Game of Thrones: Dawn of Justice

Chapter 37: Garlon's first appearance, the attention of the Westeros nobles
Due to the large number of applicants for this martial arts competition, a very interesting innovation was made.

The registration process is very strict; only knights of noble birth or with a certain reputation can be selected to participate in the competition.

However, this would miss out on many powerful new knights, so the Earl of Riverbank announced that a one-on-one elimination match would be held in the morning, and in the afternoon, the qualified knights would be allowed to face challenges from others.

As long as you can defeat the advanced knights, you can obtain their horses and armor, defeat them, and enter the next round of competition.

This is also the reason why the "Knight of the Laughing Tree" in the original work was able to challenge the three knights and let them teach their respective knight squires a lesson.

Without this rule, the "Smiling Tree Knight" would not be able to participate in the competition at all.

In this way, the morning competition began with great fanfare, with horses galloping and spears breaking continuously.

One after another, powerful knights advanced.

People like Barristan, Rhaegar, and Arthur Dayne almost always defeated their opponents in one round, and they set off waves of cheers from the stands.

In this era of lack of entertainment, this martial arts competition is truly unprecedented.

After thirteen duels, it was finally Garlon's turn.

Garlon rode on Leiyan, took the wooden spear handed to him by Harrison, lightly stepped on his horse's belly, and galloped towards the arena.

At this time, the famous knight who presided over the competition, Sir Longmos, known as the "Knight of the Smiling and Kissing Skull", had loudly announced the identities of Garlon and his opponent to the audience.

"Next up is the young heir of the Tas family from the Dusk Hall of Tas Island, only fourteen years old—Garlon Tas—"

The audience was surprised by Longmos' passionate voice.

Because there are very few 14-year-old knights participating in the martial arts competition. At the age of 14, their bodies are not fully developed and their skills are just beginning, so it is difficult for them to achieve good results in the martial arts competition.

Even knights with extraordinary talents usually participate in tournaments at around the age of 16, such as Arthur Dayne, Rhaegar and others.

"And the opponent Garlon faced was Knight Jon Fossoway of House Fossoway! He is the son-in-law of House Tyrell!"

After Sir Longmos finished his introduction, people cheered.

Jon Fossoway is also a knight of some reputation in the Riverlands, and he is also the son-in-law of the Tyrell family.

As Garlon came on stage, the cheers from the crowd became even louder.

Because Garlon's appearance is so outstanding!
The 14-year-old Garlon has a handsome face, a tall figure, and is full of vigor. At the same time, he has an outstanding temperament and deep eyes. He wears armor with a dark gray ripple luster and cool thunder smoke. He attracts everyone's attention as soon as he appears!
Many aristocratic girls and young women were dazzled!
Judging from the appearance alone, Garlon can definitely be ranked in the top three in this competition!
Even compared with Jaime Lannister and Prince Rhaegar who had just put on a white robe, he was not inferior at all.

So they cheered without hesitation.

Compared with Garen, Jon Fossoway, who was riding a black horse opposite him, was relatively less handsome, but he was also tall, strong and heroic.

After all, as a wealthy knight, being able to marry Mace Tyrell's younger sister must have real ability.

In the stands, the Hightower family's mood became tense, especially Helena.

As nobles of the Reach, they had all heard of Jon Fossoway.

Helena, Ellery and the others didn't quite understand Garlon's strength. They felt that even if the 14-year-old Garlon was very talented, it would be difficult for him to defeat the young and strong Jon Fossoway.

Only Earl Leighton remained calm.

Because he had long known that Garlon had defeated all the knights on the island of Tas.

If this was not a martial arts tournament where the use of holy swords was not allowed, Earl Leighton would even think that the championship was already in Garlon's pocket.

In addition to the Hightower family, the Tyrell family is also concerned about this.

"Mes, he is Helena's fiancé and will be your brother-in-law in the future."

At the seat of the Tyrell family, Olenna, the Queen of Thorns, a short girl dressed in green, with silver hair mixed in with her brown hair and some wrinkles on her face, spoke to her son Mace Tyrell beside her.

Mace Tyrell was twenty years old, tall and handsome, but his temperament was superficial and lacked any intimidation. He looked at Garen in the field and asked curiously, "Mother, why does the Hightower family want to marry into the Tarth family?"

Olenna chuckled, "It's said that Garlon has found the legendary holy sword 'Maiden of Justice.' Maybe Layton has gone mad in his pursuit of magic."

Olenna didn't believe in the Holy Sword; she simply believed it was a hoax staged by the House of Tarth. Although many credible rumors had spread, she still firmly believed it was a scam.

"Aunt, I think the Tas family should not be underestimated."

Paxter Laytonwen, who was sitting in front of Olenna on the left, turned around and said.

"Oh why?"

Olenna asked.

Paxter was her nephew, heir to the Arbor, and husband of her eldest daughter.

Her nephew has always been calm, strategic, and insightful, and is much more capable than her stupid son.

"Aunt, you see, the horse he rides is not the breed we have in Westeros."

Paxter pointed at the warhorse under Garlon's crotch and said.

"We rarely have horses with silver-gray fur in Westeros, and warhorses with this height and appearance are even rarer. That horse probably came from the continent of Essos."

"Also, the armor he wears is unusual," Paxter continued. "Look, the flowing patterns on the armor aren't carved; they're the texture of the metal itself."

Olenna and Mace looked closely and were both shocked.

This is true.

The more I looked at the horse, the better it looked, and its dark grey armor did have faint flowing patterns on it.

Dark metal with flowing water patterns...

Olenna and Mace looked at each other in disbelief.

This is very much like Valyrian steel!
The Tyrell family came to prominence late and had no historical background, so their family did not pass down the Valyrian sword.

This has always been the regret of the Tyrell family.

The more you regret something, the more you want to own it, so Mace knows a lot about Valyrian steel.

"Paxter, you mean to say his armor is made of Valyrian steel?"

Olenna said noncommittally.

Paxter shook his head. "Probably not, but I've heard from some captains that the master craftsmen of the Free Trade Cities have been researching and replicating Valyrian steel. This might be the work of a master craftsman from one of the Free Trade Cities."

Olenna and Mace heard what Paxter wanted to say.

The Tas family is wealthy and has close ties with the Free Trade Cities.

This indeed made them pay more attention to Garlon.

"No matter how good the warhorse and equipment are, they can't make up for the difference in strength and skill. Let's see how he performs."

Olenna said lightly that she was still very optimistic about Jon Fossoway as her son-in-law.

There are many people like Olenna who are watching and questioning Garlon.

Apart from the nobles of Stormlands, not many people are optimistic about Garlon.

Garlon looked at the tens of thousands of people in the stands, their cheers ringing in his ears. He took a deep breath and his eyes became serious.

This is his first battle on the stage of Westeros, and he doesn't intend to hold back!

"So, Jon Fossoway, I'm sorry."

Garen said lightly in his heart.

(End of this chapter)