Bear School Astartes

"You two, bandage him first."

Lann withdrew Aron Dite and instructed the two unharmed cavalry.

The solid battle achievements had made these warriors, who already had a good relationship with Lann, completely obedient to him now. In some way, this could be seen as a testament to personal charm.

"Here's the dagger. That archer had his windpipe slit by the blade and choked to death on his own blood. How are you doing?"

After finding the archer's corpse in the woods, Lann walked over to Edd, handing him the ornate Dragonbone Dagger while inquiring about his injuries.

The Duke of the North panted and waved his hand.

"Take the dagger. Without you, we'd all have lost our heads by now. My injury's manageable; the hit on my arm didn't reach the bone, just needs bandaging."

Lann nodded slightly and sheathed the Dragonbone Dagger into his hunting knife sheath.

"You seem relieved," the Demon Hunter looked at Edd, "Does the death of the Demon Mountain here ease your mind?"

Edd, sitting on a corpse, started wrapping himself with gauze, a smile hanging on his sweaty face.

"The Demon Mountain's reputation echoes through the Seven Kingdoms. With even him dead here, Tywin is unlikely to dispatch a stronger team to intercept us. Even if he wanted to, someone would have to dare to accept the task. Who claims their small team operations are stronger than the Demon Mountain's?"

"As for repeated harassment? If Tywin Lannister could repeatedly send troops into the Riverlands and Royal Territory, then there might be no point in waging war against him; admitting defeat would be simpler."

"You have greatly helped, Lann. After this, our road back to the Northern Territory will surely be much smoother. I want to give you your deserved reward, name a price, Lann. The Starks always satisfy their friends."

Lann smiled and patted the Dragon Bone Knife Handle at his waist.

"You've paid your dues, Edd."

"That's not enough." The Duke of the North said earnestly, "That's nowhere near enough to repay your aid, whether in King's Landing or here. You deserve more and better things."

Lann helplessly grimaced.

Talking about Gold Coins—even the tournament's ten thousand gold dragons were already heavy enough, not to mention having a Dragon Bone. Asking for more Gold Coins would only make him worry he might not be able to return home.

Furthermore, being a solitary Demon Hunter wandering the world, collecting excessive Gold Coins seemed of little use.

Yet seeing Edd's determination, it was clear he insisted on repaying him.

Stubborn knights are not easy to convince.

"Alright, if you really want to give..."

Then jokingly, Lann spoke with an utterly nonchalant tone.

"When we return, give me the first thing you see that you have yet unknowingly possessed."

In Lann's estimation, this thing is likely to be a rabbit or venison roasted by Jorri on the fire.

But just after he spoke, a mysterious breeze blew through the forest, rustling the leaves.

Edd seemed visibly stupefied upon hearing this request.

"Is this... a custom from your hometown? That's quite strange."

If not for the good education the Duke of the North received, he might have struggled with the grammar of that sentence.

Lann naturally nodded.

This sentence once turned him into a practical slave, but at Bordeaux's death moment, Lann had personally spoken "we're even."

Thus, at this moment, Lann's heart no longer harbored any resentment towards this sentence.

"Yes, it's a custom. When we're not too obsessed with rewards, we tend towards letting the gods decide what to give us."

A custom! Just babbling!

Would it even get exposed?

Seeing Lann being casual about it, Edd nodded in agreement with this form of compensation.

"Sir! We found the horses they brought in the woods; too many of their men died to ride them all. Perfect for you!"

The two unharmed cavalry happily shouted to Lann and Edd after finishing tidying up the battlefield.

Therefore, the two glanced at each other, nodded, and prepared to leave.

-----------------

In the makeshift camp Jorri set up, they were boiling water in a pot and preparing to put barley and dried meat inside.

All the items on the cart were piled together, covered with a tarp.

Jorri Kaiso watched the water level in the pot and frowned slightly.

"This firewood isn't enough; I'll go get some more."

A subordinate cutting the dried meat lifted his head and replied.

"Got it, you go ahead."

Saying this, Jorri drew a chopper from the pile of sundries, ready to chop some woods.

Contrary to common knowledge, the plant wood slices are quite damaging to the blade, so genuine swords used for combat wouldn't typically perform the chopper's function unless there was no alternative.

Jorri weighed the chopper in his hand, heading towards the woods behind the camp, but when passing by the pile of boxes from the carriage, he suddenly slowed his steps.

Because from what was supposed to be only a pile of lifeless boxes, there came a rustling sound.

Jorri bent down slightly, put down the chopper, drew the Longsword from his waist, and edged towards the pile of boxes.

Meanwhile, this experienced Guard Captain was also speculating internally about what the situation might be.

A beast? A rat? A spy? Assassin?...

No matter what, given the current circumstances, anyone impeding the Duke of the North's return and troop deployment would significantly impact the war.

Thus, Jorri Kaiso was naturally prepared to eliminate any enemies encountered along the way.

The Guard Captain slowly shuffled his steps.

The scene behind the boxes was about to appear in his view.

No matter who was behind the boxes, they weren't getting away...

"Alia?!!!"

Suddenly, Jorri, who was just moments ago ready to fight and kill, widened his eyes, yelling out crazily uncontrollably.

Behind the pile of boxes was a slim little figure, accompanied by a pair of glowing wolf eyes, reaching for dried meat from the box edge.

In the dark night, Jorri didn't even need a torch to recognize this little young lady of the Stark family!

The young girl grabbing dried meat from the box froze. Tentatively, she turned her head slowly towards Jorri with a pleasing smile.

Incidentally, both her and Nymelia's mouths were stuffed full with dried meat.

"Ah, ah-ha! Uncle Jorri!"

Alia awkwardly greeted him while Jorri was already clutching his head in frustration.

He didn't have to think to understand what had happened!

No wonder he said the box was oddly heavy! Turns out it had a Ice Wolf and a child inside!

Jorri knew all too well how Alia would act next—as surely as he knew she'd come up with a string of laughable excuses, actually claiming this was purely accidental.

With all that running, they probably didn't even consider sending her back, just decided to keep her along...

"Uncle Jorri, this was completely accidental on my part..."

Even from the outset, Jorri's complexion turned wooden.

Of course!

"Alia, shut up!"

"Okay." The young girl nods obediently, shutting her mouth.

"Wait till your father gets back..." Jorri covered his face in agony, "Talk to your father yourself."

Thus, when Edd and Lann returned with the three surviving soldiers stained with blood, the first sight was the young girl and Ice Wolf sitting by the campfire.

The Duke of the North first exclaimed in surprise, "Alia," then immediately looked toward the Demon Hunter as if recalling something.

... only to find the Demon Hunter's expression not much different from his own.