***Sixth Bonus Chapter of the Week***
Dreadfort Castle
POV of Domeric Bolton
"I don't like this." His aunt murmured anxiously as she paced back and forth across the room while he was stoically looking outside the window where a large procession of 1,300 Wildling people was being taken to one of the empty pastures that he had selected for them at an earlier date.
"I know. But it is done. Worrying about it won't change anything." He said with a shrug. Although, he was slightly worried about how anxious she seemed about this whole affair.
After all, he did love her like a mother. He never had and didn't want to cause her too much trouble.
"They're wildlings." She cursed while looking at them though all he could see were some desperate people who were running from the Others.
After reading the minds of some of the people, he was sure that they believed the undead were rising beyond the wall. Undeads who had bright blue eyes and didn't die even if you tore them in half.
But none of them had ever seen a White Walker so he still wasn't sure of their existence. Though in his heart, he knew that they existed.
The problem was that he couldn't just go around telling such things to the other lords as it would cause too much panic among them.
He looked outside and where his aunt saw these cursed 'Wildlings', he just saw children, women, old people, and a few men.
When he had gone to Hardhome with his small fleet in order to fulfill the promise he had given to Mance Rayder, he had found more than 2,100 people waiting for him on the shores as well as Mance Rayder and Tormund Giantsbane.
Those 2,100 free folks were being led by 6 different leaders. Unfortunately, 2 of them were lying to him and had no intention of settling down quietly within his lands. They instead planned to pillage his lands and go further south to find 'safety'.
He had denied them the passage to his lands, telling Mance Rayder about their true intentions.
A fight almost broke out right then and there as the 2 leaders refused to accept his decision, but Mance Rayder was finally able to calm everything down and Domeric was able to bring the remaining 1,300 free folks to his lands but not before all the leaders promised to follow the law and not harm other men and women in his lands.
Thankfully, Muron was capable of braving the sea without sailing near the seashores so the men from the East Watch didn't find out about his secret trip to Hardhome.
Now he just had to make sure that other people wouldn't find out about him harboring Free Folks within his lands. But even if they did, it was not like there was any law against doing such a thing.
And if it came to war, then he already had a standing army of 1,300 men with 1,000 more being trained in a hidden place. Not to mention the levies that he'll be able to raise, the giants, and the wargs that would fight for him if someone tried to challenge him.
Though admittedly, he would rather have peace than see his men fight a meaningless battle.
After all, if White Walkers were real then that meant when the time came, they had to fight against an undead army that had maybe millions of soldiers. And, to fight against that kind of army, the whole North or whole Westeros had to combine their power and resources. Otherwise, there wouldn't be a North or Westeros in the future.
So, there shouldn't be unnecessary disputes in the North. At least, till they won against the Others.
Also, he didn't want to conquer the North or Westeros with an army and bloodshed. The land of Bolton was on par in size with the small countries of his old world. If these lands could be used efficiently, they could accommodate millions of people. So, his priority was to improve and develop his land to make it a self-sufficient land.
Of course, there were some resources that he didn't have in his lands. But he could get them from others peacefully for now till he could find these resources somewhere else and make them his own permanently. After all, he wasn't a normal person but a wizard who could cast magic. And a lot of incredible things could be achieved with magic.
'Haah... I thought I could develop my lands peacefully but looks like I need to prepare for a war against the Others. Shouldn't my second life be more peaceful? Why would I have to fight against the undeads from a legend?'
He looked outside where there were free folks, again. He thought that accepting those people was the right choice. Otherwise, they would die at the hands of Others, rise as undead, and join the undead army.
'I need more soldiers, more blacksmiths, more generals, more craftsmen... I need more people.'
That was Domeric primary problem since he became a lord. He didn't have enough man. In the past that was still okay but now with the danger from the True North, the clock began ticking for him, for the North, or maybe for the whole world.
'Should I get some slaves from free cities at Essos and free them when they arrive in my lands? No, not now. I don't have a strong army at the moment. What if the slaves decided to rebel after even, they were free from slavery? They did at Essos after all in the past. I can get some slaves but not too many. But that way I still can't get enough people for my lands."
He thought of luring people from other Lords' lands, but Lords and Lord Stark definitely wouldn't allow that. After all, people were also a resource for them. He could try to buy people from them, but they might sell him some but definitely not so much.
But what about he didn't lure people from other lands, but small folks came to his lands themselves willingly? Yes, that could be done easily. Of course, he would lure them but not openly. He could send some people to other lands to praise Bolton Lands' prosperity discreetly.
When the Lords realized that somehow lots of their people migrated to Bolton Lands, they couldn't do anything about it anymore. They would probably demand justice from Lord Stark, but could Lord Stark punish him because he was good at developing his land? No way.
Well, at most Domeric would give them some gold to shut their mouth.
'This is a good opportunity. This way I can give some funds to other houses to improve their land. If we want to fight against the Others, we have to unite our strength and resources. But Northen Houses is too poor. And prideful. If I want to give them gold, they will reject it flatly. But if I gave them 'some compensation' they would accept while smiling, right?'
Killing two birds with one stone was always enjoyable. He loved doing that.
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Ch.59: Another Expedition?
Ch.60: Ship Building Factory