"I must apologize for my skepticism," Garlan Tyrell said, walking up to Linde and bowing respectfully. "Lord Linde, your swordsmanship is indeed as exquisite and magnificent as the rumors say. I hope your swordsmanship will be able to play its proper role in House Tyrell in the future."
After speaking, Garlan instructed his attendants to find a room to accommodate Linde and Joel, and to prepare clothing and other items for Linde.
Linde was stunned after hearing Garlan Tyrell's words because he could tell that Garlan was likely preparing to take him as a direct subordinate of House Tyrell.
Joan had recommended him to Fortimo, and by common sense, his identity should have been a member of House Crane, because no matter Joan, or Fortimo, or the White Village he came from, all belonged to House Crane. Although as a hunter he was Free Folk, and not a neighbor of Red Lake City, from all aspects, the moment he became Fortimo Klenne's attendant, a Crane clan name was added to his identity prefix.
However, Garlan's words now undoubtedly implied that he intended to take Linde's ownership from House Crane, making him Linde of House Tyrell, which was undoubtedly a good thing for Linde.
Although Fortimo Klenne was a famous swordmaster in The Reach, the drillmaster of Highgarden's guards, and House Tyrell's swordsmanship teacher, the branch of House Crane he belonged to was, after all, a loser in the family's internal struggles. Now he had no choice but to reside in Highgarden, owning only a manor granted by House Tyrell and some of House Crane's properties in Highgarden. His status had changed from a lordly family to a court noble of House Tyrell, so the most help Fortimo could offer Linde was merely knighthood.
House Tyrell, on the other hand, was different. Although they had sided with the wrong party in the Usurper War, they had not caused any substantial harm to House Baratheon, so after Robert Baratheon ascended the Iron Throne, he did not punish them excessively, which can be seen from the fact that House Tyrell was still allowed to serve as Warden of the South.
Furthermore, Robert Baratheon's valiant character also made him extremely respectful of House Tyrell, who had given him a hard time in the war, or more accurately, extremely respectful of Lord Randyll Tarly. Out of love for the house, he naturally would not have any ill thoughts about House Tyrell.
What's more, House Tyrell had been continuously repairing its relationship with the Iron Throne through various methods throughout this year. Although the effect was mediocre, it still achieved some results. From Duke Mace Tyrell's primary attendance at Joffrey Baratheon's birth feast, to the current invitation for Highgarden to send people to participate in the martial arts tournament commemorating the birth of the Baratheon heir, everything showed that the relationship between House Tyrell and the Iron Throne was improving.
Without external pressure, House Tyrell also had the energy to begin clearing out internal forces within The Reach, such as House Fossoway of New Barrel City, House Florentine of Brightwater Keep, House Rowan of Golden Tree City, and other noble families that had always prided themselves on their ancient lineage. Therefore, House Tyrell was certainly not lacking opportunities to achieve merit.
Although Linde's mind wandered due to Garlan's single sentence, his facial expression did not reveal any unusual emotions. After sheathing his weapon, he followed behind the attendant, walking with Joel towards their assigned lodging, while kneading the muscles of his arm to relieve the soreness caused by overexertion during the recent fight.
Although the fight just now lasted only a little over a minute, it put a significant strain on Linde's stamina. His sudden slowdown in movement at the end was precisely a sign of his exhaustion. Although Fortimo said they were evenly matched, he knew very well that he had actually lost.
Linde had long been aware of his stamina problem, so he began systematically enhancing his physique and training his strength while in White Village. In a short period, the results were indeed remarkable. However, even so, his current stamina was not enough to support him through a high-intensity battle, and stamina training cannot be completed overnight. For a long time to come, this will undoubtedly be his weakness.
Just as Linde was thinking about how to compensate for this weakness, the group arrived in front of a detached small building in the encampment. The attendant settled Linde and Joel in two separate rooms on the second floor of the building, then asked if they needed anything before turning and leaving.
A moment later, several maids led the two to the downstairs bathroom to attend to their bathing.
Perhaps because Linde was in the adjacent tub, Joel felt a bit awkward, or perhaps he was worried about doing something wrong that would affect his image with House Tyrell, so even though he was burning with desire, he did not do anything to those maids when they were attending to him.
As for Linde, there's even less to say; he didn't let the maids attend to him at all, but bathed himself according to his habits from his previous life.