Eagle of the Valley of Ice and Fire

On the top of the tower, green fire adorns the snow column, and the fire snake spits out its tongue, as if to melt the white wax under its feet.

The base of the tower is a reef island, where Earl Hightower's flagship "Glory of Oldtown" is docked, shaking violently with the waves.

Many people have complained about this matter, openly and secretly accusing Oldtown old man Layton Hightower of being foolish to leave the largest ship of the Oldtown fleet to himself.

But now, most people are silent.

Although the news of sea monsters has also spread to Oldtown, not only the rumors of the noble fortress are flying everywhere, but even the civilians on the streets of Oldtown have learned that the Qingting Island fleet was attacked by the sea monster summoned by the Ironborn, so that it was almost annihilated, and only a few ships escaped.

On the contrary, now, the "Glory of Oldtown" of the old man of Oldtown has become the largest ship in the Reach.

The residents of Oldtown looked up, the green fire had not dissipated, the fear had not disappeared, the tower was like a white candle, burning with green flames symbolizing war and conflict, and the owner of the towering tower, the old man of Oldtown, the guardian of the academy, Earl Leighton Hightower, who was almost never seen, was leaning on the desolate white city wall, watching the turbulent waves rushing to the reef again and again, smashing, rushing, and smashing again.

"Sea monster?" Leighton Hightower threw the letter delivered by Beile into the fire and burned it to ashes, without any concern for the loss of soldiers and ships.

Mad woman Moruoya Hightower was holding her long hair in the room and dressing in front of the mirror.

Leighton Hightower looked at her eldest daughter's abnormal behavior without being moved, and there was no need to speculate on the meaning of any of Moruoya's actions.

But today Moruoya was out of character and came straight to the point: "I want to welcome the king who can realize our ambitions."

Leighton walked into the dark room, opened the window, and let the strong wind pour in.

Thick hair swirled in the wind. Layton picked up the old book on the table and flipped through the atlas.

"Large squids have been seen before. Such sea monsters can be played with for a while, but not for a lifetime." Layton Hightower said in a deep voice. Unlike his usual obsession with magic, Morua saw a bit of the former true lord of the tower.

Layton stroked his daughter's cheek, "You, after you dress up, I'm afraid you will attract the hearts of many heroes in the river bay." There was suddenly more pity in his eyes, "This road, the Earls of Hightower of all generations know the hardship, and they have worked hard to summarize and study the laws of the tides. Now they finally have hope, but the old town of Hightower stands at the top of the tide, facing the risks of the waves."

"They are not like you," Morua said, squeezing out a smile, "They are lazy, only you are diligent."

Layton laughed, chuckled, He shook his head, "What am I? I don't have a daughter like a genius, nor an old man in Oldtown who neglects government affairs."

"The tide rises and falls, not everyone can stand at the forefront," Morua said firmly, "Euron Greyjoy sits on the Iron Throne, even Artis Arryn, who is at the peak of his power, will bow down. I saw it, you have to believe me."

Leyton did not answer, looking at Morua's obsessed look, his expression was calm, he turned around, he walked down the stairs around the tower step by step.

His legs and feet were already inconvenient, so he could only go down one step at a time.

Leyton lowered his head and paused every seven steps. The seven statues of the Seven Gods stood in the niches on one side. Every step he took, he had to accept the scrutiny of the Father, the Mother, the Warrior, the Girl, the Blacksmith, the Old Woman and the Stranger.

He could endure the severity and coercion of the Father, accept the selfless love of the Virgin Mary, avoid and even confront the warrior's sword-wiping coercion, accept the blacksmith's dedication, ignore the old woman's chattering, and even climb over the pale mare of the stranger to his side and step onto the path beside the stream of death.

Only the girl's innocence made him lose his mind. Layton regretted it a little. He regretted letting Morua take this path. He still remembered Morua's appearance and confidence when she was young.

Anxiety and self-examination filled the entire staircase until he reached a small door.

Layton grabbed the bell hanging in the air and knocked it gently.

"Count!" An excited voice came from behind the door immediately.

The small door opened, and the steward of Hightower, his childhood friend, Gerold Waters, who had the same name as his uncle Gerold Hightower, came. The former was known as the "White Bull" and was famous in the Seven Kingdoms, while the latter called himself the "Black Bull", using this title to indicate that he would not marry anyone other than the girl from the Summer Islands whom he met when he was young.

So he never married, and turned the position of the steward of the Hightower family into the commander of the Night's Watch.

"Black Bull," Layton looked at his old friend with gray hair, "I want to go down the tower, as you wish."

"Gods of the Seven!" Jello held Layton's arm, only to feel it was soft, "Look, you don't go hunting, you don't go fishing, you don't go to the brothel, your arm is not heavy, your body is not strong, you have never been so weak, Layton! I'm holding my dick to pee now, I can knock you down with one hand!"

Layton waved his hand in annoyance, "Get me down quickly! It's very cold here."

"No matter how cold it is, it's not as cold as up there!"

The earl and the butler supported each other, talked to each other, and went down the tower together.

The bell rang, from the island reef of the towering tower, to the nearest sentry tower off the shore, and then to the streets of the old town, and finally reached the ears of Beile Hightower who was anxiously dealing with the war in Hightower Castle.

Beile hurried out, and behind him were "Gray Iron" Gars, who was in charge of mercenaries and the army, and Gunthor, who had just lost the entire navy.

He met Leyton Hightower in a small study. The other nobles of the old town gathered outside the meeting hall, but Earl Hightower did not choose to go to a crowded place. He sat in his favorite place before climbing the tower. Sitting on the sofa, he silently watched the rain falling outside the window, listening to the sound of the Ironborn longship being destroyed by the indestructible Old Town garrison behind the sound of raindrops.

"Father!" Belle shouted after seeing him.

"Father" Gonsol and Gars were about to shout, but the butler Jero ruthlessly shut the door behind them and locked the bolt.

The two brothers looked at each other, not even seeing half of their father's face.

Belle looked at Jero's actions, sighed, and sat on the soft seat nearby.

"How are the government affairs handled?" Layton asked.

"With Garth and Gunthor helping me, everything is fine."

"How is she, ma'am?"

"Mrs. Leia is in good health and is accompanied by the women in Old Town. She is not alone."

The father and son fell into a brief silence.

It was Baelor who broke the silence, "Father, Euron Greyjoy defeated the Redwyne fleet, and the Earl of the Arbor also disappeared without a trace, I'm afraid."

Layton snorted.

The two fell into silence again.

"Father," Belle took a breath and couldn't help but ask, "What are you going to do when you come down?"

"I'm not taking away your power, I'm just explaining some things. I will return to the tower in a few days."

"What?" Belle clenched her fists and said in a strong but not loud voice, "The Oldtown army has summoned nearly 40,000 people. Don't you need to go and see?"

"There is also the finance of Old Town. Don't you need to take a look at the treasury that is facing paralysis in extraordinary times? I remember that no one is better at arithmetic than you."

"I heard that the ironborn also have sea monsters. They have occupied the Shield Islands and the Arbor Island. The noble women of the Reach have become their salt concubines, and the children and youth have become the souls of the axe. Only the gods know when they will He will attack Oldtown with all his strength, and Highgarden may not be able to support him. His next target may be the Tyrell family. "

Layton listened to his eldest son's analysis of the current situation. Although it was a bit hysterical, he still silently agreed in his heart.

"It seems that you handled it well. Just do it as you wish. If you don't have an iron type, why are you worried?" Layton said.

Belle opened her mouth, but her words stopped abruptly.

"You are going up to the tower right now," Baelor suppressed his anger. "Isn't it a bit irresponsible? You are Earl Hightower, the master of the towering tower, and the guardian of the academy!"

"In my opinion, you are the one." Leighton stayed calm before the battle and hit Baelor's lifeline methodically.

"Me!" Belle opened his mouth and couldn't help but close it. He stood up, "What do you want to explain when you come here? Since you have to explain something, you should do it quickly. After all, we are busy people, busy dealing with things that the head of the family doesn't want to face. When it comes to political, military and financial matters, there aren’t many people in this old town who are lazier and more irresponsible than you. In my opinion, the children who urinate by the mead river every day and discuss the iron invasion are more diligent than you!”

Leiton listened silently. This reprimand reminded him of Moroya's words, and his heart rippled slightly.

"Okay," Layton whispered, "Then let you listen to what your crazy father said. Forty thousand troops are too many. We only need to keep 10,000. The rest will return to Nongsang when they should. Mercenaries Dismiss them when they need to, and don’t use too many people.”

"Why?"

"Don't show strength, show weakness, show inexperience, show lack of financial resources, just like Hightower has recruited so many people but cannot afford the financial support."

Belle frowned, "I didn't hear any reasonable reason."

"It stands to reason," said Layton, "that no amount of men can defeat Euron."

Belle narrowed her pupils and looked at Layton in disbelief.

"Our family is not good at expansion, and we don't like expansion," Layton said, taking a sip of the tea on the table. "What our family has always been good at is self-preservation."

"Are you so unsure of me and Gars?"

"If we are fighting Stannis, Tywin, or even Robert, I believe your ability is enough to put down all threats. But this is not an ordinary time. The tide of the times is moving forward, and you haven't seen it yet."

Layton seemed tired, "You go and send away those old friends who are waiting for me. I want to take a nap." He stood up, "When Euron's strength is revealed in front of you, I will tell you what's next. plan."