It took less than an hour to fly from Wolfswood to Bear Island.
The wild deer, clutched in the dragons' talons, were half-dead from fright and shock.
So, upon arriving at the House Mormont Keep, Daenerys had the dragons quickly release them near a grove of trees.
Once freed from the dragons' talons, the wild deer immediately perked up and swiftly darted into the woods.
Although the grove wasn't large and the surrounding vegetation was sparse, it was enough for these few wild deer to find shelter.
Due to Bear Island's harsh living conditions, the Mormont Family had long since cleared out any huntable beasts.
Thus, these wild deer would encounter almost no natural predators here.
"Greetings, Your Royal Highness!"
Since the men of the Mormont Family had all gone out hunting, it was Lady Mormont and her four daughters who came out to greet Daenerys.
They were all dressed in dark leather robes with fur collars, their hair simply coiled on top of their heads, and with no extra adornments from head to toe—a typical Northwoman's attire.
However, it was clear that the women of Bear Island were more rustic; even the Lady of the house and her daughters were dressed similarly to ordinary commoners of the North.
Axes or short blades were tucked into all their waists, revealing their fierce and resolute character and demeanor.
After presenting her gifts, Daenerys followed them into the great hall of the House Mormont Keep.
Compared to other noble castles, the Mormont Family's castle hall was truly overly "rustic."
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Daenerys informed Lady Mormont about releasing five wild deer into the nearby woods.
"I'll trouble the Lady to arrange for someone to look after them for a while; I will send ships to pick them up later."
Having said that, Daenerys had Vada take out a pre-prepared bag of gold coins and hand it to Lady Mormont.
Lady Mormont, however, refused to accept it.
Although the bag contained a full two hundred gold dragons, which was a huge sum for the Mormont Family, enough for them to comfortably get through a winter.
"Your Royal Highness, it is our Mormont Family's honor to help you care for those wild deer, but we truly cannot accept these gold dragons."
Daenerys continued to persuade her,
"Lady, there's no need to decline. These wild deer are very wary, and looking after them is no easy task.
Moreover, the journey from Oldtown to Bear Island is long and will take a considerable amount of time."
"The animal hides and furs produced on Bear Island are of very good quality.
If there's any gold left over, Lady, you can use it to help me acquire some high-quality furs."
"Furthermore, I plan to open a shipping route from Oldtown to Bear Island, and there will be many more times I'll need to trouble the Mormont Family in the future.
These gold dragons truly are nothing."
Hearing Daenerys say this, Lady Mormont finally accepted the money bag.
Their main income on Bear Island relied on selling animal meat and furs, but they were often exploited by merchants who came there.
She genuinely hoped that Daenerys could successfully open the shipping route.
While Daenerys sending merchant fleets from Oldtown to Bear Island for business might not yield much profit, at least it could activate the trade routes along Westeros's western coast.
Due to the influence of the pirates from the Iron Islands, the entire western coastal trade route of Westeros had been greatly affected, effectively split into two self-contained smaller loops.
The southern region of the west coast, relying on the powerful Lannister Family of the Westerlands and House Farman of Fair Isle, barely managed to maintain the security of trade activities along the southern coastline of the Iron Islands.
The Riverlands nobility, represented by Haijiang City, and the nobility of the western coastal territories of the North also jointly ensured the passage of merchant ships along the North's west coast.
However, they were often plundered by the Ironborn from the Iron Islands.
Daenerys was curious to see if those pirates from the Iron Islands would dare to be so bold as to attack her merchant fleet.
She actually hoped they would be brave enough, as that would give her an excuse to completely eradicate this cancerous growth of the Seven Kingdoms.
"I know that during this season, the adult men of Bear Island are busy hunting, as this concerns the survival of the entire island for the coming year.
For the next two days, I will stay and help the Mormont Family hunt with the dragons!
This way, Lord Mormont can save time to attend the Valyria appreciation event in King's Landing."
After taking a sip of fine wine, Daenerys spoke directly.
"My dragons are all excellent hunters.
This time, let everyone have a good look at their abilities."
Lord Mormont's eldest daughter, Meggie, is 22 this year and already a mother of two.
The customs of Bear Island differ from those of the Seven Kingdoms.
Perhaps because of the harsh living conditions here, men who are out hunting and fighting year-round are easily lost.
Therefore, the Mormont Family often faces situations where male heirs are cut off.
Thus, the women of House Mormont would take in a son-in-law to continue the Mormont Family line.
Slowly, a tradition formed where many strong House Mormont daughters would choose to remain in the family and take a son-in-law, with not many daughters marrying out.
The 20-year-old second daughter, Maya, also chose to take a son-in-law and remain in the family, and is now seven months pregnant.
The 16-year-old Meggie has also grown tall and graceful, standing a full one meter seventy-eight, half a head taller than Vada.
Her valiant and spirited appearance immediately suggested high combat prowess.
The youngest, Maya, is 12 this year and the only petite one among her sisters, half a head shorter than 10-year-old Daenerys.
So, Daenerys, accompanied by Vada, Meggie, and Maya, rode the dragons and flew towards the Frozen Coast in the northwest of Bear Island.
Although it was currently a long summer, it was very cold over the Bay of Ice on the west side of Bear Island.
The cold, damp air hitting Dreamfyre and the others quickly condensed into white mist.
Meggie and Maya, experiencing dragon flight for the first time, were very excited.
The outgoing Meggie was so excited that she even blurted out a curse,
"This feeling is even more comfortable than riding on Rickon Stark!"
Huh?! -_-||
Maya could only give an exasperated look at her simple-minded, outspoken older sister.
"Your Royal Highness, along the Frozen Coast to the west, there are many seals and walruses.
Now that the breeding season is over, those heartless male seals and walruses are not only useless to the herd but also often harm the young and female seals."
"So, it's a good time to harvest them!"
Hmm! The women of House Mormont are indeed fierce -_-||
Sure enough, not long after, a large group of plump walruses appeared on the ice floes of the Frozen Coast.
Perhaps due to the low-magic environment, the animals in this world seem much stronger in both size and reproductive capacity.
Take walruses, for example: adult male walruses can generally grow to 5-6 meters in length, with weights of 6-8 tons.
It is said that during certain periods, these walruses can even grow to over ten meters, almost catching up to a small whale.
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