Traveling through The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim

I set out to return to Helgen Town in the evening of the day of the triumphal ceremony. There were many things waiting for me to deal with there. I need to discuss the negotiation with Moira with Annis and see what conditions the other party can offer. I also need to arrange the next work for Lund. Dad and Danger are not people who can be trusted. It is reassuring to keep this fellow villager by my side. Rigel's health also needs to be taken care of. She has been pregnant for almost three months. Although it is considered to have passed the more dangerous period, her body is getting heavier and heavier. With her active personality, she still needs to be paid more attention. In addition, I need to discuss the hot pot with Eddie and repair the tension between us. Finally, I need to find out whether Rigel has contacted Cindy. Being targeted by a vampire is no joke.

Lund, finally relieved of his burden, sat slumped on the bed, holding a bottle of gin and ale in his left hand and reading Eric's letter to me in his right hand. We had planned to write him a letter to let him know we were safe, but he actually sent the letter first.

"Lund, Locke, Miss Angie has written to inform you of your glorious victory. I didn't tell anyone about this because I really wanted to see the shocked look on those guys' faces when the news reached Whiterun. No one here believes that we can defeat the Imperial Army. They even think that Helgen has fallen. In addition, Aunt Donna has been taken to Whiterun and is currently living in Yuevaska. If Locke has finished his business, please make time to come to me. I have something I want to tell you and I really need your advice."

I put down the contracts in my hand and looked up at Lund. Something happened at home. It is very likely that my identity attracted the attention of the Imperial Legion, which led to my family being implicated. Sure enough, Eric then introduced the situation of Loristed. Loristed has now been renamed Hofdirsted because Lord Igmund of Markarth produced a series of documents proving that the land in this area has always belonged to his father, Lord Hofdir, and the High Lord Council of Solitude endorsed the authenticity of the documents. In this way, the agreement that old Lori spent his life savings to buy land from Whiterun became a waste paper. How could you give money to Lord Balgruuf but buy Lord Hofdir's land?

Lord Igmund said that he had reported Lori's deception to the Lords' Council, and believed that the distinguished councilors would seek justice for the Imperial veteran after seeing the details. As a kind lord, Lord Igmund allowed the residents of Hofdirsted to continue renting his land, and appointed the father of Eric, a member of the Companions, and the Imperial veteran Muraki as the acting mayor, and the former owner of the Niuti Farm, the high elf Laerdis, as the acting deputy mayor, and the two jointly handled land allocation, neighborhood disputes and other matters. The lord expressed deep regret for the unfortunate destruction of Niuti Farm by wildfire, but still firmly believed that the residents of Hofdirsted would be able to complete the reconstruction work as soon as possible, resume production, and provide reliable protection for the Imperial Legion on the front line.

The guards of Rich expelled the guards of Whiterun who were originally in the town and placed Donna under house arrest. They obviously knew my identity in Falkreath, which was not surprising. After all, our lord was a spy of the Empire. I might not be well-known in other territories as an active person, but I made Sidgal suffer a lot. Fortunately, the people of the Companions followed Ennis to deliver food. Torva once followed Eric to the town to steal goats, so he was quite familiar with everyone. Mulaqi hurriedly asked them to save people. The Companions were famous and had great influence in the entire Skyrim Province. The lords of the nine territories had to give them some face, not to mention a few big soldiers. Donna was taken to Yuevaska by Torva and protected by Eric.

"Locke, what do you think the Lords' Council means? Those lands must belong to Whiterun. Old Lori was the landlord there before we were born. After so many years, how could they belong to Lord Rich?"

"I think Solitude wants to teach Balgruuf a lesson. The old man always tries to please both sides, and now Tullius' patience has run out. Besides, Igmund has put in a lot of effort to open up a southern route for Lucius. If there is no benefit, who will work hard for him in the future?"

Tullius should have used the issue of the ownership of Loristed to reward Igmund on the one hand and to pressure Balgruuf on the other. If the lord of Whiterun was sensible, he could get some compensation in Falkreath, such as incorporating Helgen, which is close to Riverwood, into Whiterun. But when Tullius made this decision, he probably didn't expect that Lucius would be annihilated. This incident might become an excuse for Balgruuf to turn against him, and in this way, the gold he gave to Balgruuf would be wasted, and both his money and his life would be gone!

Because he was afraid of Eric's identity as a member of the Companions, Lord Rich showed a very high level of calmness and restraint. Now it seems that the lives of the villagers should be temporarily stable. At least they were not expelled by Igmund and became refugees. But old Lori suffered heavy losses. Others originally rented his land, and now it is just a change of owners. I was allocated a small piece of land in Falkreath City. After the house is built, I can take Donna over so that the old man can enjoy a peaceful life. As for Lund, his relatives have passed away. Among the villagers, only Eric and I can talk. He is very indifferent to the news over there.

Eric's letter was three pages long. Lund only read the first two pages and threw the letter into the drawer of the bedside table, staring at me helplessly.

"Locke, among the three of us, you have the most and biggest assets. Do you really need to be so excited?"

He said this because I had been sitting behind the table, playing with several contracts in my hands. Apart from the news about Donna, I didn't care about the other contents of Eric's letter. That was the result of the negotiation between Lund and Dad. Because Lord Helgen's finances were close to bankruptcy, it was basically certain that he could not repay the money he borrowed from me and Danger, so Lund proposed to use the shares of the Blood Throne quarry to pay off the debt. Dad probably also worried that he had been too popular recently, so he agreed. After some bargaining, the final result was: Dad only retained one-tenth of the shares, but the money that Danger and I lent him would not be repaid; the jewelry provided by Danger was valued at 2,000 Septim, the total investment was 8,000 Septim, accounting for 40% of the shares; and I provided the Blood Throne as a base, which was converted into 10% of the shares, and I needed to provide Dad with another 6,000 Septim, taking up 50% of the shares and becoming the majority shareholder of the quarry.

This was originally a happy agreement. Dad got the cash he desperately needed, and by sharing the benefits with others, he reduced the jealousy of other nobles, especially the old fox Danger. I ran around during the entire war. Whether it was going to the Sun Garden Fortress alone or visiting the Howling Wind Bastion three times, it was an extremely dangerous mission. However, after the victory, I did not get any decent rewards. It would be a lie to say that I was not disappointed. The equity of the quarry was a good comfort to me. And Rigel also got a batch of jewelry that she could wear and some small jewelry that could be used to reward servants. After all, as the lord's wife, you can't always reward your personal maid with an iron dagger or a steel helmet, right?

But this agreement was reached before the triumphal ceremony, when our Great Falkreath City plan had not yet been released, otherwise Lund would never have been able to get such a price. Dad's mouth twitched when he attended the Lords' Meeting. I thought he was having a stroke, but now it seems that he realized that he had made a loss and was in great pain. But to be honest, this plan was proposed by Tagel and Danger, and I didn't expect these two brothers to have such a big appetite, and of course it was impossible for them to reveal the news to Lund in advance.

"Of course I'm excited. The parliament has decided to build the city of Falkreath. In addition to the renovation of the two strongholds of Helgen Town and Nugra Fortress, my only worry now is that the output of stone is not enough. But fortunately, there are more than a hundred prisoners. I tell you, except for the three valuable officers, you have to use the rest to death! It's just 500 Septim, I don't want them!"

Actually, the Bloody Throne Fortress also needs repair and maintenance, but I think that as long as this broken castle has not collapsed, we can make do with it. After all, we can make money by selling the stones, but if we use them ourselves, wouldn't it be a loss? I have decided to appoint Rund as my steward, and promised to give him an annual salary of 3,000 Septim, and let him manage all my properties in Falkreath. Rund has accumulated some management experience in Helgen Town, and he seems to have good ability to withstand pressure. The most important thing is that for me, he is the only one who can be regarded as "one of my own".

Now I have half a quarry and a tiger trading post, but I think this industry is far from enough. There are many forests in the Bloody Throne area, but without rivers, it is difficult to transport wood out of the mountains, so it is not realistic to build a lumberyard. Even if it is barely built, the price cannot compete with Falkreath City and Half Moon Mill. But the forest is a good hunting ground. I can consider organizing people to hunt, and then provide Eddie with meat supplies, plus pine needle tea and pine nuts, and snowberries for making jam. It will also make a small amount of money to supply catering every year.

As long as we can develop various industries, we can gather popularity for the Bloody Throne and obtain a stable cash flow. When the snowball grows bigger and bigger, I can also raise a private guard like my father. I have the relationship with Annis and Helgi, so I can definitely create a second Reachman guard, or even a guard with mages! By then, I can walk sideways in the entire southern sky.

Before the alcohol completely paralyzed me, I barely saw Lund take out a small notebook from somewhere, recording all my nonsense.