章 9: Chapter 9: People of the North
After a moment, a bloated young man limped out.
He took a closer look and found that the guy who suddenly appeared from the roadside was not fat, but because he carried too many prey on his back and tied around his waist. Then, with the remaining light, he discovered that he was actually a very capable young hunter.
Jon found that he was neither wearing a helmet nor carrying an ice weapon, but he had a sword and a spear, so he relaxed.
And the young hunter saw that Jon had no ill intentions, so the two of them tried to contact each other. After a while, after learning where the other was going, they sat around the fire together.
After some conversation, Jon learned that the young hunter's name was Dom and his home was not far from here.
Dom saw the white wolf without a trace of color on its body and asked, "Is that your wolf?"
It seems that Jon's worries were not unnecessary. Ghost with his white fur would be very conspicuous when he left the snowy wilderness, so leaving him in this world of ice and snow was the best choice.
Of course, Jon himself understood that if he was strong enough, no one would dare to covet Ghost's fur even if it was made of gold.
"Well, he's the only white wolf cub in the litter. You have quite a lot of prey."
Jon didn't like being dominated by others during a conversation, so he immediately changed the subject after answering.
Dom could tell Jon was praising him, so he scratched his head and said a little embarrassedly, "Hey, this is considered a small amount. The weather is getting colder and colder, and there are fewer and fewer prey. This is what I have harvested in the past ten days, and I have two younger brothers at home waiting to eat."
The two chatted casually and learned that the young man's name was Dom Hard. In addition to his father and mother, he had two younger brothers at home. His father was injured, so he was the main person to support the family.
"If you don't mind, you can stay at my house for one night."
The two had a great conversation and Dom invited Jon.
Jon was not the kind of person who liked to take advantage of others. He saw that the young man was very careful with his feet, as if he was injured, so he looked at his leg and asked, "Is your leg injured?"
Dom smiled shyly: "It's like going into the water to catch fish, but I accidentally cut my foot on a rock."
Jon saw that he must be seriously injured. Although it was not easy to get inflammation because of the cold weather, he was covered in his shoes and blood was flowing out of the wound. Who knows when it might become a culture dish for microorganisms.
So Jon said, "I still have some medicine on me, let me help you take a look."
You have to know that the medical resources available to civilians like Dom are not much different from those of wild animals. They are all just fighting minor illnesses and waiting for death. In this medieval era, medical resources are quite expensive, so when Jon said he wanted to give him medicine, he quickly refused: "No, no, it's just a small cut! And... and I don't have the money to pay you."
Jon smiled and said, "I won't charge you any money. Just treat this medicine as I'll pay for your room when I get to your house later."
After hearing what he said, Dom was about to take off his shoes. Seeing his grinning face, Jon realized that the cut on his foot was definitely not just a small one.
Dom took a deep breath and gritted his teeth to pull his shoes off his feet. Jon held up a torch and moved forward to take a look. He saw that his entire soles were covered with sticky blood, and there were black blood scabs between his toes.
Jon poured him some water and cleaned his wound first. He saw a three or four inch long wound on his foot. He thought that it was a good thing that he met him, otherwise this guy's foot would probably be disabled.
Jon sprinkled the powder on him, then bandaged him with a clean bandage, and finally gave him the remaining powder and told him to change it every three days.
"Try not to move around after you get home. It will heal after a while."
Dom was very grateful that he had met such a generous person, and thanked Jon profusely.
"Sir, you are such a kind person, may the gods bless you."
Passing by a lush field, Jon let him ride his horse, and the two soon arrived at a small village with only a few households. To prevent accidents, Jon did not let Ghost enter the village. He found a sheltered place and spread his cloak on the ground for him to spend the night.
"Father, Mother, I'm back."
The old woman who was burning the fire heard her son's voice and hurriedly got up and went out to see her son. Dom's father was injured while hunting, and her son is currently the only pillar of the family, so she is very worried every time Dom goes out.
As soon as the old woman stepped over the threshold, the two little ones sitting next to the stove ran out behind her. They were Dom's two younger brothers. Every time Dom came back, he would bring them some sweet and sour wild fruits to satisfy their cravings, so the two little guys were looking forward to their big brother's return.
Because the light was too dim, Jon couldn't see their faces clearly, but he could see that one of the children had an excessively swollen belly, probably due to some illness.
Seeing her son riding a horse with a young man standing next to him, the old woman's smile changed slightly, and the two children stopped and hid behind their mother's legs.
"Mother, my foot was injured, and this gentleman bandaged my wound and carried me back on his horse."
When the old woman heard that her son was injured, she rushed forward and said, "Ah! You are injured! Is it serious?"
Jon helped Dom down and said, "Don't worry, old lady. It's just a small wound. It will be fine after healing."
The old lady watched Jon help her son down from the horse, and kept saying words of thanks: "Thank you so much, you are such a kind person, what is your name?"
Jon replied, "Hello, old lady. My name is Jon. I would like to stay at your house for one night. Is that convenient?"
Even though Dom had already promised him, Jon thought he'd better mention it again.
After hearing what he said, the old woman nodded repeatedly and said, "Of course it's convenient! Come in!"
With Jon's help, they walked into the house.
Seen from the outside, the room was pitch black, with only the orange-yellow flame from the stove, which was not enough to illuminate the room.
As soon as he entered the house, Jon discovered the male owner of the house, a man about forty years old, but he looked more like fifty. Jon greeted him as well.
After all, this was an era similar to the Middle Ages, and it was the northern region known for its vast land and sparse population. Dom's home only had a small oil lamp.
The pea-sized candle flame jumped from time to time, bringing some dim light to the dark room. However, in most corners of the room, darkness was like thick ink, difficult to drive away.
This results in only the half of their face facing the candlelight being visible, while the other half is hidden in darkness.
Jon felt inexplicably upset. The so-called War of the Five Kings was burning families like this!
There was a trace of worry in his eyes as he saw this family sitting around in the dim light, but they all had happy smiles on their faces because of Dom's safe return.
After getting permission, Jon and the family of five gathered around the rectangular wooden table to prepare for dinner. Dom's father sat at the top, Jon sat in the guest seat, and Dom, his mother, and three children sat on both sides. Fortunately, the people in the North believed in the Old Gods and would not recite a long list of names before eating.
Jon looked at the simple and crude meal on the table with almost no meat. It was hard to imagine that this was a hunter's family.
What he didn't know was that poor people like Dom couldn't afford to eat any good food. Even if Dom caught some prey, they would not eat it because they were going to go to the market to exchange it for some food that could last longer.
In King's Landing, the so-called food is a 'big stew' of various foods of unknown origin. There is something called 'brown soup', and it is not surprising if someone gets their knuckles chewed from it.
Here, the pellets are added with sawdust and bran.
Because they were not far from Hearth City, Jon could use money to exchange for some food, so he generously took out some meat and shared it with them. After the family thanked Jon, they began to enjoy this rare meat.
But Dom's parents were reluctant to eat it, so they gave it all to their three children.
"Where are you from?"
Dom's father asked.
"I'm a night watchman, and I'm going to go south to do some work."
Jon didn't intend to hide it, because this place was not far from the Great Wall, and his attire would easily make them think of the Night's Watch, so he might as well tell them openly.
And because of the Stark family, he would get some convenience when acting as a Night's Watchman in the North.
However, Jon saw Dom's father nodded and exchanged an unnatural look with the old woman on the other side.
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