When Jon caught up from behind, Ethan had already decided to give up on this student.
Seeing the earnest expression on the boy's face, he asked, "Jon, aren't you going to stay and help your brother win this war?"
Jon shook his head and replied, "Before Uncle Benjen accompanied you on patrol beyond the Wall, he told me that although my father, Lord Eddard, would always hold a place in his heart, his true brothers were the Night's Watch warriors who shared his meals and fought alongside him.
It's the same for me. I will never forget the time spent in Winterfell—learning swordsmanship with Robb and Ser Rodrik in the training grounds, throwing snowballs with Arya, and with Bran, Rickon, and Sansa. But now, Kevin and the warriors of the Silver Hand are my brothers."
Jon had grown up, but the price of this growth was undeniable.
Ethan nodded and said, "All right, then come with me."
Thus, thirteen stragglers who had broken away from the main army, along with a wolf and a bear, formed a small group and hurried through the night.
Although Robb had bluntly told Ethan, "I don't want to see you again," Ethan knew that as a great healer capable of saving the wounded in a few breaths, he was not a pawn that the commanders could easily discard.
Once his departure became known to more people, someone would inevitably come after him—perhaps even hunt him down.
To guard against this potential threat, Ethan ordered everyone to don armor and leave the area as quickly as possible, ensuring it wouldn't hinder the horses' speed, to avoid any potential risks.
Sure enough, as dawn broke and the sky began to lighten, a cavalry force of about twenty men caught up from the direction of Oxcross Town.
Faced with this sudden pursuit, Kevin immediately tightened the reins, looking nervously at Ethan. "Teacher, someone's catching up! Should we fight?"
Ethan shook his head, his tone firm and calm. "Keep going forward. No matter what happens behind you, don't look back. That's an order!"
"Teacher!" Kevin cried out unwillingly.
Ethan roared, "What's the first rule of my military discipline?!"
"Obey orders and follow commands!" Kevin and the other soldiers answered in unison.
"Then obey orders!" Ethan emphasized again.
Kevin gritted his teeth, a resolute glint in his eyes, and forced out a single word, "Go!"
He then led his demon warriors away swiftly. Ethan, alone on horseback, spear in hand, resolutely stood in front of the pursuers.
Leading the pursuers was Ethan's old acquaintance—Lord Rickard Karstark.
Seeing Ethan approach, Lord Rickard gestured for his warriors to halt. With his horse neighing impatiently, he rode up to Ethan and asked, "Ethan, why did you desert?"
Ethan shook his head, denying it. "I didn't desert; we're just on different paths. What happened in Oxcross disgusts me, Lord Rickard. My beliefs won't allow me to stand idly by while witnessing atrocities against civilians."
He paused slightly, then couldn't help asking, "Were you ordered to hunt me down?"
Lord Rickard shook his head, replying, "The Young Wolf wants you to return."
Ethan smiled bitterly. "I can't go back, my lord. I'm a mercenary; I sell my skills, not my conscience."
Lord Rickard's eyes were full of doubt. He countered, "Ethan, isn't the duty of a mercenary to kill? As long as you continue in this line of work, you'll inevitably encounter similar things again.
We Northerners rob, so don't the people of Highgarden and Stormlands rob? Not to mention the Westerlands and Crownlands under Lannister control.
In this war, which soldier's hands aren't stained with the blood of innocents?"
Lord Rickard's words left Ethan speechless. He knew all too well that in this world where feudal lords held power, it was difficult to find a pure land, a clean noble to whom he could pledge allegiance.
Completely bewildered, Ethan could only sigh, "Perhaps—"
However, even faced with Lord Rickard's persuasion, Ethan remained unmoved about returning.
Seeing that things were hopeless, Lord Rickard reluctantly gave up trying to persuade him. He shook his head and tossed over a small leather pouch.
Ethan caught it, weighed it in his hand, and felt it seemed to be filled with coins.
Lord Rickard continued, "I have three sons. Harion followed Roose Bolton to the Green Fork, and his fate remains unknown.
My second son, Eddard, was killed by Jaime Lannister in the Whispering Wood.
Now I only have Torren, who is missing an arm.
You saved his life, but I haven't been able to give you the reward you deserve.
I originally planned to help you secure a territory after this war and make you a garrison commander in our North, but now it seems impossible.
This bag contains eighty gold dragons; take it. Whatever you seek, I hope this money will be of some help."
Ethan closed his eyes and took a deep breath, saying, "Lord Rickard, you must be more careful in battle from now on. Without me by your side, people will truly die."
Lord Rickard laughed heartily. "Ethan, you think too highly of yourself and too weakly of us Northerners. Without you, we can still charge into battle and crush those Lannister maggots!"
Having said this, Lord Rickard turned his horse around and led his warriors away, their black banners with white suns fluttering in the morning breeze as they disappeared into the distance.
Ethan stood in the quiet valley, clutching his money pouch, until Lord Rickard's party had completely vanished into the dawn's glow, before slowly turning to catch up with his own troops.
Suppressing his inner bewilderment, he tossed the pouch to Jon Snow, saying, "You're my quartermaster again now. Take good care of the money."
Jon nodded and pocketed the money.
The thirteen men traveled light, still following the sheep trail Robb had discovered, but without the burden of a large army and with Ghost leading the way, their return to the Riverlands was much faster than before.
Nevertheless, traversing this path still took them two full days.
Initially, Ethan had led his men in splitting the Silver Hand into two groups, still harboring some ambition.
But when they camped for the night, he found that although he only had eleven soldiers and one extra—Lennar—left, their bond had actually deepened.
Everyone huddled in a makeshift shelter, took out their supplies, and sang and danced around the campfire. The barriers between captain, commander, and soldiers vanished completely. This was the kind of atmosphere Ethan had tried to cultivate since building his army, but had never been able to. Only now did he realize that relationships maintained by money could only ever be superficial, while a team bound together by shared beliefs was a truly solid team.
This relationship transcended brotherhood and was called "comrades-in-arms."
Since his comrades had chosen to follow him, Ethan naturally had a responsibility to lead them to a good home.
However, as Lord Rickard had said, all the nobles of the world were birds of a feather; even with a different master, in their eyes they were still just lackeys.
Ethan listed all the major powers on the continent from his memory, and after careful comparison, he found that only the Night's Watch—filled with criminals and scoundrels—was relatively clean.
It was an incredibly ironic discovery, but perhaps only there could they live a slightly easier life.
Ethan shared his thoughts with everyone, and no one objected.
Only Lennar sighed, saying, "I've told stories for most of my life, and I've inadvertently become part of the story myself.
I hope other bards will remember and tell the tale of an old man who voluntarily joined the Night's Watch."
Ethan could only apologize and promise to try his best to secure him a position similar to "The Raven" Yoren, allowing him to continue traveling the Seven Kingdoms, compiling and telling those stories.
Due to their hasty departure, their supplies were exhausted when they returned to the Riverlands.
However, compared to the sparsely populated North, the warm, humid Riverlands—with its numerous rivers—was much more densely populated, offering hope for resupply.
Lennar had once wandered from the Westerlands, traveling along the River Road. Before the war, ordinary merchants and travelers could freely travel between the Westerlands and the Riverlands by paying a "reasonable" transit tax to the Lefford family, who guarded Golden Tooth City.
Although much time had passed, Lennar still remembered a beautiful, bustling village not far south of the River Road—a perfect place to rest.
Ethan hadn't served long in the Northern Army, but he had experienced two major battles and treated hundreds of wounded soldiers. Since they were all cavalry, not nobles, his income was quite substantial.
After deducting the pay and bonuses paid to the Silver Hand warriors, he had saved nearly 1,500 to 1,600 gold dragons. With this money as a safety net, Ethan wouldn't have to worry about supplies for a while.
Therefore, Ethan decided to go to the village Lennar had mentioned to buy food and take a good rest.
However, when they returned to the small village, they found it had been reduced to charred ruins.
Earlier, Ethan had seen the black smoke rising from the roadside in the distance, and a sense of foreboding immediately filled him.
He initially thought it was smoke from cooking fires at dusk, but upon closer inspection, he discovered that the wooden houses in the village had been burned to charcoal.
Several elderly men and women were hanging from the rafters outside the houses at the village entrance, and a few bodies were scattered in the street, but these were far fewer than the number of people these houses should have housed.
Ethan, who had been on edge, bracing himself for an even stronger visual shock, secretly breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this scene.
"Teacher, the remaining villagers must have hidden themselves," Kevin cautiously told Ethan.
Since leaving Oxcross Town, Kevin had noticed that Ethan's mental state had been off, as if he were walking a tightrope, about to fall at any moment. Therefore, he could only try to guess in a positive direction to avoid upsetting his teacher.
Ethan nodded slowly. "That should be it. We'll camp here tonight."
He then said to the others, "Comrades, collect all the bodies and dig a decent grave for them. Consider it our rent for staying here tonight."
Those who were willing to follow Ethan were people who still had good intentions.
Although digging graves would be tiring, if they didn't dig the graves and let the corpses be exposed, then Ethan wouldn't be the leader they wanted to follow.
So the group went into the village and began looking for tools to dig the graves, and also looked for ready-made ingredients to prepare breakfast.
Suddenly, Ethan heard Ghost barking wildly from behind a low house in the village. He immediately drew his sword and rushed over. He saw Ghost barking wildly at a slanted wooden plank on the ground behind the house, while Little Bell kept trying to pry it open with its claws.
"Back off—go to the back. Jon, pull Ghost and Little Bell away," Ethan shouted.
Jon ran over quickly, grabbed Ghost by the neck, pulled it away, and then dragged Little Bell away.
Ethan carefully pulled back the wooden plank, revealing a dark cellar below. Inside, a terrified little girl tightly embraced a bewildered little boy, both looking up at Ethan.
The girl appeared to be only about ten years old, while the little boy, with his chubby face, looked to Ethan at most five.
"Child, come out. We're not bad people," Ethan said gently.
However, the little girl didn't move, only holding her brother tightly, burying her head, and sitting silently in place.
Ethan didn't know what the child had gone through, nor how to persuade her. He could only scratch his head, stuck there with the little girl.
It wasn't until Martha and Wendy heard the commotion and rushed over that they, with their natural feminine charm, finally managed to pull the two children out of the cold cellar.
Dealing with children, especially terrified ones, wasn't Ethan's forte. He could only instruct Martha to approach the two children. Enticed by the salted jerky, the little girl finally spoke, recounting what had happened in the village.
Yesterday afternoon at dusk, more than thirty cavalrymen suddenly stormed into the village, forcing all the villagers to stand in the square.
The mother of the two children was collecting eggs with them in the chicken coop in the backyard when she heard the commotion. She immediately carried them into the cellar, telling them not to speak or come out no matter what they heard, and then covered the cellar with wooden planks.
So the two children had remained in the dark cellar ever since.
Martha asked the little girl, "Do you know where your mom and dad went?"
The little girl shook her head, tears streaming down her face, and choked out, "Mommy didn't tell me. She just told us not to speak, not to make a sound. Mommy, I miss Mommy!"
Seeing the little girl so heartbroken, Martha quickly hugged her and comforted her.
Her younger brother, the little boy, however, did not cry.
Looking at Ethan's brass armor, he asked with great interest, "Sir, are you the king's soldiers? Did the king send you to rescue us?"
Ethan thought for a moment and smiled wryly. "No, little friend, we are not the king's soldiers. We are just a group of mercenaries who can't find an employer."
"I know," the little boy said earnestly. "My father is a blacksmith, and when he's too busy, he often hires people to help him forge iron.
The little boy struggled out of his sister's arms, took out two eggs from his pocket, and said to Ethan, "Sir, these are two eggs my mother gave me yesterday. She told us to eat these when we're hungry.
But eggs are expensive, and usually my mother saves them to sell to Mr. Barkley for money. Can I use these to hire you to help me find my parents? I miss them too."
Hearing the little boy's request, Ethan and his companions fell silent.
A moment later, Ethan burst out laughing, saying incredulously, "You're hiring me with two eggs? You're hiring a dozen of us with two eggs to defeat an army that could wipe out your entire village and rescue your parents?"
His eyes widened, and he looked at his companions with exaggerated laughter. "Haha, this kid wants me to work for him with just two eggs? Brothers, what do you say, can I take this job?"
Then, still laughing, Ethan pointed to the sky and cursed:
"Fuck the Others, fuck the Holy Light!
You tell me to fight the Shadows and I'll fight the Shadows? You tell me to kill the White Walkers and I'll kill the White Walkers?
You brought me into this world, and you want me to be a puppet according to your plan?
A filthy, unjust world soaked in blood isn't worth saving!
Fuck the king!
Fuck the nobles!
If it's about fists, my fist is bigger than all of theirs!
Fine!
If you want me to save the world, then do it my way!
I'll not only save this world, I'll overthrow it!
I'll establish a heaven on earth in this world!
If you have the guts, come down here and kill me right now!"
After venting his anger, Ethan was panting heavily. He seemed to feel that the barriers that had always surrounded him and prevented him from being free had all shattered during his rant.
The twelve remaining members of the Silver Hand silently surrounded him, waiting for Ethan's decision.
After a moment, Ethan's panting finally subsided.
He took the blackened egg from the child's hand, his eyes blazing with a golden light, and said gently, "Child, I, Ethan Cole, will take this case and bring your family back."
🪽✨🪽✨🪽✨🪽✨🪽✨🪽✨🪽✨🪽
Read Extra Chapter Visit My Patreon
I have only 1 tier
19$ Tier – Access to 40 advance chapters
patreon.com/Lempil
patreon.com/Lempil