Hearing Linde's bold words, Garlan and Fotimo were too stunned to speak, staring blankly at Linde 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 Fotimo both feel that Linde was completely delusional.
Linde was also well aware of the associations his words would evoke in Garlan and Fotimo, and he was helpless about it.
If he wanted to fully utilize all the extraordinary powers and swordsmanship of the Lost Country Knight, he would have to use weapons and armor made of Valyrian steel, because just as ordinary obsidian cannot bear the power contained in Dragon Runes, ordinary steel also cannot be inscribed with Dragon Runes.
Yesterday, when he tried to make an obsidian Dragon Rune necklace and found that ordinary obsidian could not bear the power of the Dragon Rune, he, based on the details in the Lost Country Knight's memory, had Raul take some silver stags to the Dragonpit in King's Landing to buy some obsidian that had been sprayed by dragonfire.
As a result, except for a few pieces of obsidian that had not been sprayed by dragonfire and shattered after being engraved with Dragon Runes, all other pieces of obsidian 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 Lost Country 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 obsidian 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 obsidian could not bear the power of Dragon Runes, Linde also couldn't help but wonder if ordinary steel would also be like obsidian, 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, Linde 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 Lost Country Knight used to forge armor and weapons was ordinary iron ore, the Lost Country Knight's ordinary iron ore and the ordinary iron ore of the Ice and Fire World were completely different matters.
The Lost Country 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 Lost Country 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 Linde abandoned ordinary steel and instead wanted to use Valyrian steel to make his Lost Country 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?" Fotimo was the first to recover from his shock, unable to help but exclaim.
Linde smiled and did not continue to explain, nor could he explain.
Garlan also recovered; he did not find Linde's decision incomprehensible like Fotimo, but rather analyzed it as if he were providing a reference for Linde: "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."
Linde 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, Duke 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.
Fotimo clearly did not take Linde's decision as seriously as Garlan; he merely believed it was an arrogant decision Linde made after being carried away by winning the group martial arts championship, and that Linde would likely come to his senses after some time.
He was more concerned about Linde's decision to sell the cavalry team slots, an action that clearly had a very negative impact on Linde.
So, in order to make Linde realize the seriousness of his wrong decision, he directly informed him: "The Duke 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."
Linde 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 Fotimo, you don't need to make it sound so serious. Father will not punish Linde, after all, Linde has rendered considerable service to our House Tyrell."
"That's because King Robert's invitation letter arrived; otherwise, the Duke would have punished him." Fotimo glanced at Garlan and said sternly to Linde, "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 Fotimo's words but instead gave Linde a wry smile.
"Originally, Scholar Moras and Ser Roger wanted to take you to Highgarden for training. Although the Duke did not agree at the time, he also did not object, and it seemed very likely he would agree." Fotimo sighed and said, "But now, this matter is basically impossible. The Duke will not allow someone who privately sells cavalry team qualifications to command the Duke'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 Linde a few words, preventing him from being disheartened.
However, Garlan did not know that this was precisely the result Linde 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 Duke 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 Linde desired.
Linde'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 Duke 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 Linde'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 Duke will handle this matter?" Linde tried to glean some useful information from Garlan.
However, Garlan didn't know either and shook his head.
However, Fotimo 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 Tengshi Town and its surrounding environment beforehand."
"Tengshi Town?" Both Linde and Garlan showed expressions of surprise, but the meaning of their surprise was completely different: Linde 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, Fotimo left the tent with Garlan, on the pretext of not disturbing Linde's preparations for the evening's banquet.
After the two left, Linde immediately turned and dragged out the box containing Scholar Holly's books. He then found the book with information about Tengshi Town among the many books. After quickly flipping through it, he felt a sense of longing for this town he had never heard of.
Although Tengshi Town is now obscure, it left a significant mark in the history of Westeros, as it fully participated in the Blood Dragon Dance, a major event that affected the entire political situation of Westeros and the rise and fall of the Targaryen Dynasty.
During the Blood Dragon Dance, two battles that swayed the war occurred in Tengshi Town. 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 Tengshi Town, constantly emitting mournful wails, recounting everything that happened in that insane war.
Furthermore, although Tengshi Town is currently a ruin, it still has an owner; it belongs to the Boldley family, and the Boldley 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 Tengshi Town'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.
Fotimo's words just now should be hinting that Duke Tyrell intends to rebuild Tengshi Town. As for the original lord of Tengshi Town, the Boldley family, they might be moved to other places through land exchange, or perhaps other cooperation methods would allow House Tyrell to control Tengshi Town and its surrounding lands.
Regardless of the method, for Linde, 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 Tengshi Town, overseeing the town's reconstruction while clearing out nearby bandits and restoring trade between the southern regions and the north.
Because Tengshi Town 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 Tengshi Town, and then from Tengshi Town, 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 Tengshi Town will undoubtedly become one of The Reach's most important commercial and military strongholds.
This is an opportunity for Linde, but becoming the lord of Tengshi Town would probably be very difficult. How to achieve it, Linde 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 Linde, he did not directly knight Linde, which made Linde 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, Linde vaguely felt that at this banquet, the significant hurdle of his status might finally be overcome.
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