You can read the advance chapters here : patreon.com/Vigilante04
---------------
"Wouldn't such continued looting affect the income of their territory?"
"Anyway, the knights' territories are very scattered, and they don't have the authority to tax passing caravans. As long as the ghosts of White Wall City don't attack their estates, it won't affect them. If Darry City or Harrenhal still had the power they once did, this group of robbers wouldn't be able to run rampant here," Dorian said with a mocking smile.
It was a bad era indeed. People were plundering the fiefdoms of small nobles, and if the local lords didn't take the lead in petitioning, the upper nobles would generally turn a blind eye.
"If he were a responsible prince, as long as the robbed caravan came to him with a complaint, he would handle the matter," Dorian continued.
"Unfortunately, Duke Hoster Tully is critically ill, and the Hand of the King, Jon Arryn, was poisoned by his own wife, manipulated by Littlefinger."
This left White Wall City's ghosts unchecked.
"Okay," Ian sighed. "Is there anything else you can think of? Anything at all?"
"When you asked, I remembered something. I accidentally overheard 'Mountain Weasel' and his adoptive father talking about something before," Dorian said.
"Who's Mountain Weasel?"
"A squad leader in the mercenary group. He's responsible for our group's search for the Black Fire Treasure."
"Where is he now?"
"I don't know. He's been searching for the treasure in White Wall City recently," Dorian shook his head. "But he comes back to the station every once in a while to report his progress to his adoptive father."
"Won't the ghosts of White Wall City attack your treasure-hunting team?"
"Never!" Dorian shook his head quickly. "This incident made my adoptive father suspect that the other side couldn't find the treasure on their own and wanted to use our power to find it, so they deliberately let us in."
"It's not impossible. By the way, what did you overhear?"
"A week ago, I overheard my adoptive father mentioning a mole while talking with Mountain Weasel. They seemed to know who it was, but when I asked, he told me not to worry about it. He said it would all be over soon."
"Good thing you remembered," Ian shook his head and chuckled. "I don't know what it means yet, but I have a feeling that the key to unlocking the truth is hidden in that sentence."
"You mean it was the traitor who killed my adoptive father?"
"That's a simple, superficial guess. You can't draw any valuable conclusions from it, can you? Based on what we know, your adoptive father's death may be linked to the mole. As for more details, I'll need time to piece things together. But first, we need to find this Mountain Weasel."
"Even if we find him, he won't serve us. He only answers to the leader of the mercenary group," Dorian explained.
The leader of the mercenary group? Suddenly, Ian had a bold thought. Could he use Dorian to seize control of the Black Falcon mercenary group?
Although he couldn't rely on the loyalty of a group of mercenaries, they could still be useful, at least until they showed signs of defeat or began to fight over the spoils.
"Why don't you try to compete for the position of leader? You are the adopted son of the previous Black Falcon, aren't you?" Ian decided to test the waters.
"This isn't a title. There's no inheritance of the position," Dorian said, looking embarrassed.
"But I said before, you will become the new Black Falcon," Ian replied with more certainty this time.
"Sir? You mean, you want to help me?" Dorian's excitement was evident, and his emotions surged.
But Dorian quickly calmed himself. "But, Sir, you don't know that participating in the election for Grand Master requires the nomination of at least four mercenary captains. I only have one supporter, and I'm confident I can convince one more."
"With him, that's three," Ian pointed at Grantham. "As for the fourth one—or even more—we can have Golden Dragon help us convince them."
"You want to sponsor me?" Dorian asked, clearly pleased. Mercenaries usually had little principle. As long as you paid them, it wasn't hard to get their support.
"Obviously," Ian said with a grin.
"Then what's the price?" Dorian wasn't naive and immediately asked.
"Allegiance."
"Black Falcon is a mercenary group, Sir. No one can trust the loyalty of mercenaries. Even if I become the Grand Commander, it's impossible for me to lead a mercenary group that will be loyal to you. But if you can uncover the truth behind my adoptive father's death and help me avenge him, I swear allegiance to you and will do my best to ensure the mercenary group stays loyal to you."
Just as Ian was about to respond, to his surprise, the system—silent for so long—suddenly came to life.
"Deal," Ian quickly replied to Dorian, then immediately closed his eyes to check.
[Trigger Mission Discovered: The Truth Behind Black Falcon's DeathMission Description: Black Falcon was attacked by a military heavy crossbow in the middle of the night in a room believed to be linked to a knight of the Grafson family. His adopted son, Dorian, seeks your help to uncover the truth behind the murder and avenge him.Mission Reward: Dorian will swear allegiance to youAdditional Reward: Unknown]
[Accept (Consumes 1 point)] [Reject]
Going on a mission now?
Ian hesitated for a moment but quickly realized that the two previous missions had something in common: the native people had made a formal request, promising specific rewards.
Without further hesitation, Ian clicked "Accept." He was wealthy enough not to worry about saving these points.
The mission interface updated immediately.
[Optional Mission 1: The Truth Behind Black Falcon's DeathMission Goal: Uncover the truth behind Black Falcon's death and avenge him.Mission Reward: Dorian will swear allegiance to youAdditional Reward: Unknown][Current Points: 13]
Looking at the refreshed interface, Ian couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed.
It only changed the mission description to the mission goal and didn't provide any further clues, other than Dorian's account. Moreover, the additional reward was still listed as "unknown," meaning Ian couldn't gauge the task's difficulty based on the reward.
This meant the system left no loopholes to exploit.
Wait—wrong! Ian suddenly had an idea. If the mission involved the Blackfire Treasure, that at least proved its existence, didn't it?
Of course, the test could wait. For now, he needed to continue discussing the Black Falcon Mercenary Group with Dorian.