Not long after the morning sun rose over the horizon, the fog on the hills had not yet lifted.

Pale red fingers slowly poked out from the east side of the sky.

Jones in front of the castle was ready to go.

Twenty mercenaries from all over the world laughed at each other as they checked their horses and weapons.

They include blacks from the Midsummer Isles, light-black Dorns in robes, whites with blond hair, shiny Dothraki with big braids, Riverlands knights who have lost their masters, and riverlanders who are born bastards......

These mercenaries walked around the river, taking advantage of the muddy water to catch some fish.

They didn't join any mercenary groups, and when they ran to the vicinity of Acorn Hall, now called Lava City, they heard the news provided by the merchants, and went to the "mercenary trading center" to register and ask for some work.

Today, I am acting with the Earl in a daze.

Of course, for most of them, it didn't make a difference who worked for them, as long as there was wine, a woman, and a silver deer.

It just so happens that Lava City is not short of these things right now.

At least on the surface, there is no shortage.

......

Touching the war horse, Jones pouted helplessly.

Although it was already the tallest and strongest in the city, it was still not far behind the dark horse he had brought from Amber's house.

But think about it, the Amber family is so strong, and they are specially bred with high-headed horses that have been inherited for thousands of years, which is naturally not comparable to ordinary horses.

Because, the ancestor of those high-headed horses may have been a big unicorn.

The big unicorn, it sounds magical, but it's not nonsense either.

It lives on the island of Skagus, known to many nobles in the north.

Skagus Island, theoretically part of the northern border, is a large island at the exit of Seal Bay.

However, the waters around the island are dangerous, full of reefs, and when a storm hits, the cold wind blowing from outside the island can even freeze ropes and sails.

The island is inhabited by cannibals, who are huge in size and hairy all over their bodies.

Their leaders are said to ride large unicorns that are more than two meters tall.

And they are nominally loyal to the Stark family, but there are not a few Starks who have died at their hands.

Most recently, 100 years ago, Basgen Stark, known as the "Black Sword Bath", and hundreds of his men died on the island, and since then Skagus Island has been completely cut off from the north......

......

After Jones broke away from the Amber family, he didn't have to think about the tall horses bred by the Amber family, so he started the idea of their ancestor, the big unicorn.

Not long after the establishment of the "Mercenary Trading Center", he issued the golden mission of "Finding the Big Unicorn".

It's a pity that the total number of mercenaries registered in the trading center is less than fifty, and the warriors who dare to go to Cannibal Island have not yet appeared.

So Jones is only at the stage of fantasy about the big unicorn.

......

"Anyway, the place I went to this time is not far," Jones comforted the horse with his horse, and he didn't know if he was talking to the horse, or to himself, "You have been resting for a long time." ”

In order to prevent himself from feeling pity, Jones never named his warhorse, and unlike many warriors who only had one horse in their lifetime, his way of fighting led to frequent changes in his warhorse.

"Lord Earl, your Marco is so beautiful, you see that hair is reflecting. The mercenary 'Wild Duck' said enviously.

The 'mallard' is named Duck and wears a motley cloak of duck feathers.

However, he felt that the 'house duck' (Duck) was not worthy of his bravery, so he let others call him a wild duck.

"I wield my axe as swiftly as a mallard eats!" was his mantra.

Jones was skeptical, "Maybe it's even crazier to run for your life than a duck." ”

When the duck heard Jones's taunt that day, his face turned red and he glared angrily, and he struck the sparks with his axes straight up, and put on a posture of fighting for his reputation.

With a loud bang, the wild duck's double axe was knocked away by the black giant sword, and with a whistling sound, it spun and flew out more than ten meters away.

But Jones is also sure of one thing, the mercenary duck, when he covers his hands and howls loudly, is indeed much louder than the real mallard.

"Duck, next time you dare to show your weapon with me, it will not only be your axe, but also your wings. Jones said lightly.

He was not at all light, and he was not as "gentle" as the northern soldiers to this group of mercenaries, and the tiger's mouth of the wild duck may have been injured by him at that time.

Of course, the effect is obvious, at least now the wild duck does not dare to bark at him anymore.

......

"Everyone, let's go!"

In the glimmer of the morning sun, Jones and twenty mercenaries descended the southeast slope.

There were no flags, no one saw them off, and even the sound of horses' hooves was so messy.

To their right were rows of rudimentary one-story houses made of stone, crammed with an unknown number of people, but well managed, and without the pervasive stench, sweat, and rot of the outer city.

Among these humble stone houses, there are several buildings that stand out.

A round low-rise building with multiple entrances and exits, it was a mercenary center.

The outside of the merchant's activity building was painted with a layer of white lime, which gave people a look as noble as a temple, and also made many merchants feel relieved of their snacks and less worried about being cut at any time to grab goods.

The places where Jones enclosed the city walls, except for the original outer town, were called New Town.

The new town looks like a flowery city, but in fact it is already a bit untenable, and some shrewd merchants even want to take advantage of the fire, either to drive down the price of the land sold in Lava City, or to lure Jones into borrowing from them usury.

Every time Jones was angry, he would scold Joaquin in his heart.

"Why haven't you brought my golden dragon from the city of calamity, have you been captured by the stranger? I hope you have been captured by the stranger, or I promise to make you look good......"

It turns out that being a lord is not an easy job, especially if you want to be a good lord.

Jones's main focus now is on dealing with merchants from all over the world, painting them cakes and convincing them of the population of Lava City and how safe their industries will be......

For this reason, he has the feeling of being confused in the adjudication of daily contradictions.

"Otherwise, you two families can live together, and your wife doesn't have to divide who is who!"

The first time he went to the adjudication court building in the outer city, he couldn't help but burst out when he came to the sixteenth thing - neighbors accusing each other of stealing his wife.

Out of the dilapidated Judgment Building, Jones realized why Moswood had abandoned it for so long.

And, because his thinking was very different from that of the Westeros, the judgment he made was reminded by many individuals whether it was too merciful.

Jones was also very helpless about this, and even now, he couldn't think of a good solution.

Whenever he thought of a mess of chores to deal with, Jones would sigh, "It's better to be a fighter." ”

Or scold the school city again,

"There are so many bachelors in it, so many books are blocked, and I don't think about how to improve Westeros, in the previous life, when the porcelain country was still backward in productivity compared to yours, there were a bunch of sons and hundreds of schools of thought about how to manage the commoners and ministers for the monarch, if a new prince rises, those students will definitely come faster than anyone else, desperately trying to display their ambitions. And the school city is simply a salted fish in this regard......"