After the trial by combat, Jon's legend spread through almost every street, alley, and army tent.
As the news spread, the story became increasingly bizarre.
Some people swore that Jon, with a single wooden stick, single-handedly fought his way through Roose Bolton's camp.
Others said he had received the blessing of the Old Gods, which was why he was so brave.
Speculation about Jon's parentage also became a popular topic among soldiers and the residents of Winter Town.
Eddard's official story was that Jon's mother was just an ordinary fisherwoman.
But this explanation was clearly not credible.
There were even more secretive conjectures, such as Jon's mother possibly coming from House Dayne.
Because Eddard, before marrying Catelyn, was rumored to have admired Lady Ashara of House Dayne.
And Ashara seemed to have died around the end of the Rebellion.
Although there were many different opinions regarding Jon's parentage, his prestige clearly increased.
After all, defeating a fully armored heavy swordsman with a wooden stick was quite an exaggeration.
And after this combat, those great lords who had been restless also quieted down.
They had thought Jon was merely a knife in Robb's hand, at most a spear.
But now this spear was starting to 'emit blue flames'.
This was awkward.
If they were to cause trouble again, and Jon continued to demand trial by combat, wouldn't that be the end of them?
From a legal to a moral standpoint, they had no ground to stand on.
Of course, Jon could not rely on his martial prowess to arbitrarily bully others.
Rules are rules, and if he incurred widespread anger, someone would surely resort to sneak attacks.
So, after the trial by combat incident, both Jon and the lords quieted down.
During this time, some lords also considered trying to win Jon over to serve under them.
But after being reminded by their subordinates that Jon had already been assigned a task by Robb, they all felt regretful.
And taking advantage of this time before heading south, Jon began to try training his Warging ability.
These days, soldiers often saw a raven perched on Jon's shoulder.
Training and feeding ravens are basic skills for Maesters.
Maester Luwin had many ravens, both adult and young, trained and untrained.
Jon chose one.
The decision to choose a raven as his 'second Warging target' was made after careful consideration.
Ravens have excellent endurance; as the preferred method for sending messages in Westeros, they can fly for long periods.
In the future, if he successfully Wargs a raven, Jon could more efficiently scout enemy positions.
Of course, because of the 'Gods Perspective' golden finger, Jon did not plan to use a raven to complete the task of scouting enemy positions.
What Jon valued most was that with a raven, he could maintain contact with Robb.
An ordinary raven can only remember one message route, while a smart raven can remember three to five.
But after Jon Wargs a raven, he would be able to 'auto-navigate', essentially becoming the Westeros version of an owl.
Of course, it is currently still in the stage of building rapport.
In addition, although the Northern army was about to set off, Jon still patrolled as usual that day.
Because of his reputation, even if those Northern soldiers were not doing anything to oppress the common people, they couldn't help but avoid Jon and his patrol when they saw them.
Every time he passed a street, it was like a booster, and those Northern soldiers would lower their heads and leave.
But just as their group was about to turn a corner, they were stopped by a group of commoners.
Among these people were old and young, and even women holding babies.
Although their clothes were simple, it was clear that they were all quite clean.
Many people had even washed their faces!
In an era where water and fuel were precious, this was clearly the highest courtesy they could offer.
Each of them held baskets and small parcels in their hands, looking eager.
The person leading them looked somewhat familiar.
"My Lord," that person bowed to Jon and then said, "My Lord, we heard that you are about to set off to rescue Lord Eddard, so we have prepared some food and clothes for you; please accept them."
The Winterfell soldiers following Jon had never seen such a situation before.
They all felt a bit embarrassed.
They looked at each other, feeling their faces flush and burning with shame.
Although they were also Northerners and Winterfell soldiers, they still considered themselves superior to these commoners.
Extortion and demanding things were commonplace.
It was truly unaccustomed to be treated with kindness for the first time.
Their expressions, wanting to accept but too embarrassed to, looked very interesting.
Jon looked at these ordinary commoners, feeling quite emotional.
Jumping off his horse, he helped up the middle-aged leader and said:
"Everyone... my fellow villagers, military rations are all provided by Winterfell, including warm clothes. Alas, aren't we going south? The south is very warm, so please keep them."
Westeros, due to its unique climate, has very short springs and autumns.
The hot summers and cold winters occupy ninety percent of the time.
Winter would officially arrive before long.
And it was foreseeable that this time, along with the difficult winter, would come the long night.
This was just a natural disaster!
There were also man-made disasters!
As a transmigrator, Jon knew that Theon would lead Iron Islands pirates to plunder Winterfell in the future.
Although Martin did not describe the plight of these commoners, even nobles like Bran and Rickon barely escaped with their lives, let alone them?
Seeing that Jon would not accept no matter what, the middle-aged man took out another small parcel and said very earnestly:
"My Lord, since you won't accept our food, please accept this item."
Saying that, he opened the small parcel, and a black banner slowly unfurled.
In the center of the black banner was a white Direwolf.
According to Westeros custom, the banners or sigils of bastards are basically a reversal of the colors of their family's sigil.
For example, the Targaryens once had a splinter branch called 'House Blackfyre'.
The Targaryen banner was a black dragon on a red field.
The Blackfyre banner was a red dragon on a black field.
Heraldry was also considered a 'prominent study' in Westeros, and many people understood it.
Considering Jon's status as a bastard, they jointly made such a banner to cheer him on.
Jon took the banner and found that they had used good quality fabric for him.
The white Direwolf on the banner was embroidered stitch by stitch.
It was majestic and exquisite.
The Winterfell soldiers who saw it were full of praise.
"Alright, I will accept this banner. Thank you all for your kindness."
These past two days, Robb was recruiting knights willing to serve under Jon's command for the entire army, and it would soon be put to use.
However, something that was expected, yet also made Jon a little depressed, also happened as a result.
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