Although in the television series the continent of Westeros appears not to be very large—its cities seemingly close together, reachable within just a few days—in reality, the distances between the cities of the Seven Kingdoms are extremely vast. Travel time is often measured in months, or even years.
Take Lind's earlier journey from Goldengrove to New Barrel City, for example. Because he traveled downstream along the river, the speed was extremely fast, and the entire trip took only four or five days. But had he gone by land instead, it would likely have taken over a month to arrive—and that would be assuming decent road conditions. If the roads were poor, it wouldn't have been surprising for the journey to stretch on for another month.
After leaving New Barrel City, the Tyrell family's entourage traveled steadily along the Rose Road toward the northeast. With frequent stops along the way, it took nearly a full month before they finally arrived at Bitterbridge.
Having received word in advance, Baron Armond Caswell waited outside his castle to welcome Garlan Tyrell's party. He expressed that a banquet had already been prepared and sincerely invited Garlan to stay for the night, attend the feast, and depart the next day, so that he might fulfill his duties as a proper host.
Baron Caswell, eager to curry favor with House Tyrell, behaved with extreme humility. Garlan Tyrell found himself without any reason to refuse. In the end, the entourage set up camp outside Bitterbridge Castle, while Garlan, along with the knights and nobles in the party, entered the castle to attend the banquet.
Although Lind was Fortimo Crane's squire, he did not possess the qualifications required to attend such a noble banquet. He could only remain in the camp with the others, dining on the food provided by Baron Caswell.
Over the course of this month-long journey, Lind had not learned any new combat-related skills from Fortimo. Fortimo told him bluntly that there was little more he could teach Lind in terms of swordsmanship or combat. He instructed Lind to continue training using his own previous methods, stating that the only thing he could still teach him was how to properly serve as a knight's squire.
As a result, caring for Fortimo's warhorse, helping maintain his armor and weapons, and learning basic knightly etiquette became Lind's daily routine. During the rest of his time, Lind continued to improve his physical conditioning and train for group combat using the methods he had developed in the past.
However, what proved truly valuable to Lind had nothing to do with fighting at all—it was his cultural education.
Every evening, Fortimo would have Maester Hory instruct Lind in the history of the Seven Kingdoms, the lineages of the great noble houses, as well as each house's sigil and family words.
Previously, Lind's understanding of the world of Ice and Fire had come primarily from the television series and forum discussions from his past life, along with some knowledge from a setting book about the world (interestingly, Maester Hory claimed that this book truly existed within the Citadel, though only a very small number of maesters were allowed to read it). His understanding of the real Westeros itself had been quite limited.
While systematically studying this knowledge could not directly increase his combat strength, it would play an extremely crucial role in helping him attain a higher status in the future.
Maester Hory came from a minor banner house sworn to the Tyrells and possessed profound knowledge in history and culture. This time, he was merely accompanying the Tyrell entourage to King's Landing and was not a direct member of House Tyrell.
At first, Maester Hory was quite resistant and unwilling to teach Lind—not because he had any objections to Lind's identity, but because he already had his own responsibilities, and teaching Lind consumed a great deal of his personal time.
However, as time passed, his attitude gradually changed from passive to proactive. Sometimes, while on the road, he would even summon Lind into his carriage to continue lessons that had not been completed the previous day.
The reason for this drastic change was simple—Maester Hory experienced, for the first time, the joy of being a teacher through Lind.
The noble house Maester Hory served was located along the border between the Reach and Dorne and frequently clashed with the Dornish. As a result, the house placed great emphasis on martial prowess while regarding other knowledge as trivial. Its heirs only needed to learn basic noble etiquette and a portion of the Reach's noble history, leaving Maester Hory with virtually no opportunity to apply his expertise.
This time, Maester Hory endured the hardship of traveling to King's Landing primarily because a friend of his at the Citadel had written to inform him that Grand Maester Pycelle intended to compile a history of the Targaryen dynasty and hoped the Citadel would send a maester bearing a red copper chain to assist him.
Maester Hory was well known at the Citadel for his specialization in history, making him an excellent fit for Pycelle's requirements. Knowing that Hory was unhappy serving that noble house, his friend passed this information along to him.
On the very day he received the letter, Maester Hory immediately resigned from his service and set out alone.
Fortunately, luck was on his side. He encountered several merchant caravans bound for Highgarden and safely traveled alongside them to his destination.
Later, upon learning at Highgarden that House Tyrell was sending a delegation to King's Landing for the tourney, he joined the Rose House's entourage.
Thus, when Fortimo approached him and requested that he teach Lind, Maester Hory found himself unable to refuse.
Because of the swordsmanship duel at the New Barrel City encampment, which left an extremely deep impression on him, combined with the reputation of the Bear Hunter and Lind's identity as a hunter, Maester Hory subconsciously equated Lind with the noble students he had previously taught.
However, after teaching Lind for several days, he discovered that Lind was completely different from any of his former students. Lind displayed extraordinary enthusiasm for every piece of knowledge taught. Beyond the planned lessons, Lind would actively ask about topics outside the curriculum. Later on, he even engaged Maester Hory in academic discussions regarding the lesson material—sometimes posing questions that Maester Hory himself could not immediately answer.
What truly shocked Maester Hory, however, was Lind's learning ability. Almost everything he taught needed to be explained only once for Lind to fully grasp it. Books required just a single reading to be completely memorized. It gave Maester Hory the strange illusion that a sphinx lived inside Lind's body.
"You should go to the Citadel!" became a phrase Maester Hory repeated every single day.
This matter soon reached Garlan's ears. After confirming that Lind truly possessed an astonishing learning ability, Garlan permitted Lind to borrow the books he carried during the journey—though only one at a time.
Once again, Lind's remarkable learning ability caused quite a stir within the entourage. However, compared to the uproar when the group first learned that he was the Bear Hunter Lind upon leaving New Barrel City, this reaction was noticeably milder.
That day, after Lind's swordsmanship duel with Fortimo, nobles, soldiers, servants, grooms—everyone in the entourage speculated about Lind's identity. Although some guessed he was the Bear Hunter based on his use of dual swords, the idea was quickly dismissed due to the vast difference between Lind's age and build and the public's perception of the Bear Hunter.
It was only the following day, when Garlan made a very public announcement before departure that the Bear Hunter Lind had joined House Tyrell, that everyone finally realized Lind was the legendary figure celebrated in the minstrels' songs.
After the initial shock, the entourage accepted—and warmly welcomed—Lind's addition. After all, the road to King's Landing was fraught with danger, and having a powerful warrior like Lind meant greater safety for everyone.
Over the course of the following month, Lind encountered no hazing or doubts regarding his abilities. His duel with Fortimo had already proven his strength, and it was obvious to any discerning eye that Garlan Tyrell held Lind in high regard. As a result, nobles, guards, and servants alike treated Lind with ample respect, and many even went out of their way to befriend him.
However, some of these attempts at friendship were driven by personal motives, while others were clearly made at someone else's behest. During this period, both Fortimo and Garlan secretly observed Lind's behavior, watching to see whether he would become lost amid the flattery.
Lind's performance left them extremely satisfied. When faced with deliberate attempts at ingratiation, he behaved with the natural ease of a true noble—neither arrogant nor conceited. Instead, he carried himself like a humble student, eager to learn from anyone around him. He learned horse care from grooms, armor and weapon maintenance from soldiers, and proper etiquette for dealing with nobles of varying status from servants.
What pleased Garlan and Fortimo the most, however, was Lind's extraordinary self-discipline. Every day was meticulously planned, and his entire routine unfolded exactly as scheduled. This level of discipline inevitably reminded them of Lord Randyll Tarly.
To the common folk within the entourage, Lind's rigid self-discipline was not particularly endearing, though it did earn him additional respect. Compared to his personality, it was Lind's combat strength that truly captivated them.
Because Fortimo's approach to training Lind was largely hands-off, Lind continued following his own training plan to improve his physique and combat skills. Physical conditioning could be handled alone, but practical combat required cooperation from others. As a result, Lind's daily combat training became a form of entertainment for the entire entourage—because his training was never one-on-one, but one-against-many.
From four opponents at the start, to five, then six, Lind gradually adapted to this style of combat. Later, sensing that increasing numbers alone no longer provided sufficient challenge, he had the sparring soldiers don armor, carry shields and spears, and form battle formations against him. Only then did he feel genuine pressure again—on several occasions, he even came close to being defeated.
For everyone else, these daily displays of thrilling combat added excitement to what would otherwise have been a monotonous march. People gathered around the training ground, cheering for Lind and the sparring soldiers alike. Some maids would even toss wildflowers they had picked along the roadside toward those they admired at the end of training—naturally, Lind received the most flowers.
Through these repeated training sessions, Lind's formidable strength subtly influenced the warriors around him. The respect he earned grew day by day. Even though he was only a knight's squire, his influence within House Tyrell's entourage far exceeded that of ordinary knights.
This inevitably bred jealousy among certain knights and nobles. Some tried speaking ill of Lind to Garlan, but to no avail. Lind's absence from the Bitterbridge banquet was, to some extent, related to these individuals—otherwise, even with a squire's low status, he might have secured a seat in a corner of the banquet hall.
Lind himself did not care about missing the castle banquet—certainly not to the extent imagined by those who envied him. After finishing dinner at the camp, he went alone to an open field near the town outside the castle to conduct his usual throwing practice.
Within the Peacekeeper's combat experience existed techniques involving thrown weapons. Such skills could deliver surprising results in one-on-one duels, though they were less suitable for large-scale battles.
Still, Lind believed that practice was never wasted and continued to train whenever he had the time.
After a period of training, however, Lind realized he had underestimated this ability. He discovered that throwing techniques could produce extraordinary results in both single combat and battlefield engagements—the only adjustment required was to refrain from throwing his melee weapons and instead use throwing knives, hand axes, short spears, and other small weapons or concealed projectiles.
Unfortunately, among the accompanying personnel there was a leatherworker but no blacksmith. Unable to forge custom throwing weapons, Lind could only borrow daggers and hand axes from the soldiers for practice.
Though it was already night and there were no nearby torches, the cloudless sky allowed moonlight to illuminate the surroundings clearly enough for Lind to see without issue—perfect for both training and practicing night combat.
After repeatedly striking the marked targets on the trees ahead with daggers and hand axes, Lind felt that continuing in this manner would no longer yield much improvement. He needed to increase the difficulty—perhaps by throwing at moving targets.
Just as Lind was contemplating his next training method, he suddenly heard footsteps approaching from not far away.
Ever since encountering that Faceless Man, Lind had consciously trained the sensory awareness of his body's various organs rather than passively relying on the talents granted by his altered physique after rebirth. Though the training period had been short, it had already begun to bear fruit.
Drawing on this training, Lind quickly judged the general build of the approaching person from the weight and rhythm of the footsteps. He then turned toward the source of the sound. When the figure's height and build matched his estimation, a faint smile of satisfaction appeared on his face.
There were two people approaching. One was a guard soldier of House Tyrell named Raul, who had frequently accompanied Lind during sword practice in recent days and could be considered one of those closest to him.
The other wore the uniform of a Bitterbridge guard. He was tall—half a head taller than Lind—and appeared to be around the same age. His body was exceptionally robust, with powerful arms and upper-body muscles stretching his clothes tight. To appear more mature, he had grown some facial hair, though it was sparse and uneven, looking more like a baby's down than a proper beard.
...
The fully completed English PDF of this fan-fic is now available on my Patreon shop.If you want to support my work and enjoy the entire story in one go, grab the PDF and binge-read it from start to finish without any breaks.
Patreon Shop:patreon.com /InkNovels
Here are a few fan-fic titles that I've recently uploaded on my Patreon:
"Game of Thrones: Dragon Prince"
"Game of Thrones: Political Life"
"Game of Thrones: Holy Flame"
"The Game of Thrones Upgrade System"
"Game of Thrones: Lannister Kingdom"
"Game of Thrones: Godzilla vs. Dragons"
"Game of Thrones: Ruler of the Deep Seas "
"Game of Thrones The Glory of a Knight"
"Game of Thrones: The Most Powerful Dragon Queen"
" Game of Thrones: From the Elden Lord to the Young Wolf"
"Game of Thrones: Rise of a Lord with the Army-Building System"
(End Chapter)