Unexpectedly, Elion himself answered the doubts in Galedun's mind next.
"Selwyn, my friend—although twelve years ago, it's true that I did not pledge my loyalty to you."
Elion spoke to Selwyn with a face full of sincerity. "But from the moment you granted me land, my oath of eternal loyalty to House Tarth was genuine."
"I did not break my promise! I did not betray you! And I never wanted to betray Tarth!"His eyes were bloodshot as he turned his ferocious glare toward Galedun. "The one I want to betray—is you!"
"Just who are you? Man or god?"
"How do you have so many technologies? Where did they come from? And that bullshit Ministry of War! Bullshit City Hall! …What kind of bastard system is this?"
"..."
He screamed himself hoarse, roaring and questioning, and the expressions of everyone present felt unreal, as if they were living in a dream.
Only then did they realize that in just four years, Tarth Island had completely severed itself from Westeros, becoming something like a totally different country.
"Four years! You built a port more prosperous than King's Landing, tens of thousands of fully professional soldiers, warehouses piled high with top-tier armor and weapons, and even forbidden things inside the military industrial compound!"
"The Seven Kingdoms will truly be unified in your hands! Noble bloodlines will be reduced to no different from commoners, all noble fiefs stripped away! Hahahaha, the nobles are finished!"
"Primary school! Middle school! University! Even the Citadel will collapse, hahahaha!"
"You are the Morning Light of Tarth—one day you'll become the Morning Light of the Seven Kingdoms! Even the Seven Bitches will be gone, hahahaha!"
If not for knowing his identity as a spy, seeing him praise the Morning Light so crazily, everyone would have thought he was a fanatical believer.
Watching Elion sink into madness, Galedun couldn't help but complain inwardly:
"Unify the Seven Kingdoms, then all go feed the White Walkers together?"
In his view, Elion's betrayal was utterly wronged—he had completely misunderstood Galedun's will with outdated, narrow-minded thinking.
Noble bloodlines?
Heh. The Dragon Queen next door had it far worse. If Galedun hadn't lent a hand in time, the title "Barefoot Queen" might have followed the future Dragon Queen for a very long time.
In a low-magic world, if bloodline power doesn't awaken, who's really more noble than whom?
The nobles of Westeros were fucking shameless! And arrogant as hell—thinking they were the center of the world all day long!
And it wasn't that he rejected the feudal enfeoffment system. It was just that once Zhinao's plans fully unfolded, the amount of land required was simply too great.
He only had one Tarth Island, so he reclaimed the administrative and law-enforcement authority of the various knightly fiefs.
Oh—and law enforcement authority never belonged to landed knights in the first place.
As for systems—no matter how perfect a system is, it still needs people to execute it!
At the beginning, it wasn't just Zhinao and the Retinue Corps; it also required the help of the original knights of House Tarth to fully carry out his will.
With only the Retinue Corps and the "newcomers," Galedun filled in the "insurmountable chasm" blocking their upward mobility, filled their stomachs, and created a better future.
They worshipped Galedun with near-fanatical faith, never questioning any of his orders, filled with a future-oriented passion of "Charge! Charge! Charge!"
That was why Galedun liked appointing veterans as department heads with two newcomer deputy officers—and why every task was assigned to both an old hand and a new face at the same time.
He hoped loyal, seasoned officials could use their rich experience to patch holes in his reforms and pour cold water on overly radical newcomers.
Just like the military commanders present: the ratio of old to new was roughly 1:2, yet those carrying the real burden were still the knights originally loyal to House Tarth.
Another example—Elion was the commander of the Second Knight Order, while Iron Hand Gley could only serve as his executive officer.
But once Elion was convicted, the position of commander of the Second Knight Order would pass to Gley.
Looking ahead, more and more outstanding newcomers would surely surpass the stagnant old guard with their daring spirit and open horizons.
"By the honor of the Morning Light's favor, by the authority bestowed by Lord Galedun, Dusk Star of House Tarth and Lord of Tarth Island, and by the inviolable power of judgment of the Grand Military Court!"
While Galedun was thinking, Colin delivered the verdict."The Grand Military Court rules: Sir Elion is identified as a military spy; there is no act of betraying Tarth Island."
"According to Ministry of War regulations, the Enforcement Squad is automatically compelled to obey orders—execute immediately any enemy spy whose identity has been exposed."
As soon as Colin finished speaking, two Enforcement Squad knights dragged Sir Elion out of the courtroom.
Throughout it all, Count Selwyn covered his face in pain, unable to bear watching his friend one last time.
"I hereby declare—court adjourned!"
Colin stood up, preparing to leave with the other three Royal Guard knights, following Galedun out.
Everyone below stood up as well, ready to see Selwyn and Galedun off first.
"Everyone, please spare me a little time. Since so many of you are here, I'd like to have a heart-to-heart talk."
Instead of leaving immediately, Galedun stepped down from the long table and walked to the spot where Elion had been standing, the four Royal Guard knights close behind him.
"Mm. The eyes are the windows to the soul! And in some of your eyes, I see fear of me."
Elion's final madness had really caused him a bit of trouble.
"Heh~! Uncle Timili, no need to lower your head—I'm talking about you too!"
Facing all the commanders, Galedun singled out Timili as well—another friend of Selwyn's, an honest and loyal former landed knight, now the commander of the First Knight Order!
At some point, Count Selwyn had come down from the long table and pointed at his friend, laughing."Hahahaha! Timili, you haven't shrunk, but you're still as timid as ever!"
"Hehehe~!"
"Sir Timili really is timid—too scared even to peek at women bathing, hahaha!"
"That's right, that's right!"
"..."
Quite a few knights joined in with good-natured heckling. Everyone burst into laughter, the atmosphere lightening considerably. Galedun gave Count Selwyn a grateful look.
"By the Morning Light above! My lord, I'm cautious, not timid!"
Timili played along, hopping in place as he forced out an explanation.
"These rash little brats—good thing we're keeping an eye on them!"
He swept his arm in a wide arc, encompassing most of the knights around him, dragging all his old comrades down with him in one go.
His awkward display had everyone laughing even harder, the courtroom filling with cheerful noise.
"Clap, clap!"
After a while, Galedun clapped his hands to draw everyone's attention back.
"First, let me be clear—I am human!"
"A genuine, bona fide human. No need to be afraid of me—though don't get too obsessed either!"
"Because you're all men! And I like women! Mm—young and beautiful women!"
The courtroom rang with hearty laughter again. Galedun knew well that everyone present was a soldier—only by joking around and occasionally tossing out some earthy humor could he let them feel his charm and closeness.
"It's only been 142 years since the last Targaryen dragon died. These past few years, you've all seen plenty of fire mages and red-robed priests—there's no need to fear the extraordinary!"
"And since I am Galedun, the Morning Light incarnate—communing with the ancestral Morning Light and borrowing a bit of power is perfectly normal, right?"
"Exactly, very normal!" Selwyn immediately echoed with a serious face. "Back then, I even dreamed of the Morning Light before naming you Galedun."
Once he said that, true or not, a whole swath of knights had to follow along, voicing their agreement.
Galedun himself nearly broke into laughter. He knew best that the "Morning Light incarnate" was just a pretext to legitimize his rule over Tarth.
"As for what Sir Elion said—I'll make it clear to you all: I have little interest in ruling the Seven Kingdoms!"
"In fact, all knights at regiment level and above know that the Ministry of War's next strategic step is to the west—just like how our Second Fleet has already firmly blockaded Rhaelos!"
"But the Seven Kingdoms are—Westeros is the center of the world—uh—hey!"
Timili scratched his beard and head like an itchy monkey, still trying to argue something.
Yet his thoughts were like a pot of paste that had been violently stirred—three years of broadened horizons clashing with traditional knightly education, leaving his thinking deeply conflicted.
Galedun waved his hand, looking deeply at everyone."Believe me—when the day comes that I truly want to march into Westeros, you'll be very unwilling."
Colin and the four Royal Guard knights immediately understood what their commander meant, their hands unconsciously tightening on their swords.
Not giving the puzzled crowd much time to think, he continued:
"And one more thing—I don't reject enfeoffment. Anyone who still wants to own their own land, become a landed knight, even a lord—step forward."
In four years, he had made the cake bigger. As his power visibly grew day by day, the desire to earn merit and claim a slice naturally stirred.
"Relax—it's not a trap. I swear it in the name of the Morning Light!"
The courtroom fell into a brief silence, followed by murmured discussions.
Several hourglasses later, only three figures trickled out of the crowd: one old man and two middle-aged brutes.
Then the old man sensed something was off and immediately darted back into the crowd, vanishing.
The two brutes also reacted, faces flushed as they shuffled backward in tiny steps.
Nearby, Count Selwyn covered his face again, deeply ashamed for them.
He knew all three—one of the middle-aged men was a former landed knight, the other from a collateral branch of House Tarth. As for the old man, his outdated mindset and limited horizons were simply embarrassing.
Galedun laughed as well, but inwardly he was pleased with the ideological progress most of the knights had made.
"You can go back and think it over carefully. Once we take the Stepstones, I will set aside a large island for enfeoffment."
After making his promise, he withdrew with Count Selwyn first. With them present, most people didn't dare express their true thoughts.
Iron Hand Gley walked at the very end with the Retinue Corps, complaining to his buddies:"Anyone who wants enfeoffment is a complete idiot! Forget military pay and bonuses—just a bit that leaks out from the commander is enough for us to throw banquets every day for a lifetime."
"And they still want to live in caves and fish on some bird-shit island!"
Connie, the First Knight Order's executive officer, chimed in:"Exactly! Don't they realize that every inch of land on Tarth Island is worth gold now? You think the commander would really give that out?"
Someone behind the Retinue Corps suddenly reacted and shouted:"Fuck—Iron Hand's getting promoted!"
"Shit! You actually climbed over my head! I'm definitely slaughtering you at dinner!"
That was Connie—he and Iron Hand Gley were the closest!
"Trust me, the Ministry of War's transfer order will come down soon. Our future commander of the First Knight Order must treat us to drinks!"
...
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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)