Chapter 196: Hand of King's Guard

Finally, the king's voice quelled the chaos... along with twenty warriors.

Robert's foster father, Jon Arryn, once said that a commander needs a loud voice that can be effective on the battlefield. 

Robert had proven this on the Trident, and now he was using it once again.

"In the name of your king," he roared, "stop at once!"

The surroundings immediately quieted down, and the masked knights ceased their actions, turning their gaze towards the king—or rather, after that kick, he didn't take any further action.

Servants hurried forward to carry the unconscious Mountain away from the scene.

"That's enough," Robert said.

And thus, it ended.

"Is the masked knight now the champion?" Sansa asked Ed.

"No," he told her, "the masked knight still has to compete against the Hound."

But Sansa was right.

A few minutes later, Sandor Clegane entered the arena. He was not on horseback, unarmed, and without a helmet.

As people wondered, he gruffly said to the masked knight, "You did something I've been wanting to do for a long time, well done. I owe you one. Victory is yours, masked man."

And so, the masked knight became the champion of the tournament.

King Robert was in high spirits. As he awarded the masked knight the title of champion and bestowed a reward, he suddenly spoke up.

"Throughout the tournament, you've worn this securely fastened helmet, even now you don't take it off, and you haven't revealed your identity. 

Even,I am curious about the face beneath your helmet. In the name of the king, how about you satisfy my curiosity."

"I am Marcyl Hayford, from the Free Cities," the masked knight replied, his voice surprisingly young.

Then, in front of everyone's eyes, the masked knight removed the helmet that resembled a dragon.

This action immediately drew everyone's attention.

Everyone wanted to see the face beneath the helmet, whether it would be as handsome as noble girls imagined or as ugly as "the Hound" Sandor Clegane.

Sansa was also eager, but she swore to herself that even if the person was unattractive, she wouldn't be repulsed. 

When everyone else mocked him, she would use her own tenderness and tolerance to move him.

The moment the masked knight truly removed his helmet, the entire arena erupted in gasps.

The reason was not that he was too ugly, but because his handsomeness exceeded everyone's imagination.

Sansa swore she had never seen such a beautiful person before. Even Ser Loras Tyrell paled in comparison. His hair was a lazy and silky black, and his eyes were so deep and captivating.

Even Robert was momentarily stunned, then he burst into laughter.

"What a handsome young man," he laughed heartily.

"You remind me of my youth, when girls used to love me as much as they love you now. I don't understand why you would cover such a pretty face, even in victory."

As Marcyl left the arena and returned to his tent, the crowd cheered for him. They had truly witnessed some remarkable scenes today, and they now had something to talk about.

In the afternoon, it was the same masked knight who, after eliminating other short-range opponents, defeated Ser Balon Swann and Jalabhar Xho in the finals of the hundred-yard archery contest, winning the archery championship.

The group combat lasted for three hours. There were nearly forty participants, mostly freelance riders, hired knights, and newly appointed squires seeking fame. 

They wielded blunted weapons, battling each other in the mud, splattering blood as they fought. They formed alliances to fight off enemies one moment and turned on each other the next, alliances breaking as quickly as they formed, until only one stood. 

The victor remained the masked knight, wielding a magnificent golden-hilted sword, calmly facing repeated assaults until he defeated all his opponents.

These opponents included Thoros of Myr, a red-robed priest with a bald head and a madman's appearance, who relied on his flaming sword to frighten opponents' horses. 

He had often won the group combat championship. 

He had defeated Sandor Clegane three times in group combat, but faced with the masked knight, whose martial skills were superb and who feared no wildfire, he had no advantage at all.

In the end, the casualty list of the group combat included two broken legs, a shattered collarbone, a dozen smashed fingers, two horses that had to be put down, and numerous cuts, bruises, and scrapes too numerous to count.

However, a knight named Marcyl Hayford rose to fame in this tournament. 

Knights from all over the Seven Kingdoms knew that there was such a young and handsome knight, who had a quirk of liking to cover his face with a helmet.

But in the tournament, he not only defeated the fearsome "Mountain" bare-handed, but also won all three championships of the tournament alone, setting a record that had never been seen before.

Under Arya's deliberate propaganda, the title of "Silver Knight" spread, because of his beautiful silver armor, everyone felt that this title was much better than "Masked Knight".

In addition, some well-meaning people also called him the first knight of the Seven Kingdoms—because at least in terms of combat effectiveness, no knight of the Seven Kingdoms could match him.

However, although the title of "first knight of the Seven Kingdoms" spread, it did not receive very widespread recognition, because now, he had only proven himself in the arena. 

If he could continue to maintain such results on the battlefield or in other life-and-death battles, then this title could be considered well-deserved.

Hand of King Eddard and King Robert were both very fond of him. 

After the competition ended, Eddard sent someone to ask him if he was interested in a position in the Hand of King's Guard, and he readily agreed.

In fact, apart from him, Eddard also recruited many top performers in the tournament, but there were few followers. 

Most of them were immersed in fine wine, victory, and the unimaginable wealth they had just won, so they refused the job.

This greatly increased Eddard's favor towards this young man who was victorious but not arrogant. 

Seeing that the boy looked about eighteen years old, Eddard even had the idea of introducing him to his other daughter Arya.

However, because Arya was only nine years old, and noble girls generally did not get engaged until they were around twelve years old, and married after thirteen or fourteen when they could bear children, his plan was abandoned.

However, Eddard still wanted these young people to get to know each other first, so he arranged for Marcyl Hayford to become a captain in the Hand of King's Guard, responsible for protecting his family or himself.

In fact, Robert had also thought of making this young man a member of his Kingsguard, but because the oath of the Kingsguard included not holding land, not marrying, and not having children, he had to give up.

This result was, of course, in Alaric's plan, because Eddard himself was an important target of the turmoil behind the scenes of the Seven Kingdoms. 

Now he was very close to the core of this Game of Thrones. Only by being here could he smoothly add fuel to the future chaos.

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