An envoy from Barrowton

The North, Sea Dragon Point Peninsula, Flint's Finger, Brightflame Bay.

On the boundless sea, a two-masted ship slowly approached House Flint's docks. In a lavishly decorated cabin, Rogers Ryswell, an envoy from Barrowton, held a silver wine cup and drank wine from the south. He gazed listlessly at the unchanging sea outside, bored to death.

Rogers Ryswell was the nephew of Rodrik Ryswell, lord of the Rills, and the envoy of Lady Barbrey Dustin, acting lord of Barrowton. House Dustin was the most powerful house in the entire western North.

In some respects, its strength even rivaled White Harbor's. If Ironborn pirates had not raided the Sunset Sea coast since ancient times, House Dustin would likely have been even stronger.

Lady Barbrey, the current acting lord of House Dustin of Barrowton, was a woman from House Ryswell. As a result, House Ryswell had also become one of the foremost powers in the First Men’s Barrows.

Although House Dustin, House Ryswell, and Eddard's House Flint were all nominally vassals sworn to House Stark of Winterfell, House Stark rarely interfered, particularly now. House Stark had always followed a policy of "honor and fairness," so its control over its lands fell somewhat short of that of the southern houses that held wardenships.

Since Eddard's inherited father had always been a staunch supporter of House Stark, Barbrey Dustin of Barrowton had never much liked House Flint. Lady Barbrey's husband had served as Eddard Stark's guard during the War of the Usurper. Her husband, William Dustin, had died in that legendary battle at the Tower of Joy, and not even his body had been brought back.

It was precisely because Eddard Stark, Warden of the North, felt a trace of guilt toward Lady Barbrey that he indulged her in certain matters. After losing her husband, Lady Barbrey's appetite for power had grown stronger and stronger, and over the years, Barrowton's influence had become far greater than before.

Especially after gaining the support of her birth family, House Ryswell, this beautiful woman in her thirties had actually set her sights on Eddard's House Flint.

At present, Lady Barbrey had already secured the allegiance of House Stout of Goldgrass, House Moss of Heatwave Town, and House Slate of Rocktown. After learning what had happened to House Flint, she had sent her cousin Rogers Ryswell to negotiate with Eddard.

News traveled very slowly in this era. Moreover, without dedicated intelligence gatherers, reports could become increasingly bizarre as they spread. The intelligence Lady Barbrey had received was that clans had invaded Eddard's mine in the Western Mountains, House Flint had suffered devastating losses of several hundred dead, and it had completely lost control of the mine.

House Dustin's intention was also very simple: to take House Flint's mining rights. Barrowton stood in the First Men’s Barrows in the North, where the ancient First Men had been buried during the Age of Heroes. Rumor had it that the first king of the First Men, the "First King," was buried near Barrowton, though no one had found him in all these years.

Since the First Men’s Barrows consisted mostly of hills and barren plains, only gold veins with very limited reserves could still be found along certain streams. What House Dustin truly needed, however, was iron and copper, and deposits of those had only been discovered on the Sea Dragon Point Peninsula.

When Eddard's inherited family had first died, Lady Barbrey had considered sending one of her brothers from House Ryswell to take over Flint's Finger Castle. Yet Eddard Stark of Winterfell had instead directly sought out Eddard, the almost-forgotten second son of House Flint.

At that moment, Rogers Ryswell was full of ambition. In his view, House Flint was probably in complete chaos by now, and he would appear there as a savior, earning the boundless gratitude of its maester lord. Then he, Rogers Ryswell, would successfully complete his older cousin's mission and become a favorite in Barrowton.

As Rogers saw it, House Flint surely needed outside help now. Once suitable terms were negotiated and Barrowton's troops were stationed at the mine, House Flint's mine would become the property of House Dustin and House Ryswell.

Knock, knock, knock...

Just as Rogers Ryswell was imagining his wonderful life ahead, a knock came at the door, interrupting his pleasant visions of the future.

"Come in!"

After hearing Rogers Ryswell's command, a young man dressed in coarse linen entered. After bowing to Rogers, the young man said:

"Lord Rogers! We'll soon reach House Flint's docks. Would you like to come out and have a look?"

"Yes!"

After answering the young man's question, Rogers Ryswell rose and headed for the deck. Once he stepped onto it, a somewhat dilapidated dock came into view.

The mooring area of House Flint's docks was a natural reef, where the seabed reached a depth of roughly ten meters. House Flint's previous lords had carved stone paths through the reef and built wooden berths.

Since the two-masted ship carrying Rogers Ryswell bore House Dustin of Barrowton's crossed axes and crown on a gold field, they were assigned the best berth.

Rogers Ryswell did not linger at the docks. After disembarking, he headed straight for the road leading to the castle. Looking at the deserted Dock Market, Rogers wore a trace of contempt. Although the North could not compare with the great southern cities, there was still a hierarchy of disdain among its people.

Those in Winterfell looked down on the Dreadfort and White Harbor, while those in the Dreadfort and White Harbor looked down on Karhold and Barrowton, and so on down the line. This also reflected the strength of those houses. Although Flint's Finger was close to the south, various circumstances had left its development utterly unable to match that of the great northern houses.

"There are so few people here. Shouldn't there be plenty of people at this time of year? Or could it be..."

"Aunt Carl! Hurry up! If I hadn't been waiting for you, I'd have run to the castle already. Everyone says that big thing was made by the lord. Let's hurry over and take a look!"

"Coming, coming! You have to spare a thought for the pace of these old bones. In all my years, I've never seen a giant contraption made entirely of iron!"

Rogers Ryswell was complaining to an attendant beside him, but before he could finish, a burst of shouting interrupted him. Then he heard a conversation between a young man and an elderly person.

Since the two were fairly close and speaking rather loudly, Rogers heard them clearly. Certain words in their conversation also made him very curious, so he called over the two guards beside him and hurried toward the castle with them.

Meanwhile, on Wine Street in the outer city, workers were slowly moving the "Magic Energy Number One" prototype Eddard had built toward the workshop outside the city.

To make the prototype easier to move and install, Eddard had fitted it with a supporting frame after completing the tests. To move it, they only needed to place a few logs underneath and push.

As he watched the machine being pushed out of the castle, Eddard breathed a sigh of relief. After trial adjustments and installation, the prototype was now essentially ready for normal use.

During yesterday's test, Eddard had first installed Fire Dragonglass in the slot at the hot-cylinder end. The Dragonglass Lesser Demon's secretions happened to serve as a lubricant inside. After running a simulation with the Golden Eye, Eddard discovered that the secretions could last about a week once they adhered to the cylinder walls.

Moreover, after testing its performance, Eddard also learned through the Golden Eye that the Valyrian steel inside the cylinder provided excellent protection. To keep the alternating hot and cold temperatures from affecting the cylinder, Eddard had substantially reduced the output of the Fire Dragonglass and Ice Dragonglass. This ensured the iron piston moved normally without allowing the temperature inside the cylinder to fluctuate too greatly.

For the time being, this prototype would serve as a crusher and grinder, grinding and processing the fired materials to produce large quantities of cement for Eddard.

Eddard was also researching how to use Fire Dragonglass efficiently to make steel. After discovering Valyrian steel's high melting point and resistance to heat and wear, Eddard had also thought of a method for making steel directly with Fire Dragonglass.

Once the entire steelmaking and cement-firing process was linked together, the slag produced during steelmaking could be used to fire cement. Then Eddard's domain could enter an entirely new state. Whenever he thought of this, Eddard could not help wanting to laugh with joy.

"My lord!.."

Only after the Captain of the Guards, Arthur Stone, called him several times did Eddard realize that everyone around him was watching him. He quickly composed himself and replied:

"Ahem... What is it, ser?"

Hearing Eddard's question, the Captain of the Guards, Arthur Stone, gave it no further thought and said directly:

"My lord! The envoy from Barrowton has arrived. He says House Dustin has something to discuss with you."

"House Dustin?"

Noticing Eddard's confusion, Maester Albert hurried to his side. After Albert whispered a few words in his ear, Eddard looked with a half-smile at the three people slowly approaching them in the distance.

Maester Albert had been at Flint's Finger Castle for many years and knew something of the grievances between House Dustin and House Flint, so he quickly analyzed the purpose of House Dustin's visit for Eddard.

After hearing Maester Albert's analysis, Eddard could not help finding it rather amusing. Their intelligence-gathering was truly terrible. They had come rushing here without knowing anything.

Still, this reminded Eddard of something: he needed to establish an intelligence department of his own ahead of time, much like the Master of Whisperers on the Small Council in King's Landing.

Travel was difficult in this era, and most long-distance communication between places could only rely on ravens. Yet the ravens were all in the hands of the maesters. In other words, if they did not want Eddard to know something, he would have no way of learning it.

Perhaps once Eddard had more and more wizards under his command, he could achieve some form of long-distance communication using mystical powers. For now, however, Eddard could only establish his own intelligence department first. The sooner something like this was established, the better; otherwise, he would be left very much on the back foot later.

"All right! Leave the rest to Thin Pigeon and the others for now! Let's go inside and get ready. We can't meet a guest covered in mud. That would be very rude, even if this guest isn't really a guest in the true sense!"

Soon, the group of people in charge of House Flint began heading into the castle passage one after another, while Thin Pigeon, who had been assigned the task, led his men in directing the workers as they moved and positioned the Magic Energy Number One prototype.

Rogers Ryswell could swear to the Old Gods that he had never seen such a strange creation. This enormous iron contraption was a little over four meters long and roughly three meters tall.

Rogers felt that it must have something to do with a mill or a similar device, because he saw something resembling a paddle wheel. Yet he had one question, which was:

"This thing is neither large nor wide. How exactly is it supposed to harness wind or water?"

With that question in mind, Rogers Ryswell headed toward the castle. When he reached the entrance, he encountered the young man from Flint's Finger whom he had sent to deliver his message. After tipping him a copper penny, Rogers learned that Eddard and the others had already entered the castle.

After announcing his identity and handing the guards a document bearing House Dustin's sigil for inspection, Rogers Ryswell received permission to enter the castle.

The entrance to House Flint's castle consisted of a passage roughly ten meters long. The gatehouse had three stories, with more than twenty murder holes between the top floor and the passage. During a war, hot oil could be poured and crossbow bolts fired through the murder holes.

There was also an enormous iron portcullis halfway along the passage. It could be lowered during an enemy attack to cut the enemy force in two and block the advance of a battering ram, allowing the soldiers at the murder holes to pour hot oil or attack with smoke.

Soon, under the guidance of the tax collector Beris, Rogers Ryswell and his two companions were led toward Eddard's Throne Room. The Throne Room was generally used only for formal visits. House Flint's castle had actually been built by a petty Andal king during the Andal invasion, and the Throne Room was a remnant of that time.

At that moment, Eddard looked very imposing seated on the stone throne. The throne's dais stood considerably higher than the hall's floor, lending his somewhat thin frame a slight air of intimidation.