When Lynn arrived, he had been searched and only had clothes and a Northern-style longsword on him, with no silver stags at all.
This was something the search officer knew.
With no money and no previous outings, where did these silver stags come from?
Stolen from wildlings?
But what use would wildlings have for these silver stags?
Everything became clear.
These silver stags were indeed obtained from the assassin.
A fine layer of cold sweat instantly seeped from Bowen Marsh's forehead.
His small eyes darted around, not daring to look at anyone.
As the First Steward of Castle Black, he managed the entire castle's purse.
Every purchase of supplies, every copper coin spent, was recorded in his thick ledger.
He certainly remembered.
Not long ago, Alliser Thorne had withdrawn a small bag of silver coins from him, under the pretext of "repairing weapons and needing to purchase special Southern whetstones."
At the time, he didn't think much of it.
Although Thorne was usually sharp-tongued and unpopular.
He was, after all, the Master-at-Arms, a Ser, and he had no reason to refuse such a small request.
But now... looking at the silver coins on the ground, and recalling the accusations from Pypar and Gelan.
And the supplies Thorne never actually bought.
Bowen Marsh's heart sank instantly to rock bottom.
He knew he had been drawn into an enormous amount of trouble.
"Master Marsh?"
Lynn's voice pulled him back from his chaotic thoughts.
"Have you remembered?"
Bowen Marsh's face alternated between red and pale.
He secretly glanced at the Lord Commander Mormont, whose face was ashen, and then at Lynn, whose eyes were cold.
Finally, his gaze fell on Alliser Thorne's already distorted face.
He knew he had to make a choice now.
Should he cover for a Thorne who was destined to be ruined, and offend the two most powerful people in the castle right now?
Or... tell the truth?
This choice didn't require any thought at all.
"I... I remember now."
Bowen Marsh wiped the sweat from his forehead and said in a dry voice.
"Just... just on the day that Lord Lynn was assassinated."
"Ser Thorne did withdraw twenty silver stags from me."
"The reason was... was to purchase whetstones."
These words, like the final straw, completely crushed Alliser Thorne.
"You... you fat pig! You dare betray me!"
Thorne let out a desperate roar.
He wanted to rush over and tear Bowen Marsh's fat face apart.
But Toren and Jason's swords once again blocked him.
"Thorne!"
Lord Commander Mormont's voice was now devoid of any warmth.
"What more do you have to say?"
"No... it wasn't me! It was them! They conspired to frame me!" Thorne was still making his final struggles.
But his voice sounded so pale and powerless.
"Frame you?" Lynn sneered.
"Ser Thorne, do you think everyone is as foolish as you are?"
"You incited internal strife and tried to stir up conflict, that is a fact."
"You hired an assassin to kill me, your thorn in the side, that is also a fact."
"You even prepared a story to pin the blame on the wildlings, attempting to deceive everyone, and that is an even greater fact!"
Every word from Lynn shattered Thorne's self-righteous schemes.
"I ask you."
Lynn's gaze was fixed on Thorne.
"Why did you do this?"
"Just because I once defied you?"
"Just because I made you lose face in front of everyone?"
"Or is it..."
Lynn's voice suddenly dropped.
"...that you are not one of us at all?"
These words stunned everyone.
Not one of us?
What did that mean?
Even Lord Commander Mormont showed a puzzled expression.
Only Alliser Thorne, at the moment he heard these words, his pupils constricted to the extreme.
His face revealed genuine fear!
"I don't know what you're talking about!"
Thorne's voice became shrill.
Lynn smiled.
He turned and bowed slightly to Lord Commander Mormont.
"Lord Commander, please allow me to ask Ser Thorne a few questions."
Mormont looked at Lynn's deep eyes and nodded.
"Ask away, I will see that justice is done for you."
Lynn turned back to Thorne.
"Ser Thorne, I heard."
"Before you donned the black, you were a loyal supporter of the House Targaryen, correct?"
Thorne's face instantly became incredibly grim.
This was the past he least wanted to be brought up.
During the Usurper's War, he had sided with the losers.
After the war, to save his life, he was forced to wear the black and come to this godforsaken place.
To him, it was a great humiliation.
The Night's Watch rules state that those who come here have no identity, no honor, but that does not include the title of Ser!
The Night's Watch acknowledges the title of Ser!
This was also why he emphasized that he was a Ser.
"So what?" Thorne gritted his teeth and said.
"What do past events have to do with the present?"
"Of course they do!"
Lynn's voice grew even colder.
"I heard that you have always harbored resentment towards King Robert Baratheon and his friend, Lord Ned Stark."
"You're talking nonsense!"
"I'm talking nonsense?"
Lynn shook his head.
"Many people know that you often curse them with the most vicious words in private, don't you?"
A low murmur arose from the surrounding Night's Watch brothers.
Indeed, Thorne's foul mouth was notorious at Castle Black.
He often, after getting drunk, would rant that Robert was a usurping butcher and Ned was a perfidious hypocrite.
However, everyone was used to it, and no one took his drunken words seriously.
But now, with Lynn bringing it up publicly, the meaning was completely different.
"I ask you again."
Lynn's gaze became even sharper.
"Since the appearance of the wights, your behavior has been very abnormal."
"Do you believe that the appearance of the Others and wights is a disaster for the Night's Watch."
"But for you, it's an opportunity?"
"An... opportunity for the Targaryen restoration?"
"If the Wall is breached, if the Seven Kingdoms fall into chaos, if the army of Others marches south..."
"Then, wouldn't those Targaryen remnants hiding across the Narrow Sea have a chance to return amidst the chaos and reclaim their Iron Throne?"
"And you, Ser Alliser Thorne, as the most loyal dog of the Targaryen, wouldn't you be able to transform into a founding hero?"
Lynn's words were like a clap of thunder on a clear day, exploding in everyone's minds!
Everyone looked at Lynn with the kind of gaze one reserves for a madman.
This... this imagination is too wild, isn't it?
Connecting the Others' invasion with the Targaryen restoration?
This is simply a fantasy!
Even Lord Commander Mormont felt that Lynn's deduction was a bit too... incredible.
However, Alliser Thorne's reaction made everyone's jaws drop.
He did not refute.
He did not roar.
He just stood there blankly, trembling violently all over.
His gaze at Lynn was more terrified than seeing a wight.
He... how could he know?
How could he know the deepest secret in my heart?
Could it be... could he really see through people's hearts?
Or... an even more terrifying thought emerged in Thorne's mind.
Could it be that he is truly an envoy sent by the Old Gods?
An omniscient, omnipotent divine envoy?
Of course, Lynn did not know whether Thorne actually had this thought now; he merely knew Thorne's past and deduced it in the direction most advantageous to Thorne.
Lynn needed to pin a label on Thorne, even if the label was false, it would give Lynn a reason to kill this venomous snake that was openly hostile.
But he didn't expect that his own guess might actually be correct?
It was a fortunate coincidence, so to speak.
"Thud."
Alliser Thorne, this arrogant Ser, this Master-at-Arms of Castle Black.
His legs gave out, and he actually knelt directly on the ground.
His psychological defenses were completely shattered in the face of Lynn's incisive words.
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