When I arrived at Deepwood Motte, I found there were over 1,200 soldiers. I had just received news from the Crow of Bo that, including my 550 men and Jory's, they could muster about 200 more, making a total of 750. Where did the extra 500 soldiers come from? When they approached the camp and saw Hallis Moran, they knew where they came from.
To avoid frightening the soldiers in the camp, I left Sith in the forest and only took Lika with me. But as we approached the camp, Lika, who was 130 centimeters tall from shoulder to toe, suddenly began to shrink to 90 centimeters. I don't understand what happened or how she did it.
" Lika, what happened? How did you do that?"
"I've shrunk, Master."
"I understand. What I wanted to ask you was, when and how did you learn to shrink?"
"When you left us in the woods and wouldn't let us into the city, we all wanted to stay with you because we were too big. That's why we always wish we could shrink down, and then..."
"Nine months ago, we started learning to shrink a little bit. Before, I could only shrink a tiny bit, but now I can shrink this much."
Lika is only the size of a normal husky now, but then something suddenly occurred to me.
"Wait a minute, you just said 'we.' What do you mean by 'we'?"
Lika said smugly, sticking out her nose.
"We've all learned to shrink, but waves shrink the most. A wave can become as small as Crow."
This was surprising, but not entirely unexpected. Of course, I didn't know they would develop such talent, but I could guess they would develop different magical abilities. For the sake of the Old Gods, both Po and Im became mages, and both possessed Magic Heart. Jory said, seeing me.
" Aermir, you're back. Where did you go?"
"By order of Lord Stark, I acted independently to defend the coastline. That's why I'm a week late. What's Moran doing here? Wasn't he ordered to help defend Bear Island?"
"Yes, at first, but when he arrived at Bear Island, Lord Glover sent a message to Lord Stark saying that it was a primary target for the Ironborn and that seven hundred men couldn't hold it. So, Lord Stark issued a new order, commanding Moran to assist in the defense of Deepwood Motte."
He looked around and, seeing that no one was listening, continued.
"I think Glover distorted the facts and exaggerated the situation to Lord Stark."
"Let's go see Glover; the raiders will arrive at daybreak tomorrow."
Glover and his commander, Broddin Hall, followed us into the room, and Hallis entered. Jory introduced us all to Lord Glover, Glover said.
"Yes, I know who Aermir is, the tournament champion of Winterfell. I've always hoped someone could defeat those House Umber in battle, who always act like lords, looking down on us."
"Ha, too perfect, a lord who is a commander-in-chief yet has an inferiority complex. This is the root of disaster. Such a person will never accept good ideas from his subordinates, even if those ideas are better than theirs; he would rather be threatened and envied. He has no courage to resist, yet he harbors resentment; in short, he is a villain," I said.
"My lord, the number of Ironborn is no longer around five thousand. About fifteen hundred have headed towards Saltspear, and another five hundred to seven hundred will arrive in five days. We only have about two thousand five hundred available to attack now."
"Based on your numbers, there are approximately 500 deficits. What happened to them?"
"Before I came here, I had killed as many as 600 Ironborn raiders who were trying to attack coastal villages."
Everyone wore an expression of disbelief and surprise.
"Child, this is not a place where you can make wild claims or jokes."
I showed everyone the order from Lord Stark authorizing me to act independently.
"My lord, as you have seen, under Lord Stark's orders, we are an independent force. Do you think Lord Stark would entrust such authority to a vulgar and incompetent person?"
From his gloomy face, it was clear that he now viewed me as a threat to his authority, and his inferiority complex was beginning to surface.
"Galbart Glover! My name is not 'Boy,' I am Aermir Drasil, or Ser Drasil. If you continue to be disrespectful to me, I have no choice but to declare a duel to uphold my honor. My good sir, though you are so close to the West Coast, I know very well how incompetent you are in leading this battle, for you did not even prepare 300 soldiers to deal with a possible Ironborn raid, because the cost of maintaining them was too high."
Broddin Hall began to walk toward me and drew his sword.
"How dare you speak to Glover like that! You despicable scoundrel!"
As he began to walk towards me, I immediately activated my speed and strength Buff. Activating these Buff was now like a conditioned reflex to me. I locked my dagger against Broddin's sword and delivered a powerful uppercut to his chin with my left elbow. Broddin, bewildered, began to stagger, and just then, I delivered a powerful punch to his temple with my armored hand, sending him sprawling to the ground like a sack of potatoes.
My dagger was drawn, and Glover, gripping his sword, looked at me with a mixture of fear and anger.
"My dear Glover, please don't make the grave mistake of drawing your sword. I am like a mirror of the Myr; I reflect what you show me. If you show respect, you will receive respect in return."