After a two-week delay, the King's party finally headed south, and Aldric's journey north to the Wall officially began after meeting up with Tyrion Lannister.
Departing from Winterfell and traveling north along the Kingsroad, they would reach Castle Black, the headquarters of the Night's Watch.
According to Tyrion's estimate, it would take about twenty days to a month.
Honestly, not that far.
But the weather in Winterfell at this time was like a young couple going through the seven-year itch—prone to sudden light snowfalls to cool everyone down.
And the further north they went, the colder it would get.
So Aldric, understanding the principle of "poor at home, rich on the road," prepared thoroughly for the trip.
He not only bought thick fur coats for Kevin and Rennel but also specially acquired an old wagon from the town to carry large amounts of food supplies and luggage. He let Rennel, who couldn't ride due to his broken finger, drive it.
Riding a wagon was more comfortable than riding a horse—a lesson Aldric learned escorting the Colbert caravan.
Obviously, Tyrion was smart too. Seeing Aldric hand "Lightning" to Kevin and sit in the carriage, he squeezed in with his small frame.
Seeing Tyrion reading in the swaying carriage, Aldric kindly reminded him, "Lord Tyrion, reading in a carriage is bad for your eyes."
Tyrion moved his gaze from the book. "And?"
Aldric held out his hand. "Give me one. I'll share the burden."
"Heh," Tyrion sneered, handing the book over. "Be careful. I borrowed this from Lord Eddard's library. I have to return it."
Aldric flipped through it—a book about dragons—and closed it, hiding it behind his back. "Didn't Lord Eddard go south with the King to be Hand?"
Tyrion laughed. "Do you think Lord Eddard sat in the library dusting books with a feather duster? That's Septon Chayle's job. Looking at the condition of these books, I suspect the Lord visited the library less often than he visited brothels."
Aldric pointed out solemnly, "I heard the Lord has great character and never goes to brothels."
Tyrion pointed at Aldric. "Ha!"
Aldric changed the subject. "How many men does the Night's Watch have now?"
Tyrion calculated. "About a thousand, I heard. Scattered like pepper over a three-hundred-mile wall. Honestly, with that few hands, I don't know who they can guard against."
"I heard from Rennel that during Aegon's time, the Night's Watch had ten thousand men?"
"Ten thousand is true... but combat-ready rangers were probably only two or three thousand. Any more, and the southern lords would get nervous."
Hearing this, Aldric vaguely realized that if a crisis erupted in the North, the Night's Watch likely wasn't a reliable force.
Not questioning their loyalty, just an objective evaluation of their current strength.
After all, the only Ranger he knew was Benjen Stark, who was traveling with them but always kept a stiff face and refused to talk to him.
Aldric worried, "Since ancient times, border troops have the hardest jobs but are the most important force. If the kingdom doesn't value them, when an accident happens, they won't be able to organize a defense in time."
Tyrion was noncommittal. "Do you think defense against Wildlings relies on those rogues, robbers, and rapists? No. It relies on that towering Wall. If Wildlings invade in large numbers, it's ultimately up to the Northern lords to handle."
Wildlings, Wildlings. It seemed everyone only saw the threat beyond the Wall as the free folk without iron armor.
What about the White Walkers? Did they have so little presence?
"What about White Walkers? If they aren't stopped outside the Wall, once they break through to the North, killing people and raising the dead... it won't take long to form an avalanche that sweeps the continent."
Tyrion widened his eyes in surprise. "Aldric, you don't really want to catch a White Walker, do you? I thought you were joking."
Aldric shrugged. "If there are any, great. If not, even better. I just want to visit beyond the Wall if I get the chance."
Tyrion jutted his chin toward Benjen Stark at the front. "You have to discuss that with First Ranger Benjen. But you're on your own; he has a deep prejudice against Lannisters."
Aldric frowned. "Wait, I'm just a hired guard. He hates you; surely he won't include me?"
"He even hates Gold Dragons made of Westerlands gold. What do you think?"
Aldric realized that getting on good terms with Benjen Stark was key to achieving his goal.
So that night at camp, Aldric carried a pot of special smoked meat soup to Benjen and Jon's fire. "First Ranger Benjen, this is smoked meat soup I made myself, using a recipe from my hometown. It tastes great; you've definitely never had it. If you don't mind, please taste it."
Benjen and Jon were highborn and terrible cooks; their food was edible at best.
The rich aroma wafted from the pot. Jon instinctively raised his bowl but was stopped by his uncle.
Benjen asked expressionlessly, "Did the Imp send you? If you have business, say it directly, but I certainly can't help."
Aldric sat cross-legged beside them. "I promised to guard Tyrion Lannister on this trip in exchange for traveling to the Wall with him. Our relationship is transactional. I'm not his servant; he's not my master."
"If First Ranger Benjen has issues with Lannisters... good, I have big issues with his family too. If you curse them, I'll applaud. I just want to see the Wall."
Except for Tyrion, Aldric truly disliked the Lannisters.
Benjen looked at Aldric for a while, then placed his bowl under Aldric's small pot. "The Wall is just a pile of cold stones and ice, guarded by homeless pitiful men. Nothing to see."
Aldric shook his head, filling their bowls with thick soup. He said sincerely, "Whatever the reason, true men who vow to guard the realm are worthy of respect."
Benjen didn't comment but didn't refute either. He took a sip of the hot soup and nodded. "Tastes good."
Aldric smiled. "Traveling everywhere, one must learn to take care of one's stomach."
Jon asked from the side, "You're a mercenary? Are you really from Seres, that land in the East?"
Aldric was curious. "How do you know? Did you hear The Chronicle of the Dawn too?"
"When Theon took Robb to the tavern, sometimes he took me too." Jon pointed at Rennel sorting supplies. "I heard him tell stories. The character Wilcon Seres shares your surname."
Aldric admitted, "By my hometown's tradition, Seres people traveling abroad use Seres as a surname. Actually, King Wilcon's surname in my hometown is 'Sun'."
"What about you?"
"Me?" Aldric hesitated. Tell him my surname is Liu? Lewie Liu?
Aldric shook his head. "For certain reasons, I was expelled from my family and forbidden to use my surname until I achieve something."
Hearing this, Jon's high spirits dampened, seemingly reminded of something.
Benjen glanced at his nephew and asked Aldric, "Your soup is good and warm. Anything else?"
The intent to dismiss was obvious.
Aldric checked the sky, poured the remaining soup into their bowls, and said, "No. Just wanted to chat and make friends. In my hometown, we say: One more friend, one more path; more friends make the road easier."
Benjen nodded and lowered his head to drink soup. Though still cold and reticent, Aldric knew this was a good start.
As expected, the next day, when Aldric cooked enough food for five and invited Benjen and Jon, he wasn't refused.
Two days later, Tyrion and his two servants joined the meal, bringing fine wine from Casterly Rock.
Though Benjen looked unhappy, he didn't leave.
The three separate campfires merged into one big fire. Delicious food and Rennel's desolate yet magnetic singing made the cold, boring journey interesting.
That night, Rennel sang a ballad about the Targaryen Conquest. Hearing the description of dragons, Aldric couldn't help asking, "Are there really dragons in this world?"
House Targaryen had fallen for over a decade, and dragons had vanished from Westeros before that. No one present could answer.
After a moment of silence, Tyrion shrugged. "There used to be... When I was young, I visited King's Landing and saw nineteen dragon skulls in the Red Keep's basement. Of course, not all were giant... two were deformed hatchlings, not much bigger than Jon's Ghost."
Ghost was Jon's direwolf, still a pup—a large pup.
Benjen took over. "Even those hatchlings were from nearly a century and a half ago. Since landing on this continent, Targaryen dragons got worse with each generation, just like their descendants."
Tyrion shook his head. "First Ranger Benjen, the Targaryens might not be as bad as you think. Even the Mad King Aerys tried to govern well when he was young."
"It's just that losing the dragons' power put too much pressure on the family, finally snapping the Mad King's fragile nerves, leading to those crazy acts... My brother Jaime told me that at the end of the Rebellion, Aerys even wanted to burn all of King's Landing with wildfire."
Benjen snorted. "Hmph, incest-bred bastards. No matter what, their sinful blood soaked their brains."
Considering Benjen's father and brother died at Aerys's hands, Tyrion didn't pursue the topic. "Who says otherwise?" He let it slide.
Aldric didn't know the deep grudges but sensed the stiffness. He winked at Rennel. Rennel understood and took over. "Speaking of dragons, our great King Wilcon Seres once followed Monk Che-Rian to a small country called the Rooster Kingdom..."
As Rennel narrated, the Monkey King story flew like a happy bird, taking away the gloom.
Even Benjen suppressed his irritation and listened quietly—after all, the Wall was too far, too cold, and too poor for bards.
Rarely hearing a fresh story, Benjen didn't want to lose the chance due to his mood.
After a few days, though Benjen still disliked talking to Tyrion, his opinion of Aldric—who cooked well and brought a bard—improved significantly.
Even during the day, he was willing to ride alongside Aldric and chat about past experiences.
From the chats, Aldric saw Benjen was interested in the life of a wandering mercenary.
So at night, Aldric shared events from Azeroth as conversation pieces.
He specifically chose his "youth" (around Level 10) experiences in Westfall, Eastern Kingdoms.
The Westfall questline was the first Aldric completed as a human warrior in WoW.
It told how the Kingdom of Stormwind, during Onyxia's corruption, ruined its granary, Westfall, causing suffering. And how the people of Westfall, led by militia leader Gryan Stoutmantle, fought resolutely against evil forces, finally winning.
In the story, Aldric was a fledgling soldier involved by delivering a letter, witnessing everything from farmers being killed to storming the "Deadmines."
The story was full of twists and turns, making everyone marvel. Rennel exclaimed that Captain Aldric was an inexhaustible gold mine of stories.
When the story ended, everyone applauded VanCleef's death, except for Tyrion's usually silent servant Morris, who complained softly, "That King was too unfair. Rebuilding the city walls is a huge project. Not paying a copper at the end? How could those stonemasons feed their wives and children?"
This time, Aldric said indifferently, "Who says otherwise?"
It was interesting. Everyone present was a disappointed person.
Jon Snow, a bastard disliked by his stepmother, joined the Night's Watch a virgin. Tyrion Lannister, motherless dwarf hated by his father. Aldric, the expelled mercenary (persona). Kevin Turner, a second son kicked out before adulthood. Rennel, a homeless bard. Jack and Morris, servants assigned to the disliked dwarf.
Among them, Benjen Stark—orphaned early, voluntarily taking the black, with no wife, children, or land—was actually the most successful one.
After realizing this, led by Aldric's teasing, Benjen had to buy everyone a round of drinks. Drunk, he even became willing to chat with Tyrion, making Tyrion wonder if a Northern ghost possessed him.
Later, Benjen took charge of twenty horses for the Wall, spending much time caring for them and withdrawing from the nightly story club. He was replaced by Yoren, a "Wandering Crow" who joined midway.
Yoren was a recruiter for the Night's Watch. This time he brought two "rapists" from the Fingers.
Aldric asked Kevin if he knew them.
Kevin snorted in disgust. "Don't know them." He added, "Teacher, don't tell anyone I'm from the Fingers. I don't want to be associated with them."
Finally, after nearly a month of walking in the biting Northern wind, Aldric and his apprentice arrived at the magnificent Wall.
At the moment he saw the Wall, Aldric froze.
Kevin asked worriedly, "Teacher, what's wrong?"
"I... smell magic."