Chapter 51: Golden Guan Dao

Aside from the stench and the crowds, King's Landing still has quite a few merits; this is the view Arthur has formed along his journey.

Brick mansions, pavilions, wooden inns, market stalls, brothels—one after another, stretching on endlessly.

On the wide, tree-lined avenues, the stench almost vanishes, but in the winding, twisting small streets and the cramped alleys where only two people can walk side-by-side, the stench asserts its presence most arrogantly.

Looking slightly into the distance, one can see the marble walls of the Great Sept of Baelor surrounding Visenya Hill, with its seven crystal towers standing tall.

Not far away, on Rhaenys Hill, lie the burnt Dragonpit, the ruins of the collapsed dome, and the bronze gates that have been shut for a century.

Between the two hills, the Street of Sisters stretches out straight, surrounded by sturdy walls.

If Arthur and his group could fly, and fly to the side of the harbor, they would see the bustling scene of King's Landing Port.

This second-largest port in Westeros handles the water transport for the capital's five hundred thousand people, with goods from the upper reaches of the Blackwater River, Oldtown, Lannisport, Crab Bay, and even places across the Narrow Sea like Braavos, Pentos, Lys, and Tyrosh being continuously unloaded onto the hundred-plus wharves along the waterfront.

In the harbor, there are the golden warships of the Royal Fleet, the Queen's luxury yacht, cargo ships from all over, fishing boats, and so on.

There are even quite a few smuggling ships hiding secretly among them; after all, one of the King's major sources of income is the legal collection of tariffs at major trading ports.

Like White Harbor in The North, it must pay a tax to King's Landing. In the original story, after Robb Stark declared himself King, the Manderly family, lords of White Harbor, diverted this tax money to Winterfell instead.

Quietly watching over all this is the Red Keep on Aegon Hill, composed of seven massive drum towers, a gargantuan keep, the domed Throne Room, enclosed bridges, barracks, dungeons, granaries, and thick defensive walls; it is named the Red Keep because it is built entirely of light-red stone.

Actually, by convention, the Red Keep—this royal castle—is the true capital, but because the Red Keep, King's Landing, and King's Landing Port are all so close together, everyone tacitly uses "King's Landing" to refer to all three.

Under Desmond's guidance, the twenty men arrived at an inn in Eel Alley.

Eel Alley is a lane located halfway up Visenya Hill, near the harbor; its greatest advantage is that the rooms have excellent ventilation.

Ventilation means the nose is no longer subjected to torture.

This single point is enough to defeat all competitors, making outsiders familiar with King's Landing choose this place.

"I heard the Hand's Tourney will be held in a week and a half," Yule said, sharing the news he had gathered.

"It should be said that King Robert is holding the tourney in Lord Eddard's name," Patrick corrected him. "With Lord Eddard's pedantic and upright nature, he would never agree to something as flashy as a tourney."

Desmond agreed with Patrick's view. "Lord Eddard's seriousness is beyond what ordinary people can imagine. The North and the Riverlands have been allied for years, yet I have never seen him at Riverrun."

"A week and a half," Arthur repeated, murmuring. "Enough time to craft a set of high-quality armor."

"Not just one set, but mine as well, a full set," Yule reminded his nephew at the right moment, emphasizing a complete set.

"The armor will come, and the Gold Dragons will come," Arthur soothed his uncle.

The group dismounted, suddenly facing a very important problem.

What to do with twenty-two horses?

Because it is by the sea, most guests arrive by boat, so this place does not provide boarding for horses.

Several attendants with living experience in King's Landing discussed it and suggested that the horses could be stabled at an inn outside the city.

Although that place is filled with all sorts of outsiders, it can still squeeze in a batch of horses.

After sending a few followers to handle this, Arthur and the others filled their stomachs and then washed up to sleep.

The jolting on horseback these past few days was enough to leave even the strongest person physically and mentally exhausted.

The next morning.

"There are really too many people in King's Landing these days," Desmond sighed.

The three of them were taking a few attendants to have custom weapons and armor made for Arthur; they were blocked on the street, moving with difficulty, and had only gone a short distance after quite a while.

Ever since King Robert took half the court and the royal family north to welcome Eddard Stark, everyone in all of Westeros knew who the new Hand was.

And according to the King's habitual love for excitement and spectacle, holding a grand tourney was inevitable.

Thus, as news of Robert's trip north spread, poor knights and wealthy nobles from all over arrived in King's Landing one after another, preparing to show off or watch others show off.

In these two or three months, knights from everywhere have arrived every day, and every knight brings two or more attendants, followed by three or four craftsmen, a dozen businessmen, two dozen female workers, and countless thieves.

The extent of the crowds can be described by a quote from Littlefinger: business for the girls is so good they can't even close their legs, and their pockets jingle with copper coins when they walk.

Since the blacksmith shop on Iron Street that Arthur specified was a bit far from Eel Alley, they had no choice but to stroll over slowly.

According to the known plot, the master of Gendry—one of Robert's bastards—is likely one of the most skilled blacksmiths in King's Landing.

Arthur feels more at ease having him forge the weapons and armor.

Otherwise, like that ancestral greatsword, it would be bad if the blade rolled while hacking.

Passing by a vegetable stall, he had his personal servant Meidan buy a pumpkin the size of a human head.

This made Patrick click his tongue in wonder. "You aren't really going to forge a hammer the size of a pumpkin, are you? Who could carry such a blow? Even The Mountain couldn't do it!"

Desmond also offered his own view: "The lethality of such a great hammer is sufficient, but it's not good for use on horseback; no poor beast could carry both you in full plate and this great hammer."

Arthur thought about it, and it was true.

An ordinary horse truly couldn't carry it. Even if Arthur barely managed to sit on it, it wouldn't be able to run fast.

Because if one were careless, the horse wouldn't be able to bear the force and would easily tip over, kneel, or even break a leg.

There is, however, a type of pacing horse where each of the four hooves moves independently; that should barely be able to handle it.

The greatest advantage of this "part-time four-wheel drive" warhorse is that the center of gravity is always on one line, which can maintain balance, making it suitable for carrying heavyweight warriors.

But he doesn't know if Westeros has such horses.

So, to be safe, Arthur should also forge a lighter armor-piercing weapon for horseback.

Following his preferences from his past life, he decided to forge a great blade similar to the Green Dragon Crescent Blade.

This Guan Dao is actually not the weapon of the Martial Saint Guan Yu; it first appeared in the iron-blooded Song Dynasty and was a ceremonial implement, not a weapon that had seen blood on the battlefield.

But for Arthur, it is just right.

For a mounted warrior, the defensive power of plate armor is definitely not as good as that of infantry, because one must consider the horse's load-bearing capacity, which inevitably reduces the amount of material used.

Therefore, the requirement for armor-piercing is reduced by quite a bit.

Moreover, Arthur has always felt that he should change his banner; a gold shield with a red horse does not fit his personality.

Changing the gold shield to a Golden Guan Dao is just right; the blade implies hacking and killing, and the horse implies riding.

It fits the theme of Mount & Blade.

While he was thinking, they arrived at the blacksmith shop of Master Daniu that Arthur had requested.

After communicating, the owner of the blacksmith shop let out a cry of shock:

"What? You want to forge a Hammer as big as a pumpkin; can you even lift it?"

PS: Seeking recommendation votes and monthly tickets.

(End of this chapter)