"But this is the heraldic sword of the Lannister family." Ethan gently stroked the golden lion head at the end of the sword's hilt, which vividly displayed its domineering power, and twitched the corner of his mouth.
"A sword belonging to the brothers in black," Eton interrupted Ethan and said seriously. "For the Night's Watch, the last name is meaningless."
"You mean this sword originally belonged to a Night's Watchman?"
"Exactly."
"Then what is the relationship between this Night's Watchman and that Doville?"
"You don't need to know that." The old blacksmith shook his head. "If you accept this task, I can pay you a commission of three golden dragons. And after you join the Night's Watch, Doville will also look after you a bit. As I said before, he's a senior ranger."
Damn it! Three golden dragons as commission? Are you that rich? Ethan looked around subconsciously, and the thought of ransacking the blacksmith's shop flashed through his mind.
But in the next second, he gave up this crazy idea.
This is the central square of Harrenhal! A skinny camel is still bigger than a horse. No matter how far the House of Hoare had declined, he a broke mercenary knight couldn't afford to piss on their heads.
"Alright," Ethan put the heraldic sword back into its scabbard, hung it on his waist, and said seriously, "Deal. I promise to deliver the sword, and I swear on my honor."
Though I already told you I have no honor.
After receiving Ethan's reply, the old blacksmith smiled, then handed him six golden dragons and 120 silver stags three golden dragons as the delivery commission, and the rest from selling Ethan's equipment.
Ethan stuffed the coins into his pouch, walked out of the blacksmith shop, and picked up his horse again.
Thinking back on the mission, Ethan couldn't help but show a sarcastic smile.
Even if he hadn't planned to go to the saltworks to suppress the merchants, he still wouldn't have accepted such a weird task!
Are you kidding me? A Harrenhal blacksmith out of nowhere pulls out a Lannister heraldic sword and says it's for a Night's Watchman? He even claims the sword once belonged to one.
There were too many suspicions here the relationship between the sword's original owner and Doville, their connection to the Lannister family, and how the sword managed to bypass the Watch and end up with a blacksmith in Harrenhal.
If Ethan had been sitting in front of a computer playing a game, as a veteran plot digger, he might have tried to uncover all the secrets behind it.
But right now? He still had his sanity.
Secrets often came with danger especially ones related to the Lannisters. He worried he might get buried with someone else's family secret without even realizing it.
Shaking his head, Ethan turned his attention back to the heraldic sword he had just "earned" and now temporarily kept.
This is a real windfall!
Even without considering anything else, this Lannister sword was clearly worth a fortune. Judging from Ethan's experience, its cost was at least ten golden dragons and if sold, it could easily fetch double that.
The only problem was how to sell it? Ethan fell into thought again.
There was no doubt that, apart from its excellent craftsmanship, the most valuable part of the sword was the lifelike golden lion head carved into the hilt. It could be considered a true work of art.
But that lion was the Lannister family's coat of arms the richest and most powerful family in Westeros. In this era, where a coat of arms essentially defined identity, forging or possessing the crest of another house was nearly unheard of.
Naturally, no one would be mad enough to buy a Lannister heraldic sword.
In other words, though the sword was valuable, it was extremely dangerous.
"Maybe that's why the old blacksmith dared to hand the sword to me so easily?" Ethan couldn't help but think.
He had initially thought the old blacksmith trusted his fabricated story about "joining the Night's Watch."
After all, from the blacksmith's perspective, a normal mercenary wouldn't sell his armor or bother lying to a blacksmith. So he must have believed Ethan was telling the truth.
And for an "upright, filial good knight" who "swore an oath on his honor," "voluntarily took the black," and "left all his money to his parents," what was there to doubt?
But now, it seemed the blacksmith gave him the sword so easily because he knew Ethan couldn't sell it.
"Could I melt off the lion's head?" Ethan mused. "No, that only works if it's solid gold. If it's gold plated, melting it would ruin everything." Another idea, discarded.
"Wait why the hell am I even trying to sell the sword?" Ethan suddenly slapped his forehead.
Isn't my biggest priority right now to change my starting characteristics to disguise myself as someone no player could possibly be?
Let's be honest what identity in this world was more unlikely to be a player than a knight of House Lannister?
This gold inlaid heraldic sword was clearly forged by one of the castle's top blacksmiths. Even within the Lannister family, only nobles of a certain rank would be allowed to wield it.
That meant Ethan now held the key prop to impersonate a Lannister.
Next, all he needed was a set of fine clothes and a taller horse. Then he could pass perfectly as a Lannister knight.
And what? Still pretend to be Hammer's caravan guard?
"No, no, no. That still has flaws," Ethan quickly shook his head. "I'm not dealing with locals, but players. If I rashly pretend to be a Lannister, what happens if someone asks my father's name? That lie could get tricky fast."
The other party might not ask but what if they did? Refusing to answer angrily would just make them more suspicious.
So was there any way to avoid that?
Looking at the heraldic sword again, Ethan smiled. He had an idea.
It's a hand and a half sword.
The hand and a half sword was common in Western medieval culture. It had the versatility of a knight's sword, the cutting power of a two hander, and the agility of a broadsword. It was also called a hybrid sword.
So why not pretend to be a bastard?
After all, who would be more secretive about his lineage than a bastard?
Normally, as long as you introduced yourself with a regional bastard surname like "Snow" or "Rivers," no one would dare pry into your background.
Unless they wanted to get into a sword fight, that is. Asking a bastard about his family was essentially calling his mother a whore to his face.
That effectively eliminated the risk of other players testing his identity.
Besides, the game didn't let players choose a bastard as their background. So using standard player logic, most wouldn't think to connect an illegitimate child with a fellow player.
"Ethan Hisham, the illegitimate son of a high ranking Lannister. For the sake of my father's reputation, I cannot speak his name."
Thinking this, Ethan turned and walked toward a nearby tailor shop.
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