Whatever Bunyan Stark first joined the Night's Watch for, Iger had to admit that he was indeed a dedicated Chief Ranger. Knowing through the Raven that the King should be in the North in three weeks, and that it would take no more than two weeks to return to Winterfell from Castle Black, the lanky man spent a few more days at the Night's Watch base dealing with defense patrols before preparing to set off - thankfully, he was able to wait for Will to escape back to the Wall and provide the same testimony as Egger, so he changed his mind and temporarily decided to take himself with him to Winterfell to report back to the Guardian of the North.

The traverser is a little glad that not everyone is as comfortable as they are. If he was the chief ranger and received a call from his brother, the Duke of Winterfell, I am afraid that he would have taken his luggage and embarked on the southbound road that day, compared to the Great Wall of Desperation, even the cold and gloomy Winterfell recognized by southerners is definitely a paradise on earth.

There are always some people in the world who are so noble that they are beyond the imagination of ordinary people, and Egger will never dare to live the belly of a gentleman with the heart of a villain because he can't understand it. He admired Bunyan Stark's sense of honor and dedication, but he was not born or grown up here, and he did not have an older brother who served as the guardian of the North. Just like the soldier who was captured by a certain party to be a strong man 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 make an oath with his hand, and then he wants to die and die? I'm sorry, Egger is an ordinary person who is not noble and selfless, even if this oath is gorgeous and inspiring ten times more inspiring, he refuses to be accepted such a fate.

Even if it is not selfish, Egger believes that with the amount of knowledge he has and his knowledge of this world, he can definitely contribute more to this world anywhere in this world than if he is trapped on the Great Wall and fight against the ghosts.

Opportunities are only reserved for those who are prepared, and on this trip to Winterfell, Will, who hid in a tree and watched the whole process of Weimar Royce being killed by the stranger, was a more suitable candidate, but Bunyan chose himself without much thought - the reason for this is that Will's state is not suitable for hurrying, and second, I am afraid that the former is not on the stage at all. Compared with the poacher's cringe, accented and occasional stuttering minor, he was clearly better suited to report to the Duke of Winterfell with his fluent and clear thinking.

Moreover, he vaguely heard that Will seemed to have been frightened by the strange spirits, and the whole person was a little nervous.

＊＊＊

He and Bunyan hit the road in the early afternoon, and to save time, they would travel along the King's Road, through the Wolf Grove to Winterfell. Neither passing through the last Hearthplace City nor visiting the Deep Forest Castle, so as to patrol the wall, the two of them brought enough food and drink, the only difference was that in order to make it easier to travel, each brought two horses.

There was a fine snow in the sky, and in the silence, the two rode out of the gates of Castle Black. Although the road at your foot is called King's Road and is indeed an extension of King's Road, it is not much wider than the Forest Road - the real road starts in King's Landing and ends in Winterfell, and the part further north is only a formal extension.

Heading south in silence, they soon approached the Mole Village. Climbing up a gentle slope, Iger couldn't help but glance back.

Castle Black is located on the south side of the Great Wall, and its light is largely unaffected by the high walls, and the color of the ice itself is inconspicuous. It is not difficult for the night watchman to ignore the presence of the Great Wall in their daily lives. In order to protect his cervical spine, it is not surprising that after living in Castle Black for a few months, Iger learned to ignore the tall and incomparable ice wall beside him.

But the Wall of Desperation doesn't disappear just because you don't look at it, it just stands, as if it has existed since the beginning of the world, and will guard the north until the end of the world.

After leaving for a few miles, the entire outline of the Great Wall was revealed, and the behemoth that had once filled the entire field of vision gradually turned into a gray-blue screen across the northern horizon, which continued to stretch to both ends, east and west to the end of the field of vision, until it disappeared into the gray-white cold fog in the distance.

From a distance, you can feel its greatness more intuitively - this is the largest structure ever built by humans in the Ice and Fire World, and it is definitely the tallest man-made object in at least Westeros. From here, the towers and huts of the Night's Watch Stronghold look like toy blocks scattered in the snow at the foot of the wall, and the men in black are ants busy among the blocks while walking.

If it were in the world from which Iger came from, it would definitely become the top tourist attraction - take a vacation, take your loved ones, leave the impetuous and fast-paced city, come to the northernmost part of the world to blow the cold wind and play in the snow, stand on the top of the Great Wall and overlook the endless ghost forest, "feel the baptism of nature", "purify the soul covered in dust"...... Not only is it full of gimmicks, but it can also add a flamboyant project.

But the presence of strange ghosts has changed the style of the Great Wall in an instant, this is a military structure for human resistance to extinction, this is the front line of the war for life and death, there are few more dangerous places in the world than here. If nothing else, this trip to Winterfell would be his last chance to escape before joining his next patrol, and if possible, he hoped he would never return to this place for the rest of his life.

＊＊＊

"Egger. While he was thinking wildly, Bunyan Stark, who was beside him, spoke: "You are a stranger, and I know that you are dissatisfied with the fact that you were inexplicably forced to serve on the Great Wall, but I must kindly remind you that you must not 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 thoughts of running away. The traverser's mind was suddenly pierced, and his heart was terrified, and he hurriedly turned back and confessed: "I have made a sacred oath, and I will definitely watch over the end of my life." The culture of the place I come from is very different from Westeros, but my attitude towards commitment can be just as serious. ”

"That's the best. Bunyan nodded, not continuing the topic: "My brother Eddard Stark is a typical northerner who doesn't care about red tape. Regardless, he was the Warden of the North and the Duke of Winterfell. In addition, our Stark family has the blood of our ancestors in its body, and it has a long heritage...... Therefore, there are some basic etiquette and taboos, I will take the time to briefly talk to you now, you must remember well, although you will not lose your head if you forget it, but it is always a little rude. ”

"Hmm. Egger nodded solemnly, took one last look at the Great Wall with a complicated gaze, turned his head to put it out of his mind for a moment, and prepared to listen carefully.

......

The two of them hurried during the day and rested at night, passing through Mole Village and Houguan Town, far from the sphere of influence of the Night Watch, the road under the horses' hooves gradually widened, and the crowding along the way became more and more common. The rulers of the North gave large tracts of land north of the Wolf Grove to the Night's Watch to levy taxes and food from the land, but as the Blackshirts weakened and shrunk, the Wildlings crossed the Wall and plundered the Land-Grantees, causing a large number of Land-Grantees to move south, fleeing the Night's Watch Legions, which were unable to protect them, and settled under the protection of other nobles in the North. Today, except for the small area close to the three strongholds of the night watch, where the villagers live, the "land gift" has almost become a no-man's land.

Dramatically, however, the formation of the no-man's land has made the North safe – a double insurance against the Great Wall, and few wildlings are willing to venture over the Great Wall and then go hungry through vast expanses of uninhabited land to raid villagers under the protection of powerful Amber and Karstark families. The looting returns from crossing the Great Wall became low, and naturally there were no savages to do this thankless task...... The most intuitive feeling this brought to the northern princes was that there was less infestation from the wildlings. Most of the nobles gave this to the legions of the Night's Watch, so they volunteered to provide food, grass and clothing, and both parties were happy.

Egger and Bunyan Stark's journey south to Winterfell went smoothly, except for the chance encounter with a sneaky group of suspected wildlings fleeing south. And this group of people also quickly disappeared into the dense forest after seeing the black cloaks of Bunyan and Egger, and the chief ranger was not as young and vigorous as Weima Royce, and he chose to let the other party go because he didn't want to be in trouble.

The road continued to widen, stone bridges crossed the rapids, farms formed settlements around stone walls and wooden beams, other travelers and merchants began to pass along the way, and after sunset they finally stopped sleeping in the wilderness, and two weeks later, the two arrived at their destination on time predicted by Bunyan.

——