Chapter 3: Pursuit

The determined officer set his purpose clear, and the three soldiers had to press on, enduring the hardship. Will used to be a poacher, with exceptional skills in stealth tracking. He quickly calculated the number and situation of the individuals ahead of them: about ten people, of all ages and genders, likely a family of wildlings.

Wildlings had a reputation as fierce and ruthless beings among the inhabitants of the Seven Kingdoms, in many places in the North they were even used to scare children, but the Night's Watchmen who dealt with them regularly weren't fooled by that. The cloaked ones knew very well that, deep down, the so-called wildlings were nothing more than wild peasants who didn't pay taxes or serve in the military, and considered that as "freedom." However, their own side was different: believe it or not, the reality was that, despite their continued decline, the Night's Watchmen still remained one of the largest regular armies on this continent. Using more modern terms, they could be called "professional soldiers."

In this era of feudal lords, if nobles wanted to go to war, they had to inform their vassals, who then summoned the soldiers. The "soldiers" put down their farming tools and took up arms under the leadership of knights to gather, forming the army.

But the Night's Watchmen were different; their sole task was to protect the Wall, always in a state of war. Their supplies and food came from donations from the surrounding residents and various families of the North, even in times of relative peace, the Night's Watchmen produced nothing. Although the quality of their troops was a bit lower, an army that trained daily still stood out in this backward world, shining among the crowd...

While the wandering riders were the "fighters" within this regular army, compared to the "auxiliaries" like craftsmen and administrative officers, who barely did activities like washing and cooking, their sole task was training and patrolling. Compared to the wildlings who spent most of their time fighting to "survive" with sticks and stone axes, their average combat ability was much higher. Setting aside some outstanding wildling "warriors," in a situation where the difference in numbers wasn't great and they couldn't perform effective ambushes, the wildlings rarely dared to confront the well-trained and well-equipped wandering riders.

At least the small band that Aeg and the others were pursuing now didn't dare.

Initially, the wildlings had moved slowly westward along a route parallel to the Wall, but when they detected the four wandering riders following them, they abruptly changed course northward and strove to escape... This was Weymar Royce's first command patrol; naturally, he wouldn't let them go easily, so the two sides began a sort of marathon amidst the ice and snow.

...

Aeg and three other Night's Watchmen tracked the wildlings closely during the day, and at night they wrapped themselves in thick blankets to rest and recharge. With the advantage of riding horses, they kept the enemies firmly in their sights, tracking them first northward for three days, then northwestward, and two days later, northward again... Thanks to not encountering snowstorms or heavy snowfall, Will never lost sight of his target.

"It's been nine days, my lord."

"Nine days is long?"

"Not too long," Gary replied firmly, "but we only brought provisions for about two weeks, even if we calculate carefully, we'll only be able to hold out for about twenty days. And we still have to return. If we continue the pursuit, in the last stretch of the return journey..."

"I heard Ser Soren say it," Weymar said with a slight mocking tone, "last winter, the wandering riders carried supplies for a month and endured six months outside the Wall, how did they do it?"

Will and Aeg looked at each other without saying a word, coughing slightly to disguise their discomfort: Weymar's sarcasm might be effective, but he chose the wrong target.

"If the lord wishes to know how they did it, I can clarify it for you," Gary, who had long since lost patience with the young noble, didn't miss the chance to confront him, "I participated in that action. After the food ran out, we ate horse and dog meat, then dug roots and burrows, hunted anything that moved. And when there was finally nothing left to eat, the commander ordered us to carry the bodies of our brothers... Fortunately, we didn't have to do it in the end, we faced the storm and reached the stronghold of Castell, and with the help of the wildlings who were actually the saviors of our daughters, we returned alive to the Wall."

"If the lord wants to give it a try, I can only guarantee that we will do our best to bring everyone back alive," the speaker looked with satisfaction at Weymar, who showed a panicked expression, and continued unabashedly, "but the commander in chief has reminded us that groups of fewer than ten people should not seek help at Castell, and that roots and horse meat can be difficult to digest."

The young noble's face changed color several times. Aeg thought the young leader of the wandering riders might get angry, but in reality he quickly calmed down, and even performed a miraculous act of concession: "Agreed, whatever happens, tomorrow we will turn around and stop the pursuit. But on this last day, we must take the initiative and try to capture one or two 'tongues,' whether we succeed or not, tomorrow we will depart back."

"Take the initiative?" Will couldn't stay silent anymore, he became nervous, "but... Lord Banyan ordered us to investigate the cause and activity of the wildlings, not to..."

"What have you investigated in these nine days?" Weymar interrupted the poacher, "pursuing for another nine days won't be as convenient as capturing a live wildling to interrogate. Gary, what do you think?"

Gary could have mocked and fought back against the other side based on his experience and seniority as a veteran, but facing Weymar, who was both noble and superior, he ultimately couldn't disobey the order. Frowning, he reluctantly responded, "We will follow the lord's orders."

Weymar sneered, enjoying seeing how uncomfortable others felt but still obeyed his orders, frowned and looked at Will, "You, go and scout ahead, come back and report the exact situation, then we'll discuss how to proceed."

The poacher accepted the order without protest and walked away. The other three dismounted their horses and found a place among some large trees to sit and rest.

...

Aeg stood on a semi-buried rock in the snow and looked around. The weather was getting colder day by day, and this place was on the northernmost edge of the Wall, so the temperature should be even lower... But what troubled him the most wasn't the cold, but the presence of another person.

To be precise, it was Ser Weymar Royce.

It's not that he was afraid of him; although this young noble could be a bit spoiled, Aeg couldn't accuse him of being a true slacker, aside from his arrogance based on his status, he hadn't done anything truly wrong to provoke others' indignation... What Aeg feared was the turn of events related to this young man.

If he had known beforehand

 that someday he would be transported to this world, he would have repeatedly reviewed the television series and the original books. But life has no assumptions, in his previous world, whether watching the series or reading the book, he had only gone through them once, he only had a general knowledge of the plot, he didn't remember details.

But there was a plot he couldn't forget, and it was... Weymar Royce, the unfortunate one who was killed by the White Walkers at the beginning of the "A Song of Ice and Fire" story. As the first significant character to appear in both the novel and the TV series, his death revealed the true existence of the great antagonist of the story, setting the tone for the plot, being the most important "prologist."

But to be honest, as a transported person, shouldn't he be able to rise in life, gain power and wealth, and reach the pinnacle of life, instead of just being a prop that dies at the beginning of the story? Therefore, when he learned ten days ago that this patrol would be led by Ser Weymar Royce, his heart refused.

But... as someone condemned and sent to the Wall, he didn't have the power to choose his superior, nor did he have the qualification to refuse normal duty, he could only bravely move forward, venturing into the Haunted Forest again.

Haunted Forest, if there are no ghosts, can it be called Haunted Forest? The icy wind from north of the Wall never ceased, making the tree shadows appear like monstrous creatures, and that's how this place got its name. Aeg remembered clearly the first time he crossed the Wall northward, at that time, memories of legends and the plot suddenly overwhelmed him, each shadow seemed like a White Walker waiting for the living to fall into its trap, each tree carved with a human face could make him jump in fear, when the first day of patrol ended, he almost fainted when dismounting his horse, now that he thought about it, it was truly embarrassing.

Now, he had crossed the Wall more than ten times, and had come face to face with wildlings two or three times, so he was no longer afraid of this cold-climate forest.

But being next to Weymar again brought back the unease he carried in his heart. The dense tree shadows seemed to hide some kind of undefinable danger, making him feel uncomfortable as if he were facing a natural enemy.

After taking a turn around the rest area and finding nothing out of the ordinary, he realized that the chill down his spine and the feeling of danger might be just an illusion created by Weymar's presence. After all, this guy couldn't be unlucky enough to encounter White Walkers on his first patrol, right?... When I return to the Keep, I'll have to find a way to avoid patrolling with the Royces.

Aeg shook his head and returned to the other two, finding a place to sit among their surprised looks, quietly waiting for Will's report.

...

The cold wind blew, the horses shifted nervously in their places, Aeg remained alert, attentively observing the sounds of the surroundings, while pondering on how to avoid accompanying Weymar and leave the Night's Watch service. After about an hour, Will returned.

"Hmm?" Weymar looked up, looking at Aeg with an inquisitive gaze, and with his characteristic arrogant and carefree tone, he opened his mouth: "It's about to get dark, the wildlings should have stopped and started making fire and setting camp, right?"

Will dismounted, walked dazedly towards the three, swallowed hard, with a lost look on his face: "I know you won't believe me... but something has happened further ahead... the wildlings, they're all dead."