Chapter 304

Chapter 304

2021-01-06

Chapter 304 Frozen City and Umber's Daughter
Except for Arya, because in the end I didn't see the bottom of the well Apart from being extremely dissatisfied with the giant Heart Tree, the North patrol team's visit to Nightfort could be considered a Perfection... However, after resting here for a day or two, they set off again, and then the real challenge came.

They are about to tour villages and fortresses populated by "wildlings," or new land-grant people.

Emotionally speaking, Igor would like to use all the mountain clans as extras to fool this test. But the worry that the paper can't cover the fire is on the one hand, and on the other hand... There are not so many idle mountain people in the land grant, and the current financial situation of the Night's Watch industry does not allow for willful big moves.

Not to mention—he actually spends a lot of thought, remote control another... The big action that may decide the outcome of this land grant power struggle.

A lot of things are a lot, and Igor is not completely inactive, he still takes some measures to ensure that the inspection does not go too far: the route is carefully planned to ensure that only those who originally live far from the Wall are passed. , A tribe that has less conflict with the North people, uses a common language culturally, and is more cooperative in the implementation of the land-grant resettlement program.

Picking the right route is just a good start. On top of that, Igor has also made a series of arrangements to distract them as much as possible when the North patrol arrives, lest they look around. asked, and unconsciously found a bunch of questions that would make them feel bad about the land-grant resettlement program.

＊＊＊

Icemark City, an abandoned fortress jointly settled by five medium-sized new land-grant tribes. The snow that started a few days ago was getting heavier and heavier, and there was no intention to stop. In a white and cold wind, the ruler of the North in the last ages, for the first time, in a non-hostile capacity with the large-scale beyond the wall people. get in touch with.

It is also at the foot of Wall, and it is also an ancient Night's Watch castle, but the atmosphere of the team is completely different from visiting Nightfort. Before entering it, the guards brought by the North families are reminded by their leaders. They cheered up, checked the equipment, adjusted the position of the weapons, and tightened the string in their minds to be vigilant-they were all afraid that if they were not careful, their lord would end up with Jeor Mormont.

 …

"The biggest difference between the fortresses settled by the new land givers and the mountain clans is that the stairs to the top of the Wall have not been rebuilt or repaired, and the logistics department has not allocated funds. Or provide resources to build a wall. The former is to ensure that Wall is completely under the control of Night's Watch itself or a reliable ally, and the latter is to ensure that Legion will have the upper hand militarily in a possible land-grant internal conflict. "

Knowing that the North lords do not trust the people beyond the wall, Igor simply gave up trying to convince everyone that "the new land grantors are reliable", but instead cultivated it: walking towards the ice marks City, while introducing to the accompanying nobles more measures that oneself arranged to prevent the new land-grant people from rioting. Without going into too much detail, the sight of this settlement in front of us can already explain everything: the low fence made of wooden sticks and branches, which can only be used to prevent wild beasts, is crumbling and dilapidated, and no one can surpass it. The five-meter-high residential building complex, as well as cold and cheerless, courtyards with few silhouettes, and corridors between buildings...

Covered by white snow, there are obviously a few people living there. Moon's Ice Mark City still looks like a ruin.

Both are abandoned fortresses of Night's Watch, but the new land grantor's settlement and the mountain clan's castle look so different. One of the reasons is that the foundation is too poor. In addition, the original beyond the wall people are used to living in no fixed place, and now they have settled down and have no sense of "home", and half of the young people go to Queenscrown to seek work to Feeding oneself... A combination of subjective and objective factors, and no one has the intention to build, is the real reason why this settlement is still desolate.

Of course, it's not as bad as it looks, but the weather is too cold and there's not much food in abundance. Most residents hide in their houses to sleep to save their energy, and the white snow has strengthened. The visual experience of desolation is nothing more than that.

The ugly daughter-in-law always wants to see her in-laws. Ordinary residents can hide in the house and do nothing, but the head of the tribe cannot see the master of North, the five tribes who were called out by the scouts who arrived a moment earlier. The leader, wrapped in old fur, alone or with three or two followers, sparsely stood on the edge of the fortress fence, forming a team to meet the Lord of the North.

...

It's weird. For many years, Seven Kingdoms has been another world on the other side of the high wall at the end of the world to the people beyond the wall. It's an imaginary enemy. The object of hatred can occasionally be the whetstone, metalwork, and source of new female members for the "heroes" to prove the courage of oneself.

The change of identity is just a matter of surrender, but the change in mentality and inherent concept cannot be completed in a short time. Facing a bunch of high-level aristocrats in "Kneelers" that I once despised, I feel weird. However live.

This kind of weirdness brings about an awkward atmosphere.

If the patriarch of the Flint clan is just a bit stupid, then the five leaders of the new land-grant tribes are completely speechless... I tried my best to introduce oneself according to Igor's previous instructions, and a brief report In the situation of the fortress, the leaders soon forgot their words and did not know how to continue the conversation.

Fortunately, Igor was present. Of course, the Chief-In-Charge of the land-grant resettlement program would not watch the atmosphere get so cold. "A lot of the young and young of the new grantees are going to Queenscrown to find work, so it seems...well, some are sparsely populated, but overall order and law have started to extend here and start to work. However, these For now, I'll take you to meet someone."

who? A group of North nobles were curious, but out of trust and at least respect for Igor, and because this ghost weather was really deadly, there was not much doubt. Surrounded by bodyguards, the entire group was led in by him. The "gate" of Frozen City. Under the uneasy gaze of the new land-giver sticking one's head around to look for among the low-rise houses and tents half-buried, he walked towards the ruins of the main castle where Night's Watch was originally stationed, and opened the thick fur Door curtain, enter it.

The core building of the entire fortress should have three layers and a height of more than ten meters when it was intact. Now the upper two layers have collapsed, and the remaining one is still a complete layer, which needs to be repaired and blocked. Holes and stairwells, lighting a fireplace...a bit empty, but surprisingly warm and cozy compared to the World of Ice and Snow outside.

This place is usually a meeting place for five tribal leaders to discuss important matters and exchange necessities of life with each other. Now that the North delegation came to visit, it was vacated and used as a guest house.

At the moment, there was a middle-aged woman and two teenagers who were sitting on the stool by the fireplace. When they saw Igor bring someone in, they quickly stood up and looked at the crowd.

Robb glanced at the three, didn't see how they were different, and looked back at Igor in confusion: "Who are we going to meet?"

Igor faintly smiled and didn't answer the question directly: "Lord Morse Umber, I remember last time I visited the Last Hearth, you yelled at me angrily, wildling kidnapped your only daughter... do you remember this? ?"

This hint was too obvious, Morse Umber, who was standing in the crowd with a bored face, was shivered and stared closely at the woman standing by the fireplace.

……

North has only such a small population in total, so a few big noble families always unite with each other under House Stark’s command to advance and retreat together, and news of anyone’s affairs will be quick. spread. Among the people present, except for Robb who was not yet born at the time of the incident, there were people with names and surnames who had heard about the unfortunate accident that happened in the Umber family... They all suddenly looked surprised and looked in unison. Towards several representatives of the Umber family.

The big Jon Umber turned his head and stared at Igor, his eyes widened: "What do you mean? You mean, the person in front of us is my Uncle's daughter, my long-lost younger sister?"

Igor shrugged: "At least that's what she calls herself, isn't it, isn't it the most convenient way to identify by oneself when Lord Morse is here?"

 …

The North nobles immediately became restless, patting the ice and snowflakes on their bodies and discussing everyone at once. There were quite a few people present who had seen Morse's daughter back then. But that was 20 years ago. At that time, what they saw was a young and energetic noble lady like Arya who was standing beside Robb at the moment, but now in front of them, it was a Yellow-faced, skinny, weathered "middle-aged wildling women"... It's hard to believe quickly that they are one person.

"Everyone, be quiet!" After a few seconds of commotion, Robb suppressed the scene, frowned and asked the client, "Morse, is there any way you can recognize oneself's daughter? Or, this lady, what evidence do you have to prove that you are Morse Umber's daughter?"

The woman looked a little nervously at the North princes. Not recognizing any of them, she pulled the two teenagers and walked a few steps to the one eyed man who should be the oneself father, but she actually didn't know much, she whispered: "father, I was On the day of the kidnapping, I quarreled with you at breakfast, and the last words you and I said were—'Go away, stinky girl, don't let me see you again'. I thought at the time, if you don't see it, you won't see it, I'm going to run Go somewhere you'll never find it, and you'll regret it for the rest of your life... Then I stole my favorite little mare out of town, and after riding a few miles north, came across a raider The ambush of the team, they tripped the horse and caught me, and looted a few small villages far away from the castle, and then forced me to cross the Wall with them north, back to the tribe. After that, I have been with them. They lived together until Mance Rayder brought all the Freedmen to surrender, and I went back to the south of the Wall."

The words that Morse regretted for more than twenty years after he said it clearly made him It will be unforgettable for a lifetime. The North aristocrat who hated wildling the most in this tour group, there was only one left eye socket, and he had experienced more than 20 years of hardship in the beyond the wall. Now he looks like a oneself younger sister The daughter who everyone believed took two steps, and her voice began to tremble: "I'm sorry, dear..."

"I didn't intend to interrupt this touching reunion." Roose Bolton said suddenly at this moment "I don't doubt the veracity of the story, but these may also be what Morse's real daughter told others after being kidnapped. What evidence do you have, such as birthmarks, scars, etc. that are not easily falsified? Does it show your identity?"

"I have a very protruding black mole on my lower back, which hurts when I press it hard... So I always like to sleep on my side or on my stomach." The woman didn't think about it. He replied, "I can show it to you later when there is no one else if necessary, father."

Morse has only one daughter, and it is naturally impossible to forget about her characteristics. This time, he didn't hesitate anymore, strode forward, and regardless of the eyes of the people around him, he pulled his daughter into his arms and hugged him. The action was so big that he couldn't help but suspect that he would strangle someone to death and put the woman next to him. Both children retreated half step in fright.

A man with a back of a tiger and waist of a bear who is half a head taller than Igor, who was a tough guy one moment ago, but choked up almost speechless the next second: "What I said the other day was Angry words, dear, please forgive me...I know...I know that nothing can erase the pain you have suffered over the years, but since fate has brought you back to me, I swear, never again Let you be hurt by anyone!"

The woman also quickly burst into tears: "No, it's me who should beg for forgiveness, father. It was my oneself's willfulness that led to the punishment of God... ...I'm really sorry I'm sorry..."

And so, as Old Flayer said, a touching reunion begins in full view. The father and daughter hugged each other and said words of remorse. It took a while before they separated. Only then did Morse Umber notice the two teenagers standing on the side not knowing what to do: "These two, it's me. grandson?"

"Well, one is called Angus and the other is called Baani, both of which are named by me. Children, they are called grandpa."

"They are the **** Where's Dad?"

"Died while attacking Wall with Mance Rayder."

"Dead?" Morse was gnashing teeth at first, but unfortunately there was no object to vent his anger. In the end, he could only grow sighed: "If he died well, even if he didn't die, I would kill him today."

After thinking about it, I probably felt that I wanted to kill them in front of my grandson. I didn't feel right, so I shut up, and regardless of the fact that the two children didn't know him at all, I pulled them over and hugged them: "Good children, don't worry, it's all over. When this tour is over, you will follow me. Back to the last Hearth - Hey, Jon, you brat okay?"

Uncle's two grandsons are impossible to snatch the Umber family's inheritance, what does Greatjon have to worry about? In the end, Hearth count shrugged: "It's okay, you'll be happy."

＊＊＊

Igor's plan worked, and the rhythm of the inspection of Icemark City was completely affected by this reunion Disrupted, the princes of North completely forgot about the new land-grant tribe, and gathered around the Morse father and daughter to ask all sorts of questions... After a long chat, it was Roose Bolton who finally reacted first. Let a group of tribal leaders disperse, and then ordered the bodyguards of the patrol team to start arranging the defense of the foothold, and finally signaled Igor to go to make arrangements for reception.

It's a good thing that Morse's bond with his daughter is deeper than expected. Igor secretly rejoiced. He has a small notebook of all the things that need to be done but are too trivial to forget - finding a daughter for "Crowfood" Morse is one of them, which he ordered to start before returning from North, Good news soon came when Robb and the others returned to Castle Black.

It's not for nothing that things went so quickly - in fact, it wasn't Igor's men who found Morse Umber's daughter at all: long before Mance Rayder led his wildling army to surrender to the Night's Watch , when the tribe where Umber's daughter belonged was assigned to live in Icemark City, she indicated her identity to the Chief-In-Charge, who was stationed in the residence by the Logistics Department. But the result was obvious: the staff Igor brought from the south didn't know the members of the North nobles, less than ten people had to manage the affairs of the entire fortress, and they were already too busy to die. The wildling woman with the traces of time on her face suddenly ran and said that oneself was the daughter of a certain North nobleman, and asked the Sect person from the logistics department to send oneself home.
The logistics department didn't take her words seriously, she could have rushed back to the last Hearth by herself... But Night's Watch has a very strict management of new land grantors, and leaving the station without permission is a very serious violation. As a result, Morse Umber's daughter, after returning to Wall South after a lapse of twenty years, was still an orphan and widowed mother for a few months, until Igor ordered to find her within the land grant area... Only then did the logistics officer of Icemark City remember her existence and reported the situation to the headquarters.

For Umber's daughter, the initial neglect of her by Night's Watch logistics kept her and her two children through months of misery, but for Igor, finding her The timing was just right. Sending it to Morse when the North princes visited Icescar City, not only won at least one more night of preparation time for the new land-givers here, but also as easy as blowing off dust to transfer the most hated among so many nobles. wildling that one's attention... It is especially important that the logistics department has arranged for a reliable person to communicate with Umber's daughter in advance - Igor hopes that through this North noblewoman who has lived in the wall for half her life, she will quietly convey a proposal for land-grant placement. The plan is extremely favorable information: the migrants beyond the wall, the freedmen or "wildlings", and the inhabitants of the Seven Kingdoms, are not as different as one might think.

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(end of this chapter)