White Wolf on Black Banner

After the trial by combat, Jon's legend spread through nearly every street, alley, military camp, and tent.

As the news traveled, the story grew stranger and stranger.

Some swore that Jon had fought his way through Roose Bolton's camp alone with nothing but a wooden stick.

Others said he had received the Old Gods' blessing, which was why he was so fierce.

Speculation about Jon's parentage also became a favorite topic among the soldiers and the residents of Winter Town.

Eddard's public explanation was that Jon's mother had merely been an ordinary fisherwoman.

But that explanation was clearly unconvincing.

Others voiced more secretive guesses—for instance, that Jon's mother might have come from House Dayne.

After all, it was said that before marrying Catelyn, Eddard had been in love with Lady Ashara of House Dayne.

And Ashara seemed to have died around the end of Robert's Rebellion.

Though opinions differed wildly over Jon's parentage, his prestige had clearly risen.

After all, defeating a fully armed swordsman in heavy armor with a single wooden stick was truly outrageous.

And after this trial by combat, the great lords who had been ready to make trouble also quieted down.

They had thought Jon was merely a blade in Robb's hand, at most a spear.

But then that spear had started "spitting blue fire."

That made things awkward.

If they stirred up trouble again and Jon challenged them to another trial by combat, wouldn't they be finished?

Whether by law or morality, they had no ground to stand on.

Of course, Jon could not simply rely on his martial skill to bully others at will.

Rules were rules. If he provoked public outrage, someone would surely club him from behind or shoot him with a hidden arrow.

Thus, after the trial by combat, both Jon and the lords settled down.

Some lords did consider trying to win Jon over and recruit him into their own service.

But after their retainers reminded them that Robb had already assigned Jon a task, they could only regretfully give up.

And while they had yet to march south, Jon began trying to train his Skinchanging ability.

These days, soldiers often saw a raven perched on Jon's shoulder.

Training and feeding ravens was part of a maester's basic duties.

Maester Luwin had many ravens, adult and juvenile alike, trained and untrained.

Jon picked one.

His choice of a raven as his "second Skinchanging target" had been carefully considered.

Ravens possessed great endurance. As Westeros's preferred messengers, they could fly for long periods.

If he successfully Skinchanged into a raven in the future, Jon could scout enemy movements more efficiently.

Of course, thanks to the cheat known as [Gods' Eye], Jon did not intend to use ravens for scouting.

What Jon valued most was that with a raven, he could keep in contact with Robb.

An ordinary raven could remember only one delivery route, while an intelligent one could remember three or five.

But once Jon Skinchanged into a raven, he could "navigate automatically," essentially becoming Westeros's version of an owl.

Of course, for now, they were still in the stage of building a bond.

Also, although the Northern army was about to set out, Jon still went on patrol as usual that day.

Because of his reputation, even Northern soldiers who had done nothing to oppress the common folk could not help avoiding Jon and his patrol.

Whenever he passed through a street, it was as though he were a booster; the Northern soldiers all lowered their heads and left.

But just as his group was about to turn a corner, they were stopped by a crowd of commoners.

There were people young and old among them, even women holding infants in their arms.

Though they were plainly dressed, they all looked fairly clean.

Quite a few had even washed their faces!

In an age when water and fuel were both precious, this was clearly the highest courtesy they could offer.

Each held a basket or small bundle, their faces full of eager expectation.

The man leading them looked somewhat familiar.

"My lord." The man bowed to Jon before saying, "My lord, we heard that you are about to march out to rescue Lord Eddard, so we prepared some food and clothing for you. Please accept them."

The Winterfell soldiers following Jon were seeing such a situation for the first time as well.

They all felt somewhat embarrassed.

They looked at one another, their faces flushing hot with shame.

Though they too were Northerners, and Winterfell soldiers at that, they had always considered themselves above these commoners.

Taking whatever they wanted and extorting whatever they could was commonplace.

It was their first time being treated with kindness, and they truly did not know how to handle it.

The way they wanted the gifts but were too embarrassed to accept them was rather amusing.

Jon looked at these ordinary commoners and felt deeply moved.

He jumped down from his horse, helped the middle-aged leader up, and said:

"Everyone... neighbors, Winterfell provides all our provisions, including warm clothing. Besides, aren't we heading south? The south is very warm. You should keep these things."

Because of Westeros's unusual climate, spring and autumn were both very short.

Scorching summers and freezing winters occupied ninety percent of the time.

Winter would officially arrive before long.

And it was foreseeable that along with this harsh winter would come the Long Night.

And that was only a natural disaster!

There would also be man-made disasters!

As a transmigrator, Jon knew that in the future, Theon would lead Iron Islands raiders to sack Winterfell.

Though Martin had not described the miserable fate of these commoners, even Bran and Rickon, nobles themselves, had barely escaped with their lives. What chance did these people have?

Seeing that Jon refused to accept them no matter what, the middle-aged man took out another small bundle and said earnestly:

"My lord, since you will not accept our food, then please accept this instead."

As he spoke, he opened the small bundle, and a black banner slowly unfurled.

At the center of the black banner was a white direwolf.

By Westerosi custom, a bastard's banner or sigil was generally the reversal of the main house's heraldic colors.

For example, the Targaryens had once split off a branch known as House Blackfyre.

The Targaryen banner bore a black dragon on a red field.

The Blackfyre banner bore a red dragon on a black field.

Heraldry was also considered a prominent field of study in Westeros, and quite a few people understood it.

Considering Jon's status as a bastard, they had worked together to make such a banner to cheer him on.

Jon accepted the banner and discovered that they had used fine cloth for it.

The white direwolf on the banner had been embroidered stitch by stitch.

It was imposing and exquisite.

The Winterfell soldiers all sang its praises when they saw it.

"Good. I'll accept this banner. Thank you all for your kindness."

Robb had been recruiting knights from across the army these past few days who were willing to follow Jon's command, and it would soon come in handy.

Yet because of this, something happened that Jon had expected, but which still left him somewhat depressed.