After quietly comforting Jon—who was still struggling mentally after killing for the first time—Karl told the boy to rest and not worry about anything else for the moment.
Jon did not argue.
He stood there in silence, staring at Karl's back with an expression that was difficult to describe. After several long seconds, he finally raised his hand, wiped away the tears gathering at the corners of his eyes, and lowered his head before turning to leave.
Karl watched him go without stopping him.
Some things could not be solved with words alone.
Jon needed time.
Just as Karl turned his attention back to the village—preparing to assess the situation and decide their next move—Kesi, who had been waiting nearby, immediately approached him.
"Boss," Kesi said in a low voice, glancing toward Jon's retreating figure. He rubbed his hands together awkwardly, clearly uncomfortable. "We interrogated the ones who were still alive."
Karl paused slightly.
That statement alone was unexpected.
"There were survivors?" Karl asked casually, though a faint sense of curiosity stirred in his heart. "How did that happen?"
Kesi's embarrassment deepened.
"One of them was… uh… busy raping a woman naked inside a house," he said stiffly. "So he didn't make it in time for you to kill him, Boss."
"Oh?"
Karl raised an eyebrow, a half-smile forming at the corner of his lips.
"In that case," he said lightly, "I'm looking forward to hearing what good news you managed to squeeze out of him."
The firelight flickered across Karl's body, illuminating the half-dried blood and torn flesh covering his armor. In the shadows, his smile looked almost demonic.
Kesi instinctively shrank his neck.
But he knew better than to hesitate now.
Straightening up, he forced a ferocious grin onto his face.
"To get him talking, we smashed his fingers and toes," Kesi said. "Cut off his eyelids, sliced off those two black heads on his chest, and took half of each ear—top and bottom."
Karl nodded calmly.
"And?"
"We laid all of it out in front of him," Kesi continued, his tone turning colder. "Put the pieces together into something 'complete.'"
He swallowed.
"After that, Hall carefully sliced off that thing of his, bit by bit… and fed it to him personally."
"Good," Karl said evenly. "Then?"
Kesi's expression briefly turned lewd, almost proud—but it vanished just as quickly.
"Then he told us everything," he said. "And this part matters, Boss."
He took a breath.
"Crowtree fell two days ago. Earl Tytos Blackwood isn't there anymore. According to him, the Earl is trapped in Riverrun—blocked by Tywin Lannister."
Karl's brows knitted together.
"That's bad news."
He reached out and rested his hand on the gilded hilt of the longsword at his waist.
"If Crowtree has already fallen," Karl muttered, "then we can't rule out enemies behind us. That makes everything we're planning next far more dangerous."
At his movement, Kesi's eyes lit up.
He flashed a familiar, feral grin and rubbed his hands together eagerly.
"Boss," he said excitedly, "next time, let us come with you. I don't feel right just holding on to the fifty gold dragons the King gave us!"
Karl glanced at him sideways.
The smile on his face became faintly meaningful.
"If you admit that the one who sliced that thing into sashimi earlier was you," Karl replied calmly, "I might consider it."
Kesi froze for a split second.
Then he laughed awkwardly and scratched his head.
"Nothing escapes the Boss's eyes!" he said, laying on the flattery thick. "But Boss, please—believe in my loyalty!"
Loyalty.
Karl's gaze shifted subtly.
He looked around.
Only then did he notice something odd.
The members of the Black Stone Mercenary Group had begun to drift closer, pretending to be busy while subtly forming a loose circle around him. Farther away, Jory Cassel and the Stark cavalry were also watching—quietly, cautiously.
Or rather…
They were watching the Black Stone men.
Karl understood immediately.
A soft smile appeared on his face.
He raised his hand and patted Kesi's shoulder.
"If you want me to take you along," Karl said casually, "that's not impossible."
At the same time, he waved his hand toward the surrounding mercenaries.
The Black Stone men stopped pretending.
They all looked at him.
Karl lifted his head and spoke directly, his voice carrying clearly through the night.
"Men," he said, "I know what you're thinking."
"What I can tell you is this—scenes like what you saw today will not be rare in the future."
The mercenaries' eyes brightened.
Even Kesi straightened, his earlier theatrics vanishing as he listened intently.
"But," Karl continued, his tone steady, "as the one leading you, I am responsible for your lives."
He paused.
"I don't want to see you lying there one day."
He pointed calmly toward the corpses scattered across the village.
"And I don't want you getting hurt either," Karl added. "Because then I'd have no way to answer to your families."
For a moment, no one spoke.
The mercenaries exchanged looks, their expressions complicated.
Just as the silence threatened to stretch on, a loud voice suddenly rang out.
"Boss!"
Karl turned.
Hall had stepped forward, grinning widely.
"As long as it's your command," Hall shouted, "we'll do it! We just want a chance!"
"Even if the price is death!"
Karl shook his head slightly and smiled.
"Stop flattering," he said. "You're terrible at it."
Then he looked back at the others.
"Since that's how you feel," Karl continued, "then you all know better than I do what Kesi said earlier."
"You've followed me long enough to know what kind of man I am."
He raised his voice.
"So I'll say only one thing."
"Follow me."
"As long as you can imagine it—and as long as you dare to do it—you can succeed."
The effect was immediate.
Eyes shone.
Blood stirred.
Kesi, sensing the moment, acted without hesitation.
He drew his longsword, lifted it above his head with both hands, and dropped to one knee before Karl.
"Boss," he said solemnly, "if you're willing, I will be the sharpest blade in your hand."
Karl smiled faintly and placed his hand on his own sword.
"You might want to start calling me Ser Karl," he said lightly. "Or Lord."
That was all it took.
With a sharp clang, Biden drew his saber and knelt.
"Where your gaze reaches," Biden said firmly, "will be my lifelong glory!"
Hoover followed.
"Your honor and disgrace will be my life!"
Another voice rang out.
"I will be the shield in your hand!"
One by one, men dropped to one knee.
Hall panicked.
He shoved aside a companion blocking his path, sprinted forward, and slid on both knees to a stop in front of Karl in the most undignified manner imaginable.
Holding up his sword, he shouted at the top of his lungs,
"Boss! Me too!"
The others stared at him in disdain.
"Shameless!"
"Absolutely shameless!"
Karl laughed.
Advance Chapters avilable on patreon (Obito_uchiha)