Chapter 276: Sorry, We’re a Black Shop

Dangling Willow stumbled backward into the main hall, frantically reaching for a hand crossbow hanging on the wall while shouting urgently, "Stop eating! Grab your weapons, there's a band of bandits outside!"

The children, who were noisily slurping their food, immediately jumped from their seats. Some went for crossbows, others picked up stones, and a few crouched at the windows, pulling out slingshots.

Dangling Willow, armed with a crossbow, dashed into the rain, screaming hoarsely, "Get lost! There's no food here! We're armed, and this is not a place where you can run wild!"

Though just a frail ten-year-old girl, at that moment, she stood taller than a giant.

Boom! Thunder rolled, and flashes of bright white lightning flickered constantly in the yard. Dany saw seven or eight armored riders, their faces obscured by black hoods. Rainwater streamed down their sneering jaws.

One held a silver-blue glowing axe, another raised a drawn, pitch-black curved blade, and the rest had long swords with gleaming edges—all clad in full mail and plate armor.

Their weapons and armor gleamed with a cold shine—clearly, these were elite and well-equipped marauders.

The leader, a man wearing a dog-faced helmet, growled at Dangling Willow, "Shoot, and I'll shove that bolt down your hole and f*** you with it."

"Still glaring at me?

Good. You're dead. I'll gouge out your damned eyes and stuff them down below too."

Dany yanked Willow back inside by the collar. "With so many knights in here, it's not your place to play the hero, little girl."

Then, turning to the grim-faced Brienne, she grinned, "How many can you handle?"

Brienne blinked and muttered, "One… maybe two."

"I can take one." Hyle wiped grease from his mouth, strapped on his helmet, and grumbled, "If I were on horseback, I could take two—maybe even three."

"Ser, you can handle three, can't you?" Dany asked Barristan.

"I'm a knight too," Gendry said, raising his warhammer.

"You've got no armor. Stay behind me and watch for an opening. I'll go take out the dog-face first—everyone cover my flanks," Dany commanded as she lowered her visor and charged into the rain.

"Kill!" The old knight moved almost in sync with her, drawing his sword and striding toward the curved-blade wielder on the dog-head man's left.

"Kill!" Brienne and Hyle weren't far behind. Even the old monk's dog barked madly and charged in.

"Damn it, how does this shabby inn have four knights?!" one of the bandits shouted in shock.

"We're just passing through! Some bandits were chasing us. Give us good horses and food, and we'll leave immediately!" another bandit, clearly unnerved, tried to talk his way out.

"Don't be scared. Just two women and an old man. Watch me slaughter them!" Dog-head man raised his axe and spurred his horse toward Dany, who stood at the spearhead of their formation.

"Dragon Might!" At the moment the rider was just five meters away, the soul of Blackie surged into Dany's mind. Her eyes tinged with crimson, faintly glowing in the dark.

"Whinny—!" The warhorse's legs suddenly buckled. Though it didn't collapse completely, it stumbled awkwardly, slowing down just enough. The dog-head man's strike missed, his body lurching toward Dany.

"Shhh—" The sharp Valyrian steel sword, fueled by Dany's momentum, pierced cleanly through the mouth opening of the dog helmet.

"Ssshh—" Fine lines of blood splattered along the sword blade, spraying across Dany's helmet. She ducked low and slipped past the dog-head man, dragging her sword from his mouth and swinging it at the swordsman charging behind him.

Clang! The clash of blades burst with sparks and a gong-like sound. The opponent's pristine white blade chipped a bean-sized piece, while Dany's Clear Sky remained unscathed.

"Bang!" She kicked the horse's leg, and the already-nervous beast crashed to the ground. The rider shrieked as he tumbled down, landing right in front of Dany.

Without mercy, she struck like lightning, her sword slipping into the gap behind the man's neck guard.

"Shhh—" Blood gushed like a fountain, splashing over her iron boots. She thrust down, then pulled her sword free in one swift motion, turning to face her third opponent.

This time, she was slightly delayed. Her sword wasn't in position in time, and the enemy's greatsword came crashing toward her head.

The knight had intended to ram her chest with his horse, but inexplicably, the normally in-sync warhorse swerved aside.

"Thunk!" It felt like getting clubbed on the head. Dany staggered, dazed, yet her right hand instinctively thrust her blade at the knight's exposed armpit.

"Shhh—"

"Aaaargh!" The knight howled in pain, dropping his sword. Dany shook her heavy head and looked ahead—no one was left. She had broken through the cavalry squad.

Looking back, she saw the knight—missing a sword and with a mangled right arm—getting hammered off his horse by Gendry.

The young man had followed Dany closely, watching her wreak havoc. Finally spotting a wounded one, he wasn't going to miss the chance. After three or five blows, the enemy's helmet was completely crushed.

Dany braced on her sword, panting white breaths in the freezing rain. Her head felt heavy. Reaching up, she touched… a sword blade?

She paused, then realized—it was embedded in her helmet.

Struggling to remove her helm, she found the sword had struck right on the round steel cap atop her helmet and got stuck.

From under the porch, the monk Meribald raised an oil lamp and exclaimed, "By the Seven, that lady knight is even scarier than Brienne!"

"She kicked over a warhorse with one leg… how strong must she be?" Dangling Willow stared wide-eyed, murmuring in awe.

Barristan was equally stunned. In just a few breaths, while everyone else was still locked in one-on-one combat, she alone had taken down three fully armored knights.

This... this year's martial champion was far too formidable!

The White Knight had only managed to kill two riders. Brienne and Hyle each felled one, and Gendry stole one from Dany.

Raindrops pattered down. Seven armored corpses twitched faintly in the muddy yard. Blood flowed like a stream, staining the earth red. Dany and the others exchanged glances—then burst into hearty laughter.

In an instant, a sense of closeness blossomed among the group.

Gendry walked up to the man with the dog-head helmet and said with a smile, "Miss, you just killed the Hound!"

"What? He was the Hound? I killed the Hound?" Dany's eyes almost popped out.

The Hound was one of the most important supporting characters in Game of Thrones, the shared "first love" of both Arya and Sansa. And now he just got killed off like that?

"He's not the Hound. The Hound died long ago," Brienne said, removing the dog-head helmet to reveal an ugly face with no nose. Her expression was complicated. "They're blood mummers. They picked up the Hound's helmet from his grave. These are the ones who looted Saltpans."

Dany walked over to take a look. He was indeed ugly, but his face had no burn scars—it wasn't the Hound.

"Rorge?" Gendry exclaimed. "It's actually him."

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"You know him?" Dany asked curiously.

"I was originally sold by my master to the Night's Watch and headed north with Yoren and a group of others. At the time, three particularly vicious criminals were locked up in a cage."

Gendry gave a brief explanation, and Dany quickly understood. Arya hadn't just saved Jaqen H'ghar, the faceless man—she had also released two actual scoundrels.

In Game of Thrones, those two had barely any screen time. But in this real world, they'd joined the blood mummers and committed murder, robbery, and rape across the Riverlands. They'd done just about every evil imaginable.

Truth be told, even Jaqen wasn't exactly a good guy—his hands were stained with the blood of the innocent.

Arya really was a child of blood.

Thud, thud, thud…

While Dany was drying her hair by the fireplace, Gendry and the others were stripping the corpses of the bandits under the porch—armor was valuable. As they were moving the naked bodies to the stables, the sound of fast-approaching hooves rang out once more on the King's Road.

"It's me!" Before they even reached the gate, a knight called out from behind the stone wall. "Willow! Gendry! Did you encounter those brutes?"

Soon, a group of more than twenty riders charged into the courtyard.

"It's Lem. They're our people," Gendry turned back to reassure the few knights in the hall who had tensed up.

"Your people?" Dany asked warily. "Why are there so many riders at your inn?"

"Well—"

"By the Lord of Light! All these blood mummers are dead—who did this?" one of the riders outside exclaimed at the sight of the corpses.

"Lord of Light?" Hyle froze for a moment, then his expression changed drastically. He rose from the couch by the fireplace, grabbed the sword belt hanging on the wall, and shouted, "Be careful! We've walked into a trap! They're all bandits!"

"What?" Dany and Brienne were still stunned, but the white knight, who had never taken off his armor, had already drawn his sword and placed himself in front of her protectively.

Then chaos broke out. Children ran and shouted, some lost and confused, while about a dozen of them picked up crossbows or rocks and pointed them at Dany's group.

"This really is a black inn!" A tall young woman entered through the gate. She looked sixteen or seventeen. Her brown hair, dripping wet under her hood, framed a pale and unremarkable face, clearly undernourished. The only striking thing about her was her height—at least 1.75 meters. Her brown leather boots and black leather pants outlined a pair of stunningly long legs.

"'Longlegs' Ginny!" Gendry frowned. "They're the ones who killed the blood mummers."

Ginny? Willow's sister—they really did look alike.

"My lady wants to see them," said Longlegs Ginny.

Within moments, seven or eight sword-wielding fighters poured into the room, while a dozen more armed with bows and crossbows took positions at the doors and windows, their cold eyes fixed on them.

"Drop your weapons, remove your armor, and surrender!" a bearded man in a lemon-yellow cloak shouted.

"It really is a black inn," Dany muttered, scanning the room. The swordsmen looked grim, Willow seemed hesitant to speak, and the group of little ones were nervously peeking at them. The two-year-old girl Trissy still hadn't grasped what was going on—she was crawling naked on the long table, picking up bread crumbs and shoving them in her mouth, clattering the plates and cups around.

"You believe in the Red God. Are you with the Brotherhood Without Banners?" Brother Meribald stepped forward and pleaded, "I know who you are and I know your rules. I swear to you, these knights here are good people. Please don't kill the innocent—let them go."

"Old priest, I know you too. You've walked the Riverlands, helping the poor. You're not under judgment. You can leave on your donkey. But they—they're the ones Lady Stoneheart wants. Not one of them can be let go."

(End of Chapter)

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