At this moment, only Linde and the Faceless Man remained on the meadow, along with an albino shadow mountain cat cub.
"I still don't know your name?" Linde said, turning to the Faceless Man.
"My former name has been offered to the Thousand-Faced God along with my face," the Faceless Man said, pulling the hood of his cloak back up. "You can call me Bovo, that is my new name."
Linde tentatively asked, "Could you tell me about what happened between you, Joel, and Fortimo?"Faceless Bovo shook his head and said, "There's nothing to say. These are all things of the past, and I shouldn't be coming back after this departure, so there's no need for you to worry about anything."
Clearly, the Faceless One had misunderstood something, but Linde didn't continue to probe. Instead, he pointed to the wound on Faceless Bovo's chest and said, "Do you need my help? With your current injuries, you might not be able to make it out of this forest in this weather."
"Spark's potion can be called a miracle."As Bovo spoke, he deliberately opened his shirt, revealing the wound on his chest to Linde.
The wound, which should have been a gaping gash, was now completely healed, leaving only a faint scar. Unless one looked closely, it would be impossible to tell that there had once been a fatal wound there.
Seeing the effect of the medicine on the Faceless One, Linde was also amazed. Just as Bovo had said, this potion was simply a miracle, and for someone like him who would inevitably be on the battlefield frequently in the future, this potion was a life-saving treasure.Thinking of this, Linde couldn't help but look towards the location of the treehouse on the mound, wondering what method he could use to please and befriend Spark in order to obtain this potion from her.
"You don't need to look, Spark has already left." Bovo seemed to know what Linde was thinking and said, "Spark's treehouse can move underground, she will definitely not stay in one place for a long time, especially if that place has been discovered by humans."
Although he found it incredible, Linde felt that the Faceless One was not lying, so he asked, "In that case, how do you contact her?""My method wouldn't be of any use to you, and even if I used it now, it might not work." Bovo shook his head, dispelling Linde's hopes, but then changed the subject, saying, "However, judging from Spark's reaction just now, she seems to admire you. Otherwise, she wouldn't have entrusted the shadow mountain cat cub to you. Perhaps she will even take the initiative to meet you in the future."
Linde looked down at the cub curled up in his arms, a relieved smile returning to his face. For him, even without the potion, he had already gained a lot from this trip. There was no need to be obsessed with the potion; it was best to let things take their course.The Faceless One saw Linde's relieved smile and knew that Linde had come to terms with things, which surprised the Faceless One somewhat, because in his understanding, a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy would not possess such an open-minded attitude, which would only appear in adults with rich life experiences or old people who had long since seen through everything in the world.
At this time, Linde said with some curiosity, "The power of the Spark is very different from the Children of the Forest I've heard about in legends. I've never heard of any Children of the Forest being able to move their homes underground at will."As he said this, Linde immediately pictured the Children of the Forest in his mind, but the image was entirely based on the depiction in the TV series. It had to be said that the difference between the Children of the Forest in the series and the Spark he had just seen was like the difference between a beggar and a nobleman, so great that they didn't seem to be the same species.
However, on second thought, he felt that this difference might just be the difference between television and reality, and perhaps the Children of the Forest in the real world of Ice and Fire were actually like Spark.
"Spark is special, she is one of the rare Children of Nature among the Children of the Forest."The Faceless Man seemed unwilling to say more about the Spark, offering a brief response before showing no further intention of continuing the conversation with Lind.
He simply wrapped himself completely in his cloak, then looked at the shadow mountain cat cub in Lind's arms and said, "Let me remind you, no matter how close this cub is to you, it's still a wild beast. You'd best find a rope to tie it up, otherwise it's sure to hurt someone. If it hurts an ordinary person, that's one thing, but if it hurts those noble lords, like Garlan Tyrell, then your fate might be the same as mine."Having said that, he didn't wait for Linde to respond before stepping into the woods, his figure quickly disappearing from sight.
Linde didn't stop the Faceless One from leaving, nor did he consider pursuing his identity based on the clues revealed in the Faceless One's words. He could sense the Faceless One's goodwill, although this goodwill might have originated from someone else.A Faceless One made a valid point. Linde was indeed planning to raise the cub through a free-range approach, especially intending to keep it in a constant state of predation. But now, thinking about it, his free-range plan was too dangerous. He definitely needed a leash to restrain the Shadow Lynx.
Reconsidering the feeding plan, Linde held the cub up in front of him. The cub, thinking Linde was playing with it, let out soft, kitten-like cries and wiggled its limbs, its chubby paws constantly scratching, as if trying to hug Linde's face.Watching the cub's movements, Lind smiled, then tucked him inside his clothes, cradling him in his arms, and walked towards the Howling Forest post station.
In the hall of the Howling Forest post station, the Tyrrell family's servants had set up a small tent specifically for Garlan, allowing him to live in it separately, without having to sit with the others outside.To this, Garlan was originally opposed. He preferred to be with the Tyrell nobles and knights rather than alone in his tent. If it weren't for the rain, he would even sit with the soldiers outside, listening to their various anecdotes.
However, Maester Celik, who was traveling with them, dissuaded him. Maester Celik had discovered that some of the soldiers were sick. If it were just a common cold, it would be fine, but if it were a contagious disease, the more Garlan interacted with others, the more likely he would be to catch it.After hearing Maester Celik's explanation, Garland didn't insist further. He instructed his servant to retrieve some medicine from his personal medicine chest and give it to Fortimo to pass on to the sick soldiers. Although he didn't know if the medicine would be effective, at least he had done his part.
Back in his tent, Garland picked up a book recounting the adventures of Ser Duncan the Tall and Aegon V as a knight errant. This was the fifth edition of the Dunk and Egg stories he had read, and each edition contained some new stories in addition to the well-known ones.Although Garland knew perfectly well that those new stories were fabricated, he still enjoyed reading them, willing to believe they were true. And while reading, he often wondered what it would be like if he were about the same age as Aegon V and had met his own knight, then went on adventures in the Seven Kingdoms.
Somehow, when thinking of knights, the figure of Linde, the burly squire, involuntarily appeared in Garland's mind.Thinking of this, Garland closed the book in his hand, picked up the bell on the nearby low table and shook it. After the servant outside the tent came in, he ordered, "Invite Lord Fortimo here, I have something to ask him."
The servant responded and left the tent. After a while, Fortimo Crane, soaked to the bone, walked in from outside.
Fortimo took the towel from the servant, wiped the rain off his body, and then asked Garland, "My lord, did you call me here for something?"Garlan said with feigned casualness, "Nothing important, just wanted to ask how our bear hunter is doing? Is he settling in well with the scout team?"
Upon hearing this, Fortimo recalled the information he had received from the scout team leader, and a satisfied smile involuntarily appeared on his face. He then reported to Garlan what he knew about Linde's situation in the scout team.After hearing this, Garland's face showed a hint of disappointment. Although Linde's actions had almost caused him a lot of trouble before, he still liked Linde's flamboyant and confident personality. But now that Linde had gone to the scout team, it was as if a pearl had turned into dust and returned to mediocrity. The flamboyance and confidence had all disappeared, and all that remained was conformity. The only thing that hadn't changed was his almost strict self-discipline.
"Did I make a mistake in putting him in the scout team?" Garland asked hesitantly.
Fortimo replied, "No, your decision was absolutely correct."Galan frowned and said, "But I feel like he's become quite unremarkable since joining the scout squad."
"Unremarkable?" Fortimo's face was completely blank. He really didn't understand why Galan would think Linde's performance in the scout squad was unremarkable, because in his opinion, even if he himself were demoted to the scout squad, his performance would definitely not be better than Linde's.Originally, Fortimo thought Linde would be depressed for a few days after being demoted from a knight's squire to a scout, but Linde showed no signs of depression at all. In fact, the very next day, he used his previously established prestige to completely usurp the authority of the scout squad leader. He then improved the way the scout squad scouted for enemies, greatly increasing the efficiency of the scout squad in scouting ahead.
After that, many guard warriors actively joined Linde's scout squad. With Fortimo's deliberate leniency, Linde smoothly selected suitable candidates from the guard warriors and formed a scout squad completely centered around him.This performance is anything but ordinary. At least in Fortimo's past experience, he has never seen a teenager who can compare to Linde in terms of adaptability and competence.Garlan is only ten years old after all, and no matter how excellent his education is, some of his ideas still seem naive. He can't see how outstanding Linde's performance in the scout team really is, so he begins to regret the punishment decision he made in New Barrel City. He tentatively asks Fortimo, "Should we transfer Linde back to your side? I think letting him stay in the scout team might ruin a potential knight?"Fortimo was stunned for a moment, just about to explain to Galan how outstanding Lind had been in the scout team, and that there was absolutely no need to worry about ruining a knight seed, when a burst of clamor suddenly erupted outside.
Galan and Fortimo's expressions immediately turned serious. At Galan's signal, Fortimo turned and lifted the tent flap, and the two looked outside.
They saw that the knights and nobles in the hall were no longer sitting by the lit bonfire. They had all gathered at the entrance of the hall, peering outwards as if there was something magical outside.Immediately afterwards, some scout team soldiers were seen carrying various prey into the hall, then placing the prey in the middle of the hall, and soon the prey piled up into a small mountain.
"It should be Linde's scout team returning from the hunt, it looks like they had a good harvest." Fortimo said, looking at the pile of prey in front of him.
"Go! Call the Bear Hunter, I want to know how he managed to hunt so much prey in this kind of weather?"Seeing so much game, Garland was also excited. He gave an order to the servant beside him, and then added, "There's too much game. Just keep one boar and one deer. After the rest is roasted, send it to the camp outside for the guards to eat."
"Yes, young master." Garland's personal attendant responded and immediately ordered the other servants to deal with the game. He also found the scout team preparing to leave the hall and informed them of Garland's orders.
"What are you doing here? Where's the Bear Hunter?""Garland waited in the tent for a while. When he saw that the person who came in was the captain of the scout team, followed by another scout, he frowned and said, "Is he still blaming me for demoting him to the scout team and doesn't want to see me?"
"No, that's not it." Before the captain of the scout team could speak, the scout behind him interjected, "Lord Lind didn't return with us."
"Is he Lind's subordinate?" Garland looked at the scout who spoke and asked.The scout captain quickly said, "Yes, his name is Raul. He was selected by Lord Linde from the guard warriors during the scout team's expansion some time ago. He's quite skilled and is now Lord Linde's right-hand man."
"Why didn't Linde come back with you? Did he discover any dangers in the forest?" Garan asked again.
Raul immediately replied, "No, Lord Linde went after a shadow lynx."
"Chasing a shadow lynx?" Garan and Fortimo were both stunned.Raul then quickly recounted their encounter with the shadow lynx on the road, and also mentioned their speculation that Lind was planning to complete the ten hunting trials to become a legendary hunter.
Hearing Raul's words, Garan's face also showed excitement. After all, he had only read about pursuing ancient trials and becoming a legend in the world in books, but now it was actually happening in front of him, so how could he not be excited?However, amidst the excitement, he also felt a tinge of embarrassment, because just a moment ago he had thought Linde was unremarkable in the scout team, but in the blink of an eye, Linde had caused such a stir, which undoubtedly made his previous judgment seem so foolish and short-sighted.
...
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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)