The fallen bricks and stones from the abandoned watchtower were scattered haphazardly on the ground of the Old Inner Courtyard. A summer snow had recently fallen in Winterfell, and what had reached the ground had long since melted, with only a little white remaining on the bricks and stones.
The fear of being struck by falling objects was the most important reason why the residents of the Keep rarely came here. Due to the lack of maintenance for too long, besides weeds that reached ankle-deep and close to the knees, several unknown types of shrubs had even managed to grow with difficulty.
To conduct daily training here, he had spent considerable effort clearing weeds and moving away obstructive bricks and stones.
His black clothes were a conspicuous identity marker and a protective charm. The North has a custom of respecting the Night's Watch, and Benjen Stark bringing Aegon back to Winterfell for the feast had created the image of him being the "First Ranger's confidant," so the plan progressed smoothly. Although the servants and laborers were surprised why he chose such a corner for training, none of them obstructed him, and some even offered help and convenience.
Without much effort, Aegon took over this small, dilapidated courtyard that had been neglected for a long time.
In fact, he had even considered moving bricks and stones to block the stairs leading up inside the Keep, solving the problem from the root, but considering that he was just a guest after all, after much hesitation, he ultimately didn't dare to start modifying the Stark castle.
...
Days passed, and the time the Kingdom's rulers planned to stay in Winterfell was running out. Early this morning, the King led the hunting party to the Wolfswood west of Winterfell for a hunt, hoping to add a wild bear feast to the last dinner in the North's capital. The Prince accompanied him, and all adult males of the Stark family, including Robb, followed, but the Queen remained in Winterfell, and her brother Jaime also did not join the hunting party, choosing instead to accompany his sister...
There couldn't be a better time than this. Someone was more nervous than the two people involved—watching the First Ranger depart with the King's party, Aegon immediately rushed to the area he had claimed—he decided that today he would stay by this courtyard leading to the Keep, not leaving it until the hunting party returned.
Of course, he couldn't just sit and wait, so let's start with sword practice.
The sun gradually climbed into the sky, and the temperature began to rise. The Night's Watch had already completed a set of chopping exercises against a scarecrow and was now switching to bow and arrows to shoot at a target when an unexpected visit suddenly arrived.
"If I'm not mistaken," a slightly magnetic and strong male voice, speaking in a relaxed and casual tone, sounded not far behind him, "you are the Night's Watch who crossed the Sunset Sea to Westeros, was captured by the Night's Watch for service, and even killed a White Walker?"
Aegon turned around, startled: "Your Majesty, Ser, good morning. That would be me..."
Jaime Lannister nodded at him, while Cersei behind him glanced expressionlessly at Aegon in his black clothes, completely unwilling to say more than a few words to a Night's Watch.
Jaime is Tyrion's older brother, and the two brothers are close. It's not surprising that the Kingslayer would know about him killing a White Walker from the latter's mouth... but coming to talk to him about this matter clearly doesn't fit the former's personality. Upon seeing the Queen behind him, Aegon instantly became wary: (These two dogs!)
He had no ill feelings towards the golden-haired man in front of him, but as the saying goes, position determines perspective. Now that their stances were different, seeing these two together, Aegon couldn't help but curse them silently in his heart.
While cursing inwardly, the Night's Watch quickly put on a look of trepidation on his face—Jaime was easy to deal with, but Cersei was a petty person whose personality was completely opposite to her two brothers. What's worse, this foolish and malicious woman held a high position. In this world full of dangers, the people you absolutely cannot offend are these powerful figures who disregard everything when they act foolishly.
"Good archery," Jaime looked at the arrows stuck in the straw target, and suddenly felt his hands itch: "Give me the bow."
***
When at the Wall, Aegon had envisioned using the scraps left over from making Dragonglass daggers to make some Dragonglass Arrowheads, replacing the iron arrowheads issued by the corps to create "Dragon Crystal Arrows," in order to achieve the goal of killing White Walkers from a distance when needed.
But things weren't that simple. Arrows were important war materials, strictly controlled just like ammunition in the army before he transmigrated—normally stored in the armory, signed for upon receipt, and unused ones had to be returned. If it wasn't wartime, losing even one would result in punishment. Such items, of course, couldn't be arbitrarily modified and assembled by the ordinary soldiers below.
Therefore, when Gared found Aegon secretly tinkering with arrowheads, he not only chewed him out but also strictly forbade him from continuing the production—the reason was simple: if he messed around like this and the officers found out, he would suffer too. Something this large couldn't be hidden like a dagger, so this matter had to be dropped, which led to the scene later where he could only desperately use a dagger when facing the White Walkers.
Although the plan to make Dragon Crystal Arrows was thwarted, Aegon did not delay his archery practice. After all, encountering White Walkers was a low-probability event, but encountering Wildlings was a common occurrence every few days. As possibly the only transmigrator Night's Watch in the world, he greatly valued his life. Compared to close-quarters combat, a modern person from a world with guns and cannons naturally preferred to take down enemies early with ranged weapons.
Driven by this subconscious urge, whenever he had free time at Castle Black, he would run to the archery range to practice. Compared to his sword skills, his archery was much better.
***
Better than most Night's Watch, but definitely not good enough to be praised and challenged by one of the top experts in the Seven Kingdoms, "Kingslayer" Jaime Lannister.
What is this guy up to?
Full of suspicion, Aegon handed the bow to the other party.
The Kingslayer took the longbow, weighed it in his hands a few times, positioned himself, pulled the string, selected an arrow from the quiver, and aimed at the target.
It was the first time Aegon was so close to these two Lannisters, and he couldn't help but secretly size them up. Looking from this distance and angle, he had to marvel again: Jaime was tall and imposing, and his expression while concentrating on aiming at the target was even more handsome and dashing, while Cersei's curves were graceful and her appearance was noble and cold. At first glance, you couldn't tell she was the mother of three children; even with an expression of impatience, she was so captivating... These two, even in the world before he transmigrated, were Hollywood superstar-level handsome men and beautiful women.
Understandable, but not acceptable.
Not to mention that the Westeros Continent, which had been ruled by the Targaryens for hundreds of years, didn't have a strong aversion to this, even in the modern world Aegon came from before transmigrating, the law didn't explicitly prohibit it—to put it bluntly, as long as you didn't think about getting married, whoever you messed around with was a family matter, and no one had the right to interfere.
But having an affair with someone behind your husband's back and letting the former raise children for the lover, that was a provocation that no culture could tolerate.
While Aegon was lost in thought, the Kingslayer released his first arrow. With a muffled thud, the arrow flew dozens of meters and firmly embedded itself in the target just a few inches from the center, the tail of the shaft still trembling.
Not bad.
As a soldier, Aegon instinctively commented on the shot. From drawing the bow, aiming, to shooting, Jaime's entire archery process was smooth and fluid, and judging by his relaxed demeanor, he clearly had more strength... This guy has amazing arm strength. Being a Kingsguard, he should be competent enough.
The archer muttered something softly, seemingly still dissatisfied with the decent shot, and drew a second arrow. This time, the arrow firmly embedded itself in the exact center of the target, right next to the arrow Aegon had shot most accurately earlier.
"Tsk," the archer clicked his tongue, reached into the quiver, and pulled out a third arrow.
"How long do you plan to shoot here?" Cersei said coldly from behind the two, "Is the training ground at Casterly Rock not big enough, or is there no bow in the White Sword Tower where the Kingsguard live?"
"Heh heh, I got into the zone and almost neglected my dear sister," Jaime tilted his head and shrugged apologetically at Aegon, then re-aimed at the target: "Last one!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the arrow in his hand left the string, and the next second, another wooden shaft appeared inside the white cloth covering the center of the target.
"Alright, take it. Practice hard. With a group of brave Night's Watch brothers like you guarding the northernmost part of the Seven Kingdoms, I can sleep much more soundly at night," Jaime tossed the bow back to Aegon, saying it half-jokingly.
"It's our duty." The Kingslayer could be flippant, but he, a mere soldier, couldn't get carried away. After a moment of thought, he replied politely with a standard phrase and then added a harmless and meaningless flattery: "Lord, your archery is excellent."
The archery skill shown by Jaime Lannister with these three arrows easily surpassed his own, but it wasn't that of a god-tier archer. However, archery was just one of the Kingslayer's less famous skills. If his swordsmanship and horsemanship were as legendary, then he could indeed be considered a figure of great renown... but Aegon was currently neither interested in assessing the other party's strength nor in the mood to build relationships with these two important plot characters. He only hoped that these two troublesome people would leave quickly and not take a liking to the area he had specifically occupied.
Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned. Jaime put down the longbow, turned his head, and fixed his gaze on the Ruined Tower.
"What's with that tower? Why does it look so dilapidated from disrepair?"
—