What Are You Capable Of?

Needless to say, for outsiders like Jon, even exchanges between tribes in the Moon Mountains were remarkably closed-off.

So what happened at the "village entrance" naturally drew a large crowd of onlookers.

Of course, most of them were women and children.

The children hid behind their mothers, only daring to poke their heads out.

The women of the village pointed at the group of foreign men.

Some of the bolder ones even giggled and teased them.

But the young men from Winterfell had no interest in these women.

Their goal was to marry the daughters of noble families.

In their eyes, these tribal women were little different from Wildlings.

As for the old veterans of the Mountain Clans, most of them had the will but lacked the strength.

At that moment, a spirited-looking girl wearing a grass wreath suddenly appeared in the crowd.

She curiously examined Jon and his group, quickly fixing her gaze on Jon himself.

Almost instantly, she was drawn to the way Jon and his companions were dressed.

"Outsiders, you abducted our Fire Witches, yet you dare invade our tribe? Aren't you afraid of dying?"

The moment the imposing tribal leader spoke, the atmosphere at the "village entrance" changed entirely.

The mothers pulled their children back, while the men raised bronze weapons or farming tools and blocked Jon's group.

Haken, who had provoked Jon and the others earlier, even reached for the hilt at his waist, eager to fight.

The Winterfell soldiers and Mountain Clan veterans beside Jon also drew their swords, surrounding Jon and Old York protectively.

The air around them grew stifling, faintly tinged with the scent of blood.

Jon did not know how Kuno had explained what happened before.

He had captured their Fire Witches on the battlefield, then saved her life. All things considered, there should not have been any real grudge between them.

Why were they shouting about killing the moment they met?

Were they testing me?

Jon looked at the women and children nearby. He believed Kuno must have explained things clearly to them.

Even if they did not care about the Fire Witches' life or death, Jon's group was fully armed. If a direct conflict broke out, even if the tribe won, they would pay a terrible price.

If they truly intended to attack them, they should at least let them "enter the village" first, then strike at night.

Jon activated Gods' Eye and confirmed once more that there were no ambushers nearby, making him even more certain that the tribal leader was testing him.

He then glanced at Kuno, who stood beside the two leaders. She, too, wore a look of astonishment.

"Honored leader, I defeated your people fairly and openly on the battlefield. Furthermore, I personally had someone save your Fire Witches' life.

"My coming here was also a promise from that Fire Witches. I believe we can be considered guests. If this is how you treat your guests, then we will leave now—and you may not be able to stop us!"

"Ha! I knew there'd be a fight today!" The moment he heard Jon's tone, Haken grew excited. Turning around, he said, "Elder Vidor, Elder Xiuwolf, these Ironborn have always been despicable. Please allow me to duel him. If I win, they must return the witch to us! Otherwise, kill them here!"

"That's right! Return her!"

Haken's followers and lackeys also shouted along with him.

Kuno hurriedly stopped them.

"Haken, didn't you hear?! This Lord Jon was the one who found someone to treat the Fire Witches' injuries!"

"Hmph! No matter what, I don't trust these Ironborn. I only trust the sword in my hand!

"What do you say? Do you dare duel me?!"

Jon looked toward the two elders and found that neither showed any intention of stopping him.

The especially imposing elder seemed to be called Vidor.

Seeing that Jon showed no fear, surprise flashed through Vidor's eyes as he said,

"It is true that our Fire Witches is in your hands. But if you wish for the Painted Dog Tribe to serve you, then please demonstrate some strength.

"We have seen those Ironborn before. Their banners blotted out the sky, and their armies stretched beyond sight.

"If joining you will bring us only defeat and bloodshed, then we would rather abandon the Fire Witches. I believe the Fire Witches would agree with my decision."

Hearing this, Jon became interested instead.

It seemed the Fire Witches was more of a spiritual totem than someone who wielded actual power.

"What are you waiting for? Duel me, Ironborn!"

Seeing Jon give no answer, Haken continued provoking him, rubbing the sword hilt as though he had long since been unable to wait.

Even the girl wearing the grass wreath watched expectantly from the crowd.

"Hmph! Against someone like you, our lord could piss with one hand and beat you with the other." Old York sneered.

"Is that so?! I hope your lord's skills are as great as your mouth!" Haken excitedly drew his sword.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the grass-wreathed girl. The fighting spirit in his heart immediately surged even higher.

"Then let's do this. But..." Jon turned to his attendants behind him. "Someone, remove my armor."

"Ha, is this Ironborn going to peel off his own skin? Interesting."

"I'm just worried you'll make excuses after you lose."

The two traded barbs, and the smell of gunpowder between them steadily intensified.

But unlike Haken, whose full attention was fixed on Jon, Jon had already begun using Gods' Eye to inspect the surrounding terrain.

He discovered that the Painted Dog Tribe's territory was truly not small.

There were even quite a few strongholds that were easy to defend and difficult to attack.

No wonder they had been able to establish themselves here and trade blows with the people of the Vale for thousands of years.

Soon, the two faced each other, one holding a bronze shortsword and the other a fine steel longsword.

Jon's weapon was clearly longer.

"What do you think? Want to use my weapon instead?" Jon taunted.

"Hmph! No need!"

With a low shout, Haken charged Jon. Yet all he saw was a flash of cold light, and Jon vanished from before his eyes.

The next second, Haken felt an icy wind sweep across his neck. Looking down, he saw Jon's longsword already resting against his throat.

The two leaders known as Elder Vidor and Elder Xiuwolf showed obvious shock.

Almost in unison, they widened their eyes and craned their heads forward.

Haken had not even reacted yet. His body instinctively tried to counterattack, but the icy chill at his neck made his muscles stiffen.

In Haken's memories, when he had first received his bronze shortsword as a young child, countless people had praised him.

He could learn the adults' moves after watching them once.

By the time he had just come of age, there were already almost no opponents for him in the tribe.

His personal strength had quickly become one of the tribe's strongest trump cards.

No matter how he thought about it, he could not understand how he had lost so miserably.

Suddenly, Haken noticed that the grass-wreathed girl in the crowd was looking at Jon with delight, even fascination.

"Sola..."

Haken murmured the grass-wreathed girl's name.

Fury suddenly rose in his heart. With a roar, he knocked Jon's sword aside, spun around, and slashed horizontally.

"Haken!"

The grass-wreathed girl was startled and hurried forward to stop him.

Old York also loudly protested from the side.

"Shameless! Shameless!"

Yet no one noticed that Elder Xiuwolf, standing beside Vidor, showed clear delight beneath his shock.

After witnessing Jon's almost miraculous swordsmanship, his expression of admiration even carried a trace of ecstatic joy.

As though he had discovered some treasure.

If, after the first exchange, some still believed Jon had won because of his superior weapon—

Then this time, despite Haken's near-sneak attack, he was defeated again in merely two moves.

Xiuwolf believed that there was no one stronger than Jon in all the Moon Mountains.

If possible, perhaps this outsider was the candidate he had waited so long for!

"Do you still want to continue?"

Though the words were spoken lightly, to Haken they felt like a slap across the face, making everything from his cheeks to the base of his neck burn.

The cheers from the soldiers behind Jon made him feel an even more indescribable humiliation.

As if someone had dumped a chamber pot over his head.

It was not just anger, but resentment!

"Again!"

Seeing that he still refused to accept it, Jon simply obliged him.

But the grass-wreathed girl had already walked toward Vidor and Xiuwolf, the two tribal leaders.

"Haken! Are you going to disgrace the Painted Dog Tribe completely?" After saying that, she looked at Vidor again. "Father! Make Haken stop!"

As an elder, Vidor still cared about his reputation.

"Haken! Stop!"

Hearing both his beloved and the elder warn him, Haken unwillingly and dejectedly sheathed his sword.

"Elders, can we talk about cooperation now?"