No matter why Benjen Stark originally joined the Night's Watch, Egger has to admit: he is indeed a dedicated First Ranger. This thin and strong man learned through the messenger raven that the king should arrive in the north in three weeks, and that it would take no more than two weeks to return to Winterfell from Castle Black, so he was busy processing a few more things at the Night's Watch base. The defense patrol was arranged before he was ready to set off - fortunately, he was able to wait until Will escaped back to the Great Wall and provided testimony consistent with Egg, so he changed his mind and temporarily decided to take him to Winterfell to report to the Guardian of the North.
Iger is a little lucky that not everyone is trying their best to pursue comfort like him. If I were the chief ranger and received the call from my brother, the Duke of Winterfell, I would probably have packed my luggage and headed south that day. Compared to the Great Wall, even Winterfell, which is recognized by southerners as cold and gloomy, , and it is definitely heaven on earth.
There are always some people in the world who are noble beyond ordinary people's imagination. Iger would never dare to judge a gentleman with a villain's heart just because he cannot understand them. He admired Benjen Stark's sense of honor and devotion to duty, but he was neither born nor raised in this profession, nor did he have an older brother who served as the guardian of the North. Just like a soldier who was captured by a certain party during the civil war between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. He has no sense of belonging to this world or this kingdom - threatening to cut off his hand to force him to swear an oath, and then he will live and die there? Sorry, Iger is an ordinary person who is not noble and selfless. Even if the oath is ten times more gorgeous and inspiring, he refuses to accept such a fate.
Even if he is not selfish, Iger still believes that with the amount of knowledge he possesses and his understanding of the world, he can definitely make a greater contribution to the world anywhere in the world than being trapped on the Great Wall to fight against the White Walkers.
Opportunities are only reserved for those who are prepared. For this trip to Winterfell, Wilburn, who hid in a tree and watched the whole process of Waymar Royce being killed by the White Walkers, was a more suitable candidate, but Benyan did not. After much thought, he chose himself—the reason was, firstly, because Will was not in a suitable condition to travel, and secondly, probably because the former was simply unable to make it to the stage. Unlike the poacher, who always looks timid, speaks with an accent, and stutters from time to time, he who speaks fluently and thinks clearly is obviously more suitable to report the situation to the Duke of Winterfell.
Moreover, he vaguely heard that Will seemed to be frightened by the White Walkers and was a little nervous.
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He and Benjen set out on the road in the afternoon. In order to save time, they would travel along the King's Road, through the Wolf Wood and directly to Winterfell. They neither passed through Last Hearth nor visited Deepwood Castle, so just like patrolling outside the Wall, the two of them brought enough food and drink. The only difference was that for the convenience of traveling, each of them brought two horses.
There was fine snow falling in the sky, and in the complete silence, the two rode out of the gate of Castle Black. Although the road under your feet is called the King's Road and is indeed an extension of the King's Road, it is actually not much wider than the forest path - the real road starts from King's Landing and ends at Winterfell, and further north, It's just a formal extension.
Heading south in silence, they quickly approached Mole Village. Climbing up a gentle slope, Egger couldn't help but glance back.
Castle Black is located on the south side of the Great Wall, so the light received is basically not affected by the high wall, and the color of the ice itself is inconspicuous. It is not difficult for the Night Watchmen to ignore the Wall in their daily lives. In order to protect his cervical spine, it was no surprise that after living in Castle Black for a few months, Egg learned to ignore the huge ice wall next to him.
But the Great Wall will not disappear just because you don't look at it. It stands there, as if it has existed since the beginning of the world, and will always guard the northern border until the end of the world.
After a few miles away at this moment, the entire outline of the Great Wall was revealed. The huge thing that originally filled the entire field of vision gradually turned into a gray-blue screen spanning the northern horizon. It extended to both ends without interruption, east to west. It extends to the end of the field of vision until it disappears into the gray-white cold mist in the distance.
Only from a distance can you feel its greatness more intuitively - this is the largest building built by humans in the world of ice and fire, and it is definitely the tallest man-made thing in at least Westeros. From here, the towers and huts of the Night Watch stronghold seem like toy blocks scattered in the snow at the foot of the wall; and the men in black walking around are like ants busy among the blocks.
If it were the world that Iger came from, this would definitely become the top tourist attraction - take a vacation, bring your loved ones, leave the impetuous and fast-paced city, come to the northernmost point of the world, enjoy the cold wind, play in the snow, and stand Go to the top of the Great Wall to overlook the endless ghost forest, "feel the baptism of nature" and "purify the dusty soul"... It is not only full of gimmicks, but also adds a cool project.
But the existence of the White Walkers instantly changed the style of the Great Wall. This is a military building for mankind to resist extinction. It is the frontline of the war of life and death. There are few places in the world more dangerous than here. If nothing else happens, this trip to Winterfell will be his last chance to escape before participating in the next patrol. If possible, he hopes he will never return to this place in his life.
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"Egg." While he was thinking wildly, Benjen Stark beside him spoke: "You are a stranger. I know you are dissatisfied with being forced to serve on the Great Wall for no reason, but I must remind you kindly. , Never have any intention of escaping. Countless people have proved with their lives that the price of being a deserter is quite heavy."
"I understand, I have no intention of escaping." Egger's mind was suddenly exposed, and he was horrified, and he quickly turned around to confess. : "I have made a sacred oath, and I will definitely watch until the end of my life. The customs and culture of the place where I come from are very different from those of Westeros, but the attitude towards promises is equally serious."
"That's best. "Bunyan nodded and did not continue the topic: "My brother Eddard Stark is a typical northerner who does not stick to red tape. But no matter what, he is the Warden of the North and the Duke of Winterfell. Plus we The Stark family has the blood of its ancestors flowing in its body, and its inheritance is quite long... Therefore, I will take the time to briefly explain some basic etiquette and taboos to you. You must remember it well, and you will not lose your head even if you forget it. , but it's still a bit rude."
"Yeah." Iger nodded solemnly, took one last look at the Great Wall with complex eyes, turned his head and put it away from his mind for the time being, preparing to listen carefully.
...
The two of them traveled during the day and rested at night. They passed through Mole Village and Houguan Town, away from the Night Watch's sphere of influence. The road under the horseshoes gradually widened, and people along the way became more and more common. The rulers of the North gave large tracts of land north of Wolfwood to the Night's Watch, allowing the latter to collect taxes and grain from these lands to maintain operations. However, as the Blackshirt Army weakened and shrunk, wildlings climbed over the Great Wall to rob the land. Resident incidents occurred more and more frequently, which caused a large number of land-grant residents to move south. They fled the Night's Watch, which was unable to protect them, and settled down within the protection of other nobles in the north. Today, except for villagers living and living in a small area close to the three main strongholds of the Night Watch, the "land grant" has almost become an uninhabited land.
But what is dramatic is that the formation of no-man's land has made the northern border safer - this area and the Great Wall of Despair have formed a double insurance, and few savages are willing to risk their lives by climbing over the ice wall and then crossing hungry. Go to the desolate land grant to plunder the villagers under the protection of the powerful Umber, Karstark and other families. The profit from plundering over the Great Wall has become lower, so naturally there will be no savages to do this thankless task anymore... The most intuitive feeling this brings to the northern princes is: the savage intrusion has become less. Most of the nobles attributed this to the Night's Watch, and volunteered to provide food, grass, and clothing, and both parties were happy in the end.
Egger and Benjen Stark's trip south to Winterfell went smoothly, except for an occasional encounter with a sneaky group of people who were suspected of being wildlings fleeing south. And this group of people also quickly disappeared into the dense forest after seeing the black cloaks of Benyan and Egg. The chief ranger was not as young and energetic as Waymar Royce. He did not want to cause trouble and chose to let the other party leave. .
The road continued to widen, stone bridges spanned rapids, and farms formed settlements around stone walls and wooden beams. Other travelers and businessmen began to come and go on the road. After sunset, they no longer had to sleep in the wilderness. Two weeks later, the two of them were at work. Yang arrived at his destination on time at the time he predicted.