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Looking at her two fallen companions not far away, Thorn could not understand Robb's words, but one thing was perfectly clear to her.
This human still needed Leaf to make fruits for him. But their escape had clearly angered him, so he was going to punish Thorn.
Thud.
Robb released his right hand, and Thorn dropped to the ground in a sitting position. Once free, she did not resist at all. She only stared blankly at Vine and Leaf not far away.
Robb walked aside, picked up Ice again, and came to Thorn's side. Standing upright with both hands resting on the sword, he announced his final judgment on her.
Everyone except the unconscious Leaf saw what was about to happen beside Robb. Bloodwind and Vine both saw it as well.
Remembering the happy times she and Thorn had shared over more than a century, large tears flowed from Vine's yellow wolf eyes.
At that moment, regret filled her heart. If they had only endured for one year, they could have gained freedom. Why had they fled so rashly?
Awooo!
Vine used all her strength, wanting to tell Robb loudly that she was willing to pay anything in exchange for Thorn's life. But in the end, she could only release a weak wolf howl.
Hearing that howl, Robb turned to look at Bloodwind and Vine. Then, to his great surprise, new blood-red words appeared in his vision, other than the usual notice of blood pact points gained.
Robb immediately shifted his gaze and locked it onto Bloodwind. The blood pact data appeared before his eyes.
'A child of the forest can actually join Bloodwind's pack?'
'True skinchanging... so while they are skinchanged, they really are ice direwolves. Vine saw that I was going to execute her companion, willingly submitted, and was recognized by the blood pact?'
Although Robb was extremely shocked that Vine had joined Bloodwind's pack, his thoughts turned, and he felt it could actually be explained. The bond created by the blood pact was far more reliable than his promise with Leaf.
In the blood pact's pack data, Lady had already advanced into a war wolf. This was likely because Thorn and the others had stirred up the wildness in Lady, who had always been gentle. Her combat strength was now much greater than before.
Vine belonged to the servant-wolf category, which was also reasonable. A wood dancer capable of true skinchanging might have greater overall combat strength than all the other ice direwolves except Bloodwind.
But if one compared only the ice direwolf forms they skinchanged into, their fighting strength was certainly inferior to Nymeria's and Lady's.
"Will, have your brothers spare two horses and bring them back to Winterfell."
Robb lifted his head and nodded to Gendry in the distance. Then he held Ice in his left hand and turned to Will beside him.
During Robb's battle, the other Wolfguard had rescued the ice direwolves and arrived here. Hearing the order, Will immediately began arranging matters.
Gendry, who understood Robb's meaning, rode to his side and took Ice from him, sliding it back into its sheath.
Robb was just about to walk toward Bloodwind when Thorn, still kneeling on the ground, turned her head and stared at him, her eyes full of confusion.
"You have two very good companions. Both of them paid a suitable price for your life."
Understanding Thorn's expression, Robb pointed toward Vine not far away and spoke in the Common Tongue she could not understand.
Thorn naturally did not understand Robb's words, but she seemed to realize that this human no longer intended to punish them. Whatever the reason, she let out a breath of relief.
Not far away, Vine did not know why Robb had spared Thorn's life. But at that moment, her heart held only immense joy.
At the same time, she suddenly discovered that toward the terrifying ice direwolf beside her, she now felt reverence, closeness, and many other feelings.
After resolving Leaf's escape, Robb first brought Sam and Gendry back to Winterfell.
Will had intended to tie the unconscious Leaf and Vine, who had returned to human form again but was badly injured, onto warhorses. But Thorn stopped him with gestures and directly skinchanged into a long-haired mammoth.
Understanding that she was worried Leaf's and Vine's injuries would worsen, Will directed the Wolfguard to place them on the mammoth's broad back, and they all returned to Winterfell together.
After returning to Winterfell, Robb pointed out the strengths and weaknesses of this Wolfguard deployment to Will and the others one by one. He also planned a series of additional training sessions for them.
Leaf did not wake until the next day. Although she found herself back in Winterfell's cells, seeing Thorn and Vine unharmed made her feel something was strange, while also filling her with relief.
The children of the forest were a long-lived race with supernatural power, but the world had not been so generous. As time passed, their numbers had dwindled.
Most surviving children of the forest had lived together for decades or centuries. Their relationships were closer than human blood kin.
Therefore, when Robb learned that Leaf had awakened and came before her to extend the work period to two years, she agreed without complaint.
One week after returning to Winterfell, Robb finished sorting out his development plan and handed it to his mother, Catelyn.
With Lord Wyman, Sam, and Sansa assisting her, the development of the North, his foundation, should have no problems.
Speaking of Sansa, she had given Robb a great surprise. After her experience in King's Landing, she was no longer the little girl dreaming of a prince on a white horse. Instead, she worked hard to learn accounts and logistics from Lord Wyman.
Now, most of Winterfell's logistics were managed by Sansa and a group of junior officials. Even though Winterfell's population had grown much larger than before, she still handled everything in good order.
With a stable foundation, Robb decided to take the eighteen thousand newly recruited soldiers south again and join the struggle of kings fighting for the realm.
Of these eighteen thousand recruits, eleven thousand had been recruited from the northern commoner class. Because Robb had set no upper age limit, the age range among these eleven thousand was quite broad.
Of the remaining seven thousand, two thousand were household troops from Barrowton and the Rills whom Robb had forcibly conscripted.
Just as Robb had expected, Barbrey and her father had failed to return to the North. The household troops they had preserved were now being drained away by the king.
The other five thousand were northern citizens who had volunteered to join the army. Everyone knew that the northern army's first march south had gained wealth beyond imagination.
Therefore, those northern citizens who had hesitated during the first recruitment were drawn by the enormous wealth and responded to the second recruitment without hesitation.
Just as with the northern army's first march south, Robb gave a speech in Winterfell's military camp to stir morale, then led the whole army out.
Of course, this campaign differed greatly from the first. Compared with the morale Robb had roused by promising future rewards back then, the eighteen thousand new soldiers this time were flushed after his speech, their eyes nearly red.
The commoners among them longed to take enemy heads, gain merit, rise to citizen rank, and even enter the knightly class. The citizens thought of the endless wealth in the south and likewise longed for knighthood.
In short, they could hardly wait to fight and kill the enemy.
The northern army passed beside the new winter town wall, which was not yet one-third complete. Tens of thousands of commoners watched the high-spirited army and silently blessed them.
Robb rode on Bloodwind, with Gendry beside him. Nymeria and Lady, who had regained their long-lost freedom, excitedly roamed near them.
A little farther back, thirteen Wolfguard surrounded three specially made carriages. In one carriage were Leaf, Thorn, and Vine, whose wounds had not healed.
Bringing Leaf and the others south was inevitable. Without Robb and Bloodwind, Winterfell simply could not hold them.
Moreover, Thorn and Vine, who could use true skinchanging, and Leaf, who could use wondrous magic, already counted as a trump card.
The other two special carriages carried more than two hundred and forty fruits accumulated over the past two months, with explosive fruits and ice crystal fruits making up roughly half each.
Robb believed they would prove their worth in the wars to come.
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