Game of Thrones: Viserys the Three-Headed Dragon.

Chapter 216 Academic Exchange Meeting

The Citadel is a complex of buildings located on the banks of the Mead River in the Old Town. It can be compared to a university town on Earth or the Vatican City. It is a city within a city with towers, fortresses, large libraries, and magnificent buildings.

On both sides of the gate of the Citadel are a pair of tall green sphinxes, with lion bodies, eagle wings, and snake tails. One has a man's face and the other has a woman's face. In the world of A Song of Ice and Fire, the sphinx generally symbolizes protection. Some long-standing traditions believe that the sphinx can take away people's sins and block evil. Therefore, sphinx statues are often placed in important locations, such as the entrances of castles, important places, or the gates of temples, and usually appear in pairs of male and female.

Even Valyrian architecture has sphinxes, known as Valyrian sphinxes. The door to the meeting room in the Red Keep is guarded by a Valyrian sphinx.

In mythology, the Sphinx always tells riddles.

After entering through the tall Sphinx Gate, there is the secretarial desk. People from the old town come here to find assistant maesters and ask these assistant maesters who are well-versed in writing to write wills and read letters for them.

Walking out from the clerk's desk, you will see the large square in the inner city of the academy. This square is huge, with stone bricks on the ground, and can accommodate thousands of people. In wartime, this place can be converted into a training ground or camp at any time.

The square has roads that lead to various buildings in the Citadel. In the middle of the square, there stands a statue of Daeron I, the Young Dragon King. The statue was erected because the Young Dragon King was ambitious and funded the Citadel to repair the roads when he was preparing to conquer Dorne. The Citadel also recognized Daeron I's achievements.

The road forks here.

Laresa led the group of six people to the left, along the riverside, and headed for the Weeping Pier. A group of pink-faced apprentices ran past them, looking back curiously; below the pier, the kitchen helper who was wading in the shallows to fish also looked up curiously at this group of people who were obviously extraordinary.

Speaking of which, Laresa really couldn't figure out why Maester Marwyn, who chose to remain in hiding, returned to the Citadel with such an ostentatious guard.

He looked back and saw his Sand Snake sister Obara Sand and four others wearing coats of arms of the Martell family with a red dragon on a black background embroidered on the chest. At this time of year, anyone who saw the coat of arms representing the Targaryen king on the chest would not be able to help but take a second look.

The fat man in the middle, named "Wen'ema", who was protected and had a typical exotic appearance, claimed to be from Asshai in the Shadow Land, and was currently the magic advisor to King Viserys, was even more eye-catching. On his cloak was embroidered a sphere with a moving track orbiting the sun, which gave Laresa the feeling that it was very similar to the star model in the library of the Citadel.

But the sphere on his cloak was covered with strange markings, and looked like some kind of mathematical model used to calculate stars.

His cloak fluttered behind him like a sail, attracting curious glances one after another.

There is no need to take a boat from the Weeping Pier to reach Crow Island. There is a weather-worn wooden suspension bridge across the Mead River, connecting the island to the east coast. Crow Tower is the oldest building in the Citadel. In the Age of Heroes, it was originally a fortress of the pirate lord.

But now, the fortress walls were cool and dim, ravens replaced archers on the battlements, and an ancient weirwood dominated the courtyard.

This is now just a residential area for doctors in Xuecheng.

Many doctors of the Citadel live here. The west tower is the White Crow's Nest, and the suite of the current Citadel Lord, Dr. Wargrave, is right below the White Crow's Nest.

And their destination is the North Tower.

The North Tower is the residence of Dr. Marwyn the "Wizard".

"Who are you looking for?" Leo Tyrell, the apprentice of Master Marwyn, asked cautiously at the top of the stairs. "Sphinx, who are they?"

"I'm the magician's Asian friend. What a shame, he's not here."

"Ashhai?" Leo Tyrell's eyes widened. "You are from Asshai? What do you want from the Wizard?"

Wenema laughed. "I have something to ask the Citadel, but I only have one friend here, the Magician. I wanted to communicate with the Citadel through him. Won't you let us in and have a seat, apprentice boy?"

"Oh, of course." Leo was not one to show courtesy to people of lower status than himself, but the new guest obviously made him feel uneasy, so he showed the courtesy that an apprentice of noble birth should have, "Please come in."

Inside the door was a large round room filled with books and scrolls. It was so messy that it seemed like it hadn't been cleaned up in who knows how long.

Faded tapestries and tattered maps covered the stone walls, and the only light came from a tall black candle in the center of the room.

"Glass candle," Wen'ema said with a playful expression on his face, "It seems that the 'magician' lit it. Is the Citadel finally starting to take magic and witchcraft seriously?"

Leo shook his head. "Mr. from Asia, if you come to the Citadel to look for magic, you've come to the wrong place. The Citadel discriminates against magic and witchcraft."

"Oh? The Citadel is such an ignorant place? By the way," Wen Emma asked, "where has my friend Marwyn gone? Will he come back in the next few days?" "Excuse me, sir, what do you want to see the doctor for?"

"I came here on a mission. I am now the magic advisor to His Majesty King Targaryen. His Majesty the King ordered me to communicate with the Citadel on some matters. But I only know 'Marwyn', and I can't guarantee the knowledge of other people in the Citadel. Unfortunately, he is not here, so it seems that I can only find someone else to communicate with. Is there anyone as smart as Marwyn in the Citadel? Marwyn once told me that the doctors in the Citadel are all gray sheep who are seeking fame and reputation." Winema's voice was loud and full of disdain.

"Cough cough cough" a cough was heard at the bottom of the spiral staircase.

Leo stuck his head out and looked down. It was Dr. Theobald, the mayor of the Citadel. He stuck out his tongue and closed his mouth.

Laresa couldn't help but look at his Sand Snake sisters, but Obara remained silent, with an expression that showed it was none of her business.

Theobald's tone was a little cold. He climbed up the tower slowly and dropped the scepter in his hand heavily. "I heard that some of King Viserys' men were in the Citadel. Are they yours truly? What advice does the King have for the Citadel?"

Winema tilted his head and asked sharply, "Who are you? Marwyn's friend?"

"I am Theobald, Doctor of the Citadel, and the current steward of the Citadel." Theobald was not a good-tempered person. Hearing the other party's unfriendly tone, he naturally became unhappy. As he spoke, he turned to look at Laresa and Leo, "How could you two apprentices directly bring an unidentified guest to such an important place without any precautions?"

"So you are the steward of the Citadel." Wen'ema smiled. "You came just in time, otherwise I would have to look for you if I couldn't find Marwyn. Let me ask you, besides Marwyn, are there any other doctors in your Citadel who study magic and witchcraft?"

Theobald did not give a direct answer, but asked, "What do you want to do with a doctor who studies magic?"

"Hmph, His Majesty the King intends to promote an academic exchange in the Citadel, so that more students in the Citadel will pay attention to the magical creatures in this world. Therefore, it is necessary to find a few doctors who understand magic in the Citadel to work with me to dissect the sea monster that is frozen in the iceberg at the harbor. His Majesty wants to hold an academic exchange conference on the dissection of sea monsters to study the characteristics of sea monsters and understand their structures. However, apart from Marwin, I can't think of anyone else in your Citadel who is more suitable to dissect the sea monster with me. How about this, since Marwin is not in the Citadel, you find a few smart apprentices to assist me and give me a hand, and I will do the hard work of dissection myself."

"What? Really, Your Majesty wants to dissect the sea monster?"

"Of course, otherwise why did His Majesty drag the sea monster to the port of Old Town?" Wen Emma expressed a little dissatisfaction, "If you ask me, I can do this myself, why bother to come to you? I only regret that I didn't follow His Majesty to the expedition at that time. Before in the Storm Land, when His Majesty found the murloc, he didn't think of looking for your academy. I dissected it all by myself-"

"Flocculant?"

"Oh, the Citadel doesn't even know about the murlocs, and hasn't seen them?" Wen'ema shook his head repeatedly, "It seems that my guess is correct. It's a waste to ask you, who haven't seen many mysteries, to dissect such important legendary creature specimens. I really don't know why His Majesty the King asked you to do it. You must have never seen wights and white walkers?"

The sternness on Theobald's face disappeared, and turned into visible surprise. He was speechless: "."

"Is the Citadel of Westeros really not worthy of its name?" Wen'ema watched the other party fall silent and pressed on, "It seems that I must go back and persuade His Majesty to revoke his order. That sea monster is one of the few specimens in the world today. It would be a sheer waste to show it to outsiders."

Theobald finally changed color and asked, "May I ask who you are, Excellency?"

Wen'ema smiled and said, "I am Wen'ema. I have been in Asshai, the Land of Shadows, for a while. Now I serve as a magical advisor to King Viserys Targaryen. If Marwyn from your Citadel were here, he would definitely recognize me. If it weren't for my help, he wouldn't have been able to return alive in Asshai."

Theobald suppressed his surprise and pretended to be angry. "Mr. Advisor, please forgive me for being blunt, but you are underestimating the Citadel too much. Our Citadel has a history of thousands of years, and in alchemy, astronomy, mathematics, and other academic fields—"

"Okay, okay, don't say these useless things. As far as I know, you Westeros people have a long history, but what about your knowledge?" Wen Emma asked, "Since you are the steward of the Academy, you should have some knowledge. Let me ask you. Does the Academy know that the world we live in is a sphere?"

"Humph, even the apprentices know this kind of knowledge."

"Okay, since you know that the world is a sphere, let me ask you. How big is the sphere we are in? What is its circumference? What is its diameter? What is its relationship with the moon? What is its relationship with the sun? Why is it a sphere but no one falls into the sky?"

"You want to debate academics with me?"

"No, I want to tell you that His Majesty the King obtained the methods and models for calculating these from the records of the Valyrian ruins. He plans to hold several academic exchanges with the Citadel to verify the knowledge he obtained from Valyria bit by bit. But in my opinion, your Citadel does not live up to its name and is not worthy of His Majesty's attention. You have not even seen a murloc or a white walker!"

"Who said that, and what do you know?"

"I have discussed with Marwyn. Your mathematical models are very backward, and your geometry is not particularly outstanding. Why, you are dissatisfied?" Winema took out a book from his arms. "I guess you are also a doctor. Here is a copy of Geometry's Elements that King Viserys saw in Valyria and recorded from memory. I am generous and will lend it to you to have a look. See how big the gap between the Citadel and Valyria can be seen from it. You self-righteous doctors have stayed in this small world of the Citadel for too long. I think you don't know how big the outside world is. You are so bad at ordinary academics, let alone knowledge of magic, witchcraft, and mysterious creatures. It's not that I look down on you, but in the Citadel, except for Marwyn, I really don't believe that there is anyone else who can help me dissect the sea monster for research."

(End of this chapter)