The lone wolf of Freyrdrand

: At Sea

The three of them got rid of the bear man’s shadow, and the boat began to sail towards the Winter’s Claw tribe on the frozen ocean.

Sejuani set up the sail to make sure the course was correct.

Lothar watched with interest.

“What are you looking at?” Sejuani asked angrily.

“Just take a look, don’t be angry.” Lothar kept his eyes on Sejuani’s hand that tied the rope. “I rarely had the opportunity to take a boat before, so just take a look.”

“Cut… I don’t know much.” Sejuani said contemptuously, watching Lothar’s reaction by the way, but he was not angry, which made her a little disappointed.

“Ai Xi, what are you going to do in the future?” Sejuani pushed Lothar away, and sat next to Ai Xi naturally. The intimacy in her tone was very different from her attitude towards Lotha.

Ashe looked at Lothar, who shook his head slightly.

“I don’t know yet…” Ashe sighed, “My tribe is gone, and it’s impossible for other tribes to accept me as an outsider… Let’s take one step at a time.”

“But you are of the blood of ice, the blood of ice that can use true ice weapons.” Sejuani glanced at Lothar, “If it’s just you, it’s still possible to join other tribes.”

“I don’t have any plans for the time being.” Ashe’s face froze, and she heard Sejuani’s implication.

Sejuani glanced at Lothar again, and the suspicion in her eyes grew stronger.

Sejuani took out some firewood from a box: “It’s getting late, let’s make food.”

“Dinner? Leave it to me.” Lothar interrupted suddenly. He picked up a piece of snake meat. “It’s been a long time since I made Gruffin snake meat.”

Sejuani was about to refuse, but she heard Ashe say: “Lothar’s cooking skills are very good, leave it to him.”

Lotha walked up to Sejuani with a smile, and reached out to ask for firewood: “Do you like stewed or roasted?”

Sejuani hesitated for a moment, and thrust the firewood into Lothar’s arms forcefully, pushing him back a few steps.

“It’s boiled.” Sejuani smiled contemptuously, “It has to be cooked very…very soft.”

…

Curls of cooking smoke rose on the boat, and Lothar leisurely stewed a pot of snake broth.

Sejuani held up a harpoon and stabbed fiercely at the side of the boat.

A bit of sea water splashed onto Lothar’s hair. Ashe hugged Lothar behind her back, stretched out her hand to dry them, and said while wiping, “Did you catch it?”

Sejuani threw something directly at Lothar. Lothar quickly let go of the spoon and caught it with his left arm. A lively bluefin fish was flopping in his arms.

“An extra meal, grilled.” Sejuani didn’t even look at Lothar, and continued to carefully look for the prey under the sea.

“No problem.” Lothar replied.

Ashe looked at Sejuani suspiciously, and whispered in Lothar’s ear: “Sejuani…does she not like you?”

“You just saw it.” Lothar rubbed Ashe’s cheek with his face, “It’s okay, she just doesn’t like me, she shouldn’t hurt me.”

“But why?” Ashe sniffed Lothar’s scent, which made her feel at ease.

“Well… who knows…” Lothar smiled lightly, stringing the bluefin fish with a wooden stick with one hand.

“What are you whispering about?” Sejuani turned her head and asked, looking very unhappy.

“It’s nothing.” Ashe quickly replied, she didn’t want Sejuani to think too much, “It’s just some trivial matters.”

Sejuani let out a “tsk”, and turned her eyes back to the sea.

Ai Xi was a little puzzled, and asked in a low voice: “Why does she seem to be more angry?”

Lothar touched Ashe’s nose with her nose amusedly: “For an angry person, no matter what you say, she will only get angrier.”

“Then what should we do?”

“The best way is not to say anything.” Lothar picked up the knife, let Ashe reach out to help him hold the fish down, and began to scrape the scales. “Unless you find out why she is so angry.”

Ashe nodded with a vague understanding.

…

Sejuani looked at the deliciously roasted fish in front of her, and looked at Lothar suspiciously.

“Don’t worry, I didn’t poison you.” After speaking, Lothar bit the fish.

“Don’t be kidding, Lothar.” Ashe picked up a skewer of grilled fish and handed it to Sejuani, “Eat it, it’s delicious.”

Sejuani returned a smile, took the grilled fish, and opened her mouth to eat.

The fish skin is burnt and crispy, the fish meat is soft and tender, and the fire is well controlled.

Sejuani ate it sullenly, she seemed to like it very much.

“Eat slowly, there’s still a lot.” Ashe scooped up a bowl of hot soup for herself.

“How many frost priests are there in your tribe?” Lothar asked suddenly.

Sejuani looked up at Lothar. She didn’t want to answer at first, but for the sake of the grilled fish, she said, “Three.”

“Three…” Ashe said worriedly, “They probably know Marukolo…the frost priest in my tribe.”

“So what if we know each other?” Sejuani didn’t understand.

Ashe and Lothar exchanged glances,In the end, they told Sejuani most of their experiences in the past few days.

“So that’s how it is…” Sejuani ate up one grilled fish, picked up the second one, and said angrily, “Those frost priests are really not good things. Weak, they want incompetent people in power so they can manipulate them.”

Ashe comforted: “It’s okay, your grandmother is a tough woman, and the Frost Priest will absolutely not be able to control her.”

Sejuani shook her head, and said sadly: “Grandmother is no longer the Warmother of Winter’s Claw, she was betrayed… Now sitting on the Warmother’s seat is my mother, she…”

Ashe put down the bowl in her hand: “Sorry… I know your grandmother is very important to you, especially after your mother abandoned you…”

Lothar was thoughtful. It seems that the internal situation of Winter’s Claw is not as simple as that of Avarosa.

Sejuani was silent for a while, put the grilled fish back on the fire, and looked directly at Ashe: “My mother hates me very much. Glenna defeated her in a duel, so she will hate you too. Winter’s Claw, we must be careful.”

Ashe nodded heavily.

“One day, I will ascend to the position of Warmother. Winter’s Claw was so powerful, but after the death of my grandmother, any unknown small tribe dares to provoke us…” Sejuani stared at the brazier The wildly dancing flames in the house said firmly, “I will lead Winter’s Claw to flourish again. Every winter, I will eat enough and wear warm clothes. No one will starve to death and freeze to death again.”

“That’s not easy.” Lothar said, “In other words, in a place like the Freljord, it’s very difficult to achieve.”

“Lothar!” Ashe cast a reproachful glance at the boy, and hurriedly comforted Sejuani, “You will definitely become a fighting mother.”

Sejuani stared coldly at Lothar who said a word of shock: “You are short-sighted, how can you understand my ambition that the strong should be in power, and should be able to do things that are not feasible.”

Lothar pouted, noncommittal.

“It’s really good to say what should be done or not.” Ashe hurriedly smoothed things over, “You can definitely achieve it.”

“Thank you, Ashe.” Sejuani scratched her nose and smiled brightly at Ashe, “Only you have such confidence in me.”

While drinking the soup, Lothar looked at the two girls who were chatting happily. Sejuani’s smile was extremely warm and her tone was extremely gentle.

Section 13

“I seem to know why she has been angry.” Lothar thought.

—————————————————————————————————————

Bluefin fish is a fish that often appears on the dining tables of the Freljord. The meat is fresh and sweet, and it can be prepared in a variety of ways. In winter, they will breed in the central and western part of the Freljord’s northern ice ocean. At this time, the bluefin fish are the largest and extremely delicious. Whether it is grilled or stewed, it is an excellent top grade.

——Excerpt from “Valoran Travel Notes: The Freljord