What a long day!

Shortly after setting the camp along the caravan to rest for one more day as their fights with bandits with my aid exhausted the people overall, so they decided to settle down at a new spot to rest before heading off to the Seagard. I sat down at the hastily set log branch up by the campfire as Jors calmly stirred his iron ladle on the iron cauldron hanging over the campfire via a large iron platform, swishing the soup content.

"Ser Waters, if you don't mind, I have a question." Jors suddenly asked after swerving his head to stare at me as I raised my silver-white eyebrow.

"Ask away." I nodded as untying my sword from the belt and placing it on the rock, keeping the sword up from the ground by pressing the edge of the sheath on the ground, making it easy to grab if we got ambushed during the night.

"What are you wearing? It looks queer to me as I have never seen that jacket. Nor with those breeches." Jors paused, sipping on the iron ladle to taste the contents. "Also, what is that strange metal weapon you used earlier that produced like thunder and it slain a few bandits so quickly?"

So many questions. Hmm, I'll have to give a bit of a vague answer and make up on its history because I can't exactly tell him that it came from a video game franchise called Fallout.

"Well, this clothing I am wearing right now is called 'road leather' as my entire set came from Yi Ti lands by small clothing shops where merchant travelers picked up from their travels to Dragonstone's Marketplace." I explained in half truth as Jors nodded, going along with my explanation.

Whew, he believed me. Seriously, did I hear silent notification of 'Speech' skill leveling up?

"I see, then what is that metal thing on the edge of your jacket and pants?" Jors curiously asked, pointing his finger at my zippers on jacket and pants. Ah, that is going to be hard to explain because zippers are a bit modern-ish as they were invented in the 20th century in my old world.

"Well, those metal latches with two edges of the fabric followed by any y-shaped objects hanging over are called the 'zipper', it's much more conventional to open or close for jackets or pants, makes my life much easier without having to use damned robes or drawstring. I found this nifty design from faraway lands via merchants who traveled there, it was very expensive to get." I lied, hoping that he'd believe that too.

"I see, it makes sense as there's queer things coming from faraway places." Jors mused in agreement, grabbing the brown bowl then poured hot soup contents via ladle, offering it to me.

"Much thanks." I gratefully thanked him, grabbing the wooden bowl with a wooden spoon, not sure what's in it, probably game animal parts and some vegetables in? Hope that it won't kill me.

I sipped it, it's not too bad, it tastes like rabbit meat with carrots and onions. Pretty basic stuff, without spices added in. Jors cleared his throat, pointing at my gun holster, causing me to sigh heavily as I have to explain this too.

I took my 10mm pistol out then unplugged the magazine off then cocked the chamber to check to make sure there is no bullet in the chamber then waved the pistol around.
"This is called 'firearm', it means that it is capable of firing an object at high speed, think of it like an advanced version of a crossbow at higher rate of fire." I paused, letting Jors absorb this information properly.

"It uses a sophisticated mechanism that allows the firearm to ignite the gunpowder stored in the brass to propel the metal object you see on top of the brass tube at extremely high speeds." As I took a bullet out of the magazine and gave it to him to inspect it personally, his eyes squinted at the small object.

"And yet this queer object is extremely deadly, as I have seen those poor fellows drop dead before my eyes." Jors shuddered at the sight of the bullet and pistol.

I nodded in agreement. "Aye, I got it from a faraway kingdom when they discovered 'gunpowder' to allow for the development of firearms a long time ago."

Jors grunted. "Where or how did you get those 'firearms', if I may ask? Because it looks mighty useful to have instead of relying on old fashioned swords."

I shrugged my shoulders and nodded. "I got it from one merchant, as he said that it was extremely difficult to get due to faraway kingdoms being extremely strict with their sales as I figured that they didn't want to give their advantages up. I was really lucky enough to get this, it took some time to get used to, it was very loud, it made my ears ring like bells."

Jors chortled, conceding to my point as he had heard the same sounds from my firearm earlier too. Besides I doubt that he'll be able to re-create whatever I told him as I kept it vague enough.

I loaded the magazine to the pistol then put my pistol to its holster as I picked the wooden bowl to finish the dinner off before heading off to the bed. I handed the wooden bowl back to Jors then gave my thanks to him, telling him that I'm going to take a rest which he nodded.

I laid down on the ground with a leather jacket crumbled up to mimic the pillow, waiting for everyone to be asleep so I can check my quest progress to see if I have gotten any reward for saving the caravan from bandit attack. It took some time for everyone to be snoring loudly in their beds as I pressed my bracelet's node and browsed through quest progression.

Huh, so there was a hidden bonus objective part of the Seagard quest that got revealed and it dropped a nice reward for completing it. My monetary balance went up by 400 bottle caps, adding to my current balance being at 560 bottle caps and a few rolls of high quality silks being automatically added in my inventory. That's a nice sum and rolls of silks that can be useful to sell at the market to make extra coins. Makes sense considering that I saved a rich merchant after all.

Boringly browsing through the shop section until I stumbled upon one neat nugget: Valyrian magic tomes, specifically beginner volumes, it would be useful to learn local magic. But damn, they're expensive for even beginner volumes! 250 bottle caps foreachbeginner volume and I have to read four of them to 'master' the beginner level from one field which means that I'd need to spend thousands of bottle caps to learn all fields. Best to put it off for now, perhaps I'll revisit it when I have a stable income and a base to fall back on.

I quickly bought a few stimpaks in case I get hurt during my adventures. Still a hefty cost to pay as each stimpak is not relatively cheap at all, costing 50 bottle caps each.

Then I split my silver stag to half to my inventory and another on my pouch for spending money when I arrive at Seagard with companions.

I slowly opened my eyes when I heard birds chirping so early in the morning, goddamn birds. I ain't a morning person but I gotta wake up and get ready for the last leg of journey to the Seagard. I nodded to a few tired looking guards who just woke up at the same time as I have, picking my things up.

Subtlety getting jerky rations out of my inventory, I chewed on a few jerky for extra energy boost to keep going on til I arrived at the Seagard to find a good inn to have a room for a few days til I sort myself out at the town.

Finally, the carriage train with guards started to move where I followed them. It took a few hours to arrive at the clearing where I can clearly see a city with a big castle. They look nice in the distance, as I can see orange-ish roofs with white stone. I'm not sure what type, I'd need to look closer to know for sure.

Each hour, I can see the city getting closer, making me a bit anxious because it's the first time for me to see the town from ASOIAF as the stories don't do justice about them since it wasn't described very much from the books. There are no defensible walls around the town, so small folks rely on the castle for protection, although, I can see patrol guards standing at the entrance of the town and few more that are actively patrolling through the town.

Each house seems to be unique as no one has the same design, it's mostly a mix of stone and wood. Although I did see quite a few poorer houses that are made out of mud, straws and wood when I squinted my eyes at deeper districts. Perhaps a flea bottom version? Either way, the streets aren't very clean, as I can see literal shit and piss laying around as few people in homes uncaringly pour their chamber pots out of their windows. Ughh. Gross.

Oh god, I'll have to use a chamber pot unless I buy a portable toilet or something from the shop as I can't live without toilet paper and toilet at all! I shuddered at the thought. And oh yeah, everyone stinks too, as baths are mostly foreign concept to them as they only do baths twice per year if I remember from reading up on medieval history in high school. Ughhh, I'll have to get used to the smell.

It didn't take long for us to pass through town as I asked locals to find the inn for me to stay over, so they gave me directions for a decent inn where I am headed for. I heard my notification from my pipboy that my quest for Seagard is finished, adding 200 more bottle caps to my balance. With careful directions, I was able to find a nice tavern in a nicer district called 'The Sea Wench', not a bad name for the tavern. I opened the door, revealing the interior with nice chandeliers glowing across the ceiling followed by a large fireplace making the place to be very warm, surrounded by numerous tables with wooden stools as I can see that it's quite lively as there is large amount of people chattering or eating or drinking noisily.

I carefully walked to the empty table and sat down, as it did not take long for a tavern wench to arrive at my location as I can see her that she's fairly young and buxom figure with blonde hair and oceanic blues eyes then she smiled, revealing her crooked teeth with one tooth missing.

"Howdy, what can I get for you, handsome?" A tavern wench sultrily asked, basically eye-raping my Valyrian features as I am handsome fucker, heh.

I chuckled in mirth. "Well, can you fetch me a plate of roasted ham, piece of bread and carrots with black beer or ale if you don't mind, miss? I'm willing to pay for it." I dangled my pouch, making jingle noises.

"No problem, handsome. You'll have your orders ready in a few moments. It'll cost you around two copper stars." She asked, bowing slightly to show her cleavage a bit more.
Two copper stars for a decent meal with beer? That's not too bad. Then I grabbed one silver stag and put it on the table, making a pretty wench to widen her eyes at the silver stag then looked at me.

"Keep the change, it's yours." I smiled kindly, causing the worker to blush then bowed deeply, revealing her cleavage more to me to indict my attention further.
"Much thanks, ser!" She happily exclaimed then walked away, swaying her hips more.

I shook my head, some people don't see much money as if I remember right, it was mentioned in the books that three gold dragons is more than enough to set small folk to have a comfortable life. Besides, I felt nice today, anyways as I know that knights like me can carry a dozen or more gold dragons depending on their heritage most of the time and I didn't tell her that I am a knight. Oh well.

Oh damn, I forgot to ask her about renting a room. Dammit, flashing her cleavage really distracted me. Unbelievable! Bloody teenager hormones… I sighed in disgust and pinched my bridge of noise. I swear that I need to control myself and keep myself focused, man!

Oh look here, the same worker is back with a plate of steaming hot food as my stomach growls at the sight of the food. Man, I'm so hungry, I'd be more than happy to eat the food that isn't obviously approved by the FDA or some shit.

I cleared the throat, getting her attention as her bright blue eyes were staring at me, biting her lips. "By any chance, does this tavern have any spare room for me to rent for a few days?"

She nodded. "Aye, we have a few rooms available for one star per day. You'll want to speak to the bartender, he's responsible for arranging inn rooms."

Hmm, so a silver stag would get me a nice week's worth of rooming. Why not? It would buy me time to do work and gather enough money to find a good place to settle down or something.

"Much appreciated, miss…?" I trailed off, asking for her name which she blushed again.

"It's Betsy." Betsy smiled, showing her dimples off. Not a bad name, fitting name for a pretty gal like her.

"Have a good day, Betsy. I'll call for you if I need something." I politely dismissed her, letting her do her job and I need to eat like right now. She smiled again then skipped across the tavern as I started to dig in the plate. Pity that there is no fork and knives to do proper eating, so time for old fashioned finger-eating.