After night fell, the tavern became deafening with noise. A large number of officials, nobles, and knights from King's Landing gathered here to pass the time. There were also those who treated the tavern as a place for business discussions, and for them, special private rooms had been prepared.
The seats where Lind and Raul were sitting were quite good during the daytime. From there, they could see the tavern courtyard, enjoy the performances while drinking and eating. But at night, when the performance stage was moved to the center of the tavern, this spot became far less ideal.
However, for Lind, this seat was excellent—because right above his head were the private rooms that important figures rented specifically for secret talks.
When the tavern was built, its owner had already considered the issue of eavesdropping. The materials and construction of the private rooms included certain soundproofing measures. Combined with the natural noise of the tavern itself, as long as the people inside did not shout, these anti-eavesdropping measures were enough that even if someone stood right outside the door, they would not be able to hear anything clearly.
That said, these protections were of little use against Lind. With his extraordinary hearing, he could still clearly make out the conversations inside the rooms—unless the people inside deliberately lowered their voices.
What was more, the tavern owner seemed to have left himself an advantage. Copper pipes had been embedded inside the walls, likely to make eavesdropping easier for him. These pipes naturally amplified sound, so Lind did not even need to focus his attention to hear what he wanted through the corresponding pipes in the walls.
As a result, Lind had spent the entire afternoon leaning against the wall closest to the copper pipes, listening in. Raul sat closer to the corridor as cover, alerting him whenever someone approached.
To be honest, the intelligence gathered that afternoon was not particularly valuable. Most conversations were about mundane daily matters, along with a few small secrets involving bribes and buying favor with powerful figures.
Although Lind did not yet know what use these bits of information might have, he still committed them to memory. Lacking pen and paper, he could not remember everything, so he focused on what seemed more important—such as which powerful figures in the Red Keep could be bribed, and who might help the Tyrell family establish connections.
Compared to the information gained in the afternoon, the intelligence Lind obtained at night—after the Red Keep's nobles began coming to Silk Street for pleasure—was far more plentiful and far more important.
Among it, two pieces of information stood out above all else.
The first was that Duke Eddard Stark and King Robert had fallen out. There were even rumors that the two had become enemies. As for the reason, it was said that they had sharply differing opinions on how to deal with the surviving heirs of House Targaryen. Others speculated that Eddard Stark was dissatisfied with King Robert's decision to marry Cersei Lannister.
In short, for this major ceremony concerning King Robert's heir, Eddard Stark did not personally lead the delegation to King's Landing. Instead, he sent his brother Benjen Stark, who had already donned the black. In the eyes of others, this was practically an insult to King Robert.
Word had already spread within the Red Keep that when King Robert learned of this, he smashed many objects in rage, and even his servants became outlets for his fury, beaten until they were black and blue.
Because of this, many believed that King Robert might launch a northern campaign to teach the Duke of Winterfell a lesson.
As a result, in the private rooms above Lind's head, many merchants and nobles were secretly discussing stockpiling strategic materials and weapons, clearly preparing to make a fortune once King Robert announced a punitive expedition against the North.
However, Lind knew very well that although Robert Baratheon was furious, he did not resent or hate Eddard Stark because of it. Forget launching a northern campaign—even publicly reprimanding Eddard Stark was something he would never do.
The friendship between him and Duke Eddard went far beyond what ordinary people could imagine. Even after more than ten years without meeting or exchanging letters, their bond would not weaken in the slightest.
Thus, the officials, nobles, and major merchants of the Red Keep had all made the wrong judgment. And this mistake might well become an opportunity the Tyrell family could exploit—though how to profit from it would be a matter for the big players.
Compared to this piece of information, the second one was perhaps even more important to the Tyrell family.
That was the discord between Robert Baratheon and his younger brother, Stannis Baratheon.
The rift between the two brothers was no longer confined to whispers within the Red Keep; many people outside now knew something of it as well.
The root cause was Stannis's dissatisfaction with King Robert granting Storm's End—the ancestral seat of House Baratheon—to Renly, while he himself received only the barren Dragonstone.
In Stannis's view, he had rendered outstanding service during the War of the Usurper. He had held Storm's End at all costs, tying down the Tyrell army, allowing Robert to fight without worry and slay Prince Rhaegar at the Ruby Ford, ultimately defeating House Targaryen.
By both reason and merit, Storm's End should have been his, and he should have become the Lord of Storm's End.
Instead, he was made Lord of Dragonstone.
One had to remember that Dragonstone was traditionally the seat of the Targaryen heir. Now that this was the Baratheon dynasty, what did it mean to grant Dragonstone to him, a Baratheon?
No matter how he thought about it, Stannis felt this was the greatest insult to him. Thus, at a Small Council meeting a few days earlier, he directly voiced his grievances to King Robert. Not only did Robert fail to comfort him, he even berated Stannis for failing to capture Viserys and Daenerys, the remnants of House Targaryen.
This argument quickly spread throughout King's Landing. Everyone believed that Stannis and King Robert had completely fallen out. However, someone bribed Stannis's servants and learned that after returning to his residence in the city, Stannis did not curse King Robert—instead, he cursed Renly.
That made the situation easier to understand. After all, directly cursing King Robert and venting one's dissatisfaction with the king by cursing Renly were two very different things. Even if King Robert pursued the matter, the punishment would not be severe.
Upon hearing this information, Lind quickly realized that this might be an opportunity for House Tyrell.
He knew very well that Stannis's loyalty to Robert Baratheon would not waver because of a single argument or the title of Lord of Dragonstone. To Lind, this public "rupture" felt more like an act—performed for those with ill intentions lurking beneath King's Landing. Anyone who tried to exploit the brothers' discord at this time would likely fall into a deadly trap.
Compared to Stannis's relationship with Robert, Lind valued Stannis's relationship with Renly far more, because Stannis's dissatisfaction with Renly was likely genuine.
After all, from the War of the Five Kings more than a decade later, it would become clear that Stannis had always been deeply dissatisfied— hateful—of Renly inheriting Storm's End.
And the current Renly was still extremely weak, desperately in need of allies to contend with his powerful second brother and the nobles of the Stormlands, in order to secure his position as Lord of Storm's End. In this situation, the appearance of House Tyrell would be like timely aid in a snowstorm. At the same time, the Tyrells could use Renly, a duke of House Baratheon, as a springboard to gain a voice in King's Landing.
Therefore, befriending Renly was the best choice for House Tyrell at present. As for what would happen in the future War of the Five Kings, there was no need to consider it now—at least in Lind's view, with himself as a variable added to the equation, no one could predict what changes the future might bring.
With these two crucial pieces of intelligence as a foundation, along with the scattered bits of information he had gathered, Lind felt that this mission was essentially complete. He relaxed, finally taking the time to savor the food and tease Glory, who was full and content.
He also helped Raul, who had been tense the entire time, to relax, and even ordered him a bottle of Arbor wine from Greenstone Island.
Although this bottle was the lowest grade among the wines sold from Greenstone Island, it still cost two gold dragons. It was easily the most expensive wine Raul had ever drunk. As a result, he completely abandoned his afternoon habit of gulping down mead, instead holding the cup like a little cat and taking tiny sips, afraid of drinking it too quickly.
Watching Raul drink, Lind could not help but smile. Then he said, "You don't need to be so careful. When we leave later, you can just take another bottle with you."
Raul quickly shook his head. "No need. This kind of wine isn't meant for someone like me."
Seeing that Raul was unwilling, Lind did not force him. He sat for a while longer, but sensing that there was nothing new to hear, he stuffed Glory—who was tugging at his clothes—back into the cloth pouch, preparing to end the mission and leave.
But for some reason, his body suddenly paused. A look of surprise appeared on his face. He sat back down again, leaned once more against the wall near the copper pipes, patted Glory on the chest to keep it from moving, and signaled Raul to stay alert as he refocused all his attention on eavesdropping.
The reason he abruptly changed his mind was that he had just heard voices in the corridor above—and among them was someone named Littlefinger, Petyr Baelish.
As a behind-the-scenes manipulator who influenced the course of the Seven Kingdoms, Littlefinger Petyr Baelish was naturally someone Lind paid close attention to. Many highly upvoted posts on related forums revolved around him. From an observer's standpoint, it was undeniable that Littlefinger was an extremely charismatic figure.
Because of this, through those discussions, Lind had come to understand Littlefinger very well—one might even say better than Littlefinger understood himself.
Before coming to King's Landing, Lind had expected to encounter Varys, another shadowy mastermind, but he had never expected to run into Littlefinger. According to his knowledge, at this time Littlefinger should still be serving as a customs officer in Gulltown. Only after he increased tax revenues tenfold and produced eye-catching results would Jon Arryn transfer him to King's Landing.
Thus, when Lind first heard someone address "Lord Petyr," he was shocked, even briefly thinking it might be someone with the same name. It was only when that person mentioned that Lord Petyr had already shipped a batch of goods to Gulltown to help boost tax revenue that Lind confirmed the Petyr above his head was indeed Littlefinger.
Through the copper pipes, Lind learned that this tavern—Toad's Pumpkin—was owned by Littlefinger, and that several taverns and brothels on Silk Street were also backed by him. Clearly, Littlefinger had already begun laying out his plans in King's Landing.
When Lind first realized he was in the world of Ice and Fire and began considering his future path, he had once made a list: people he could use, people he could not; people he could befriend, people he must not. There was even a list of the most dangerous individuals—and Petyr Baelish was on it.
Lind felt that even with prophetic foreknowledge, he had no confidence in gaining the upper hand against a schemer of Littlefinger's caliber. Thus, he had once concluded that if he ever truly became Littlefinger's enemy, the correct course of action would be to stop thinking altogether and kill Littlefinger outright, regardless of the consequences.
Now, the first important figure Lind had ever seriously considered killing had appeared before him in such a way. He could not help but marvel at the irony of fate.
By listening in, Lind learned that Littlefinger had secretly come to King's Landing this time to meet someone—and that person was none other than Janos Slynt, the current commander of the City Watch.
Although Janos Slynt commanded the largest standing military force in King's Landing, his social status was not particularly high. In the eyes of the Red Keep's nobles and officials, this butcher's son was little more than a watchdog. But Littlefinger clearly did not see him that way—he saw the immense利益 hidden within the authority Janos Slynt controlled.
Inside the room, Littlefinger gave a few instructions to the tavern manager, then dismissed him. After leaving, the manager ordered all the private rooms on both sides of Littlefinger's room cleared, and had people guard the corridor to prevent eavesdropping.
Before long, Janos Slynt arrived as agreed.
Lind had originally thought that when these two met, it would be for some grand conspiracy. But after listening for a while, he discovered that Littlefinger's secret visit to King's Landing was for smuggling.
Littlefinger had a shipment of goods from the Free Cities that needed to be unloaded in King's Landing. Based on the value of the goods alone, he would have had to pay an enormous amount in taxes—but he did not want to. Thus, he sought out Janos Slynt, hoping the commander of the City Watch would help him.
Although dock taxes were not under Janos Slynt's jurisdiction, dock security was. With his authority, helping Littlefinger smuggle goods would not be difficult at all. From their conversation, it was clear that this was far from their first collaboration that year.
"I'm very curious—what kind of goods are worth Lord Petyr personally making this trip?" Janos Slynt's voice came through the copper pipes. It was a grating, duck-like squawk, extremely distinctive and impossible to forget.
"Some little trinkets from across the Narrow Sea," Littlefinger did not elaborate, then added pointedly, "They're meant for certain important figures in the Red Keep. I believe Lord Janos, you…"
"Don't worry, I'm not interested in that sort of thing," Janos Slynt said greedily. "As long as you don't bring me trouble, and Lord Petyr can offer sufficient compensation. This time, I want double—and paid up front."
After the City Watch commander finished speaking, there was a long pause before Littlefinger replied, "Very well. But before delivery, the goods will be stored in the dock warehouses. You must be responsible for their security."
"Agreed," Janos Slynt answered without hesitation.
...
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(End Chapter)