Jon passed through the gates of the Winterfell castle in the early noon after he had completed his daily training in the yard. Today had been an especially brutal day for Jon, as he was already tired because he had been training with his bow till late yesterday with Old Mark, and early in the morning Ser Rodrik made him spar with different older opponents with a sword for an hour, and then the same with a spear.
And while he had been the one to ask for training in both sword and spear, and in his mind, he didn't regret it even once, his sore body disagreed with that vehemently.
Jon greeted the guard before entering the town outside the castle, he moved through the streets and went deeper into the part of the town where most of the craftsmen lived.
Ever since he had been stuck with that brilliant idea when his little sister Arya had asked for a horse of her own, he hadn't been able to sleep due to excitement because if this stuff actually worked out he would have a way of making a huge amount of gold that didn't require him to stir up the pot too much.
So the very next day he started his search for a blacksmith in Wintertown to work on his project, which lasted a lot longer than he expected.
Initially, none of the blacksmiths took him seriously due to his small stature, and while they decided he was legit after he told them he was Lord Stark's bastard, they still shooed him away because they weren't happy with the pay he was giving them for the stuff he wanted them to do.
But in the end, he located a blacksmith who was only a part-time blacksmith but had worked on some stuff during the last war so was proficient enough for his need and he also happened to have a lot of free time on his hands because he wasn't in demand as much after the population of the town decreased after summer arrived.
He had agreed that he would work on his project as long as he wanted him to—provided he was paid his dues regularly.
And of course, the reason he had not gone to the Winterfell's resident Blacksmith Mikken was also quite similar as he was busy most of the time handling stuff for the guards and staff that worked in the castle.
Stuff like repairing broken equipment, adjusting old armor for the new recruits, or creating new ones, etc. So he wasn't able to dedicate as much time, and patience as his project required, as it needed a lot of research and tinkering in its initial phase.
And besides, he was keeping the project a secret from the rest of his family, which was also the reason he hadn't asked Lord Stark to fund it for him, as one of the first things Jon had been taught since he was young was, 'For every penny, we save during the summer, one more soul would survive in the north in winter,'.
And Jon didn't want to ask for Eddard's help in what he would definitely consider a child's whim, without being sure that this would work out in the end.
So this whole project was being funded by Jon, with the initial funds coming from his saving over the years. And he had started making quite a Lump Sum from his hunting activities, partly because he was getting better at it but mostly... because he had frost's help—locating the largest and most profitable prey.
Jon reached the home-cum-workshop of the blacksmith named Bryan, who had been able to look past his childish face, and decide that it didn't matter to him how young his employer was, or how weird the thing he was asked to make was, as long he got paid.
"Hey, Bryan!" Jon shouted from outside the wooden door, "Are you in there?" Jon knew that it was a stupid question as he could see the smoke coming out of the chimney, and as Bryan lived alone, it was quite obvious he was inside, but he asked for the sake of it anyway.
Jon heard footsteps coming from inside after a few moments before the door opened with a bang, "You came at the right time," Bryan said the moment he saw Jon and immediately beckoned him inside his home with an excited look on his face.
"Did you finally make it work?" Jon asked delightedly while following after the blacksmith who was taking two steps at a time in his excitement.
"Yes, I was eventually able to make a model that actually works," Bryan said while rushing toward his workshop, "You know after the tenth time you rejected it and told me to remake it. I had actually thought that it would never work, but it turns out you were right about it all along..." he trailed off and opened the door before stepping aside and showing Jon the thing he had made.
"I-It's perfect," Jon said with a wide grin before moving toward the first successful prototype, and after running his hands along the smooth creation before him he turned back toward the Blacksmith and asked him animatedly, "Did you try to use it,"
"No!No! No," Bryan said while shaking his head, "I don't think I have the flexibility required for me to use this thing, but I can guarantee that it would run smoothly,"
"I believe you," Jon replied with a bright smile, "So how much time would it take for you to create a similar-sized one, one medium-sized, and the last a tiny version of this,"
"Umm..." Bryan thought for a moment, "Considering I could most probably use the leftover materials from the previously failed products... and the smallest one was very easy to make so I already made it... it should not take me more than a week," he finished with confidence.
"Alright then," Jon took one last look at the thing before moving toward the exit, "I will come back a week later for all of them, and will bring the rest of your payment along with me so make sure to complete it on time,"
"I will definitely try my best," Bryan seriously said before a grin appeared on his face, "And don't worry about the payment, I know where you so live so there's no need for me to worry about you running away... Ha Ha,"
Jon laughed along with the blacksmith's unfunny joke as he opened the door, but stopped abruptly as he was on the doorstep because he suddenly came under a large shadow and when he looked up he saw the face of a young teen plastered on a body that wouldn't look out of place among the tallest guards of Winterfell.
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pat reon.c om/ lazywizard —> To read ahead
Sirius Black SI —> My other fic