Chapter 238: A Miniature Realm
"Then, I shall await your good news." Melisandre gave Egger a smile, turned, and walked back toward the tower where she resided.
She truly was an enchantress; flirting with her was simply asking for trouble. Watching Melisandre's receding figure, Egger couldn't help but wonder: if he hadn't flinched just now but had continued the joke by demanding she come warm his bed tonight, would she actually have shown up?
Though her age and true identity were mysteries, what did it matter? In the heat of passion, one engages with the body, not the soul!
Snapping back to reality, Egger gave a self-deprecating laugh. He had actually allowed a single joke from the Red Woman to leave him feeling unsettled. He didn't know if it was because the Wall was too lonely, or if a man's lower half truly was his greatest weakness.
Mance returned to the Haunted Forest to gather the remaining survivors of the Free Folk. Meanwhile, Egger began preparations to welcome the new residents of the Gift. The plan to relocate people to fill the Gift had actually been proposed back when Benjen Stark was still First Ranger; the Night's Watch had even formally presented the idea to the Warden of the North. Unfortunately, it had ultimately been abandoned because the problem of Wildling raids could not be solved.
This time, taking advantage of the re-emergence of the Others, Egger was using a radical approach—transforming the primary threat to the Gift into the residents of the Gift themselves, attempting to solve the problem once and for all.
This method of settling and taming the Wildlings was, in essence, an attempt to rebuild the Gift into a miniature new realm. The ideal was beautiful, but the reality was harsh. Despite being miniature, the essential administrative departments could not be omitted. While the Wildlings and mountain clans were the cheapest and most readily available citizens, their flaws were equally obvious—among these uneducated savages, there were simply no suitable talents to participate in the management of this miniature state once established. The candidates would ultimately have to be selected from the nobles who had voluntarily joined the Watch and the employees of the Night's Watch industries.
This was both a burden and an opportunity. The Night's Watch currently had nearly a thousand members, yet the number of those who were literate and capable of calculation was actually lower than the number of industrial employees Egger had brought north from King's Landing.
This meant that if the Gift were successfully developed in the future, no matter how much Mormont might wish to prevent Egger from further expanding his influence and control, he would be unable to stop the industrial employees—who drew their wages from Egger—from entering the grassroots management of the system. Moreover, it currently seemed that Mormont had no intention of guarding against Egger doing so.
After all, the Logistics Department was nominally a subordinate organization of the Night's Watch, and Egger was a true brother of the black. No matter how much he maneuvered or expanded his power, a Gift that could not achieve food self-sufficiency would always remain under the thumb of the North; he couldn't simply leap to the heavens.
While the massive resettlement plan in the Gift was proceeding at full speed, trouble struck again in the North. Winterfell had only just sent men to bring the runaway Arya back home when Bran Stark vanished—accompanied by Meera and Jojen Reed, as well as the small giant Hodor, exactly as in the original timeline.
Upon hearing the news, the First Ranger's expression was incredibly strange. "What is wrong with the lords of House Stark? Can they not even keep track of their own children? A crippled boy, vanished from Winterfell!"
Maester Aemon held the parchment, speaking tremulously: "That may be so, but we have no right to criticize. The letter says... before he fled, Bran Stark had expressed an intention to go north of the Wall. Lady Catelyn requests that the Night's Watch increase patrol efforts. Should the boy be found, he is to be brought to Castle Black or sent to Last Hearth for protection immediately."
"And the garrison of Winterfell? They can't even catch a lame boy?"
"From what I know, Winterfell's soldiers have been deployed elsewhere to resist Ironborn harassment, and the few horses remaining in Winterfell were released from the stables on the day of Bran's departure. The capital of the North couldn't even muster a few riders in a crisis and had to ask the Watch for help. At a time like this, how could I spare men to lend them?" Commander Mormont shook his head helplessly. "We bear no responsibility for the boy's disappearance. There is no need to dwell on it; just keep an eye out. Egger, tell your people in Queenscrown to look out for those children as well."
Egger nodded, accepting the task. The Greenseer had finally made his move. With his methods, there were a thousand ways to help Bran escape Winterfell and head beyond the Wall. Unless the people of Winterfell had prepared specifically for this, it was impossible for them to compete with a near-omniscient entity in a North filled with Heart Trees. As for himself... stop Arya's brother? What a joke. He had already unwittingly crossed the Greenseer once and had even been marked for it. If he sabotaged the Greenseer's plans repeatedly, he might not even know how he died.
For the sake of his own life, he decided to stay out of this mess.
The Wildlings gradually began to congregate outside the gates of Castle Black. Mormont had drawn soldiers from various forts along the Wall to prevent any accidents; for the first time in a century, the headquarters of the Night's Watch boasted a four-digit troop count. Watchmen tasked with verifying Mance's claims were lowered from the top of the Wall into the Wildling camp.
The results of the investigation allowed Egger to breathe a sigh of relief. For now, at least, no falsehoods were found in Mance's words. The number of Wildlings was roughly as stated, and the grain reserves did indeed exist... the only thing that slightly exceeded the Watch's previous plan was the number of giants. Despite the casualties from bitter fighting and the harsh climate, there were still over a hundred of them.
To ensure these behemoths passed through the Wall without threatening the defenders, the Watch engaged in much discussion and planning. Finally, they moved several scorpions down from the top of the Wall and established a specific passage sequence to resolve the issue.
Giants were not as massive as people usually imagined when hearing the word. They were typically around ten feet tall, slow-moving and clumsy. While they stood over a foot taller than an average man, a single bolt from a scorpion would definitely kill them stone-dead. As long as the number of giants passing through the Wall at one time was restricted to no more than three, the Night's Watch was fully capable of handling any sudden contingencies.
"Acquire all of our grain?" Mance had finished reviewing the laws the Watch had spent days formulating, but he questioned this specific clause. "The Free Folk have no use for your copper. If you lack grain, we will voluntarily hand over a third; there is no need to force us like this!"
"An agreement is an agreement. If you do not consent, then the matter of passage through the Wall shall be put on hold."
"You..." Mance Rayder bit his lip, his shoulders slumping. "Can we not keep any? What will we eat once we reach our settlements?"
"Once the Free Folk have exchanged their grain for coin, they can use that money to buy food back before leaving Castle Black—though they may only buy a ten-day supply at most. Aside from grain, there will be clothing, daily necessities, and everything else; the selection is far more complete than it is beyond the Wall." Egger shrugged. "If you have no objections, you can go back and explain this to your people now. If all is well, the moment you return to Castle Black to serve as a hostage, the plan to allow the Free Folk through the Wall and into the Gift may begin."
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