"Of course, it's to continue the assassination of Littlefinger."
Matthew blurted out with a smile, as if that were truly his intention.
Ser Harwin remained silent.
Only a fool would believe that.
A moment later, seeing Matthew say nothing more, he sighed, caught up, leaned close to Matthew's shoulder, and whispered:
"I don't trust you, but I can help you once."
Matthew slightly loosened his grip on the longsword and shook his head.
"Not helping me. Helping yourself."
Turning his head toward Harwin, he stared at him with a smile, his face radiating absolute confidence.
"Trust me. If you follow me, House Florent won't be able to touch you."
Harwin thought Matthew was blowing smoke, but looking at him, he somehow found himself believing it a little.
Humans are complicated like that.
Wiping his face, he walked ahead, deciding not to overthink it.
"I hope you can deliver."
"Naturally. I rarely lie to my own people."
Seeing Harwin's tone soften significantly, Matthew grinned broadly.
"Then I hope you can manage to never lie to your own people."
Hearing the smugness in Matthew's voice, Harwin's face soured, and he snorted coldly.
Matthew didn't mind and simply followed.
By now, Morty was already driving the cart back.
Seeing the two dawdling, he sat on the wooden cart and urged them with a laugh:
"You two are slow enough. Do you both have a grudge against Lord Davos or something?"
Matthew laughed:
"If you want to call it a grudge, sure. If he hadn't cared so much about Imry, we wouldn't have spent tonight scared out of our wits."
Morty laughed loudly, stopped joking, flicked the reins, and continued toward the rocky beach.
Matthew and Harwin stopped delaying and hurried back to the Night's Watch camp.
Minutes later, Matthew and Harwin rode back onto the rocky beach, their wheels leaving fresh tracks.
Seeing everyone return, Dale sighed in relief and said:
"Let's leave now!"
Matthew looked at Davos lying beside the supplies, suddenly raised his hand, jumped off the cart, and shouted:
"Wait a moment. There are two Night's Watchmen still alive. We're taking them with us."
Dale and Harwin looked disgusted.
But Morty slapped the side of his cart and supported the idea first:
"Fine. We used their horses, consider it the fare."
He acted as if he didn't care about the attack by the Night's Watch traitors at all.
Matthew ran and laughed.
It was good news that the seemingly greedy Morty had his own code.
Perhaps that was why House Florent hired and valued him.
Matthew's feet crunched on the grass, breaking stems with every step. His mood matched the lively sound—very excited.
He had to admit, his luck was good. Neither Ser Harwin nor Morty were men without conscience.
If he could manage them well, they would bring him many benefits early on.
They would be excellent stepping stones.
Thinking this, Matthew stopped, pushed aside the tall grass, and saw the two wounded men inside.
He squatted down, grabbed both of them, and dragged them back.
On the way, the half-grown boy woke up from the pain.
Seeing Matthew, he started screaming in terror, but before he could get three sounds out, a chop to the neck knocked him out again.
"So annoying."
Matthew rubbed his right hand, grabbed Yoren again, and dragged them, flattening a wide path through the grass.
Looking at their deep slumber, he thought these two were incredibly lucky.
First protected by their comrades, then saved by him.
If an ordinary person ended up in this state, they would have been eaten alive by wolves or other beasts in the night.
"I hope you know gratitude."
Matthew felt they owed him a life, and that debt had to be paid.
Once they healed, they would have to follow him for a while.
At least until he had the ability to protect himself completely in this wilderness.
Walking forward, Matthew didn't feel burdened.
People meant hope.
But Little Fish ran over, insisting on helping him drag them.
"Brother, this guy looks like a reed, why is he so heavy?"
"Because you're the same, just smaller than him."
Matthew laughed, watching Little Fish struggling to drag the boy like he was dragging a pig.
Little Fish's face turned red after dragging him just a short distance.
"Ah, I can't do it."
He gasped for breath, then asked Matthew:
"Why do we have to bring these two burdens? They both look injured."
Matthew patted his head, grabbed the boy lying on the ground again, and replied simply:
"They're still useful."
Little Fish watched Matthew dragging the person effortlessly and didn't understand what use two wounded men could be.
But he didn't ask further.
He believed that if Matthew said so, he had a plan.
So, Little Fish gave a silly smile, ran into the wind to catch up with Matthew, and shouted:
"Brother, if I sit on the reed pole, can you still pull him?"
Matthew glanced at him and smirked mischievously:
"Sit and find out."
Little Fish actually sat.
Then, Matthew sprinted forward with a wicked grin, dumping Little Fish face-first into the dirt.
Little Fish scrambled up and chased the laughing Matthew, shouting:
"Brother, you're bullying me!"
Panting after tension usually isn't pleasant.
But Matthew didn't mind.
The two ran all the way to the carts. Dale was very anxious and frowned deeply seeing Matthew still in the mood to tease a child.
Matthew didn't speak to him. He lifted the Night's Watch boy with one hand and placed him on Morty's cart.
Then, he dragged Yoren to his own cart, held him with both hands, and pushed him up from the back.
Seeing this, Little Fish climbed onto the cart nimbly and helped pull from the front.
In no time, they had the wounded arranged.
Clapping his hands, Matthew looked at the impatient Dale and raised his hand:
"Let's go."
But Dale didn't know the way.
Seeing him hesitate, Harwin scoffed.
Dale's face turned red instantly.
Matthew didn't want any more trouble. Walking to the front of the cart, he shouted to Harwin:
"Since you don't have passengers, unhitch the cart and scout ahead on horseback."
Harwin looked at Matthew. Seeing him shake his head, Harwin shrugged, cut the cart ropes with his sword, mounted the draft horse, and rode ahead to lead the way.
Dale looked at Matthew with a complex expression.
Everything had changed.
The center of gravity of the team had shifted from Ser Imry directly into Matthew's hands.
Even though Ser Harwin and he were still there...
But Harwin was unwilling to take responsibility and despised him, while Morty only advised him to be calm.
Envy and jealousy flashed in Dale's pupils.
He didn't think he was inferior to Matthew; Ser Harwin was just blind.
However, he dared not show off.
Dale looked back at his father, doubt flashing in his eyes.
He didn't believe his father would be easily injured in the leg, let alone the head, by someone else.
There was something fishy going on.
But with his injured father, he had to follow them now.
Going alone would only be more dangerous.
Putting away his petty thoughts, Dale faced forward and drove the horse seriously.
Circumstances were stronger than men.
He had to find someone to treat the wounds as soon as possible.
But once his father recovered, everything would return to normal.
When that time came, he would absolutely not tolerate Harwin's mockery anymore.
Dale gripped the reins until his veins popped, the anger in his heart burning like wildfire on the plains.
He had had enough of this night.
He whipped the reins faster and faster. The draft horse ran hard, closely following the horse shadow in front.
The cart rattled loudly.
Morty followed behind him, silently mourning for Ser Davos, then shouted to Matthew:
"If we speed up, can you keep up?"
Matthew saw the situation ahead and shook his head.
"I can't."
Little Fish pouted and shouted loudly at Morty too:
"Riding too fast at night is dangerous!"
He didn't like Morty's teasing tone. Although he didn't know if Matthew had driven a cart before, being steady was never wrong.
Morty laughed loudly, slowed down gradually, and let Matthew follow to avoid accidents.
Under the moonlit night, the plain looked like a lake, the grass blades shimmering with cold light.
The sound of axles echoed in the wilderness, lingering for a long time. Splashing dew occasionally startled pheasants and hares.
Little Fish spotted them every time, but unfortunately couldn't catch them.
When red light shot from the horizon and a new day arrived, Matthew finally caught up with Dale, following Morty.
The three maintained the same speed, crossed a river, and finally stopped in a roadside village.
Harwin was standing in front of a small tavern, guarding his horse.
Seeing him, Dale looked at the grey door of the small tavern and questioned:
"Why stop?"
Harwin snorted a laugh and said bluntly:
"I'm hungry and thirsty. Naturally, to eat."
With that, he walked toward Matthew and said:
"You learned pretty fast. I thought I'd be waiting longer."
Matthew looked around first, ignoring him. After a while, he asked cautiously:
"Is it safe here?"
Harwin spat and shouted:
"Safe my ass. But we have to stop and rest, or the horses won't make it."