"You! You! You're Aeri!"
Mors Amber was in utter disbelief, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. His hands trembled uncontrollably, seemingly overwhelmed with emotion.
Aeri Amber's face was also streaked with tears. Ever since regaining her memories, she had longed for this moment every single day.
She had waited and yearned for this day for so, so long. Finally, all the words coalesced into a single embrace.
Father and daughter, reunited after so long, held each other tightly. Tears blurred their vision, but these were not tears of sorrow, but tears of joy, of happiness.
Marco and the others quietly retreated outside the door, giving the father and daughter some space. At this moment, Marco said to Lord Jon (the elder):
"I'm truly sorry, my lord! Actually, someone knew about this a long time ago. It's just that it's been so long, and that someone was afraid your family would treat Lady Aeri as a 'fraud,' so they didn't reveal the truth!"
Lord Jon (the elder) waved his hand at Marco and said:
"Hahaha! Excellent! No! Lord Marcol, you are absolutely correct! You are the one who brought my cousin back, we should be thanking you!
Hmph! Over the years, there have always been some riffraff bringing wild women from who-knows-where to pretend to be Aeri's cousins. If it wasn't for your help this time, those claiming kinship might not even get through the door!
Lord Marcol! From this day forward, you are the most honored guest of House Amber! The Old Gods witness it all!"
That evening, in the banquet hall of Last Hearth, House Amber held a grand feast to celebrate the return of their family's daughter, Aeri Amber, to the family.
Originally, Mors Amber wanted his grandson to join House Amber, but Erok believed he was the Clan Stern's chieftain and had to be responsible for his people.
So he rejected his grandfather's proposal and said that he would have one of his sons join House Amber in the future.
Moreover, under Marco's instructions, he revealed to Lord Jon (the elder) that he had more than 10,000 subjects, which made the Northern Baron so happy his mouth almost couldn't close!
No lord would refuse their family members expanding their family's influence elsewhere. For example, House Flint in The North had several branches.
If the family were to fall in the future, or if the heirs all died, they could always find an heir from the collateral branches to inherit the family and the surname.
Moreover, Erok suggested that his tribe would serve as a distribution center for Marco and the others' goods, and that a large amount of cargo would come to Last Hearth in the future.
The gathering continued until the late hours of the night. Originally, the three main figures of House Amber were going to come and toast Marco, but Marco declined them, citing his religion's prohibition on alcohol.
Helplessly, the three of them could only target Sas Ting and the others. Over the course of the night, a large number of Marco's guards were knocked out, and the liquor Marco brought was completely consumed.
The great mage Nacxis also escaped the ordeal because of his age. Marco and the other spent the entire night communicating with Baron, the scholar of House Amber.
Marco, under the guise of searching for exotic creatures, was constantly probing for information about Last Hearth. Baron, on the other hand, was very interested in Marco's "Blind God's Church," and would occasionally take out a notebook to record what Marco said.
However, these so-called doctrines and mythological stories were actually fabricated by Marco, and he referenced "Christianity" from Earth for many of the doctrines.
These half-truths completely fooled the scholar, making him unable to distinguish between truth and falsehood, and he unconsciously yearned for the place Marco came from.
A maester is a servant of knowledge, and every maester is interested in unknown civilizations and cultures. Maester Baron's initial purpose in coming to The North was to explore the history of the Children of the Forest.
Because Last Hearth was the place in The North with the most recorded sightings of the Children of the Forest, Baron had a dream: to become a doctor in his lifetime.
The person he admired most was his former mentor, Dr. Perestan. This doctor could be said to be a living "World History," able to tell any story related to that period based on a single name.
However, Baron never thought he would reach Dr. Perestan's level. He only had a small goal for now: to deduce the history of the Children of the Forest.
Marco was, as always, playing the role of a young master who loved exotic animals, and the topic never strayed from that. This made Baron, who was taking notes, feel a little anxious.
Helplessly, in order to get the "information" about that mysterious sect from Marco's mouth, Baron had to tell him all the relevant legends of The North.
Marco showed great interest after hearing it and expressed his intention to go north to take a look at The Wall and, if possible, to find the legendary Giants.
This almost made Baron cry with worry. If Marco really went beyond the Wall, Baron dared to bet that he would definitely be skinned alive by the people of House Amber.
But Marco ignored Baron's flustered expression, instead announcing that he would be going to Wolf Tail Forest, behind Last Hearth, tomorrow to look for the legendary Children of the Forest.
Scholar Baron swallowed hard, turned his head to look at the already inebriated Ambers, and silently suppressed the urge to go and report the situation.
When the banquet ended, Marco looked at the trembling scholar Baron and silently breathed a sigh of relief.
He had talked too much with him tonight. He didn't have much information about the Nine Free Cities in his memory. Back on Earth, it was only because of Jaqen H'ghar, the Faceless Man, that he had looked into this city, which called itself "a certain person."
Marco wasn't sure whether the information he provided matched the reality of this world.
Therefore, to prevent exposure, Marco gradually led Scholar Baron into his topic trap.
The purpose was to make him think that Marco was going to The Wall and beyond because of his urging. With these things entangling him, Scholar Baron wouldn't delve too deeply into the information Marco had provided.
Moreover, Marco knew very well that, except for a few scholars and doctors with a practical spirit, their knowledge and intelligence were limited to the continent of Westeros. This was also the reliance he dared to use for his half-truths and deception.
——————Dream Fragment——————
"The Wind God's fury! The Water God's coldness! The Wasteland God's withering!..."
Prayers, like wails, echoed in Marco's mind. He sensed the pain and hatred permeating the words.
He stood in a dense forest. A strange energy seemed to pulse with each prayer. His consciousness was exceptionally sensitive to such things in this state.
As the prayers ended, the entire space shattered, along with Marco's consciousness.
The scene shifted. Marco's consciousness returned, and he found himself beside a Weirwood Tree.
A human male, around twenty years old, was hanging beneath the tree, his hands bound by vines. He was covered in claw marks, looking utterly wretched.
At first, Marco thought this might be connected to the Night King's birth, but when he saw a single Child of the Forest, he knew something was amiss.
And the Children of the Forest's condition was also very strange. A faint blue light emanated from one of his eyes, and he seemed to have trouble holding the Obsidian Dagger.
Around the man, more than a dozen human corpses were scattered. Some were already rotten, while others looked as if they had just been dug out of the ground.
At this moment, fear filled the man's eyes. He seemed to sense his impending fate.
So, he struggled desperately, but the vines binding him seemed to have a life of their own, tightening and lengthening.
"Roar!"
The struggling man was startled into stillness by a beast's roar. A large cat emerged from the depths of the forest.
Its fur was black, with gray stripes, and its size was similar to a Siberian Tiger from Earth!
At this moment, it placed a human corpse beside a Weirwood Tree, then ran over and roared at the man again.
The man urinated in fear, and after he calmed down, the big cat went over to the Children of the Forest and rubbed against her.
At this moment, the Children of the Forest was stunned, her eyes completely turning blue. Then, ignoring her smoking hands, she grabbed the Obsidian Dagger and stabbed it fiercely into the man's heart.
The man howled in pain, emitting a bizarre blue light, and soon lost his life.
The Children of the Forest rolled her eyes and fell backwards, but fortunately, the big cat caught her with its back in time. After a while, she struggled to get up, and her eyes had returned to normal.
She cautiously walked towards the human man, seemingly wanting to make sure he was dead. Just as the Children of the Forest's hand was about to touch the man…
"Hao!"
This strange cry instantly shattered the entire space into dust, and Marco woke up from his dream.
The Three-Eyed Raven had once told Marco that Marco's consciousness world contained a very mysterious energy. This energy granted Marco a kind of ability similar to "Greensight," which, under certain circumstances, could even see the past and foresee the future.
You see, across the entire continent of Westeros, only the Three-Eyed Raven, a greensight, and a few Children of the Forest possess the unique ability of "Greensight".
Marco rubbed his throbbing head, trying to recall the dream from tonight. He realized that the place in the dream didn't match any area he remembered visiting.
He first ruled out Skagos Island. After Marco conquered it, he had people check every weirwood tree on the island, recording their sizes and sketching their locations on topographical maps.
The terrain and scenes in the dream didn't match the information Marco possessed. Furthermore, if there were Children of the Forest on Skagos Island, the Stoneborn would have worshipped them as gods long ago.
The lands beyond the Wall were even less likely. The dream took place in a forest with little snow. Judging by the clothing of the corpses, it seemed more like the people of The North.
"Eh! Wait! Or... could this be happening near me? The corpses?"
Marco seemed to have thought of something, muttering to himself.
"Ding! A low chant from the depths of the forest has awakened a terrible being. Find it! Destroy it! (Incomplete) Reward (Gold 2000, Crystal 1)"
The sudden appearance of the quest log startled Marco. He hadn't seen a quest in so long, he thought it had stopped working!
The next morning, Marco and his group stood outside Wolf Tail Forest. Wolf Tail Forest was part of the Wolf Forest, but it was separated by the Moat, so the people of Last Hearth called it "Wolf Tail Forest."
The Wolf Forest was the largest forest in The North, stretching from Deepwood Motte in the west to Last Hearth in the east. It was the largest forest on the entire continent of Westeros, with the main vegetation being oak trees, evergreen trees, and blackthorn.
At this time, Baron, the maester of Last Hearth, and "Lord Jon (the younger)" were at the entrance of the forest, trying to dissuade Marco.
Early that morning, Marco had told "Lord Jon (the elder)" that he wanted to go to Wolf Tail Forest.
The reason was that Baron the maester said that there were Children of the Forest and shadowcats in Wolf Tail Forest. When Marco said this, Baron felt a few gazes filled with killing intent land on him.
He was so frightened that he quickly blocked Marco's path, but Marco insisted that he had to go. Furthermore, he told everyone from House Amber that these were the only things he was interested in.
"Lord Jon" offered to send a fifty-man team to protect him, but Marco refused. He directly sent Sas Ting and his two companions.
After repeatedly defeating several powerful warriors of House Amber, "Lord Jon" abandoned the idea of sending people to protect Marco.
However, he still sent his son, "Lord Jon (the younger)," to act as Marco's guide, and also, Baron the scholar "volunteered" to come along as an "advisor."
He was truly terrified. He could fully anticipate how he would be "dealt with" if he stayed here, so he thought staying by Marco's side was the safest option.
Baron the scholar said, "Lord Marcol! There's really no need for you to go inside! We can pay to recruit hunters for you. You'll have everything you need!"
Marco replied, "That's impossible! This is the Lord's trial for someone. It must be speaking to me through you, giving me divine revelations!"
"Lord Jon (the younger)" said to Marco, "Lord Marcol! Let's go back. A soldier just reported that this area hasn't been very peaceful lately. A lumberjack even went missing deep in the forest."
Hearing this, Marco became even more excited, "Baron the scholar! Haha! Did you hear that? This is the Lord's divine revelation to someone. It must be related to the Oddities!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, he ordered everyone to set off. Today, everyone, including Marco, would be traveling on foot. Ten Snow Bear Knights had also come, but none of the snow bears were brought in because they couldn't be used in the forest.
Marco, relying on the memories in his mind, led the way. "Lord Jon (the younger)" and Baron, on the side, were so anxious they stomped their feet, wanting to run over and grab him.
However, they were stopped by Henk and the others. Erok, as agreed, remained in Last Hearth. Marco asked him to learn how to govern the territory from his uncle.