The foreign High Elf mage slept until dawn, which was only about four hours, probably not enough sleep. After getting up, he enjoyed a hearty breakfast, then checked out of his room and headed to the College. It seemed he intended to sleep in a College room that very night.
Simon took some time to update his quest log.
[Quest: Linguist]
… …
Quest Two (Completed): Learn Written Language
Quest Three (Unfinished): Master the Languages and Scripts of All Races on Tamriel
[Quest: Explore Surroundings]
… …
Quest Two (Completed): Explore ancient ruins in the southeastern Tundra.
… …
Quest Four (Completed): Explore the shipwreck ruins on the northeastern Tundra coast.
[Quest: Coral Dragon Claw]
Quest One (Unfinished): Go to Irkngthand
[Miscellaneous]: Help Azura find her lost item when possible.
[Miscellaneous]: Explore a Dwemer ruin.
[Miscellaneous]: Harvest crops.
The Linguist quest was almost complete. In Apocrypha, Simon found about ten dictionaries, basically covering the main languages of all races on this planet, including some obscure dialects. Although some languages—such as Naga—had strange and difficult pronunciations, reading and writing them posed no problem.
The Coral Dragon Claw quest was practically gathering dust. In fact, Yngol's Barrow was not very far from the Tundra. By following the southeastern coast south, one could enter Eastmarch Hold, and after crossing the roaring White River, reach Irkngthand. At the foot of the mountain were two farms that supplied food to Windhelm, and much of Winterhold's grain was also purchased from them.
Speaking of which, there had been some rumors circulating in the Frozen Hearth recently about a change in Jarl. Winterhold was so small that there were no secrets, and while this rumor caused widespread panic, Jarl Korir did not come forward to clarify.
As time went on, everyone gradually confirmed the news.
The Imperial side would appoint a new Jarl to govern Winterhold.
People were discussing the matter animatedly. Some said it was a Thalmor conspiracy, some said it was the new Jarl of Windhelm, who had only taken office last year, interfering in Winterhold's internal affairs, and some said the Empire was selling official positions. However, no one doubted Jarl Korir's competence as the reason for this change.
Korir gradually stopped coming to the tavern, staying in the Jarl's Longhouse all day. His Dark Elf steward was an annoying fellow. People, out of concern, tried to pry information from him, but were met with insults. This led to several brawls, and the steward was almost beaten to death by a Nord's pot-sized fists. The result was that the Guards intervened, and both sides paid fines to settle the matter.
Simon was not particularly concerned about this.
Jonas's martial arts training had already laid a solid foundation. Simon planned to start teaching him some basic movement techniques to train his body's flexibility. The first was the classic Shaolin Kung Fu's 'Traversing Skill,' which allowed one to run on walls and rooftops even without internal energy, making him an excellent parkour expert.
Before learning movement techniques, one had to first learn basic footwork like plum blossom piles and seven-star piles, while also stretching ligaments and carrying sandbags. In short, it was still starting from the basics.
Children's bones are soft, their waists are good, and their ligaments are loose, making them most suitable for hard training. Hard qigong is not advisable, but soft qigong is fine.
Jonas, after being awestruck by Simon's muscles that day, developed an extraordinary passion for martial arts. Even when he slipped on a wooden pile and hit a crossbar, or when his ligaments were stretched like noodles, he didn't utter a sound, though the possibility of being too much in pain to speak could not be ruled out.
Simon asked him about his progress with the Flight spell. The boy, as usual, gave a vague 'it's going okay,' so he didn't know the actual situation.
At the dinner table, Jonas suddenly brought up the matter of Winterhold changing Jarl. It turned out the College was also concerned about this.
Relatively speaking, although the mages rarely left their quarters, they knew more insider information.
It was also related to them. There had always been Thalmor agents stationed in the College to monitor the situation. The current Jarl Korir was quite friendly to the College, so there were rumors that the Thalmor (short for Ancestor State) monitors had submitted a report to their superiors, and then the Thalmor pressured the Empire to replace the Jarl.
If he guessed correctly, the new Jarl would be a Winterhold native, and deeply resentful of the College—basically, only local Winterhold people would particularly dislike the College.
Simon watched Jonas eloquently discuss such topics and told him to pay less attention to adult games and focus on studying magic instead.
In the new week, Simon finished modifying the tractor, assigning numbers four to seven to harvest wheat and numbers eight to fourteen to collect the wheat ears. He himself began to rush the construction of a steam mill.
They would have fresh flour by the weekend.
At the same time, Wednesday was the last day of the Mid Year, and Thursday would be the new Sun's Height.
When Simon arrived in Winterhold again, he found the tavern unusually quiet.
"What happened?" the Troll asked the innkeeper at the counter.
The innkeeper was wiping wine glasses, which were stacked high beside him.
"We have a new Jarl, and everyone's not too happy."
"Is the new Jarl bad?"
"No, he's a very good man, and he grew up in Winterhold, so we all know him." The innkeeper put down his rag and pulled out a bottle of wine from under the counter. Dark liquid swirled in the cheap green glass bottle. He popped the cork, hooked two glasses with his left pinky finger, and filled them to the brim.
"So you're just worried about Korir? I'm curious where he went." Simon watched the innkeeper's skilled pouring, leaning his arm on the counter, with his right foot hooked around his left leg, in a relaxed and casual posture.
With two full glasses of wine, the innkeeper handed one to the Troll. "I heard he went to Solitude to report for duty. Speaking of which, his mother was actually from Haafingar Hold. Perhaps the old man won't come back once he goes there. Solitude is a very good place, very prosperous, with high walls, and windmills. Their windmills…"
Simon drank a glass of wine, and the innkeeper also drank a glass. When they fell silent, apart from the crackling of the fire in the hearth, there was only the clinking of the two men's glasses. At such times, people involuntarily wanted to speak, afraid that the cold wind would silently invade their bones in the dead silence.
The new Jarl was named Collier, and just as Jonas had said, he was extremely hostile to the College, even disliking all mages.
However, the innkeeper said Simon didn't need to worry about being targeted by Collier, as he was an excellent Nord brother, a superb Foodie. Such a person had nothing to fear anywhere in Skyrim.
"The old man left without a word. None of us had a chance to speak with him, or have one last drink. He left in a carriage, with his meager belongings and a loyal steward. Alas! He had no face to stay in Winterhold any longer! His family was once a prominent member of Winterhold, and now… sigh, why talk about all this… I just have to say, the Empire truly has no humanity. Such an excellent Jarl replaced just like that. These insidious fellows are too harsh on us Nords."
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