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Fifteen years after the failure of the first Blackfire Rebellion, in the 211th year of the Aegon calendar, Lord Ambrose Butteraway, the ruler of White Wall City, hosted a grand tourney there. The prize for the victor was a dragon egg. This dragon egg had been a gift from 'King Yong' Aegon IV, a reward given to the Butteraway family after the king had a brief affair with the three daughters of the then Earl of White Wall City during a visit.
While the tourney appeared to celebrate the marriage of Ambrose Butteraway, the Earl of Whitewall City, to one of the Freys of the Twins, it was actually a conspiracy orchestrated by the Earl and other supporters of House Blackfyre.
They gathered the remnants of the First Blackfyre Rebellion and others discontent with the harsh rule of Brynden Rivers, the Hand of the King at the time, and secretly invited Daemon Snow, the son of Daemon Blackfyre I, to disguise his identity and compete.
The plan was to rig the tournament so Daemon Blackfyre II would win and then reveal his true identity at the end. This would allow him to declare the start of the second Blackfyre Rebellion.
However, Daemon Blackfyre II was no warrior like his father, known as "the Warrior." Instead, he proved to be a failure. He lost every match he was supposed to win, becoming a laughingstock among the nobility.
In addition, the Hand of the King, known as the Blood Crow, learned of the plot and marched his forces to White Wall City before the tourney had even concluded.
Daemon Snow, unable to win over the nobles, left the city alone and challenged the Blood Crow to a duel. But the Blood Crow had no interest in fair combat and sent his men to arrest Daemon instead.
Thus, the second Blackfyre Rebellion was quickly quashed, little more than a farce.
Under the Blood Crow's orders, White Wall City was destroyed, and the land was salted to prevent it from ever being used again.
Today, the ruins of White Wall City remain. Though the name still evokes memories of the Blackfyre Rebellion, anyone who believes that the current bandits operating in the area have any ties to it is fooling themselves.
"I don't know," Denzel said with a shake of his head. "When I was hired for the anti-bandit mission, I wasn't allowed inside the castle. Perhaps Sir Grantham knows more." He glanced toward Grantham, who stood beside him.
Grantham noticed Ian's gaze and explained with some reluctance: "Actually, Sir Wilder Gray, the leader of the local knight's alliance, was the first to make the connection between this bandit group and Blackfyre. While he was fighting one of the Ghost Bandits, he slashed open the opponent's robe and saw the Blackfire Rebellion's sigil on his breastplate."
"Black dragon on a red background?" Ian asked.
"Yes, a black dragon on a red background." Grantham nodded. "Many of us questioned Sir Wilder, asked him if he had seen it correctly. But he swore on his honor that it was indeed the Blackfire sigil."
"As for the Blackfire treasure," Grantham continued, "I don't know the specifics. But since Sir Wilder and Boss Morgan are looking for it, they must know something. You could ask Boss Morgan personally if you'd like."
Ian paused for a moment, then laughed to himself. What was he even doing here?
He had come to the Crossroads Hotel to hunt players. With his current strength, he was in no position to involve himself in the struggle for the Blackfire Treasure.
If he showed too much interest in it, he might even attract the hostility of people like Black Falcon. That would ruin his plans to use the situation as a chance to catch players.
"No need," Ian said, shaking his head. "I'm not interested in the Blackfire Treasure. I came here for something else."
Hearing Ian's words, Denzel couldn't hide his disappointment. He had thought that this generous knight from House Lannister would take an interest in the matter, allowing him to intervene and perhaps get a piece of the action. But Ian had only asked a few questions, showing no real commitment.
After a brief silence, Denzel suddenly asked, "By the way, did you hear anything?"
Ian paused and listened carefully. Indeed, there was a loud, chaotic noise coming from downstairs, mixed with the sound of things crashing.
"Who's going to check what's going on?" Ian asked aloud. He had no intention of going down himself. It wouldn't be good if some gang fight broke out, and he got caught in the middle of it.
At that moment, Jenny burst into Ian's room, her face pale with fear. She quickly shut the door behind her and locked it.
"What happened?" Ian asked.
"Oh, sir, I... He... They want me," Jenny stammered.
"Calm down, friend, calm down," Ian said, motioning to Rohr and handing her a glass of wine.
Jenny took the glass and drank it in one gulp, forgetting any sense of decorum. Then she began coughing violently, having choked on the wine.
"Slow down. You're safe here. Now, tell me, what happened downstairs?"
"Morgan... cough, cough... Boss Morgan is dead! And his men said they're going to tear down our shop!" Jenny gasped, her voice shaky.
"Black Falcon is dead?" Ian was stunned. A respected mercenary leader, the very one he had been hoping to find, had died inexplicably? Was he cursed? Was death following him around like some dark omen?
"Who did it?" Grantham, who had been silent until now, suddenly interjected, showing no concern for maintaining his subordinate demeanor. Then, realizing his mistake, he quickly added, "I'm just worried my men might have drunk too much and done something foolish."
"I don't know," Jenny said, shaking her head, her body trembling. "I don't know."
"Sorry, Sir, I need to go check on the situation downstairs," Grantham said, eager to act after hearing Jenny's words.
"I'll go as well," Denzel chimed in, agreeing immediately.
"Go ahead, but try not to escalate anything," Ian said, feeling agitated. He waved them off, hoping they could resolve the situation without causing any more problems. If Black Falcon's death led to a brawl, it would definitely ruin his plans to hunt players here.
Once the two mercenaries had left, Ian motioned for Rohr to lock the door again. He turned back to Jenny, focusing on her with a serious expression.
"Calm down, calm down," Ian said, gently placing his hands on her shoulders. "You're safe here. If you can't tell me everything at once, I'll ask you simple questions. Just answer yes or no."
Jenny nodded quickly, still shaking.
"Did you see Black Falcon die with your own eyes?"
"Yes."
"Did you see who killed him?"
"No."
"Where did Black Falcon die?" Ian started to ask, but then realized this wasn't a yes or no question.
He paused, shaking his head. "Forget that. Let's start again."
Jenny looked up at him with a small smile on her pale face. "I'm much better, Sir. I can answer now. Boss Morgan died in the chamber of the knight whose sigil is the yellow tower."
"???"
Ian blinked, confused by the answer.
Rohr, standing nearby, couldn't help but think back to what Ian had said earlier to Martha, "Wait, did those two sleep together?"
After all, Ian's uncanny ability to predict things was almost like divine foresight.