"It took a full month to prepare, and we gathered a legion of more than four hundred people, plus four light horse teams for reconnaissance and support. Oh, by the way," Dorian suddenly looked at the mercenary captain, Ser Grantham, "It seems that it was on that day that you completed your last mission to the north and returned to the station."
"That's right," Ser Grantham, the 'Ser Twenty-Five,' nodded. "I had just come back at that time, and I was assigned to the battle order before I could figure out the situation. If it weren't for the sake of money, I would truly want to casually wrench off the head of Ser Harrison (the landlady's son) who gave the orders."
Ian stretched out his hand to stop the 'Ser Twenty-Five', indicating that he didn't need to continue speaking, and then looked at Dorian: "Continue, continue."
"In the end, I don't know if Ser Grantham told you, but we finally found a temporary campsite in the woods south of White Walled City—a camp of about forty or fifty people—but when we got there, the camp was already empty."
"So we continued to search, but in the end we couldn't find even a single hair. Since there was already a plain to the east, it was almost impossible for them to hide there, so our grand operation failed shamefully."
"However, as soon as we disbanded, the bandit group immediately resumed its activities, as if it were a ghost that appeared out of thin air, so we had to gather together again to discuss countermeasures."
"Based on the lessons learned from the last time, our operation this time eliminated all unreliable mercenaries, and changed the operation from attack and suppression to deception and annihilation. We asked the elite to disguise themselves as a caravan engaged in the velvet and silk trade. Try to lure the enemy out and then surround and annihilate them with an ambush."
"Not a bad idea," Ian nodded approvingly. "But you still failed?"
"Yes, that bandit group was not fooled at all. We changed the plan several times, but the group of bandits just refused to rob us."
"Did they stop their troops when you set up an ambush?"
"No! They are still active, but they are looting the real passing caravans. By coincidence, they have perfectly avoided our trap. They are like ghosts."
"This is obviously a mole!" Ian said. It's no wonder that the Black Falcon mercenaries and the Knight Alliance are having internal strife. This bandit group is obviously robbing everywhere, but they just don't bite their hooks. This is not a mole at all. Impossible.
"My adoptive father and Ser Wilder also made the same judgment, but as to which side the mole was, both sides insisted on their own opinions and there was no evidence, so our alliance soon fell apart. After that, we began to work separately, each looking for Blackfyre's national treasure, but they found nothing."
"Wait a minute," Ian stopped Dorian, "Is there something important you haven't said yet?"
"Ah?"
"Blackfyre's Restoration Treasure! After listening to your story, I don't understand where you came to such a conclusion! You were talking about the bandit group the whole time. What is the connection between the bandit group and the Blackfyre Treasure?"
"Oh, I overlooked it. This was Ser Simon's judgment during our second joint operation."
"Ser Simon?" What kind of Ser is this? What a fucking Western name! Ian roared inwardly.
"Ser Simon Rivers, the sworn knight of the Darry family, is the only knight sent to us by Darry City."
Ser Bastard of Darry City, the Seven Gods forgive me, I can only remember him like this. "What is the basis for him to make such a guess?"
"The Second Blackfyre Rebellion died before it even started. The Earl of White Walled City and his associates must have stocked up a large amount of supplies for the rebellion. However, there is no mention in the history books of the capture of the 'Bloodraven' in White Walled City, so this huge amount of money may have been hidden in advance," the adopted son Dorian replied.
"So that Ser Simon from Darry City is still a bachelor, right? How does he know this?"
Dorian was stunned for a moment: "We didn't ask; he was very sure of what he said."
Ian frowned. Although he had an impression of the Second Blackfyre Rebellion, because this rebellion was too much of a farce, he really didn't pay much attention to its aftermath.
It was indeed possible that the Earl of White Walled City really saved a large amount of wealth, but the wealth left by the Earl of White Walled City alone could not be worthy of the status of the 'Blackfyre Restoration Treasure,' but—
"A big group of you have been looking for the Blackfyre Treasure for so long, and it's still just a guess until now? You haven't even found any evidence?" Ian's mouth twitched, and he suddenly felt like slapping Dorian in the face.
"That group of bandits has been operating near White Walled City. They must be looking for this treasure. Otherwise, why do they have to come here? If they want to start a new Blackfyre rebellion, there's no way they can start on the east bank of God's Eye Lake, right?" Dorian explained quickly.
"But if they are looking for treasure, shouldn't they do it secretly? Why do they want to rob in such a big way?" Ian shook his head and rejected Dorian's statement.
"My adoptive father also mentioned this issue," Dorian said quickly. "In the end, his judgment was that the group of bandits had been looking here for a long time, but they hadn't found it. The robbery was first to replenish supplies, and secondly, he became angry and wanted to recoup his losses through robbery."
This makes sense. There's something about this Black Falcon. He doesn't look like a brash guy with big muscles and a simple mind. That's not the point, right?
"So this is what you think proves that the Earl of White Walled City left a treasure for the restoration of the country? Isn't this just a guess that is too rough? There is no evidence or clues?" Ian found it absurd.
"I don't know, but since my adoptive father and Ser Wilder are so sure, it means that they must know some clues, but they just didn't tell me," Dorian said awkwardly, after all, he had boasted about Black Falcon treating him as his own without any reservations.
Ian rolled his eyes and no longer dwelled on this topic that could not yield any clues: "In the past month, has there been any progress in your treasure hunt?"
"No. After the alliance was broken, we did not dare to confront the ghosts of White Walled City head-on. We just silently tried to find treasures. And they did not take the initiative to attack our station, but just robbed passing caravans as usual."
"So no one cares about them?"
"You mean?"
"Is this level of banditry enough to report to the Lord? Since you can't deal with this bandit group, you only need to go to Riverrun to report it to Duke Hoster, and the Tully family will naturally send troops to deal with it."
"Although the Tully family is a group of political opportunists, they still do a good job in treating their vassals and subjects." Ian was playing a member of the Lannister family, so naturally, he didn't need to be too polite to the Tully family.
"Having said that, Ser Wilder and the others are worried that if the Tully family sends people here, they will not have a share of the Blackfyre treasure."