The Killing Blow (Part 2)

"Now, A Lannister Always Pays His Debts offers a new deal," Ian announced loudly, holding up a gold bar. "In my hand is a gold bar weighing over two pounds, worth 150 Gold Dragons. Whoever cuts off Harui's head and brings it to me will own it. Furthermore, he will become my new squire, and I will have him knighted within three years."

Harui's ominous premonition had come true.

Ian's words struck his heart like a heavy hammer. He roared at Ian, "Bastard, you broke your oath!" Then he frantically looked toward Kammel's trusted men beside him.

Only now did he realize that he had still underestimated Ian's ambitions. He had thought Ian's payment to those incited mercenaries in the form of "compensation" had merely been a strategic retreat, forcing a draw.

But while retreating to advance, Ian had also been attacking their hearts.

He had been attacking the hearts of Kammel's trusted men.

The moment Harui finished speaking, a mercenary beside him yanked him down from his horse. His fat body crashed heavily onto the ground, and when he looked up, he saw the cold gleam of a dagger.

One of Kammel's trusted men had acted. He dragged Harui from his horse and slit his throat with a single stroke.

In that final instant, Harui was filled with indescribable regret.

If he had accepted Kammel's suggestion back then, he and that bastard could have gone their separate ways in peace.

Why had he insisted on being the first to sow discord among Kammel's mercenaries? No one had even considered disobeying Kammel's orders before.

He had been the one to smash that window, giving the bastard the chance to reduce his fortress to rubble.

After killing Harui, the mercenary quickly put distance between himself and Kammel's group. Retreating, he shouted at Ian, "It was me, my lord! I killed him!"

"What I said was, whoever brings me his head," Ian replied coldly. The moment Harui died, he heard the Auxiliary System's notification.

Since he had already achieved his goal, he was preparing to leave. But before leaving, he still needed to create a little chaos.

As soon as he finished speaking, all the mercenaries moved. First, they hacked Harui's servants to death with a flurry of blades, then rushed toward the corpse and joined the fight for his head.

Standing amid the crowd, Kammel tried furiously to stop them, but his efforts were ultimately futile.

Because in the next moment, Ian shouted, "A Lannister Always Pays His Debts!"

Then he threw the gold bar in his hand. The instant it landed among the crowd, most of the mercenaries immediately abandoned their struggle for Harui's head and lunged for the gold.

The House Lannister knight had already paid. As for who ended up taking the money, that lord did not care.

Since that was the case, why couldn't I be the one to take it?

Watching the scene before him, Ian finally let out the breath he had been holding. He turned his horse and ordered the knights beside him, "Let's go."

"You're leaving just like that?" the Green Armored Knight asked, somewhat surprised.

"What? Is there a problem?"

"Look at all this." The knight shifted his gaze to the corpses on the ground. "A massacre is taking place here. House Tully's investigators will arrive soon. I don't know what position you hold within House Lannister, but if it isn't very high, I doubt House Lannister would tear relations with The Riverlands apart for a bastard. You'll be wanted."

This... Ian froze. After calculating everything, he had actually forgotten about the law. After all, this was a world close to the Middle Ages. Killing people should have been fairly normal, shouldn't it?

But Westeros had not yet fallen into war. Given the security in The Riverlands, this massacre at the salt mine might even draw the duke's attention. And so many people had seen the face of this "House Lannister bastard."

True, all he needed to do was discard the false identity of a "House Lannister bastard" and melt down the lion's-head pommel. In an era where wanted men could only be identified by portraits, it would be a fool's dream for law enforcement to catch him.

But the problem was that he had not crossed over alone. There were nearly a hundred players on this land. How many possibilities unfavorable to him could arise from the flaws he had exposed in this matter?

Ian hardened his heart, took a deep breath, and asked the knight beside him, "If we kill them all, how certain are we?"

He did not want to gamble.

"Seventy percent. If we join the battle now, they'll quickly see through our intentions. They may very well stop fighting among themselves and unite again." The knight shook his head seriously. "And the terrain here is unfavorable for mounted combat. If we dismount, we'll be surrounded. Most of them wear light armor, but there are too many of them, and a few are quite skilled."

After saying that, the knight added, "Of course, as long as you give the order, we can handle everything."

"No." Ian immediately shook his head. These two knights were his greatest assets right now. Unless absolutely necessary, he did not want to risk them.

What was the difference between a seventy-percent chance and throwing their lives away?

So Ian looked once more toward the mercenaries in the distance.

By then, Kammel had killed both the guard who had slain Harui and Adam, the old mercenary who had led the troublemakers. He was facing off against the mutinous mercenaries with his remaining guards.

The mercenary who had happened to seize the gold bar stood trembling between the two sides.

"He's been their captain for years, after all. His prestige isn't low if he can still bring the situation under control," Ian commented. Then he shook his head. "It's too risky for us to enter now."

"Ser Kymell, it seems you still have much to deal with, so I won't continue disturbing you. Until we meet again!" Ian deliberately shouted. After giving Kammel a provocative glance, he spurred his horse away.

The two knights clearly did not understand what Ian intended to do, but they still followed closely behind him. Before long, they reached the Kingsroad.

After riding only two miles, Ian reined in his horse on the Kingsroad and turned to look back toward the salt mine.

The two knights stopped as well.

"I thought you wanted to kill them all," the Green Armored Knight said at once.

"Of course I do, but not by brute force." Ian shook his head and explained, "I just turned those mercenaries against Harui and had them kill him, destroying Kammel's reputation built over so many years. Then I stirred up infighting in his Mercenary Company, nearly ruining the forces under his command and his hope of reclaiming his grandfather's knighthood.

"He wants nothing more than to skin me alive and eat my flesh. He won't let me leave. Once he sees us fleeing, he'll soon come after us. But they only have five horses. The old horses in Harui's caravan can barely run, so no more than five people can pursue us.

"We'll deal with Kammel here first, then turn back and finish off the remaining defeated rabble."