Chapter 66: Main Quest 2
After a heated argument, and having failed to extract even a token concession from Ian, Ser Beric and the knight of House Bulwer finally gave in to Ian's almost humiliating arrogance and chose to depart after accepting Ian's cash payment.
By this point, only the two knights of House Fossoway and their squires remained among Wilder's sellswords.
While Ser Wilder was unhappy with this outcome, considering the Lannister pride inherent in Ser Lucien's refusal to yield to extortion, he could understand his position.
Furthermore, since they had already gathered sufficient intelligence about the enemy, the loss of a dozen or so cavalry wouldn't affect their overwhelming advantage over the Whitewalls caravan, so Wilder ultimately refrained from reproaching Ian.
The ambush at the abandoned fishing village had been designed by Wilder himself, but Ian, under the guise of learning from his experience, had thoroughly surveyed all nearby troop positions.
As night fell, just as Ian was about to conclude his activities for the day and retire, he noticed a system quest update.
It was then he remembered that a full week had passed since he'd completed Main Quest One.
[Main Quest Two: Legion
Quest Description: To prepare for the coming war, you should build up your strength in advance.
Quest Objective: Command over 1,000 soldiers.
Quest Reward: 20 points, 3 attribute points, 3 skill points, 2 A-rank NPCs (in the area) of your choice.]
[Accept] [Change]
"1,000? That's quite substantial." Ian blinked. "Annie, are there any restrictions on the 1,000 soldiers in this quest objective?"
"These 1,000 must be soldiers directly sworn to the player. If they're sellswords, the player must sign a ten-year employment contract with them," Annie replied.
Ian fell silent. Hiring 1,000 sellswords for ten years was practically insane, and without his own lands, there was no way to recruit 1,000 soldiers, nor was there a place to quarter them.
Without much deliberation, Ian clicked [Change].
[Main Quest 2: Lord.
Quest Description: Knights and nobles are everywhere in Westeros. Perhaps you should rise above this class.
Quest Objective: Obtain the title of Lord.
Quest Reward: 20 points, 5,000 gold dragons.]
"Oh, this is precisely what I'm about to do." Ian couldn't help but smile. This quest perfectly aligned with his new plan.
The "Lord" quest was originally even more difficult than the "Legion" quest, due to Westeros's unique nobility system.
A common misconception is that Westeros's nobility ranks according to the order of duke, marquis, earl, viscount, baron, and knight, but this is often due to not having read the original English novels.
In fact, in the world of A Song of Ice and Fire, Westeros's nobility titles (note that these are titles, not actual status) are divided into only three levels: king, lord, and ser.
As for the titles such as 'Duke Stark, Marquis Frey, Earl Hightower, Viscount Beesbury, and Baron Costayne' that readers see when reading translated versions of the novels or watching the show, these are simply translators differentiating the lords with the title of "lord" according to their power, aiming to provide readers with a clear understanding of each noble's status and authority.
In this aristocratic system, the two titles below king—"ser" and "lord"—represent the two classes of knightly nobles and lordly nobles.
In most cases, it's impossible to transition between the two classes.
For example, the Templeton family of Ninestars, a knightly house directly loyal to House Arryn, the lord of the Vale, is as powerful as many "earls" of the Vale. Their patriarch bears the title of "Knight of Ninestars" and can easily muster legions of thousands, yet their title remains the same as that of the most common hedge knights: "Ser."
Another example is the Onion Knight, Davos Seaworth. His remarkable feats, such as delivering supplies to the besieged Storm's End and helping Stannis Baratheon through his most difficult years, earned him a knighthood and earned him the moniker "Onion Knight" from other nobles.
It wasn't until the outbreak of the War of the Five Kings that Stannis, in order to make him Hand of the King, bestowed upon him the title of Lord of the Rainwood, allowing him to achieve a leap in social status.
It's worth noting that the Rainwood isn't a true lordship in its own right; Davos's title actually came from his position as Hand of the King. Stannis bestowed both the title and the lands upon Davos, effectively elevating the Rainwood to a lordship through Davos's influence.
Of course, the City Watch Commander's assistance in King Joffrey's betrayal of Eddard Stark, earning him the title of Lord of Harrenhal, is a separate matter; after all, that was bought and paid for.
While Ian certainly couldn't achieve the same feats as Davos or the City Watch Commander, he did have a ready-made lordship available to him: the title of House Darry.
Last night, when Aris Rivers admitted their plan to journey to Pentos to join Viserys, Ian had a daring idea: to disguise himself as a bastard of House Darry and seek refuge with Daenerys.
The full story goes: As a bastard of House Darry, he, along with his two brothers and Lord Grafton's second son, formed a bandit company and raided the Riverlands. They attempted to raise funds and an army to join Viserys, but for unknown reasons, were discovered and failed. Later, House Darry was destroyed for treason, and Ian, with his few remaining men, journeyed to Pentos to join the true king.
Choosing this story and identity offered many obvious advantages.
First, after the destruction of House Darry for treason, the "last bastard of House Darry" who had come to the true king's side would naturally assume the Darry name and the title that had once belonged to the family.
Although the Darrys now hold the title of Ser, their lordship was stripped by the Usurper. Legally, Ian's title should be restored upon his return to House Targaryen as a vassal.
A secondary benefit of this storyline is that, after his "bastard" son's plan to raise an army for Viserys failed, Illyrio no longer had to worry about losing control over Viserys due to him gaining his own power, making Ian's loyalty more palatable.
In fact, Ian suspects that Ser Daeron Grafton and Ser Aris Rivers were omitted from Viserys's entourage in the original timeline because they brought too many men with them—already fifty cavalry, and after selling the wealth they plundered from the riverlands, they could raise an additional army, practically creating a Royal Guard for Viserys—an outcome that Magister Illyrio, a supporter of Aegon Blackfyre, would have found unacceptable.
Third, this story is virtually true. Illyrio certainly wouldn't believe the story of a knight claiming to be the "Bastard of House Darry" without investigation. He would undoubtedly write to Varys the Spider to verify.
Varys's conclusion would be that a raiding band involving House Darry indeed existed in the Riverlands, and that all of them were subsequently executed for treason. The existence of Ian Rivers, the "Bastard of House Darry," would then be the only question. If Ian could somehow get Ser Daeron Grafton to testify on his behalf, his identity as the "Bastard of House Darry" would be firmly established.
Finally, this could confuse players who have been drawn to Daenerys Targaryen. After all, if a "bastard" who doesn't exist in the books were to appear before her, it would likely be a player character. But what if this person appeared alongside Lord Grafton's second son? They would simply suspect a discrepancy between this world and the books' timeline.
Of course, even if a player were targeting him, Ian wasn't too concerned. With the power he currently possessed, they wouldn't be able to find any way to threaten him except poisoning. Therefore, as long as he arranged for a food taster, he could basically guarantee he wouldn't be attacked by other players.
(End of Chapter)
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