Winterfell is not a city, but a castle. The purpose of its existence is like the Red Keep in King's Landing, it only provides shelter and protection for the lord, and does not assume the functions of a miscellaneous city, let alone the existence of a creature such as a "citizen". Legend has it that it was built by Brandon the "City Builder" with the help of giants, and as a noble fort, Winterfell is magnificent, but it is not worth mentioning in terms of size or majesty compared to another structure built by the same person, the Great Wall of Desperation.

Excluding the surrounding villages and winter towns that are temporarily abandoned in the summer, Winterfell is enclosed by high walls on an area of less than 100 acres, and a small half of it is a sacred forest. The inhabitants of the walls, apart from the attendants, subordinates, servants, and their families who served the Starks, had only a standing army of a few hundred, the largest in the North outside of the Night's Watch.

As a Ranger who has stood guard on the Great Wall of Desperation and killed strange spirits in the Ghost Forest, there are really not many things in this world that can bluff Egger. The first time he saw Winterfell, his inner thoughts were not shocked or admired, but a little surprised: the political center of the north, the home of many important characters in Ice and Fire, was so small. No wonder connecting to a king can make a mess!

But then I thought about it, and when I subconsciously compared what I saw with the Great Wall of Despair, I am afraid that there is no "big" building in this world.

It was getting late, and with his thoughts in mind, Egg followed Bunyan through the gates of Winterfell and into it.

"Welcome home, Lord Bunyan. The guard, who had followed the Stark family for many years, certainly knew his lord's younger brother, and he graciously took the reins of the chief ranger's horse, "I'll have your lodging and bathing arranged at once." ”

"No, what about my brother?"

"Your Excellency has just finished receiving the king, and now I guess I am busy in the main castle...... I don't know. ”

"The king has arrived?" Bunyan frowned, "Damn, I've been two days early...... Fortunately, I didn't miss the dinner, so I'll go and see him myself. ”

"Yes, sir. ”

Winterfell was crowded with people at the moment, and the otherwise spacious schoolyard was full of horses, vehicles, chests, and busy minions. Robert Baratheon's northern tour brought hundreds of retinues with him, and the queen and princess brought more baggage...... A large number of people could not be accommodated in Winterfell, and they had to be diverted to the towns outside the city to properly solve the problem, and at this moment the castle gate was busy with people, Bunyan and Egg were familiar with the high and low corridors of the castle, and soon came to the main castle, which was the residence of the Stark family...... After saying hello, he entered, but in a few moments, he found the Duke of Winterfell who was hiding in his study.

"Bunyan!" Eddard Stark was making arrangements for his subordinates to entertain the guests, and when he saw the unpretentious smile on his brother's face, he stood up, waved the servant away, and walked up to the brother and gave the latter a big hug: "How is it, life on the Wall...... It's still that hard?"

"Get used to it. Bunyan patted his brother's arm and let go of the other: "But there has been something north of the Great Wall lately, and I think it is necessary to inform the Guardian of the North." ”

"Well, the savage thing...... I've heard that from the letter. But you won't know how much effort I had to deal with that guy from Robert today, who is now as fat as a pig. The Duke of Winterfell complained to his brother with a wry smile, he had dark brown hair and a long face carved out of the same mold as Bunyan, and his expression was not angry and arrogant even if he smiled, and he was the first guy Iger had seen since he crossed over and was really a bit of a ruler: "Let's wait until today's welcome dinner is over, okay?"

"No, right now. The things I am about to talk to you about are more important than the dinner party, the king, the queen, and all the other things in the world. Bunyan Stark shook his head solemnly and beckoned back to Egger who was standing by the door: "This is my Ranger, he will tell you what happened." ”

Seeing his brother's solemn expression, Ed also put away his smile and turned his head to look at Egg: "Hello...... Friend, what do you call it?"

A soldier can be treated so politely by a nobleman who is a duke of a land, and this can only happen in the north. The traveler knew that most of the other party's friendliness was aimed at the black clothes he was wearing: "Your Excellency can call me Egger, I am not from Westeros, and I don't have the usual surname of the people of the Seven Kingdoms. ”

"Not a Westeros?" Eddard had heard of a foreign Night's Watch for the first time, and looked at Egg with curiosity, then at Bunyan with an inquiring look.

"Iger is from an unheard continent west of Westeros. Another Stark shrugged and explained to him, "He was on patrol with Weimar Royce when he encountered a strange ghost and fled back to the Wall to alert us. ”

"Stranger?"

......

Ed's face sank, and he looked at Egg again with suspicion in his eyes.

He didn't believe in the existence of strange spirits, and in his opinion, Weimar Royce's disappearance was most likely due to an ambush by savages. The missing man's father, Jon Royce, as the most important vassal of his adoptive father and brother-in-law, Jon Arryn, was a guest in Winterfell on his way north to join the Blackshirts, and his actions and words all revealed the hope that he, the lord of the north, would take care of his son...... Although the disappearance of a Night's Watch Ranger could not be blamed on himself, the Duke of Winterfell, it still caused Eddard a sense of discomfort, and he always had the illusion that he could not explain to the child's father.

"Wait, if I'm not mistaken, you're one of the three Rangers that Weima Royce brought out of the wall, why would you and another person be allowed to come back if the Wren killed your commander?" Ed's attitude quickly changed and became aggressive: "According to the rules and regulations of the Night's Watch, what should deserters do?"

"It's not the ghosts who let us back, it's that we escaped with all the hardships. Iger struggled to ignore the terrifying skeptical glint in the Guardian of the North, knowing that the slightest hint of cowardice could have dire consequences, "Besides, as we approached the Wall, I worked with another Ranger to kill a chasing wraith. ”

"What about the corpses?"

"When the ghost died, his body evaporated, leaving no remains. Iger explained, knowing that this was a bit of a quibble, and quickly added, "But I have other evidence." ”

"Oh?" the Supreme Lord of the North glanced at his brother, let out a sigh of light in his nostrils with imperceptible force, turned to the table he used to handle government affairs, and sat down in a chair on the other side, "Take it out and show it to me." ”

......

Bunyan stood aside and said no more, and Egger quickly picked up his bag and placed it on the chair opposite Eddard Stark as he had rehearsed, and began his performance.

He brought all the Broken Swords and Obsidian Dagger Capitals to Winterfell, three of which were each held in three sturdy sturdy stab-resistant skins. Iger took them out one by one, placed them on the table and put them together one by one...... Weimar Royce's sword shattered so badly that it took a little time for the traverser to fight it, and the master of Winterfell frowned but waited patiently for him to finish everything before asking, "Three broken swords, and a black dagger, what does this mean?"

"Three broken swords from three rangers who had fought the Wraiths head-on. Among them, Weimar Royce fought valiantly to the death, Gary was seriously injured and still slowly recovering from Castle Black, and I was the only one who was lucky enough to still be alive. Egger spoke smoothly and confidently as he introduced the exhibits on the table to the First Lord of the North, "And this little black thing is the obsidian dagger that finally killed the stranger. ”

"So, the three people who fought with the 'stranger' all broke their swords?" Ed clenched his fist and chin on his chin, he knew that his brother, Bunyan was not a fool, if the night watchman in front of him was just a simple deserter, he would never bring it to him, so he decided to listen to the other party's explanation: "But how do I know that you didn't break these swords?"

"Please look at the broken openings of these swords. Iger pointed to Duke Stark: "Can you notice that the damage suffered by these three swords is a little different from what is normal?"

"I've never seen a sword shatter like this, how did I do that?" it took Eddard Stark a moment to realize the problem, he had been in a lot of battles, and of course he had seen a lot of broken swords, but he had never seen a weapon shatter. Puzzled, he picked up a small piece of Weimar's broken sword from the table, put it in his hand and observed it for a moment, and after a knock, he finally determined that it was real steel.

"Frozen cracked. Egg spat out a catchy word: "More specifically, I think it was the ice magic present on the Unraign weapon that shattered the steel sword." The weapons they use appear to be frozen in ice, but the Night's Watch's standard steel swords are all struck in a single blow. ”

Iger then perfected and repeated the same rhetoric he had used when he faced Commander Mormont and Maester Aemon. This time, he had rested enough and eaten and drunk well, and his physical strength and spirit were full, and both the plainness and ease of understanding of the content of the narrative, the moderation and persuasiveness of the speed and tone of his speech were far beyond the previous time.

After explaining the reason for the shattering of the steel sword, he simply informed the other party of the process of escaping from the Alien Brigade and killing the pursuers by chance. Eddard Stark listened patiently throughout the lecture until the traverser had finished his prepared speech, then he lowered his chin and looked thoughtfully at his brother standing aside.

＊＊＊

Bunyan Stark and Eddard looked at each other, knowing that his brother still didn't believe in the existence of the stranger, and he was helpless about it, after all, he only judged that what Egger said was true based on speculation, and he couldn't say with his own eyes that he had seen it with his own eyes.

"The Shadow Tower has also submitted reports of suspected strange sightings, and the Rangers of Castle Black and Donghaiwang have claimed to have spotted a huge number of wildlings on a mass migration, and many villages have been emptied, as if they are hiding from something......" The Chief Ranger made a final effort: "A series of signs that the defenders of the Great Wall are facing an unprecedented challenge, and what the Night's Watch Legion looks like now, I don't say that you know that we need help now. ”

"I'll inform you below, and you can go to the prison and pick someone later......"

"What the Night's Watch need now is supplies and troops, not a few scum or recruits!" Bunyan interrupted his brother bluntly, "Let a bunch of criminals with only basic training defend the Seven Kingdoms? This time, I brought someone here, not just to do the same thing as the raven!"

The room fell silent, and Duke Eddard, who had been robbed of white, sat quietly, fiddling with the obsidian dagger that Egger had handed over, while looking down in thought.

——