Robb's Bastard

Under the clear blue sky, the ice was melting, and the frozen ships were finally freed. On the hillside not far away, rows of pale white heads almost covered the entire area.

The nameless bay where Jon and Euron fought now has a new name— Bay of Severed Heads.

Before leaving the bay for Winterfell, he left Sandor behind, instructing him to kill all the pirates on the spot.

More than 8,000 headless corpses were placed separately on the north and south sides of the bay to deter pirates from the Iron Islands.

As for the severed heads, Jon intended to take them back as proof of victory.

Sandor looked at the heads and felt something was amiss. Jon clearly loved sending people to the Wall, so why was he killing these prisoners?

However, he did not continue to think about it, but instead looked at the captured ships, which were so numerous that they occupied almost half of the bay.

Jon absorbed the three hundred longships and thirty sailing ships almost completely intact. With the addition of these sailing ships, Casterly Rock Fleet became the third largest fleet in the Sunset Sea and even in all of Westeros.

With its current Casterly Rock is a formidable naval force.

Of course, the gains from the warships were one aspect, but what Jon was most concerned about was the depletion of the Iron Islands ' manpower.

The men sent to attack Winterfell this time were nothing short of thugs, the elite of the Iron Islands. The belief that "forcing things is better than hard work" had become ingrained in their very being.

In Jon's view, there was no need to reform this group of people. If several thousand people were sent to the Wall all at once, they would likely disrupt the order of the Wall.

If they were used as laborers, Jon would have to send out a considerable number of troops to suppress and guard them, and considering the food consumption, it would actually be a loss.

Therefore, it would be better to kill them on the spot, which would also serve as a deterrent to the remaining soldiers in the Iron Islands.

If you want to do hard labor in the future, you might as well choose those who are not strong in combat and have a low will to resist. Because the Iron Islands do not equip their soldiers with armor, these eight thousand people only account for one-fifth of the Iron Islands army, but considering their combat strength, these eight thousand people are equivalent to half of the Iron Islands army's combat strength.

If a decisive battle were to be fought against the Iron Islands in the future, Balon or Euron might be able to scrape together an army of 40,000 to 50,000 men, but their fighting strength would certainly be appalling.

This was a brilliant victory, severely damaging the Iron Islands and making it unlikely they will launch an offensive in the near future.

Sandor was left behind to guard the ships, while Jon Snow and Brynden went to Winterfell together.

First, they spent half a day finding Catelyn and the others. Catelyn was overjoyed to see Bran safe and sound, and she was incoherent when she faced Jon.

They then waited another day for Robb to arrive.

After meeting Robb, Robb unusually expressed his wish to go for a walk with Jon. Jon did not take it seriously and left the castle with him to go to the city walls. After arriving at the city walls, Robb immediately asked him about the battle between him and the Wildlings.

The two walked together on the walls of Winterfell, watching the soldiers coming and going and the civilians repairing their houses in the distance.

Everyone is licking the wounds left by the war.

Robb was exhausted from the long march, and fatigue made him irritable. He complained to Jon, "These Wildlings seem fearless. Among the enemies we killed were even women wielding wooden spears, and they always seem to anticipate my movements. I originally thought it would take at most six months to deal with them, but now it seems like it will take much longer— Jon, you probably don't know, but the Giants aren't extinct. We've already killed more than ten Giants, but unfortunately, we didn't bring them back for you to see—"

It was clear that the war had put a lot of pressure on Robb, and when Jon asked him, he became rather talkative.

Jon, through their conversation, could tell that Robb was not following his advice to prioritize appeasement over annihilation.

If Jon were the king, he could directly offer criticism, but now the two are equals, and Robb is only sixteen or seventeen, a time when pride is strong.

In order to quell the Wildlings riots as quickly as possible, Jon thought he had to be careful with his methods and treat it like coaxing a child.

Robb, are you willing to leave Winterfell?

"Winterfell is my home, of course I don't want it. If anyone dares to lay a finger on Winterfell, I'll fight them to the bitter end!" Robb said earnestly.

"Hmm, I think those Wildlings from Beyond the Wall the Great Wall are in the same situation. Do you remember what I said about what's beyond the Wall?"

"White Walkers?" Robb slapped his forehead, suddenly remembering what Jon had said. "But we haven't found White Walkers near the Wall."

"Winter hasn't even truly arrived yet, and there are already White Walkers appearing? That's unacceptable!" Jon continued. "Robb, I hope you will treat those Wildlings captives well from now on. If possible, it would be best to meet with the King-Beyond-the-Wall the Wall and tell him you can grant them a piece of land—"

"But Jon— "

Before Jon could finish speaking, Robb became visibly agitated. After all, dividing up land would inevitably affect the interests of other lords, and there were at least 200,000 Wildlings Beyond the Wall, whom Robb simply did not have the capacity to support.

But Jon continued, "I know it's not easy to feed these people. Here's what we'll do: the weather's getting colder, so you can have them cut down trees in the Wolfswood and make charcoal, then they can trade the charcoal for food. Besides, there are coal mines in the Wolfswood, so you can have them mine coal there too. I'll figure out how to feed them."

But what about the land issue?

"As for the land, I intend to send them to the Iron Islands. In the future, I will annex the Iron Islands and bring them under the jurisdiction of the Westerlands." Jon did not tell Robb about his plan for the "Triangular Trade," because the mere idea of annexing the Iron Islands had already shocked him enough.

However, after the initial shock Robb realized that even if Jon ruled the Iron Islands, his future territory would still be smaller than that of the North, so he wasn't so concerned.

Having learned how to deal with the upcoming war, Jon prepared to return to the castle with him.

Robb suddenly grabbed Jon Snow, his expression sullen, showing none of the demeanor of a Lord in the North.

"Jon, I slept with a woman from Mountain Clans while I was at war, and she's showing—" Robb said, glancing into Jon's eyes. Jon's appearance was exactly like a Stark's, which made Robb feel a pang of guilt, as if he were seeing Eddard.

"Then get rid of it. Why are you telling me that?"

"Abort it?! This—" Robb suddenly realized how serious a mistake he had made when he noticed Jon's cold voice and terrifyingly dark face.

All things considered, his father Eddard went to war not long after marrying his mother, and then brought back Jon, his bastard son.

Because of his long-term relationship with Jon, and the fact that Jon Snow had now been legally recognized as Stark, Robb had forgotten that Jon Snow was Jon's bastard son.

He knew that if he didn't make things clear, Jon might think he was humiliating him.

"You should learn from your father's honors, not both the good and the bad. Look at the state you've become!"

"Jon, you're right—but that's not what I meant."

Jon's voice was loud enough that the servants standing not far away could hear it.

Robert Frey was astonished to see Jon pointing at Robb and scolding him, while Robb didn't dare to utter a word in rebuttal. Soon, a sense of pride welled up within him—his own Duke was still more awesome.

Just then, Brynden appeared out of nowhere. Although he couldn't hear what Jon and Robb were saying, he could tell from their posture that Jon was scolding Robb.

Although the two were of equal status, the scene still seemed somewhat strange.

"Jon, I was wondering if you could bring this woman to Casterly Rock. I want Jeyne to know about her first, rather than bringing her directly to Jeyne— " Robb's voice quickly became less confident.

He knew that Margaery was also only recently pregnant, and it was truly inappropriate for him to send his illegitimate child to Casterly Rock.

But aside from Casterly Rock, Robb didn't know where else to send the woman.

Jon was certainly not going to be offended by this. Since Robb needed his help, he might as well make good use of the situation and let him carry out his strategy against the Wildlings.

"Alright, I'll take that woman to Casterly Rock."

"Thank you so much, Jon, you've really helped me a lot. I'll write a letter to Margaery; maybe that will prevent her from misunderstanding—"

"No need. Margaery is very smart. Besides, I only left Casterly Rock less than a month ago. The timing doesn't add up."

"Yes, you're right—" Robb scratched his head sheepishly, realizing he was starting to panic.

"Actually, these are all minor matters. The key issue is still those Wildlings. Now that you've returned to the front lines, you must find a way to locate that King-Beyond-the-Wall and negotiate as soon as possible. We can't afford to waste our limited strength fighting the living. We need to end the war quickly and prepare for the Long Night!"

"Yes, don't worry, Jon, I will," Robb assured Jon, his tone much more sincere this time.

The meeting between the two ended soon after.

Before setting off back to Casterly Rock, Jon suggested taking Jeyne, Arya, and the others with him to Casterly Rock, since it was much safer Casterly Rock.

After discussion, Jon only took Sansa and Bran with him, while Jeyne and her two children, and Catelyn remained in Winterfell.

After all, Jeyne's two children are Robb's direct heirs, and they must remain in Winterfell, otherwise the other lords of the North are watching.

"The Stark are, after all, Lords in the North." If Robb were to let his entire family prosper, what would be the point of him being a Prince of the North?