"What happened then? What happened next?" Linde asked, curious.
Joel thought for a moment, then said, "I heard that after the war, he received a reward from his family and retired from the guard."
"Retired?" Linde felt somewhat bewildered, as if a book, just as it reached a crucial plot point, suddenly declared itself finished.
"What use would it be for him to stay besides retiring?" Joel sighed softly, seemingly regretting for Old Man Bain, and said, "He was already very old at the time and had suffered very serious injuries. Even if he recovered, he might not be able to wield a spear or a longsword. Originally, his merits were enough to be knighted, but unfortunately, his origins were too humble. All possibilities for advancement were blocked, so there was no use in him remaining in the guard."
Linde frowned and said, "Can commoners not become nobles?"
"Of course not." Joel shook his head and said, "But for a commoner to become a noble is a hundred times harder than for a noble's descendant to become one. It requires luck, strength, and the ability to scheme. Old Bain probably belonged to the type who had bad luck and didn't know how to scheme."
Listening to Joel's words, two figures involuntarily appeared in Linde's mind. These two figures seemed to fit Joel's description very well, and they had both reached the pinnacle of power.
One was Janos Slynt, the butcher's son, who, through various means, became the Commander of the City Watch of King's Landing, and later even the Duke of Harrenhal. This could truly be considered an inspiring example.
The other was the sellsword Bronn. In the series, he rose steadily through his relationship with Tyrion, eventually becoming the Warden of the South and the Duke of Highgarden, one of the ultimate winners. He could definitely be considered a person favored by the god of luck.
When he watched the series, he didn't find anything unusual, but now that he had come to this world of Ice and Fire and understood the power structure of Westeros, he felt that the series' depiction of Bronn becoming the Warden of the South and the Duke of Highgarden was simply nonsense.
Harrenhal had completely decayed. Janos, after being knighted as the Duke of Harrenhal, still dared not go to Harrenhal to take office. And The Reach still had a large number of ancient noble families and lords, who could even be described as militarily strong. How could they possibly allow a lowly sellsword to become the leader of The Reach?
Such an appointment, let alone being officially promulgated, even if it were merely discussed, would likely cause an uprising in The Reach and ultimately lead to another war. Therefore, based on common sense, it can be determined that Bronn's appointment in the series was absolutely written by someone who was insane.
However, putting aside the ridiculous content in the series, Bronn is still a very inspiring case, and also a case that Linde could imitate and learn from.
While Linde was thinking about those two successful examples of commoners becoming nobles, Joel did not notice his distraction. Instead, he looked at him and continued, "Although Old Bain was far from it, you have been well-trained by him. I'm not sure about your luck yet, but you are much stronger than him in terms of strength and scheming."
"Thank you for your praise." Linde could feel that Joel must have seen through his original plans, but he didn't seem to be annoyed and held no ill will towards him. So, he didn't hide anything and directly acknowledged his assessment.
Seeing Linde's straightforward admission, Joel's eyes revealed a look of considerable appreciation, and he smiled, saying, "Bear Hunter, master of dual-wielding swordsmanship—these two titles have spread throughout the Red Lake area. The Bear Hunter song has even been carried to Highgarden by bards. I heard that Lord Velas Tyrell even asked Lord Fotimo about you."
Linde asked, "Is it because of this rumor that you thought of recommending me to Lord Fotimo?"
Joel nodded, acknowledging Linde's guess, and then reminded him, "The prerequisite for the recommendation is that you perform exceptionally well in this battle."
"Why are you helping me so much?" Linde asked, puzzled.
Joel was silent for a moment, then replied with a somewhat languid tone, "Because it's too boring here. From top to bottom, it's a stagnant pool. I want to add some fun, and I hope you won't disappoint me."
After speaking, he waved his hand at Linde, signaling that he could leave.
Linde turned and left the hall, walking towards the logistics team stationed on one side of the castle.
On the way, Linde recalled Joel's words. He could sense from the other party's few words that he, too, seemed to be dissatisfied with the current system of The Reach. However, he didn't intend to challenge the system himself, but rather wanted Linde to be his trailblazer.
Whatever Joel's purpose, at this stage, he was an asset to Linde. All Linde had to do was perfectly demonstrate his strength.
Thinking about things, Linde arrived at the damaged corner tower by the castle where the logistics team was housed. He found the leatherworker, took off the ill-fitting leather armor he was wearing, handed it over, and stated his requirements.
The leather armor he was wearing belonged to Old Man Bain. Their body types were too different, making it very unsuitable and hindering his movements. It needed to be altered, otherwise, this leather armor would cause him considerable hindrance in battle.
Although the leatherworker of the logistics team couldn't make leather armor, modifying it was not a problem.
"Two silver stags." The leatherworker looked at the leather armor Linde handed over, listened to Linde's request, and immediately quoted a price.
Linde frowned and asked, "Isn't it free for people in the team to repair weapons and equipment?"
At this moment, a voice came from behind him, saying, "It is indeed free for people in the team to repair weapons and equipment, but you are not."
Linde turned around and looked at the speaker. It was the knight's squire who had reprimanded Linde in front of Old Man Bain's tavern two days ago, calling him lowly and unworthy of challenging Joel Flower.
At that time, he had been scolded by Joel, and Linde could sense that this knight's squire was probably not convinced and would definitely cause him trouble. However, for the past two days, he had seemed very normal, as if he had forgotten about the matter. Now it seemed he had been looking for an opportunity.
Facing this person's provocation, Linde showed no sign of annoyance. He simply looked at the other party, then took out two silver stags, placed them on the leatherworker's table, and said to the leatherworker, "Here are two silver stags. I need you to alter my leather armor tonight. If you don't meet my requirements, I will not only take back the two silver stags, but I will also cut off one of your hands as punishment."
The leatherworker was completely stunned. He hadn't expected that by simply following the knight's squire's instructions to make things difficult for Linde, he would now be drawing fire and becoming the target of the other party's dissatisfaction.
He could feel that Linde wasn't just talking; he genuinely intended to cut off his hand if he didn't complete the task, and he also believed Linde was capable of doing so. Even if he didn't know Linde's exact identity, simply from Linde constantly being by Joel's side these past few days, he could guess that the other party's status was unusual.
Thinking of this, the leatherworker looked at the knight's squire with a panicked expression, seemingly seeking help from him.
The knight's squire also hadn't expected such a reaction from Linde. He immediately stepped forward to block Linde, shouting, "Damn fellow, what do you want to do? Do you want to use private torture in the army?"
However, Linde didn't even glance at him, keeping his gaze fixed on the leatherworker, and said, "If I were you, I would immediately start altering the leather armor as requested, because you don't have much time left. Or do you think he can help you solve the problem?" Saying this, he pointed at the knight's squire, "Indeed, if he's here, I won't lay a hand on you, but can you guarantee he'll be here all the time? Won't he go back to rest at night? Will he stand guard next to you while you sleep? As soon as he leaves your side, I will immediately act. So, do you still feel safe now?"
Hearing Linde's words, the leatherworker was completely terrified. He no longer dared to look at the knight's squire, picked up Linde's leather armor, and with a few apprentices, began to alter the leather armor according to Linde's requirements.
Linde then turned to the knight's squire, whose face was flushed with anger, and said, "You shouldn't involve innocent people, especially when you can't provide them protection. Besides, are you still a nursing baby? To use such childish tricks—this not only doesn't disgust anyone but makes you look foolish."
"Bastard!" The knight's squire had never encountered someone like Linde before, and for a moment, he was so angry he didn't know what to say.
"Oh, by the way, I still don't know your name?" Linde suddenly seemed to remember something, looking at the knight's squire, but then quickly waved his hand and said, "Never mind, I don't need to know your name anyway. You mean nothing to me."
After speaking, he walked towards the outside of the castle. He also intended to use this time to familiarize himself with the surrounding terrain, so as to avoid any unexpected situations during battle due to unfamiliarity with the terrain.
"Stop right there! Aier Morrison of Longship Town challenges you to a duel!" The knight's squire finally couldn't contain his anger, took off one of his gloves, and threw it towards Linde.
Linde did not catch the glove, but let it hit him and fall to the ground.
He merely stopped, turned to look at the glove on the ground, and then at Aier Morrison, who had issued the challenge.
Then, while Aier Morrison was still waiting for Linde to respond, Linde lunged forward in a flash, and before Aier Morrison could react, he punched him directly on the jaw. A suffocating pain shot from his jaw, and he instantly fainted, collapsing to the ground.
Everything happened too suddenly. Not only was Linde's attack sudden, but his speed was also incredibly fast. The other knight's squires and onlookers only saw a blurry shadow, and then Aier Morrison was knocked down by Linde's punch.
Linde turned to the other knight's squires and said in a deep voice, "You few, carry this idiot back. Next time, I can't guarantee I'll only use my fists."
After speaking, he continued walking towards the outside of the castle.
"Wait, stop!" At this moment, someone among the knight's squires shouted to Linde.
Linde stopped at the sound, turned to the knight's squires, placed his hands on the twin swords at his waist, and said in a deep voice, "What? Do you also want to throw a glove at me?"
At this moment, none of the knight's squires spoke again, including the one who had called out to Linde, because at this very moment, Linde was no longer the lucky country hunter in their eyes. The moment Linde placed his hands on the sword hilts, they all felt an invisible pressure, a pressure they had only felt from Joel Flower. Their bodies instinctively tensed up from this pressure, not daring to relax in the slightest.
Seeing that the knight's squires gave no response, Linde no longer paid attention to them, removed his hands from the sword hilts, and continued walking towards the outside of the castle. This time, no one called out to him again until he walked out of the castle's dilapidated gate.
And the moment Linde's figure disappeared from the gate, the knight's squires' tense bodies finally relaxed, and they all let out a collective sigh of relief.
Then, they exchanged bitter smiles, and immediately ordered their subordinates to carry their unconscious companion back to their room.
Although they repeatedly ordered afterwards that what had just happened was not to be spread, especially not to Joel's ears, what they didn't know was that while they were still carrying their companion back to the room, their small conflict with Linde had already been reported in detail to Joel.
Joel merely smiled after hearing it and said nothing.
Although the previous owner's retained memories were not many, most of them were related to hunting, which enabled Linde, even without prior experience in jungle survival, to quickly become familiar with forest walking techniques using these memories. He also very fortunately discovered the smuggling route hidden in the mountains.
After understanding the terrain around the smuggling route and selecting several suitable ambush locations, Linde began to walk back, returning to Steadfast Hold before nightfall.
However, at this moment, Steadfast Hold was clearly much livelier than when he had left at noon. A temporary camp had appeared below the hill where Steadfast Hold was located. Roughly calculating the number of people in the camp, there were about six to seven hundred, and these six to seven hundred people were all very well-equipped with weapons. Their spears had iron spearheads, many carried hand axes and short swords, and a dozen knights moved about within the camp.
Additionally, a flag was hoisted high in the temporary camp, embroidered with House Webber's distinctive black spider emblem. Although it was in the dim forest, the spider pattern was still very striking, giving people an unsettling, eerie feeling from afar.
Clearly, Linde's previous prediction to Joel had come true. House Webber, with a guilty conscience, had eagerly dispatched as many people as they could to assist Joel in eradicating the bandits, or rather, the remnants of House Targaryen, in the Red Lake Forest. From their numbers and equipment, it was clear that House Webber intended to completely eliminate those bandits, leaving no excuse for others, especially House Rowan, to cause them trouble.