Game of Thrones: The Legend of Jon Arctic - Chapter 216 - The Routine of the King of Artica 02.

[Chapter Size: 3400 Words.]

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Third Person POV

North, 297 AC.

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“So I want you to train with the new troops. You can fight however you wish,” Jon said to the man beside him, who nodded in response.

This man was someone he had brought from Yi-Ti — Jin Sakai, a warrior practically exiled due to his methods of war, which had not been well accepted by the samurai, despite showing great promise.

“Thank you, Arctic King,” he replied as they made their way to the place where the troops were stationed, training in formations and commands that Jon had developed many years ago, even though he had only been ten namedays old at the time.

They arrived at the open area where the Arctic soldiers were stomping their feet against the ground, placing their shields in front of them, and beginning to advance in rhythmic steps. All of them were young recruits who had recently joined the army, though there were also seasoned soldiers who had been part of the force for more than eight years, with varied ages. Only now were they able to start training promising young recruits.

“It’s an organized army... far more than you would find in my homeland. If we had fought like this, we wouldn’t have faced the problem that befell our lands,” Jin Sakai remarked.

“An organized army is much more efficient,” Jon said, watching his men with pride. Artica was known as a monster at sea, unmatched by anyone in the world, with everyone now fearing its fleet. But, at the same time, the true strength of the Arctic army lay in its land campaigns.

“I see... I’d like to join them,” the man from Yi-Ti said.

“Feel free, but may I offer a suggestion?” Jon asked, and Jin Sakai looked at him with curiosity.

“Yes?” the man murmured.

“You will receive Arctic training over the next year, but I would like to create a new squad, focused on people with more stealthy skills...” Jon said, his gaze fixed on the army as they changed formations under the commander’s orders.

“You mean...” the man murmured, but Jon shook his head, dismissing what Jin was implying.

“I’m not looking to create a group of assassins. I want highly trained spies who can infiltrate castles and cities, gathering valuable information. It would be extremely useful,” Jon explained.

“...” Jin Sakai pondered this, scratching his chin. It was precisely what he had done in Yi-Ti while trying to liberate his people before the Arctic forces arrived. He often infiltrated Mongol camps, bringing them down, saving his people, and carving out more space for his homeland. Jin Sakai had even assisted in opening the gates when Jon rescued Lord Shimura. Bearing all this in mind, Jon now sought to establish an Arctic squad capable of carrying out such missions against the kingdom’s enemies.

“I can do that...” In the end, Jin Sakai agreed. He had learned these skills during the Yi-Ti crisis after being saved by a woman who possessed them. Now, he could pass that knowledge on, knowing that while Yi-Ti’s nobility wouldn’t accept such tactics, they could certainly be useful in this new kingdom where he would reside from now on.

“My king!” At that moment, Ducken rounded the training soldiers and approached the king, accompanied by other commanders.

“Hello, Ducken. How are things?” Jon asked.

“They are well, my king. With constant training, the young men before you show great talent among them. I’m certain you’ll be impressed with them soon,” Ducken said, and Jon nodded.

“That’s good. I’ll leave the ex-samurai Jin Sakai with you. I want him to learn our strategies and the types of combat our men engage in, as well as the structure of our army. I will assign him specific tasks once he is familiar with how we fight,” Jon ordered.

“May I make a request, Arctic King?” the man from Yi-Ti asked as Jon turned his attention from his men back to him, nodding to give permission to proceed.

“I’d like to keep my weapons and armor...” he requested, and Jon nodded.

“Very well, but it would be best if you added the kingdom’s symbol to them, so there’s no confusion, and perhaps even have them painted in the colors of our army’s armor. There are plenty of craftsmen here who can do that,” Jon said.

“It will be done, then,” Jin Sakai replied, and Jon nodded in agreement.

"You can ask someone to take him. I want to talk to you for a while, Minister Ducken," Jon said.

"Of course, my king. Erug, take Mr. Jin Sakai to show him the army and test his skills," Ducken said, as one of the men accompanying him nodded.

"Follow me," Erug said in a neutral tone, as the man from Yi-Ti distanced himself from them, accompanied by the two commanders who had come with Ducken.

"My king... do you want to talk about our conversation? Minister Brynden made some comments," he said, and Jon nodded.

"Yes... I studied the army’s formation, and it’s time to create new ones. That’s why I want you to put these new formations into practice. We have many formations designed to deal with the undead, but we’re about to face hundreds of thousands of them. I don’t know exactly how many are coming, but what matters is that we must be prepared to face a massive number of men," Jon said calmly, as he handed a large scroll to the man responsible for the army.

"Are you going to lead us into battle, my king?" Ducken asked.

"Don’t call me that when we’re alone. You know you can just call me Jon. And yes, I’ll be commanding the entire army when the fight comes," Jon said.

"Then I’ll make sure the army is ready for you to take command... Jon," Ducken replied, as Jon nodded and watched him store the scroll on his horse.

"Good. Now I’m heading to the city. After all, I came with Caraxes, and he’s arriving," Jon said, as the giant white bird began to descend from the sky, landing near them.

"Did your dragon allow that?" Ducken couldn’t help but murmur as he mounted his horse.

"Eragon certainly feels a bit jealous of Caraxes when I ride him, but I can’t stop spending time with him too. After all, he was my first animal bond," Jon said, running his hand over the feathers of the enormous eagle, which looked at him curiously.

"I’m sure he would even fight a dragon for that," Ducken smiled as he watched Jon climb onto the eagle. Caraxes had his own saddle, standing over two meters tall, functioning as aerial transport. Jon was working on creating a group of eagles for Artican men to ride in the future, but that would take time. Even with modifications to the species' genetics, it would take many years for other birds to reach Caraxes' size, and Jon’s goal wasn’t to bond with more animals himself, but to have other men — preferably wargs — take command of the eagles.

Jon nodded at Ducken’s comment and looked at him. "How are my godchildren? I’d like to see them soon," Jon said, as he was the godfather to Ducken and Karsi’s three daughters.

"They’re doing well, growing strong and healthy... You should come over for dinner," Ducken said. It wasn’t unusual for Jon to have a close relationship with his minister. Both had come to this land when it was nothing but a vast empty space, with only a large 20-meter weirwood tree. Ducken had followed Jon since he met him in FrostRoar, a northern city, and had been the first to kneel before him when Artica was just a tribe.

"Great. I’ll talk to my family and send a letter if we don’t meet again before then," Jon said. He lightly tapped his feet against Caraxes, signaling the eagle to take off into the sky, heading north past the training grounds.

There was a squadron of men riding giant bears — all of them wargs — as Jon flew over them on his way to the city.

Jon landed smoothly near the library. He was alone, without guards, accompanied only by Caraxes. The eagle’s speed made it much faster to travel around the city, and his size made it easy to land anywhere. He landed in front of Artica’s library, drawing surprised looks from the people entering and exiting the building, even more surprised when they saw the king dismount from the bird’s saddle.

"You can fly until I return. I will send a command when I’m ready," Jon said, as Caraxes nodded, spreading his wings but not leaving the courtyard, while Jon entered the building.

"My king! It is an honor to have you here," the staff at the entrance quickly approached to greet him, which was perfectly normal.

"I am looking for Maester Marwyn," Jon said, and the man nodded.

"He is on the top floor, organizing some documents for Minister Aemon. Your Majesty, would you like to be escorted there?" the man asked, and Jon nodded.

"Please," Jon requested, following him into the library as he observed books scattered everywhere. The library housed not only the spoils from the sack of Oldtown but also hundreds of thousands of books that Jon had acquired throughout Westeros, purchasing items and rare works from Essos, including Braavos and even Yi-Ti. From Yi-Ti alone, Jon had received over 200,000 books as a gift from the emperor, although the language was quite difficult to learn. Few people spoke it fluently, even after lessons.

Jon made sure that those capable of translating the books into the Common Tongue or the Old Tongue were well-paid. He intended to make the Old Tongue the official language of his kingdom. The books from Yi-Ti contained extensive records of their legends and culture, but Jon’s primary interest lay in their scientific studies and theories.

During his six moons spent in Yi-Ti, Jon met many brilliant men, engaging in discussions based on things he had initially learned from the green visions with Brynden. The scholars of Yi-Ti were far superior to the maesters of the Citadel, possessing knowledge and theories that people on this side of the world hadn’t even considered — perhaps due to prejudice.

Thus, the King of Artica was more than satisfied to have brought part of this knowledge to his land. His goal was to educate his people so that the brightest minds could push boundaries and develop countless other theories. Jon envisioned Artica as a nation where progress in all fields would be driven by its people, and public education would give birth to that progress.

In any case, he proceeded to the top floor, where he was led to Maester Marwyn. After requesting to be left alone, Jon entered the room quietly.

Maester Marwyn was seated on the floor, surrounded by books. He was deeply engrossed in a book, marking notes here and there.

"Hm," Jon cleared his throat from behind, pulling the man out of his thoughts. Marwyn turned to see the Arctic King standing behind him.

"Your Majesty! I wasn’t expecting you here," he said, a bit surprised, setting his book aside and standing up to greet him.

"No offense taken, Maester Marwyn. I am here to be brief, after all," Jon began. "I’ve read the final reports you compiled from the Citadel’s vault."

"We now have detailed records of every action taken by Westerosi maesters..." Jon’s gaze grew dark and dangerous. "What shocked me the most was learning about Maester Walys, who served as Winterfell’s maester during Rickard Stark’s rule — my grandfather, who was burned alive by my other grandfather, the Mad King."

Jon’s voice dropped to a murmur, his tone cold.

"This wretch, as you mentioned in your notes, was aware of letters sent by the Kingsguard to my father, explaining the situation to my mother’s father. But he hid those letters and manipulated my grandfather into declaring war. My grandfather then traveled to King’s Landing and died at the hands of Aerys’ madness..."

Jon’s jaw clenched, his tone sharp.

"On top of his manipulations regarding my mother, this man poisoned my grandmother... Lyarra Stark," Jon said, his eyes filled with fury. "These bastards even sought to control the births of noble families across Westeros."

"Yes... Your Majesty," Marwyn replied carefully. "It’s no wonder they never informed me of this. Despite knowing that all maesters reported to the Citadel, I was unaware of the extent of their influence. They have built a dangerous scheme over hundreds — perhaps even thousands — of years."

He looked at Jon cautiously.

"Their web is far-reaching, and their control has shaped the fate of Westeros for centuries."

"They were controlling everything from the shadows... Their mistake was trying to interfere with us when we visited Westeros more than three years ago. Now we have much of their information, but I believe that what remains of their order will try to take revenge after what happened," Jon said.

"What do you plan to do, Your Majesty?" Marwyn asked.

"Simple. We will destroy their trust with every noble house in Westeros. I want you to prepare several scrolls containing detailed information about their actions in each house. Highlight every detail that proves their schemes of poisoning and manipulation. When the time comes, we will shatter that trust, and no one in Westeros will ever look at the maesters the same way again. This will take time to write for 300 or 400 noble houses, but I want everything ready so that if we ever need it, our ravens will be prepared to unleash a crisis in Westeros. After all, we are currently their enemies. And if we ever need to invade, we’ll create this chaos to make conquering the Seven Kingdoms much easier," Jon said calmly.

Marwyn nodded, looking at Jon carefully. He fully understood what this plan would cause. Jon was preparing for true chaos, and hundreds of maesters would die when the scrolls were sent out. The resulting mistrust would spread like wildfire, creating chaos even among the noble houses themselves. Thousands of people would suffer from this.

The man standing before Marwyn was a great king, one who had built a nation from nothing in a land where no one had imagined anything close to civilization could be created. He had turned the lives of the so-called wildlings beyond the Wall into a civilized nation, where they were now better educated than the common people of Westeros.

Marwyn also knew that Jon was fair, but at the same time, he was Machiavellian. Jon would sow chaos among his enemies, even if it was cruel, and he would kill anyone in his way if he deemed it necessary. He wouldn’t care about being called a demon or a tyrant by his enemies. Everything the King of Artica did was for his kingdom and his people. And if the day ever came when Artica and Westeros faced an inevitable conflict, Westeros would burn at Jon’s hands. The southern lords still underestimated him, unaware of Artica’s true military strength beyond its fleet. Even dragons would be tools Jon would use to forge his path to Westeros if he chose to unleash them.

'I hope that day never comes, because none of Westeros' nobles will be able to anticipate their own destruction,' Marwyn thought with a shiver.

He then looked at Jon and nodded at his request. "Yes, I will work on that with a few trusted individuals," he said.

"Very well. I want everything ready. You have six moons to compile all the data. You can be relieved of any tasks assigned by Minister Aemon. Tell him it is my order," Jon said, and the maester nodded.

After that, Jon went to inspect the library, leaving that room and heading to the lower floors where the public library was open to all. Jon could have simply summoned Marwyn to come to him, but he preferred to visit the kingdom personally, even without his guards, to check on how things were functioning — seeing it through the eyes of any ordinary Artican citizen.

Though, of course, everyone who saw him immediately came to greet him, almost kneeling before him. Jon had to remind them that Articans do not kneel.

The library’s progress was more than satisfactory. Jon watched as people of all ages browsed books in various languages, reading them and taking them elsewhere to study.

Satisfied, Jon decided to return to Caraxes, who hadn’t left the courtyard. He climbed into the saddle before taking off again, flying toward the city’s port, which was his next destination.

The port was bustling with activity. Ships crowded the harbor, and Minister Junly was conversing with the captains alongside many men aboard one of the ships. They appeared to be reviewing numbers and markings on scrolls when they noticed the giant bird approaching and landing on the deck.

"How are things?" Jon asked as he dismounted from Caraxes and approached the group. The men all greeted him with a respectful bow of their heads.

"Your Majesty," they all said in unison.

"You didn’t need to come all the way here, my king. I was about to deliver the reports to you. As you can see, we’re starting to load the ships to depart from Artica," Junly said as Jon nodded, looking out over the port, where thousands of men were working, loading various shipments onto the 600 ships that would soon set sail.

"That’s not a problem. I like to see my kingdom in person," Jon said as he walked toward them, taking the papers and reviewing them. The records detailed all the goods being loaded — mostly food from their full granaries and ice packed in enchanted crates taken from the magical Weirwood. There were also smaller quantities of other products, but ice remained Artica’s primary export, followed by food, which was currently in high demand in Yi-Ti.

"Very good... What’s the expected departure time?" Jon asked.

"We’ll have all the ships loaded in four days, Your Majesty," the minister replied, and Jon nodded. Even the giants were helping to carry the crates onto the ships.

"That’s good. I need to speak with the group that will oversee the cities in Slaver’s Bay. After all, they’ll have a year-long mission to establish a new economy there," Jon said.

"Will you take the cities as Artican territory, my king?" the minister asked.

"And take on their responsibilities? No," Jon said. He had no desire to rule Meereen or the other cities — they were too far away. However... "But..." he continued. "I will develop a port there, something I couldn’t do in Dorne, now that our relations have soured," Jon said thoughtfully. "It would be good to have a port in the city. We could achieve much better trade there than we currently do. Right now, Yi-Ti is our only major trade partner, but we could sell to other ports around that sea," Jon explained.

"Will Artica also use the Stepstones?" Junly asked, aware that Jon had previously shown interest in the region for a port project.

"I’ll have to see that for myself. Westeros has tried to claim the region several times and failed. I don’t think we can establish a stable administration on those islands like we could in Slaver’s Bay," Jon said. He was considering building a port there, but with the islands dominated by pirate activities, it would be a headache he wasn’t eager to take on.

"I understand, my king," Junly replied, but Jon wasn’t finished.

"Regardless, you and Darius will join this voyage. I want you to dock at the Summer Islands and other cities. It’s time for you to open and manage these trade routes yourselves," Jon said, and Junly nodded.

"It will be done, my king," Junly said. He had already received the king’s plans and suggestions in letters over the past few days, as they hadn’t been able to meet in person until now.

"In any case, I see that everything is under control. We’ll discuss this further in the coming days. Let’s schedule a meeting. I’m heading back to the castle — there are more things I need to organize. Until then," Jon said, bidding them farewell.

The men made a respectful gesture as Jon turned toward Caraxes. Climbing onto his saddle, he took off from the port, flying back toward the city and, ultimately, his castle.