At this moment, only Lynd and the Faceless Men were left on the grassland, along with an albino Shadowcat cub.
"I still don't know your name?" Lynd turned to the Faceless Men and asked.
"My old name, along with my face, has been offered to the Thousand-Faced God," the Faceless Men said, pulling his hood back over his head. "You can call me Bowie; that's my new name."
Lynd tentatively asked, "Could you tell me what happened between you, Joel, and Vortimer?"
Bowie, the Faceless Men, shook his head and said, "There's nothing to say. Those are all things of the past, and since I'm leaving this time, I shouldn't be coming back, so you don't need to worry about anything."
Apparently, the Faceless Men had misunderstood something, but Lynd didn't continue to probe. Instead, he pointed to the wound on Bowie's chest and said, "Do you need my help? With your current injuries, in this weather, you might not be able to get out of this forest."
"Spark's potion can be called a miracle," Bowie said, deliberately pulling open his clothes to reveal the wound on his chest to Lynd.
The wound, which should have been torn open, was now completely healed, leaving only a shallow scar. If one didn't look closely, they would never know there had been a fatal injury there.
Seeing the effect of the potion on the Faceless Men, Lynd also found it incredible. Just as Bowie said, this potion was simply a miracle, and for someone like him, who was destined to frequently go to the battlefield in the future, this potion was also a lifesaver.
Thinking of this, Lynd couldn't help but look towards the location of the earlier earthen mound treehouse, wondering how to curry favor with and befriend Spark to obtain this potion from her.
"You don't need to look. Spark has already left," Bowie seemed to know what Lynd was thinking and said, "Spark's treehouse can move underground. She will never stay in one place for long, especially if that place has been discovered by humans."
Although it seemed incredible, Lynd felt that the Faceless Men was not lying, so he asked, "If that's the case, how do you contact her?"
"My method is not something you can use, and even if I used it now, it might not be effective," Bowie shook his head, dashing Lynd's hopes, but then changed the subject and said, "However, judging from Spark's reaction just now, she seems to appreciate you. Otherwise, she wouldn't have given you the Shadowcat cub. Perhaps she will even take the initiative to meet you in the future."
Lynd looked down at the cub curled up in his arms, a relieved smile appearing on his face. For him, even without the potion, he had gained a lot from this trip. There was no need to obsess over the potion; it was better to let nature take its course.
The Faceless Men saw Lynd's relieved smile and knew that Lynd had come to terms with it. This surprised the Faceless Men, because in his understanding, a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy would not possess such an open-minded attitude. It only appeared in adults with rich life experiences or elders who had long since seen through everything in the world.
At this moment, Lynd asked with some curiosity, "Spark's abilities are very different from what I've heard about the Forest Children in legends. I've never heard of any Forest Children being able to move their dwelling freely underground."
As he said this, the image of the Forest Children immediately appeared in Lynd's mind, but that image was entirely the one from the TV series. It had to be said that the difference between the Forest Children in the series and Spark, the Forest Children he had just seen, was like that between a beggar and a noble; the difference was so great that they didn't seem to be the same species.
However, on second thought, he felt that this difference might be the difference between a TV series and reality, and perhaps the Forest Children of the Ice and Fire World in reality were indeed like Spark.
"Spark is special; she is one of the rare Children of Nature among the Forest Children," the Faceless Men seemed unwilling to say more about Spark. After a simple reply, he no longer intended to continue talking with Lynd.
He fully wrapped himself in his cloak, then looked at the Shadowcat cub in Lynd's arms and said, "Let me remind you, no matter how close this cub is to you, it is still a wild beast. It's best to tie it with a rope, otherwise it will definitely hurt other people. If it hurts ordinary people, that's fine, but if it hurts those noble lords, such as Garlan Tyrell, then your fate might be the same as mine."
After speaking, without waiting for Lynd to respond, he stepped into the forest and quickly disappeared.
Lynd did not stop the Faceless Men from leaving, nor did he think of tracking his identity through the clues revealed in the Faceless Men's words. He could feel the Faceless Men's goodwill, although this goodwill might have come from others.
One thing the Faceless Men said was correct: Lynd had indeed been planning to raise this cub in a free-range manner, especially intending to keep the cub in a predatory state. But now that he thought about it, his free-range plan was a bit too dangerous. He indeed needed a rope to restrain the Shadowcat.
Lynd, reconsidering the feeding plan, held the cub up to his face. The cub, like a small cat, thought Lynd was playing with it, letting out soft meows and wiggling its limbs. Its paw-like paws constantly clawed, as if trying to hug Lynd's face.
Looking at the cub's movements, Lynd smiled, then tucked it into his clothes, cradling it in his arms, and walked towards the Howling Forest Relay Station.
In the hall of the Howling Forest Relay Station, House Tyrell's servants had specially set up a small tent for Garlan, allowing him to live inside alone, without having to mix with others outside.
Garlan had originally objected to this. Compared to staying alone in a tent, he preferred to be with the nobles and knights of House Tyrell. If it weren't raining, he would even be willing to sit with the soldiers outside and listen to their various anecdotes.
However, Maester Selik, who was accompanying him, dissuaded him because Maester Selik found that some soldiers were ill. If it was just a common cold, that would be fine, but if it was an infectious disease, the more Garlan interacted with others, the more likely he would be infected.
After hearing Maester Selik's explanation, Garlan no longer insisted. He instructed his servant to take some medicine from his private medicine box and give it to Vortimer, asking him to pass it on to the sick soldiers. Although he didn't know if these medicines would be effective, it was at least a gesture of goodwill.
Returning to the tent, Garlan picked up a book recording the adventure stories of Ser Duncan the Tall and Aegon V as knight errants. This was already the fifth edition of Duncan and Aegon's stories he had read. Each version of the story collection, in addition to the well-known stories, also contained some new ones.
Although Garlan knew very well that those new stories were fabricated, he still enjoyed reading them and was willing to believe they were true. While reading, he often thought about how his current age was similar to Aegon V's back then. What would it be like if he also met his own knight and embarked on an adventure in the Seven Kingdoms?
For some reason, when he thought of a knight, the sturdy figure of Lynd, the knight's squire, couldn't help but appear in Garlan's mind.
Thinking of this, Garlan closed the book in his hand, picked up the bell on the small table beside him, and shook it. After the servant outside the tent came in, he ordered, "Please invite Lord Vortimer. I have something to ask him."
The servant responded and exited the tent. After a while, Vortimer Crane, soaked through, walked in from outside.
Vortimer took the towel offered by the servant, wiped the rain from his body, and then asked Garlan, "My Lord, did you call me for something?"
Garlan said casually, "Nothing important, just wanted to ask how our Bear Hunter is doing? Is he accustomed to being in the scout team?"
Upon hearing this, Vortimer recalled the relevant information he had received from the scout team leader, and a satisfied smile involuntarily appeared on his face. He then reported all the information he knew about Lynd in the scout team to Garlan.
After listening, Garlan's face showed a hint of disappointment. Although Lynd's previous actions had almost caused him great trouble, he still liked Lynd's flamboyant and confident personality. But now that Lynd had gone to the scout team, it was as if a pearl had turned into dust and returned to ordinariness. All the flamboyance and confidence had disappeared, replaced only by adherence to rules, with the only constant being his almost strict self-discipline.
"Did I make a mistake by putting him in the scout team?" Garlan asked hesitantly.
Vortimer replied, "No, your decision was very correct."
Garlan frowned and said, "But I feel like he's become unremarkable since he went to the scout team."
"Unremarkable?" Vortimer's face was completely bewildered. He truly didn't understand why Garlan would think Lynd's performance in the scout team was unremarkable, because in his opinion, even if he himself had been demoted to the scout team, his performance would definitely not be better than Lynd's.
Vortimer had originally thought Lynd would be depressed for a few days because of his demotion from knight's squire to scout team, but Lynd showed no signs of depression at all. Moreover, on the second day, he had already completely sidelined the scout team leader's authority with the prestige he had established earlier. After that, he even improved the scout team's method of investigating enemies, greatly increasing the efficiency of the scout team in scouting ahead.
Afterward, many guard warriors even voluntarily joined Lynd's scout team. With Vortimer's intentional relaxation, Lynd also successfully selected suitable candidates from the guard warriors and formed a scout team completely centered around him.
This kind of performance in no way seemed unremarkable. At least in Vortimer's past experience, he had never seen any teenager who could compare with Lynd in terms of adaptability and work ability.
Garlan was, after all, only ten years old. Even if the education he received was excellent, some of his thoughts still seemed naive. He couldn't fully see how outstanding Lynd's performance in the scout team was, so he began to regret the punishment decision he had made in New Barrel. Thus, he tentatively asked Vortimer, "Should I transfer Lynd back to your side? I feel that continuing to keep him in the scout team might ruin a potential knight."
Vortimer was stunned. Just as he was about to explain to Garlan how outstanding Lynd's performance in the scout team was and that there was no need to worry about ruining a potential knight, a sudden commotion came from outside.
Garlan and Vortimer's expressions immediately became serious. At Garlan's signal, Vortimer turned and lifted the tent flap, and both looked outside.
They saw that the knights and nobles in the hall were no longer gathered around the burning bonfire. Instead, they were all at the entrance of the hall, looking out, as if there was something miraculous outside.
Immediately after, some scout team soldiers were seen carrying various game into the hall, then placing the game in the middle of the hall. Soon, these game animals piled up into a small mountain.
"It must be Lynd's scout team returning from hunting. It looks like they had a good haul," Vortimer said, looking at the pile of game in front.
"Go! Call the Bear Hunter. I want to know how he managed to hunt so much in this weather?" Seeing so much dead animals, Garlan also became excited. He instructed his servant, then added, "There's too much. Leave only one wild boar and one deer. After the other game is roasted, send it to the camp outside for the family's guard warriors to eat."
"Yes, Young Master," Garlan's personal attendant replied, then immediately instructed the other attendants to process the game and found the scout team, who were preparing to leave the hall, to inform them of Garlan's order.
"Why is it you? Where is the Bear Hunter?" Garlan waited in the tent for a while, and when he saw that the person who came in was the scout team leader, with a scout following behind him, he frowned and said, "Is he still complaining that I demoted him to the scout team and doesn't want to see me?"
"No, it's not," Before the scout team leader could speak, the scout behind him quickly interjected, "Lord Lynd didn't come back with us."
"Is he Lynd's subordinate?" Garlan looked at the speaking scout and asked.
The scout captain quickly said, "Yes, his name is Raul. He was selected by Lord Lynd from the guard warriors when the scout team was expanded some time ago. He's skilled and is now Lord Lynd's capable assistant."
"Why didn't Lynd come back with you? Did he discover any danger in the forest?" Garlan asked again.
Raul immediately replied, "No, Lord Lynd went after a Shadowcat."
"After a Shadowcat?" Garlan and Vortimer were both stunned.
Raul then quickly recounted their encounter with the Shadowcat on the road, and also mentioned their speculation on the road that Lynd intended to complete ten hunting trials to become a legendary hunter.
After listening to Raul's words, a look of excitement also appeared on Garlan's face. After all, pursuing ancient trials and becoming a legend in the world was something he had only read about in books, and now it was actually happening before him. How could he not feel excited?
However, amidst his excitement, he also felt a hint of embarrassment, because just a moment ago, he had thought Lynd was unremarkable in the scout team, but in a flash, Lynd caused such a stir. This undoubtedly made his previous judgment seem so foolish and short-sighted.