Chapter 107: The Red Comet Appears
Outside the tent, the sun shone brightly; it was just another ordinary day in the allied camp. When Egger woke up naturally, dressed, and stepped out of his tent, he felt a strange vibration in the atmosphere.
Scanning his surroundings, he quickly found the source of this peculiar feeling: many soldiers were pointing toward the eastern sky, talking animatedly amongst themselves.
Following their collective gaze, Egger squinted at the sky and soon spotted what everyone was looking at. Low in the eastern heavens, a comet hung quietly beside the rising sun. It trailed a long tail of blood-red, as if someone had sliced a bleeding gash across the blue skin of a celestial giant, or perhaps a searing, brilliant fragment had burst forth from the sun itself.
The Red Comet.
The reason he hadn't noticed it the moment he stepped out was that the sun had just risen, its brilliant radiance masking the crimson omen sharing the eastern sky. But once seen, it was impossible to ignore. Its brightness was so intense and its color so vivid that even standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the sun, it did not appear dim or blurred.
It was hard to imagine what the sight would be like at night.
This comet might be as bright as a full moon, Egger thought.
He felt an inexplicable sense of dread, but no matter how hard he racked his brain, he couldn't quite recall the significance of this comet. Too much time had passed since he had read the original A Song of Ice and Fire novels; the details of the story had grown hazy. He could only vaguely remember that its appearance seemed to coincide with Daenerys Targaryen hatching her three dragons. Whether the hatching of the dragons triggered a resurgence of magic that caused the omen, or if the arrival of the comet brought back the magic that allowed the dragon eggs to quicken... he had no idea.
Even if he did, the Mother of Dragons was currently half a world away; what could he do about it? There was a common logic that a transmigrator must woo the so-called most beautiful woman in the world, but once actually living in this cruel reality, one finds they lack the energy for such idle fantasies.
Because of his influence, Tyrion would likely stay in Westeros to play his games of gold and power. Without the counsel of one of the realm's sharpest minds, it was an open question whether the Targaryen girl could successfully invade the continent. As for how beautiful or miraculous this prophesied Queen truly was, Egger would wait until he saw her in the flesh.
...
Egger decided not to think about Daenerys, yet the shadow of that comet remained firmly lodged in his mind. He took a deep breath, instinctively trying to analyze its existence using the logic of the world he knew: such a prominent comet, if it followed a periodic orbit around the sun, should have entered view gradually rather than appearing suddenly and becoming visible in daylight. It was irrational.
It looked so close that it ought to be very near the planet. At this distance, the angular velocity relative to a human observer should be immense; people should be seeing a dazzling streak of light flashing by and vanishing, not a blood-red scar hanging motionless in the sky.
Could it be... that it's actually quite far away, but so massive that it appears this prominent? Impossible. Such a massive body, even if it were a gas giant, would be enough to cause gravitational disturbances to the world, yet everything around him was peaceful.
Only if it were tiny but occupying a heliocentric orbit very close to this alien Earth, moving in parallel with the planet, could its stability and harmlessness be explained... but that brought the problem back to its sudden appearance.
After a moment of mental clutter, Egger decided to stop thinking about the Red Comet. There were too many things in this world that couldn't be explained by the knowledge he possessed; one more wouldn't hurt. Since they existed, one couldn't call them irrational. What he truly needed to do was acknowledge the limitations of his own knowledge and find ways to overcome that deficit.
"Everyone is saying the appearance of the blood comet is an omen that the Bloody Gate will surely fall!" Casey excitedly reported the rumors he had gathered from around the camp to his master.
"Blood comet, Bloody Gate." A corner of Egger's mouth curled upward. The phrasing was quite catchy. "Do you believe it?"
"Is it not true?" The boy actually wanted to say yes, but under the gaze of the Night's Watch Chief Logistics Officer, he honestly corrected himself: "No."
"I'll wager there are people among the defenders of the Gate muttering that this comet foretells the defeat and destruction of King Robert and his host. Believe whichever you like, but remember to think independently. Regardless of the conclusion—and whether it's right or wrong—it is better than being a parrot that believes whatever it hears."
"Oh, I understand," the boy said, though it was unclear if he truly took it to heart.
Egger nodded and said no more. Whether others admitted it or not, he now had his own growing circle of influence. In this position, guiding and mentoring the followers and helpers around him was a natural and necessary act. After all, the more capable his subordinates became, the stronger and more promising his own faction would be.
...
Today, the Martell forces responsible for the assault had already launched a wave of charges against the Gate. After successfully causing casualties on both sides, they declared their military duty for the day complete and withdrew to the camp to take up defensive rotations.
Sometimes, a person truly never knows their limits until they push themselves. A month and a half after leaving King's Landing, Egger had met the majority of the knightly and noble houses summoned from the six kingdoms. Among them, forty or fifty had shown interest in the Night's Watch industries—even if only half eventually joined and each invested only a hundred dragons, it would still be a massive sum of several thousand gold dragons.
Having finished breakfast, as the sun rose higher, the Red Comet remained steady in the eastern sky. Having spent a year at Castle Black, Egger found it easy to accept its presence. No matter how piercing or sinister it looked, its visual impact was negligible compared to the Wall—as long as it didn't fall and cause an extinction event, life had to go on.
His essential business in the allied camp was nearing its end. Egger was now simply waiting for the Watch to send a steward or a Wandering Crow to take over his position as the Night's Watch attaché, after which he could return to King's Landing to continue his entrepreneurship. As for the war of rebellion... as long as Robert didn't do something suicidal, what did the outcome have to do with the Night's Watch?
Relieved of his mental burdens, Egger began to enjoy a rare moment of leisure. He strolled through the camp, thinking about who else was left to visit, and feeling genuinely happy that no matter how the rotations went, he wasn't required on the battlefield.
...
Up ahead, beneath a massive gold-and-red banner of the crowned stag, the sounds of shouting, cheering, and the clashing of steel rang out. With a massive army stationed in one place, the soldiers needed something besides reading erotica or visiting camp followers to pass the time. Sparring was one such activity. Soldiers usually divided into factions based on the Great Lords they served, holding contests with various rules—jousts, melees, or duels. Winners gained glory and cheers for their camp; losers would find others from their house to try and win back their honor. The young squire, Casey, watched every match with rapt attention, but after observing a few, Egger had quickly lost interest.
They were skills for killing. He couldn't deny the genuine talent involved—eight out of ten men in the ring were likely better fighters than him—but much like how most who drown can swim, those who excelled in these arts often stood closest to danger. Egger was playing a game that could move the world; his goal was to use macro-level operations to stay away from danger while changing the world.
But today, the cheers from the crowd caught Egger's attention. He actually heard people shouting Beauty and Prince? Was Brienne dueling the Red Viper, Oberyn Martell?
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