The king on the Great Wall

His mouth was closed, but his mind couldn't stop at all.At first, Will just wanted to persuade Gary to vote for Iger, but after thinking about it, even he gradually began to feel that "everything makes sense".Iger’s prophecy when he first encountered the White Walker, the magic of being chased by that terrifying enemy but successfully counterattacked, and the obsidian dagger he gave himself... That’s right, a ranger who survived many missions outside the Great Wall Grabbing a lot of them, but being able to be like myself - having close contact with dead people countless times, and even encountering a group of teammates without being injured, is unique!

For Will, Iger is no longer just a comrade in arms of the Night Watchman, but more like a legend, a symbol, and a belief.Now some people say that he is the son of prophecy, some people come to explain his special and miraculous features, and some people come to dispel their doubts... Even if it sounds a little ridiculous, why not believe it?

Maybe another day, I should try to believe in a red god?

***

Gary didn't know, and even if he did, he wouldn't be interested in what was going on in Will's head.He is old and sophisticated, and his judgment of the reaction of the other night watchmen is not inaccurate: After listening to the eloquent propaganda and canvassing of the royal nobleman on the stage, the voices of ridicule and questioning were obviously louder than normal discussions, and even many people To put it bluntly and directly, this is a campaign PR failure.

"My lord from King's Landing!" The chief affairs officer of Eastwatch was the first to stand up: "Iger West is a competent and excellent lobbyist and logistics officer. Thanks to his efforts, every building along the Great Wall The warehouses in the fortress—including the one I manage, are all unprecedentedly full. If he came to canvass for him in person, even if we did not choose to vote for him, we would welcome him warmly and treat him with courtesy. But now he is not only himself If you don't show up, and let you fool us with something like prophecy that is ambiguous and can be interpreted at will, it makes us a little disdainful!"

His own official’s speech represented the opinions of many people, and he quickly received a response: "That is, I thought he was a logistics officer with some skills, but now it seems that he is just a liar who likes to play tricks. Who knows that he came from the South What did you lie about the supplies you got, and what did you sell in exchange for it?"

……

Someone actually slandered his former comrades-in-arms and his own beliefs?Will took a deep breath, and he was about to squeeze to the front of the crowd to speak, but Gary grabbed him: "What are you doing?"

"They actually said Iger was a liar!"

"Is he a liar? It's not up to others. You bastard who can't even speak a whole sentence, but you still want to be eloquent like others? Iger can scold Mallister and Carter Pike in public. It’s someone with the title of Chief Logistics Officer, who are you, and what can you win?” The veteran glared at Will: “Stand still, wait for the stupid-looking southerner on the stage to leave, Just cast your vote."

Will resisted the urge to go forward to argue, and continued to stand and watch among the crowd, but the conversation among the crowd was still not over, and the southerner on the stage responded first.

"I don't take orders from Lord Iger or any night watchman! The logistics officer will be the one who leads mankind to defeat the cold god. This is the conclusion drawn by Ms. Melisandre from observing the holy flame. It is the will of my lord R'hllor !"

It's good that the queen party nobles on the stage didn't justify themselves. With this explanation, the election field became even more lively.

"Let that witch go back to Asshai! Twirling around the Great Wall all day long, lying and deceiving people, we can't prepare for battle against the enemy with peace of mind!"

"That guy also said that he killed a different ghost. Now it seems that even this is made up!"

"How dare you insult Lady Melisandre? She is an advisor to King Stannis!"

There are already Red God believers in East China Sea Watch. It is a matter of faith. Some people's unreasonable speeches immediately caused quarrels. Forgot all about it, and flew into a rage.

After living for most of his life, cooperating with Iger and killing a different ghost is the biggest capital he can brag about after dinner. With this great feat as confidence, he even speaks loudly to those nobles, officers, etc. a lot.When he was at Castle Black, he blew to people he was familiar with, and after he was transferred to East China Sea, he still blew to people he didn't know very well... Now, someone actually questioned the authenticity of this matter?Isn't this the same as saying that he is a liar and denying his life!

[Whether a person is a liar or not is not decided by others. 】Anyone can tell the truth of comforting others, but it is a bit difficult to keep calm when it is really on your head.

At least, Gary couldn't.

He jumped out.

"Fart! Who said that Iger killed the White Walker just now? Stand up!" He roared in a rough voice, "The White Walker is pale and powerful; the weapon is a translucent ice blade, the temperature can freeze to crack Steel; evil magic can resurrect the dead to fight for it, and will completely melt and disappear after being killed... These were first reported by Lao Tzu and Iger to Commander Mormont, and were later confirmed by the large army of rangers fighting out of the wall Yes! Do you think we were lucky enough to guess right?"

"It's not the first time that the other ghosts have appeared. Maybe you read them from some book, and took them here as your own experience." The voice of the person who said that just now was obviously much lower, and he countered hesitantly: " Anyway, I didn't see you killing the White Walkers, God knows if it's true."

"You didn't see it!" This rascal can even say this, what should we do?Gary was dumbfounded, stood there for a few seconds, had an idea, turned around and looked around the dark crowd of night watchmen, and pointed to the man who questioned him about killing the White Walker: "Brothers Rangers, those who have killed the White Walker are terrible!" It’s not just Egger and me! When Commander Mormont led all the rangers out of the Great Wall to carry out the ghoul capture plan, we fought side by side and completed the feat of killing the White Walkers for the second time in frontal combat. This is the common feat of all the rangers Glory! Now, someone actually said: 'Anyway, I didn't see it, God knows if it's true!' Then, shall we discuss whether the White Walkers exist or not? A light sentence will obliterate the past few years The adventures and sacrifices of our countless Ranger brothers, can we promise?"

Gary has no training in debating, but he knows how to get more backup when arguing with others. After a lot of bragging, he immediately tied himself with all the Rangers.

And rangers are not limited to Castle Black.

Both Eastwatch and Shadow Tower are small and well-equipped, and are composed of three major departments: Rangers, Craftsmen, and Stewards.And the Night Watchman Legion captured the ghouls and sent them to the Seven Kingdoms to demonstrate this feat. Under the command of Commander Mormont, it was composed of all the elite rangers of the three fortresses—not enough—plus some young and strong recruits. jointly involved.With Gary's yell, the situation on the election field was changed from quarrels between different religious beliefs and doubts about Iger's character to "Rangers who took great risks to fight against the wall" and "who never came out." The confrontation between those who stay behind the wall but make sarcastic remarks.Obviously, the heroes fighting on the front line completely have the moral and public opinion advantages.

"White ghosts do exist. I was there when the second one was besieged, and I saw it with my own eyes!"

"Frank, you have to apologize for the stupid thing you just said."

"Sorry... I just questioned Iger..."

"Questions need evidence!" Gary pursued mercilessly: "I know Iger West, this is a smart little guy, I don't know if he will be a good commander, but just rely on him to face The White Walker still has the courage to rush forward and fight, I will vote for him!"

"That's right!" Will is not good at words, and it's not easy for him to talk to people in public like Gary.But it is not difficult to follow the trend to join in the fun. He took the opportunity to take out the obsidian dagger that Iger gave him, and raised it high in front of everyone: "This is the weapon Iger used to kill the White Walker! For his courage, I will also Vote for him!"

……

On the platform made of wood, the queen party member and Red God believer who knew he had almost screwed up had already quietly left while taking advantage of the excitement. The Stark guard from Winterfell returned to his speaking position and took the opportunity to smooth things over: "Okay everyone, it's your right to support whoever you want! Let's stop quarreling and start voting!"

Seeing that he had successfully regained the stage, Gary, who was quite proud of the effect of his brainstorm, did not continue to yell.He walked back to Will, not forgetting to take the opportunity to remind his juniors: "See, this is what a smart person should do. We can't convince the entire Castle Black to vote for someone other than their commander, But at least this time, someone in the Rangers will think about our Iger...Damn it, put your dagger away, don't be ashamed!"

-

Chapter 291

For the first time in history, the election of the Commander-in-Chief of the Night Watchman with one vote came to an end. Other fortresses except Castle Black were immediately sent to the Night Watchman headquarters with ravens after the vote counting results were announced.

A few days were suspended for all the Night Watchmen to sort out their thoughts and reflect on their true support intentions. The voting results were significantly less affected by emotions, which was intuitively reflected in the voting results of Castle Black—Iger’s votes in Castle Black dropped slightly.

But in terms of the total number of votes, he once again widened the gap with the only remaining contender with an unstoppable momentum-the gap in the number of votes he lost in Castle Black, was sworn to join by the Queen's party under the instruction of Melisandre Fill in; Shadow Tower and East Sea Watch had 46 votes and [-] votes for him respectively; although there were single-digit abstentions or losses in the few new campaigns that originally supported him, the number was one-handed. Count it.

After many twists and turns, the final result is: Iger's votes are finally approaching [-]. With dozens of abstentions, his proportion of votes—in fact, has exceeded half.

Victory is at hand.

***

"46 votes for that guy in Eastwatch?" As a commander, almost a quarter of the people in his fortress voted for his opponent. This is undoubtedly a rather embarrassing thing. The result was unacceptable: "I have fought side by side with the soldiers of my fortress for more than 20 years, and they cannot betray me! There must be something wrong - the Stark family's counting staff is cheating!"

"The person you are accusing actually controls the fate of the Night Watchman. If he decides to let Iger be elected as the commander-in-chief, it is just a matter of one sentence, my lord." Jon Royce was also nervous about the results of the vote, but he did not Completely messed up: "Your soldiers may indeed not betray you, but you forgot that there are more than 30 rangers in Eastwatch who were recently transferred from Castle Black—have they ever worked with Iger?"

"That's only thirty or so. Even if they all vote for Iger, how about a dozen votes?"

"The Shadow Tower also had more than a dozen votes for him, and with Sir Mallister himself in charge, let's face it: no matter how much you think you're loved by your soldiers, there's bound to be a If others secretly hold grudges against you for a long time and dare not speak out, there must be some people who think that the guy who feeds them and clothes them is more qualified to be the commander than you. Although the situation is bad, the number of votes for that guy is two-thirds away. There is still a distance on this line, as long as the plan I proposed before works, even if he has a huge advantage, we can instantly beat him back to his original form!"

Of course Carter Pike knew what Jon Royce was talking about. The dismantling plan was very good, but they encountered difficulties in attracting allies: first, the commander of the Shadow Tower scolded them, then walked away and gave the opponent a A big gift, but then the chief affairs officer of Castle Black also pushed back and hesitated for several days, but finally did not join the group...

An accident happened to the king beyond the Great Wall, and the new land-grant people rioted upon hearing the news. The blow to the implementers of the land-grant resettlement plan must be devastating... But if it fails or is reported and betrayed afterwards, the planner will also be ruined and even lose his life.To bear the risk and pressure of being this villain alone, even Carter Pike, who claims to be a tough guy from the Iron Islands, has been unable to make the decision to do it.

Want to fight without allies?

Jon Royce saw the other party's hesitation in his eyes, secretly itchy but helpless.Robb Stark has led the large northern delegation to leave Castle Black this morning, and accompanied by Iger, he began his inspection along the Great Wall.Both the leader and the biggest backer of the radical faction were absent. It can be said that this is the best time to do something... If it weren't for the fact that only relying on the few people in the valley, he would have made the plan by himself.

Sir Mallister was right, in principle: Mance Rayder led the wildlings to surrender to the Night Watch, and is now under house arrest in Castle Black as a hostage, even if a new Lord Commander of the Night Watch is elected, there must be appropriate grounds, a trial will be held before he can be executed.Want to use lynching to get rid of him so as to get Iger into trouble... After the incident, the person who does it will have to rely on "the law does not punish the public" to escape accountability, and this is doomed: the person who plans must reach a certain level. quantity.

No officer in the Shadow Tower or Castle Black is willing to join. If Carter Pike wavers again, a little ranger captain of his own will lead someone to kill Mance...

Afterwards, it will never be better than Iger.

……

"Did you hear the sound of the recruits' drills outside?" Jon Royce pointed out the house, "They are all land-grant people and mountain clans that Iger lured with 'fed and clothed' and 'fixed wages' as bait Folks and wildlings... If we don't act soon, do you think when these men finish their training and take their oath to join the Legion, they will vote for whoever recruits and pays them, or us?"

"They are not nobles. It is impossible for them to complete the training in a short period of time and be allowed to join the night watchman."

"That's right, but whether they have completed the training or not is not a matter of the first sentence of Castle Black's coach? The bad news I got is that Andrew is determined to be Iger's dog's leg... There is not much time left for us , Your Excellency had better make a decision as soon as possible!"

Carter Pike listened sideways, and the noisy human voice outside the house really came into his ears clearly.It has been a long time since the Night Watch Corps had so many recruits receive training at the same time. According to the usual practice, one fifth of them will be assigned to Eastwatch after completing the training. As one of the three fortress commanders, he should be happy That's right, but now...

He clenched his fists and thought quietly, his expression changed a few times, and finally he punched the table hard with his teeth gritted: "It's up to you, go gather our people, and do it!"

"Yes!"

Jon heaved a sigh of relief, and was also refreshed. He turned around and walked towards the door without saying a word, but the door was pushed open from the outside first.

A former valley knight who was appointed by him to monitor the daily life of the King Beyond the Wall's family in Harding Tower walked in with a panicked expression: "It's not good, Kingslayer and his gang of Westerners gathered under Harding Tower. Transfer the family of the king beyond the Great Wall!"

……

Leaked news?Carter Pike and Eoin Royce looked at each other in shock: only a few people knew about the plan, and the specific details have not yet been distributed to soldiers loyal to them. The insiders are nothing more than a few people in this room, The trusted lords of the Vale, and the few Shadow Tower and Castle Black officers they'd tried to convince earlier.

Who leaked the secret, the other officers of the Conservative faction, or Eastwatch's own people?

No matter who it is, the situation is extremely bad. This is a hundred times worse than voting for Iger-this is a naked betrayal!

"It's that old Mallister thing—he sold us to Iger, so that the latter would not withdraw his position as commander after he was elected commander. It must be so!" Carter Pike instantly identified the informer, his eyes round. Roared openly.A moment ago, he was still hesitating whether to take this step. Who would have thought that he would soon lose his chance to make a choice! "You guys, follow me first! Jon, go and gather the others, and you must not let the wildling king go!"

……

Under the Harding Tower, a huge but somewhat old carriage was parked by the side of the road. With the help of a few soldiers from the Western Region, the family of the King Beyond the Wall was loading large and small bags of sundries into the cart. It was an obvious move.

"Stop!" Seeing this, Carter Pike led his men straight to the carriage and stopped a group of people from the western region from carrying them: "What are you doing? Who - allowed you to let the Savage King's family leave Harding tower?"

The group of people who are moving look at me and you, but they don't know how to reply.

As hostages under house arrest, Mance Rayder and his family did not have much say—zero, to be precise; The cavalry, facing an officer at the level of the commander of the East Seawatch Fortress, is obviously not at the same level of dialogue.

Therefore, the executor of this operation - James Lannister had to stand up.

With the usual haughty expression, the Kingslayer slowly walked out from the door under the Harding Tower, and stood at the front of his side.He smiled brightly before replying: "We have received news that there are people with evil intentions—may be detrimental to Mance Rayder and his family, and thus endanger the stability of the land grant. In order to take the overall situation into consideration, we decided to Move it for safety."

"Discuss, who will discuss with whom? Is it up to you, a little Ranger Captain, to make a decision on how to deal with such an important hostage of the King Beyond the Wall?"

"It's not my turn to make the decision." James shrugged frankly, shaking his hair habitually, "but with all due respect, it's also not your turn to make the decision, my lord."

Carter Pike was speechless for a few seconds—of course it was not his turn to make a decision, accepting the surrender of the King Beyond the Wall and taking him as a hostage in Castle Black, all of which were arranged by Commander Mormont before his death.According to that guy Iger's theory, only after the commander-in-chief is elected can the change be made... This cunning guy!Do I have to do this again and again-tolerate Iger relying on a dead person to constantly restrict their actions?

Wait... In the next second, Carter discovered the loophole in James' words: the late commander's arrangement was a restriction for conservatives, but why not for radicals?I have no right to dictate the placement of Mance Rayder's family, and James also has no right to transfer them!

"That's right, it's neither your turn nor my turn to make a decision. Only the new commander-in-chief has the right to make changes to the placement of the wildling king! If that's the case, let them go back to the tower quickly."

"I'm sorry, but Commander Mormont gave me a dream and ordered me to move Mance Rayder and his family to Houcrown for safety."

"To dream?!" Carter Parker's eyes widened: "You just said it was discussed!"

"That's right, I dreamed that Commander Mormont gave me an order, and when I woke up, I informed the Chief Logistics Officer, and the two of us discussed it and decided to carry it out."

There were whispers and chuckles from the watching Watchmen, and of course no one listened to the obvious nonsense—in fact, James himself blushed as he said it: lying and scoundrels were not his forte.In fact, when Iger taught him this rhetoric, he resisted it for a long time, but if this could not protect the safety of Val and her family, and human life was at stake, he finally decided to forcibly transfer Mance Ray according to what Iger taught. German family.

"You—" The humblest person is invincible. If it is not James's strong point to be a scoundrel, then dealing with scoundrels is not Carter Parker's strong point.The commander of Donghaiwatch was so angry that he couldn't speak, blood rose to his neck and head, he reached behind his back, and took out his battle axe: "I don't care what I dream or not, today, the savage The Wang family, no one should ever leave Castle Black!"

Great, exactly as Iger expected.

The embarrassment of being forced to play a rogue quickly faded, and a faint smile appeared on the corner of James' mouth.Solving problems with force is what Carter Parker is best at, so why isn't it his favorite?Two people who believe in "If you can do it, don't beep" meet, let's see who is more powerful!

-

Chapter 292

Being pointed at with a murder weapon, James didn't show any nervousness.With a relaxed smile, he kept his eyes on Carter, stretched his hand to his waist... firmly grasped the fine steel sword forged by the best blacksmith in Lannisport, and slowly pulled it out. The metal on the blade and the scabbard There was a hoarse sound from the friction of the rings. Although the sound was extremely slight, it made the hairs of many people stand on end.

The kingslayer's movements seemed to be slow, round and smooth, and within a breath, he also assumed a fighting posture: "If my lord insists on being violent, then I... can only accompany you."

The onlookers in black gasped and exclaimed.

The patrol outside the wall has long since ceased, the wildlings are no longer a threat, the White Walkers and the army of the dead have not invaded the Great Wall again, and the Night Watch Legion is fully prepared for the battle, but what has been waiting for months is the boring election day after day—— ——It has been a hundred days since the accidental death of Commander Jeor Mormont, but the defenders of the Great Wall have not even elected a new leader.

The return of the Chief Logistics Officer a few days ago brought a little anger to Castle Black, and the one-sided anger was widely talked about by the soldiers, but: Although the face was torn apart on the surface, the struggle between the two factions actually Still limited to wrestling wrists in secret, although the competition off the stage is equally thrilling, most of the Night's Watch soldiers can't feel it... On the bright side, Castle Black is still a pool of stagnant water. It is not until today that there are finally interesting changes!

The night watchmen who noticed that there was a show to watch put down their work and came over, forming a circle, only needing a bench to watch the show comfortably.

The two confronted each other, circling each other to observe the opponent's movements. The followers of each other also put down the sundries or trifles in their hands, and stood behind the leaders of both sides with their respective weapons. The atmosphere suddenly became tense.

***

Everyone in the Seven Kingdoms had heard of the Kingslayer's skills, and so had Carter Pike.But he knew that for a high-ranking boy like James, others would often exaggerate his evaluation of his strength, and it was hard to say how much of his real ability was rumored——today, he was going to weigh the killer in front of him. The weight of the master of the two kings!

The mind has been made up, and the body is ready to fight, but as soon as they meet, Carter Pike is shocked.He instantly realized that he had faced the most difficult opponent he had ever met in his life.James just stood there casually, holding his weapon in an ordinary and unfancy ready posture, which made people feel as if no matter which direction the attack came from, he couldn't catch any flaws or loopholes in him.

This is a completely different opponent from the ironmen he got along with when he was young, the wildlings he faced after becoming a night watchman, and even the southern nobles who occasionally joined the night watchman. An opponent that cannot be resolved by mere bravery.

"stop!"

Just as the battle between Commander Eastwatch vs. Kingslayer was about to start, a loud shout interrupted their preparations.

"You guys! What are you doing!?" Alarmed by the noise here, several high-level officials of Castle Black finally came out of their residences and came to the scene. The chief ranger, Sir Jeremy Lake, stared angrily and asked sternly: " James, can you explain what you're doing?"

"On the orders of Mormont Commander Tormon, move the family of the King Beyond the Wall to the safety of Houcrown. This action has been approved by the Chief Logistics Officer. He promised that Houcrown will prepare space to accommodate Mance Ray. The German family." James still held his sword, motionless: "The strange thing is that Lord Carter Pike, the commander of Eastwatch, suddenly jumped out to stop me."

"James, if I remember correctly, you are a ranger." The chief ranger said coldly: "Regardless of whether your dream-like statement is made up or not, even if it is true, why didn't you come to me first— - Discuss with your direct supervisor, but go to the logistics department?"

"I'm sorry, my lord, this is my lack of consideration, please forgive me." James said politely, but he didn't put away the steel sword, nor did he have the slightest repentance to ask for forgiveness.

"I think you are the first offender, so don't pursue it. Now, put away your weapons and let the family of the king beyond the wall go back to Harding Tower. I will arrange people to strengthen the guard to ensure their safety."

James didn't move. In fact, he didn't even look at the chief ranger. He just stood silently like a pine tree in front of the carriage containing the luggage of Mance Rayder's family.Although he didn't say a word, the look of contempt on his face clearly said: What are you, you want to tell me—a Lannister?

……

"It seems that our 'Kingslayer' is determined to disobey and protect his savage female cousin!" A snort came out of nowhere, and Eon Royce, who went to summon his helpers, also A dozen people in full armor returned to the scene and stood behind Carter Parker.

The people in Castle Black, except for the group of guards on the top of the Great Wall, were basically all in order. Except for the family of the King Beyond the Wall who was about to be transferred, everyone was dressed in black.Although they were dressed in similar clothes, they formed four distinct groups—a group of more than forty people from the Westlanders headed by James, a delegation of Eastwatch led by Carter Pike and a small number of Castle Black members, a total of more than 30 people, many high-level night watchmen and Its immediate entourage... and the most numerous ordinary soldiers watching the play.

Val, the "cousin of the savage" that the original Earl of Runestone City called, was standing behind James at the moment, looking like a little bird dependent on others, and it was all up to him to make decisions. To some extent, it confirmed what Jon said from the side.

James glanced at the speaker, but didn't reply.He is the son of Tywin Lannister, the hoped heir of the original Westland, and the famous kingslayer of the Seven Kingdoms... But at this moment, he is a warrior when he is confronted by swords.The lion fought the rabbit with all its strength. Carter Pike in front of him was not an unarmed farmer. Facing this strong and experienced soldier with a weapon, he instinctively focused all his attention on his opponent.

But the person called the "wild cousin" was not happy. Val lifted the hood over his head and stared at Eoin Royce with a serious expression.

"Lord Royce, the woman you're talking about is me?"

"Whether it's you, you know in your heart."

"Heh...Since Melisandre is the only lady in Castle Black besides my sister and me, I assume you're talking about me, my lord." Val's blond hair shone under the thin winter sun. Still bright, coupled with the same haughty expression as James, it is said that she is a noble lady from the Seven Kingdoms, and even a sister of James has been believed: "I have to take the liberty to point out the problem in your words— —Savage female cousin? As far as I know, your former commander-in-chief has classified the freedmen who surrendered as new land-grants, and banned the use of the word 'savage' to refer to us. As soon as you open your mouth, you have violated the law. Is it because the other person is dead that an order from the former chief is unscrupulous?"