RoWE - Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Interrogation and Self-Defense

"So, you brought back two broken swords to prove that you and Gared are not deserters, but heroes who killed a White Walker?" After listening to Aeg's account of the entire patrol north of the Wall, Lord Commander Mormont stared at him with a stern expression, as if trying to find evidence of his lies in his face and eyes.

Aeg took a breath: "I wouldn't claim to be a hero, because ten days ago, I did flee from the scene of the battle. I neither saved Ser Waymar Royce nor brought back his body. But I believe that returning to the Wall to deliver the important warning of their appearance is more important and meaningful than fighting to the death with the White Walkers."

"Obsidian can indeed kill White Walkers, as many legends record." The invisible Maester Aemon fumbled with the homemade obsidian dagger Aeg had submitted, clearly very interested in his statement: "If I'm not mistaken, you're a foreigner and have only recently been learning the language of Westeros. How did you come to know these legends so well?"

"In my homeland, there are also legends about this. I always thought of them as myths until I came here by chance and saw the Wall..."

killing the White Walker, Aeg found his frightened horse a few hundred meters away. After feeding it all the oats and resting briefly, he led the horse, carrying the severely injured Gared, back to the Wall.

Now, he sat in the warm conference room heated by the fire, facing so many high-ranking members of the Night's Watch for the first time. Throughout the entire year since he was forced to join the Wall's garrison, he had tried every way to attract the attention of these high-ranking members of the Night's Watch. Now that he had finally succeeded, it was as a suspect of desertion: "Maester Aemon, you are a learned man, so you should understand that if legends from different places have similar records of something that happened a long time ago, then that thing is likely true. The White Walkers do exist, and they have returned."

The blind old man nodded. Although he wasn't clear about what had happened, at least the latter part of what the Night's Watch soldier in front of him said made sense.

"Hmph, in my opinion, it's just to avoid punishment. They deliberately made a wound and broke something to make it look like they had been through a fierce battle." Alliser Thorne, the Night's Watch's new recruit instructor, snorted coldly. "This guy was slippery and lazy during training. He would seize any opportunity to slack off. He could kill a White Walker? Even if such a thing really exists?"

Aeg did not refute. The new recruit instructor was not deliberately targeting him. As a quality control engineer from before his transmigration, although he wasn't completely weak, he was probably more "coddled" than many nobles in this world, not to mention the low-born Night's Watch soldiers. When he first arrived at the Wall, he really struggled to accept the high-intensity training and had slacked off quite a bit. Although he eventually passed the training, he undoubtedly left a bad impression on Alliser Thorne.

Speaking of which, this nobleman who was forced to join the Night's Watch after the fall of the Targaryen dynasty he supported was a cynical, harsh, and unsympathetic person. His tone of voice and contemptuous manner were disliked by few soldiers in the Night's Watch, up and down. Even if Aeg had trained diligently and even desperately, he wouldn't have won his favor.

"Ser Alliser, have you seen a broken sword?"

"More than you've seen good swords."

"Then please take a look at the breakage of the two broken swords I brought back." Although the new recruit instructor was technically a superior, Aeg was now a ranger, and his fate was not decided by Alliser. He didn't plan to be polite with him: "The Night's Watch's swords are made of steel, and the characteristic of steel is its toughness. It's not brittle like glass or ice. No matter how much force or speed is used to break a steel sword, there will inevitably be deformation at the break. But the breakage of these two swords is not like that. I made sure to bring back all the fragments and both halves. If the lords put them together, they will find that these fragments can be reassembled into a complete steel sword without any deviation. You can't even see where the break is without careful observation."

Lord Commander Mormont raised his eyebrows and followed suit, putting the broken sword back together. As Aeg had said, except for a few small chips missing from the blade's break, the entire sword was still straight and sharp, almost indistinguishable from being broken into two pieces plus a pile of fragments.

"How is this possible?" The Lord Commander followed up appropriately.

Low temperatures reduce the binding force between metal atoms, increasing rigidity or brittleness. In simple terms, the colder it is, the less it can withstand stress and deformation. Of course, this couldn't be explained to the "ancients" in front of him who hadn't studied physics, and in this cursed fantasy world, who could guarantee that what he knew was everything?

"Legend has it that White Walkers use ice magic, and the steel sword was frozen and cracked." Aeg used an explanation that fit the local customs: "I can't know the exact reason, but I can guarantee that no matter who the lords find or what method they use, they won't be able to break the same steel sword in this manner. The Lord Commander can show the broken sword to the chief craftsman, the chief steward, or Donal Noye, the blacksmith of Castle Black. If someone can replicate a similar break in a steel sword, then I'll accept being treated as a deserter."

*****

Donal Noye, The one-armed blacksmith of Castle Black, who was once the personal blacksmith and soldier of House Baratheon. He joined the Night's Watch after losing an arm during the siege of Storm's End. Before that, he followed Stannis Baratheon in battles across the Seven Kingdoms, eating delicacies and experiencing women from various places, fighting in countless battles of all sizes. It is said that the warhammer used by Robert to kill Rhaegar Targaryen on the Trident was forged by him. In the original plot, during the wildling attack on Castle Black, he sacrificed himself in a fight with the giant king "Mag the Mighty" in the tunnels beneath the Wall, making him a legendary figure.

Without the recent feat of killing a White Walker, Aeg's past was nothing to boast about. However, before his transmigration, he worked in material testing and had a whole set of metal property testing equipment next to his office, including an impact testing machine. In terms of blacksmithing, he couldn't hold a candle to Donal Noye, but when it came to theoretical knowledge of metal materials, all the blacksmiths in this world combined were no match for him.

To damage a steel sword in this manner, at least a low-temperature environment of minus 200 degrees Celsius would be required. Such conditions, even in Aeg's modern world before his transmigration, could only be provided by quite expensive equipment. Asking a medieval-level blacksmith to easily create temperatures of plus 200 degrees or even 2,000 degrees was possible, but minus? It would be easier to catch a White Walker and have it demonstrate breaking a steel sword.

Aeg's firm expression and confident speech infected the Night's Watch officers sitting behind the long table. They were all of distinguished birth, but Aeg was not some bumpkin from the backwoods. He was a lowly Night's Watch soldier, and while these noble lords might decide his fate, they couldn't intimidate him with their so-called "nobility."

"I had someone check Gared's chest wound," Maester Aemon broke the silence. "It's strange. The wound was caused by a sharp object, but it shows typical symptoms of severe frostbite, and it's only confined to a very small area inside and outside the wound. It took several people half a day to remove all the necrotic parts. I don't know if Donal can break a steel sword in this manner, but I know I can't create such a wound."

Among the three influential figures, one had leaned towards believing him. Aeg remained expressionless on the surface, but he was greatly relieved inside: no matter the era or place, it was always easier to communicate with learned and knowledgeable people. His life was likely saved.

The Lord Commander glanced at the silent Chief Ranger beside him: "Benjen, he's your man. What do you think?"

The head of all rangers and the only member of House Stark in the Night's Watch looked up. This thin but sharp man had been studying the evidence Aeg brought back from the beginning. Now that the Lord Commander asked, he knew it was time to speak.

"We are the Night's Watch, guarding the northernmost part of the kingdom," the brother of the Warden of the North began. "But for the vast unknown territory beyond the Wall, our knowledge is not much greater than that of the southerners. I haven't seen a White Walker, but I wouldn't dare to assert that they don't exist. Seeing is believing. In a few days, I will personally lead elite rangers north to search for Ser Waymar Royce and the White Walker Aeg spoke of. As for now..."

Under Aeg's intense gaze, Benjen paused before making his judgment: "The most urgent matter at hand is to inform Waymar Royce's family of his disappearance and try to give them an explanation. As for Aeg, he will be placed under house arrest. When I go north on patrol next time, he will guide us. The truth of his claims will have to be proven by his own efforts."

*****

As expected, he would be the guide, just as Gared had predicted.

Aeg secretly admired the old soldier's accurate prediction as he was helped up by two brothers in black and led out of the conference room. Before leaving, he heard the last words exchanged between Maester Aemon and Benjen Stark: "Before you lead men north, there's something you need to do. A message raven has brought news that the Hand of the King is dead, and the king is on his way to the North. Lord Eddard has requested that you find time to return to Winterfell to greet him."