Chapter 12 The Song Sung by the Drowned Man (6)

When the episode related to the captives ended and the warship named the Predator set sail again, Hal, a young man from White Oll Village, had transformed into a clerk under the Greyjoy family.

Although his Common Language was sloppy and exaggerated, and although he was not literate enough to read all the books, he was still qualified for the job, and an old clerk who was responsible for considering him was quite satisfied.

This may seem unbelievable at first, but in fact, cultured people are a rare thing in the Iron Islands——

Here, being able to read and write is considered a cultural person.

The land of the Iron Islands is barren and the customs are barbaric. They have lived by plundering since ancient times. Although their axes and iron swords are very sharp, they are very weak in books and arithmetic.

The common people here are illiterate, and the lords and nobles are equally miserable. Even in the entire history of the archipelago, there are only a few literate kings of the Iron Islands.

This state of cultural desolation lasted for hundreds of thousands of years, even after the Iron Islands surrendered to the Targaryen dynasty.

This situation did not change until the time of Coron Greyjoy in the Iron Islands, which was Renly's time, when the Maester class was introduced to the Iron Islands.

Of course, being uncultured does not mean that there is no need for culture. Although ordinary Ironborn believe that those who are literate are usually wizards and the like with weird means, Ironborn lords and even kings still need this kind of "special technical talents".

It’s just that the way they need is to plunder——

Just as they did when they were short of other supplies.

However, in fact, in the continent of Westeros, although there are more literate groups than in the Iron Islands, it is only relatively speaking.

Therefore, cultural people are a "scarce resource" here, scarcer than gold.

It is not difficult to imagine why Renly was able to counterattack.

But despite this, he did not gain trust, and people continued to stare at him while working.

Renly didn't care much about this. His purpose was just to get better treatment during the rest of the journey. He didn't expect anything else.

…

Under the clear sky, the Marauder, with a slightly bloated hull, sailed leisurely on the sea.

The oil lamp hanging on the ship's deck above the head kept swaying as the ship moved forward. In a cabin below the deck, an old man in gray robes with gray hair was sitting opposite Renly, staring at him as he wrote a letter.

It wasn't until Renly made the final stroke that he looked away with confidence, "You have the talent to become a maester, but it's a pity that you were born in the Iron Islands."

Renly smiled shyly at him and said nothing more.

The ability of the Psychic Crest is a bit baffling. At first, he used it to see fat Ismond taking a shit without wiping his butt, and also saw the possible rebellion of the coach of Storm's End. But not long ago, using the Psychic Crest, he saw A sea monster is sitting on a throne and thinking calmly. It seems to represent the other person's character and a certain situation in the future.

That's why he spoke boldly, and he was relieved.

But even if you get away with it, there must be an explanation.

Therefore, regarding the issue of his literacy, he lied that it was because he was taught by a bachelor who was shipwrecked and drifted to the village when he was a child.

No one doubts his word, at least not yet.

"Have all the sailors' salaries been calculated?"

the old man asked.

He was once a bachelor in Old Town and was assigned to serve in a certain castle in Westeros. Unfortunately, he was plundered to the remote place of Iron Islands halfway.

Renly replied: "It has been tallied. I will hand it to the treasurer later."

"Where is the broken book that Chief Viken needs? Is there anything you can't understand?"

"Most of them can understand it, but I don't quite understand this word." As he spoke, he pulled out a pile of parchment from the shelf table in front of him, picked out a certain page and pointed at the top paragraph.

Under the dim light, the old man looked closely at it for a long time before explaining: "The word is excrement. The whole sentence means that dragon excrement is hot and hot. A Valyrian slave even had dragon excrement on his head." Pouring it down and boiling it alive..."

He began to explain word for word, and Renly listened quietly.

After his own king was burned by a dragon, the entire Iron Islands were talking about dragons, and Viken Greyjoy, the captain of the Reaver, was particularly concerned about all knowledge related to dragons.

He used various means to collect fragments of books containing information about dragons, and then asked the old man to read them to him.

It's just that this slave labor bachelor's eyesight is dim, and reading is very difficult, and even inefficient-until Renly appears.

During the two days of sailing, every afternoon Renly would hold the book and read it word for word in front of the other person. This made him seem to become a popular person on the ship.

It's just that his family knows his own affairs, and he seems to be very familiar with the Sea Monster King, but in fact he is still just a traitor who cannot be trusted.

…

After completing the tasks assigned to him by the old man, Renly stood up holding the pile of broken books and walked out of the cabin.

Halfway through, he met the long-haired Drowned Man who was imprisoned at the mast of the deck. When the other party saw him, he was not angry, but showed pity on his face.

"Son, you have lost your way."

"I'm pretty sure we're headed for Oak Isle." Renly shrugged.

In fact, the ship did not go directly to Oak Island, but took a long way, and even anchored on another island along the way, but its final destination was indeed Oak Island.

Renly didn't say much about this. After tightening the parchment under his arm, he walked up the wooden ladder not far away to the rudder area of ​​the ship.

At the edge of the ship's plank, the tall leader, who was staring at the sea with his hands behind his back, heard the footsteps and looked sideways at him.

"Continue the same page as yesterday?"

"Yes," Renly answered.

He didn't think the other party would be very curious about whether dragon dung could burn people to death, but he believed that as a newly surrendered prisoner, it would be best to speak less when unnecessary.

So he began to tell the story carefully according to the words on the page.

Renly's voice was smooth and unhurried. Usually the leader of the raiders was not dissatisfied with this. He would listen patiently even if he was faced with a question more boring than dragon dung.

But today, his expression became more and more impatient, and finally he even raised his hand to stop the young man from turning the book.

"Stop it."

Renly stopped talking and looked curious.

The other party stared at the sea, was silent for a moment, and then murmured: "Do you know why I have to listen to you reading these books all day long?"

"My lord wants to deal with the dragon." This was a very obvious thing, and Renly didn't need to hide his clumsiness.

Viken Greyjoy nodded.

"As soon as King Heron died, the entire archipelago immediately fell apart. Some stupid people even rushed to become kings on their own. They thought Heron's death was an opportunity for them, but their arrogance blinded the eyes of those people."

He said, looking towards the continent on the other side of the sea, and said in a complicated tone: "Westeros is the target of the Dragon King, but he will never give up the Iron Islands. When the dragon comes, these fools will definitely Pay the price. Be king in front of the Dragon King?"

He sneered and looked at Renly.

"You are a smart man. Why are you loyal to Rhodes the Drowned God who will be burned to death sooner or later? Faith? Or do you think the so-called son of the Drowned God can really call our gods to fight against the dragon?"

There are indeed many people who claim to be kings in the Iron Islands. It can even be said that every island has a lord who declares himself king. However, Old Wyk Island is an exception. The king is not a lord, but a Drowned Priest - because all Drowned Islands have People supported him, so much so that the priest-king became very influential.

"It is indeed because of faith, my lord." Renly replied, thinking of a certain mission of his own in his mind, so he added intentionally.

"Faith of the Iron Islands."

"What's the difference?" Greyjoy heard something in his words.

"In the archipelago, all iron races believe in the Drowned God, and the Drowned People are the mouthpiece of the Drowned God. In a sense, they represent public opinion. This is why, my lord, you wanted to execute the Drowned People at sea before."

The other party nodded.

Seeing this, Renly said again: "So I think that when the dragon's fire comes, the Drowned people will put on a set of armor of public opinion for me to deal with the invaders. So I join them, not those who rely on power and money. Arm your own king.”

"Do you think Aegon would care what we ironborn say?" Greyjoy's eyes flickered.

"Why not?" Renly answered. "He is a conqueror, and he wants to conquer this land."

"Dragonfire can help him conquer the Iron Islands."

"Dragon flames will only bring a scorched earth." Renly said: "Who would be stupid enough to turn the territory he rules into a scorched earth?"

"The Iron Islands have relied on plunder for a living and have a reputation for evil since ancient times. Maybe he will be able to avoid future troubles."

"A sinister name?" Renly asked, "A dragon?"

Viken Greyjoy was startled when he heard this, and then suddenly laughed.

"I don't think your Drowned King could be the son of a god."

He smiled while turning his head to look back at the sea: "But sometimes I think that since he can attract fish, maybe he can also attract sea monsters, real sea monsters, as he claimed. If so, then even Aegon's dragon Even the flames can't make the Ironborn surrender. That's right, as long as there is a glimmer of hope..."

This was the first time Renly had heard of this, but before he could think about it, the other party spoke again.

"According to the schedule, we can arrive at the north shore of Oak Island tomorrow. I will talk to the Drowned Man tonight. If everything goes well, I will let you leave tomorrow."

Thank you to the book friends of Bianbi World for the 200 reward, and thank you to the book friends of Yun Zhongyue 1981 for the 100 reward~