Game of Thrones: Bastard? I’m the Damn Heir!

With a sharp clang, Kal drew the longsword from his waist without even turning his head and casually asked Kossi a question.

The sudden movement startled Kossi, but once he saw that Kal was only measuring against the aurochs's body with the blade, he realized Kal wasn't planning to cut him.

Still, his instincts kicked in and he reflexively shrank his neck, dropping the smirking act. He shut his mouth and answered honestly, "The king just got back, but he seemed pretty upset about returning empty-handed… so he went off drinking."

"He's probably in the tavern hall right now…"

Kossi gave a straightforward answer to Kal's question.

But watching what Kal was doing with his sword, Kossi couldn't help but grow curious. He instinctively asked, "Boss, what exactly are you planning to do?"

Kal didn't reply right away. He continued using the longsword to search for something on the aurochs's belly.

Then, in the next second—once he'd found the spot—Kal suddenly pushed the blade forward.

His movement was swift and precise. The sword pierced directly into the center of the aurochs's stomach, sinking to a depth about one finger joint deep.

Under Kossi's bewildered but instinctively impressed gaze, Kal steadily gripped the sword hilt.

With that high-difficulty move, he skillfully and swiftly sliced a clean, smooth incision along the tough hide of the beast.

And as a hole opened up in the aurochs's belly, its fat and internal organs, now unrestrained by the skin, spilled out with a heavy squelch.

A strange odor wafted out with them.

Seeing that the depth of his strike was just right—clean, and even avoiding the membrane over the fat layer—Kal finally gave a satisfied nod.

Then he turned slightly and gave a faint smile, explaining to the curious Kossi and the others watching, "This aurochs's been dead for a while already. I need to take out the organs now, or the meat won't taste good later."

"When an animal's body has been dead for too long and isn't dissected in time, the residual heat inside can cause moisture to seep into the tissues. That ends up ruining the texture of the meat."

Looking at the clean and tidy incision before him, Kal nodded in satisfaction and sheathed his longsword.

Then he turned around and waved at the other members of the Blackstone Mercenary Company who had come over after hearing the commotion.

"So now I've got to gut the rest of it. But if a few of you who aren't just good at drinking and chasing women could actually lend a hand, that'd be even better!"

"Oh, right—I forgot to mention, I plan to offer this aurochs to our king!"

Kal said this with a cheerful grin to the lazy bastards who always tried to shirk work, raising his eyebrows slightly as he casually took two steps back.

And as if it were nothing special, he added with a tone of indifference, "If we end up getting rewarded for it—everyone who helped gets a share."

The moment Kal's words fell, the crowd—who had just been marveling at his sword skills—suddenly went silent.

The mercenaries of the Blackstone Company—those freeloaders who followed Kal around—froze for a moment out of reflex. But in the next second, they all snapped back to life, eyes gleaming green with greed.

"Boss! Me! Pick me! I'm known for how fast and nimble I am!"

"Damn it, Bryce! Don't trust that bastard, boss—he once got caught cheating by a husband who came home early! The guy's as dumb and clumsy as a maggot!"

"Pick me, boss, you know I—"

"I'll do it! Come on, who in all of King's Landing doesn't know about my handiwork?"

"You mean that time you scratched up a whore and had to pay the brothel a silver stag, Hall?"

"Pretty sure I heard it was because he didn't know what he was doing with the shell stuffing and accidentally used his teeth?"

The moment Kal's words landed, the mercenaries who had been watching in silence suddenly jumped at the opportunity, falling over themselves to volunteer.

And since this was clearly a lucrative job, the lot of them broke into chaotic bickering and trash-talking as they scrambled toward the aurochs, shoving and elbowing their way forward.

All the while, they didn't hesitate to sabotage the very same drinking buddies they'd been sharing laughs with minutes ago—sneaky trips, elbows to the ribs, even knees to the gut.

Kossi wasn't wrong—these were all bastards.

So he didn't bother saying a word. Instead, he stuck out a leg to trip one guy who tried to cut ahead, then launched himself forward to secure the most advantageous spot.

Kal said nothing throughout the whole scene. He even stepped back to make room.

With a serene smile, he leisurely removed a water pouch from his belt, pulled out the stopper, and raised it to his lips—acting as though he hadn't seen a thing.

And sure enough, the moment Kal stayed silent, these seasoned rascals immediately understood exactly what he meant.

These bandits all had a greedy glint in their eyes. None of them cared in the slightest about how bad it smelled. They surged forward in a frantic scramble, terrified that even a second's delay would leave them without a spot to work.

Seeing this gang of "no gain, no work" bastards being so eager, Kal was more than happy to take it easy. He walked over to the side, sat down, and took slow sips from his water pouch, calmly watching them fumble about in their frenzy.

What Kal had said earlier wasn't exactly wrong, but it wasn't entirely right either.

At least in the timeframe since the aurochs died, there really hadn't been much risk—and besides, Kal had already drained all the blood.

As long as the processing was done within a certain amount of time, it wouldn't have any real impact on the quality of the meat.

The real reason Kal had done all this was simply to find an excuse to share some of the fatty meat he'd originally planned to keep for himself.

Kal was never the type to eat alone. His perspective wasn't that narrow.

He understood, deeply, that if you wanted the horse to run, you had to let it eat grass.

And he knew that in this world, only interests were eternal.

That was precisely why so many people were willing to follow a kid barely into his teens.

Even now—despite knowing that Kal had lost his backing—though they were worried deep down, not one of them fell behind. When the king called for a campaign to the north, all of them followed Kal into that bitter, frozen land.

It wasn't without reason. No one would choose to suffer like that for nothing.

Because the truth was, each of them had their own skills. They weren't just some ragged bunch of so-called "mercenaries" with nothing to their names.

Anyone who could survive in King's Landing was never truly ordinary.

And beyond that, Kal needed to buy some time—for certain people to get ready.

He took small, steady sips from his water pouch. In his eyes, everything was already prepared.

More than a dozen men began working on the aurochs. Fueled by fiery enthusiasm and frantic eagerness, it took them less than half an hour to cleanly and thoroughly process the entire beast.

And because they knew Kal intended to offer this aurochs as a gift to the king, Kossi and the others even somehow managed to find some wooden poles.

After quickly assembling a rack, they hoisted the cleaned aurochs onto it.

The gutted aurochs now lay there with its eyes closed, limbs tied apart to the wooden frame, wearing a peaceful expression as if calmly awaiting its fate.

They had even arranged it in a rather elegant pose.

It was then that Kossi, who had disappeared at some point during the busy commotion, suddenly reappeared—quietly and skillfully slipping over to Kal's side.

"Boss! The king already knows what happened just now—and that you saved the prince!"

"And just now, he returned from visiting Prince Joffrey!"

Kossi leaned in close, struggling to keep his voice down, but his excitement couldn't be hidden. He whispered eagerly into Kal's ear, "He's already sent someone to summon you to meet him!"

His breath was short and hurried, his expression brimming with exhilaration—he even looked more excited than Kal, the man at the center of it all.

But those around, who had been watching closely from the beginning, understood why he was so worked up.

After all, when one man ascends, his whole flock rises with him.

Seeing this bastard son about to reach the peak of his life because of what just happened, everyone who had followed him naturally saw themselves as Kal's most dependable allies after his promotion.

After all, those who had chosen to follow Kal must have shared a certain level of trust between them.

So long as Kal did well and they could benefit from it, Kossi knew exactly what that meant—and so did the rest of the usual scoundrels and drifters.

For someone like Kossi—who used to scrape by pimping for brothels at the docks of King's Landing while doing shady work on the side just to survive—he had never imagined he'd live to see a day like this.

And seeing Kossi's thrilled expression, the rest of the crew who'd been running with Kal for nearly half a year were now breathing just as heavily, eyes locked onto Kal.

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