Jeyne Hede

The next morning, Ian slept undisturbed until he woke naturally.

Though he had had a nightmare the night before, having slept a full eight hours left him feeling energetic, and his mind was much clearer than it had been last night.

Ian washed up according to the habits of his previous life before Roar came to report to him. "Master."

"No, no." Ian hurriedly interrupted him. "Don't call me Master. Call me Ser Lucian, like the others. That is my identity now."

"As you wish, Ser Lucian." Roar shrugged. "Martha, the innkeeper's niece Jeyne Hede, came knocking earlier."

"Why her? Where is she?"

"I told her you were still asleep, so she left."

"Then go invite her back now."

"Should I order some food as well? Neither of us has eaten yet."

"Fine."

Roar accepted the order and left the room. Two minutes later, he returned with Jeyne.

Jeyne Hede was a girl not yet eighteen. She was not a stunning beauty, but she was fairly pretty, especially her eyes, which sparkled with lively intelligence.

She wore a lovely navy linen dress, her long brown hair draped over her shoulders, with a stretch of delicate calf visible beneath her skirt.

This was probably her most expensive dress, Ian guessed.

"L-Lord." Jeyne hurriedly lowered her head in greeting upon seeing Ian, though he could still sense that she was secretly studying him.

"What did Martha tell you yesterday?" Ian's expression darkened slightly.

"She did not tell me anything. She only asked me to carefully remember how many of yesterday's guests were visiting this inn for the first time, then told me to report to you today."

"Why did she not come herself?"

"She is still in the kitchen. You may not know this, but she is the only cook at this inn. If she leaves the kitchen, the inn cannot function properly, so she sent me to await your orders at all times."

"You are not curious what I intend to do?"

"Of course I am, but Aunt refused to tell me anything. She only told me to serve you attentively." She said you were the richest man in the world, an honored guest of the Volantis magistrates and the Son of Heaven. She told me to seize this opportunity. Even if it was only for one night, or even once, your generous hand would be enough for us to live in luxury for the rest of our lives.

"She told you to wear your prettiest dress to serve me, and if you could climb into my bed, your fortunes would soar from then on, right?" Ian rolled his eyes.

"Oh, my lord." Having her thoughts exposed, Jeyne's little face instantly flushed crimson. She defended herself in a low voice. "I just did not expect you to be so young."

I'm two years younger than you! Ian thought to himself.

"Put away those crooked thoughts." Ian steered the conversation back to business. He had no interest whatsoever in teasing a woman like Jeyne. "Tell me, which of the guests who stayed here last night were strangers?"

"A total of fourteen people arrived at our inn yesterday and ultimately stayed the night. Eleven of them were people we had never seen before." Seeing Ian's serious expression, Jeyne did not dare entertain any more thoughts and hurriedly began reporting the information she had gathered.

"So many?"

"Yes, my lord. That is simply how things are here. Most guests stop here for a night while passing through, so there truly are a great many strangers."

"Then what characteristics did these eleven people have?"

"I am afraid I can no longer answer that question."

"Why?"

"Only three of them are still at the inn. The others bought some travel rations and set off before dawn." Jeyne explained tremblingly, "I wanted to report to you then, but this ser stopped me. I could hardly go stop them myself, could I?"

"You did not tell me what you had come for." Roar could not help frowning.

"I did not know how to say it." Jeyne avoided his gaze. She had come with improper intentions to begin with, and after Roar refused her, she had been too frightened to speak.

"It is fine." Ian interrupted them. Those travelers who had left before dawn were likely just in a hurry and probably were not players. "Just tell me about the remaining three."

"O-Okay." Relieved, Jeyne nodded rapidly. "Of the three remaining, one is a mercenary. He is drinking in the hall right now. I chatted with him briefly, and he said he came here to try his luck and see if he could find work.

"But I do not think he looks like a mercenary at all. He is far too skinny, and he does not look like he has any strength. I think even the ducks at our inn could beat him."

A player! That was Ian's first reaction.

A player's combat power had nothing to do with their build, just as age did not affect their stats. The final character appearance also had no effect on the interface.

If some absurdly skinny fellow claimed to be a mercenary, then he might really be a player.

"What other characteristics does he have? What armor does he wear? What weapon does he use?"

"That is the strangest part! He has no armor and no weapon. He wears a very old silk shirt, carries a purse embroidered with gold thread, and it looks like he even has powder on his face."

"Tell me about the other two." Ian chuckled.

"The other two are master and servant... a middle-aged knight and an eleven- or twelve-year-old squire. They rented a luxurious single room and asked me for a bundle of straw mats, probably for the squire. They are both still in their room and probably have not gotten up yet."

As Jeyne spoke, she suddenly remembered something else. "Oh, right. When they arrived yesterday afternoon, Aunt asked that knight to go to House Ward's estate to help Ser Veld and the others, but he ruthlessly refused. That ser said he was heading to King's Landing and had no time to play house with poor knights from The Riverlands."

"Do you know his surname?"

"No. He never introduced his surname."

"What about his heraldry? Does he have a sigil?"

"Yes, he does. There was indeed something painted on his cloak." Jeyne thought for a moment. "It seemed to be a tower."

"One tower or two?" Ian's first thought was House Frey's azure twin towers.

"One, ser. I saw it very clearly."

"Any other characteristics? Such as the tower's color, the color of the cloak, or anything besides the tower in the design?"

"The tower... was yellow. The cloak was black—oh, no, red." Jeyne scratched her head. "I cannot remember clearly. I did not pay special attention at the time."

"Black, red background, Yellow Tower..." Ian repeated. After thinking for several minutes, he asked, "Did that cloak have both red and black on it, with a yellow tower bearing four flames rising from it in the black center?"

"Eh? Those were flames?" Jeyne blurted out. The next moment, she realized what he meant. "That is right, exactly as you said!"