36 Chapter 36 Interesting Turn Of Event

  "He died in the room of the knight of the Grafson family? How could he go there?" Ian continued to ask.

  "I don't know, my lord."

  "And where is the Grafson family knight?"

  "Gone, and so is his page," Jenny shook her head.

  "I followed your instructions and knocked on the door. After knocking a few times for the first time, there was no response, so I left temporarily. I stayed in the hall for a while, and then knocked on his door again, but there was still no response. I was very confused at the time, so I pushed it and found that the door was not locked."

  "Then you saw Black Falcon's body?"

  "Yes."

  "Did you see the cause of death clearly?"

  "What?"

  "Are there any wounds on Black Falcon's body?"

  "Sorry, sir, I was so scared that I screamed. Then some mercenaries ran in to check the situation. When they found out that the deceased was their boss, they suddenly exploded. I don't dare to stay there anymore, so I came up quickly to report the situation to you."

  "Damn it," Ian said through gritted teeth. "You were the first to find the body, and then you ran to me non stop. Doesn't this just add suspicion to me?"

  "Wear armor and prepare to fight," Ian ordered.

  Rohr immediately barricaded the door with tables and stools, and the three of them helped each other put on their full equipment.

  Listening to the commotion outside the door, Ian hoped that when Black Falcon's mercenaries arrived, Denzel would stand by his side as promised.

  However, they waited for a long time, and instead of waiting for Black Falcon's mercenaries to knock on the door, they noticed that the sounds downstairs gradually faded away.

  After a while, there was a knock on the door.

  "Sir Lucien, Janey, are you in there?"

  "It's my aunt's voice," Janey whispered.

  "Martha?" Ian asked outside the door. In fact, he had already recognized the voice.

  "Yes, it's me, Sir Lucian," Martha replied.

  "And us," Denzel's voice followed.

  "What's the situation outside?" Ian inquired.

  "Most of Boss Morgan's mercenaries have left, and only four of them are still in the room with his body."

  "Open the door," Ian commanded.

  "Could it be a trap?" Rohr frowned.

  "It's highly unlikely. If it were a trap, this door wouldn't stop anyone. I'm counting on Denzel and his mercenary team to be on our side," Ian replied.

  Hearing this, Rohr followed the order, moved the table away from the door, and unlocked it.

  Outside the door, there were only three people: Martha, Denzel, and Sir Grantham. There was no large group of mercenaries as Rohr had feared.

  "Sir Lucien," they all greeted him with bowed heads.

  "Has the murderer been caught?" Ian asked.

  "No."

  "Then why did they leave?"

  "Catching the murderer is far less important than competing for the position of the new boss, isn't it?" Grantson explained. "Except for Dorian, who was close to Boss Morgan, the others all left in a hurry."

  "Why are you still here then?" Ian questioned.

  "I didn't leave because I believed working with you was more profitable than competing for the position of the new leader of the mercenary group," Grantson admitted. "But I am curious, how did you know that I belong to the Black Falcon Mercenary Group?"

  "Two points. The first is your attitude regarding the 'Black Fire Treasure.'"

  "My attitude?"

  "You seemed to be sure from the beginning that I hired you for something very dangerous. You must have thought I was after the Blackfire Treasure, right?"

"Ah? Did you guess it?" Grantham was surprised for a moment, then admitted.

  "So you didn't shy away from talking about the Black Fire Treasure initially. At that time, you probably wanted to find out how much I knew about it. Then, you suddenly realized that I knew nothing about the Black Fire Treasure, so you changed your attitude and became reluctant to discuss it. It's because you didn't want another competitor going after the Blackfire Treasure. If you were genuine in what you said, you would have spoken to Denzel earlier. He has been excluded from the White Wall City Ghost Bandits search, so you should welcome new competitors like me. That would have given you a better chance at the prize. But you didn't, which suggests you're either a member of the local wealthy knights alliance or a part of the Black Falcon mercenaries."

  Granson's throat was a little dry.

  "The second point is your name for Black Falcon."

  "Everyone calls him Boss Morgan. He doesn't like the nickname Black Falcon because the title 'Black Falcon' belongs to the leader of the mercenary group, not to him," Grantson explained.

  "I understand that. For example, Martha and Jenny have always called him Boss Morgan, but they're just innkeepers. You're different; you're a knight. Since Denzel and I have always referred to him as Black Falcon, why do you lower yourself and call another person 'boss'?"

  "Well, since you've already guessed that I'm Black Falcon's man? Why did you still choose to hire me?" Granson inquired.

  "Didn't I say it? I'm not interested in the Blackfire's treasure. Since I have no conflict of interest with Black Falcon, it doesn't matter if you're with him. Initially, my plan was to use a large number of his people, but that plan has been ruined. By the way, will you still serve me?"

  "I formally apologize for my earlier deception, Sir Lucien. If you're willing to forgive me, my sword will be at your service."

  "You have my forgiveness, Sir, but don't deceive me again." After Ian finished speaking, he turned to Denzel.

  "Oh? I have never deceived you, ser. I swear in the name of Queen Nymeria."

  (Nymeria is the warrior queen of the Rhoynar people. To escape the Valyrian Empire's invasion, she led the Rhoynar people westward in thousands of ships, eventually arriving in Dorne after traveling many places. She married the Dornishman Mors Martell, and together they unified fragmented Dorne. In the hearts of the Dornish people, she holds a very high status, and it's because of this queen that women in Dorne have the same inheritance rights as men).

  "I trust you're not lying, my friend." Ian nodded and turned to Martha. "When will the inn resume normal business?"

  "Black Falcon's mercenaries caused a lot of damage down there, nearly scaring off all the guests. They've all left, but we still have spare tables in the warehouse. The business in the inn will soon return to normal. How should we handle the few mercenaries who want to avenge Boss Morgan?"

  "I can try to persuade them to leave," Sir Grantham volunteered.

  "Why should you make them leave? They are mercenaries too, aren't they?"

  "They only want to avenge Boss Morgan now, and they cannot be hired by you," Granson explained.

  "But now," Ian narrowed his eyes, "I've also become interested in the so called Black Fire Treasure."