The Mountain of Ice and Fire

Chapter 335: The Path of an Assassin

In the training grounds of Clegane's Keep, there stood a dragon-hunting ballista.

With a stable triangular support, a wide crossbow bed, equivalent to the width of a carriage, and a central bolt groove, the bowstring was made of oxhide, steel wire, and silk thread, thicker than a thumb.

Each time he test-fired the ballista, Gendry would turn red in the face as he strained to pull the bowstring, exerting all his strength just to barely manage to hook it onto the bolt.

The name of this enormous crossbow, 'Dragon Hunter,' was given by the Mountain, spoken through the mouth of Jeyne Westerling.

The Mountain was not the sole designer of the perfected 'Dragon Hunter.' His knowledge of ballistas was not professional or complete, but the initial inspiration, the concept for the bolts, the initial draft of the blueprints, and the vision for its power all came from the Mountain alone.

The initial blueprints that Jeyne gave to Master Tobho Mott were finalized after countless revisions by the Mountain and Jeyne together.

The second design for improving the ballista, including the gear mechanism, the folding design of the ballista bed, and the folding design of the triangular support, all originated from the Mountain's ideas, inspiration, and initial drafts.

Jeyne could only prostrate herself in admiration of the Mountain's talent and wisdom, and she felt excitement and adoration for sharing so many of his secrets.

In Jeyne's eyes, the Mountain became infinitely more charming because of his talent, and every other handsome noble boy seemed shallow and immature in comparison.

After the Mountain led his army away from Clegane's Keep, the initial draft of the Dragon Hunter blueprints, which the Mountain and Jeyne had meticulously designed together, was taken out by Jeyne to consult with Master Tobho Mott.

Master Tobho Mott was naturally completely shocked by Jeyne's expression of her inspirational ideas, and then deeply impressed by Jeyne's talent.

Thus, Master Tobho Mott and his apprentice Gendry enthusiastically devoted themselves to the actual creation of this unprecedented crossbow, the Dragon Hunter.

And perhaps in an unintentional moment, or perhaps through Jeyne's deliberate design, Jeyne, alone with Maester Poole in her small hall, asked him very directly: Was Maester Poole sent to Clegane's Keep by Lord Tywin to monitor everyone's actions?

Perhaps out of fear of the witch's prophetic abilities, or perhaps out of fear of the Mountain, Maester Poole frankly admitted that he was indeed Tywin Lannister's man.

But he swore that Lord Tywin no longer needed any information from him, because the witch was with the army.

Furthermore, although he was sent to Clegane's Keep by Tywin Lannister, he had changed allegiance; the Mountain and Jeyne were now his true lords, and Tywin was not.

A maester, wherever he serves, must remain loyal to his lord and serve only his lord's interests.

In any political struggle, the Maester's Code stipulates that a maester must remain neutral and not betray his lord.

This is an ancient tradition, just as the Night's Watch of the Wall does not participate in any of the Seven Kingdoms' civil wars or political strife.

Neutrality is an ancient code shared by the Night's Watch and the Citadel of Oldtown, a code that has been upheld for thousands of years.

Jeyne believed Maester Poole's words and implored him not to report the invention of the Dragon Hunter to Tywin Lannister, nor to reveal the research and practical details of the Dragon Hunter to anyone other than Tywin Lannister.

Maester Poole agreed! And swore an oath in the name of a maester!

This was a secret conversation between Jeyne and Maester Poole, but for some reason, Master Tobho Mott learned some of the inside story.

Master Tobho Mott was completely different from Jeyne; he did not believe in the young maester's character, nor did he trust the young maester's assurances.

But out of respect for Lady Jeyne, Master Tobho Mott chose to 'let sleeping dogs lie'.

However, in daily life, Master Tobho Mott would always intentionally or unintentionally—in his words or actions—use sarcasm to ridicule the young maester, expressing his disgust and contempt for his 'betrayal' of his lord.

Maester Poole could only endure it all, accepting everything with resignation. Alas, there was nothing he could do!

*

On the wall of the farthest training ground in Clegane's Keep, there was a painted target, with an iron spear stuck next to the bullseye.

The iron spear had almost pierced through the wall, and because of its tremendous power, it was difficult to pull out, so it was temporarily left embedded in the wall.

This two-meter-long iron spear was a bolt from the Dragon Hunter.

The walls of Clegane's Keep's training grounds were made of slabs of stone, each weighing hundreds of pounds.

The iron spear piercing through the wall was the best shooting test for the Dragon Hunter; its power was astonishing, and such a terrifying ballista had never appeared in the history of the Seven Kingdoms.

To allow Master Tobho Mott and Gendry to gradually modify the Dragon Hunter and eventually bring it to perfection, rather than Jeyne having already perfected the design beforehand, the bowstring, bolts, and bed frame of the Dragon Hunter, as well as the initial draft blueprints, were all rough.

Once the rough design was completed, Jeyne would then induce Master Tobho to discuss the shortcomings together, inspire ideas, and slowly improve the Dragon Hunter model step by step.

Besides the witch, no one was more convinced of the Mountain's talent and ability than Jeyne—the Mountain was a super genius, a chosen one, favored by the Light of the Seven, just like Brynden Rivers, the greenseer who had once appeared on the continent of Westeros, without a doubt.

For the sake of caution and safety, the Mountain, burdened with a demonic reputation, could not reveal his extraordinary talents himself, just as a person who suddenly becomes rich should not flaunt their wealth in front of others, as this would attract jealousy and even lead to death.

But as long as someone else with some fame and talent came forward, everyone would be able to accept it.

It was like a wealthy person becoming even wealthier because they were good at doing business; people would naturally accept this person's increased wealth.

But if a pauper suddenly became very rich and surpassed the wealthy people around them, then that person would start to have all sorts of problems, and might even be killed out of jealousy and fear.

The human heart is filled with both jealousy and hatred!

*

Below the Dragon Hunter's target on the wall, there was a thick oak board, with a bolt hole and spiderweb-like cracks on it.

Jeyne and Master Tobho Mott had workers nail several layers of oak boards together, reaching the thickness of a regular city gate, and then they made a small target, wrapped in iron to increase its defense.

They hung the target on the wall, and at the farthest distance in the training ground, they pulled the trigger.

The bolt was tested on the target three times, and on the third shot, the bolt hit the center of the target.

With a dull thud, the iron spear pierced through the entire iron-clad target, and when the iron was removed, everyone discovered that the surface of the target had spiderweb-like cracks from the fierce impact of the iron spear.

At that time, everyone who watched was shocked by the power of the bolt.

Later, at Jeyne's suggestion and after Master Tobho's improvements, a failed shot during the test missed the target, and the bolt deeply embedded itself into the stone wall.

Its power far exceeded that of shooting through the iron-reinforced oak target, and everyone was dumbfounded, gradually calming down from their initial shock.

*

Master Tobho Mott and Gendry had an absolute talent and obsessive interest in the design and construction of machinery.

They had successful experience with the design of gears and hand cranks, but the folding design using hinges was a first for them.

Watching the two 'masters' discussing the blueprints as they walked away, Lady Alayne could only admire Lady Jeyne even more, and Maester Poole also showered the lady with compliments for her inspiration and talent.

Jeyne smiled, her beauty like a painting, and the Mountain's rugged yet serene face, 'holding a paintbrush and pondering the design,' appeared before her eyes.

The blueprint model design for the Dragon Hunter could only be said to be basically complete at this stage.

To make the range of the bolt even greater, improvements to the iron spear bolt were still to come.

The road must be walked step by step; the meal must be eaten bite by bite!

*

Chapter 0335-2: The Path of an Assassin

The Mountain stood at the window and finished reading the letter from his wife Jeyne from Clegane's Keep.

The construction of the Dragon Hunter was steadily progressing, and the initial rough design had been completed and successfully test-fired multiple times, with tremendous power.

It had now entered the second round of improvements: the folding design and the gear crank.

Once this was completed, the focus would be on improving the range and the bolts.

No one suspected that the name and inspirational ideas for the Dragon Hunter came from the Mountain; Jeyne had done a good job of this, and she was also very patient, improving the Dragon Hunter little by little.

Each improvement appeared to be the result of repeated consideration based on the actual situation, rather than everything being pre-designed.

Jeyne was both beautiful and talented, and the Mountain wanted to keep her by his side, but Clegane's Keep needed someone to preside over and lead it.

The Westerling noodle business and the secret construction of the Dragon Hunter made Jeyne the only best choice.

The Mountain looked up at the stars in the night sky.

Although all his knowledge came from more than a decade of learning in Earth's civilization, he was increasingly losing his sense of his homeland.

He was increasingly integrating into this world and enjoying the thrill of war and the stimulation of strategy.

He knew that at this moment, across the Narrow Sea, his 'enemy' Daenerys Targaryen was leading her few followers eastward, because the comet went eastward, and the blood-red color of its fiery tail was unforgettable.

Daenerys believed that the direction of the red comet should be her direction.

And if they went to the Dothraki Sea, they would be completely annihilated by the first Khal they encountered (Khal: the name of a tribal chief, similar to a commander).

When a Khaleesi's husband (Khaleesi: the exclusive title for a Khal's wife) died, his army would disintegrate, splitting into several Khals, or erupting into civil war, or going their separate ways.

For the Dothraki on the grasslands, they did not have the concept of a wife or son inheriting the Khal's army after the Khal's death; the soldiers had only one principle: follow the strong.

Since Daenerys did not dare to return to the grasslands, and even less dared to go west, she really had no choice but to go east.

The Mountain's thoughts were far away, as if he saw a ragged Dothraki band struggling to march in the red wasteland.

Their leader was a young girl with a dusty face and silver-golden hair, and her three handmaidens carried three cages made of wooden sticks, containing three small dragons no bigger than an adult's palm.

Three very gluttonous little dragons, who liked to eat cooked food, all of which was meat, of course.

The shape of the three little dragons was somewhat similar to the lizards in the Mountain's mind.

"My lord, did you call for me?" Arya's voice rang out behind the Mountain.

The Mountain turned around and looked at Arya: "Arya, you can't stay here any longer, you have to leave."

"Where should I go? To the Green Fork, to find Roose Bolton?"

As the hundreds of captured Northern soldiers were incorporated into the Mountain's logistics grain collection team, the chances of Arya being recognized were increasing.

And she had been in dangerous situations today; she had almost been recognized by Hothar in the morning; she had almost been recognized by Jory Cassel at lunch, as Jory and Arya had fought in King's Landing and had some interaction; and at dinner, Arya had almost been recognized by Ellyn and Robett Glover.

If Arya was recognized, and even a little bit of information leaked, the Mountain would have no choice but to hand her over to Tywin, otherwise, the risk of the Mountain sheltering Arya in Harrenhal would be too great, more than the current Mountain could bear!

"Roose Bolton is not a trustworthy person, you must never go to him."

"Why do you say that? Did you hear something?"

"Don't ask why, you wouldn't believe it even if I told you."

"I believe you!"

"I won't say it even if you believe me."

Arya widened her eyes, the eyes of a wild child carrying her emotions.

"Going west, you will run into Lord Tywin's army, which is tantamount to throwing yourself into the net; going south is even more impossible, the south is full of your enemies; going to the Vale or the north is not suitable."

"You let me go, I know where I should go!"

"Where to?"

"I want to go back to Winterfell!"

"Do you want to kill Joffrey, Cersei, Tywin, especially Meryn Trant, the one who killed your dancing teacher, in the future?"

Arya immediately bit her lip.

"Answer me, do you want to?"

"I will kill him, I swear!"

"Can your sword kill him?" the Mountain said coldly.

Arya bit her lip again.

The Mountain suppressed a trace of pity in his heart, like a budding sprout: "The way you are now, you will never be able to kill Meryn Trant in your life, you can only bully guys like Hot Pie."

"I will kill him!" Arya gritted her teeth, almost shouting.

The Mountain took out a rusty iron coin from his pocket and threw it to Arya, who caught it.

"All men must die! Find Jaqen H'ghar, learn a skill, and then come back, otherwise, you will never be able to kill this one and kill that one, you can only live like a little mouse, hiding everywhere, not even daring to see the subordinates of your own family.

The world is in chaos now, you must make yourself stronger, Arya."

Arya looked at the coin in her hand, and remembered Jaqen shaking his head, his half-red and half-white hair turning into black curly hair, wiping his face, and his entire face completely turning into a stranger's face.

Arya's heart stirred: "I don't know how to go!"

"I know!"

Thank you [Bird that likes to get up early] for the reward and support, thank you, handshake!