Temporarily setting aside the matter of the fallen knight armor, Lynd spent the next few months accompanying Nameria, watching her belly gradually grow larger.
To ensure Nameria's safety, he also had Moroa and Qyburn stop their work when Nameria entered her due date, so they could focus on accompanying Nameria with him, awaiting the birth of the child.
Although it wasn't his first time accompanying a birth, he was still nervous. For this reason, he had even sent Glory to live in the mountains some time ago, knowing that animals like cats and dogs carried parasites that were fatal to infants.
During this time, Brienne also represented Lynd at the martial arts tournament held by King Robert in King's Landing.
Although Lynd had valid reasons not to attend, sending a squire in his place, especially a female squire, was seen by many as a silent protest against the Iron Throne's various additional taxes on Summerhall, and proof of the deteriorating relationship between Lynd and King Robert.
King Robert was equally displeased about this. From his curses about Lynd's ingratitude in the Red Keep after he learned of the matter, it was not difficult to sense that he no longer fully trusted Lynd as he once did.
However, after the martial arts tournament began, Brienne's excellent performance in the jousting competition somewhat alleviated King Robert's dissatisfaction with Lynd.
Brienne fought her way to the finals, striking each opponent with a single lance blow, knocking them off their horses. Her simple and direct jousting technique was even regarded as the standard for lance usage by many knights. For a time, the reputation of Ser Brienne Tarth began to spread.
After unhorsing Jaime Lannister the Kingslayer, Brienne's final opponent in the finals was Barristan the Bold.
Like most knights, Barristan the Bold was initially very displeased that Lynd had sent a female squire like Brienne to participate in the martial arts tournament, considering Lynd's action an insult to all knights.
However, as he watched Brienne repeatedly defeat opponents with her exquisite jousting skills, he gradually accepted Brienne's status as a quasi-female knight, and on the field, he treated Brienne as a true opponent.
This jousting duel was the most spectacular since the duel between Jaime Lannister and Jorah Mormont in Lannisport. Everyone even believed that the excitement of this duel surpassed the Lannisport final, because this time, King Robert did not call a halt.
Brienne and Barristan clashed for a total of seventeen rounds, each breaking seventeen lances. Ultimately, Barristan, due to age and lack of stamina, made a mistake during the exchange and was unhorsed, bringing an end to this long and spectacular jousting duel.
King Robert was also extremely satisfied with this martial arts tournament and even wanted to knight Brienne, just as he had knighted Lynd years ago.
However, Brienne refused Robert's kind offer and explicitly stated that she wished to receive her knighting from Lynd upon her return to Redemption Town.
This further displeased King Robert. Although he said nothing at the time, he later found an excuse to suspend the Rose Road trade route, using it to teach Lynd a lesson.
However, he didn't realize that while Lynd also needed the Rose Road to transport goods, most of those goods were destined for The Reach, and not many goods went north past the Blackwater River, so the impact was very small. Instead, Highgarden relied more heavily on this road for north-south trade, and its sudden closure caused the most damage to Highgarden.
Therefore, when the inquiry letter from Highgarden arrived at the Red Keep, the trade route, which had been closed for a few days, was reopened, and the whole affair seemed like a farce.
After Brienne returned to Redemption Town, Lynd, as promised, knighted her in the Redemption Sanctuary.
Not long after becoming a knight, Brienne left Redemption Town and returned to Duskendale Hall, where she began assisting her father with various affairs in Duskendale Hall, learning to be a lord.
Thanks to Brienne, Duskendale Hall also signed an offensive and defensive alliance with Summerhall, and the Miracle Fleet also built a military port and dock in Duskendale Hall, expanding the Miracle Fleet's patrol range beyond the Dorne Sea.
Renly Baratheon even personally came to Summerhall specifically for this matter, found Lynd, and demanded that Lynd abolish the offensive and defensive alliance with Duskendale Hall, but Lynd refused him.
Lynd directly presented the offensive and defensive alliance he had signed with Duskendale Hall to Renly. This alliance was completely different from the alliances with Green Valley City and other territories, and also different from the Bear Island alliance. This alliance did not involve military bases, and the Miracle Fleet's dock was only rented, not a permanent military station, which was just like renting a dedicated dock and warehouse in Oldtown.
Afterward, Earl Selwyn also heard about this and took Brienne to Storm's End to see Renly. In front of the Stormlands vassals, he had Brienne swear allegiance to Renly, and this minor disturbance caused by the offensive and defensive alliance was thus safely resolved.
Because of this incident, the lords of Crow's Nest, Mistwood, Rain House, and several other castles inside and outside the Stormlands' Rainwood also signed offensive and defensive alliances with Lynd.
Their willingness to proactively sign alliances was not merely to gain the Miracle Legion's regular assistance in clearing bandits from their territories, but more so to obtain the attached trade agreements in the alliance, join Lynd's Miracle Merchant Guild, become high-level members of the guild, and gain the right to trade high-value goods.
It should be noted that Black Harbor and Weil City, who signed the offensive and defensive alliances earliest, had already profited immensely from various trades, serving as the best examples.
For instance, the wedding banquet of Beric Dondarrion and Allyria Dayne was so extravagant that it could rival a wedding at the Red Keep. After their marriage, they even left the uninteresting Borderlands, bought a luxurious villa with a courtyard in King's Landing, and settled there. Every day, they hosted various banquets, serving all kinds of fine wine and delicacies, living in immense luxury.
Everyone knew the situation of Black Harbor. The only source of funds that could support Beric Dondarrion's lavish spending was his commercial cooperation with Lynd.
If only Black Harbor and Weil City had such profits, it would not be enough evidence. The true reason that swayed the lords around the Stormlands' Rainwood came from Cry Town.
Cry Town is also one of the territories in the Stormlands' Rainwood. All the minor and major lords of the Rainwood were well aware of its past wretched state. Yet now, after only a little over a year of joining Summerhall's offensive and defensive alliance, it has already built a large castle, and its port town has transformed into a port city, with a prosperity that evokes both envy and jealousy.
Most importantly, Summerhall has already helped Cry Town clear out surrounding bandits and built a military port base on the offshore islands to protect the town from pirate attacks. This means Cry Town no longer needs to invest large military funds to protect the safety of its castle and port, only needing to maintain a small garrison to maintain order.
This also allowed the lord of Cry Town to live a luxurious life that most people would envy.
With such a living example before their eyes, how could these lords inside and outside the Rainwood hold back? Previously, they had worried that Renly, their liege lord, would hold them accountable for this matter, but now with Duskendale Hall as a benchmark, they naturally felt relieved.
However, they did not know that the offensive and defensive alliances they signed were completely different from Duskendale Hall's offensive and defensive alliance.
Especially in terms of defense and security, while Summerhall assists these territories in clearing out bandits, it will also establish military outposts in these territories to maintain the security of trade routes.
Perhaps a single military outpost won't have many people, but when all the territories within the Rainwood have two or three such military outposts, the permanent garrison sent by Summerhall to the Rainwood has unknowingly reached three thousand people. These three thousand people are all regular soldiers equipped with standard armor and weapons, and their combat effectiveness is far superior to the peasant soldiers of the various lords in the Rainwood.
Moreover, with the implementation of the trade agreement, the Miracle Merchant Guild's trade network has also penetrated into the territories of the Rainwood. Through means such as bribery, co-option, and cooperation, it won't take long to control the middle and lower-level officials, and the lords of the Rainwood will gradually be hollowed out.
Just like Black Harbor, Beric Dondarrion was actually very smart. He realized that his authority in Black Harbor had been completely hollowed out and he had no room to resist, which is why he proactively left Black Harbor with his new wife and settled in King's Landing, out of sight, out of mind, regarding Black Harbor's affairs.
After practical application in Green Valley City, Black Harbor, Weil City, Cry Town, Greenstone, and other places, the infiltration method through offensive and defensive alliances has a complete process. Lynd does not need to personally oversee it; his subordinates can proceed step by step according to the established methods.
Lynd has also been staying in the castle during this time, even entrusting the matters of the Privy Council to Moose, Burt, and others. The most important thing for Lynd now is to await Nameria's smooth delivery.
Although Lynd's preparations were very thorough, none of them were ultimately needed. Nameria's labor was very smooth; from her water breaking to the final birth of the child, it only took a little over ten minutes. As Nameria said afterward, it was like going to the restroom.
"So ugly," Nameria, after being cleaned and changing into clean clothes, came to the study, looking at the infant held in Lynd's arms, and said with a slight hint of disdain.
"What do you know? Newborns are all like this. They'll look good when they grow up." Lynd glanced at Nameria and asked, "Is there any discomfort in your body?"
"No, I'm fine!" Nameria shook her head, then looked at her child and said very frankly, "One less burden, it's actually easier."
Just as Nameria said, under Lynd's careful conditioning, her body was already very strong. Even though she had just given birth, it still didn't have much impact on her. Let alone getting up and moving around, she could even put on armor, pick up a battle-axe, and go to the battlefield to fight without any problem.
"Oh, you! You're really not like a mother." Lynd sighed, looking at the unreserved Nameria, said nothing, and turned to hand the infant to the Redemption Sisters waiting nearby.
Compared to Nameria, Lynd had rich experience in raising children. In terms of childcare knowledge alone, he was not only on par with the three elderly nuns specially sent by Sister Melissa, but even better in many aspects, after all, the medical skills of his previous life were far superior to current medical skills.
Before the child's birth, Lynd had already written a childcare manual and given it to the three elderly nuns, instructing them to strictly follow the rules within. Although the three elderly nuns found some of the rules too detailed and cumbersome, they felt such strict rules were appropriate when they considered that this was the Godsworn's child.
"You name him!" Although Nameria was very concerned about the child's condition before giving birth, after giving birth, she felt a strange sense of relief and had no particular enthusiasm for this little one who came from her belly.
Lynd thought for a moment and said, "Augustus, let's call him Augustus!"
"Augustus? What kind of strange name is that?" Nameria froze, saying with a slight hint of displeasure.
Lynd smiled and offered no explanation. He then had Moose spread the news of his heir's birth and naming as Augustus Terra, announcing a three-day banquet throughout the territory with all drinks provided free of charge, and double pay for everyone this month.
Additionally, he had people send invitations to various lords throughout the Seven Kingdoms, inviting them to participate in the martial arts tournament he was holding for his heir's birth. The champions of the team martial arts and archery competitions would each receive twenty thousand gold dragons, while the champion of the jousting competition would receive a Valyrian steel sword.
Lynd had been collecting Valyrian steel, originally intending to forge Nameria a Valyrian steel battle-axe, but unexpectedly, Volantis sent a battle-axe. Ultimately, that Valyrian steel was forged into three longswords, and the longsword presented at the martial arts tournament was one of them.
For some knights, money might not pique their interest, but a Valyrian steel sword would absolutely make them flock to it. Not only knights from various territories, but even great lords were eager to participate. Among them, some of the Lannister from the Westerlands were the quickest to act, sending more than a dozen knights to compete at once. Jaime Lannister the Kingslayer also came to Summerhall with King Robert and would certainly represent the Lannister family in the competition.
For a time, knights from the Seven Kingdoms, from the North to Dorne, came to Summerhall, and even knights and warriors from across Across the Narrow Sea came to join the fun. Tens of thousands of people, including their entourages, poured into Redemption Town.
Originally, some people thought Redemption Town would become very chaotic as a result, but unexpectedly, Lynd had anticipated this situation long ago. Not only had he previously cleared a large open space outside the town that could easily accommodate one hundred thousand people, but he had also set up tents in advance. People only needed to orderly move into different tents according to their status, and only a few great nobles and great lords could live in the villas within the town.
In addition, the security of the entire town was very stable with the participation of the Stone Giant. Anyone who fought or caused trouble was immediately arrested, either paying a fine or receiving a public flogging.
However, the busiest people in all of Summerhall were Baelon and Roso. A large influx of outsiders, including many spies and secret agents attempting to uncover the territory's secrets, led to them apprehending no fewer than two hundred secret agents from various places in just over ten days. This was only those they caught; it is said that the smithy and Black Hollow also caught many people, but those arrested were not handed over; instead, they were directly sent to the mines or the Black Hollow dungeon.
-------------------------------
I've already uploaded 40 chapters of this story on Patreon!
If you enjoy it, come check out the latest chapters in advance.
[patreon.com/TripleCrown07]
Thank you so much for your support!!!
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"