Alaine frowned as she looked at the merchant and asked, "Did the Long Night affect the Ursos Continent? I'm talking about Deviant Ghosts. "
The merchant was taken aback and said hesitantly, "I don't think so. Deviant Ghosts are a specialty of Westeros. If the 400-kilometer-wide narrow sea doesn't freeze, how can those monsters cross the sea? "
"In legends, deviant Ghosts appear in barren lands. Have you heard of the last emperor of the Dawn Kingdom, the Bloodstone Emperor?" Snake Elder Sister Opaya asked.
"I'm in the narrow sea trade. I've never been to the Jade Sea." The merchant shook his head.
"Recently, many nobles have arranged for their families to move to the other side of the narrow sea," Sir Harvey said softly.
"Tidehead Island is so prosperous because it's close to the King's Landing, but it's not connected to the mainland. Deviant Ghosts can't cross over," the merchant said.
Alaine said, "Sir Barristan is building the Neck Lake Defense Line with the help of the Swamps. Then there's the Trident River Defense Line.
Even if deviant Ghosts break into the Three River Basin, Dragon Queen's Dawn Warriors will provide support. There's no need to worry. "
"The news from the North is terrifying. I heard that Winterfell was frozen in a two-kilometer-tall iceberg?" Knight Hogg looked at Alaine and asked, "Your Highness, were you in Winterfell at that time? How did you avoid it? "
"I was in the tomb. I didn't know there was a Forbidden Spell outside. I was in a daze and felt the air become extremely cold."
Alaine's face was red. It was unknown if it was due to embarrassment or the alcohol.
"The Forbidden Spell was destroyed by Dragon Queen, and the power of ice was released into the sky. The water vapor in the air was frozen, forming an iceberg.
Otherwise, I would have been frozen into a popsicle even if I hid underground.
But I wasn't afraid at all. With Dragon Queen and the Seven Gods, it was easy for us to kill normal Ghouls and deviant Ghosts.
Actually, I'd like to fight the Deviant Ghost King one-on-one. My swordsmanship was passed down from my father, and it's definitely not inferior to Bunyan's, "Theresa, who was wearing a white nun's robe, said excitedly.
She was the third sister of the Snakes. She had blonde hair, blue eyes, and a sweet appearance. Because her mother was a nun, she wore a nun's robe, but she was best at poison and Dark Witchcraft, which she inherited from her father.
Yes, a voodoo nun.
Knight Hogg stared at the sweet Theresa, his eyes almost popping out of his head.
"After such a tragic Battle of Winterfell, Miss Theresa still has the courage to challenge the Variant Ghost King. She's really shameful to those Northerners who sacrificed their babies to the Frost God before the battle," he praised.
As soon as he said this, the atmosphere at the table suddenly became heavy.
Offering sacrifices to the Frost God and massacring a city were both taboo topics.
The Meer merchant gulped down a mouthful of hard liquor and bared his teeth. "Your kings are getting crazier with each generation. Even the barbaric Dothraki people would leave their people behind as slaves after breaking the city."
Sir Haver's face turned ugly. "Those people sacrificed the Frost God to provide the Deviant Ghost King with deviant ghost warriors. They have committed a great sin."
Although he was also disgusted by Erlu's behavior, he was still very unhappy to be mocked by a foreigner, even if the person being mocked was not him.
Sensing the cold attitude of the Westeros around him, the Meer merchant shrugged and said, "Deviant ghosts are not the main topic of our discussion today. Let's talk about the loan.
I've been to your territory before, but it's really not worth that price … "
Sir Haver and Sir Hogg glanced at Ariane and the other ladies, their expressions slightly uneasy. However, they were indeed in an emergency situation where they urgently needed money, so they could only bite the bullet and haggle with the Meer merchant.
After listening to the three men talk for a while, Ariane figured out the ins and outs of the matter.
The Westeros were constantly at war and turmoil, and the royal territory was a place that all kings had to pass through on their expeditions.
Similar to Guanzhong and Luoyang during the period of the Three Kingdoms, the fertile land of hundreds of thousands of households had been trampled by the feudal lords of the seven kingdoms several times in turn. Now, it had become a desolate wasteland where white bones were exposed in the wild and not a single chicken was heard for thousands of miles.
The war was already a tragedy. In addition to the long nights and the cold winter, the nobles of the royal territory could not bear it anymore. They could only sell their family property and even mortgage the minerals and taxes in their fief to borrow money from the bankers across the narrow sea to buy winter food.
"Hiss, the price of food has risen to such an extent?"
Ariane could not help but exclaim when she heard that Sir Haver had used 30 years of taxes in his fief in exchange for 500 tons of wheat and 100 tons of bacon.
This Sir Neville Haver was only a knight, but the Haver family had the title of count and fief. However, the current Count Haver was a five-year-old girl, so her family's cousin helped her manage the family's affairs.
A count's territory, and a prosperous royal territory at that, could only be exchanged for 600 tons of food with 30 years of taxes (counting from the end of the long night).
"If it was a summer without war, Haver City could produce thousands of tons of wheat and fruits in a year. One copper coin could buy five big and crunchy red apples," Sir Haver said dejectedly.
"You said it yourself. That was a summer without war. Now, there's war and the long night …" The Meer merchant chuckled.
"You vampires from the Free Cities, you're robbing us!" Ariane felt the same way as she gnashed her teeth in anger.
The Meer merchant argued, "Now that the price of food is like this, we can't even grow food after the long night. Every grain of wheat we eat is one less grain. It's even more precious than gold. After all, even the long night doesn't affect miners from digging for gold. "
"The Westeros are suffering in the long night, but you are having a gluttonous feast. This is too unfair."
At this point, Mother Teresa's eyes turned, and a sweet smile appeared on her face. She said in a crisp and sweet voice, "Perhaps, we should suggest to the Ghost Resistance Committee that if any city on the other side of the narrow sea doesn't give us food, we should catch a few Other Ghosts and throw them over.
We even almost captured the King of the Other Ghosts, so catching a few Other Ghosts isn't difficult at all. "
The Meer merchant looked as if he had seen a female Other Ghost. His face was full of fear as he pointed at the Sand Snake with a trembling finger. "You, you're a nun! Holy Mother of God!"
The two knights also turned pale, and their previous fanciful thoughts flew out of their minds. This was the Sand Snake, the daughter of the "Red Viper" Obron!
Mother Teresa rolled her eyes and said in annoyance, "You're from Meer and called 'Holy Mother'. Do you believe in the Seven Gods too?"
"Yes, I've changed my belief to the Seven Gods. In Meer's hometown, I emptied a coffin shop at the end of the street and converted it into a small sanctuary so that the neighbors can pray there, "Meer said proudly.
"Coffin shop? Is it because of the recent Other Ghosts that the coffin business can't continue? I thought that only the Westeros coffin shops were closed. I didn't expect the coffin shops in the narrow sea to be unable to survive, "Alaine said in a strange tone.
During the Battle of Winterfell, there were many armored and armed Ghoul Knights. Most of them had rotting bodies and had obviously been dead for many years.
The clan insignia on their armor also indicated their identity: the ancestors of the Northern Noble Family.
They could imagine the scene: on the city wall of Winterfell, a Northern Knight was wielding his Dragon Tooth Saber and slaughtering behind the hanging ladder. Suddenly, a familiar figure appeared in front of them. The familiar rotting face, the familiar armor, and the clan insignia that was identical to their own …
Their ancestral graves had been dug up, and now their ancestors were wielding rusty swords to kill them?
The faces of the Northern Warriors turned green.
When the summary of the battle of Winterfell was sent to the Southern Castles, the coffin shops of the Seven Kingdoms became deserted.
The Meer merchant blushed and said awkwardly, "Many of the coffins in my shop are exported to King's Landing."
"Using a coffin shop to rebuild a sanctuary is blasphemous to the Seven Gods." Alaine shook her head and said.
"Your Highness, you can't say that. Compared to other shops, the coffin shop is big enough but not too conspicuous. Also, the Stranger represents death! In fact, my small sanctuary only worships the Virgin Mary and the Stranger, "the Meer merchant said.
"Have you been to King's Landing? Isn't the Great Sanctuary of Baylor conspicuous enough? You purposely chose an inconspicuous coffin shop. The Stranger will most likely bring you to the Seven Hells, "Alaine mocked.
"The situation is different!" The Meer merchant shook his head and said with emotion, "In Westeros, the Seven Gods are the mainstream religion, but Meer is the territory of the Red Gods.
The Red Gods believers are crazy. Think of the Red Monks in Khol who tried to burn down the Black Goat Temple.
It's not that I don't have money, and it's not that I can't build a sanctuary in the middle of the street, but that would be too conspicuous.
If I agitate the Red Gods believers, the entire building might be burned down by the fanatical Red Monks.
So, I intend to develop believers in a remote area. When the surrounding commoners start to believe in the Seven Gods, the Red Monks will have some scruples. "
Such detailed considerations shocked the Westerners. This Meer merchant had put in so much effort to build a sanctuary because he sincerely believed in the Seven Gods!
"You used to believe in Lahlo, right? Why did you change your faith to the Seven Gods?" Alaine asked curiously.
The Meer merchant hesitated for a while before pulling out a seven-pointed red pouch the size of a chicken liver from his collar.
"Atonement scroll?!" The Westerners exclaimed together.
The Meer merchant nodded and stuffed the pouch back into his chest like it was a treasure. He sighed and said, "I'm in the narrow sea trade and spend at least four months in a year in Westeros. I already have some understanding of the teachings of the Seven Gods, and I've also participated in a few sermons of the Great Sparrow. It's only natural that I change my faith to the Seven Gods."
"You're afraid of death, aren't you?" Mother Teresa sneered.
The Meer merchant's mouth twitched. "Who isn't afraid of death?"
"The Red Gods Church also preaches that believers will go to Allah Lahlo's heaven after death. It doesn't seem too bad to have a virgin as a companion, right?
When I was still in the old town, I was almost pulled into the Red Gods Church by Reese's Red Robe Monk, "Viper Elder Sister Opaya said.
Opaya's mother was a prostitute in the old town. When she was almost an adult, Prince Obron found her and threw a spear at her feet. He asked, "Do you choose this spear or your mother?"
The big loli Opaya picked up the spear and became a female warrior with outstanding martial arts skills. Her mother, on the other hand, died of alcoholism a year after losing her daughter.
However, before Obron came to find her, the Red Robe Monk took a fancy to her because of her tall stature. He was going to buy her as a saint. During the day, she would ride a horse to guard the Red God Temple, and at night, she would ride a man to make money.
The Meer merchant's eyes flashed with shrewdness. He said in a low voice, "No one has seen the Red Gods' heaven, but many people have seen the Holy Mother's miracle with their own eyes. Some people even returned from heaven and described the scene, characters, and operation of heaven.
More importantly, the teachings of the Seven Gods are very humane, and Lahlo's reputation is not as good as the Light King's. "
"Isn't the Light King Lahlo?" Knight Hogg was puzzled.
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