Chapter 82 An unusual school city

After hearing what Vilas said, Lind couldn't help but sigh. He knew there was trouble, but he didn't expect Vilas to be the one who caused the trouble.

Linde's answer was somewhat off-topic and said: "Lord Vilas, I just turned sixteen last month, and I'm only a few years older than you."

Vilas was stunned when he heard this, looking a little embarrassed, and said: "Age is actually not a problem. You have also seen Ms. Moroya. She looks more like my sister..."

"Wait!" Linde stopped Vilas and asked, "Mr. Vilas, how did you know that this Ms. Moroya wants to marry me?"

"After the banquet just now, she specifically found her grandfather and asked about you." Villas said truthfully: "Grandpa told me that this was the first time she had asked a man about you in more than ten years." As he said, he After a pause, he looked at Lind again and said, "Another servant saw you and Ms. Moroya having a tryst in the small garden. When she left, her face was very rosy, like..."

Vilas didn't say any more, and Lind also understood what he didn't say, and he couldn't explain it. Who told Mauroa Hightower to leave in such a state that people would be disappointed after seeing it? The appearance of people daydreaming.

"I didn't do anything." All Linde could do was deny.

"I think so too. Ms. Moroya is not that kind of person, and neither are you." Vilas looked at Lind with trust in his eyes, and then said with an embarrassed look on his face: "But the servants of the Tower of Heaven..."

Lind interrupted Vilas's next words and said coldly: "Why do we keep such talkative servants? Waiting for them to spread the secrets of the master's family casually?"

Vilas smiled awkwardly, feeling a little regretful about coming to Linde.

Lind asked: "Lord Vilas, did you decide to come to me on your own, or was it Earl Leighton's intention?"

Vilas said truthfully: "My grandfather meant this, but he didn't say it clearly. I also think that it is a good thing to be related to you, Sir Lynde, so I took the initiative to come to you and ask, and it is better for me to ask." Grandfather comes in person, at least there is room for relaxation. "

Linde said in a deep voice: "I think you should ask Ms. Moroya first. This is just a misunderstanding. Don't let the misunderstanding get out of hand."

"I understand." Vilas thought for a while, said nothing more, apologized again, stood up and left Lind's room.

The next morning, Lind accompanied Willas to visit several major nobles and sea merchants in Old Town, and followed him to the Rose Bank opened in Old Town by the Tyrell family.

During this period of time, Vilas did not mention the matter of Moloa Hightower again, as if the conversation last night had never happened, and Moloa Hightower did not appear in front of Lind again. appeared.

When he returned to the Towering Tower at noon, Lind also heard the guards discussing that throughout the morning, several vassal nobles of the Hightower family had sent people to propose to Earl Leighton, requesting to marry Moloa Hightower.

In more than ten years, since she had a bad reputation as a mad woman, this was the first time that a noble asked to marry Moloa Hightower, which made people feel surprised.

However, this is not a surprise to Linde. After Mauroa Hightower, who has not appeared in public for more than ten years, showed her amazing beauty yesterday, such proposals will not stop. Now it is just Old Town. Some of the nobles, and maybe some nobles from the Reach will join in soon.

For the vast majority of ordinary nobles, being able to marry Moloa Hightower is simply killing multiple birds with one stone.

First of all, of course, he can get a beautiful wife. Even if the wife is a little crazy, compared to the rich dowry that this wife can bring, this madness is nothing.

The second is to be able to get the support of the Hightowers, and then obtain a leap in identity and status. The most important point is to be able to become an in-law with the Tyrell family, the lord of the Reach, which is very important for any noble of the Reach. Everything is extremely important.

"Who do you think Earl Leighton will choose as my aunt's husband?" During lunch, Vilas suddenly asked inexplicably.

Although he did not clearly indicate who he was asking, Linde could still feel that the question was directed at him.

Therefore, he completely pretended not to hear and said nothing. On the contrary, the nobles around Vilas answered the question in all directions.

Seeing Linde pretending to be deaf and dumb, Vilas couldn't help but shrug it off, casually said a few perfunctory words to the other nobles, and didn't ask any more questions.

In the afternoon, Vilas went to the school as planned and met with several doctors from the school.

The school city is located on the banks of the Mead River. It is composed of more than a dozen tall, broad stone towers and dome houses. Each tower and dome house is a library, which contains countless books.

Almost all the buildings in the school city are built on stone platform foundations with a height of about ten meters. Such a high foundation not only avoids disasters such as high tides and tsunamis, but also avoids moisture on the ground, which has a negative impact on the library. Book collections cause havoc.

Because of this, all the buildings are connected by huge stone arch bridges. The bachelor's dormitories are all built on the stone arch bridges, and the entire school city has only one exit at the main entrance.

If there is a danger such as war, the bachelors can close the gate of the school city, so that the flames of war can be completely blocked outside the school city.

However, sometimes the bachelors would let in some people who were fleeing the war and let them stay in the open space between the foundations of the school city to wait for the war to end.

Because the school city is a very special place, when Vilas was having a private interview with these doctors, Linde and other people wearing weapons were not allowed to enter the school city and could only wait at the desk. Only some nobles who had studied in the school city and some consultants with bachelor's status were allowed to accompany Vilas into the school city.

Linde felt a little regretful that he was not able to enter the library of the school city and saw the star tracker built by scholars in this world, but he was quickly attracted by the bookshelf on the desk.

The owners of these bookstalls are all assistant bachelors of the school. The books on the bookstalls are all books defined by the school as open to the public. These bookstalls also provide some specific copying commissions, specifically copying the books on the bookstalls for some people. There are no books, but there are books in the library, and most of the assistant bachelors who come here to set up stalls are just poor children.

Although it does not cost money to come to the school to learn knowledge, it does require living and eating here. Therefore, the school uses this method to allow these assistant bachelors to get some income to prevent these assistant bachelors from giving up their studies because they cannot afford to eat.

Linde glanced at the books on the bookstalls. Most of them were historical and biographical books. Some were the history of the Seven Kingdoms, some were the family histories of ordinary lords, and some were similar to trade. Specialized books such as history, as well as other technical books such as smelting and agriculture, cannot be found here.

While Linde was browsing various bookstalls, the assistant bachelors on the desk and ordinary people were also looking at Linde and the glory around him.

In the morning, when Lind accompanied Vilas to visit various old town nobles, Glory had already caused quite a stir. Now when he arrived at the clerical desk, the commotion was still quite large. Many bachelors engaged in biological research rushed there. Come here, I want to record the physiological details of the mutated shadow lynx like Glory.

Although these bachelors are all nerds who are full of books, it does not mean that they are the kind of people who are desperate for research. They are also afraid of danger. When Glory starts to let out a threatening growl and makes an attack posture , each of them was very smart to stay away from Glory and hid in a safe place. This situation did not end until Vilas came out of the school city.

Lind also picked out a few books during this time and planned to read them on the ship to Sunspear. After all, they would be at sea for a long time after leaving Old Town. It would be very painful if there was nothing to kill the time during this period. of.

The reason why I only picked a few sets was mainly because books were very expensive, and even just a few sets cost Lind several gold dragons.

The city has been able to make paper a long time ago, but that kind of paper is very brittle and not tough enough. If the surrounding environment is too dry, it will break. If it is too humid, it will become moldy easily. Therefore, this kind of paper is mostly used for making paper. Raven letterhead.

Formal books still use parchment, which is one of the reasons why book prices remain high.

As for another reason why books are so expensive, all the books here are copied by assistant maesters by hand. A book of Kings, which records the historical changes of the early kings of the Seven Kingdoms, requires an assistant maester to copy for more than a month. Only then can I finish copying.

Because the assistant bachelor's copying of books is not just about copying the text, there are also a large number of pictures that need to be drawn in the books. The branches and other patterns on each page of the book must also be copied exactly the same, because among these patterns, There may be some secret information hidden that is not known to the public.

Expensive books also reminded Lind of papermaking and printing. He was thinking that maybe when he had a certain level of strength, he could use these two tools to make money and attract talents.

However, this idea only turned around twice in his mind before he rejected it, because it is not known whether these two sharp tools can make money or attract talents, but it is certain that they will definitely offend the school city to death. .

Because the reason why the Academy has a transcendent status in the continent of Westeros is entirely because the Academy has mastered the knowledge.

But once printing and papermaking technology are brought out, and a large number of books appear in various cities in the Seven Kingdoms at extremely low prices, there is no doubt that the impact on the school city will be the greatest, which will directly lead to him becoming a scholar. The city's mortal enemy.

As for dedicating papermaking and printing to the school city in order to gain the school city's friendship, this was even beyond Lind's consideration.

Not to mention whether papermaking and printing can win the friendship of the school. Even if he can, the benefits he will ultimately get from it will probably be very small, and there will be a lot of troubles. For example, the school will be worried that he will spread papermaking and printing. Go out and wait.

After giving up the idea, Linde followed Vilas and left the school city. At this moment, Vilas's face was not particularly good-looking. It must be that his purpose of going to the school city was not achieved.

However, his mood quickly improved a lot later in the evening, because the school specially sent three books as gifts for Vilas' trip.

Among these three books, one is the book "Miracles" written by Lomas the Longlegs. The author is an ancestor of the Tyrell family who came to study in the city, and the other is written by Maester Matus. "Nine Voyages" mainly tells about the nine great voyages of Corlys Velaryon. The last one is part of the book "Weapons of War" written by Aymidon.

Except for the book "Miracle", which has special value because of its author, the other two books are of great value in themselves.

For example, the book "Nine Voyages" is a private collection of the sea serpent Velaryan's family. It records the customs and customs of the city-states and kingdoms along the Essos continent, and also records in detail several routes that have not been discovered yet, and each of them There is huge wealth hidden in the routes. Almost every merchant and voyager hopes to get a copy of "Nine Voyages". Unfortunately, this book has always been hidden on the island of the Velaryon family.

The book that the city has given to Vilas now should be a copy, and it is not difficult to tell from the ink marks that it was copied recently.

As for Imidon's book "Weapons of War", its value is far greater than that of "Nine Voyages", even if the book "Weapons of War" is only a part.

Aymidon was a Valyrian who lived during the heyday of the Valyrian Free Fortress. His specific identity is unknown. We can only judge who he should be based on the fact that most of his handed down works describe war. A Valyrian general.

Aymidon's "Arms of War" not only records in detail the various weapons used by the Valyrian army, but also records the various strategies and tactics of the Valyrian army. It is a complete collection of Valyrian wars.

However, this book has been lost due to various changes in the past, and now it is said that only the original copy of this book is hidden in Winterfell in the North.

The "Weapons of War" now taken out by the academy should have been copied by the bachelor advisor serving Winterfell. However, the content only involves some siege equipment and some war cases, but for Willas, this is already Very precious.

Therefore, some of the frustration he felt in the school city in the afternoon quickly dissipated, and his mood became much happier. During dinner, he talked and laughed with the Hightowers.

Because he needed to go to the Starry Cathedral for a day-and-night prayer ceremony the next day, Vilas returned to his room very early and went to sleep.

But Linde did not sleep. Just like in Highgarden, he also directed Glory to leave the Towering Tower, and then walked around the old town to understand the situation in the old town.

Originally, he planned to ask Glory to go to the school city to see if he could sneak into the library and try to steal one or two rare forbidden books.

However, when he directed Glory to the main entrance of the school city, no matter how Lin De urged Glory, Glory was unwilling to approach the school city.

Through the perspective of Glory, he discovered that the reason why Glory was unwilling to approach the school city was the two sphinx statues at the main entrance. The two sphinx statues emitted streams of dark green light in the dark night. This light makes the Sphinx look somewhat eerie.

Linde remembered that when he came to the school city during the day, the two sphinx statues were just ordinary statues. Glory was also able to enter the school city and went to the desk behind the door, but found nothing unusual about the sphinx statues. , and now it seems that the school city is more complicated than he expected.

Although I don't understand what power is contained in the Sphinx Statue, from Glory's attitude, the power contained in it should be very terrifying, otherwise Glory would not be able to become so cowed.

Seeing that he was stopped, Linde did not force Glory to enter the school city. Instead, he recalled him and waited for the opportunity to enter the school city again to take a look.