Lynn's expression shifted slightly.
The Game of Thrones Knight Hall of Fame—this was a brand-new system feature.
Normally, the system would never activate a new option for no reason. There had to be some trigger behind it, some mechanism set into motion.
He forcibly suppressed the urge to open the system interface on the spot.
Lowering his eyes, Lynn fell into deep thought, pondering the cause.
At that moment, a louder commotion than before erupted inside the tavern—but this time it was filled with startled cries.
"He's dead?" someone shouted.
"He was beaten to death by a sword scabbard! You saw it, right? Blood's coming out of his nose—his head was struck hard from behind, that's what killed him!" another person yelled.
"Damn it!" This time it was the Skinny Monkey screaming in terror. "You actually killed him! He hasn't been judged by the lord yet—you have no right to kill him in Runestone City!"
"That's right, even guards aren't allowed to do that," others chimed in. "Not even knights have that authority."
Lynn snapped out of his excitement over the newly triggered system option.
Coming back to his senses, he asked in surprise, "What happened?"
Guard Captain Hood pointed toward the middle of the hall, where Bearded Brother lay motionless on the ground, and said in a low voice, "My lord, this is bad. Looks like that guy couldn't take a hit—he was beaten to death directly by the sword scabbard."
Lynn frowned.
Under the overturned wine table, Bearded Brother lay face-down, completely still.
A pool of blood was seeping out near his head.
Perhaps because the lighting was dim.
But Lynn felt that the blood didn't look red—it seemed to carry a dark, almost black tint.
He turned to Hood beside him.
"Did you see clearly just now? Was he really beaten to death by the scabbard?"
Hood recalled the scene, thinking for a moment before replying uncertainly, "My lord, it was pretty chaotic back then—people moving everywhere, tables knocked over, and the light was bad. No one really saw clearly. But generally speaking, an experienced knight wouldn't misjudge his strength to such an extreme degree, and…"
Hood leaned closer to Lynn and lowered his voice.
"At the moment that bearded man fell, there was someone who approached him."
"Oh?" Lynn raised an eyebrow. "You saw clearly?"
This time, Hood nodded firmly. "Yes, my lord. It was that foreigner from Essos—the one who mocked you earlier."
A sense of unease rose in Lynn's chest.
He lifted his gaze and scanned the tavern.
He remembered that Essosi man was wearing a gray-white monk's robe.
As Lynn looked around, the noise in the tavern grew even louder.
Many of the drinkers began to stir things up.
"There are other Runestone City guards outside—go report what happened here!" someone shouted.
Hearing this, Lynn looked over.
And then he saw a sneaky figure, shouting as he quietly edged toward the tavern door.
Lynn recognized the silhouette immediately.
It was the Skinny Monkey.
Trying to slip away in the chaos?
Then Lynn noticed that the man in the monk's robe was following closely behind him.
Lynn's expression instantly turned cold, his eyes narrowing into a thin line.
Pointing at the door, he ordered, "Hood, grab those two. Don't let them get away."
"At once, my lord."
Hood strode straight through the center of the hall. Just as the Skinny Monkey reached for the door, Hood pressed a hand down on the wooden handle.
The Skinny Monkey spun around in fright, only to see Hood raising his guard sword, the blade resting against his neck, while his other hand pointed at the foreigner following behind him, head lowered and buried in silence.
A cold smile appeared on Hood's fierce face.
"Well, friends—where do you think you're going? My lord would like a word."
Guard Knight Guff watched Lynn walk slowly toward the corpse, then glanced at Lynn's retainers holding the door.
He asked in a deep voice, "Sir, what is the meaning of this?"
Lynn didn't answer.
He bent down and turned the body over. His suspicion was confirmed—this man had not died from a heavy blow. The black blood flowing from the corner of his mouth proved everything.
Lynn let out a cold laugh.
"It seems the one being framed here isn't me—but you."
Knight Guff stared at the blackened blood on the ground. His helmet hid his expression.
Beside him, Ser Duncan's eyes flickered as he frowned deeply and said coldly, "Black Death poison."
Guff growled, "Such despicable methods! Ser, it must be the Royce family's doing! We just submitted our resignations…"
Their conversation reached Lynn's ears.
And at that moment, he finally remembered who this Ser Duncan was—and why he had felt a strange sense of familiarity earlier.
His eyes fell on the sigil embroidered on Duncan's chainmail-covered right arm.
It depicted an elm tree at dusk, with a green shooting star streaking across the sky.
A strange sigil—yet unforgettable.
His original name should have been Dunk. Later known as "Tall" Ser Duncan, he was a legendary Lord Commander of the Kingsguard.
Dunk was a big man who grew up in Flea Bottom. He had once served as a squire to a hedge knight. After becoming a knight himself, Aegon V served as his squire. During Aegon V's reign, Dunk later became Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, his early exploits widely recorded and sung.
This was a knight who had died more than a hundred years ago.
Yet now, he was standing alive before Lynn.
Lynn felt stunned and murmured to himself, "The system's Knight Hall of Fame… does it refer to knights who have already died?"
His arrival had caused mysterious changes in this world.
Could those brilliant figures of the past also reappear in this time and space?
Lynn wasn't sure.
But if he himself could cross over into this world, then no matter how unbelievable this was, it suddenly seemed… understandable.
A sharp whistle sounded from outside, interrupting Lynn's thoughts.
The tall knight stared toward the entrance and said to Lynn, "Sir, thank you for your reminder. But this matter has nothing to do with you. Take your people and leave at once."
Beside Ser Duncan, Guff—wearing plain, unadorned full iron armor—stood shoulder to shoulder with him.
He drew a sharp knight's sword from his waist.
"Knight, are you in trouble?"
"Take your people and go, noble sir. Northerners are not suited to be dragged into this conflict."
How could Lynn possibly leave? A Hall of Fame knight was right in front of him—there was no way he would miss this opportunity.
He met Duncan's gaze directly, staring up at the man who stood a full head taller than himself, his eyes unwavering as he declared shamelessly, "I must stay. Upholding the dignity of all knights—that is my creed!"
Boom!
The wooden door was smashed open, and a group of fully armored guards poured into the tavern.
Lynn's subordinates retreated several steps.
Without orders, they would not rashly initiate combat.
Shields and iron spears swung mercilessly in the guards' hands as they kicked aside the tables blocking the entrance, driving away the stunned drinkers.
Then—
A man clad in bronze armor stepped through the path cleared by the guards and entered the tavern.
His body was almost completely encased in armor, making it impossible to judge his identity by appearance or build alone.
However, emblazoned on his helmet and bronze breastplate was a vivid sigil—
On an orange heart-shaped field were two lines of runes, with several round pebbles piled in the center.
There was no doubt about it.
That was the sigil of House Royce of Runestone City, the foremost bannermen of the Vale of Arryn.
...
The fully completed English PDF of this fan-fic is now available on my Patreon shop.If you want to support my work and enjoy the entire story in one go, grab the PDF and binge-read it from start to finish without any breaks.
Patreon Shop:patreon.com /InkNovels
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)