This time, Old York didn't stay passed out. Instead, he accepted the low-risk task of excavating the riverbank.
It wasn't the kind of job that would win him any glory, but at least it wouldn't get him in trouble.
At Jon's command, they set out almost immediately to the designated spot to handle the earthworks.
Meanwhile, Jon took the remaining two hundred men and set out with Lyle Hode.
Tommen was brought along, of course.
The guy wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but he was a heavy armored knight, and his charge was second to none.
Naturally, Jon wasn't going to rely solely on these men to scout the enemy. His real trump card was his "System"—his cheat code.
That was the only way to ensure the reconnaissance was foolproof.
Jon dumped his last remaining upgrade point straight into the [God's Eye View] perk.
Instantly, the blue trait flashed and turned purple.
Jon's sensory range expanded dramatically.
The diameter of his perception jumped from a mile or so to nearly five miles.
Relying on the upgraded ability, Jon scanned the Northern army's encampment.
First, the Twins to the west. Because of the castle walls, he couldn't tell exactly how many people were inside, but there were roughly two hundred men patrolling the ramparts.
Then he checked the northern section of the Northern army.
Roose Bolton claimed he brought over 4,500 men from the Dreadfort, but Jon discovered there were actually only about 3,700.
And remember, to ensure Roose wasn't left without any cavalry, Robb hadn't stripped him of his horsemen.
Sly old fox, Jon grumbled internally.
He then checked the other armies in the camp.
House Blackwood, House Cerwyn—their numbers were also slightly lower than reported.
Whoever said Northerners were simple, honest folk had clearly never met this lot. They're crafty as hell.
However, as Jon continued his scan, he realized not everyone was fudging the numbers.
House Karstark, for instance, had a full headcount, even slightly exceeding their quota. The reason was likely that they hadn't counted their support staff in the official tally.
The Greatjon's House Umber was the same.
Of course, this was just a classic symptom of feudal armies.
A Lord Paramount calls his bannermen, the bannermen call their knights, and the knights round up soldiers. These soldiers are thrown together into temporary formations based on the needs of the war.
Their coordination was usually pretty mediocre.
There was no helping it; that's just how the political system of Westeros worked.
Finally, Jon made his assessment: within a range of three to six miles, he could estimate the enemy's rough numbers. Within three miles, he could precisely track their quantity and status.
A six-mile diameter was wide enough to cover the march of an army of twenty thousand.
This gave him the confidence to accept this mission and even split his forces to dig the canal.
There were still about ten days until his upgrade points refreshed. Jon planned to keep dumping them into [God's Eye View].
But for now, this was enough.
Soon, Jon's soldiers were prepped and ready. He took Tommen and linked up with Lyle Hode.
"Ser Hode."
"Jon."
After they met up, Lyle Hode studied Jon with those unnervingly green eyes of his, as if looking for any "Targaryen" features.
Fortunately, there were none.
Actually, the raven perched on his saddle drew more attention than Jon himself.
"You know how to handle ravens?" Lyle asked, using the bird as an icebreaker.
"Picked it up from the Lord Commander," Jon fibbed effortlessly, adding that his raven could track people and they could use it for communication.
Lyle was amazed.
After exchanging pleasantries, the two set off together.
On the road, Lyle chatted with Jon under the guise of sharing his experience.
"If we spot a patrol, the best choice is to avoid them. Don't engage directly."
Listening to him, Jon felt reassured having a veteran around.
The advice was solid.
After all, normal people couldn't be sure if the patrol in front of them was alone. What if there were others nearby?
If there were, their position would be compromised, and the scouting mission would be a bust.
But for Jon, this wasn't an issue.
As a "Human Radar," he could sense the surroundings far better than the enemy could.
So, for him, wiping them out was actually the better option.
As they chatted along the way, Jon gradually decided that Lyle meant no harm.
The guy was mostly just fishing for information, trying to see if Jon knew anything about his true parentage.
Two days after leaving the Twins, Jon spotted a small squad of cavalry about four miles to the southwest.
But they weren't patrolling. They were...
Through the feedback from his System, Jon clearly sensed their emotional state—
Excitement. Bloodlust.
Mixed in with the soldiers were innocent Riverlands civilians.
They had separated the men and women.
The men were locked in one house, the women in another.
The Westerlands soldiers waited excitedly outside the door, queuing up for their turn after their comrades finished satisfying their lust inside.
Their swords and armor had become the scales and claws of demons.
The cries of the innocent were a symphony from hell.
These men were raping and pillaging without a shred of restraint.
Jon wanted to save them.
He quickly Warged, summoning Ghost.
Lyle Hode watched Jon and his wolf, overhearing the Winterfell soldiers whispering nearby:
"Even at a time like this, he's playing with his wolf."
"Tell me about it. I thought following him meant independent action, or at least avoiding the grunt work."
"And that marching training he made us do... like we don't know how to walk."
The soldiers behind Jon muttered their dissatisfaction.
Of course, they wouldn't dare disobey Jon directly.
Leaving aside his relationship with Robb, his combat skills alone were nothing to mess with. Most of these soldiers, like Old York, had just accepted their bad luck.
But what Jon said next caught Lyle and the soldiers completely off guard.
"There's a squad of Westerlands cavalry in the village ahead. You guys stay here and keep eyes on them. I'm going to scout deeper. If there are no other enemies nearby, I'm coming back to kill them all!"
Everyone was stunned.
They looked at Jon's wolf with wide eyes, amazed that a direwolf was smart enough to report military intelligence to its master.
Lyle stepped forward to stop him. "Jon, remember what I told you?"
"I remember, Ser Hode. But Ghost tells me those Westermen are brutalizing innocent civilians."
"What?"
Lyle looked at Ghost in disbelief, thinking, Is this actually a person in a wolf's skin?
How could it be that smart?
Eventually, Jon insisted on scouting first to ensure the area was clear before making a move.
Lyle sensed the profound sense of justice in Jon—a trait so similar to Ned Stark that it instantly boosted his respect for the boy.
Remember, before taking this mission, Jon had practically signed a death warrant.
If the scouting failed, he'd lose his head.
The fact that he was willing to risk that to save people proved he had a good heart.
If that's the case, Lyle thought, I'll just have to watch over him on the battlefield.
Finally, Lyle agreed to Jon's plan.
Jon used his raven to signal the other nearby scout squads, ordering them to converge and encircle the Westerlands soldiers.
Bypassing the village, Jon and Lyle continued their careful reconnaissance.
Through his [God's Eye View], Jon could see not just the enemy, but the devastation wrought upon the Riverlands by the Westerlands army.
Tywin Lannister's ruthlessness wasn't just for his enemies.
As long as he could punish his foes, he didn't care what anyone else thought.
Like letting The Mountain rape Rhaegar's wife, Elia, and smash their son, little Aegon, to death.
Like letting his subordinates butcher Rhaegar's daughter, Rhaenys...
So, letting The Mountain ravage the Riverlands was nothing new.
Tywin actually preferred establishing authority through massacre.
If a man like that controlled the fate of the Seven Kingdoms, when the Night King eventually came, it would be hard to say whether the oppressed commoners would choose to be walking corpses or live under Tywin's rule.
After a quick sweep, Jon confirmed there were no other Lannister soldiers nearby and signaled the other scout teams.
By this time, the Westerlands soldiers, finished with their "sport," were leisurely roasting food over a fire.
They had been rampaging through the Riverlands for months without meeting any real resistance.
It was normal for their guard to be down.
This was a feudal army, after all; don't imagine them as overly disciplined.
Even modern armies struggle to stay sharp after a string of easy victories.
Little did they know, they were already being stalked by a direwolf dyed brown to blend in.
And the Northern soldiers were quietly closing the net.
"What's the plan?" Lyle asked.
"I'll lead the charge. You command the squad."
Hearing the resolve in Jon's voice, Lyle thought to himself:
Ned, I promise I will protect this boy.
He watched helplessly as Jon crept forward with a dozen Winterfell soldiers.
The brown-dyed Ghost struck like lightning, tearing out a Westerlands soldier's throat.
As the enemy panicked and scrambled to fight back, Jon burst from cover, dual swords in hand.
The soldiers, still eating, stumbled over themselves trying to reach the weapons they had cast aside.
But it was too late. The moment Jon charged, the surrounding soldiers revealed themselves.
There were no calls for surrender, no wasted breath. Under the impact of Jon's unparalleled combat skill, the soldiers who had just been indulging their vilest desires had no chance to fight back.
Jon's speed and lethality far exceeded Lyle Hode's imagination.
The swords seemed to be extensions of his own body.
It reminded Lyle of a terrifying opponent from the past—Arthur Dayne.
You had best never find out who you really are, a thought surfaced in Lyle's mind.
In his eyes, Jon didn't lack for strategy, and to have such skill at such a young age...
If he ever learned his true identity, the Seven Kingdoms would likely be plunged into another terrible war.