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What happened next was fairly straightforward.
Ironborn scouts who had come to investigate were captured by free folk hunters.
After learning about it, Sek discussed the situation with Rickon, and they decided to strike first.
To prevent the Ironborn from escaping and spreading word of their presence, every single free folk warrior was mobilized.
Giants as tall as the city gates slammed into the walls with massive shields, swinging iron broom-like weapons with unstoppable force.
One giant named Wun-Wun smashed the gate with a massive flail.
Resistance?
The moment two hundred armored giants appeared, Asha had already been ready to surrender.
She hesitated for just a moment.
By the time she did, her two hundred men had already been reduced to a few dozen.
The free folk warriors who arrived afterward didn't even get a chance to fight, Instead, they ended up acting as porters.
Anything that could be carried away from Deepwood Motte was taken. As for the people, not a single one was left behind.
That was the situation Jimmy now found himself facing.
The remaining members of House Glover had been brought here.
And Asha had been captured.
Escape?
With two hundred giants and seven thousand free folk warriors surrounding Deepwood Motte, there had been nowhere to run.
The biggest gain from the raid on Deepwood Motte was a large stockpile of iron ore.
Unfortunately, that was also the biggest headache.
With Jimmy's guidance, they had managed to imitate blacksmithing techniques well enough to forge simple tools.
But smelting the ore itself was something they had absolutely no idea how to do.
Fortunately, Jimmy had returned just in time and he had brought along a professional.
Gendry.
---
"So you're saying Deepwood Motte is completely empty now?"
"Yes," Rickon replied. "But we were worried someone might discover us. So after clearing everything out, we came back."
"As for Asha… I wasn't sure what to do with her."
"My first instinct was to kill her, Her brother betrayed us and attacked Winterfell."
"But I heard Theon has already been captured by Ramsay and apparently he dragged her down with him."
"And most importantly, she was captured by the free folk, not by us. So I figured it would be better to hand her over and let you decide."
Jimmy listened to Rickon's explanation and found himself uncertain.
Execute her?
Killing a prisoner wasn't something he was comfortable with.
Release her?
That wasn't an option either, at least not yet.
"Keep her locked up for now," Jimmy decided. "We'll deal with it later."
"Rickon, is there anything else?"
Rickon thought for a moment.
"We also captured someone else. A woman from beyond the Wall."
"She claims to know Jon. We had no way to verify that, and she kept trying to escape, so…"
"Red hair? Skilled with a bow? Named Ygritte?" Jimmy said immediately.
Rickon stared at him in disbelief.
"How did you know?"
"Wasn't she supposed to head to the Shadow Tower and then raid Mole's Town? Why did she end up here?"
"You even know their plan?" Rickon said in astonishment.
"Yes, That was their original plan. But when Ygritte passed through the Wolfswood, she spotted a small deer with a toy belonging to a giant child tied to its antlers."
"So after leaving Mole's Town, she came here to investigate."
"Unfortunately for her, she ran into some returning free folk, They were worried she might leak information, so they captured her."
Rickon looked at Jimmy seriously.
"Jimmy, you've always insisted we stay hidden. What exactly are we hiding from?"
"The North isn't stable yet," Jimmy replied calmly.
"You have no idea how many people are still truly loyal to House Stark."
"And you certainly don't know how many have secretly allied themselves with House Bolton."
"We have plenty of soldiers, but they're barely trained."
"They don't understand formations, They don't even know proper coordination yet. Right now, they rely almost entirely on instinct."
"If we send them into battle like this, we'd simply be throwing their lives away."
"That's why we have to remain hidden."
"To train them properly, I brought in someone who actually knows how to fight."
"Daisy."
"She'll be in charge of training them."
"Sek, you'll assist Daisy with training the warriors. If anyone refuses to cooperate, they can challenge me to a duel."
"Of course, if they prefer, they can fight Mag instead."
Sek fell silent.
Was that even a real choice?
Fight Jimmy… or fight Mag?
It sounded less like giving options and more like making sure nobody dared to object.
"Understood, King of the Free Folk. I'll pass along your orders."
Jimmy nodded.
"Daisy, if anything confuses you, ask Rickon. He's been the one dealing with them during this time."
"The free folk aren't like the people south of the Wall. Their habits and customs are different…"
"I know a little," Daisy said. "I grew up on Bear Island. We've dealt with them before."
"Though to be honest, I never had much of a favorable opinion of them."
"You're mistaken," Jimmy said, shaking his head. "You haven't dealt with these people."
"The free folk you know live south of the Thenn Mountains. They barely count as true free folk."
"Savage. Brutal. Animalistic."
"But the free folk here are from north of the Thenn Mountains. They live in the lands of eternal frost."
"They're not what you imagine."
"You've heard stories about giants before. But have you ever actually seen one?"
"All the giants live north of the Thenn Mountains."
"If the White Walkers hadn't emerged from the frozen lands, they would never have been forced to abandon their homes."
"Before that, many of them believed that the people south of the Thenn Mountains were cannibals."
Jimmy patted Daisy on the shoulder, leaving her stunned by what she had just heard.
Even Jimmy himself had only learned the truth after spending time among them.
Looking at the people gathered here, he felt a sense of pride.
If it hadn't been for him, these nearly twenty thousand people—and more than five hundred giants—would probably have been slaughtered by the White Walkers long ago.
There was one thing Jimmy knew for certain.
When the giants attacked the Wall in the future, there wouldn't be many of them left.
---
Jimmy met with Ygritte briefly.
He told her that Rickon was Jon's younger brother.
She could either remain here and help protect Rickon, or she could return to the wildlings and join their assault on the Wall.
That would mean killing Jon's brothers of the Night's Watch… watching her own people die… and eventually facing Jon with blades drawn against one another.
Ygritte made her decision without hesitation.
She chose to stay and protect Rickon.
After Jimmy confirmed Rickon's identity, Rickon readily accepted the arrangement.
The only thing that made Ygritte uncomfortable was Sybelle.
Osha insisted that Jon's family was a great house, and that proper manners mattered. Otherwise, it would make Jon look bad.
So Ygritte reluctantly had to start learning etiquette.
And the only person who could realistically teach her was Sybelle.
After all, you couldn't exactly expect Asha to teach her.
Asha was an Ironborn.
What would she teach her? How to raid and plunder?
---
Once everything had settled into place, Jimmy once again set out on his wandering adventures.
---
At the Wall, without Ygritte's presence, Jon Snow fought fiercely, holding the wildlings firmly outside the Wall.
On the wildling side, the situation was very different.
Without the giants, they had lost one of their most effective methods for attacking the gates.
And since Jimmy had taken in more than ten thousand of their elderly and weak, their food supplies were not as desperate as before.
They no longer felt the same need to fight desperately as Mance Rayder did.
After all, the Wall was incredibly long.
Surely there must be weak points somewhere they could slip through.
Hadn't Mance once done the same when he passed south wearing a cloak of bells?
Besides, many wildlings had never personally seen the walking dead.
Without that fear driving them forward, their willingness to risk everything began to fade.
Soon, some even started openly opposing Mance's strategy of smashing directly into the Wall.
Even during the attacks, they began holding back their strength, saving their forces and preparing to bypass the Wall entirely.
Mance could see exactly what was happening.
But he also understood something the others didn't.
Even if they managed to slip past the Wall, the wildlings would never stand a chance against the armored armies of the south.
Only by seizing the Wall itself did they have any hope of survival.
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