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After hearing their requests, Jimmy felt completely helpless.
"You'll get them," he sighed. "Of course you'll get them."
Immediately the crowd erupted into cheers.
"King of Freedom! King of Freedom!"
…
Jimmy turned to give his final instructions.
"Seck, help Rickon manage the Free Folk, Mag will assist you."
Mag nodded seriously.
"Mag will nail troublemakers into the ground."
The giant said it with such sincerity that several people nearby shuddered.
Jimmy then looked at Rickon.
"Take care of yourself, I'll be back."
…
Jimmy made several trips back and forth.
He practically emptied the storehouses of the Dreadfort and Winterfell.
Blacksmith shops, weapon racks, storage rooms.
Everything.
Nearly all the iron tools and metal supplies from those warehouses were taken and transported to Sea Dragon Point.
Once Jimmy returned, his real troubles began.
The Free Folk trusted him enough and were willing to follow his instructions.
Jimmy had Rickon and Osha estimate the value of every item brought in.
Then he reorganized the entire population.
The Free Folk were grouped according to family ties and clan connections into units ranging from several dozen to a hundred people each.
Food supplies were distributed.
Each group leader recorded exactly how much they borrowed.
Once Jimmy returned again, he led everyone to begin working.
The first project was a defensive wall built against the mountain slopes to protect livestock from wild animals.
After that came houses.
Then blacksmith furnaces.
And the very first things forged were not weapons.
They were pots.
Nearly a hundred iron cooking pots.
Several enormous ones were even made for Mag and the other giants.
Just how large were they?
Two whole deer could fit in a single pot.
If it was used to cook rice, one pot could feed ten giants until they were full.
…
Only after that did weapon forging begin.
Jimmy asked the Free Folk what weapons they preferred.
Nearly eighty percent answered the same thing.
Axes.
Their reasoning was simple.
Axes could be used to fight.
And also to chop firewood.
Jimmy rubbed his face.
You people really have no ambition.
Axes were impossible.
They used far too much iron.
Jimmy simply didn't have enough metal for that.
Instead, he standardized the weapons.
Every warrior received two spears.
The first was a long spear over three meters in length with a four-edged tip capable of piercing heavy armor.
The second was a shorter spear about one and a half meters long for close combat.
Each soldier also received a shield for blocking arrows.
As for axes, they weren't completely gone.
Each warrior received one short-handled throwing axe.
Perfect for surprise attacks.
Mag and the giants formed a special unit.
Two hundred of the strongest giants were selected.
Each carried an enormous shield in one hand.
In the other, they wielded massive iron maces that resembled giant metal brooms.
When two hundred armored giants planted their shields into the ground and began swinging those weapons…
They became a moving wall.
Breaking through that line would cost any army dearly.
…
Jimmy's plan looked perfect on paper.
Reality was another matter.
During training, he nearly died from frustration.
Convincing the giants to wear armor alone took several days.
After that came military drills.
The giants were actually easy.
Their combat style was simple. As long as they had basic instructions, they performed well.
The real problem was the Free Folk.
Trying to make them stand in neat formation was almost impossible.
And when they charged?
Total chaos.
They rushed forward like a stampede with no coordination whatsoever.
After yelling himself hoarse, Jimmy finally walked back inside, rubbing his temples.
Rickon was sitting at a table calculating supplies.
Osha stood nearby pouring him water and handing him food.
Rickon looked up.
"What's wrong, Jimmy?"
Jimmy sighed deeply.
"These people can't even stand in a straight line."
"I'm worried that if they face a real army, they'll collapse instantly."
Rickon began thinking as well.
After a while, he came up with a solution. It was hardly elegant, but it was something.
Have everyone charge once.
Those who ran faster would be grouped together, Those who ran slower would form another group.
Then ten people would be tied together as a unit with ropes.
Each group of ten would move, eat, sleep, and live together.
Jimmy had no better idea, so he accepted Rickon's improvised solution.
Surprisingly, it worked fairly well.
For the first time in days, Jimmy finally felt like he could breathe.
Relax?
Not a chance.
Horus returned with fresh news.
Another large group of Free Folk had gathered along the Frozen Shore.
Roughly ten thousand people.
They were neighboring tribes from Seck's territory. Many of them had personally encountered the White Walkers.
Word had spread that the remaining Free Folk was gathering at the Fist of the First Men.
A man claiming to be the King-Beyond-the-Wall had united many tribes.
Nearly one hundred thousand people were gathering there, with more than ten thousand fighters among them.
They were preparing to attack the Wall.
The group gathering at the Frozen Shore was different.
They were mostly the elderly, the weak, or men unwilling to abandon their families.
They all shared one thing in common.
They had barely escaped the White Walkers.
They had seen the dead.
And the terror had broken them.
All they wanted now was to run.
Run as far away as possible.
…
If the King-Beyond-the-Wall truly had a force of one hundred thousand, the real number was probably closer to seventy or eighty thousand.
But even that group could field more than twenty thousand fighters.
The ten thousand refugees on the Frozen Shore were completely different.
They couldn't even gather one thousand warriors.
And even those few were terrified survivors.
From what Jimmy understood, most of the people with Mance had never actually seen the White Walkers.
Mance himself had.
But he had kept that knowledge secret.
His plan to attack the Wall was never truly about conquering the south.
He wanted to occupy the Wall to stop the White Walkers.
Invading the south?
Jimmy scoffed at the idea.
These chaotic tribes had no armor, little discipline, and poor weapons.
A proper army could wipe them out with a few volleys of arrows.
They were closer to a mob than an army.
The refugees on the Frozen Shore had been deliberately left behind by Mance.
They lacked courage.
And they had almost no fighters.
Among ten thousand people, fewer than a thousand could fight.
Even those fighters were traumatized.
They had no skinchangers, no champions, no leaders.
Bringing them in would only consume food and spread panic.
If Jimmy didn't accept them, Mance would simply abandon them.
In fact, Mance would probably be relieved to see someone else take them.
…
Jimmy thought rapidly after hearing the report.
This wouldn't work.
A crowd of frightened people could become the crack that shattered everything.
They needed courage again.
Immediately.
"Horus," Jimmy said.
"Go capture some wights and bring them here. Quickly."
"And be careful. Don't let anyone spear you out of the sky."
"Understood."
Jimmy climbed onto a stone platform and faced the frightened crowd.
"Look at yourselves."
"You're acting like rabbits chased by wolves."
"Yes, I can provide the basics for survival."
"But how will you protect yourselves?"
"By running?"
"Can you outrun the dead?"
"They never tire. They can chase you day and night."
"And you?"
"Where will you run to?"
He swept his gaze across the crowd.
"Do you still have the courage to defend your freedom?"
"Are you even Free Folk anymore?"
A voice shouted from the crowd.
"The dead can't be killed!"
Immediately others echoed the same fear.
"Yes!"
"They can't be killed!"
Jimmy's expression hardened.
"There is nothing that cannot be killed."
"If something can't be killed, it only means you're using the wrong method."
"Fire kills wights."
"Dragonglass kills them too."
He paused.
"But do you have the courage to swing your blades?"
With that, Jimmy threw several dragonglass daggers and spears into the crowd.
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