Chapter 68

Life was supposed to be easy for once, you had talents that many wanted, and these same People had what you wanted, but you apparently weren't made to work alone despite all the Gold it brought you, for your risk managing Skills continued to be Garbage like your Master warned you. But well, there's no use in crying over spilled Milk as far as you could see, you failed to take the Boy hostage, and your Clients were now Prisoners, it doesn't matter that it happened, what matters now is that you manage to put everything back together to make it through this Mess.

As long as you could manage to secure your survival successfully things could still be patched up a little bit, it's not like Nobles would care all that much about a hired Knife as long as it was dulled sufficiently. The Lannister Boy seemed soft enough to hesitate with Executions, so it might just work, if you could provide him with enough Incentives to make it worth his time. Or at least there was a Chance to be had with him, you couldn't bring yourself to believe that the same could be said about the Lord of the Rock, so it wasn't just your best, but also your only Chance to live more than just a few more Day.

You really should have known better than to screw with the Lannisters, but again, it's just a bit of spilled Milk now, and you're more than happy to make up for any Damages you might have inflicted. Yeah, that was a pretty miserable first Offer, but you were a little bit too focused on the Monster that you had forgotten about to properly sell your Abilities. The damned Knight was still following you without exchanging a Word, and it really didn't help you focus, for as soon as you moved so much as a Meter he began moving towards you once again.

And you had honestly no Idea if he just wanted to keep an Eye on you, or if the Monster that's filling out that Armour was just biding its time and was simply looking to strike you down like the Mercenaries that tried to escape not too long ago. It was quite bothersome that they had assigned you one of their Monsters despite how tame it was currently looking, it actually felt like you were being played by the Lannisters through Carrot and Stick Tactics, not that any of that was needed seeing as you knew you were outplayed after the Knight had just shrugged off five different Poisons before it had subdued you, what can a simple Assassin do against such madness.

...

Despite your Thoughts about the giant Knights, you managed to gain a bit of Trust from the Boy while his Men prepared to break down the Gates of Stadley Castle when you proposed that you could help him in exchange for your Freedom. He of course didn't accept the Deal then and there, but you were told later that Night that the young Lord wished to see how much you could do in one Night. He apparently would soon turn his Host around and return to Rose Hold by Orders of his Father, which were most likely given because of your more and more moronic looking Stunt, so you didn't dare to raise any Complaints about the lack of time to prepare.

And it was not like it was the hardest Infiltration you've ever undertaken given how massively the number of Defenders was reduced by the Failure of their Lord, it left quite the number of Weaknesses to exploit. The five Walls of Stadley Castle were together around sixty Meters long, and given how the Defenders Rotation halved their number on top of their Losses, you couldn't help but smile. Leaving behind some five dozen Men wouldn't be enough to defend against House Lannister and its Monsters for more than perhaps three Days at most, but it would be the perfect Opportunity to show off your Value.

No one with a sound Mind would throw away a truly useful and valuable Tool, so to survive you will just have to become a perfect Tool by doing your absolutely best work this Night, as annoying as that was. Your Master would probably laugh at your Misfortune till he died, which you're still not entirely sure is a thing, but that you left because you were too lazy and now had to work extra hard for who knows how many Years would fit his Humor perfectly. Well, you guessed that you at least knew of a way to find out if he actually told you the Truth about that ancient Way of Execution or not if you will meet him again, it would be quite the nice Way to get back at him.

It seems like the whole Situation is making you a bit nostalgic, a Feeling which you soon decide to suppress, it wouldn't do to think about these matters in a Fight of sixty against one if you wished to see the old Man once again, after all. Yes, those Guys up there were not the same as that Monster that can apparently throw fully loaded Wagons around like so much Firewood. The remaining Men of House Stadley were mostly just the spare Troops that couldn't do more than man and defend the high Walls and Towers of Stadley Castle while their Lord was entertaining himself by watching the Grass grow from below, you were actually surprised that they hadn't surrendered the Castle.

Well, you supposed that's simply the Difference between a former Street Rat and Men who had the Chance to prosper under their Lord, many would say that Loyalty is its own Reward, but it was clear that some kind of Reward even if it's just a passive one didn't hurt. You naturally weren't going to risk your own Life by trying to spare them just because they were seemingly decent People, but you supposed that you could try to make it as painless as you could make it, seeing as they were just like you out of Luck.