The king on the Great Wall

Arya lowered her voice mysteriously: "Turn back and tell Sir Rodrik that the wind and snow are too heavy for the journey—let me stay on the Great Wall for a few more days."

What is there to do in this cold place?

Iger smiled helplessly. He probably understood why Arya liked the Great Wall: In her opinion, the night watchman's site was probably like the "grandparents' house" in her childhood—it was fun, but there was no parental control , Naturally want to hang on.

Rationally, at the time when he is about to take over as the commander-in-chief of the Night Watch and has a lot of things to do, Iger doesn't want to keep such a troublesome girl on the Great Wall, but Arya has only helped a lot in the past two days... I promised to take her to see the tree if I had the opportunity.Men, you have to keep your word.

"Your brother entrusted you to Sir Rodrik, will my words work?"

"It will definitely work! Don't look at Sir Rodrik with a stern face and a fierce look all day long, but he is actually easy to talk to. You can drink with him at night, brag a little bit, and talk about it when he is drunk. He certainly won't object."

Well, even the means and process have been thought out for yourself?This brat.

Seeing that Iger was still hesitating, Arya shook his arm vigorously: "Hey, whoever said that it would hurt me two days ago, don't mean nothing!"

"Okay, okay, I'll try—well, it's open to the public, be restrained." Iger looked up at Rodrik, and the old knight was coming over with a puzzled face, as if he wanted to hear about one big and one small two I was whispering something, so I quickly waved my hands to break away from Arya, coughed and said seriously: "Okay, everyone, the guardians of the north have left. The weather is so bad, we also hurried back to Icescar City, hiding in the house to warm up Bar!"

***

In this world, everyone has their own place.

Robb hurried to Deepwood Castle to command the war against the iron people, and Iger also needed to return to Castle Black as soon as possible to take up his responsibilities.After staying in Ice Scar City for the last night, he also took his subordinates and rushed back to Castle Black without much delay.

Arya wanted Iger to persuade Sir Rodrik to allow her to stay on the Great Wall under the pretext of "too much snowstorm". Unfortunately, what she said was: the snowstorm is getting worse day by day... barely under the harsh weather Arriving at the Nightfort, fulfilling the promise of staying a day with Arya to see enough of the glowing heart tree, the weather suddenly turned so bad that it was no longer suitable for traveling-at least not suitable for traveling with Miss Stark.

No way, Iger could only hide in this ancient fortress for another two days, hoping that the weather would improve.

The strength of the raven is manifested at this moment. Even in this kind of weather where people dare not go out, the information exchange between the various fortresses of the Great Wall has not been interrupted under the support of the raven. Dennis Mallister includes A series of actions, including withdrawing from the election, had an impact like a boulder dropped into a small pond, sweeping across the entire Great Wall in an instant.

Iger did not expect it at all, and was delayed by the snowstorm for two days. He not only became the first foreign commander-in-chief in the history of the Night Watch, but also the first... the commander-in-chief who was not at the election site when he won the election .

Sam sent the final voting data from Castle Black to determine the winner: After being stuffed into 200 people in a row under Iger's arrangement, the total number of Night Watchmen reached a new high of 50 in 1205 years.In the last day of voting, the proportion of abstentions also set a record: it reached 219, nearly one in five.Of the remaining 986 valid votes, Iger received 661 votes, a slight surplus of more than two-thirds, and finally ended the months-long election and was elected as the 998th commander of the Night Watch Corps.

In the following detailed narration, Iger learned the reason why the election ended earlier than he expected: 236 Night Watchmen soldiers in the Shadow Tower, 3 abstained, 5 supported Carter Pike, and the remaining 228 votes were all for himself .

Sir Mallister not only withdrew from the election, causing a large number of abstentions in Castle Black, reducing the base of valid voting and lowering the threshold for election... He also showed his support for The strong control of the commanded fortress is also equivalent to directly announcing that he has reached an agreement with Iger.

Faced with this extremely powerful vote, even Iger had to admit that the commander's influence on the fortress may be far beyond his expectations.

This almost incomprehensible signal finally destroyed the hesitation and wait-and-see mentality of those in Castle Black who were hesitant after learning that Dennis had withdrawn from the election.On the third day after there were only two candidates left in the election, that is, the day when the winner was decided, the Night Watch Corps chose its next commander-in-chief.

Relying on decisive avoidance and timely return, accompanied by continuous internal penetration and continuous external actions, with the help of all means and the help of many friends and supporters... Finally, after a daring adventure, Myself: Egger West, the time-traveler and night watchman, has stood at the starting point of countless heroes and story protagonists after he came to this world for nearly three years: he finally truly owns a piece of land that belongs to both legally and in fact. territory under their own control.

The allies are so powerful, but I can't keep up with the rhythm?Under such circumstances, the new commander-in-chief could not wait any longer, even if the storm showed only slight signs of abating.Regardless of Arya's smack and roll, Iger left her in the Long Night Fort...and rushed back to Castle Black with his cronies against the wind and snow.

……

At the headquarters of the Night Watchman, the gate of the fortress was opened for the new supreme officer. Iger led his entourage slowly through the gate, and returned to this familiar place, but he could no longer look at it from the past.

Whether they like it or not, officials and soldiers at all levels of Castle Black, especially Iger's supporters, gathered in the courtyard to welcome the new commander-in-chief.

Melisandre smiled unfathomably behind the crowd. Although her red robe was conspicuous, Iger especially noticed something else: Carter Pike and Donghai Wangzhong really did not leave, And the atmosphere was a little too dignified.Even close friends like Jon Snow and Samwell Tarly didn't have the slightest smile on their faces.

"What's the matter, you all have a straight face?" Iger got off his horse, walked towards his supporters, and asked the leader, Jon.

"Maester Aemon died last night. Sam, who took care of him, found out this morning."

Jon who answered was quite calm, but Sam looked like he was about to cry in the next second: "I really didn't expect that Master Aemon could still talk to me the day before yesterday...he persisted until the end of the campaign, But there is no chance to offer even one piece of advice to Commander 998."

Iger froze immediately.

Maester Aemon's body has already shown signs of accelerated weakening. He has lived for more than a hundred years, and he has indeed reached the age when he died.It's just that Iger didn't expect that the first page of his 998 commander's story would start in this way.

If there are people in the Night Watch Legion that he truly admires, no matter how the list is narrowed down, Maester Aemon will definitely occupy one of them... He is not only a well-versed maester, but also a medical teacher for everyone in Castle Black , the benefactor of countless night watchmen including himself.The death of such an old man is undoubtedly a great loss to the Night's Watch Corps-this is by no means a bureaucratic tone.

Himself, because I accompanied Arya to look at the tree, I missed seeing Maester Aemon for the last time?

A strong sense of regret swept over his heart. He looked around, and suddenly lost the mood to carry out the succession of the commander-in-chief as originally planned. the respect of those who

After a few seconds of silence, he turned around and announced loudly: "Let's go! An hour later, Maester Aemon's funeral will be held here. Afterwards, I have something to say to everyone, and at the same time announce that I am the first batch of the commander-in-chief. instruction!"

……

The crowd dispersed, and Iger, Jon Sam and others walked towards the tower where they lived.

"Before Master Aemon passed away, did you have something to tell me?"

"Yes...he hopes that you will not retaliate against opponents after you take over, and at the same time proposes to minimize the changes in the top personnel of the legion... If you really want to change people, he has also prepared a list of candidates for reference. "

These things, I have already agreed with Dennis Mallister.Iger waved his hand: "Keep the list, I know it in my heart, is there any more?"

"No...no more." Sam sniffed, and said with a mournful face: "What should I do next, I...I still have a lot to learn."

"Explore by yourself, or ask out and discuss together, there are always more solutions than difficulties!" Iger said sharply, scaring away the weakness on the fat man's face before slowing down his tone again: "I will give you the first task: to the school city Write a letter and ask them to either send someone as reliable as Master Aemon to replace you, or recognize your bachelor status. Before that, you should bear it first. Then write a letter to East Sea Watch, ordering them to fully cooperate with the Iron Bank The unloading of the loan rations, call me back James by the way! Well, let’s do this first, and we’ll talk about it in another night——Jon, find someone to watch over the preparation of the firewood, and we’ll see you at the funeral later.”

-

Volume VII Commander-in-Chief

Chapter 312 True Dragon Bloodline

This is probably "if the old ones don't go, the new ones won't come"?

The serene expression of the Bachelor of Castle Black implied that there should be no pain when he died, and Iger could only comfort himself in his heart.He, the new commander-in-chief, had just been elected, and he hadn't even given his inaugural speech, let alone made any preparations for Maester Aemon's death, and all kinds of ghosts and snakes were present...

After much deliberation, he finally did not speak at the funeral, but the chief ranger and Sam, Maester Aemon's "personal disciple".

After reviewing the old bachelor's life with a heavy tone, and announcing that "his watch over Us is over", the firewood under the corpse was lit with a torch, and the orange flame swished from the ignition point under the help of the oil. It sprang out, exploded, and quickly spread to the entire pyre.

This is Castle Black, the night watchmen should have a full set of etiquette to bury the dead, but since the surrendered wildlings confirmed that the buried dead can still emerge from the ground as ghouls, the night watchmen have gradually recognized and accepted the usual practice beyond the Great Wall: Cremation replaces other methods of disposing of the dead.

Coincidentally, this was also the way Aemon's will required him to dispose of his body.

The flames gradually turned red on the faces of the onlookers, and reflected in their eyes.Several people had their own concerns, and they all remained silent, just staring quietly at Maester Aemon who was gradually being engulfed by the flames.

……

Bowen Marsh, Oser Awick and other local forces in Castle Black gathered together, thinking hard about how to break the deadlock, and ease the relationship with Iger, who originally opposed but finally made a hard way to win the election. By the way Show loyalty.

And Jon Royce, who risked his life to sue Iger a week ago, still doesn't understand why his actions led to the enemy's victory.

At the moment when everyone was silently mourning, he was so angry that he almost trembled.

"Join, that fellow Dennis has already written to me, clearly telling me that Iger will not do anything to us. You should stop standing out, keep a low profile, and I will protect you."

"Do you take what Dennis said seriously? Without his betrayal, how could a villain like Iger have a chance to be in power?"

"Stop talking, Jon!" Carter lowered his voice and shouted: "Dennis is not one of us, where is the betrayal? As for Iger, I hate him as much as you do, but no matter what, he wins now. , Iger is now the commander-in-chief of the Night Watch Corps, holding the power of life and death for all the Night Watch. You can either rebel and overthrow him, or obey him unconditionally. The Great Wall is no better than any place in the south, and there is no third way to go! It can be said that everything he did was for the campaign, from now on, don't give him a chance to punish you!"

Jon understood that Carter was doing it for his own good, so he stopped talking, just stared at the fire with hatred, and secretly clenched his fists.

"Don't worry, once the funeral is over, Iger will definitely burn some of the fires that he took office. If he publicly announces that he will dismiss me as the commander of East Sea Watch, or insists on transferring you to facilitate the black hands, I will chop you up on the spot He." Carter also stared at the fire, and squeezed out a sentence from between his teeth: "Kingslayers have amazing skills, and they have to obey if they refuse. But I don't believe it. Iger has been thinking about conspiracy and tricks all day long. You guys can stop my tomahawk too."

***

Also staring at the fire were a large group of reformist supporters who were full of expectations, ordinary neutral soldiers who were confused about the way forward, and a witch in a red robe from Asshai.

The priest of the Red God is good at finding the truth from the flames, but today, what Melisandre is going to do is not to prophesy.She was waiting, waiting for a miracle to happen.

A few months ago, in a conversation with her, Iger revealed the speculation that the "king's blood" is the blood of "Targaryen".The logic of the whole set of arguments is self-consistent and there are no obvious loopholes, successfully persuading her to stop thinking about Mance Rayder, the king beyond the wall, and his children.

And now, there is an opportunity that could not be better to verify the truth of his statement.

Maester Aemon, whose full name is Aemon Targaryen, is the third son of King Maekar I. He resolutely came to the Great Wall to join the Night's Watch in order to avoid the "yellow robe" and become a tool used by those who want to provoke the Iron Throne. ... For too long, I have deliberately concealed my surname, so that most of the seven kingdoms, including most of the brothers in black, have forgotten his identity.

As a priest of the Red God, Melisandre has a close relationship with the king.When she began to look for living members of the Dragon family, she soon found that she had one beside her—and not a bastard or other messy identities, but "both Targaryen blood and blood." Targaryen surname", a Targaryen for real.

In the months since this discovery, factions within the Night's Watch have been feuding with each other, while the Red Lady has sought to obtain Maester Aemon's tissue or blood.

It is a pity that the old man has been bald for many years and has no hair to shed; as for the blood or flesh—if he is injured, he will probably be hacked to death by the angry Castle Black night watchman, so this matter can only be delayed again and again.

Melisandre had planned to wait for the old man to have his nails trimmed... but not now.

In the flames, there is nothing to hide. If there is power in the bodies of the members of the Targaryen family, commonly known as the blood of the true dragon, then——when the flames engulf Aemon's body, this power will be released!

……

The fire spread rapidly, licking the hem of Aemon's clothes, and the night watchman who had been favored by him began to weep secretly or even cry, while Melisandre narrowed her eyes and concentrated her attention like never before.

After a few seconds, her eyelids twitched.

coming!

The moment the tongue of flame licked Maester Aemon's body, a faint but clearly detectable wave of magic power diffused from the funeral pyre.After all, Maester Aemon was not a wizard, nor had he received any training in manipulating extraordinary powers. This magical power could not be said to be strong or pure, but it unexpectedly gave Melisandre a sense of familiarity.She seemed to have returned to her youth all of a sudden.Decades ago, when my leader, the unfathomable high-level priest of the Red God appeared in front of me like a god descending into the world, he selected her from the slaves as an apprentice, and showed her for the first time in front of her. This is what she experienced when she used the ability bestowed by the Lord of Light.

Iger guessed right, Targaryen's blood really has power!

But this was just the beginning, the burning reaction going on in the arena would not stop just because Melisandre had already got the answer.It was the burnt hairs on Maester Aemon's face that caused the fluctuation of magic power just now, but you must know - the whole body of this Targaryen is in the fire at the moment, including the bones, flesh and blood, not a single hair is missing !

After a few heartbeats, the flames spread and engulfed the pyre, igniting what Maester Aemon was still wearing.After the fur and cloth were quickly burned and turned into fly ash, the old man's torso began to be directly roasted. Half a minute later, the late Bachelor of Castle Black was completely engulfed by the flames, turning into a human-shaped firewood.

Accompanied by the smell of burning flesh and fat, the weak wave of magic power suddenly strengthened like an explosion, and it increased to an incredible level in the blink of an eye.

Just like a survivor in the desert who only wanted a few drops of water to survive, but dug out a powerful underground spring, and the water gushed out, forming a lake in an instant!In the blink of an eye, the entire courtyard of Castle Black, as if between heaven and earth, was overwhelmed by this breath. Surprise quickly turned into fright. Melisandre was shocked to the point of bewilderment for the first time since she finished her studies. In a trance, she even It felt like the god she believed in - R'hllor, the Lord of Light, came to Castle Black in person, suspended in mid-air, silently looking down at a group of mortals in black, spreading his power and grace!

Looking up, of course there is nothing in the gray sky, only the snowflakes that have been driven away by the heat wave or are melting rapidly.After a moment of daze, the witch suddenly realized that what she should do now is not to be shocked, but to use this power as soon as possible, and don't let them drift away and dilute, and just waste it!

Casting a spell secretly, the witch began to absorb the surging but unowned magic power in the air.The flames burned hotter and hotter, and the heat soon forced all the surrounding night watchman soldiers back a step. Accompanied by the intensification of the fire, a huge amount of magic power gushed out like a fountain, and the amount quickly increased It is enough to make any wizard feel heartbroken... Such a huge amount of magic power can only be scattered in all directions aimlessly because the owner is dead and cannot be controlled. Ninety-nine percent of it is dissipated in the cold air of the Great Wall , only a small part can be absorbed by oneself and used for one's own use.

How wonderful it would be if he could get closer to the fire, and even walk into the fire and touch Maester Aemon's body!

Rationality helped the witch suppress her crazy thoughts, and the facts quickly proved that no matter what she did, it didn't matter.

Melisandre hadn't consumed mana these days, and when her body was almost full of mana, she suddenly faced this inexhaustible energy—like a survivor in the desert, no matter how thirsty or how thirsty she was a moment ago, I wish I could drink all the water in this world, but if I was soaked by a lake that popped up suddenly, I still had to think about not being drowned.

Melisandre is lucky, at least the magical lake can't drown people, and she also knows how to "swim" in it.First, at any cost, he repaired the hidden injury caused by backlash caused by the forceful interruption of his spellcasting by the White Walker's ice spear, and then filled his body with magic power, including his nails and even his hair. In the end, he couldn't help it. , she began to stuff things outside her body—the large piece of red spar on the necklace around her neck.

For God's sake, this necklace was not intended for this use.Its original function is to continuously absorb and store free energy in this world where magic power is thin, and to provide extra or life-saving backup mana when the owner is traumatized, poisoned, or the magic power of casting powerful spells is insufficient.Magic spar is not a one-time item, but it can rarely be filled with mana from the outside world - mages often don't have enough magic power, so how can it be fed back to things outside of them?

In the past, every bit of magic power accumulated would be greedily taken away by the owner, but today it was poured continuously until it became red and hot, and it would burst if it received any more magic power.

After doing all of this, the "survivor" not only drank enough for himself, but even the bottles and cans he carried with him were full.But the funeral pyre that was burning a hundred-year-old Targaryen still spewed out magic power like it didn't want money.

(Stop! Let me collect and preserve the body and blood of this Targaryen until the critical moment...it will be an inexhaustible source of mana replenishment or spellcasting materials, and it will definitely be able to establish in this war of ice and fire Fantastic work!)

Melisandre cried out in her heart, but she knew very well that if she really did something like destroying the funeral in public and turning Aemon's corpse into a spell-casting material, there would definitely be no place for her to stand on the Great Wall.The red-robed girl who is omnipotent in the eyes of ordinary people can only watch helplessly as the fire gradually burns to its fullest state, watching helplessly as the huge amount of magic power that is enough for her to cast spells over the years spews out and drifts back to the world .

What made her most sad was that there was no second person at the scene who could feel this power, witness this miracle with her, and share this heartache.

Is that right?

She looked around the scene unwillingly, and finally settled on the new Lord Commander of the Night Watch, the Son of Prophecy.These magical powers are going to be wasted anyway, it is better to use them to do some tricks and do something meaningful.

-

Chapter 313 "Bright Messenger"

Iger was also staring at the fire.

He was surprised that Cotter Pyke had stayed at Castle Black.The good news is that this at least means that the loan grain from across the sea is unlikely to have an accident in the port of Eastwatch; the bad news is: he seems to have to fulfill his previous promise and set up a Positions such as Deputy Commander-in-Chief, and any future changes to the laws of the Night Watch were discussed with him.

Could it be that he had written to tell Carter Pike not to go?

This suspicion popped up in Iger's mind, and then he quickly realized that it was probably true... But even if it was true, who could be blamed? It wasn't because he didn't think carefully and let the old fox take advantage of the loophole?

Dennis' door-to-door negotiation that night was beyond Iger's expectations. "Playing on the spot" versus "coming prepared", this situation is easy to happen.

He didn't intend to be annoyed by this or take measures to respond to Dennis' tricks. Compared with the many things he did in the land grant relying on the strong strength of the night watchman industry and his good relationship with the Stark family, the old man's little Yin himself twice, it is harmless.Not to mention: the privilege of losing to the other party in a bet does not have any written evidence or legal support.

Oral agreements have always been against gentlemen but not against villains.

If Dennis managed the Shadow Tower with all his heart and devoted himself to guarding the westernmost end of the Great Wall for himself, and no special circumstances happened, he would naturally be happy to be this "gentleman".But if there are unavoidable variables... whether to cross the river and demolish the bridge or to dismantle the mill and kill the donkey, the initiative is all in your own hands, so what is there to worry about?

This is the advantage of having the status of commander-in-chief—in this gifted land, which is close to the size of the king's territory, as long as he doesn't do anything that angers people and gods or violates the interests of the northern border, no matter what he does, no one will take care of him.

Compared with the Shadow Tower, he was more worried about Carter Pike, the commander of another fort at the east end of the Great Wall, especially the former Earl of Runestone City, Jon Royce, who was with him.

Enemies are easy to tie and difficult to solve, according to the vulgar story routine: if the person who has offended him is not killed, he will often secretly plan to deal with him... and then he can always jump out at the critical moment and stab himself in the back, Bad things happen.

There is only one who can be a thief for a thousand days, but there is no one who can guard against a thief for a thousand days.Iger still has a lot of things to do, it is impossible to keep an eye on Jon Royce and guard against threats from around him... Then, how to prevent the bloody plot of raising tigers from happening, you have to work hard Use your brains.

……

Just as he was thinking secretly, the sword hanging around his waist suddenly trembled.

At first Iger thought that someone had bumped into the scabbard while passing behind, but when he turned his head and looked around, he found that everyone was standing silently in silence. On the contrary, the shaking from the sword belt became more obvious, and even started to make a buzzing sound... It was as if someone had stuffed a vibrating egg into the hilt of his sword.

Iger is also a person, and he quickly made a subconscious reaction that ordinary people would make at this time: After holding down the hilt for a while, he pulled it out slightly, wanting to see what happened.

"Stab!"

The above sounds only existed in imagination. In fact, Iger didn't hear anything except the slight friction between the metals.