..."Good morning, Lord Arthas."
Inside the Red Keep, Arthas, who had long since been reinstated to his post, had moved his office here; after all, he knew exactly what Lancel had done to Janos in the previous office.
Feeling somewhat disgusted, he waved his large hand and simply ordered the entire Gold Cloaks Headquarters to be demolished, commanding a new office building to be constructed in its place.
"Good morning, brother of the Nights Watch from The Wall."
"I am very grateful to you for bringing back my brother Tyrion. Had it not been for your help, I imagine his situation would be quite dire by now."
Looking at the bearded man in black robes before him, Arthas nodded kindly, showing his goodwill without reservation.
"Just call me Yoren, my lord."
"I also happened to find Lord Tyrion fainted by the roadside on my way to King's Landing, so I brought him back with me."
Yoren bowed slightly with great humility, showing no sign of arrogance for having brought back The Imp.
"In any case, I am still very grateful that you were able to lend a hand in time."
Arthas nodded to him with a smile.
Before The Imp and Jaime left Winterfell, Arthas had left a magic seed inside each of them. Although the amount of Necromancy contained within was not large, it was at least enough for them to deal with some emergencies.
The one in Jaime had indirectly linked the bridge between his and Jaime's Souls due to a strange thought intrusion back in Winterfell, which allowed Arthas to engage in a spiritual battle with the other party from thousands of miles away.
The Imp's side was different; since it was passively triggered after encountering a crisis, he didn't know what had happened to him.
But judging by the fact that he returned to King's Landing alone and in such poor condition, they must have encountered significant trouble on the road.
He just wondered who on earth would dare to attack a Lannister accompanied by The Mountain.
"Well then, Brother Yoren, please have a seat."
He shook his head; there was no use thinking about it now. In any case, he had already sent people to inspect along the Kings Road, and once The Imp woke up, everything would be clear.
Gesturing for the other to sit, Arthas snapped his fingers. Lancel immediately walked in from outside and very professionally poured a cup of hot tea for Yoren.
Since the sewage system in King's Landing had been completed, the water of the Blackwater was no longer filled with the stench of the past and only usable for brewing; after filtration, it was pure enough to be used for tea.
"You have come to King's Landing this time to replenish your ranks, haven't you?"
"That is correct, Lord Arthas."
Yoren nodded. This man, responsible for traveling through The Seven Kingdoms to recruit for the Nights Watch, had a lingering sorrow between his brows.
Since the White Walkers stopped appearing many years ago, the number of the Nights Watch had begun to dwindle, and many brothers no longer even believed in the legends of the White Walkers.
Now, the Nights Watch has fewer than 600 men left, and most are peasants, rapists, thieves, and bastards with little combat ability; only a few members come from noble or titled families.
Under the leadership of the current Lord Commander Jeor Mormont, they struggled to stand together to keep the wildlings beyond the Wall.
Yoren, who was in charge of recruitment, only felt the pressure on his shoulders growing heavier.
"I went to see the Hand of the King, Lord Eddard Stark, but he told me to come to you, saying that you are now in full charge of this matter."
Although Eddard's reputation had always been good, Yoren, who had been turned away countless times throughout The Seven Kingdoms, only thought he was using it as an excuse to decline.
After all, with people being the private property of lords, they would not easily let go even of prisoners.
But with the mindset of giving it a try, Yoren still attempted to speak to Arthas, hoping that the other would give him at least ten or twenty men for the sake of having saved his brother, so he could fulfill his duty.
"Hahaha, my dear Brother Yoren, Lord Eddard was quite right to send you to me."
To Yoren's surprise, instead of showing a difficult expression, Arthas warmly opened his arms and embraced him.
"You have come from afar in the North, so you probably don't know that our City Watch is conducting the King's Landing Hundred-Day Purge."
Seeing Yoren's stunned expression, Arthas explained to him kindly with a smile:
"Over these past days, we have gathered the prisoners we've caught into unified custody. We take them into the city for labor during the day and bring them back to the dungeons at night."
"At first, they could still contribute to King's Landing by building some infrastructure."
"But lately, more and more prisoners are being caught. Not just the dungeons of the Red Keep, but even the prison at the Gold Cloaks Headquarters is almost full."
"I was thinking of just taking those serious offenders out one day and having them all executed."
A warm hand gripped Yoren as the enthusiastic Commander of the Gold Cloaks spoke to him sincerely:
"Your timely arrival has really done me a great favor, Brother Yoren!"
"It is also an honor for those vermin who plagued King's Landing to be able to join the Nights Watch in their lifetime and contribute a little to the defense of Westeros."
"This..."
Yoren, who had never experienced such respect elsewhere, felt a warmth in his heart as things proceeded so smoothly.
"So, roughly how many people are there?"
However, to prevent the other from fooling him with grand words, Yoren still asked Arthas in a somewhat uncertain tone.
"Two thousand!"
"How... how many?"
This startling number gave Yoren a jolt, and he nearly failed to hold the teacup in his hand steady.
"Two thousand!"
Seemingly very satisfied with the other's reaction, Arthas leaned back in his chair and answered again with a smile.
"Lord Arthas, you aren't making sport of me, are you?"
"King's Landing has that many prisoners?"
Standing up in a flurry and placing the teacup on the table, Yoren looked at Arthas's half-smiling Face with uncertainty, as if trying to confirm if the other was lying.
"Hahaha~ You worry too much, Brother Yoren."
He stood up with a hearty laugh and patted the other's shoulder:
"You can go around King's Landing and ask; I, Arthas, have never been one for empty talk."
"If I say two thousand, it's two thousand; I won't give you one less."
"Otherwise, why would Lord Eddard Stark have sent you to find me?"
Having received Arthas's promise, Yoren's heart finally settled. He took a sip of tea with hands trembling from excitement.
But then he thought of another problem and his Face fell again:
"But my lord, how am I to take so many people away?"
Yoren, who had never recruited more than fifty people, had been dazed by the sudden stroke of luck just now, but he hadn't considered how he, coming to King's Landing alone, was to escort such a large gang of outlaws north.
He feared that before even leaving the Crownlands, this group of vicious thugs would have united to cut off his head and run off into the wilderness to become bandits.
"Rest assured, since I am handing the men over to you, I will naturally have thought of a way out for you."
"I will send two Gold Cloak squads with you to escort you all the way to The Wall."
Now that Robert's Soul was bound within that ridiculous shell, it could be said that the situation in King's Landing was entirely within his grasp.
"Of course, you'll have to wait until after the King's Tourney."
"You should hurry and send word back by raven to let lord commander Jeor Mormont think carefully about how to tame this lot."
After arranging everything, Arthas waved his hand grandly:
"To thank you for bringing back my brother, you should enjoy yourself well in King's Landing for a while. All expenses will be on my Lannister account!"
..."What? Two thousand?"
Inside Castle Black, lord commander of the Nights Watch Jeor Mormont looked dumbfoundedly at his newly appointed young Steward. Even at his age, with a heart long unmoved by external things, he couldn't help but show a look of shock.
Looking at the greatly surprised lord commander, Jon Snow, who had just considered himself the other's personal follower, couldn't stop laughing inwardly.
So even this serious-faced old fellow has moments when he can't keep his composure.
"Has it been confirmed, Jon Snow!"
Instantly regaining his usual majesty, the former Count of Bear Island questioned the bastard from Winterfell.
Jeor Mormont actually thought very highly of this brave and resourceful young man, but the other was too young and lacked mature insight into many things, doing everything with nothing but a burst of hot-bloodedness. That was why he kept him by his side, hoping to temper him.
Most importantly, he was the bastard of the lord of winterfell, Eddard Stark.
Although after joining the Nights Watch, one swore to have no further connection with the nobles of Westeros, human hearts are always inclined toward the side they were once loyal to.
"Of course, commander."
Quickly putting away his inner amusement, Jon replied very swiftly:
"It has been confirmed repeatedly. The Raven indeed came from King's Landing, and the code in the letter is also correct."
"It's because the new commander of the city watch in King's Landing, Arthas Lannister, started a purge, so they caught this many criminals."
"Another Lannister?"
Many days ago, a white-haired Lannister had come, clamoring to go beyond The Wall to find White Walkers, and had knocked down a dozen Nights Watch men in a few moves.
In view of the other's formidable combat strength, he had opened the gates quite readily.
A few days ago, a Lannister dwarf had come, staying for a few days with that fierce brute from House Clegane before leaving.
Muttering to himself, Jeor Mormont wondered why he was always dealing with Lannisters lately. This was clearly The North; if anyone was to come, it should be the Starks.
But now was not the time for such thoughts.
"What are you standing there for, Jon Snow!"
With a loud shout, as lord commander, he unceremoniously ordered his Steward:
"Go and get those lazy fellows to crawl out and train!"
"If the people arrive and we end up being overtaken by our guests, the whole Seven Kingdoms will laugh at us of the Nights Watch!"
"Yes, commander!"
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