From a hired knight to a master of Game of Thrones

After a simple dinner, I chatted with my future boss and subordinates for a while.

Don Quixote went into the detached cabin assigned to him.

The room was empty.

Apart from a simple wooden bed and a crude wooden table.

All I could see were a few bundles of dry grass in the corner.

"This house is simple, but it's quite windproof, better than many ordinary people's houses."

Don Quixote gave it a quick look.

He stopped paying attention; he was someone who had suffered a lot in his life.

I've lived in countless places with even worse conditions than this.

Moreover, his current physical condition is different from before, and his ability to resist cold is already stronger than that of ordinary people in the North.

While pondering, Don Quixote walked to the simple wooden table and lit an oil lamp placed on it.

Then he took off his clothes and placed a leather bag containing important items on the wooden bed.

The leather bag contained all his coins and seven blood apples.

"The mission has changed. I don't know if the rewards are generally this good, or if I just had a stroke of luck this time."

Don Quixote lay back on the wooden bed, squinting as he examined the mission panel.

Employer: Earl of Meggie

【Task: Maintain order at the trade market outside Seven City daily (This task is settled monthly, with random rewards)】

[Reward: 91 Gold Dragons (Unclaimable)]

The 91 Golden Dragon is no ordinary one.

A set of plate armor has approximately 4 gold dragons, and a warhorse has approximately 1-3 gold dragons.

This sum of money is enough to fully arm nearly ten knights.

The Seven family only paid him 1 gold dragon per month for hiring him.

As for the other Free Knights, they receive 100 Silver Deer per month.

Of course, they also provide food and lodging, and their horses are fed by dedicated grooms.

"I wonder when the special reward will come again."

Don Quixote glanced at his data panel again.

Name: Don Quixote

[Identity: Knight]

【Spirit: 1.98】

[Qi and Blood: 2.17]

At his level of physical fitness, even practicing the basic knight breathing technique is very slow.

It took almost two days of serious cultivation to increase my Qi and Blood value by only 0.01.

"The next thing to do is to get to know those eight Free Knights."

"Although those eight people are of average strength, they are still at the level that a typical knight should be, and they are worth recruiting."

"This should be easy. I'm better than them and richer than them. I'll just have to treat them to a few more drinks and that should be enough."

"Loyalty and such will not be considered for now."

"Then we started with these trading markets, looking for suitable itinerant merchants to secretly build up our influence."

"If you don't care about quality, it's easy if you have enough money."

"After all, there are many poor people in the North who don't have enough to eat."

Closing the data panel, Don Quixote began to ponder his plan.

The night passed quickly.

Before dawn the next day, Liam shouted:

"Don Quixote! Everyone else! Wake up!"

...That damn bastard Liam! I really want to punch him!

Don Quixote immediately opened his eyes and sat up from the simple wooden bed.

After getting dressed, he casually picked up the animal skin cloak draped over the bed and put it on.

The animal skin cloak was damp with night frost, and felt icy to the touch.

Finally, he fastened his sword and took the animal skin bag from the inside of the bed.

"call!"

He took a slow, deep breath, his gaze casually sweeping across the room.

The wick of the oil lamp on the wooden table was reduced to a smoldering ember, and only a thin layer of animal fat remained in the oil dish.

A moment later, Don Quixote pushed open the wooden door.

The cold air from outside the door instantly rushed in, making his nostrils feel cold.

The sky was still shrouded in a layer of gray-blue morning mist, with only a faint white light shining through in the distance.

Liam stood upright in the open space.

Most of the eight Free Knights had arrived, and all five Seven City soldiers were present.

Many people are hunching their shoulders, rubbing their hands, and breathing on them to warm them up.

When Don Quixote came out, everyone's eyes turned to him.

Don Quixote paid no attention and slowly walked to Liam's side.

Not long after, the last Free Knight arrived.

Once everyone had arrived, Liam immediately shouted:

"Someone will bring food over later. After we finish eating, we will split into two teams and patrol the route I mentioned yesterday."

"Although the trade market has not yet opened, quite a few people have gathered here in the past few days. In case anything goes wrong, please keep an eye on those people when you are patrolling the area."

"Don't let them cause trouble, and don't let anything happen to them!"

"Yes, Lord Liam!" the five Seven City soldiers shouted loudly.

"Yes."

The Free Riders, on the other hand, were listless and impatient.

Liam frowned as he watched, but said nothing.

He had dealt with some free riders and knew their character.

I'm used to being lazy.

While his concern for such trivial matters might be effective in the short term, it could backfire in the long run.

These people were not his soldiers, but were only temporarily employed by the Earl.

He only needs to ensure that these people don't make any fundamental mistakes; he can turn a blind eye to other behaviors and doesn't need to make things difficult for himself.

Liam moved a few steps closer to Don Quixote and whispered:

"Don Quixote, keep an eye on those people during this time, don't let them do anything reckless, especially those with bad habits like petty theft."

"If you find out, you can teach them a lesson."

"If he does it again, just fire him."

Don Quixote nodded and said, "Yes."

Liam then gave some further instructions.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Not long after, two men rode up from Seven City.

After handing the four large bags of food to Liam, he quickly returned to Seven City.

Breakfast consisted of whole-wheat bread, tortillas, salted pork, bacon, smoked fish, and other similar foods.

Everyone finished eating quickly.

Don Quixote led six men away from their lodgings on horseback to begin surveying the surrounding area.

Seeing Liam's figure disappear, one of the free knights couldn't help but complain:

"They're yelling at the top of their lungs before dawn! The market hasn't even opened yet, what's the point of patrolling?! My teeth are chattering from the cold!"

He was a free knight from the south, who could no longer bear the bitter cold of the north, and was planning to leave the north along the King's Road.

While temporarily staying in Seven City, they unexpectedly overheard the lord employing free knights.

This made him somewhat interested, as he hadn't been able to find an employer for some time.

Even the harshest weather is better than having no money for alcohol or meat.

Just bear with it a little longer.

Upon hearing this, the other free riders were also swayed by the emotion:

"Tom is right! Living in a dilapidated wooden hut, eating hard bread, and not even having a jug of wine! It's truly miserable!"

"The Earl hired us at a high price to guard this market, not to enjoy ourselves." Don Quixote's gaze swept over everyone, his fingertips lightly tapping the saddle.

"Even though the market isn't open, I'm worried someone might take advantage of the situation. Liam is following orders, so there's nothing wrong with that."

He paused, then changed the subject slightly, his tone softening:

"Stop complaining. There's not much fighting right now, so it's hard for us free knights to find a job!"

"Since you've been hired, then do your job properly for the money."

"The North does not recognize the orthodox status of the Seven Gods. The vast majority of people still believe in the Old Gods. Even the Oath Knights do not welcome them, let alone us Free Knights!"

"If we mess up this job, heh heh, we'll probably have a hard time finding another one like this in the North. We'll probably have to go south!"

……

PS: (Please recommend and read this!)