I ignore the notification at the corner of my vision and walk toward Aela. I offer her a hand, and she takes it. She gives me a nod and says,
"Thank you for your help, stranger."
"Think nothing of it. My name is Sigurd."
"Aela, Huntress of the Companion."
"Companion, huh? My father once wanted to join your Guild."
"Oh? Why does he not join us?"
"My mother. He found my mother and decided to court her. She is an adventurer, and the two of them explore Skyrim before settling down on Bruma."
"What is your father's name?"
"Gunther Hrikton."
"Ah! I heard of him and his companion. Gunthar the Lightning Spear and Carla the Red Sword Dancer."
"That is my mother and father."
And just like that, the people around me look at me with a new light. Sisilia even looks proud to serve the son of the two of them. I know they are famous here, which is why they own a house in Whiterun. My father might not be a Thane, but he contributed significantly to the Whiterun Hold, which enabled him to buy a home in the inner sphere of Whiterun.
"How are they doing?"
I look to the side and see that Farkas is done cutting off the head of the troll for the bounty.
"They are dead, sadly. They died of old age."
"Old age? How old are you?"
"I am twenty years old this year."
"Then how old are they?"
"My mother gave birth to me at the age of forty-five while my father was in his forty-seventh. It is a miracle that I was born, according to the priestess who assisted my mother during childbirth. She said that my mother should not be able to give birth because of her age, but it turns out my father's blood is too Nordic to care about that, and decides I will be born."
The others laugh at my words and follow them.
"We are a stubborn bunch, aren't we?"
"We are."
"So, will you join the Companion, Sigurd? You will make a decent shield brother."
"Ah, sadly no. I want to follow in my father's footsteps, you see? I want to explore Skyrim and have an adventure of a lifetime."
"That is a noble goal, my friend."
He then looks at Aela and nods.
"Anyway, I want to thank you for the help, my friend. Without you, we will lose a comrade. I am sorry that we cannot talk a little bit longer, but we need to take Aela to the healer."
"Think nothing of it."
"My name is Farkas, and if you decide to visit Jorrvaskr, call me. We will have a feast and party."
"I will."
Farkas nods his head and takes Aela to Whiterun. They are running to the city, leaving Sisilia and me behind. I walk toward her and say.
"Everything okay, Sisilia?"
"Everything is fine, My Lord. The giants do not get me too much."
"Good. Let's continue, shall we?"
"Yes."
We walk through the farm, leaving behind the corpse for the guard to verify and clean. We walk down the road and arrive in Whiterun, where I can see the Khajiit Caravan outside the wall. I give them a nod and a small smile, shocking the merchant, and continue to enter the city.
When we arrive in front of the main gate, one of the guards walks toward me and says,
"You must be the people Farkas is talking about. You can get inside. However, don't cause any trouble."
"We will."
He nods and opens the gate for us. I can see people walking around the city, busy with their jobs. We ignore them and continue to walk toward the Cloud District. We are not stopping, but we briefly stand in front of an empty house.
"This is my family's house."
"Your father owns a house in Cloud District, my lord? He must have done something great to be allowed to buy a house here."
Unlike in the game, Cloud District is a proper district, not just the district where the Jarl resides. It is still the district where the Jarl resides, but there are other houses as well. This is where the nobles, Thanes, and influential people reside.
My father and mother helped the previous Jarl fight a horde of bandits that dared raid the Whiterun while Jarl Barlgruuf was at war. He is the key figure in defending Whiterun, and his contribution is rewarded with the right to buy a house in the Cloud District and a large sum of gold.
My father left Whiterun because he didn't want to get involved in the mess of the post-Great War.
"Aye. He is a great person, and the Jarl rewards him for it. I will show you around later. For now, let's enter Dragonreach. We need to exchange the bounty."
"Yes, my lord."
We walk through the stairs to reach the keep. As we reach the keep, one of the guards steps forward.
"Halt. What is your business here? The Jarl commanded no other people without any reason to enter the keep."
"I am here to exchange a bounty. I am bringing the letter from the Jarl and the proof."
I give the guard the piece of paper with Jarl's stamp on it and the silver sword. He inspects the sword and the paper for a few seconds before nodding his head.
"All checked out. You can enter. You can talk to the Steward, Proventus Avenicci. Don't bother the Jarl."
"I understand."
He opens the door, and we enter the keep. As we get deeper into the keep, I can see the Jarl talking to a Khajiit and taking him to the other room to the right. It looks like the Dragonborn is here. Does that mean he ignores Aela and the others? Well, I guess I cannot blame him. He just dodges an execution and does not want to get involved in a fight.
After a few seconds, we found the Steward, and he greeted us.
"Welcome to Dragonreach. What is it you want?"
"We are here to exchange a bounty. Here is the paper and proof."
He takes the paper, reads through it, and looks at the silver sword.
"Perfect. With this, we can have a better trade route to Falkreath. Wait for a moment. I shall return with your reward."
While waiting for him, we watch as the Dragonborn leaves the room, and I can see Farengar, the Court Wizard, talking with the Jarl. Ah, this is the Golden Claw mission, huh? I pray for you, Dragonborn. Your life will get even more interesting soon.
We do not wait for too long before the Steward returns with a pouch full of coins.
"Here is your reward. Thank you for your service."
"It is not a problem, sir."
"Before you go, do you want to earn more? I have a bounty for you. It is a bandit group that has been terrorizing Whiterun for a long time. They stay in the White River Watch cave. We used that place as a scouting point, but after the Great War and the lack of soldiers appointed in that place, the bandits created a nest in that cave."
"So you want to clean the cave."
"That's right. Kill all the bandits, and we will pay you per bandit you kill instead of the head of the leader."
That is good. Usually, only the group leader is worth anything. Putting a bounty on each of the bandits means they are strong bandits or cause enough loss for the Jarl that he needs to put a bounty on each of the bandits in the group.
I look at Sillia and see her nod. I turn back toward Proventus and say.
"We will take it."
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