"Lord Linde, thank you for your reinforcements; otherwise, Sea Frontier City might not have been held." Inside the castle's lord's bedroom, Lord Jason Melister, with the help of servants, sat up from his bed. Still recovering from a serious illness, his face was pale, his breathing faint, and each word seemed to require all his strength, yet his spirit was good.
Lord Linde bowed to Lord Jason and said, "Lord Jason, please rest and recover. I believe after this battle, the Iron Islands will not bother Sea Frontier City for a long time."
Lord Jason replied, "Please also feel free to rest in the city. If there is anything, just tell my son Patrick."
Seeing that Lord Jason looked exhausted and ready to faint after speaking just a few sentences, Lord Linde did not stay long. After a brief greeting, he left the Earl's bedroom.
On the way out of the castle, Lord Linde inquired about the Earl's condition from Patrick Melister, who was accompanying him.
"Father's health is much better. He can sit up, talk, and eat. A month ago, he could only lie down and do nothing," Patrick answered truthfully. "The Maester said Father caught a cold, and common medicines are not very effective. He suggested Father stay in Oldtown or Arbor for some time, which would benefit his condition. However, when we were about to send him to Oldtown, the Iron Islands rebelled."
"It's alright, this rebellion will end very soon," Lord Linde comforted Patrick.
Patrick then said, "I have already ordered preparations for a banquet…"
Lord Linde raised his hand to interrupt Patrick's invitation and said, "It is still wartime, so it's not suitable to hold a banquet." Then, he thought for a moment and added, "If possible, please prepare more meat and send it to the military camp outside the city. We will rest in the camp."
Patrick quickly suggested, "How can that be? How can it be appropriate to rest in a camp? You can come into the city…"
"No need! The soldiers are too mixed, and if they relax in the city, they might cause trouble. It's better to stay outside the city. Besides, there are nearly ten thousand Ironborn captives outside the city who need to be carefully guarded to prevent any accidents," Lord Linde refused Patrick's kind offer and then requested, "We will rest outside the city for two days. After two days, we will set off along the coastline to Warwick. At that time, I will assimilate a portion of these nearly ten thousand Ironborn, and Sea Frontier City will need to guard a portion of the rest, and The Twins will also accommodate a portion. So, it's best if you clear out enough cells to hold prisoners in these two days to avoid being caught unprepared."
"Yes, I understand," Patrick quickly responded.
Afterward, Patrick immediately ordered a large amount of food to be prepared and sent it along with Lord Linde as he left Sea Frontier City to the military camp outside the city. Patrick had also prepared to send some wine, but Lord Linde stopped him, as drinking during wartime is a great taboo.
Although the lack of wine displeased many Northern and The Twins soldiers, no one dared to say anything after learning that Lord Linde had forbidden alcohol from entering the camp. Moreover, a large amount of delicious food was already very good for them.
Furthermore, the army did not enter the city to avoid disturbing the populace, but people from the city could come out to provide services. For example, some juggling performers, small vendors selling goods, and prostitutes from the brothels in Sea Frontier City took the opportunity to come outside the military camp and set up business.
The wealth that the Ironborn had plundered from the areas around Sea Frontier City during this time was not demanded back by Patrick. Instead, according to the rules of war, it fell into Lord Linde's hands.
Lord Linde was extremely generous in the distribution of spoils. Half of it was distributed, with everyone receiving a considerable reward based on their military merits. Even the newly joined The Twins recruits had their pockets filled with copper coins and silver stags.
In this situation, they naturally did not hesitate to spend money, and Lord Linde did not prevent these business people from approaching the camp. The only requirement was that they were not allowed to enter the camp; all transactions were to be completed outside the camp and could not affect daily tasks.
During this time, some Frey and Amber knights and warriors who did not understand Lord Linde's character violated military regulations and were punished publicly. One Frey collateral relative, in particular, was publicly executed by Lord Linde for violating the military regulations he set. After completing a transaction with a prostitute, he stole her money and almost killed her.
After a series of punishments, everyone became much more restrained, and even the unruly Northerners obediently followed Lord Linde's rules.
"What's wrong? We won the battle, but you don't seem very happy?" After inspecting the camp for a week, Lord Linde returned to his tent and saw Nameria sitting inside, wiping armor and weapons with her female attendants. However, Nameria's expression was not very happy, which puzzled Lord Linde.
Nameria sighed slightly and said, "I didn't expect the battle to go so smoothly. I suppose Warwick and Shear Rock City shouldn't be a problem either. This rebellion should end in no time, and then you will probably have to leave Tengshi Town."
Lord Linde walked over and sat beside Nameria, holding her hand. He said, "I am only leaving temporarily, and it's not a very far place. It will be very simple for me to visit you in Tengshi Town, or for you to visit me."
At this moment, Nameria's twin female attendants discreetly left the tent.
"Will you need my help then?" Nameria asked with concern.
Lord Linde shook his head and said, "No need. Your greatest help to me is to manage Tengshi Town well. Tengshi Town is my rear, and as long as Tengshi Town is stable, I will have no worries."
Nameria nodded and said, "In that case, you will need to leave Bert with me. He is now the administrator of Tengshi Town, and he is responsible for most of the government affairs. If he leaves with you, I won't be able to find anyone to replace him in a short time."
Lord Linde agreed, "That's what I thought too. With Moroa by my side, I can handle most government affairs. Besides, she and Bert have some overlapping duties. If she and Bert work with me, it will hinder them from fully utilizing their talents."
Upon hearing that Moroa would also be accompanying Lord Linde to the new territory, Nameria's expression became somewhat displeased.
She knew very well that Moroa had designs on Lord Linde, but Lord Linde had not done anything to Moroa, so she couldn't say anything.
Now, letting Moroa go with Lord Linde to the new territory, with them spending a long time together, she felt quite uneasy.
Even though she knew very well that Lord Linde had no romantic interest in Moroa, Moroa was truly too seductive and beautiful, and any woman would be worried.
Lord Linde said with great certainty, "You don't have to worry about Moroa. I know very well that she has ideas about me, but her ideas about me are not about romantic feelings, but something else. So, you don't have to worry that anything will happen between us."
Nameria was not the kind of petty woman who was easily swayed by emotions and made unreasonable demands. She quickly regained her composure and discussed the future development direction of Tengshi Town with Lord Linde, using the discussion of these matters to recover from the bloodthirsty emotions caused by the battle.
Perhaps it was due to some hidden secret in Nameria's bloodline, but in every battle, as time went on, Nameria became more and more warlike and bloodthirsty, showing signs of developing into a berserker.
Fortunately, Lord Linde's Dragon Rune necklace could help her maintain a calm mind amidst such warlike and bloodthirsty emotions, thus preventing any accidents.
Lord Linde had also asked Moroa about related issues, but Moroa couldn't find the reason. She only told Lord Linde that the Fudeli Family was very ancient, having arrived in Westeros during the First Men era, and that this family came from a very distant East, possibly Asshai in the far East.
The reason she said this was because in the early days, the Fudeli Family once worshipped a black stone that could absorb light and make people who looked at it for a long time feel sick and produce strong negative emotions. As far as she knew, such stones only existed in Asshai.
Later, this stone was taken to the North by Brandon the Builder and became one of the cornerstones of the Wall. In exchange, Brandon built a castle for the Fudeli Family, which was burned down during the Dance of the Dragons and is now repaired.
Lord Linde also told Nameria these things he heard from Moroa. Nameria was also shocked by her family's history. She had never imagined that her family would have such a legendary past.
However, this was of no use for Nameria's symptoms. They could only follow the method used to deal with the side effects of the Lost Country Knight's Dragon Feast Ritual: prepare several more Dragon Rune Dragon Crystal necklaces for Nameria to wear during battle to weaken her bloodthirsty emotions.
And she had also grown accustomed to calming her bloodthirsty desires after battles by wiping her armor and weapons and talking with Lord Linde about various matters.
Just as Lord Linde and Nameria were chatting and relaxing their tense post-battle emotions, Jon came outside the tent and said, "My Lord, something has happened with the captives, and you might need to deal with it."
Lord Linde and Nameria both frowned and, by unspoken agreement, stood up and walked outside the tent.
"What happened? Is someone else not afraid of death and trying to escape?" Lord Linde asked in a deep voice.
"No," Jon shook his head and said, "Someone wants to pledge allegiance to you."
"Pledge allegiance to me?" Lord Linde was stunned and couldn't help but laugh, "I want a group of pirates…" As he spoke, he seemed to think of something and suddenly stopped. He thought for a moment, then asked, "Who wants to pledge allegiance to me? Is it a common Ironborn pirate, or an Iron Islands noble?"
"It's an Iron Islands noble, and a great noble at that," Jon said seriously. "Dagon Cleftjaw, the eldest son of Lord Rodrik Harlaw, the patriarch of the Harlaw family."
Lord Linde was startled when he heard the name and couldn't help but confirm, "What is his name?"
"Dagon Cleftjaw," Jon didn't understand why Lord Linde reacted so strongly. In his memory, this name seemed to come from a legendary hero of the Iron Islands.
However, when Lord Linde heard this name, what he thought of was an unspeakable entity from another world system.
At this moment, he remembered a post he had seen on a forum in his previous life, which mentioned what Cthulhu elements existed in the Ice and Fire World, including Dagon and Deep Ones.
This world had Deep Ones. It was said that the black stone foundation of Oldtown's Hightower was built by Deep Ones, but Lord Linde had been to Oldtown's Hightower, and while the Hightower itself contained mysterious power, the black stone foundation did not appear to have anything special about it.
Additionally, there was another matter related to the Deep Ones: someone had truly seen the Deep Ones and gone to their deep-sea kingdom, and returned alive to the land. This person was Patchface of Storm's End.
Lord Linde quickly recovered from the associations triggered by the name Dagon and shifted his attention back to the main topic, asking, "Why does this Dagon Cleftjaw want to pledge allegiance to me?"
"He said he wants to live," Jon replied.
"Live?" Lord Linde looked at Jon in confusion and asked, "Do the guards want to kill him? I remember giving an order not to kill captives arbitrarily."
Jon quickly explained, "No, he is the heir of Lord Harlaw, a great noble of the Iron Islands. We have also given him the treatment a great noble should receive, letting him stay in a separate tent. No one will kill him."
Lord Linde retorted, "Then why would he say he wants to live?"
Jon said with an innocent expression, "We don't know either. He just said he wanted to see you, My Lord."
"I think you should meet this Dagon Cleftjaw," Nameria seemed to be of the same mind as Lord Linde and said, "Your future territory, next to the Dorne Sea, is very suitable for building a harbor and will definitely need a large number of sailors and captains to form a fleet. Although the Ironborn are fond of raiding, it is undeniable that they are the best sailors in the Seven Kingdoms. If you can subdue this Dagon Cleftjaw, it will be of great help to you in forming a fleet in your territory in the future."
Lord Linde listened to Nameria's words and nodded in agreement. Then he motioned for Jon to lead the way to meet this Dagon Cleftjaw.
To prevent the Ironborn from organizing and launching a counterattack, Lord Linde categorized the Ironborn prisoners of war into different ranks based on their status, giving them different treatments.
For example, the lower-class Ironborn were directly bound and shackled, while the captains and common officers among the Ironborn were slightly better off, allowed to stay by the campfire and receive some decent food. As for the knights and nobles, they were arranged in separate tents. Except for meals, they were not allowed to leave their tents, and their dining area was also arranged in the prisoner-of-war camp, where they received noble treatment for their food.
This differentiation would quickly create dissatisfaction among the lower-class Ironborn towards the upper echelons, especially those nobles who were not bound at all, living well and eating well, who would be seen as traitors. Even if these people wanted to incite the Ironborn captives to resist at some point, it was unlikely that many would respond.
Not all Ironborn nobles failed to see through Lord Linde's open scheme, but they were powerless to resist and could only silently endure it, rapidly losing control over their subordinate armies.
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