"These are all the messages we have gathered this time." On Lion Hill outside King's Landing, Lynd stood in the main tent and reported all the information collected in King's Landing to Garlan, who was seated in the main position.
Inside the tent, besides Garlan and Vortimer, there was also an old man dressed as a Maester and a slightly plump middle-aged knight. The moment Lynd entered, these two kept looking at Lynd with curious eyes, as if they were looking at a rare item.
And as Lynd reported the gains from his mission, his gaze subtly swept over the two of them.
The identities of these two were easy to discern. The old Maester wore a Maester's chain around his neck with eight links made of different materials. Among the Maester advisors of House Tyrell, there was only one person with such academic achievements. He should be Maester Lomys, the most knowledgeable Maester of House Tyrell, and also the Lord's chief advisor. Maester Selikr, who previously assisted Garlan, was his student.
And this middle-aged knight was Ser Roger Redwyne, the Commander of the Guards for House Tyrell. He was the Queen of Thorns's nephew, whose parents had died early. He was not valued in the Redwyne Family and had come to House Tyrell with the Queen of Thorns from a young age. Later, he became a retainer of Mace Tyrell, and after Mace Tyrell became the Lord of Highgarden, he was appointed Commander of the Guards for Highgarden.
Although both were Commanders of the Guards, Janos Slynt's power was much less than Roger Redwyne's, and his status could not be compared to him.
However, although Roger Redwyne possessed great power, he rarely used it. He even decentralized his command authority, handing it over to the various commanding knights of the guard army, while he himself acted completely as an idler who only knew how to eat, drink, and play.
Because he knew very well that his talent and Mace Tyrell's were equally matched; letting him do things would only be counterproductive. For example, during the The War of the Usurper, he completely handed over the command of his army to Randyll Tarly, the Lord of Horn Hill, while he, the Commander of the Guards, acted as a quartermaster. This self-awareness was also where he was stronger than Mace Tyrell.
Perhaps it was precisely because of this that he was able to gain the trust of House Tyrell and had always served as the Commander of the Guards.
After the The War of the Usurper, these two stayed in King's Landing with Lord Mace Tyrell. It was a pity that neither of them was a person skilled in social maneuvering, and their specialties were mostly in assistance and advisory roles, so they could not play much of a role in King's Landing.
So after Garlan met the Lord of Highgarden, the two of them voluntarily offered to come here to help. After all, compared to Lord Mace Tyrell, who already had his own ideas, little Garlan obviously needed them more.
Because the relationship between the two and Garlan was not ordinary, one was Garlan's teacher and the other was Garlan's uncle, their conversations on the way back to the camp from King's Landing were more casual than usual. Garlan also recounted his experiences on the road, especially mentioning Lynd, the Bear Hunter with a legendary touch, which undoubtedly attracted the attention of the two important ministers of Highgarden.
Upon seeing Lynd, who came to report the results of the mission, neither of them felt that Lynd was special. The only noteworthy thing was Lynd's extremely tall and robust physique. After entering the tent, his head was almost touching the tent's ceiling. The whole person was like a standing mountain bear. They found it hard to imagine that Lynd could move like dancing and use splendid and exquisite swordsmanship in battle, as Garlan and Vortimer had described.
It was precisely because the first impression was too strong that both of them subconsciously categorized Lynd into the ranks of warriors who preferred action over thought.
But this view quickly changed, because during Lynd's report of the mission results, he clearly articulated every piece of intelligence he had gathered according to its priority, which made them realize that Lynd must have organized this information beforehand. This kind of intelligence organization ability requires very meticulous thought, which was completely inconsistent with his rough appearance.
The rough impression given by his appearance and the delicate mind revealed by his actual ability immediately created a strong sense of disparity. This disparity, in turn, magnified the psychological impact generated when Lynd displayed his abilities by several times. Not to mention the two important ministers who met Lynd for the first time, even Garlan and Vortimer showed surprised expressions.
After Lynd finished reporting all the intelligence, Maester Lomys couldn't wait to laugh, saying, "Just now, I almost thought the person reporting the intelligence to us was Lord Varys, the Master of Whisperers of the Iron Throne."
"You feel that way too? I thought I was the only one," Ser Roger Redwyne also said with a surprised expression.
Maester Lomys turned to Garlan and said, "Garlan, it seems your biggest gain from this trip to King's Landing is this Bear Hunter."
Hearing the praise, Garlan's face also showed an uncontrollable proud smile.
For House Tyrell, the more outstanding their subordinates' abilities were, the happier they became, because they clearly understood that for the family to prosper enduringly, relying solely on its own members was not enough. They also needed to continuously attract capable outsiders to join the family to ensure the family's continued prosperity.
Especially now, House Tyrell, after experiencing the The War of the Usurper and the subsequent civil strife in The Reach, suffered a massive loss of talent. Even Garlan, who had just turned ten, had to step up and take action, which shows how severe the talent drain was for House Tyrell.
House Tyrell now needed talent replenishment more than ever, which was why Garlan so abruptly transferred Lynd from House Crane to House Tyrell in New Barrel City.
However, among the Seven Kingdoms, not many noble lords valued outside talents as much as House Tyrell. Bloodline supremacy was their core ideology. Even House Lannister, which also valued outside talents like House Tyrell, was not as tolerant in its attitude towards talent as House Tyrell.
"Since you have already organized the intelligence in advance, then you must have also analyzed it," Maester Lomys looked at Lynd with great appreciation and said, "Tell us your thoughts first, and let's see if they have any reference value."
Upon hearing this, Lynd turned to look at Vortimer. After seeing Vortimer nod slightly in indication, he began to describe his analysis and thoughts on the intelligence, especially his conjectures regarding the relationship between King Robert and Lord Eddard of the North, the rumors about the relationship between the three Baratheon brothers, and the current importance of Renly Baratheon to House Tyrell, all of which he explained seriously.
Besides that, Lynd also spoke about some thoughts he had just had due to other intelligence, saying, "I think now is also a good opportunity to build ties with the House Stark of the North. According to the information we have gathered, Lord Benjen Stark, who is leading the North's delegation this time, came to King's Landing not only to attend the Prince's birth feast on behalf of Lord Eddard, but he is also tasked with recruiting for the Night's Watch."
"However, our King Robert seems to be complaining that Lord Eddard did not come to King's Landing, so he has been difficult with Lord Benjen Stark in every way, not agreeing to any of his requests."
Saying this, Lynd paused slightly, looked at everyone in the tent, and said, "We can actually approach Lord Benjen Stark now and express our willingness to send the prisoners from Highgarden's dungeons to the Wall in the North. I think Lord Benjen Stark would be very happy to accept our goodwill. Then, we can propose to Lord Benjen Stark that we wish to improve relations with the House Stark, asking Lord Benjen Stark to act as an intermediary. At that time, I believe that given the brotherly bond between Lord Eddard Stark and Lord Benjen Stark, they should not refuse our proposal to improve relations. This would also indirectly improve our relationship with King Robert, as the close relationship between the Warden of the North and our King is evident to all. What do you gentlemen think?"
Lynd did not get a response, because for a long time after he finished speaking, there was no sound in the tent. Everyone was looking at him with a strange gaze, especially Vortimer and Garlan, whose eyes seemed to be looking at a stranger.
After a while, Ser Roger Redwyne asked with a serious expression, "If I remember correctly, you were just a hunter before. Why do you possess such strong intelligence analysis capabilities? This is not a skill that ordinary people can master."
Since there was already a precedent with Joel, Lynd was prepared, so he brought out the same explanation he had given Joel months ago.
The people in the tent did not doubt Lynd's explanation, because in their view, only a Maester from the Citadel could have trained Lynd like this.
Moreover, every year, a large number of Maesters leave Oldtown and go to various parts of the Seven Kingdoms, but not every Maester can gain the appreciation of nobles and become their advisor, earning a stable salary. Most Maesters still live in poverty, not to mention those exiles who have been stripped of their Maester titles. Therefore, it is very common for ordinary people to hire Maesters to teach knowledge.
However, in their opinion, the Maester who taught Lynd so excellently must be extraordinary, so they also entertained the idea of recruiting that Maester.
Unfortunately, after they inquired, Lynd stated that he did not know the Maester's name, and the description of his appearance was also very ordinary, making it difficult to find this person based on these clues.
Just as everyone was regretting missing out on a talent, Maester Lomys suddenly suggested, "When we return to Highgarden, let him work under me! I am really short of people there."
Maester Lomys was in charge of intelligence matters in Highgarden, but because of his old age, he no longer had the energy to process the large amount of intelligence gathered from various sources and manage House Tyrell's network of spies across Westeros. So, several years ago, he had handed over all his duties to his students.
It's just that his students were excellent at academic research, but they struggled when faced with various complex intelligence tasks.
From the fact that House Tyrell's various spy outposts in King's Landing were uprooted by Jon Arryn and Varys this time, and Highgarden had no viable solution, it was clear that his students lacked ability in this area.
Now, seeing Lynd's excellent intelligence organization and analysis skills, Maester Lomys genuinely felt that Lynd was more reliable than his students, so he thought of transferring Lynd under his command for specialized training. If Lynd could continue to perform so outstandingly, it would not be impossible for him to succeed him as House Tyrell's Master of Whisperers in the future, as the position of Master of Whisperers is the least concerned with one's background among all important positions.
"No." However, no sooner had Maester Lomys finished speaking than someone immediately objected, and the objectors were not Lynd, the person concerned, but Garlan and Vortimer.
Garlan and Vortimer also did not expect the other party to object, and they couldn't help but look at each other, seemingly wanting to figure out the reason for the other's objection.
Garlan's reason for objecting was simple: Lynd had only recently joined House Tyrell, and his loyalty had not yet been tested. Allowing him to access the core power center of House Tyrell now was clearly not a good idea.
As for Vortimer's reason for objecting, it was much simpler. He knew very well what Lynd's ambition was, and he knew even more clearly that once Lynd worked under Maester Lomys, his ambition would certainly not be able to be realized, because no lord would allow someone who controlled their family's various intelligence to become a landed knight, or even a sworn knight.
Seeing Garlan and Vortimer object simultaneously, Maester Lomys and Lord Roger were also surprised, but they did not inquire about the reason. In their opinion, the two must have a reason for their objection.
Afterward, the topic in the tent returned to the main subject, and everyone began to consider how to utilize this intelligence. They did not ask Lynd to leave; instead, they included him in the discussion. Soon, the discussion yielded results, and Lynd's previous suggestions were practically accepted in their entirety, with only minor modifications to some operational details.
"I didn't expect you to have such abilities," Vortimer said after returning to the tent, taking the warmed towel from a servant and wiping his face. He then turned to Lynd, who had followed him into the tent, and added, "I hope you don't blame me for not agreeing to let you work for Maester Lomys, as that could have given you direct access to Highgarden's center of power."
Lynd shook his head and said, "No, even if you hadn't objected, I wouldn't have agreed. Being a Master of Whisperers is not my objective."
"It's best that you think that way." Vortimer motioned for the servant to leave, then said earnestly, "Your outstanding performance in front of Maester Lomys this time, especially your intelligence abilities, have been noted by Maester Lomys. Although I have already declined Maester Lomys's proposal for you, Maester Lomys will not give up so easily, especially when compared to Maester Ceric and his students, your abilities are even more outstanding. So, in the future, Maester Lomys will definitely often come to you for help with various intelligence matters. You must refuse his requests and try not to get too involved with those things, understand?"
"Yes, my Lord." Lynd nodded, then hesitated for a moment and said, "But with my current status, if Maester Lomys insists that I help him, I can't refuse, can I?"
Vortimer was silent for a moment, then said, "Go to the camp and select ten men to form a cavalry unit, specifically responsible for daily patrols of the camp. Dress them more splendidly than usual, and have them wander around the city when they have time, so that the people of King's Landing know about our House Tyrell. Try to spend less time in the camp."
Lynd understood that Vortimer was indirectly promoting him, so he naturally wouldn't refuse. However, there was one more important thing he needed to confirm, so he asked, "My Lord, does this count as a meritorious service?"
Vortimer looked at Lynd, unbuckled the longsword from his waist, and handed it to Lynd, saying, "My sword hasn't been properly maintained lately. Polish it well tonight and oil it. Also, take good care of my armor. Don't let it affect me participating in the Tournament in a few days."
Lynd, having received a response, smiled and replied, "Yes, my Lord."