Lynn gestured for Kompani to calm down. He pointed toward Old Hill, who was seated to the side, holding a quill and recording the meeting's proceedings, and said,
"You are all people who've made your living on the sea for years. Discuss it among yourselves. Anyone who can gather enough hands and is willing to take on this voyage—go leave a written statement with Scholar Hill and sign a guarantor contract."
Kompani, who had just sat down, shot back to his feet with a whoosh. At the same time, several men in the hall who looked like merchants also stood up, all expressing their willingness to take on this mission.
"My lord, I'm willing."
"I'm willing to go, my lord… I'm familiar with the Vale routes."
"My lord, count me in. I have plenty of manpower. As for the route, as long as we follow Boss Qiao, there won't be any problems."
Lynn nodded in satisfaction and said,
"Very good. The three ships that have run aground—I'll give you three days. You must tow them out of the shallow waters and complete repairs and repainting."
Kompani was startled. "So urgent?"
The main quest required welcoming Arya back, and judging by the timing, Second Girl had probably already left King's Landing. How could he not be in a hurry?
Lynn remembered that not long after Ned died, Uncle Yoren had taken Arya and the newly recruited Night's Watch trainees north. Because of an accident along the way, they were eventually caught up by the Hound on the Kingsroad.
Once she fell into the Hound's hands, rescuing her would be far from easy.
The road to King's Landing passed through the Neck and the Riverlands.
But the Riverlands were now a battlefield of the Four Kings—there was no way through there.
If they wanted to reach the Kingsroad as quickly as possible, they could only go by sea, detouring around the Vale of Arryn, then entering the Trident River from the upstream near King's Landing.
Why travel by water with a merchant caravan, aside from saving time?
There was also another reason.
As the Lord of the North, going south into the lands of the Seven Kingdoms in the current tense atmosphere of north–south war was simply not feasible.
To complete the main quest, he could only disguise himself as part of a merchant caravan and head for the Trident River.
Thinking of this, Lynn said solemnly, "Gentlemen, once this voyage is completed, I guarantee you a generous reward. If there are no further questions, go make your preparations. Plan the route, ensure navigation safety, and depart on time—those are your tasks now."
The three merchant fishermen in the hall exchanged glances. One of them, a bearded trader known as Boss Qiao, asked,
"My lord, what goods do you plan for us to purchase? Are we heading to the north of the Vale, or the eastern coast?"
Lynn stood up and said, "This time we're not going to the Vale itself. We'll circle the Vale from the eastern coast, enter the Trident River from the southern estuary. As for the goods, you'll receive a list later. Also, along the way, gathering up refugees and homeless farmers displaced by the war is one of this mission's objectives."
Everyone froze.
Kompani looked at the young lord on the raised platform in surprise. "We? My lord… are you saying you'll be going with us?"
Lynn smiled. "That's right."
At this moment,
Arya Stark, who had just left the borders of King's Landing, stepped onto the long Kingsroad stretching from south to north.
Uncle Yoren ordered the newly recruited Night's Watch trainees to rest in place.
Second Girl had changed her name to Arry. With her hair cut short, she looked no different from a little boy—except, of course, when she had to use the privy.
She went behind some bushes by the riverbank and secretly squatted there to pee.
After looking around and confirming no one had noticed, she pulled up her trousers and returned to the camp.
Carrying a bundle of firewood she had chopped, she passed by an iron cage wagon.
Inside the cage were three shackled prisoners. One of them, a long-haired, thin-faced man, called out to her.
He called himself "Someone," saying he was terribly thirsty and wanted to beg for a bowl of water.
Someone's attitude was fairly polite and refined, but the other two in the cage were not nearly so good-tempered.
One was a middle-aged brute with only half his teeth left, his beard and hair a tangled mess. He roared threateningly, "Go get some wine, or I'll skin you alive."
Someone leaned against the bars of the cage and apologized on behalf of the rude man inside, telling Second Girl not to be angry. He said he had no way to choose his companions and asked her to please give him a bowl of water.
However, Arya found the way Someone introduced himself very strange. He called himself "Someone," yet when introducing himself, he referred to himself as "this one."
"This one is called Jaqen, from the Free City of Lorath across the Narrow Sea."
Before Someone could finish speaking, the brute beside him and the bald man at the back started shouting again, demanding wine from Second Girl.
With Arya's fiery temper, she couldn't hold it in any longer.
She dropped the firewood in her arms and shouted into the cage, "Who do you think you are? A prisoner?"
As she spoke, she pulled out a wooden stick and started fighting the brute inside through the iron bars.
Someone, watching from the side as if enjoying the spectacle, smiled faintly and said, "The boy is brave, but not rational."
At this moment, Gendry the Bull passed by and called Arya away.
"Captain Yoren said no one's allowed near them. They're dangerous."
Fearless as ever, Arya chased after Gendry and said stubbornly, "I'm not afraid of them."
Just then, the sound of hooves echoed along the Kingsroad.
Two Gold Cloaks rode in from King's Landing.
They arrived at the resting camp of the Night's Watch trainees.
Thinking they had come to arrest her, Arya was so frightened that she hurriedly ran to hide on a slope behind a tree.
The Gold Cloaks summoned Uncle Yoren and produced a royal writ. "There's a wanted criminal in your group. Hand him over to me."
Uncle Yoren had no idea that King's Landing was in the midst of slaughtering royal bastards.
He thought they had come for Arya.
He pulled a dagger from his sleeve and pressed it against the inner thigh of the Gold Cloak who was mounted at the front. "Tell your king that the Night's Watch answers to neither king nor queen. Go back where you came from—
"Or die right here."
With their lives in someone else's hands, and their weapons already confiscated by the Night's Watch, the Gold Cloaks could only leave in disgrace.
Before departing, however, one of them shouted out the name of the person they were actually looking for.
The Gold Cloak scanned the camp and said, "The king wants a boy called the Bull, wearing a horned helmet."
Then he slapped his horse and left behind a final threat to Yoren. "Next time I come, I'll bring your head and that Bull's head back with me to report."
Arya emerged from behind the tree and looked at Gendry, who was standing there in a daze.
The two stared at each other.
Well then.
Now both of them had become unfortunate companions, jointly wanted by King's Landing.
At the same time,
in King's Landing, the Little Demon Tyrion hummed a cheerful tune as he went to see his little lover, Shae.
But the moment he pushed the door open, he saw a bald eunuch sitting there, chatting with Shae.
The Little Demon's anger flared instantly. He hadn't expected his secret of hiding a beauty away to be discovered by the spymaster, Varys.
Tyrion steeled himself and exchanged a few polite words with the bald eunuch.
Varys stood up, revealing a benevolent smile like that of the Laughing Buddha, and said meaningfully, "I know your father doesn't want her in King's Landing. But rest assured—I won't tell your father, Tywin Lannister, about this."
That made the Little Demon furious. Seeing that Varys was about to leave after speaking, Tyrion quickly reached out and blocked his hand from pulling the door open.
"I'm not that honor-soaked former Hand, Ned. I can do anything. The people who threatened me before—grass is already three meters tall on their graves."
As he spoke, he personally pulled the door open, preparing to see Varys out.
This time, Varys also pressed down on Tyrion's hand. Looking down at him from above, he said, "I wasn't raised to be frightened. Don't forget—I am the Master of Whisperers. I've seen more villains than hairs on a cow, and their endings are often not very pleasant."
He smiled lightly. "Come. The Small Council meeting is about to begin. The queen is waiting for us."
...
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Here are a few fan-fic titles that I've recently uploaded on my Patreon:
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(End Chapter)