Bounty completions were only broadcast to other players with a delay. Even if I stole his kill, he wouldn't be able to tell I was a player.
Besides, no one in their right mind would dare to casually kill a Lannister—especially one working on a quest for a bigshot.
And really, as a Lannister who just pocketed a bounty of 3,000 gold dragons, why should I worry about winning over a few mercenaries?
"Brotherhood!" The excuse popped into Ian's mind, and in that same instant, rage surged through him. Before Harui could slit the Brotherhood hunter's throat with his dagger, Ian lunged forward and drove his sword straight into the prisoner's chest.
Harui's eyes went wide in shock, staring at Ian. The mercenaries nearby were equally stunned, confused by his sudden act.
The system chime confirming the quest completion snapped Ian out of his frenzy. He blinked, barely able to believe he'd actually done it.
At the same time, the tightly coiled fear inside him began to unwind.
So, he wasn't afraid of killing. He was just afraid of dying.
Ian lifted a trembling arm to wipe the blood off his face. The heat of it, the stench of iron, nearly made him vomit.
The taste of rust. The scent of blood.
But he forced down the nausea. The performance wasn't over yet.
Ian understood this world well—only the winner gets to walk away. He had no room for morals. No time for awakening or redemption. The pace of these timed quests didn't allow for such luxuries.
From the moment he transmigrated into this world, he ceased to be Alex. He was Ian now. And there was no turning back.
He yanked his sword out from the collapsing corpse. Eyes bloodshot, he swept his gaze across the surrounding crowd, then shoved the body forward and brought his blade down toward its neck in a brutal hack. The blade only sank a few inches into the shoulder—he couldn't quite sever the head.
"Ser, what are you doing?" Harui demanded, barely containing his fury.
"Brotherhood Without Banners!" Ian roared, hatred dripping from every word. "If it weren't for those bastards, I'd be a trueborn by now!"
He turned to the mercenaries beside Harui, growling, "My father's wife died years ago! If not for their ambush that left him gravely injured, he would've married my mother. I would've been a proper Lannister! Not some lowborn Hill bastard!"
The mercenaries instinctively backed away. They could feel Ian's wrath, and seriously—who wanted to mess with a raging Lannister?
And really, was there any point? Their employer, Harui, had hired them to eliminate a personal threat. But now someone else had stepped in and done the job first. So what? Not like Harui ever had the guts to kill the guy himself.
"Brotherhood Without Banners?" Harui's face twisted with fury. He bellowed, "Kill him! Kill that bastard!"
"Double your pay if you catch him alive!" he shouted at the mercenaries, waving his dagger in the air. You could tell—if his stats weren't average across the board, he probably would've charged in himself.
Ian's heart dropped. What the hell? Why's he so decisive? I'm a goddamn Lannister! He doesn't even hesitate?!
The mercenaries glanced at each other in confusion, looking toward one person—their captain.
That's when it hit Ian.
Shit. He had forgotten: Traveling Merchant players started with 100 gold dragons! Unlike him, a broke loner who had to personally hire mercenaries one by one, this guy could just dump cash and let his steward recruit a whole damn squad.
And considering how players were just dropped into this world out of nowhere, all Harui needed to do was ask the captain if anyone new had joined recently. If not—then there was no player hiding among the mercenaries.
"You're insane! Do you really want to cross House Lannister?!" Ian barked at the encroaching mercenaries, trying to hold his ground. "Kill me, and my family will hunt you to the ends of the earth! No matter where you hide, you'll be dragged out and flayed alive! Lannisters always repay their debts—kindness or revenge. Just ask the Reynes of Castamere!"
> (Author's note: The House Reyne was once the second wealthiest and most powerful house in the Westerlands. Lord Tywin Lannister annihilated them for rebelling, destroyed their castle at Castamere, and inspired the infamous song "The Rains of Castamere.")
"Screw the Lannisters! You talk a good game, I'll give you that," Harui sneered. "If I didn't know the Brotherhood Without Banners wasn't formed until after the Mountain started raiding the Riverlands—and Lord Eddard Stark sent Lord Beric and Thoros of Myr to hunt him down—maybe I would have believed your bullshit!"
"This guy's no Lannister bastard! He's just a damn con man! Kill him! Karmel, that's an order—kill him!"
Fuuuck. Ian's heart plummeted. I totally forgot about that! This is all the devs' fault! Who told them to make the game start with Robert marching north and give out "Brotherhood Hunter" as a starter class?!
Harui had fifteen mercenaries with him, a third of them cavalry. There was no way out. Not cleanly.
He'd talked too much. A tiny slip in the timeline, and now everything was unraveling. Me! Of all people! I've studied the lore of Westeros for years, and I tripped over something this dumb?! Wait—timeline?!
"Ridiculous!" Ian suddenly burst out laughing, using the sound to mask his fear. "What the hell are you talking about? The Mountain raiding the Riverlands? Since when? Last I checked, Ser Gregor was still sitting pretty at the side of the lord of Casterly Rock. Don't go slandering my family's bannermen!"
The mercenaries chuckled.
"And Lord Stark? Still rotting up in Winterfell! What's he got to do with anything in the Riverlands? You sure you're not hallucinating?" Ian pressed on, grinning mockingly.
"I—I mean—" Harui stammered, caught off guard. He hadn't expected this fake bastard to turn his own tactic back on him.
For a player, messing up the timeline was a fatal blunder. But to these mercenaries, talk of "future events" just sounded like the ravings of a madman.
How was Harui supposed to explain? Tell them they were just NPCs, and he was a chosen one who could see the future?
Yeah. Good luck with that.
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