Splitwater was a tiny settlement not even marked on a map. To get to the Free Cities across the sea, one first had to take a small boat to White Harbor in the North, and from there, take a merchant ship across the sea.
To get back to Pentos before his mission deadline, Thomas had only one option: a merchant ship called the Lady Rose.
According to the Lady Rose's itinerary, after reaching Essos, it would first stop in Braavos before continuing to Pentos, the current garrison of the Second Sons.
The fare for the crossing was two gold dragons per person.
If the uncle and nephew were willing to do odd jobs on the ship, they could get a discount of half a gold dragon.
Hearing the captain's price, Thomas was furious. His nephew was strong and diligent, a quick and able worker. How could that only be worth half a gold dragon? It should be at least a full dragon.
After some intense haggling, they finally agreed that Thomas would serve as a guard on the ship, with no regular duties unless pirates attacked.
Kevin would serve as a sailor, handling various chores with the rest of the crew.
In return, their fares were halved.
Having grown up by the sea, Kevin was no stranger to boats, but this was his first time on a large vessel capable of carrying thousands of stone in cargo (by his estimate).
So, when the boatswain tossed him a rag and told him to swab the deck, he didn't resist at all. In fact, he eagerly volunteered to climb the mast and clean the crow's nest too.
To this, his uncle Thomas merely commented, "Work more, eat more. Just make sure you eat back what we paid."
The sun rose and set, the winds blew and died down.
After leaving White Harbor and passing Oldcastle, there were no other northern ports worth visiting.
All the ship's cargo holds were stuffed with goods, and the last-minute passengers, the Turners, were relegated to a cargo hold to keep company with barrels of wine.
What happens when you put a mouse in a rice granary?
Unable to resist temptation, Thomas Turner "accidentally" pried open a barrel of golden wine from the Vale with his dagger. After secretly drinking his fill, he "unintentionally" put the lid back on.
Unfortunately, the experienced captain sniffed out the truth from the faint aroma of wine on him. Thomas was forced to buy the rest of the barrel for one gold dragon the landing price of the wine in Braavos.
Drinking a few cups each day, the barrel gradually emptied. By the time Thomas had finished it, the merchant ship had left the northern coast of Westeros and was heading east.
But the weather is unpredictable, and fortune is fickle.
One noisy dawn, Kevin was jolted awake by violent rocking.
He sat on the cargo hold floor, confused, watching the panicked crew rush back and forth between the deck and the cabins.
Thomas was also awake. Seeing the commotion, he grabbed his sword and ordered his nephew, "Stay here, don't move!"
He then rushed onto the deck, grabbed an old sailor by the collar, and yelled over the wind and rain, "What's going on? What happened?!"
The old sailor shook him off, his white hair plastered to his forehead by the downpour. He roared back, "Are your eyes just for pissing? A storm's here! Pray to your gods!"
With that, the old sailor plunged back into the storm, joining the others in wrangling the flapping sails.
A dozen heartbeats later, he was whipped into the air by a flailing rope and vanished into the water.
Thomas's eyes went wide. He swallowed hard, then fled back to the cargo hold. With his sword, he pried open three wine barrels and kicked them over, letting the fine wine spill across the floor and fill the hold with a tempting aroma.
Once the barrels were empty, he put the lids back on one by one. But with the ship lurching and his hands trembling, he couldn't get them to seal tightly.
Seeing his foolish nephew just watching, Thomas roared, "You idiot, find me some nails!"
Kevin, jolted from his stupor, stumbled to a wooden crate and found a handful of finger-length nails, which he handed to his uncle.
Thomas took the nails and, using his sword's pommel as a hammer, slammed the lids shut on the empty barrels.
Then he gathered ropes from the floor and tied the barrels together in pairs.
He yanked on the ropes, making sure they were secure, then pulled Kevin over and tied his nephew's chest to one pair of barrels. As he worked, he muttered, "Damn it, this is why I always say a soldier shouldn't keep his money in a bank. Damn it, I still have a hundred gold coins in the Iron Bank, damn it all!"
After securing Kevin, he tied himself to the other pair of barrels, then turned to look his nephew in the eye. "Kid," he said, "you have to live."
It was the first time Thomas had ever shown any concern for him.
Before Kevin could realize it was a farewell, the rocking of the Lady Rose intensified sharply. With a tearing shriek, the ship broke in half.
Raging seawater flooded in, sweeping all the cargo into the sea.
Supported by the barrels, Kevin bobbed in the water, lucky enough to avoid being hit by debris from the ship and sinking to the bottom.
Even so, the furious storm tossed him about mercilessly.
His mind was a complete blur, with only one thought remaining: Live. I have to live.
Driven by the will to survive, Kevin used all his strength to keep himself positioned correctly with the barrels, ensuring his head stayed above water. He managed not to drown in the godsforsaken sea.
The effort exhausted him completely.
When the storm finally subsided, Kevin lay limply on the barrels, letting the tide carry him wherever it willed. Eventually, hunger and exhaustion made him pass out.
He didn't know how long he was in the darkness. When he woke up again, he was surprised to find himself lying on solid ground, on a bed of dry grass and leaves.
Beside him, a fire was burning. A helmet was propped over it, and an enticing aroma wafted from within.
Just as Kevin shifted, trying to get closer to the fire, a deep male voice came from behind him, speaking in a strange tongue. "#)$+#-#)@?"
He turned his head. A young man with black hair and black eyes was walking out of the forest, carrying a large bundle of branches. He grinned, revealing a warm smile.
After carrying the drowned boy back to camp, Aldric had made a bed of dry branches and leaves by the fire. He laid him down and lit the fire to warm him up.
After cleaning the seafood from his basket, Aldric chopped it into small pieces, put it in his helmet with some fresh water to stew, and then went into the forest to gather more firewood.
When he returned with the wood, he saw the boy waking up and moving toward the fire.
"Hey, be careful not to knock over the pot," Aldric warned kindly.
Hearing the voice, the boy turned his head nervously, his face a mask of vigilance.
Aldric wasn't bothered. Even though he'd saved him from the sea, they were still strangers.
If he were in the boy's position, he would react the same way.
To help the boy relax, Aldric deliberately walked past him to the other side of the fire, facing him directly.
After putting the firewood down, Aldric crouched, stirred the contents of the helmet with his long wooden spoon, and scooped out a piece of fish, eating it with the broth.
Mm, the flavor and tenderness were just right.
He ate several more spoonfuls. Seeing the boy across from him swallowing repeatedly, he grinned and offered him the spoon.
"Have some. I imagine you're hungry."
The boy hesitated for a moment, then took the spoon, reached into the helmet, and ladled a full scoop of seafood soup into his own wooden bowl. He added a few small pieces of squid and began to eat in small bites.
Anyone who has ever starved knows that if you have no food at all, it's bearable. But the moment you have one bite, the hunger monster awakens.
The boy was no exception. After swallowing just two pieces of octopus, he dropped the spoon, picked up the helmet, and began to drink the soup greedily.
When he tilted his head back to lick the last drop of rich broth, he put the helmet down, stood up, placed his right hand on his chest, and bowed to Aldric in thanks. "#-#)_-#($+#)# !"
"???"
Aldric blinked, completely baffled. Oh, this is bad, he thought. Don't tell me, don't tell me... the universal language skill that all transmigrators get, they forgot to give it to me?
You damn heavens! Aldric glanced up at the sky in dissatisfaction, sighed, and motioned for the boy to sit down.
He pointed to himself, slowed his speech, and tried to imitate the boy's accent. "劉易" (Liu Yi).
The boy paused, then understood. He repeated, "老一" (Lao Yi)?
"劉易" (Liu Yi).
"榴伊" (Lewie)?
Aldric gave a reluctant nod. Foreigners always struggled with Chinese. No need to make it hard on an interdimensional person.
Seeing Aldric nod, the boy was pleased. He then pointed to himself. "Kevin."
"Kevin?"
The boy was slightly surprised. The man's pronunciation was perfect, with even a hint of an accent from the Fingers.
If this black-haired man hadn't lived on the Fingers, then he must have just learned it from him on the spot.
But if he had lived on the Fingers, how could he not speak the Common Tongue of Westeros?
He decided to test him further.
"Kevin. Kevin of House Turner, from Coldwater Burn on the Fingers."
"Kevin. Kevin of House Turner, from Coldwater Burn on the Fingers," the black-haired man repeated, his accent still flawless.
But after speaking, he shook his head and pointed to the campfire. "37+#+$?"
Kevin guessed his meaning and said, "Fire."
"Fire."
Aldric then pointed to a leaf. "37+#+$?"
"Leaf."
"Leaf."
Aldric proceeded to learn many more words from Kevin. It wasn't until the shadow behind him had shrunk to beneath his feet that he realized it was already noon. He needed to get Kevin settled.
He stood up, went back to his cave, and brought out his short sword and mining pick.
Seeing Aldric approach with a sword and a pick, Kevin's body tensed.
He relaxed slightly when Aldric handed him the pick, but he still didn't know what he was supposed to do.
Aldric didn't try to explain. He just chose a relatively high spot at the edge of the forest and the river shoal and drew a rectangle on the ground about as long as Kevin was tall.
After some gesturing, Aldric marked eight spots along the two long sides of the rectangle and mimed the action of digging. "Hole. Dig."
Kevin understood. He took the pick and began digging a small pit in one of the spots Aldric had indicated.
Aldric nodded in approval. He gestured and said, "Me, forest, tree. You, dig hole." With that, he walked into the forest with his sword.
Watching Aldric's back disappear into the dense woods, Kevin was confused. What is he doing?
If he's going to kill me and bury the body, he should be digging in the middle of the rectangle, not on the edges. And why so small?
To take a crap?
Can't he just do that in the forest?
Kevin frowned. He couldn't figure it out, so he stopped trying. He just had to do it.
The man had pulled him from the sea and given him food. He wouldn't kill him after just a few words, would he?
He was in an unfamiliar place, penniless and with nowhere to run. It was better to just do as he was told and see what happened.
While Kevin was digging, the sound of chopping echoed from the woods.
Just as he finished digging the holes, he saw Aldric dragging several arm-thick tree trunks back with a vine rope.
"You're done already? Let me see."
Seeing Kevin's work, Aldric crouched down and stuck his finger in a hole. It was a bit shallower than he'd expected. He said to Kevin, "Deeper," and gestured with his fingers, "This deep."
Kevin nodded and continued working.
Meanwhile, Aldric untied the vines, lined up the man-high trunks, and began chopping off the branches and leaves with his sword.
Kevin dug while secretly watching Aldric out of the corner of his eye.
He saw that Aldric's movements with the sword were incredibly smooth and powerful. An arm-thick branch was severed with a single, unhesitating stroke.
Kevin remembered his brother once secretly taking their father's sword to chop wood, saying he wanted to get a feel for the sword in preparation for future battles.
Lannor had been beaten badly that day.
After putting away the whip, Kevin's father had told them, "A sword is a weapon. It's expensive. Wood is harder than a man's body. If you don't control it properly, the blade can bounce back and hurt you."
"If you don't want to die a stupid death so early, remember this: use an axe to chop trees, use a sword to chop men."
Kevin had remembered his father's words for years, treating them as gospel.
But... watching Aldric, he began to wonder if old John Turner had been lying to him.
Otherwise, why was this guy named Aldric so proficient?
He didn't know that although Aldric's short sword was transmogrified to look like the unremarkable "Blade of the Unquenched," its true form was the "Twilight's Fang," a top-tier one-handed sword from a 25-man heroic raid.
In terms of balance and sharpness, the sword was the pinnacle of craftsmanship, the dream sword of countless melee classes. It was certainly no match for the work of any blacksmith on the Fingers.
And with Aldric's enhanced strength, using a one-handed sword like a fruit knife wasn't particularly difficult.
A short while later, Aldric had nine stripped logs ready.
He took eight of them, stuck the thick ends into the holes Kevin had dug, and crossed the thin ends in pairs. Finally, he laid the longest, ninth log across the intersections as a ridge beam.
After loosely tying it to secure the shape, Aldric waved Kevin over. "Get in and try it. Lie down."