towns, regardless of whether slavery has been abolished, are everyone Self-dangerous, all of them uphold the purpose of being prepared and ready to fight.

At the moment when wars are everywhere, Iger realizes that he is really... even if he has money, he may not be able to buy armaments, so he can only give the land and work hard by himself, and work with hot and cold weapons, and count as much as he can arm.

"Well, I may not be able to buy much armaments." Iger admitted frankly that he hadn't thought carefully before, after all, it was an idea that came up in the blink of an eye, and it is normal to have problems, "However, Houguan Town is developing a special weapon to deal with corpses." The special weapons of ghosts and other ghosts also cost money."

……

"How much money do you need?" the red-robed woman asked sharply.

How much money do I need?

After Iger calmed down and thought about it, he quickly came to a conclusion that surprised him: Although the Night Watch Corps is heavily in debt now, it is still not short of money.

***

The cost of building warships in Ice Strait Harbor, the land grant and the food consumption of the Great Wall—these two big spenders are borne by the Northern Territory and the Iron Bank respectively, and the southern branch of the Night Watcher Industry is looking for saltpeter mines and researching the expenses of making nitrate by local methods , it is up to Nina and the industrial park to find a way to be self-sufficient.

This means: At this stage, Iger only needs to spend money in Houguan Town: the wages of hundreds of employees of the Night Watch’s logistics department, various land-grant tools that cannot be produced by themselves, and the purchase of daily necessities—one thousand gold dragons per month; The smelting, casting, and forging experts’ remuneration for researching artillery and explosive bombs, as well as the cost of materials consumed by trial and error—has reached two thousand gold dragons per month at present, and will soon reach three thousand as the scale expands and the procedures are adapted. thousand.

The cost of nearly four thousand golden dragons per month... It sounds like a lot of money, but you must know that Tyrion just granted a loan to the Night Watch Legion: [-] golden dragons, in cash.