Traveling through The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim

Eddie later met with Cindy again through Rigel, and it was from then on that he began to plan everyone's retreat.

In the eyes of the brothers in the Pinewood Lookout, the three captains when Rigel was a bandit, Rawls and Wolfe, were all dead, and Cindy suddenly disappeared. I didn't hang out with these people for a long time, so Eddie became the leader among them.

This guy carefully checked and selected eight trustworthy people. Under the guise of digging a cellar, he was actually setting up an escape route. Their plan was to dig from the back kitchen of the hotel all the way to the outside of the town, and finally connect to the Gray Water Cave, which was the ice and snow maze where Cindy and I met. The choice of this place was of course based on Cindy's suggestion, and Rigel's men were also good at digging holes, so the plan went smoothly.

The inner part of the escape route has been basically completed. There is a secret door deep in the cellar. Eddie is going to add some traps and then slowly start to store food and weapons in it. The outer part of the city has also started to be built, but due to limited manpower, the two parts have not been connected for the time being. After Eddie left Helgen Town, Joey was responsible for following up on these matters. In principle, we don't seek speed, but stability, to prevent the news from leaking.

Once this is done, Helgen will have two secret passages. One leads to the north from the fortress in the northwest of the town, and the other leads to the south from the hotel. The former is in the open, and it was this route that Tagel led his men to occupy the Howling Bastion. The latter is in the dark, and the nobles in Falkreath are not aware of it. In case of an emergency, we can escape from here.

"How about it, brother? Is our arrangement worth your best effort?"

"It's worth it. It's really worth it. But I have to be frank. I know the dish you want to learn. But I have never actually cooked it myself. I can only tell you the method. The rest depends on your own practice."

Eddie's face fell.

"Brother, you are not kidding me, are you? Do you need some dragon liver and tiger gall or something like that?"

"You're looking at me. Am I kidding you? The ingredients for this dish aren't hard to come by, but they're very difficult to prepare. But I know someone has made it, so it's no joke."

"Wait a minute, I'll get some paper and pen."

Eddie came back soon, sat up straight, and signaled that I could start teaching.

"Choose a fish with few bones, preferably a slightly larger one, remove the scales, fins and gills, but do not cut open the belly of the fish. Instead, remove the internal organs from the fish's mouth. Then use a narrow knife to insert it from the fish's mouth, with the tip of the knife close to the spine, and gently cut towards the belly of the fish to remove the ribs. Then, work backwards to remove the spine from the fish's back. Be very careful during the whole process and do not pierce the fish meat."

"Brother, is this really possible?"

"Of course I can. I told you, someone has done it before. Removing the fish bones is the most troublesome step. After that, cut the front end of the spine from the gill cover, and then break the back end of the spine from the tail fin. Then you can remove all the bones without breaking the fish body. Then make some cuts on the fish, take three or four scallions, rub them with salt, and insert them into the fish's mouth. The fish is done, and you can set it aside to marinate."

Just listening to me describe the process, beads of sweat appeared on Eddie's bald head.

"Prepare shrimps and clams, remove the shells and chop them into meat paste. Then prepare mutton, cut it into large pieces and soak it in water. After all the blood is soaked out, remove the fascia and chop it into meat paste. Sprinkle some salt on the meat paste, soak the onion and garlic in water, then add the water to the meat paste in small amounts several times, and then add some oil as appropriate. Keep stirring in one direction until the meat paste is firm and clumping. Then make small meatballs with a diameter of one and a half fingers, blanch them in water, and remove the foam for later use. If you can get small bird eggs such as pine sparrow eggs, that would be great too. Peel the shells after boiling them."

"I see, brother. Next, should we stuff the bird eggs and meatballs into the fish's mouth and then roast the fish?"

"Roast your ass! How can the best food on earth be cooked with smoke or fire? You have to steam it! After taking it out of the pot, drain the steamed water, and finally mix honey and fruit vinegar into a sauce, pour it on the fish, and then you can serve it. If you like, you can also put a circle of vegetables on the outside as a decoration."

Eddie licked his lips gently.

"That sounds great. Bro, does this dish have a name?"

"This is called an old clam holding a pearl, which means many children and prosperity for the family. What do you think? Isn't it suitable for holding a birthday party for the child?"

"Brother, you have the guts to say that the boss is an old clam."

Eddie gave me a thumbs-up with a sly smile.

"Me? No, no, no, you cooked the dish, and you came up with the name, so what does it have to do with me?"

The guy pursed his lips and then stopped smiling.

"Brother, this child, are you really willing?"

"What can we do if we are unwilling? Boy, don't have any bad thoughts. If this gets out, I'm afraid we will all die. Speaking of which, you have lived here for a while. Based on your observation, have Danger and the others guessed it?"

"I don't know. Lord Danger has never been here, but Lord Tager has visited the eldest brother twice and always sent servants to bring some food, clothing and daily necessities. If you look at this point, the two brothers should not have discovered it yet."

"Then how did you guess it?"

Eddie stared at me and sighed slowly.

In fact, he had already seen through the clues to the child's secret very early on.

I thought I had a good reason to see Rigel every time, but to outsiders, a young man in his early twenties who would find all kinds of excuses to sneak into a woman's room every now and then was not a decent person's behavior, especially when the woman's husband was not with her. Eddie knew the relationship between Rigel and me very well. He suspected that I had fallen in love with someone else at first, but soon found that I kept a polite distance from the women around me. Then, my behavior of approaching Rigel was even more suspicious.

Eddie has been with Rigel for many years. He can be in charge of logistics beside the extremely suspicious female leader. This shows how much the little saber-tooth tiger trusts him. It also proves from the side that Eddie has some skills in dealing with people. Such a person naturally knows Rigel very well. This woman looks like a troll, is as strong as a mammoth, is as cruel and violent as a saber-tooth tiger, is more perverse and paranoid than a werewolf, is as greedy and stingy as a dragon, and is as moody as the weather in Skyrim.

Generally speaking, a normal man would never fall in love with such a woman.

——If Rigel can be called "a woman".

On the other hand, Eddie was the closest person to me in the entire gang. He certainly knew that I joined the gang out of helplessness; he also knew that I was not willing to commit myself to Rigel; he also saw with his own eyes that there was no shortage of women around me. After Rigel and Sidgal got married, I had regained my freedom and could pursue other women.

What kind of women are those?

The tall and fit blonde beauty Angie, the plump and sexy loyal guard Lai Mei, the exotic double-blade female warrior Riya, and the naughty and wild assassin girl Cindy. If you want to be more beastly, you can also count the budding Rich girl Helgi.

Who isn't better than Rigel?

But I didn't do anything to any of them.

Not only that, I also showed great concern for Rigel, who was already married, and repeatedly made requests for improvements to the diet that Eddie was in charge of. And I gave instructions face to face, without question. This was completely beyond the scope of a subordinate caring about his former leader. In fact, even those brothers who had fallen into the same trap together, most of them chose to keep their distance from their former boss after they had cleaned up their act and got ashore.

Part of the reason was the change in their identities that caused a sense of alienation. Rigel was no longer the bandit leader, but a noble, and she was also the wife of the lord, the only daughter of the baron, a member of the Falkreath Council, and a warlord. Normally, it would be difficult for ordinary people to meet or even hear about a person of this level. How could they still make jokes like before?

Another reason lies with Rigel herself. She has never been an easy person to get along with. She is strict with her subordinates and stingy with money. When she became a bandit, she relied on force to suppress and divide and win over people, barely controlling the situation. But Rawls was not the only one who had second thoughts about her. When the situation was critical before, there were others who wanted to join forces to rebel. Although things are temporarily stable now, who can guarantee that this petty tigress will not bring up old scores again?

Furthermore, as Eddie said, once you become a robber, you will always be labeled as such. No one wants to dwell on their stain. In the past, they had nowhere to go and were helpless. Now that they have a right path to follow, they must draw a clear line between the past and the people they cannot bear to look back on. I have been with Rigel for the shortest time among all the people. I was forced to join him because I was kidnapped. Others were too busy trying to avoid him, but I kept clinging to him.

There must be a demon in the abnormal situation.

Eddie guessed that what I really cared about was not Rigel but the baby in her belly. At this point, the answer was self-evident.

In all likelihood, the child Rigel is carrying is my child.

I thought I had hidden it well.

"Does Murray know?"

"You and the boss are both so tight-lipped. I was just guessing, how dare I tell anyone about it? Didn't you also say that it's better not to know about this kind of thing? Murray is timid..."

I rolled my eyes. This is another man who dotes on his wife. No wonder he and Eric have similar personalities.

Eddie comforted me a few more times, saying that there was still hope, and that instead of overthinking it, it was better to prepare early so that I wouldn't be caught off guard when someone overturned the table.

That's the truth, but I have no idea about Danger's situation, so I can't help but feel anxious. Especially since my two biggest weaknesses - Rigel and Donna - are both in the hands of the old fox. What's even more ridiculous is that I was so smart that I wanted to get information through Stein and Sam's personal relationship, so I sent this squire sent by Danger to Donna's side.

Luo Ke, Luo Ke, how dare you?

With this thought in mind, I quickly said goodbye and ran to Donna's place.

The courtyard was still peaceful, the hedges had grown a little taller, but were still neatly trimmed. The canal had been dug completely. The stream from the Howling Bastion Mountain flowed in from the northwest corner, surrounded the unbuilt villa and the vegetable patch in the middle of the courtyard, and then merged into the original river from the northeast, heading downstream to the logging camp. A chicken coop was built next to the vegetable patch, and three hens were pecking at the ground.

Stein was brandishing a sword at a scarecrow, but when he saw me coming, he stopped and walked forward to open the gate.

"The old lady is taking a nap, and Savilla is serving her. At this time every day, she will take a short nap. There is nothing important here, so I didn't disturb her."

I nodded. Stein looked normal, nothing unusual.

"I'm going to stay here for a few days to do some work. The Bloody Throne needs to be staffed, so if you're willing, go back and help me keep an eye on it."

"I will leave it to you, sir. May I ask when I should leave?"

"If you don't have anything to deal with here, you can leave now."

"I'll go pack my things now."

Stein didn't hesitate, bowed lightly, and walked back to his room briskly. His attitude made me feel more at ease. It seemed that Danger had not instructed him to monitor or control Donna. Maybe I was overthinking, or maybe the old fox was confident and didn't bother to use these little tricks.

I knocked gently on the door and was quickly let in by the flustered Savera.

"The old lady is...resting. I...I am learning to read..."

The dark elf girl seemed very reserved in front of me, as if she was afraid that I would blame her for being lazy, and she stammered a few words to explain.

"The old lady took me to visit the lord's wife. She...they said that if I could write, I might be able to help the adults. The book...the book was given by the lord's wife. The old...the old lady also agreed with me...I..."

"Savila, who's outside?"

"Madam, it's Lord Locke who's here."

This girl didn't stutter when she talked to Donna, but, am I that scary? Scratching the stubble on my chin helplessly, I followed her into the inner room. Donna was naturally very happy and pulled me to sit down and chat. I chatted with her about this and that, asking indirectly about Danger's attitude towards her.

According to her, the canal was dug by Nanya, and the female elf also specifically stated that this was to apologize for her taking my wood, so Donna didn't need to pay for it. The old fox never visited her, but when he asked Nanya to bring people to dig the canal, he gave her some pine needles and meat, and asked her if she wanted to buy a few more servants to serve. Donna accepted the gift and declined the suggestion to buy people. The lady of the lord had invited her to visit twice, and Savilla accompanied her every time, so there was the matter of Rigel giving books to teach the girl to read.

Donna attributed the kindness of Rigel, Danger and Nanya to me because I had made outstanding contributions to the lord. Otherwise, why would the nobles, who were so high up, care about a peasant woman? Even if they took away the wood for building your house, what would happen? She also heard about what happened in her hometown. Lori, a veteran who had fought for the Imperial Legion and a wealthy landlord, had his property taken away by others, and he had no way to appeal until now.

I couldn't help but wonder if I was influenced by my father and Eddie, which led to the panic. Nanya took the initiative to show her goodwill to Donna, which shows that she was not deliberately targeting me under Danger's arrangement. Then my previous speculation was nonsense? Was the old fox really still in the dark and didn't know about my affair with Rigel?

This is the best. I decided to pretend nothing happened and go back to digging kilns and making bricks.