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In the upper-level lord's hall of the castle, the Setigar family lord conducted his daily business. Earl Adrian and Scholar Wells were dealing with official matters, with Butler Barin standing by.

Wells presented a scroll, saying, "Lord Earl, please take a look at this. It's an invitation from Earl Hean of Harrenhal."

Adrian said without looking up, "Oh, an invitation! What does it say?"

Wells continued, "Earl Walter Hean, in celebration of his daughter's name day, will hold a grand tournament at Harrenhal in half a month. He invites all the bravest knights of the Seven Kingdoms to participate, and also invites lords from all over to attend the ceremony. It says that the King's Kingsguard and Prince Rhaegar will participate in the tournament and personally compete. Moreover, the prize money will be three times that of the Lannisport tournament a few years ago!"

"Oh!～" Earl Adrian raised his head, saying with interest, "Three times the prize money? It seems Earl Walter is investing a lot this time! That's not a small sum. But I'm curious, where did he get such a large sum of money? As far as I know, the Hean family's financial situation has never been very good."

Scholar Wells said, "Lord Earl, it is said that the Hean family of Harrenhal are staunch supporters of Prince Rhaegar. Moreover, Duke Tywin Lannister, the Warden of the West, has always favored Prince Rhaegar. In previous years, he always wanted to marry his daughter to him, but the King firmly disagreed, and the Prince married the Dornish princess instead. Everyone in the Seven Kingdoms knows the wealth of the Lannisters." The scholar subtly hinted that the money must have been provided by Duke Tywin for Prince Rhaegar, and Earl Hean was just a front.

Adrian couldn't help but laugh, "Yes! The Lannisters' chamber pots are made of gold. Hahahaha!" The disdain in his heart was undisguised. Everyone knew that the Lannister family possessed the gold mines of the West; the Tyrell family owned the most fertile land in the Seven Kingdoms. But few people knew that the Setigar family had been secretly engaged in overseas trade for over two hundred years, earning a large amount of wealth every year. Otherwise, how could the Setigar family, with only the barren Crab Island and a few manors on the peninsula, support an army of over two thousand soldiers? As the lord's own army, they were the foundation of his power.

At this moment, a servant came to the door, and Butler Barin leaned over to listen to a few words. He said softly, "Lord Earl, the people below are here to report. Knight Bendel requests an audience; he is downstairs now."

Adrian was slightly taken aback, then remembered that Bendel was the knight he had knighted two months ago. This man had served the Setigar family for 12 years, and not long ago, with his rich experience, he had thwarted a long-planned enemy attack, avoiding losses of up to several thousand gold dragons. So he was given a knighthood, albeit without any fiefdom. He glanced at the scroll in Wells's hand. He smiled slightly and said, "Let Knight Bendel in! He's come at the right time; I have a new task for him." Barin turned and instructed the male servant outside the door.

Adrian then said to Wells, "Scholar, do you think we should participate in this tournament?"

Wells: "Lord Earl, we must not let the world forget the glory of the Setigar family."

Adrian laughed loudly, "Hahaha, well said, Scholar. We must not give those fellows a chance to underestimate our Setigar family." At this moment, Ser Bendel walked in. Adrian said to him, "Modi, you've come at the right time. Take a look at this～" As he spoke, he threw the scroll in front of him on the table.

Ser Bendel picked up the scroll and looked at it carefully. Then he gently put it back on the table, and said respectfully, "Lord Earl, just give your orders, and my sword will always fight for you!"

Adrian was very satisfied with his attitude, nodded and said, "Very good, Modi, don't go back yet, come with me to Harrenhal. Scholar, notify those knights under 40 years old. I'll give them five days to gather in the ruins of Whispering Fort. Tell them that this time, they must show the strength of the Setigar family in front of the nobles of the Seven Kingdoms."

Wells: "Yes! Lord, according to your will. I'll go and do it～"

Adrian patted Bendel on the shoulder: "Modi, dine with me in the castle tonight. Barin, arrange dinner and prepare a room for Ser Bendel."

Bendel said, "Thank you, it is my honor to be able to dine with you, my lord."

Only then did Adrian notice his armor. From the touch of his hand, he found that the chainmail rings were very dense. He praised a few words: "Hmm～ very good armor, the craftsman's skill is superb!"

Bendel: "Thank you for your praise, my lord. I had this armor custom-made from Parker, the castle blacksmith. My lord, the craftsmanship of the blacksmiths under your command is much better than those in the towns."

Adrian was thoughtful. He said, "Oh, you reminded me. Barin, you must make good preparations before the trip. You must arrange the supplies, horses, vehicles, and accompanying personnel needed on the road. Especially the cooks and blacksmiths. Oh, and bring the silk imported from Lys, and the fine wine brought from Arbor."

Barin said respectfully, "Yes, my lord, please rest assured. I will personally arrange everything and there will be no mistakes, guaranteeing your satisfaction."

Soon, more than a dozen soldiers left the castle on horseback. They dispersed in different directions, going to various villages to convey the lord's orders. The entire castle also began to operate, and many craftsmen and servants began to pack their things.

In the blacksmith shop, Liu Yuan was still busy. He carefully assembled the parts, and one component after another gradually took shape in his hands. An exquisite hand crossbow was displayed in front of him. When he finally tied the compound bowstring, the crossbow was completed. Pulleys were set on both sides of the crossbow arm to enhance the pulling force, and a lever was used to quickly string it. The upper slot could be fitted with an arrow magazine, which could hold eight 15 cm long crossbow bolts at a time. The crossbow bolts were equipped with quadrangular slotted arrowheads, which could stabilize the trajectory and have armor-piercing capabilities.

Liu Yuan fiddled with the hand crossbow. With his current physical condition, he could easily operate it with one hand. He sighed helplessly. This thing was just a slightly larger toy in the past, but now he needed it to save his life.

There were many items in the blacksmith shop that could be used as targets. He found shields, breastplates, and helmets as targets.

"Swish, swish, swish, swish～" This semi-automatic repeating crossbow was still very convenient to operate. Liu Yuan could completely empty the arrow magazine in ten seconds. It took two seconds to replace it with a new arrow magazine and continue firing. The rate of fire was comparable to a pistol, which was still satisfactory. It was a typical case of not enough power, use quantity to make up for it.

Liu Yuan came to the target. The power of the crossbow bolts was still good, and they could easily shoot through curved iron helmets within 10 meters.

According to Old Parker, this kind of helmet was the common equipment of soldiers on the continent. When the distance reached 15 meters, the power would be greatly reduced. Basically, beyond 20 meters, the lethality was very low. It could only barely stick on the shield and would be bounced off by metal armor.

But as a self-defense weapon, it was still good. Importantly, it could be folded for easy carrying.