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"Who was the knight who killed Black Falcon?" Jon Snow asked. This piece of information was the key to completing [Optional Mission 1].
"No, I won't answer your question," Yaris immediately shook his head. "I won't betray my companions."
"The Ghosts of White Wall City are finished," Jon said coldly. "Ser Wilder has stationed a hundred men here, waiting for your 'caravan' to arrive. Black Falcon's adopted son, Dorian, gathered the entire company yesterday. The mercenaries are already on their way to Taman Village. You won't be able to save any of them. But you still have a chance to save your family."
Yaris fell silent for a moment before finally saying a name: "It's Ser Lyonel Strong."
"If you're willing to give me more details," Jon said, tempting him, "I'll give you more answers in return."
"He's from a branch of the Strong family in Seagull Town. Like me, he served as a squire to House Grafton since he was a boy. He joined this bandit group for the same reason we all did — for gold. He found out about our secret dealings with Black Falcon. After threatening us, Daeron assigned him the task of killing Black Falcon."
Ding! A system notification sounded in Jon's mind.
"Excuse me," Jon said to Yaris. He quickly walked to a corner of the cellar, closed his eyes, and checked the system interface.
Only then did he notice an update to the optional mission:
[Optional Mission 1: The Truth Behind Black Falcon's Death]
Mission Objective: Kill Ser Lyonel Strong
Mission Reward: Dorian will swear loyalty to you
Additional Reward: Unknown
"Annie, Annie," Jon called out silently. "Do I have to kill Lyonel Strong myself for the mission?"
"During mission determination," Annie's electronic voice replied, "the player can complete the task personally, or it can be done by subordinates, hired men, or collaborators."
"Even collaborators? So if Wilder and his men kill Lyonel Strong, it will still count as me completing the mission?" Jon asked, a little surprised. After all, the ambush in the abandoned fishing village was going to turn into a full melee, and he wasn't sure if he could kill a specific target by himself.
"That's right," Annie confirmed. "Even allied players can assist each other with missions."
"Good enough. That's all I needed." Jon opened his eyes and quickly returned to Ser Yaris.
"Is that where you went to piss?" Yaris asked, wrinkling his nose.
Well, to be fair, it probably did look like he had gone off for a piss.
"Yeah. You'll be sleeping with the smell of it tonight," Jon replied casually.
"..."
"Now, let's get back to the game we were playing. How did Black Falcon find out your secret?" Jon pressed.
"Rules of the game, Ser Knight. This time, it's my turn to ask a question," Yaris said smartly, refusing to answer.
"Oh, right. I nearly forgot. Go on, Ser Yaris, I'm listening."
"I'll ask the same question again — how did you find out the Ghosts of White Wall City were connected to us? I just told you a lot. I hope your answer won't disappoint me."
"Your answer just now wasn't very open," Jon said with a smile. "But no matter. I can assure you — everything I tell you will be the truth, plain and clear."
"The process for me to discover the truth was actually very long," Jon Snow said calmly. "The sources I used to gather information were complicated — Dorian, Black Falcon's adopted son; Ser Wilder, whom you just met; and a number of mercenaries."(And the original work itself, Jon added silently. Of course, that was something he could never say out loud.)"The first clue came with Black Falcon's death. At the time, I just happened to be staying at the Crossroads Inn."
"That was less than a week ago!" Yaris interrupted sharply. "You wouldn't even have had time to reach Taman Village!"
Jon ignored his outburst and continued, "After inspecting the scene of Black Falcon's death, I realized the killer had come straight for him. His adopted son, Dorian, told me that Black Falcon had already found out who the mole was before he died.
So it was obvious which group of people wanted him silenced. But why would Black Falcon meet the enemy alone with just ten men? I could only think of two possibilities.
First, Black Falcon himself was the mole. His decision to act alone at night, only to be silenced afterward, fit the profile of a traitor almost too perfectly.
Second, he had discovered a secret — something so important it couldn't be shared — and tried to blackmail the other side with it, only to be killed before he could."
Jon paused for a moment, studying Yaris' expression.
"But that leads to a question: the Ghosts of White Wall City are just a bandit group searching for the Blackfyre treasure. What secret could they possibly be hiding that was worth killing over?"
Yaris said nothing, only staring at Jon, regret flickering across his face. Clearly, he was now regretting having admitted that Black Falcon had been silenced after threatening them.
"I started piecing things together after speaking with Ser Wilder," Jon went on. "He told me he suspected the mole was one of his own men. His core group is made up of knights of good reputation and high standing.
If Black Falcon found out the mole's identity and tried to blackmail a knight, it would make perfect sense. He went to the meeting wearing his best plate and chainmail, thinking he could protect himself. Confident in his own strength, he went alone — but the other side wasn't there to talk. They killed him with a military crossbow."
"Just because the mole was a knight doesn't mean it was one of us," Yaris protested.
"Of course not. By this point, I only had a preliminary idea of the Ghosts' stronghold. There are twenty or thirty villages around White Wall City. Some of them belong to the knights of Ser Wilder's alliance.
If the Ghosts were hiding in a village controlled by the mole, that would explain why Ser Wilder and his men never found any trace of the enemy, despite the simple terrain around White Wall City."
Jon leaned closer, his voice calm but firm.
"And if that's the case, the only camp we did find suddenly becomes a lot more suspicious."
Yaris swallowed hard.
"That's right," Jon said. "You left that camp near Taman Village on purpose — to mislead Ser Wilder and the others into thinking the Ghosts were camping in the open.
Because that camp was a decoy, you were able to evacuate it 'orderly' in a short time without leaving behind any supplies."
"What does it prove that the camp was near Taman Village?" Yaris retorted, trying to stay calm. "It's possible someone else set it up. After all, the patrol team from Taman Village reported bandits to Ser Wilder as soon as they found tracks, didn't they?"
"That's why my plan was to conduct an on-site investigation," Jon said easily. "Once you have a specific target to suspect, the clues become much easier to find."(Or rather, Jon corrected himself silently, he had Bronn do the fieldwork — he would never risk that kind of danger himself.)