"I've heard that Druid never accept rewards, not even a bowl of rice. I've also heard that if someone accepts a reward, they're definitely a fraud. You're absolutely a fraud!"
As soon as I finished speaking, the scene fell into a chilling silence, a silence so profound it felt almost shattering, and then everything went haywire. The volunteers started yelling at me.
"How dare you? How can you think my life is so insignificant? What if I express my gratitude to the person who rescued me from my suffering? What's it to you, you disrespectful brat?"
I turned and walked away, not caring if they were so stupid they couldn't understand even simple instructions. The Druid took nothing! The next day, while strolling in the square, I learned that half the village had been scammed. Fools, they paid a lifetime's worth of money for a bag of herbs when the conman claimed that if they took the Druid's amulet, they would live longer even without getting sick.
Before leaving, I went to Last Hearth and stayed there for a few days. My relationship with Greatjon Umber was almost identical to that with the Big Bucket. He also wanted to test me, to find out why Lord Stark cared so much about me. Unlike the Big Bucket, Greatjon, like Rodrik, believed that archery was the job of ordinary soldiers.
In his words: "A real man kills his enemy face to face." We fought for a while, but it wasn't very intense; that damn Giants knocked me down. I thought the Big Bucket was strong, but Greatjon was stronger. He had 12.5 strength and 8 speed. I was only slightly faster than him, so I could only barely hold my own against him for 10 minutes.
But I couldn't even launch a single attack. For the next ten minutes, I could only dodge his attacks. It was a bit strange, but Greatjon liked it that way. I didn't need to play Emre in Last Hearth, so I thought I'd rest for a few days and then head to Skagos, but I couldn't find a single sailor crazy enough to try and go there in the Winter, so I stopped in Karhold first and then headed south to Dreadfort.
Besides traveling the North as the Emre the Druid, I also rescued people from bandits as the squire Aermir. With the arrival of harsh winter, hungry bandits plundered the poor. As the Emre the Druid, I healed the sick; as Aermir, I rescued them from the bandits. Months passed, and the names of the Emre the Druid and the young squire Aermir began to echo throughout the North. Of course, swindlers and clowns followed.
I stopped in a small town two days' journey from the Dreadfort, where a fever had swept through the entire town. Nearly four hundred people had fallen ill, Bolton soldiers had sealed off the town's entrance. So, I changed into my Druid identity and returned to the town. As I approached, the soldiers stopped me.
"Stop! You can't go past."
"They separated me from the town," a soldier said as he approached him.
"Sir, it's him, the Druid."
" Druid!"
The soldiers retreated somewhat timidly, but their officer gave me a cold smile and then said...
"Don't be naive. You really think he has magic? He's just a conman trying to scam a little money. I heard from my friends the North that many people have been scammed out of their money."
"Good soldiers of the House Bolton, I have no problem with you. I just want to help others, and if you're not going to help them, I have to."
"Get out of my way, you crazy old man! Can't you hear what I'm saying? Let me spell it out for you. You—cannot—pass!"
"I will enter this town no matter what. If you block my way, I will have to get through you. Lord Bolton may have abandoned those people and left them to fend for themselves, but the Old Gods... have not."
"The soldiers slowly began to surround me," their officer said.
"Did you just insult Lord Bolton? Seize him!"
About ten soldiers surrounded me, pointing their spears at me. Just then, I used Tegon impul ( Earth Impact ), releasing a shockwave around me. Every soldier about 5 meters away was knocked back at least 4 meters. All of them were knocked down, and their commander was stunned by fear and confusion.
"I forgive your mistakes, for you are merely soldiers carrying out a mission, and I will not take your lives. But if you again obstruct the path of the Old Gods, the Old Gods are my witness, and I will take your lives."
I walked past my trembling officer on the ground and began to move towards the town. Just then, the soldiers began to come to their senses and stopped trying to attack. I planted my staff in the snow and began to fire flames from my hand. Although the range was only two meters, it was enough to scare them all away.
I decided to name this Burning Hands. When I decided to name it, the spell's incantation came to mind: Perzys ondos ( Burning Hands ). So, I can also learn new spells this way. If I use this spell, its range and power will increase, its duration will be extended by one second, and it will become a level two spell.
The town wasn't large, with only one main road and a few alleys. I estimated there were about two thousand people living there. Upon entering the town, I had to prove myself to be the true Emre the Druid. People began kneeling at my feet, begging for help. As far as I knew, there were about four hundred sick people. Half an hour later, I prepared the ritual. Over the next six days, I performed the ritual, healing 300 people, but 27 still died.
"I was preparing to begin the ceremony on the seventh day, but about 100 soldiers marched into the town. About 30 of them were on horseback, and the rest were infantry," said a man in full plate armor.
"This criminal, who calls himself Erure the Druid, has been summoned before Lord Bolton for questioning. Please come with us."
People put up a cordon between the soldiers and me to protect me, but I gestured for them to let the soldiers through. I stepped out of the crowd and stood in front of the knight, saying...
"I know no laws other than the laws of the Old Gods, and I have committed no crime before their laws. Therefore, I have no reason to be interrogated. If your master wishes to speak with me, he may come to see me."
(From Lord Bolton's perspective in Dreadfort six days ago)
I don't know if this Druid is real or not. But so many people have seen him with their own eyes, it can't be fake. So, I must be careful. Even if he is real, I can't appear weak.
" Barock-Ser Clay, take a hundred men and escort this Druid to me."
(Sir Baroque Ser Clay's perspective)
We've been on the road for three days, and we're almost there.
"Sir, do you think this Druid is real?"
"Of course not, you've never traveled, so you wouldn't know, but there are a lot of clowns in this world, some who can even breathe fire. I'm guessing he's a clown trying to make some money while scaring some gullible soldiers and civilians."
(Male protagonist's perspective)
The knight rode his horse forward for a while and then began to shout loudly.
"Therefore, we cannot give commoners any leeway, or they will immediately become self-righteous. Listen to me, you mad commoner; Lord Bolton wants you here, so you will come with me willingly, or come with me in chains. It is your decision."
I turned to the townspeople and said.
"Today, Lord Bolton blocked my and the Old Gods ' path, preventing us from bringing you healing. From this day forward, anyone in town infected with the fever will die because of Lord Bolton."
I turned into a dog in front of hundreds of people, ran away, and disappeared into the crowd. Before the soldiers led their horses through the crowd, I had already slipped through the alleys and left the town.
(From Lord Bolton's perspective in Dreadfort three days later)
I was furious; everyone around me was an idiot. In a fit of rage, I threw the cup at Ser Clay.
"Am I asking you to escort him, or to arrest him? Huh?"
The Druid truly hadn't figured things out; this idiot had further angered him, and before the Druid disappeared, he had turned every faithful follower of the Old Gods against me.
" Ser Clay, have I shown you my inheritance before? I think you would have liked it very much. Ser Clay, let's go to the dungeon. We need to have a good talk."