Traveling through The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim

"Locke, Angie asked me to ask you, that child..."

Seeing me nod, Eric almost bit his molars to pieces.

"You had an affair with the lord's wife and had a child! How dare you?"

"She was already pregnant when she married Sidgal..."

Rigel's emphasis on "coincidentally" proves that she also believes that this matter cannot be a coincidence, and that Danger must have known that the child is mine. If so, I can't hide from it any longer!

"What are you going to do, kid?"

I was about to stand up when Eric pushed me back into the chair.

"I'm going to Falkreath. Mother and Rigel are in danger!"

I twisted and struggled, but couldn't break free from his grip.

"Calm down, Locke! You should know that they are in danger if you go."

He picked up Rigel's letter and waved it in front of me.

"Tell me, since old fellow Danger already knew that you and the lady of the lord were having an affair, why didn't he do anything?"

This is exactly what I am confused about. If my father is leading the troops outside, so that the old fox dare not do anything to Rigel, then why didn't he send someone to arrest me? Especially a few days ago, I brought my own head to the door. At that time, I was definitely killed without anyone noticing.

"Listen, Locke, what I'm going to say next is what Angie asked me to tell you. No matter what, you can't go to Falkreath now."

"But……"

Eric covered my mouth directly.

"Shut up and listen to me. Now, you leave for Helgen immediately. If Danger's people want to catch you, run to Whiterun. Since Angie has received the letter from the lady, it is only natural for the two of us to visit her. I am from the Companions, they will not do anything to us. When the time comes, we will find a way to pick up Aunt Donna. Lord Horik has soldiers in his hands, they dare not provoke him easily, so the most dangerous person now is you. As long as he doesn't catch you, Danger will not touch Donna."

My mind was in a mess and I couldn't think effectively. I just packed a few clothes and weapons as Eric told me to do and followed him to Helgen. I was put in the fortress and guarded by Masinissa and his Red Guards. Eric and Angie immediately set out to the west.

"Is there something on your mind, sir?"

Masinisa sheathed his sword. During the two days when Eric and his wife were away, he would drag me to practice martial arts whenever he had time, but I was always absent-minded and the Red Guards' double swords repeatedly broke through my defense.

"Eric once said that you and he have their own strengths in spearmanship, but I really don't see where you excel. Or -"

He narrowed his eyes and took a step closer.

"I am not worthy to be your opponent?"

Of course I can't tell the truth.

"I recently got some news about Silver Hand, but I haven't had time to tell Eric. I heard that he came to you before and planned to attack a heavily defended fortress. What is the specific situation?"

"Aha! I thought you didn't care about that."

Masinissa seemed to have been waiting for me to ask, and could not wait to begin describing their journey in detail.

Eric and he met with Staleo on the hill on the south bank of the Treva River, and while they surveyed the terrain, the other party detailed his efforts.

Trevar Tower is not very large, but it is located on a strategic location with high mountains to the north and a large river to the south. And Staleo himself is a militant faction. After the Rift Valley Territory expressed its support for Ulfric, he immediately realized the significance of his stronghold to the Stormcloak camp - it is the first fortress in the southwest, which is both a defensive barrier and an offensive fulcrum.

Wulfric naturally attached great importance to this place, and Starleo also took advantage of this importance to gain many benefits for himself. He was like a diligent squirrel, tirelessly storing up enviable wealth. It is conceivable how much of a blow the loss of the castle was to him. As an old soldier, Starleo immediately organized a counterattack, but the solid defense line he was proud of before became an obstacle for him at this moment.

After the frontal attack was frustrated, he quickly changed his strategy. On the one hand, he arranged for his adjutant to lead a feint attack to tie down the enemy's forces, and on the other hand, he led the elite troops to sneak into the fortress through the escape passage. At first, everything went smoothly, but after entering the cellar of the fortress, Staleo was suddenly besieged. The enemy was obviously well prepared and was waiting for him to fall into the trap.

After a hard fight, Starleo managed to break through the siege with the desperate protection of his men, but he lost almost all of his strongest warriors. Meanwhile, his opponents were not idle either. The invaders not only occupied the fortress, but also controlled the nearby farms, demanding that each family hand over a male. They then publicly executed the family members of those who participated in the attack and threatened to kill more hostages if the attack continued.

The soldiers were all locals, and none of them wanted to implicate their families because of reckless behavior. Not long after, the invaders sent representatives to negotiate. They revealed their identities and did not hide their collusion with Bruray. They also proposed that as long as Starleo gave up the Treva Watchtower, the Silver Hand Mercenaries would be willing to release his family and other hostages. This move completely destroyed the morale of the siege troops. If it weren't for the team of death warriors left by Starleo, they would have mutinied long ago.

Under such circumstances, even though he was unwilling to do so, Starleo did not dare to camp with his back to the river, and had to pull his troops to the south bank of the Treva River. When he went to Helgen Town to seek help, people in his troops escaped home every day, and his adjutants were worried about the safety of their families, so they did not stop them. When Eric arrived, there were less than fifty people left in the camp.

"Eric and I could both sense the hostility of these people, because our presence meant that their master had no interest in peace talks. So Eric spent most of the day persuading Starleo to accept Silver Hand's conditions. The two men argued in the tent for a long time and seemed to have fought, but the two guys who went in to help were quickly thrown out. The final result was that Eric entered the Treva Tower as a negotiating representative."

Eric would never give up so easily, so I raised my eyebrows and signaled Masinisa to continue. The Red Guards were quite disappointed to see that I was not fooled.

"After several rounds of negotiations, the two sides determined the surrender process, which is divided into three steps. First, Eric and an adjutant entered the fortress to confirm the safety of Stareo's family. After the adjutant sent back the message, Stareo would disband his troops. At the same time, Silver Hand released the other hostages. Finally, Eric escorted Stareo's family away."

"Are you guys responsible for standing by and cheering?"

Masinissa forced an expression of grievance.

"Your Excellency, what you said is too hurtful. In order to show his sincerity in surrendering, Stareo fired us in front of everyone. This is of course part of the plan. In fact, Eric asked us to go around the upper reaches of the Cuiwa River and approach the entrance of the fortress escape passage with the cover of the dense forest. His negotiation was just to delay time so that we can reach the predetermined location. Stareo has a dozen diehards who will raid the fortress gate when exchanging hostages, and our mission is to sneak in and meet them."

"It's too risky to do this. Eric will have to face the siege alone. If he is not careful, the consequences will be disastrous. And when the gate is seized, Silver Hand will definitely attack indiscriminately. How many hostages will be killed?"

The Red Guards scoffed at my views.

"These people betrayed their lord. What's there to sympathize with? Some of them might have tipped off Silver Hand, causing him to mistakenly believe that we really intended to abandon the fortress, and as a result, he relaxed the defense of the escape route. In short, the plan went smoothly. When those cowards saw that we had the upper hand, they started fighting again. I was indeed worried that Eric would not be able to hold on at first, but after rushing to the room where the hostages were held, I found that he had summoned a demon to help. These two guys killed seven or eight enemies together, but they themselves were unharmed."

Masinissa said proudly that Staleo had given out more than 100 kilograms of Septim coins as a reward to express his gratitude. Because the amount was too large, he and Eric did not count it in detail, but it was estimated that it would not be less than 8,000 coins. The two sides divided the captured spoils equally. In addition, Staleo also gave Eric a set of exquisite fish scale armor, which was said to have been made by someone at a high price when he was young. Perhaps for Staleo, the only regret was that his enemy, Bruray, was not in the castle.

Speaking of trophies, I became interested.

"I heard that everyone in the Silver Hand Mercenary Group has silver weapons?"

Masinisa chuckled, fumbled around on his body for a while, quickly found a key, and waved it at me.

"Come on, I'll take you to see it for yourself."

I held a short sword about 70 centimeters long. The wooden handle was roughly made, the spine was made of iron, and the top blade, about 3 centimeters long, was made of silver. It looked not only of low purity, but also oxidized and blackened in many places. The blade seemed to be only coated with a layer of silver foil. I thought about it and resisted the urge to peel it open. This sword seemed to have no blade, more like a silver-inlaid iron rod with a handle.

"You don't think the whole sword is made of pure silver? Then we will make a fortune on this trip."

Looking at the Red Guards who were acting weird, I rolled my eyes in anger. After all, the thing in my hand was far from what I expected. The silver sword in the game has damage comparable to that of steel weapons. Although it is not high, it can be considered a sharp weapon in the early stage. What's more, it can also cause extra damage to werewolves and undead creatures. In addition, although the silver sword cannot be polished, it can be enchanted to obtain better properties, so warriors usually take one or two pieces in the early stage to prepare for tomb raiding.

No matter what, I couldn't connect the short, thick iron rod in front of me with the word "sword". What's the point of holding such a weapon? To hit someone?

Masinissa seemed to see my confusion.

"You must have heard that pure silver can cause special damage to dirty monsters. This weapon is specially used to deal with undead creatures such as ghouls. However, silver has a fatal problem, that is, it is too soft, so you certainly can't expect this thing to be as sharp as a real sword. Of course, it is even more impossible to make it entirely of silver. How rich would it be?"

He picked up a silver sword and waved it casually.

"Don't underestimate this stick. If you poke it into a corpse, it will definitely burn a big hole. Every member of the Silver Hand has two weapons. An iron sword is used to hit people, and a silver sword is used to hit ghosts."

What kind of demon hunter setting is this!

"Isn't their leader called Geralt?"

"How did you know?"

"Ah? I was just guessing."

Masinissa gave me a sidelong glance.

"We don't know the chief's name. He's dead."

"Dead? Why not capture him alive?"

"That guy was at the city gate at the time. The people of Starleo were so angry that they saw that he had the best outfit and chopped him off on the spot. It took us half an hour to clean up the battlefield afterwards and barely pieced him together."

Silver Hand deployed 40 men at Treva Tower. If it weren't for Eric's risky move, the exhausted army around Starleo would have no chance of winning. These guys, considering that they had the advantage, wantonly executed the hostages. When the city gate was breached, they were naturally retaliated and the whole army was annihilated. Thirty-five people, including the leader, were killed. Among the five who survived, three were cooks. They were of such low status that they didn't even know the leader's name.

"Aren't there two more people?"

Masinissa spat on the ground in a very ungraceful manner.

"Those two have harder mouths than the rocks in Dragon Tail Mountain. But Starleo said he would give them a hand. He was hoping to get news about Bruray from these two guys. No matter how good Eric's relationship with Baron Helgen is, he can't use his prison to detain the prisoners of the Companions, so he had to leave all five of them in Treva Tower. Because of this, Starleo gave us two sets of equipment. This old man is quite generous, much more generous than you, but he speaks in a flowery way, which makes it hard to listen to him."

"What? Do you regret hanging out with me?"

"What are you talking about? We Arikel people are loyal to our word. How can we change our allegiance for a small profit? I am just stating a fact."

The Red Guards looked very serious and hurt.

"It's just a joke, don't be so nervous. I really think that you are wasting your talents following me. What do you think of Eric? He is short of manpower right now, why don't you help him out? The Companions are very influential in Skyrim, and they may be able to help you find someone."

Masinissa nodded in agreement, then put on his signature smirk and raised his hand to stroke the hilt of the knife at his waist.

"Have you had enough of the chat, sir? Can you now properly demonstrate your skills to me?"

……

Eric and Angie had been gone for five days, but there was still no news. Instead, Helgi was brought back from Orphan Rock by Annis. The little girl had been away for more than a month this time. When they met again, she seemed to have grown taller. The loose and simple navy blue wizard robe could not hide the girl's upright and light style. She had fallen behind in her studies, and the new tutor held her down and taught her to make up for it. If it weren't for the old aunt who went to pick her up in person, Esmerelda would not have planned to let her go.

As for the reason why Annis went to pick people up, it turned out that the imperial army had begun to gather near the town of Loristed, and the number of people was extremely large.

Danger's prediction came true.

My old aunt wanted Helgi to go to Sunny Garden Fortress to join the battle, but of course I strongly opposed this.

"You're crazy! There's no mercy on the battlefield. If anything happens to your precious niece, where will you go to regret it?"