Lynn didn't want trouble, but trouble came looking for him anyway.
Just as he was thinking about how to shake off these troublemaking guys—
Bang!
A crisp, sharp sound came from the entrance.
Two fully armed Runestone City guards, clad head to toe in finely crafted armor, smashed open the tavern door and strode inside.
Beside him, the head guard Hood examined the newcomers with an alert gaze.
He didn't dare relax in the slightest, prepared to face any danger.
Through the metal grilles of their helmets, the newcomers revealed a pair of eyes that swept across everyone in the tavern.
The noisy tavern instantly fell silent.
Lynn's eyes flicked sideways. He gestured a "shh" at the guard beside him, Hood.
He deliberately leaned close to Hood's ear and whispered in a voice only loud enough for the bearded black-faced man at the neighboring table to hear:
"The Northern Alliance is about to attack the Vale. The Young Wolf ordered us to take Runestone City."
Hood was momentarily stunned by the lord's sudden, contextless words.
He glanced in surprise at Lynn's hand signal, then shot a look at the black-bearded man who was craning his neck to eavesdrop.
Understanding dawned on him at once, and a knowing smile crept onto his face.
At this moment—
The Runestone City guards at the door seemed not to have found the person they were looking for.
After a quick sweep of the tavern with no discoveries, they turned, preparing to leave.
Just as they did, the bearded man—who had heard every word Lynn said—suddenly sprang to his feet and shouted toward the door:
"Honorable guards! There are Northern spies here!"
Everyone turned to look in Lynn's direction.
The two Runestone City guards exchanged a glance and stopped in their tracks.
One tall, one short. The shorter guard was stocky and solid-built. He drew the broadsword from his waist and walked up to the bearded man.
His eyes, full of vigilance, fixed on Lynn and his group.
"What's going on?" he asked.
The skinny monkey-like man beside the bearded fellow assumed his companion was pulling the same old trick of framing others again.
He stood up as well, bowing obsequiously to the Runestone City guards while pointing at Lynn.
"Honorable guards, look at them—those clothes are from the North, and they're all armed. Just one look and you can tell they're no good."
Lynn shrugged.
Well then. Somehow he'd become "no good."
Hearing this, the guards' pitch-black eyes swept back and forth over Lynn's group.
One of them asked in a deep voice, "From the North?"
Hood flashed a ferocious grin.
"Does Runestone City not welcome Northerners?"
The guards' gaze passed over Hood's face, lingered on the hand gripping the hilt of the broadsword at his waist, then moved to Rodart beside him—dressed like a merchant caravan guard, expression indifferent—as well as several soldiers of the elite cavalry regiment.
Finally, their eyes settled on Lynn.
"Are you a noble, sir?"
Those who could be addressed as nobles were only dukes, marquesses, counts, viscounts, and barons.
Below that—knights and landed knights—
Did not count as nobility, merely high-ranking commoners.
Thus, as the heir to a viscountcy and a true noble by status, Lynn held a position far above ordinary people in this world.
Lynn looked at him and asked calmly, "And how did you figure that out?"
The guard pointed at the sword hanging from Hood's waist.
"Your attendant carries a guard's sword."
Lynn frowned slightly.
The man explained, "Standard Westerosi guard swords are all custom-made in Runestone City. They're engraved with Runestone patterns."
Lynn suddenly understood.
Attendants and guards were not the same—only nobles were accompanied by sword-bearing guards.
Even so, Lynn was still a little surprised. To infer and deduce his approximate identity from such a tiny detail—
He didn't believe an ordinary guard would have that kind of insight.
Intrigued, Lynn asked, "Are you knights? May I know your name?"
The man nodded and bowed slightly.
"You may call me Guff, my lord. And this one beside me is Ser Duncan."
A knight who had actually been formally dubbed.
Lynn was a bit surprised.
Only then did he turn his gaze to the other Runestone City guard beside him.
A man who, even wrapped in heavy armor, still looked as thin as a bamboo pole.
At nearly two meters tall, his frame appeared upright and resilient. Lynn had to look up at him, catching a glimpse through the helmet's grille of a pair of dark, sharp eyes.
For some reason, the name "Duncan" suddenly felt familiar to Lynn—as if he'd heard it somewhere before.
While he was still thinking—
The bearded man at the nearby table finally snapped.
Seeing the guards actually chatting politely with those damn Northerner spies—
The insult to his intelligence was unbearable.
He downed an entire bottle of malt ale in one go.
Alcohol and humiliation surged straight to his head.
He stood up angrily and shouted at everyone in the hall:
"See that?! Our guards are colluding with Northern spies! This is the proof!"
Everyone present looked at the drunk as if he were an idiot.
Even the skinny monkey beside him couldn't bear to watch.
You don't joke like that—framing the city guards themselves? Was his brain kicked by a donkey?
He grabbed his companion, trying to pull him down from the table.
"Get down, Fried! You're drunk!"
Smack!
The bearded man spun around in fury and slapped the skinny monkey hard across the face.
"Useless trash! Damn it, I'm not drunk!"
The skinny monkey was sent flying half a meter by the blow. His teeth felt loose, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.
The bearded man, Fried, laughed wildly, his face twisted as he continued shouting:
"These Northerners are spies! I heard them plotting just now—they said it themselves… Robb's army is about to attack the Vale!"
The moment those words left his mouth, the tavern fell into a brief silence.
Then—
The once solemn tavern erupted in roaring laughter.
"Hahaha!"
"The Northern army is still locked in a deadlock with the Lannisters in the Riverlands! How could they spare troops to attack the Vale?"
"Cross the Riverlands to hit the Vale? Since when did Northerners have a navy?"
"This guy's really lost his mind, hasn't he?"
"Heh, seems like he really hates Northerners. What, did his woman run off with a Northern man?"
Laughter exploded through the tavern, the atmosphere instantly loosening.
Mockery and curses rose and fell one after another.
Lynn chuckled quietly as well.
Alcohol easily numbs the brain and strips away judgment. When a drunk is desperate to frame someone, handing him a knife at the right moment—
He'll usually accept it with a grin.
Lynn had no interest in sympathizing with such stupidity.
Amid the waves of ridicule and teasing, the bearded man Fried finally sobered up a little.
His bloodshot eyes, filled with venom, locked onto Lynn.
But very quickly, the two-meter-tall Runestone City guard stepped up beside him.
Fear and despair flooded Fried's heart. He even forgot to grab the iron sword resting beside the table, turning to flee instead.
Guard Duncan hooked Fried's foot before he could jump down from the table.
The man instantly fell flat on his face, crashing through a row of wooden tables.
Cups shattered across the floor.
Groaning in pain, Fried staggered to his feet, trying to keep running for the door—
But Duncan didn't give him the chance.
He walked forward unhurriedly, stretched out his long arm, and grabbed Fried by the back of the collar.
A sheathed broadsword was raised high.
Without the slightest hesitation, it smashed down hard onto Fried's head.
Lynn was watching the scene with schadenfreude when a familiar system notification suddenly sounded in his ear.
Ding!
[Congratulations, Host. "Game of Thrones Knight Hall of Fame" option activated.]
[Recruiting famous Game of Thrones knights into your command will grant large amounts of experience points.]
Just signed the contract, not sure if the status updated yet. Brothers can try using the reward function, yeah.
...
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Here are a few fan-fic titles that I've recently uploaded on my Patreon:
"Game of Thrones: Dragon Prince"
"Game of Thrones: Political Life"
"Game of Thrones: Holy Flame"
"The Game of Thrones Upgrade System"
"Game of Thrones: Lannister Kingdom"
"Game of Thrones: Godzilla vs. Dragons"
"Game of Thrones: Ruler of the Deep Seas "
"Game of Thrones The Glory of a Knight"
"Game of Thrones: The Most Powerful Dragon Queen"
" Game of Thrones: From the Elden Lord to the Young Wolf"
"Game of Thrones: Rise of a Lord with the Army-Building System"
(End Chapter)