Chapter 69

You swiftly decide to climb the Walls before the Host of the Lannisters begins its first Push for the Gate under the cover of Night, as you were still unsure if Lord Santor's Plans for taking the weakened Stadley Castle actually involved your survival. For while, you were confident that the Man had a Heart as big as his Belly, you still valued your Life, so you nearly panicked when you heard that Lord Santor's Orders demanded his absolute best Tonight if he wanted his Pardon. It wasn't something that you've never heard before, Threats were quite common under the many Nobles you encountered in your Training, but seeing as the weakened Stadley Castle had a limited Value that could be shared, you couldn't help but worry, the Man had a Family after all.

And you had no Interest in getting between the good Lord and his future if you could help it, doing so would be way too dangerous for your Taste, not that he would know of your Standpoint in this matter with how the two of you were silently competing for the same Accomplishment. You once more consider if you should have sought out some kind of Dialogue with Lord Santor while you continue to climb the annoyingly smooth Wall that was still slowing you down.

But in the end you guess that it wouldn't really matter either Way, if he planned to see you dead to secure the safety of his Family then he would still do so, and if he had no such Plans then you would have revealed your Mistrust, which didn't mix well with the Pride you so often saw in Nobles. It was truly bothersome that the Lannisters are apparently able to absorb the Luck and Happiness of everyone around them and then turn the Result of their theft to their own ends as if it was only natural.

Sigh, what could you even do to still save your Skin if the Knights of the Lannisters can just break down the Gate for Lord Santor's Men, how can you make a useful Contribution in the Face of their Might? For now, you simply refocus on the Task at Hand, you had tried to ignore the Monsters, which was why you hadn't thought about how little time you actually had to show off your Skill if they were deployed. But considering that you began your Climb a little early and the Fact the Wall you were climbing had as far as you could hear at most three or perhaps four Guards, you were sure that you could do some Damage if they were this insanely focused on the Gatehouse.

Thus, with your Mind made up, you quickly lift yourself over the Crenellations and started sprinting towards your first three Targets which you could tell wouldn't be a problem after you effortlessly inflicted two good Cuts on the first one's Forearm which allowed you to move on to the next Guard, and then the third one after you lightly stabbed him in the Gut. You naturally didn't waste any more time on them as they pointlessly started to swing and thrust their Weapons your Way, knowing that they were only hastening the Effects of the Poison as it unhesitatingly continues to spread through their Bodies.

You knew that you couldn't deal with the whole Garrison in the time you still had before the Lannisters would overrun the Castle, but everything considered, you would say that taking out two dozen of these Guys should still be possible for you. The Guards were for all Intents and Purposes unarmoured and with how untrained and spread out they currently were you honestly couldn't afford to aim for anything less. Things would be quite a bit easier if they still had a Lord that you could poison and take hostage to show off your Skills to the Lannisters, but taking out some forty Percent of the Defenders on your own should be enough to demonstrate your Value to the young Lord.

Thoughts like these really shouldn't take up your Focus while you were fighting, but as long as you were facing what felt more and more like armed Farmers, which you knew most of them were, you couldn't stop your Mind from wandering. Your Focus only returns for a short time as you finally manage to penetrate the Defence of the Shield bearer blocking the Doorway to the Gatehouse, but then slips again as you failed to get another Hit in, which forced you to beat it before the Undead Guards manage to catch up to you.

It was almost impressive how long a single blocked Door managed to hold them back, but you supposed the Guards were doing their best, so you dropped that Line of Thought as you swiftly jumped down on the Roof of one of their Barracks and into the Yard. Though while you weren't cornered anymore and bought yourself a few moments to breath, said Yard was just like with all Castles the last Place an Intruder like yourself wanted to end up in as you could see the Archers on all five Towers prepare to draw as you looked around from your little Corner in the currently still darkened Yard.

You had only managed to poison eleven of the Guards so far, and to your Knowledge two thirds of them were still standing, which means that fifty-seven of those Guys were currently just waiting to put you into the Ground. Mayhaps a bit more planning would have been good, you could have locked the Doors to one of the Barracks to get rid of half of their sleeping Guards for a few Minutes if you had thought about a proper Strategy first, for Example.

Sixty untrained Men were surprisingly hard to deal with when your Movement was so ridiculously restricted, not that you were out of Moves to make just yet, not every Poison required the Target to be opened up first after all, some were a little more insidious. And while you had no love for them, your Master insisted that Preparation was always vital to his work and that no Apprentice of his would ignore the Basics, so you not only knew how to make them but always carried some with you even after you left, why can't the old Man be wrong for once?

You still very much so wanted to live, and you would most certainly not die to some Farmers that didn't have a Chance at Victory nor a Lord to serve, fuck them all, and fuck Lord Santor with them, yes, you guess it's time for the Gloves to come off. And besides, Assassins that shy away from using what's necessary are no Assassins at all, so you began shaking the Vials you hoped to never use and ignored the Screams as you threw a fifth of your Backpack around the Castle till it was done.