"My Lord, Jon has already left the camp."
"Understood."
It was Bolin, a Dreadfort vassal, who reported to Roose Bolton.
He commanded Dreadfort's elite archers.
Jon hadn't even met him during this return, and he knew it was because of Howland Reed's matter.
Ever since Robb sent Jon to 'assist' him, the two had been adversaries.
Jon's martial arts were monstrously strong, but the nearly four thousand Dreadfort direct lineage soldiers under his command were his true confidence.
As long as these men were present, Jon wouldn't be able to make waves.
He would still be able to maintain unparalleled influence over the Northern army.
As for Jon going to the Mountains of the Moon to recruit tribal wildlings, he didn't care at all.
If those people could be recruited, the people of the Vale, who were closer, would have acted first; it wouldn't be this unknown pawn's turn.
At this moment, a letter drifted onto Roose Bolton's desk.
It was a letter sent by his bastard son, Ramsay.
"Oh?! Jon stopped Robb from becoming King?"
Seeing the content of the letter, Roose Bolton seemed disbelieving, leaning his head closer to the paper.
A series of new plans formed in his mind.
Plans that could completely dismantle Jon's influence in the army... Jon soon embarked on his journey to the Mountains of the Moon.
He brought ten Winterfell soldiers as combat assurance, and ten veteran Mountain Clansmen as reserves.
Although these veterans might not have the physical strength and combat power of Winterfell's younger soldiers, their brute strength was exceptional.
Then, Jon took Kuno (a tribal wildling), who had sought his help as the Fire Witch that day, as a guide, and the group began their advance towards the Mountains of the Moon.
Along the way, Old York enthusiastically recounted legends about dragons.
"The last dragon of the Targaryen, Dawn, was hatched in the Vale, but unfortunately, it didn't live long and died soon after.
That Aegon III, as King, was actually afraid of dragons, alas—"
Old York sighed deeply, showing great regret.
Jon knew that his favorite topic was the Targaryen dragons.
He knew every Targaryen dragon like the back of his hand.
Jon estimated that the news of the Dragon Queen hatching dragons would soon reach Westeros.
At that time, this old fellow should be very happy.
However, Jon was not interested in dragons for now.
Unless there was truly a dragon he could command, a dragon egg was of little use.
He began to chat with Kuno about the detailed situation in the Mountains of the Moon.
She stated that there were at least ten tribes that had not joined Lannister yet.
These tribes could gather a good number of warriors for Jon to command.
Initially, Jon was indeed full of hope.
But some tragic scenes he witnessed along the way made him feel a little sad.
Under Tywin's command, the Westerlands army unleashed inhumane devastation upon the Riverlands.
As far as the eye could see, the nearly ripe crops in the fields were either burned to a crisp, black like scars on the earth.
Or they were trampled to pieces by horse hooves.
As for the villages, there was even less to say; the Riverlands commoners had no choice but to leave their homes to escape disaster.
There were even abandoned corpses by the roadside.
Only wild dogs and cats roamed those houses.
Looking at these tragic scenes, Jon reminded himself in his heart that he was different from the lords of Westeros.
Those people played the game of power to gain greater power and satisfy their greed.
But he was doing it to preserve humanity's vitality, so that in the future, there would be a greater certainty of being able to fight against the Others.
This was not because he was so noble.
Mainly, only by destroying the Others could he enjoy life.
After several days of trekking, the Mountains of the Moon, which Jon and his group had been seeing for days, were finally close at hand.
The Mountains of the Moon, as the barrier of the Vale, were taller and wider than the Wall.
Especially the continuous green mountains, like a treacherous maze, could not accommodate large troops.
And the only pass into the Vale was the 'Bloody Gate'.
The people of the Vale only needed to close the Bloody Gate to be their own masters.
If not for the Targaryen conquering them on dragons back then, the Vale would still retain its crown.
However, Jon and his group's target was not the Bloody Gate, but the tribes nestled within those sprawling mountains.
After two more days in the mountains, Jon, through Gods Perspective, sensed a rather large settlement, with a population of approximately three to four thousand people.
Kuno came before Jon and said:
"My Lord, that ahead is our Huaquan Tribe; please allow me to go ahead and explain the situation to them."
"Alright," Jon agreed to her request, then turned and said, "Old York, you go with Kuno."
"As you command, My Lord."
Not long after, Kuno and Old York returned with a group of tribal warriors dressed in leather and linen.
The dog-like tattoos on their bodies were faintly visible beneath their clothes.
"Why are there another group of iron-skinned people?" one of the young tribal warriors, who was tall and lanky and clearly more agile than the others, spoke up.
His expression towards Jon and his group carried a hint of disdain.
Especially when he saw those veterans of the Mountain Clans.
The Mountain Clans and the High Mountain Clans had different attitudes towards the elderly.
The former saw the elderly commit suicide when food was scarce.
The latter would have their elderly driven away by their families.
In the eyes of this young warrior, these old men were already so old and should give their good equipment to the young people!
However, Kuno didn't explain so much to him, but came before Jon and said:
"Harken, this is Lord Jon, he has come to negotiate with our tribe's elders."
This young warrior, named Harken, came before Jon, narrowing his eyes and scrutinizing him up and down.
In fact, he had noticed from the beginning that Jon was the leader among these people.
But he looked too young.
Harken knew the rules of the 'outside'.
Regardless of age or martial skill, as long as someone's father had high status, his son would also be respected.
In his opinion, the people outside were truly foolish.
Letting an unseasoned youth be a leader would sooner or later lead them all into trouble.
"You are their... leader? No, in your words, it should be a lord?"
"Something like that, they are indeed my warriors, and I need to talk to your elders," Jon replied, a slight smile on his face, his habitual expression before negotiating.
"Just you?" Harken scoffed, "Why don't you just tell me what you have to say."
"Harken!" Kuno immediately reprimanded him from the side. "Lord Jon is our guest, don't be so rude."
Seeing Kuno say so, the young tribal warrior had no choice but to make way.
He must be someone close to the 'Fire Witch'; it seemed he still had some status.
Old York, seeing Harken and the others trailing behind them, took the opportunity to ask Kuno:
"Why don't you just tell him that your Fire Witch is with us?"
Kuno frowned slightly, pouting as she said:
"Harken has a fiery temper and is the strongest warrior in our tribe. If we tell them now, you might not even get in."
"Strongest?" Old York glanced back at Harken, a hint of disdain flashing in his eyes.
He wondered why Harken, who was boasted to be so amazing, didn't go to battle with them.
After some understanding, it turned out that when the Huaquan Tribe decided to send troops, Harken was out hunting and thus missed it.
Soon, everyone arrived at the lively Huaquan Tribe.
It felt like a small mountain village to Jon.
The children here all wore linen tunics and straw sandals, their faces marked with dried snot or tears.
Even younger children simply ran around in sack-like clothes.
"Iron-skinned people are here! Iron-skinned people are here!"
The children shouted warnings, scattering like rabbits into the grass.
Soon the entire tribe was in an uproar.
Fortunately, the commotion quickly subsided; when Kuno had just explained the situation to Harken, they had already sent someone back to notify them.
A moment later, two figures who were clearly elders emerged.
One of them, an elder with completely white hair and beard, and eyebrows almost reaching his temples, stood before Jon.
His mere presence exuded the aura of a 'lord of a region'.
As for the other elder beside him, although they seemed to have equal status, his presence was clearly not comparable.
This 'authoritative' elder looked at Jon and asked:
"Outsider, we have already sent out warriors. Have you come to fulfill your promise?"
Jon stepped forward and replied:
"No, I am not the group of iron-skinned people you met. They are my enemies. Your Fire Witch is now with our army. Your Fire Witch and I have reached an agreement. From today onwards, you are to join my army and serve me."
"What did you say!" Harken almost immediately jumped out from the side.
"You forcibly took our Fire Witch! By the Gods of the Mountains and the Moon, I will have your life!"