Chapter 18. What fraternity?

Once the bounty mission is completed, other players will be notified with a delay. Even if I claim his head, he won't know I'm a player.

And they certainly wouldn't dare kill a Lannister easily, especially one performing a task for a high-ranking lord.

Moreover, as a Lannister, after receiving the bounty of 3,000 gold dragons, why should I worry about being unable to handle these mercenaries?

"Brotherhood!" The moment Jon conceived his excuse, he was filled with malice and courage. He rushed past Harui's throat with his dagger and plunged it into the prisoner's chest with a powerful thrust.

Harui's eyes widened in shock as he stared at Jon. The mercenaries around him stood confused, not understanding Jon's actions.

The sound of mission completion in his mind awakened Jon from his momentary madness. He could hardly believe he had actually struck.

At the same time, he felt the taut string in his heart finally relax.

So I'm not afraid of killing, but simply afraid of death.

Jon raised his slightly trembling arm and wiped away the blood spattered across his face. The warmth and rich metallic smell made his stomach churn.

It was the smell of rust, the smell of blood.

But he had to suppress the urge to gag, knowing his performance wasn't over yet.

Jon understood that only the victor would return alive. The game's mechanics had determined he wasn't qualified to play the noble, and the mission's frantic pace left him no time for awakening and transformation.

From the moment he arrived in this world, he was no longer himself, but Jon Snow, and could only be Jon Snow.

Jon withdrew his sword from the corpse leaning against him. He looked around at the onlookers with bloodshot eyes, then pushed the corpse forward and suddenly slashed at its neck. Unfortunately, the blade sank only a few centimeters into the shoulder blade, failing to sever the head as he'd intended.

"Sir, what are you doing?" Harui asked, suppressing his anger.

"Brotherhood Without Banners!" Jon snarled, endless hatred in his tone. "If it weren't for these bastards, I wouldn't be a bastard now!"

Jon turned to the mercenaries beside Harui and growled: "My father's original wife is dead! If they hadn't attacked my father and gravely wounded him, he would have married my mother long ago. I would have been a true Lannister! Not the despicable Snow!"

The mercenaries retreated one by one, shocked by Jon's ferocity. Who would needlessly provoke a crazed Lannister?

There was obviously no reason for them to intervene. After all, their employer Harui had hired them to kill an enemy who threatened him, and now someone else with a grudge had struck first. This had no impact on their arrangement, did it?

Besides, their employer had been reluctant to take action anyway, hadn't he?

"Brotherhood Without Banners?" Harui's expression instantly turned ferocious as he roared, "Kill him, kill him!"

"Seize him, and I'll double your commission!" Harui shouted angrily, waving his dagger in the air. It was clear that if his average attribute points were above 5, he would have rushed forward to kill Jon himself.

Jon was stunned. How could this be? How could Harui be so decisive? I'm a damned Lannister! He doesn't hesitate to order my death?

This absurd command confused the surrounding mercenaries, who all looked to their leader.

Observing the scene, Jon suddenly realized he'd forgotten that Traveling Merchants began with a hundred gold dragons! Unlike himself, who could only hire mercenaries individually, the merchant had enough funds to directly employ an entire mercenary company!

Given how players appeared in this world out of thin air, Harui would only need to confirm with the mercenary captain that no new members had joined recently to eliminate the risk of players infiltrating their ranks!

"Madman! Would you offend House Lannister?" Jon stared at the surrounding mercenaries, forcing himself to remain calm. "Kill me, and the Lannisters will hunt you to the ends of the earth. No matter where you hide, you'll be found and ground to ash! A Lannister always pays his debts, whether of kindness or hatred. House Reyne of Castamere is proof enough!"

(The Reynes were once the second wealthiest and most powerful family in the Westerlands. They were exterminated by Tywin Lannister for rebelling against House Lannister, their ancestral castle of Castamere destroyed. "The Rains of Castamere" tells the tale of the Lannisters' ruthless suppression of their rebellion.)

"Damn you, Lannister! You're quite the actor! Fine performance, boy. If I hadn't known that the Brotherhood Without Banners was established after Lord Eddard Stark sent Lord Beric Dondarrion and Thoros of Myr to hunt down The Mountain when he plundered the Riverlands, I might have believed you!" Harui glared at Jon and sneered. He yearned to flay the man who had mocked him.

"This man is no Lannister bastard at all—he's a liar! Kill him! Carmel, I order you, kill him!" Harui commanded the mercenary captain again.

Seven hells! How could I forget this? This trap was planned by the game! It's because the game starts with Robert traveling north and includes Brotherhood Hunter as a starting profession! Otherwise I wouldn't have made such a mistake!

Jon's heart sank. Around Harui stood fifteen mercenaries, a third of them mounted. There was no chance of escaping unharmed.

To speak too much invites error. Despite studying "A Song of Ice and Fire" for years, he'd stumbled on a small timeline mistake. Wait... timeline?

"Absurd!" Jon suddenly laughed loudly, hoping to mask his nervousness. "What nonsense is this? The Mountain plundering the Riverlands? When did that happen? Ser Gregor may have a foul reputation, but when I left Casterly Rock, he was still with the Lord of Lannister. Don't slander our vassals blindly!"

The mercenaries burst into laughter.

"And Lord Stark remains in his desolate Winterfell! Since when did matters in the Riverlands fall under his jurisdiction? Are you hallucinating?" Jon continued mockingly.

"I'm not, I mean—" Harui was momentarily speechless. He hadn't expected this fake bastard to seize upon his own error in the same manner.

Misremembering the timeline was a fatal mistake for players, but it couldn't serve as proof to convince these mercenaries. To them, players' talk of 'future events' would sound like lunacy.

How could Harui explain? Was he supposed to tell them they were merely natives while he and Jon were chosen ones who knew the future?

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