After finishing with the first of the Yule trees, which was the one that had been dedicated to the spirit of the earth, Griswold could have gone towards the other in a straight line if he had truly wanted to. But with the sheer space between towns, especially when choosing not to travel from one place to the next, one would literally get to see all of that space as it was. An open field of green grass and rolling hills for miles upon miles. But due to the time of year, not much of that remained, making for a cold trip across the long flats of snow and likely having to sleep out in the open as well. And seeing as how sleeping in the open was not a very good idea unless someone wanted to make themselves into an easy target for roving predators or bandits, going from town to town was the way to go.

And it was due to this that Griswold encountered several people who were out in the streets, heading towards the local nobleman’s mansion for some kind of event. Asking around to see if there were any people that could help him out by explaining what was going on, he saw the people wandering out of their homes with empty pots and pans. By the time he finally found someone useful that could actually explain to him what was going on, he was told that the lord was hosting a food drive. Though the words themselves were not entirely known to him in that order, he imagined it was something where people could go to eat, and figured it would be worth his time to go through a little detour. So when he arrived at the estate by horse, it was not long before he was held up by guards.

After explaining who he was and that he had come here for the sake of looking into the matter and what it was all about, a stable boy was called in to direct Nuck towards the stables while the guards escorted Griswold to the “food drive”. Elaborating some more on the matter as the idea behind it was still not entirely clear to Griswold, the men claimed that the lord himself had fallen ill and had been in the process of hiring several people from the town to aid in handing out free food to the people. And while a good deal of them had arrived, there were still quite a few positions that were yet to be filled out, which was why even the estate guards had been called in to pitch in. And while it was not exactly what he was known for as a killer and a protector, this inspired Griswold to also pitch in.

Not really looking for any payment, he believed that whenever a noble wanted to do something for the less fortunate, the best thing one could do was to aid them in this and let it be known that their efforts were appreciated. Knowing a fair deal of nobles that would likely never do such a thing as this, and being quite well aware of the fact that people believed Griswold just enjoyed hating nobility, it seemed like a good idea to show that this was not the case. So as he took his position, dropped his weaponry and his harness behind a makeshift counter so as to look less angry and dangerous, he went over the food as the first of the people made their way over. Holding out an empty pot as the started at the front of the line, the first thing they got handed was half a chicken, plucked and ready to be cooked.

Moving to the next person in line at the counter, they got handed an entire cabbage, as they were easier to grow and a lot less expensive than a chicken. While the noble likely had plenty of money, it was understandable that they’d be handed half a chicken so as to be able to provide them to multiple people, otherwise being able to only reach quite literally half as many people. When they made their way over to Griswold’s spot, he was to hand them a total of five potatoes each, uncooked and still unpeeled. Finding the experience rather nice as it allowed him to do something else than beating people up or killing things to help, it was probably not the worst state for people to see him in. Perhaps now, the locals might talk less about how Griswold was the “black knight that drank the blood of nobles”, as that was quite literally the worst tale about himself he had ever heard up until now.

No, when Griswold spoke of nobles and royals in a negative sentiment, it was towards those that worked to keep other people poor and themselves at the top of the human food chain, not giving a damn if the rest of the country fell into disrepair as long as the royal capital remained in its full glory. Those were the people he would not mind beating over the head with chair, as the act of inflicting brain trauma might bring about some change in their rotten personalities. Continuing to stock people up with potatoes, the amount of smiles he saw here today were on a different scale than when he went about slaying a monster hiding in a town’s sewers or a woodland beast preying on those that ventured along backroads. Though that might also be because this work came without any bad news or bloodshed.

After roughly two hours of continuing to work, it was time for him to move back on as the other volunteers had finally arrived. Receiving a decent scolding from the guards about being late and not receiving the full sum they had been promised for their shoddy work ethics, Griswold took this time to wander back towards where the stable boy had taken Nuck. Finding the horse in the midst of a feeding frenzy, gulping down oats like it were water, it seemed he might have just been fed and needed to get his strength back up before they got back out into the cold wintery world. Waiting for the stallion to finish his trough of food, Griswold took the horse out, mounted the saddle and began making his way off of the property. Nodding at the guards and gesturing at them that he was leaving, the black knight took to the open road once more.

1091

[End of Mission]