Chapter 12
2020-11-02
Chapter 12 SouthWhatever Benjen Stark originally joined Night's Watch for, Igor has to admit: He is indeed a dedicated Chief Ranger. Knowing through Raven that the King was supposed to arrive in the North in three weeks, and that it would take no more than two weeks to get back to Winterfell from Castle Black, the lanky, strong man spent a few more days at the Night's Watch base dealing with the schedule of defense patrols Just ready to set off - fortunately, he was able to wait until Will escaped back to Wall and provided the same testimony as Igor, so he changed his mind and temporarily decided to take oneself to Winterfell to report to the North guard.
Igor is a little fortunate that not everyone tries their best to pursue comfort like oneself. If oneself is the chief ranger and receives the summon of oneself brother Duke of Winterfell, I am afraid that the same day I will bring my luggage and go southbound. Compared with The Wall, even Winterfell, who is recognized by southerners as cold and gloomy, is definitely not. It is Heaven on earth.
There are always some people in the world who are too noble and beyond the imagination of ordinary people. Igor will never dare to treat the belly of a gentleman with the heart of a villain because he can't understand it. He admires Benjen Stark's sense of honor and devotion to duty, but oneself is neither born nor grown here, and there is no big brother who serves as the guardian of North. Just like a soldier who was captured by a certain party to be a strong soldier during the civil war between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, he has no sense of belonging to this world and this kingdom - he threatens to force oneself to swear an oath with chopped hands, and then oneself will die in this world? I'm sorry, Igor is an ordinary person who is not noble and selfless, even if this vow is ten times more gorgeous and inspiring, he refuses to be accepted by such a fate.
Even if not out of selfishness, Igor also believes that with the amount of knowledge oneself possesses and the understanding of this world, anywhere in this world is definitely more beneficial to this world than trapping Wall against Others. contribute.
Opportunities are reserved for those who are prepared. This trip to Winterfell, Wilburn, who hid in a tree and watched the whole process of Waymar Royce being killed by Others, is a more suitable candidate, but Benjen did not. After thinking about it, I chose oneself - the reason is that Will's state is not suitable for rushing, and secondly, I am afraid that the former is simply not on the table. Coming with the poacher who is always cowering, speaks with an accent and stutters from time to time, the oneself who speaks fluently and clearly thinks is obviously more suitable for reporting the situation to Duke of Winterfell.
And, he vaguely heard that Will seems to have been terrified by Others, and his whole person is a little nervous.
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He and Benjen hit the road in the afternoon, and to save time, they will travel along the Kingsroad, through Wolfswood to Winterfell. Neither passing through the last Hearth nor visiting the Deepwood Motte, so just like patrolling the wall, the two of them brought enough to eat and eat. The only difference was that each of them brought two horses for the convenience of traveling.
There was fine snow in the sky, and in the silence, the two rode out of Castle Black's gate. Although the road at the foot is called Kingsroad and it is indeed an extension of Kingsroad, it is not much wider than the forest path - the real Great Way starts from King's Landing and ends at Winterfell, and the part further north is just a form on the extension.
Heading south in silence, they soon approached Mole's Town. Climbing up a gentle slope, Igor couldn't help but glance back.
Castle Black is located on the south side of the Wall, the light is largely unaffected by the high walls, and the color of the ice itself is inconspicuous. For Night's Watch, it's not difficult to ignore Wall's presence in everyday life. In order to protect the cervical spine, it is not surprising that Igor learned to ignore this tall and incomparable ice wall after living in Castle Black for a few months.
But The Wall doesn't disappear just because you don't look at it, it stands there as if it's been there since splitting heaven and earth apart, and will guard the North until the end of the world.
A few miles away at this moment, the entire outline of Wall is revealed. The huge monster that was able to support both heaven and earth and filled the entire field of vision gradually turned into a gray-blue screen across the northern horizon. Uninterruptedly extending to both ends, extending east and west to the end of the field of vision, until it disappears into the cold ash-gray mist in the distance.
It is only after a certain distance that you can feel its greatness more intuitively - this is the largest building built by humans in the world of ice and fire, and it is definitely at least the highest creation in the Westeros continent. From here, the towers and huts of the Night's Watch base seem to be toy blocks scattered in the snow at the foot of the wall; while the black clothed person during the walk is the busy ants among the blocks.
If it was the world where Igor came from, it would definitely become the highest tourist attraction - take a vacation, bring your loved ones, leave the impetuous and fast-paced city, and come to the northernmost point of the world. Playing with the snow in the cold wind, standing on the top of the Wall overlooking the endless Haunted Forest, "feeling the baptism of nature", "purifying the dusty mind"... Not only is it full of gimmicks, but it can also add an exciting project.
But the existence of Others made Wall change his style in an instant. This is a military building for mankind to resist extinction. This is the front line of the war of life and death. There are few places in the world that are more dangerous than this. If nothing else, this trip to Winterfell will be oneself's last chance to escape before participating in the next patrol. If possible, he hopes that oneself will never return to this place in his life.
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"Igor." While thinking about it, Benjen Stark next to him said: "You are a stranger, I know you are forced to come to the Wall to serve in the unfathomable mystery. I am dissatisfied, but I must kindly remind you that you must not have any plans to escape. Countless people have proved with their lives that the price of deserting is quite heavy."
"I understand, I don't The idea of running." Igor's mind was suddenly exposed, and his heart was horrified, and he quickly turned around to confess: "I have made a sacred oath, and I will definitely watch the end of my life. The customs and culture of the place where I come from are very different from Westeros. But it's just as serious about commitment."
"That's the best way to go." Benjen nodded curtly, not continuing the subject: "I'm brother Eddard Stark, a typical northerner who doesn't stick to tape. But anyway , he is the guardian of North and Duke of Winterfell after all. Plus the blood of First Men flowing in our House Stark body, inheritance is quite long... So, some basic etiquette and taboo, I will take the time to briefly talk to you now, you must Remember, even if you forget it, you won't lose your head, but it's still a little rude."
"en. Put it aside and prepare to listen carefully.
……
The two travelled during the day and rested at night. They passed Mole's Town and Queenscrown away from the sphere of influence of Night's Watch. The road under the horse's hoof gradually became wider, and people along the way became more and more common. . The rulers of the North gifted large tracts of land north of Wolfswood to the Night's Watch Legion, allowing the latter to collect taxes and sustenance from these lands to keep them afloat, but as the Blackshirts weakened and dwindled, the wildling climbed over the Wall to plunder the land-grant population. Incidents have become more frequent, causing large numbers of land-granters to migrate south, fleeing the Night's Watch Legion, which was powerless to protect them, and to take root in the protection of other North nobles. Today, apart from the villagers living in a small area close to the three major strongholds of Night's Watch, the "land grant" has almost become a no-man's land.
However, dramatically, the formation of no-man’s-land has made North safe – this area and The Wall form a double insurance, and few wildlings are willing to take the risk after climbing over the ice wall. , and then go hungry through the desolate land to loot the villagers under the protection of the powerful Umber, Karstark and other families. The looting income of crossing the Wall is lower, and naturally there is no wildling to do this thankless thing... This brings the most intuitive feeling to the North princes: the intrusion of wildling has become less. Most of the nobles attributed this to the Night's Watch Legion, so they volunteered to provide food and clothing, and both parties were happy in the end.
Igor and Benjen Stark's journey south to Winterfell went smoothly, except for a chance encounter with a group of sneaky suspected wildling south escapees along the way. And this group of people also quickly disappeared between the jungle after seeing the black cloaks of Benjen and Igor. The chief ranger is not as young and vigorous as Waymar · Royce. He also chose to let the other party leave.
The road continues to widen, the stone bridge crosses the rapids, the farm forms a settlement around the stone wall and wooden beams, and there are other travelers and merchants on the road. After sunset, there is finally no need to sleep in the wilderness. Weeks later, the two arrived at their destination on time at the time Benjen predicted.
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(end of this chapter)