It must have been arranged by Garland before he left, as Linde wasn't assigned to the patrol and guard teams. Instead, he was given a separate order to select a few quick-witted individuals from the group and enter various areas of King's Landing to gather information.During Robert's Rebellion, the Sack of King's Landing by Lord Tywin greatly damaged the intelligence network the Tyrells had previously established in the city. In the year that followed, Jon Arryn, the Hand of the King, along with Varys, the Master of Whisperers, purged all intelligence outposts in King's Landing belonging to various factions, which naturally included the Tyrells' network.
Therefore, while the Tyrells are not completely ignorant of the situation in King's Landing, they know very little, and most of what they do know is already public knowledge.And Lord Mace Tyrell was extremely unreliable, not thinking at all about actively gathering intelligence in King's Landing this year. For him, attending various banquets and befriending the new Baratheon dynasty's nobles was his top priority.
As a result, the Tyrell family now has no idea what's happening in King's Landing and doesn't know how to proceed. Therefore, in addition to participating in the tournament, Garlan's visit to King's Landing this time should also be to carry out the Queen of Thorns's order to restore the intelligence network.If Lynder doesn't show up, Garlan will have to rely on Footly to gather intelligence, but Footly, as the master-at-arms of Highgarden and a master swordsman of the Reach, has a considerable reputation in King's Landing, which makes him too conspicuous in the eyes of those who are interested, making it unfavorable for gathering intelligence.
However, now there is a more suitable candidate. In Garlan's opinion, Lynder's abilities are no worse than Footly's, and Lynder's reputation as a bear hunter is only circulating in the Reach for the time being. In King's Landing, he is just an unknown ordinary Tyrell soldier, so his intelligence gathering will not attract the attention of those who are interested.Garland clearly placed great importance on intelligence gathering, not only paying Linde his salary for the month in advance, but also giving him an additional thirty gold dragons, one hundred silver stags, and eight hundred copper stars as operating funds, and even granting him the right to select personnel, essentially treating him as a temporary intelligence chief.Lynd didn't stand on ceremony. He picked out ten of the most resourceful people from the group, including Raul. Then, instead of taking all ten into the city together, he divided the activity funds that Garlan had given him among the ten, keeping only twenty gold dragons and some silver stags and copper stars for himself. He instructed them to enter the city in pairs or trios through different gates, and to gather information in different districts. As for himself, he would partner with Raul and enter through the nearest Lion Gate.
"I never thought I'd be back in King's Landing. I thought I'd never see this place again."As he passed through the Lion Gate, Raul tilted his head back to look at the wide gate and then at the stone lion sculptures flanking the drawbridge, and couldn't help but sigh.
Hearing Raul's sigh, Linde, while stuffing the cut pieces of meat into the cloth pocket on his chest to feed Glory, curiously asked, "Have you been to King's Landing before?"""Yes, I came here a few years ago with Baron Brynton's caravan," Raul nodded and said, "Back then, the Mad King was still sitting on the Iron Throne, the Duke of the North hadn't been burned to death, the new king was just Jon Arryn, the Duke of the Vale's ward, and the woman I loved hadn't spread her legs for another man."
Hearing this, Linde looked at Raul with a slightly meaningful gaze, feeling that this veteran of House Tyrell was a man with a story.
After the two entered the city, Linde handed over the task of leading the way to Raul, who had been to King's Landing before."However, he soon realized that the decision was a mistake, because after Raul led them to a crossroads, he had no idea where to go next.
"Didn't you say you'd been here a few years ago?" Linde asked with a puzzled look.
Raul said helplessly, "Yes, I have! But I only walked around the Fisherman's Square in Mud Gate back then, I've never been here before."
Linde felt that partnering with Raul was a complete mistake, but now the mistake was irreversible, and he could only bite the bullet and continue.He glared at Raul, who was wearing an awkward smile, took a deep breath, suppressed his irritation, and then looked around. He saw some children playing on the side of the street not far away, so he walked over.
The group of children stopped playing when they saw a strange, burly man with weapons approaching. They gathered together and watched Linde warily.
Reaching the children, Linde took out a handful of copper stars from his pocket and held them in his hand, saying directly, "Whoever can tell me where the most crowded tavern is nearby and how to get there, these copper stars are theirs."To Linde's surprise, the group of children didn't rush to answer his questions in exchange for the copper stars in his hand, as ordinary children he knew would have done. Instead, they looked at each other and then all looked at one of the children who was neither the oldest nor the strongest, as if waiting for that child to make a decision.
That child stepped out of the crowd, came up to Linde, and said, "Sir, if you're looking for a crowded tavern nearby, you can go to Old Cripple's Insole. The local blacksmiths, tanners, and other craftsmen all like to go there for a couple of drinks when they're resting.""Saying this, he paused for a moment, then continued, "However, I don't think you're looking for a crowded tavern to listen to drunkards boasting. You're probably looking for other, more interesting news, so I recommend the taverns and brothels on Silk Street. The big shots from the Red Keep like to go there when they have nothing to do."
Hearing about the brothels on Silk Street, Raul behind Linde breathed a little heavier. Even in Highgarden, the brothels on Silk Street were extremely famous, and Raul's first wish before coming to King's Landing was to spend a night in a brothel on Silk Street."But Raul's hopes were destined to be dashed. After listening to the child, Lind shook his head and said, "No brothels. Just tell me which tavern meets my requirements."
"Toth's Pumpkin. It's the best tavern in King's Landing. Almost all the merchants and nobles who come to King's Landing will sit there when they have time, and taste the fine wine from Arbor and the delicacies from across the Narrow Sea. Just sitting there costs a gold dragon." The child sized up Lind and Raul, and seeing their clothes, smiled and said, "My lord, you don't look like you can afford to sit there.""That's the place." Linde ignored the child's questioning look and stuffed the copper star into the child's hand, saying, "Tell me how to get there?"
The child looked at the copper star in his hand, then put it in his pocket, turned and gestured to a little girl, saying, "She will take you there. I hope you enjoy your time in King's Landing, sir."
With that, he led the other children away quickly, leaving only the little girl behind.
"Please follow me, sir."The little girl nodded at Linde without a word and led Linde and Raul towards the conspicuous Great Sept of Baelor atop Visenya's Hill ahead.
The streets of King's Landing were already crowded, and the closer they got to the Great Sept of Baelor, the more numerous the followers of the Seven became. They prayed as they slowly walked around the road beneath the outer walls of the Great Sept. Linde and the others had to push their way forward to get through these human walls.Fortunately, the road wasn't very long. After breaking free from the crowd of pilgrims, the little girl led them around the even more crowded Baylor Square, through the tail end of King's Avenue within the city, and into a deserted alleyway. Then, twisting and turning through the winding alley, they walked a considerable distance before finally emerging from the somewhat gloomy alley onto a street filled with the aroma of wine and perfume.
"This is it," the little girl said, pointing to a three-story building with ornate decorations and a golden pumpkin sign.Having finished speaking, she turned to leave, but as she passed Linde, she seemed to step on something, lost her balance, and bumped into him. However, she quickly moved away and apologized repeatedly.
"No need to apologize, just return the wallet you took from me," Linde said with a smile, placing his hand on the girl's shoulder.
Hearing this, the girl's expression turned unpleasant, and her eyes darted around, as if considering how to escape.The smile on Linde's face, having noticed the little girl's intention, didn't diminish in the slightest, but his tone became much more sinister as he said, "Don't even think about asking for help from anyone else, because if you make any unusual movements, I'll kill you immediately and take my money bag from your body. I don't think even those gold robes could find any fault with me."
The little girl could sense that Linde wasn't lying. If she really did anything rash, she would definitely be killed. Under the influence of fear, she completely abandoned the idea of escaping and obediently took out the money bag she had just taken from Linde's waist.Linde released the little girl's shoulders, took the money bag, weighed it in his hand to make sure nothing was missing, and then looked at the little girl in front of him.
Although he had caught the little girl who stole his things, he had no idea how she had stolen his wallet. He only realized he had been robbed because his keen senses detected an unusual weight around his waist.
Linde didn't make things difficult for the little girl. Instead, he took a few copper stars from the money bag and handed them to her, saying, "Take this for your guide fee, apologize to me, and you can leave."The little girl was stunned for a moment after hearing that. She had thought she would be beaten severely, but she didn't expect the other party to let her go so easily and even give her money for directions.
The little girl quickly took the money and then earnestly apologized to Linde before hurrying away.
"Are the children in King's Landing all this good now? To be able to steal a purse so easily?" Raul, who was standing beside him, couldn't help but say, "Lord Linde, you're just letting her go like that?"
"If I didn't let her go like this, did you really want me to beat her up or kill her? I only said I would kill her just now to scare her."Linde rolled his eyes at Raul, then looked at the little girl who had disappeared around the corner of a small alley, and said, "Besides, she and her companions are not ordinary children."
In fact, when those children first showed signs of being extraordinary, he had already guessed that they were probably Varys's little birds, the master of whisperers in King's Landing. However, he currently had no potential conflicts with the high and mighty Varys, and he had no plans to stay in King's Landing for a long time, so he didn't really care about the little birds.Hearing Linde's words, Raul looked blank. He didn't understand what was special about those children, and Linde had no intention of explaining, because he simply couldn't explain it. He couldn't exactly tell Raul that everything he knew about the Little Birds came from books, forums, and series from another world, could he?
Linde gestured to Raul and walked into the Tod's Pumpkin tavern.
The interior of the tavern was as ornate as the exterior, with decorations from all over the world perfectly embedded in the walls and pillars, giving the entire tavern a variety of exotic styles.However, the most striking thing in the entire tavern was a seemingly old canvas bag hanging in the very center of the hall. Although its shape was no different from the canvas bags commonly seen among travelers, the material was not canvas, but an unknown, delicate material that looked very valuable. It was just unclear what purpose it served hanging there.
Although it was afternoon, not the busiest time for the tavern, there were already quite a few customers inside. Most of these people were idle court nobles from King's Landing, and there were also some merchants from out of town.As Linde and Raul surveyed the tavern, a tavern server approached them, bowed, and said, "Good afternoon, gentlemen, how may I help you?"
The server was clearly well-trained, showing no disrespect or neglect towards Linde and Raul despite their inappropriate attire.
"I've heard this is the best tavern in all of King's Landing, where one can taste the finest wines and food." Linde seemed relaxed and natural compared to the somewhat timid Raul.The waiter said with great confidence, "Of course, as long as you have enough gold dragons, we can definitely provide you with wines and delicacies you can imagine and those you can't."
Linde showed the waiter a money bag containing twenty gold dragons and asked, "Is this enough?"
The waiter smiled and said, "It's not enough for the very best wines and delicacies, but it's certainly enough for ordinary wine and food.""I'm not expecting top-shelf wine and food; the ordinary stuff is good enough for people like us," Linde said with a smile. "In that case, just arrange a good seat for me, but one that won't attract too much attention!"
"As you wish, sir." The waiter bowed and led Linde and Raul to a relatively quiet window seat on the second floor. This location overlooked the tavern's central courtyard and offered a clear view and sound of the singers and dancers hired by the tavern, making it a rather nice spot.After Linde sat down, he gestured for Raul to relax, then tossed the pouch containing twenty gold dragons to the waiter, saying, "Bring me the usual amount of wine and food for twenty gold dragons, and also prepare some raw meat for me."
"Raw meat?" The waiter, holding the pouch, was taken aback, thinking it was Linde's special taste.
But he soon realized he was mistaken, because Linde took Glory out of the cloth bag in his arms and placed him on the table, and Glory, just waking up, stretched and howled.
...
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Here are a few fan-fic titles that I've recently uploaded on my Patreon:
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(End Chapter)