Traveling through The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim

"Cook the whole piece of pork rump, cool it in cold water, and then cut it into slices about two millimeters thick. Don't make it too thick."

Lao Zhao instructed me while I worked on the chopping board. I cut the chili pepper into small circles, cut a piece of ginger into diamond-shaped slices, smashed the green garlic and cut it diagonally, added a little soy sauce to the sweet bean paste, and the ingredients were ready. Twenty minutes later, my first plate of twice-cooked pork was served, and Lao Zheng had been waiting with a bowl of rice.

"Okay, Daluo, no wonder Lao Zhao loves you so much. In two months, can you cook for yourself?"

"Ah? Hehe, maybe it's almost there."

"It's okay. Starting tomorrow, don't just stew for lunch. Let Da Luo cook two dishes. Lao Zhao, you supervise. We will eat what we cook."

Lao Zheng wolfed down the food on his plate and stretched himself.

"Uncle Zheng said I did an okay job."

"Humph, that's because it's your first time, so I'm encouraging you. He's more picky than a cat. Try doing it like this tomorrow and see if he doesn't scold you!"

"Brother Da Luo, can you also make twice-cooked pork for me?" Zheng Juan appeared out of nowhere, pinched her throat, and acted coquettishly to me in a sweet and sticky voice.

Wait! How could that little tiger girl Dajuanzi act like a spoiled child to me! What is this voice…

I held my head and sat up. A ray of light came in through the window. It was not yet completely bright. I must have drunk too much yesterday. My head was dizzy and I didn't remember how I got back to the inn. I didn't feel the alcohol content of this mead when I drank it, but it was quite strong. I have to be more careful next time.

Valmina entered my dream again, which made me very worried. This guy seemed to be very interested in my past life. Maybe those tall buildings and car fans were the real fantasy to her. If I let her harass me like this, nothing good would happen. When I have time, I will have a good chat with Yilandur to see how to get rid of a demon lord.

I sat quietly for a while, waiting for the hangover dizziness to dissipate, then dressed and left the hotel. When I arrived outside the west gate, I breathed a sigh of relief. The Nanyang chief was really reliable. Dozens of tents were set up along the official road. Some residents were already cooking breakfast. There were many wooden bowls piled on the table next to the big pot. The refugees had lined up and were waiting to receive their meals. Several soldiers were patrolling back and forth to maintain order.

"Locke, come here."

I didn't know when my dad arrived. He was queuing with Alec at the time. As soon as he saw me, he called me over.

"This is Locke. He was the one who brought tents and food to everyone yesterday."

The refugees nearby expressed their gratitude to me after hearing what my father said, which made me feel embarrassed. It was indeed me who asked Danger for the tents and food, but I was drunk after I asked him to do it, and I didn't even think about going to make sure it was done. The specific work was all done by someone hired by Nanya, and I really didn't dare to take credit for other people's work and feel ashamed of receiving such gratitude.

"Well, I didn't actually do anything. It's all thanks to the Nanya steward and these citizens."

"Young man, don't be too modest. If you don't fight for it, they won't do it either. It's freezing cold, and I don't know how many people will die." Dad pulled me away and lowered his voice. "I have no objection to what you said yesterday, but there are more than 300 refugees, and I don't know the situation in Helgen. Do we have enough food?"

This...did I say yesterday that we would send refugees to Helgen? I totally don't remember that. After my father said that, I felt a little guilty. In novels, the situation where rich people can buy all resources at any time by waving money does not exist in reality. Food is not something you can buy with money. Most of the food collected from the fields by farmers has to be paid to the lord as taxes. The rest is kept for their own food before they are sold. Now it is close to the night star month, which is December. The food that should be harvested has been harvested long ago. I have no idea how much inventory there is in Helgen. Rigel used to prepare inventory based on more than 50 people. Now there are more than 300 mouths, which is quite deadly. Besides, she probably only has a few thousand Septim in her hands. Even if others have goods, we don't have enough money.

Seeing that I was hesitant and unable to speak, my father laughed and patted my shoulder, "It's okay, I'll go and grind Tager and see how much food I can get for my old face."

I was still too young and didn't consider the whole picture. Whether it was the alliance with Balgruuf or taking in refugees, it was all wishful thinking, but I ignored the objective situation. This is what is called "the situation is stronger than people" and "manpower is sometimes limited". There are many things that I can't do just because I think it's right, and it's not that others will follow me to do it just because I think it's right.

Although the refugees received relief, dozens of them still died. Although the cemetery in Falkreath was large, there was no place for them to be buried. The living quietly collected the bodies and dug a shallow pit in the black pine forest to bury them. These people had seen too many deaths and had long been numb. No one cried, no one condoled, and no one built a monument for them. The living were just trying to survive, and the dead were gone forever.

The sun rose and it was already bright. Soraf came to invite my father and me to the knighthood ceremony. We returned to the inn, changed into formal clothes, and entered the lord's longhouse. Sidger sat in the lord's seat as a mascot, and Tager presided over the ceremony. My father knelt on one knee and recited a long oath. Sidger picked up a ceremonial sword, patted my father's shoulders, and took a simple long sword from the Nanya steward.

"I grant you the Blade of Falkreath and the taxes and debts of Helgen. What do you... uh... what do you... what do you do?"

"You must fulfill your obligations, obey the lord's call, and protect your people."

The sword was shining with a deep purple light, and it was obvious that it was not an ordinary item. The old man took it respectfully and handed it to Riya. The female warrior hung the sword around the old man's waist.

Then Sidgeir granted me the title of knight, and the fiefdom was the Bloodthrone. This also meant that I was no longer Rigel's servant, but Sidgeir's subordinate, and became a noble. After the werewolf incident, we discussed with Danger that Vighar's body was still not suitable for transporting back to the city, so he and Rigel cremated the vampire together, divided two large bowls of vampire ashes, and buried the remaining dregs in the cellar of the Bloodthrone castle.

I was assigned two attendants, Sam and Stein, and was given a steel sword. Rod secretly said that the quality of this sword was not as good as the one he gave me, and suggested that it be hung on the wall as a decoration.

While the knighthood ceremony was going on, Thoraf had already led his men to identify the refugees. There were a total of 326 refugees still alive, including 48 Nords, mainly residents north of Markarth. Only the elderly and children were left. Most of them chose to stay in Falkreath. In addition to Alec's family of four, Giles' family of five also chose to go to Helgen.

Of the remaining 248 Rich people, there were 53 young and middle-aged people, 39 of whom were women, and a total of 195 people, including 127 children and 76 boys. In total, there were 257 people who followed us, more than half of whom were children, the oldest was only 13 years old. Seeing that the refugees were mainly old and young, I secretly breathed a sigh of relief and prayed that everyone could survive this winter smoothly.

Noel went into the black pine forest with the hunters early in the morning. He wanted to stay here to continue the investigation, while Ilandur was going to follow us to Helgen for an inspection. The two followers led the refugee group slowly, and the few of us went to Helgen first. Dad and Rigel hadn't seen each other for ten years, and he couldn't wait. If it weren't for the little girl Lucia on the horse, he would have driven the beast to fly.

It was already late at night when we arrived at Helgen. The night watchman recognized me and ran to inform Rigel. The little saber-toothed tiger pounced on me and pulled me aside, "You're back, damn! Something happened to Cindy!"