reincarnated in GOT with a down graded Cheat engine. Chapter 7: A young visitor

Levi didn't sleep.

Mae had long since retired to her straw-filled bed, snoring softly behind a curtain made from stitched furs. The crackling fire had died down, leaving only embers and the occasional pop to keep him company.

Outside, sothing prowled in the dark.

The occasional rustle of leaves, the squish of mud, and a low, wet growl in the distance made his skin crawl. He sat up on the rickety bench Mae had allowed him to use, clutching the blanket like a shield. Whatever beastie lived out here in the swamps, he had no plans of eting it. Let the frogs and lizards argue over territory he wasn't stepping outside that door for anything less than divine intervention.

As the sky shifted from pitch to pale gray, a knock tapped against the wood.

Levi flinched. He expected a monster. Maybe a giant lizard. Or a giant swamp-crab with a taste for foreign at. But instead, when he crept to the door and peeked through a crack, he saw a familiar mop of ssy hair and a sour expression.

"Jory?" he said, opening the door fully.

The kid looked up at him, arms crossed. "You scread once yesterday. Then u start mumbling to yourself. Why?"

Levi blinked. " I was in pain when i scread. As for what i mumble to myself best to keep it to themselves."

Jory frowned. "So you are mad."

Levi sighed as he scratches his head. "I'm what people call bothered by the mont."

The boy shrugged and walked inside without being invited, like this was his house now. "Gran's still asleep?"

Levi raised an eyebrow. "Gran?"

Jory gave him a look, the kind that said do you live under a rock? "Mae. Everyone calls her Gran. So call her Mae she's not my real grandmother, but she might as well be. She's everyone's Gran in Bogwater."

Levi scratched his head. "Right. Okay. Got it. But why are you here? I an, didn't you throw a rock at yesterday? Two, actually."

"I only threw one," Jory said quickly, then added under his breath, "...and maybe another when you looked like soone whose going to do sothing crazy."

Levi shook his head. "Look, whatever the count, I'm just surprised you're here and not... I don't know, continuing throwing rocks at strangers."

Jory hesitated. "Dad says to be careful of strangers. But Mae's letting you sleep in her house, and she doesn't suffer fools. That ans you're not dangerous... or at least not to us."

Levi tilted his head. "Your dad rode in with the rchants?"

The boy nodded. "Aye. He only cos through once every few months. Trades, brings coin, leaves. Doesn't like outsiders. Sotis when no trade he stays."

"And yet you're here. Spending ti with an outsider."

Jory scuffed his boot against the floor. "I'm curious. You're a stranger. You talk strange. You wear strange clothes. But you're not scary."

"That's the nicest thing anyone's said to today," Levi muttered. "Low bar, but thank you."

They sat in silence for a mont. The sun hadn't fully risen, but a dim orange light filtered in through the cracks in the shutters. Levi looked at the boy, noting the dirt-smudged cheeks, the tattered wool cloak, the confident slump of soone too young to know fear but too old to pretend it doesn't exist.

"You don't seem afraid of ," Levi said.

Jory shrugged again. "You're not a knight. Not a lord. Not a bandit. You don't even have a knife."

Levi smiled faintly. "I have a mind that might be useful. Does that count?"

The boy laughed a short, surprised sound. "That's a strange answer that's why i call you strange."

Levi leaned back against the wall. "Yeah... I might be getting that a lot."

Another pause. Then, Jory reached into his pocket and pulled out a small wooden figure, carved roughly in the shape of a bird.

"I made this," he said, placing it on the table. "Don't tell Da. He says carving is for won and weaklings."

Levi picked up the carving, studying the uneven cuts and jagged edges. It looked more like a pigeon that lost a bar fight than a bird, but it had charm.

"It's wonderful," he said. "You got talent."

Jory's chest puffed a little. "I could teach you."

Levi blinked. "You want to teach sothing?"

"Sure. If you're staying for a bit. You look like soone who could use sothing to do."

Levi smirked then winced. "Don't make say thank you. I'm still adjusting to being a around here."

Jory muttered, heading for the door. "I'll be back later. When gran wakes up soon. She'll want you to do sothing useful."

"Like what?" Levi asked.

"Not screaming or mumbling to yourself would be a start."

With that, the boy slipped out the door, leaving Levi alone once more.

He turned back toward the little wooden bird on the table.

"Guess I'm not as alone as I thought," he mumbled.

Outside, the sounds of Bogwater waking up drifted in boots squelching in mud, frogs croaking, distant voices calling out about fish and firewood.

Sowhere in the distance, Levi swore he heard a frog scream. Then again... maybe that was just the neighbor.

He exhaled, rubbing the back of his neck.

Day One. Sohow still alive.

Now he just needed to survive Day Two.

But as the sun starts to fall and the moon rising for the 2nd day.

Levi did nothing but think but nothing ca out of his way.