Ice and Fire: Conquering the World Starting from the Wall

If it weren't for the slight differences in the details, Lynn would have almost thought that Kuna had leaked the information, or that Mans had simply sent a spy to test him.

Seeing that Mans had dropped his carefully crafted mask of pretense, he knew that the other party was about to get serious, so he stopped trying to appease him.

Lynn repeated what he had told Kuna, stating that he was not a descendant of Targaryens and that there were more than one family that could tame dragons; it was just that the dragon egg resources had been monopolized before.

Faced with Mance's skepticism, Lynn had to explain to him that even during the height of the Targaryen dynasty, the Valerian family of Tidehead Island had acquired "dragon blood" through marriage and thus possessed dragons.

Not to mention that Valyria once had forty dragon families. Although those families were destroyed along with that land, is it really true that not a single bloodline has survived?

It's very likely that there simply weren't any live dragon eggs to hatch.

In addition, the Targaryens in history have a clear lineage and are characterized by their silver hair and purple eyes, so there is no point in impersonating them (although there have been legitimate heirs of other hair colors in House Targaryen, but their fates seem to have been less than good).

Currently, the only surviving direct descendants of House Targaryen are the siblings Viserys and Daenerys, who are in exile overseas. Daenerys married Khal Drogo and bore him children, while Viserys died after receiving the golden crown from Khal Drogo.

There is also a fake Aegon, who is suspected to be a descendant of Blackfyre, and was raised by the exiled Prime Minister Jon Clinton, but it is difficult for him to prove his identity.

If Lynn were to raise the Targaryen banner, two serious problems would be immediately apparent.

First, lacking legitimacy, he could only claim to be a royal illegitimate son, which made it difficult to gain the support of the nobility.

Secondly, the animosity from the North stemmed from the brutal killing of Rickard Stark, the former Warden of the North, and his heir Brandon Stark, along with several other heirs of high-ranking Northern nobles. His son Rhaegar then kidnapped Lyanna Stark (from a civilian perspective), further fueling the North's deep-seated hatred towards the Targaryen family.

Lynn explained these details to Mance, telling him that he had no relation to the Targaryens and that he neither wanted to nor could impersonate the Mad King's bastard son.

Although Mance was intelligent and had a tongue more powerful than a sword, he was of humble origin and had always mingled among the Night's Watch and wildlings, so his perspective and experience were ultimately limited.

"So all of this is just your conjecture. My arrival was indeed unexpected, and I had no intention of threatening your position as the King of the Frontier."

As Lynn spoke, he picked up the glass of mead that Dana had poured for him and took a few sips. Surprisingly, it tasted quite good.

"If you still don't believe me," he added, "Nemo has seen my 'Starship' with Stimmagna, and countless free men witnessed the fireball two weeks ago."

Nemo was already getting impatient seeing Lynn speaking so politely to Mans.

He tilted his nose up and said to Mans:

"I swear in the name of the gods and Magna, 'Son of the Star' Lynn speaks the truth, and twelve of the finest tribal warriors bear witness to it with me!"

This oath carries great weight.

Mans sighed again, his voice filled with sorrow:

"I don't care about the title of King of the Frontier; I just want to lead the free people who trust me to survive, including my wife and unborn child."

And even without that farce, you could probably tell that the free people don't believe in any king at all.

"I have never worn a crown, nor sat on that damned throne, if that's what you mean."

Mans glanced at Lynn and continued:

"I am of humble origin, I have no monks to anoint me with holy oil, and I have no castle of my own. My queen wears animal skins and amber, not silk and jewels. I am my own warrior, my own jester, and my own musician."

"No king of the frontier relies on bloodline. Free people do not follow surnames, nor do they care which brother was born first. They believe in the strong."

"When I left the Shadow Tower, five men were clamoring to become King Beyond the Wall. Tormund was one, Stie was another, and I killed the other three because they preferred to rebel rather than obey."

"They were just as brave, strong, swift, and intelligent as the knights of the South, but they lacked discipline. They called themselves free men, and each of them thought himself as great as a king and as wise as a maester."

"Right now, they are only gathered in my tent temporarily because they are frightened by the dead and have no other choice, because they believe that I can lead the free people to break through that ice wall."

Lynn seized on the key point: "You used to be a member of the Night's Watch?"

"Nobody told you this? Fine, I'll tell you myself then."

Mans picked up the bowl of acorn paste, scooped a mouthful into his mouth, and then said:

"My name is Mance Red, Red is a variant of the word 'Raider,' the surname the Night's Watch gives to bastards."

They found me in the arms of a group of raiders who had been ambushed. To this day, no one can explain why they would carry a child over an ice wall hundreds of feet high. Perhaps they were trying to escape to the warmer south!

"Some people say that the children were taken from the farmers' homes, but in any case, the Night Watch took me in and raised me. I became a born Night Watchman. They made me make an oath when I was still ignorant."

"But I have a natural love for women and I don't like to kneel before others. I think there's nothing wrong with that, but it goes against the Night's Watch. I love the wilderness more than the Wall; it's in my blood, it's in my nature. I love the Wildlings' music and their women. Leaving the Shadow Tower feels like coming home to me."

"Once, when we were patrolling outside the city, we killed a beautiful giant deer and were busy skinning it when the smell of blood attracted the Shadow Lynx from a nearby den. I chased it away, but my cloak was torn to shreds in the fight. Do you see it? Here, here, and here?"

He smiled and showed Lynn the red stitching on his worn-out cloak.

"That beast tore my arms and back apart; I bled more than the deer. The brothers were afraid I would die before I could return to the Shadow Tower for treatment, so they carried me to a savage village, where there was supposedly an old witch who knew some medicine."

Unfortunately, she had already died, leaving behind only a daughter. She cleaned the blood off me, stitched up my wounds, and fed me porridge and medicine until I recovered.

She mended my tattered cloak with bright red silk thread from Assya, thread her grandmother had found on a wrecked boat washed ashore on a frozen shore. It was her greatest treasure, a gift from her.

He draped the cloak back over his shoulders.

"Back at Shadow Tower, they found me a new wool cloak from the warehouse, a completely black cloak, neat and clean, paired with black breeches and black boots, a black blouse and black chainmail. This new cloak had no wear, no scratches, no tears... and no red marks."

"The Night's Watch must wear black!"

Sir Denis Mellist reminded me sternly, as if I were forgetful. He also said, "You can burn your old cloak."

"I left the next morning... to a place where kissing was no longer a sin, and people were free to choose their cloaks."

Lynn never imagined he had such a past.

And after the acorn paste was finished, the story came to an end.

Mans put down his spoon and said quietly:

"Alright, you've told your story, and I've told mine. We're even now. Let's get down to business."