"Mufasa, at your current efficiency, how long will it take you to forge a valyrian steel sword?" Tywin asked.
"One per month!" Mufasa spoke conservatively; he could actually forge about seven in a month.
However, if he said that, he might be reduced to a mere tool. He had no choice but to lie.
Tywin's gaze was sharp as he watched Mufasa and nodded.
"I will secretly communicate with other Great Lords who do not possess valyrian steel swords, ensuring that after the Seven Kingdoms Coalition Army is formed, House Lannister will lead it," Tywin said.
In the days that followed, nobles from distant lands continuously arrived in King's Landing.
Oberyn the Red Viper had just disembarked today.
As he stepped onto the banks of the Blackwater Rush, he took a deep breath.
"What a foul smell. The living conditions for the people of King's Landing are worse than in Dorne!" he remarked.
"Let's go! My Sand Snakes! See if there are any suitable targets for you in King's Landing. When the time comes, strike without hesitation. Hahaha!" Oberyn the Red Viper laughed, looking at his daughters.
He was also a romantic wanderer, having bastards in many places, but he always tried his best to care for them.
The young boys he sent out to be squires, and the young girls he kept by his side, becoming Sand Snakes.
Not long after Oberyn came ashore, he saw the person who had come to greet him.
Dressed in white robes, his armor plated with gold. It was Jaime Lannister.
"Hello, Kingslayer, we haven't seen each other in many years, have we?"
Oberyn the Red Viper asked with a smile. His daughters all looked provocatively at Jaime.
Jaime also showed his standard, razor-sharp smile.
"Yes, Oberyn, it has been a long time! I hope we can all get along peacefully this time!" Jaime said.
Because of Princess Elia, House Martell and the Lannisters held deep enmity toward each other.
However, the enmity between Dorne, the Reach, and the Stormlands is a thousand-year-old feud. If used properly, it could divert conflict.
Jaime led Oberyn the Red Viper to a hotel to rest before planning to take him to see King Robert.
In the Small Council, there were two extra people today: Mufasa and Mace Tyrell.
"I think we can indeed expand the size of the Small Council and invite some experienced and highly respected individuals to join!" said Grand Maester Pycelle.
The person he was referring to was naturally Tywin Lannister.
Grand Maester Pycelle had secretly long been a loyal fan of House Lannister, or more accurately, Tywin Lannister—a die-hard, devoted follower.
"Let's discuss that after the Great Council concludes. For now, Mufasa and Mace, I appoint you as advisors to the Small Council," King Robert said.
"Thank you for your generosity, Your Majesty!" the two said in unison.
"Next, we will discuss the proceedings for holding the Great Council, and the future formation of the Seven Kingdoms Coalition Army."
This meeting lasted for a long time, so long that Joffrey and Myrcella personally brought food in at one point.
As a Prince and a Princess, Robert also had plans to groom them.
Finally, they approved several procedures for the Great Council and the plan for the Seven Kingdoms Coalition Army.
The Great Council would be held on the first day of the following month and would last for seven days. During this time, Lords, Knights, Maesters, Septons, and even noble ladies could step up to give speeches.
The reason for such openness was the consideration that some women were exceptionally talented, such as Mace Tyrell's mother, Olenna Redwyne, known as the Queen of Thorns. She was tough and far more capable than Mace Tyrell.
The plan for the Seven Kingdoms Coalition Army was broadly divided into two parts: the land forces and the navy.
The naval plan was to land Beyond the Wall from the east and west, while the land forces plan was to divide into three units and enter Beyond the Wall through the Nights Watch's passages.
The navy would assemble the Iron Islands Navy, the Oldtown Navy, the Arbor Navy, the White Harbor Navy, the Gulltown Navy, and the King's Landing Navy.
It was even possible that some pirates would be recruited to serve as cannon fodder.
After leaving the Small Council meeting, Mufasa felt exhausted. He had proposed a bizarre idea that everyone rejected, and he had argued fiercely with the assembled lords, but ultimately failed to convince them.
Mufasa's proposed idea was a "house-swapping" tactic: if the Others truly launched a full invasion, they could head north, past Beyond the Wall, to the even more distant Land of Always Winter, where it might be safer the further north they went.
He also claimed that the continent beneath their feet was round, a sphere, and perhaps once they crossed the Land of Always Winter, they could reach a New Continent—a place without Others or eternal winter, a world of distinct seasons, where spring had flowers, autumn had the moon, summer had cool breezes, and winter had snow.
Robert, Eddard, Renly, Baelish, Pycelle, Varys, Mace, and Barristan unanimously rejected Mufasa's audacious proposal.
"That is impossible!"
"That is courting disaster!"
"That is a foolish action!"
Mufasa returned to his room and immediately fell asleep; he was too tired today.
When Mace Tyrell returned, he told his mother, wife, and children about Mufasa's frantic speech at the Small Council.
"He must be mad, he definitely dabbled in Necromancy!" said Mace Tyrell's wife, Alerie Hightower.
Coming from House Hightower, she knew things that ordinary people did not; magic truly existed.
Because House Hightower still studied magic atop the Hightower.
"Necromancy is exceptionally powerful and terrifying. You must never interact with Mufasa again!" Alerie looked at her children.
"Mother, Ser Mufasa, whom I have met, doesn't seem like a necromancer!" said Ser Loras.
He had met Mufasa earlier than others, having crossed paths during Joffrey's nameday Tourney last year. He hadn't noticed anything unusual about Mufasa at all.
"Perhaps he hadn't yet been to the Valyrian ruins then. He must have been infected there," Lady Hightower said.
"Enough! Wife, stop talking about necromancy. I believe Ser Mufasa is not that kind of person," Mace Tyrell said.
His attitude towards Mufasa had changed because Tywin had spoken with him, and they had reached an agreement for cooperation.
"Ser Mufasa's medicine saved Willas's leg, and we should show our gratitude to him! Margaery, go visit Mufasa with Garlan in a few days!" Mace Tyrell looked at his youngest daughter.
"Yes, Father," Margaery replied, lowering her head.
That night, Margaery had a nightmare. She dreamed that in the deep ocean, there was a palace submerged beneath the sea. Inside the palace was a gigantic statue; its appearance was blurry, but it resembled one face of the statues of the seven that she had received from Mufasa.
Margaery was not the only one who had a nightmare that night. Many musicians, maesters, and septons in King's Landing had nightmares, and they all dreamed of the same thing.
That was the terrifying palace submerged in the deep sea, and the mysterious statue inside it.
The next morning, several dead people appeared in King's Landing. They had all died during the night, mysteriously, with no external injuries, but their faces were frozen in expressions of terror and despair.
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