Chapter 121

The old man of the old town descended from the Tower of Heaven that day, merely to celebrate the restoration of peace in the Riverbanks.

Accompanying him were the ordinary folk of the old town. They left their rooms, walked along the main road, and loudly celebrated.

"The pirates have retreated!" they shouted.

Olifah Frey glanced outside and saw that colorful ribbons were tied everywhere—on the distant high tower and on the rooftops of nearby houses—people used these bright colors to celebrate their heartfelt joy. He heard people walking the streets, elated and uplifted.

They received news that the Iron Islands' king, Urren Greyjoy, was slain on the spot during his wedding by Stannis's King's Hand, the smuggler Davos Seaworth, known as the "Onion Knight," who also seized Urren's war prize, Sansa Stark, the heiress of the Twilight Hall, and brought her back to Winterfell.

News spreads fastest in the old town; the ravens of the Citadel receive messages from around the world each day, and whenever there is major news, the maesters copy it down and post the information throughout the city.

"How could the heir of Tarth help Stannis's king? Doesn't she no longer love her Blue‑Grace king?" Maester Aedelic said dismissively upon hearing the news, "The world always spreads half‑true rumors; in fact, given enough time you'll see that many colorful rumors are false, because the truth is often dull."

Olifah recalled that he was saying this while holding a knife and fork, cutting into the corpse of a dead commoner to determine the cause of death. "Just as a living being, when the divine light departs from the body, it becomes a pile of meat—that is the ultimately bland fact of humanity. Some people try to find meaning in the life or death of that flesh, but I tell you, lad, death has no meaning, nor does life, unless you spend your living years pursuing truth and even die for that pursuit."

Perhaps so; Olifah didn't know how to reply.

He had already been in the Citadel for nearly half a year.

At first, Lord Frey the Elder tossed him into a prison cart and sent him all the way to the old town, displaying to the southern lords a family rebellion leaning toward the traitor Starks.

Olifah had to admit that the old Frey's tactic was effective; as a Frey, he faced no discrimination in the old town, unaware of how long Lord Frey the Elder had been working behind the scenes or how much gold he had spent, yet in this southern region, teeming with clergy and corruption, he came to be called by the people a "holy Frey."

He considered himself not hypocritical, so he deliberately avoided discussing family matters and the young wolf lord with the southern nobility; yet the more he stayed silent, the more people became interested in him.

Consequently he had to leave the church—actually, too many people came to the church to chat with him, and the church could not tolerate daily gossip about that sordid affair in the cathedral; to avoid trouble, the church bestowed upon him a pious medal and then recommended him to the Citadel.

Lord Frey left him a guard detail of fourteen men, carried countless gold and other treasures, and assigned a steward to regularly report news to Riverrun.

He believed that anyone associated with the word "holy" ought not to possess so much gold.

Thanks to his composure, within just six months he had forged two metal rings. One was made of black iron, representing the knowledge of managing ravens; it looks simple, but requires a deep understanding of ravens and practical experience.

Born into a great house, he was no stranger to ravens; even within his own small retinue there were dozens of ravens that went to Riverrun and could be used for study and practice. Thus he quickly obtained this black‑iron forged metal ring.

However, to wear a chain around the neck you need at least three rings, and anyone attempting to wear three rings should add a fourth—the ring of vanity.

His second ring was cast in bronze, representing his historical knowledge. During his time at the Citadel he read nearly every day; initially he sought historical examples of violations of guest rights, but later the stories fascinated him, and he read almost all the publicly available history books in the city within two months, including a volume titled *The Secret Life of Conqueror Aegon and His Two Wives*.

Later he read other histories that the Citadel keeps secret.

He acknowledged that his rapid access to precious historical works was mainly due to the old Frey, who had given him so much that he believed every librarian could feel the Frey's sincerity.

In this prosperous trading city, a gold dragon can buy almost anything, let alone books that represent noble knowledge.

People are happy to share knowledge in exchange for gold dragons.

When news from Riverrun arrived, the situation changed slightly; his dozen or so guards looted the wealth, leaving only a steward and two loyal family retainers.

He did not become destitute because of this. In the old town, Lord Wade the Elder knew that living in such a great city required substantial funds, so besides the gold and valuables they brought from Riverrun, he also gave him deposit notes from the Oldtown Bank and the Iron Bank, intending, according to Lord Wade, that this be money to hire a mercenary company when needed.

He never imagined those deposit notes would be used so quickly.

He could not hire an army to retake Riverrun, nor did he have the means to avenge the old lord; moreover, did he even have a grudge?

His sister had been sent to the Riverlands; if the Tully language still had any use, her safety would be no problem. His brother Ser Benfrey died at the Red Wedding, while his other brother William, a maester serving the Hunters in the Bowyer's Hall, likewise faced no danger.

He could not possibly know all of his other brothers and their nephews and grandsons.

Rumor has it that they were either hanged by she‑wolves in the riverways or slaughtered like ducks in the riverlands; he could only feel heartbroken sorrow for them, this being the wrath of the gods.

He had already seen it in candlelight.

While in the church he heard the bishops' view on this matter—that such swift retribution is a manifestation of divine power.

That is ordinary, common talk.

A friar named Light, who got along well with him, told him that God's power extends far beyond this; God had already used another wedding to take revenge on the conspirators—he did not know how much of that was meant to comfort him, since he did not even consider the Freys the masterminds.

Olifah knew such rumors existed, but this kind of talk is extremely dangerous; even if they were far away in Oldtown, they would avoid alluding to the lion.

As it turns out, the cursed are not only the Freys but also the lions.

This is no longer hearsay but solid news. The commander of the City Watch in King's Landing slaughtered thousands of worshippers merely to rescue his sister, the current queen regent. Yet fate seemed to play a joke: that very night after her rescue, the queen regent was stabbed by an assassin in the Maegor's Holdfast. Rumor has it she died in the arms of her brother, the current regent, Jaime Lannister.

Have the sparrows truly become this mad?

He does not know.

When the news of King's Landing reached Oldtown, the faithful grew enraged, surrounding the Starry Sept and the Sevenfold Shrine impenetrably; the heir of Lord Hightower, jovial Baelor, helpless, could only recall half of the twenty thousand troops he had sent out, lest Oldtown suffer a tragedy like that in King's Landing.

To counter the threat of the poor folk's gatherings, jovial Baelor followed the advice of the High Septon of the Starry Sept and absorbed some of the pauper assemblies and the Sons of the Warrior into the forces he had raised.

Olifah did not know what consequences this would have, but visibly Oldtown restored order.

These have nothing to do with him. What he needs to do now is win the third metal ring, the silver one that represents medicine.

The two rings he had acquired so quickly, he thought, were thanks to the steward's coordination and the aid of gold dragons, but he did not believe Maester Aedelic would be so easily handled by the steward.

In fact, the maester had explicitly warned him:

"Maesters ultimately serve their lords—gold and silver are what they see most clearly; if the treasury runs low, they will think you stole from them, and if you mishandle illnesses and wounds, they will deem you utterly useless. You wouldn't want to know how all those maesters previously sent to the Iron Islands died."

He knows how the maesters of the Iron Islands died.

Among all maesters dispatched to serve various lords, those sent to the Iron Islands are the most diligent—not because the Iron Islanders love to play with axes, but because their raiders, after killing the patients they value, often cannot control their anger and lash out at the maesters who treated them.

In fact, Olifah believes this is because the ironfolk often think the maesters look down on them, treating them carelessly and even deliberately harming them.

Maesters may not say it outright, but in practice they prefer to serve families that interest them, especially those that are not overly mad; madness cannot be measured, but wealth and rank can—great, wealthy houses are their first choice.

However, a family maester is a lifetime post; great, wealthy houses, and even many ordinary lordly households often take years to vacate a family maester's position, so the chance to serve a lord directly is rare as phoenix feathers—and the Citadel, to protect its reputation, never relaxes its standards for sending out maesters; thus, obtaining both the gold and silver rings requires considerable effort.

Olifah never considered becoming a maester like his brother William, serving the nobility.

He had long desired to serve a king, but… that king never gave him the chance.

Failure is the norm; he recognized that early on.

Around him, everyone counts as one, and none are exempt from constantly facing failure—not even Maester Aedelic.

Maester Luwin of Winterfell rarely sent a letter to the Citadel, asking that a new maester be posted to Winterfell; this request ignited the enthusiasm of all those still in the Citadel who hoped to serve a great lord.

Maester Aedelic had prepared for a long time, but ultimately, because his common surname fell short of Blaiddyd, he lost to Maester Roland in Lord Luwin's selection.

"What do you think the reason is?" Olifah recalled Maester Aedelic asking him; before he could answer, the maester asked and answered himself: "Serving a great house is a maester's honor, just as a knight who serves the king directly is honored; we use their stage in the Seven Kingdoms to showcase our talents. Maester Luwin immersed himself in the Stark family, and after the tragic deaths of Stark's two young sons, he chose to end his own life. I do not wish to say he failed to serve the Starks well, nor that he bears responsibility for their current situation, but he saw himself more as a knight than a maester. In his reply he explained that Maester Roland hails from Blaiddyd, follows the old gods, and might be a better fit for the Starks. Heh, if I were to say, he would also suit the Boltons just as well."

"What's wrong with being a knight?" Some content made him feel dangerous, so he asked a peripheral question.

Knights serve honor, but scholars serve truth. The Shitake family is impulsive and headstrong, and now it is a proud woman who heads the household, which calls for a rational and wise person to serve as their scholar.

You mean Scholar Luolande is unsuitable?

I mean, Scholar Luwen is not wise enough.

Aolifa doesn't understand.

Scholar Luwen only knows to find a scholar for the Shitake who believes in the old gods and whose original surname was Bulaiwude, but he doesn't know that Budun once was a foster son of Crowtree City. Luolande is a loyal person, but he lacks flexibility; when faced with the Shitake's stubbornness—if he still sees Budun as that little kid from Dreadfort he knew decades ago—then I worry he will end up acting more like a knight than a scholar.