Lancelot arrived at the White Sword Tower and encountered Ser Meryn Trant.
"Ser Lancelot, what are you doing here?" he asked.
"By the King's command, release Eddard Stark and Mace Tyrell immediately," Lancelot said.
After speaking, he walked straight to the second floor.
Eddard Stark and Mace Tyrell were held in separate rooms, but their rooms faced each other across the hall. So, without leaving their rooms, they could simply open their doors and chat.
When Lancelot reached the second floor, he heard them discussing how to eliminate the locusts.
"My Lords, you can go home now!" Lancelot announced.
"Lancelot!" Both men looked at him in surprise.
"Shouldn't you be commanding the army at the Wall? How are you back in King's Landing? Who's leading all those soldiers now?" Eddard Stark asked.
As the Lord of the North, he had to be concerned. If something happened at the Wall, the North would be the first to suffer.
"With Ser Kevan and Lord Commander Mormont there, you have no need to worry," Lancelot replied.
"Now, gentlemen, it's time for you to leave this place!" Lancelot said.
When he left the White Sword Tower, two men followed him. Upon his release, Eddard Stark requested Joffrey's permission to return to the North.
Joffrey allowed him to return alone, but his children were to remain in the Red Keep.
Eddard Stark knew this meant Arya and Sansa were being kept as hostages.
However, for the moment, Joffrey showed no motive or sign of intending to harm them.
Eddard Stark left three of his ten guards to protect his children, while the rest accompanied him back to Winterfell.
Lancelot, however, did not choose to return with him.
He returned Mace Tyrell to his family. Margaery was overjoyed to see her father back and expressed deep gratitude to Lancelot.
"I trust there will be no more issues with the army's provisions? Even with the locust plague, I believe the Reach's reserves are sufficient for ten years? Am I right, Lord Mace?" Lancelot asked.
"General Lancelot, rest assured, I won't let any more problems arise."
Mace Tyrell immediately returned to Highgarden, preparing to mobilize grain from the granaries.
Lancelot returned to the North Sea Kindergarten for a visit, then stopped by the South Mountain Nursing Home.
The High Sparrow, now serving as the monastery's priest and bishop, was preaching Lancelot's deeds to them daily.
"He returned safely from the cursed ruins of Valyria. He is protected by the divine—not the Seven, but a far greater power."
"He possesses a giant lion beast that can fly, the very symbol of his house."
"He is charitable and benevolent, aiding the elderly and children."
"He too was born of humble origins, raised in a brothel, his mother unknown. He never acts high and mighty; he is one with us."
"He is: Lancelot Lannister, the Golden Lion King."
The High Sparrow delivered his passionate sermon to the elderly of South Mountain and the children of North Sea Kindergarten below.
After the speech, they sang hymns together. Once the singing ended, everyone embraced like brothers and sisters.
After everyone had left one by one, Lancelot found the High Sparrow.
"It seems you enjoy your current life," Lancelot remarked.
"Lancelot, I foresaw your arrival," the High Sparrow said.
"Oh? Don't tell me you dreamed it. Do you also have the ability of a Dreamwalker?" Lancelot asked skeptically.
The High Sparrow shook his head. He pointed a finger downwards.
"The thing beneath this place told me. I don't know what you buried here, but it is very powerful, isn't it?"
Lancelot solemnly warned the High Sparrow.
"The thing inside isn't something you should be in contact with. Even if you dream of something, do not become obsessed with it. You could be corrupted at any moment and become a sacrifice."
The High Sparrow looked solemn.
"I am a true believer, ready to sacrifice myself at any time."
"It is not yet time. That day has not arrived, Father," Lancelot said.
"If that day comes, I will die for justice and truth," he replied.
The High Sparrow was a very peculiar man. Lancelot couldn't change his thinking, but so far, he hadn't done anything detrimental to Lancelot.
Leaving the monastery, Lancelot went to see the Grand Maester. Qyburn was also there; they were researching how to deal with the locust plague.
"I have developed a poison that is harmless to humans and other livestock but lethal to insects. Give me enough money and resources, and I can mass-produce it," Qyburn stated.
"Qyburn, this isn't the time for your biological experiments. When did you conduct these tests? Show me the proof," Grand Maester Pycelle demanded.
"Look, here is the proof."
Qyburn brought out a cage filled with dense swarms of locusts. He then used a spray bottle to spray some gas into the cage. Instantly, all the locusts inside stiffened and stopped moving.
"That... that's terrifying! Are people really safe from it?" Grand Maester Pycelle asked.
"I guarantee it's safe! After all, I am a maester," Qyburn said, touching the necklace that wasn't there around his neck.
"This pesticide seems very effective! Maester Qyburn, how did you make it?" Lancelot asked.
"Lancelot?" Pycelle and Qyburn only just realized Lancelot had arrived.
"It's made from decomposed plant matter. The process is very complex; no one else but me possesses this technology," Qyburn said confidently.
"Good. I can fund you, but I want full rights to sell your pesticide," Lancelot said.
"Agreed. I wouldn't know how to sell things anyway," Qyburn replied.
With Lancelot's capital injection, Qyburn began working overtime to produce the pesticide. In less than a month, he had produced enough to fill half the Dragonpit.
"Now it's time to launch our attack on the locusts! Let's move out! Destination: The Reach."
Lancelot led a detachment of Gold Cloaks from King's Landing to the Reach.
Wherever they encountered forests, grasslands, or ponds, they sprayed the pesticide.
Sometimes they used millet and corn as bait to attract the locusts into traps.
In this manner, Lancelot and his men made their way to Highgarden.
By the time they reached Highgarden, the locusts had been largely exterminated. The birds could easily handle the remaining few.
Lancelot rested for a few days at the Tyrell family home in Highgarden. During his stay, he inspected the Tyrells' grain reserves. They were indeed substantial—enough to sustain a major war.
Combined with the reserves of other Reach houses, as long as the Long Night didn't last more than twenty years, they could all survive without starving.