As Earl Bisbury finished speaking, Samwell stepped out of the crowd and said with a smile,
"Regarding the construction of the Fire Burial Towers, you can directly contact me. However, the number of priests who can perform cremation rituals is limited, and currently, Holy Flame Island can only provide slots for the construction of three Fire Burial Towers."
"Casterly Rock needs one slot!"
"Highgarden needs one slot!"
Duke Lannister and Duke Tyrell shouted almost simultaneously.
"Hmph!"
The two couldn't help but glance at each other, then gave each other a 'mind your own business' look, and sat back down in their seats.
"My Luanhe City also needs a slot!"
"I..."
Immediately after, the great nobles from the Riverlands (Luanhe City, Riverrun, Harrenhal, Virgin Spring Town) and The Reach (Brightwater Keep, Star Shuttle City, Cider Hall), and the Westerlands (Castamere, Tarbeck Hall) also expressed their interest.
Only the Stormlands and the Vale remained silent. Several top great nobles in the Vale already possessed inherited Valyria steel swords in their families, so they were not particularly enthusiastic about this.
As for the nobles of the Stormlands, either they were new nobles ennobled with House Baratheon after Aegon's Conquest, and their family foundations were not strong enough to compete.
Or, those ancient great noble families all possessed their own Valyria weapons, or they were wary of the recent strained relationship between House Baratheon and Princess Daniella, and thus were not keen on getting involved in this matter.
And most importantly, the nobles of these two kingdoms had almost no power to challenge their ducal families.
Seeing that their vassals dared to directly challenge them, Duke Lannister and Duke Tyrell's expressions immediately turned ugly.
However, Duke Tyrell was already accustomed to the top great nobles of The Reach disregarding him, so he was only angry for a moment before he stopped thinking about it.
But Duke Lannister could not tolerate this affront and said to the Casterly Rock training master beside him in an ill-tempered tone,
"Alastor, I never knew your Reynes Family had such ambition?!"
Alastor responded indifferently,
"My Lord Duke, this is a matter of fair competition, why should you overthink it? Does Your Grace not have enough confidence in the Lannister Family?"
Seeing that the people below were about to start arguing again, Samwell knew that this matter was settled today. So he continued,
"All of you are so sincere, it's truly a difficult choice!"
"What's so difficult to choose? Let's just follow the tradition of the Seven Kingdoms and decide by duel!"
The tall Earl Reyes was the first to stand up and propose. All men of the Reynes Family were tall and advocated martial prowess. Alastor, the Casterly Rock training master, was Earl Reyes's uncle and the former champion of the Westerlands Tourney.
Marquis Frey immediately spoke against it,
"Today is the naming day of the two princesses, and fighting and killing is truly unseemly. Moreover, if it's decided by duel, no matter how powerful Earl Reyes's combat strength is, can he really defeat knights wielding Valyria weapons?"
Marquis Frey, as expected, was an old fox. His two simple sentences conveyed two layers of meaning to the crowd.
One was that the final slots would still depend on the Royal Family's wishes, especially Princess Daniella's will. The second was not to give an opportunity to families who already possessed Valyria weapons. Because with Valyria weapons in hand, they would have a great advantage in a duel.
"I have a method that is absolutely open, just, and fair."
Marquis Frey continued to suggest to everyone,
"Although the slots are limited, let the highest bidder win. After all, to successfully forge a Valyria weapon in the end, family foundation is the most important. Otherwise, even if you secure a slot but can't gather all the materials, wouldn't that be ridiculous?"
Earl Reyes heard this and also thought it was a good idea, so he nodded and said,
"Indeed, Marquis Frey's method is more feasible!"
Marquis Frey's suggestion immediately received approval from most people.
At this moment, Samwell continued to speak,
"Then let's follow Marquis Frey's suggestion. However, everything must have rules, and there are a few things I need to tell everyone in advance."
"Building a Fire Burial Tower is not difficult; it only costs five hundred thousand gold dragons to construct. However, after the Fire Burial Tower is built, it requires specialized priests to manage it. They come from different churches and need temples built for them nearby at the same time, and their missionary work cannot be interfered with."
"Also, because a dragon needs to be stationed at the Fire Burial Tower long-term, a dragon's lair also needs to be built for the dragon to rest when constructing the Fire Burial Tower. The Dragon Guard and Dragon Guard personnel who oversee the dragon are also quite numerous. The annual subsidy for the dragon and these personnel totals five hundred thousand gold dragons, which also needs to be paid by you, my lords."
When Samwell finished speaking, the hearts of the noble lords present couldn't help but twitch. Many nobles present had annual outputs from their territories that might not even reach one million gold dragons.
Even for the top great nobles, it was almost their entire year's surplus. And this was just the beginning; if they waited until the Valyria weapon was finally forged, their family fortunes would probably be more than half emptied.
But for a Valyria weapon, it was worth it!
"It should be so! It should be so!"
The powerful Duke Lannister was the first to express his stance, after all, the title of the richest in the Seven Kingdoms was not for show. Finally, all the other actively competing top great nobles also expressed their approval.
Samwell saw that those top great nobles were still gritting their teeth and persevering, and his heart immediately bloomed with joy, so he continued to speak,
"Since everyone has expressed understanding and support for this, then I will not waste any more of your time."
After speaking, he looked at Daenerys and said,
"Your Royal Highness, is there anything else you would like to add?"
Daenerys smiled and said,
"For the first Fire Burial Tower, I will send the dragon Simoros to guard it. Among all the dragons, although she has a fiery temper, her combat power is astonishing. I believe she can not only assist in the cremation ceremony but also help you, my lords, guard the peace of your territories."
Daenerys's words immediately made the minds of those top great nobles become active.
"That's right! If one's territory had a dragon guarding it, then safety would be guaranteed!"
So their hearts became even more fervent.
After Daenerys finished speaking, Samwell nodded, signaling her to continue.
"Now we will begin competing for the first slot, which is for the Fire Burial Tower guarded by the Red Queen."
"I offer three hundred thousand gold dragons!"
The richest man in the Seven Kingdoms, Duke Lannister, never lagged behind when it came to spending money. So he was the first to bid.
Earl Reyes, as the second richest in the Westerlands, immediately followed with his bid,
"The Reynes Family bids one million gold dragons!"
"Hiss~"
Utterly ruthless!
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