"He's here! Prince Linde is here!" The guard standing on the Black Castle wall shouted loudly to the Nights Watch inside the castle when he saw the giant dragon flying from a distance.
Then the people below the castle were preparing to open the gate, but Lynd did not land outside the castle, but landed on the large training ground inside the castle.
Lynd dismounted from the dragon's back and saw Allister Thorne and Bowen Marsh leading the Stewards and Rangers of Black Castle to greet him. Allister and Bowen appeared calm, showing no unusual expressions, just like everyone else around them.
Lynd silently looked at everyone. Although Allister and Bowen had tried their best to hide their emotions, the moment Lynd's gaze fell on them, they still felt a surge of tension, and the expressions on their faces stiffened slightly.
"Have the Commanders from all the castles arrived?" Lynd asked Allister and the others.
"Lord, they have all arrived. Soren Smallwood, the new Chief Ranger, has also returned from the front lines." Allister quickly replied.
Lynd nodded and walked directly towards the Hall of Affairs in Black Castle, with the others following closely behind.
At this moment, all the Rangers in Black Castle, except for the necessary defensive personnel, had gathered in the small square outside the Hall of Affairs. Because there were too many people, the small square couldn't accommodate them all, and many were squeezed into the surrounding houses. They were waiting for the verdict and also for the new Commander's successor.
When Lynd arrived, everyone spontaneously moved aside, making a path for Lynd and the others to enter the Hall of Affairs.
Inside the Hall of Affairs, the waiting Commanders from various castles stood up and saluted Lynd the moment they saw him enter.
Lynd greeted each Commander patiently and walked directly to the seat previously occupied by Old Bear, then sat down and motioned for everyone else to sit.
"How far have you discussed the assassination of Commander Jeor Mormont?" Lynd asked everyone directly.
"Not yet." Dennis, the Commander of Shadow Tower, who was the most senior among the Commanders, stepped forward and said on behalf of everyone, "We have sent our best Rangers to inspect the Commander's room, but we haven't found any clues. We can only infer from the Commander's body that the assassination happened very quickly. The Commander didn't even have time to resist, and his vital neck area was pierced. From the size of the wound, it should have been a dagger."
As he spoke, Dennis turned to look at Carter Pike, the Commander of Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, who immediately took over and said, "At that time, there were Stewards waiting for summons both upstairs and downstairs in the Commander's room. We have interrogated all of these Stewards, and none of them heard any movement. So, we suspect that magic might be involved."
"You guessed correctly, magic is indeed involved here." Lynd said with certainty, "Someone used magic that can block sound to isolate the rooms of the two Stewards, which is why the Stewards in the rooms couldn't hear the commotion in the Commander's room and couldn't provide timely assistance."
Lynd's words surprised everyone present, because they all knew that Lynd had not yet inspected Old Bear's room. After arriving at Black Castle, he had come directly to the Hall of Affairs. Yet, he still gave such a confident response, which made everyone wonder if Lynd had arranged many informants and spies within the Nights Watch, and that those informants and spies had relayed the relevant information to Lynd, allowing him to make a judgment immediately without inspecting the scene.
Lynd then said in a deep voice, "Although someone used magic to block sound transmission, Old Bear's assassination was definitely not done by an outsider. Because Old Bear did not resist at all when he was stabbed, and was stabbed in the throat with a dagger at close range. This shows that the person who assassinated him must have been someone very familiar to him, which allowed Old Bear to be completely unprepared."
As soon as Lynd's words fell, the room immediately erupted in an uproar. The eyes of the Commanders involuntarily swept over the Black Castle personnel in the Hall of Affairs. Except for Maester Aemon, everyone became a suspect.
And the people of Black Castle also looked at each other, their faces filled with confusion, worry, and even more anger, and their gazes towards their companions became more scrutinizing and suspicious.
Allister and Bowen also maintained expressions consistent with everyone else, making it difficult to suspect them.
As soon as the murmuring subsided, Lynd continued to address everyone, "I suppose you think I made such a judgment because I have informants planted within the Nights Watch, and they reported everything that happened here to me, allowing me to immediately analyze how Commander Jeor truly died?"
Seeing their thoughts exposed, many people lowered their heads in embarrassment.
Lynd smiled and said, "Unfortunately, you guessed wrong. Although I have people arranged within the Nights Watch, their main role is concerning the Savage Tribes and Others Beyond the Wall. They do not interfere with matters within the Wall, and there is no need to waste resources informing me."
Everyone immediately looked at Lynd in confusion. Dennis couldn't help but ask, "If that's the case, why did you make those judgments so quickly, concluding that the Commander was assassinated by someone from within our Nights Watch, and that magic was used?"
Lynd did not directly answer his question, but deliberately went around it, saying, "Before I came to Black Castle, I first went to Icehold and met Lord Willas. You should also know that Lord Willas has merged with the Wall through some method to maintain the normal operation of the magic power contained within the Wall and resist the power of the Others."
At this point, everyone praised Willas's great character, as not everyone in this world could abandon identities and powers like Warden of the South or Duke of Highgarden and come to a place like the Wall to fight the evil outside the city. Such a person, even the lower-class commoners in the Nights Watch who were hostile to nobles, held him in great admiration.
"In ancient legends, the Green Seers of the Forest Children were the most knowledgeable people in the world, because Green Seers could see the evolution of all things in the world through weirwood, see lost history from the past, and see everything that was secret to others." Lynd's words made everyone feel a little confused, but they didn't interrupt and listened quietly. Only Allister and Bowen seemed to have realized something, and their faces showed nervous expressions.
Lynd returned to the main topic, saying, "After Willas merged with the Wall, he also gained some of the Green Seer's abilities. He can see everything about the Wall from its construction, see the ancient legends of the Nights Watch's war against the Others, and see everything that happens within the Wall's domain. No matter how long ago an event occurred, it is firmly recorded by the Wall, and unless the Wall disappears, the records of these events will not disappear."
At this moment, even the dullest person in the Hall of Affairs understood the implications. Maester Aemon couldn't help but speak, "Lord Lynd, did you see the scene of the Commander's murder through the Green Seer's method?"
"Yes." Lynd gave an affirmative answer, saying, "When the Commander was killed, I was watching, but what I saw was only the afterimage of history, and I couldn't save the Commander from the two traitors." As he spoke, he looked at Allister and Bowen, whose faces had turned abnormally pale, and said, "Everything is just what Linde Terra said, we didn't see anything at all. Is the Nights Watch his subordinate? Instructor Allister, it seems you have quite a grudge against me!"
As Lynd's words fell, Bowen Marsh's legs gave out, and he plopped down onto the ground. Although Allister's face was also pale and filled with panic, he still managed to stand firm.
All the surrounding Nights Watch of Black Castle looked at Allister in disbelief. Although Allister was harsh, stubborn, and unsympathetic, in the hearts of the Nights Watch, he was still considered a competent instructor, and his loyalty to the Nights Watch was also well-known. Such a person had actually become the murderer of the Commander.
------------------------
I've posted 70+ chapters in advance on Patreon.
Webnovel updates will still be daily, as usual.
It might not seem tempting right nobut who knows what the future holds?
[email protected]/TripleCrown
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"