Chapter 148: The Little Intelligence Agent
The moment Tyrion stepped onto the scene, the entire Night's Watch office seemed to adopt an air of natural authority. Egger felt the burden on his shoulders lighten instantly; it was as if he finally had a backbone to lean on. When it came to battling people, the knowledge and advanced concepts of a science student offered no advantage. In this arena, the Imp—born into nobility and steeped in such a social environment since childhood—was truly in his element.
However, even though a solution had been formulated, Egger still felt a lingering sense of unease. He pulled out a blank promissory note and began to fill it in while he thought. After a brief pause, he finally realized where the issue lay. "Wait. Robert is returning to King's Landing any day now. If you use your connections to move against the Commander of the City Watch right now, won't he misunderstand it as House Lannister trying to seize military power?"
"It's not as if I'm stepping into the pit to fight him personally..." Tyrion replied. Despite his words, he too began to hesitate. Matters involving the military were sensitive regardless of the era or location, and Westeros was no exception. With several troubles colliding at once, things were becoming complicated.
"Why is the door open?" Arya's voice drifted into the office; the swordsmanship student was always punctual. She pushed the door open and, spotting the dwarf immediately, chirped with a giggle, "Tyrion! Long time no see. How are you earlier than me today?"
"Robert is returning to King's Landing?" Tyrion waved a hand at Arya to signal for silence and asked with some unease, "Where did this news come from? Is it reliable?"
"I managed to pry it out of his herald during a chat yesterday. It should be true," Egger frowned. "Are you sure you're not heading back to Casterly Rock yet? You're staying in King's Landing to deal with Slynt?"
"Are we discussing His Majesty the King?" Arya wasn't annoyed at being ignored—not counting sleeping hours, she spent more time here than at the Red Keep. The Night's Watch office was practically her second home; she didn't act like a stranger at all. Walking to the desk and sitting beside Tyrion, she continued to chime in without invitation: "He's already back. When I went back last night, he was in the office chatting with my father about something. He even had dinner with us in the Tower of the Hand later."
The first-hand news from this little intelligence agent was always a shock. Egger drew a sharp breath. "The King is back? Don't joke!"
"Why would I lie? The King and my father talked for a long time in the office even after dinner. He hadn't even left when I went to bed."
Egger and Tyrion locked eyes, the atmosphere in the office freezing. The King had gone off to suppress a rebellion and returned victorious, yet he entered the city without any fanfare or procession. He didn't even see his wife or children, heading straight for the Hand's residence to dine with Eddard and hold a secret meeting deep into the night. What was he planning?
"This isn't a good omen, Tyrion. Maybe you really should hurry back to Casterly Rock. We'll handle things on this end ourselves."
Arya asked, puzzled, "What's wrong? Why go back to Casterly Rock?"
Tyrion also sensed something was amiss. "Arya, did anything happen in the Red Keep this morning?"
"No. What was supposed to happen?"
Nina chimed in with a reminder: "If something had happened, Lord Eddard wouldn't have let Arya out the door."
"Nina makes a good point. If Robert really intended to take measures against House Lannister, the Gold Cloaks who came to the factory this morning wouldn't have been there to cause trouble—they'd have been there to take my head." Tyrion exhaled a breath of lingering fear. "Since nothing has happened in the city so far, it means Robert hasn't fully bought into the rumors..."
"But the situation could change at any moment!" Egger said seriously. "Don't forget, you said yourself that your brother and sister are indeed a bit too close, and your sister has never been the clearest thinker. If some incident occurs in the Red Keep..."
"If I leave now, can just you and Nina manage the Night's Watch industries?" Tyrion shook his head. "Just this little mess Slynt made has already caused enough worry. Once this is settled, I'll leave."
"You're risking your life!"
"I'm not afraid, so why are you worrying for me? I've decided; stop arguing." Tyrion shook his head firmly. "The Night's Watch industries are like my child. Now that someone wants to mess with my child, if I, the father, ran back to my hometown in a panic over an unsubstantiated guess at a critical moment, what would that look like? You might as well just kill me."
"What are you talking about? Who wants to mess with your child?" Arya was utterly confused and began to shout in dissatisfaction, "Anyone! Pay attention to me! Hey!"
"Fine, fine, I'm paying attention," Egger replied helplessly. "We're discussing how to finish off that annoying Janos Slynt."
"Really? I support that!" Arya was always one for a bit of chaos. "But what does that have to do with going back to Casterly Rock?"
"We need to hurry. Once this is done, I'm leaving for Casterly Rock immediately. Are you finished? Hurry and press your seal; I'm taking it over." Tyrion urged impatiently, watching Egger sign and seal the document before snatching up the bond. "Right, I'm going over now to have a chat with that bastard. Wait for my news."
"I don't need to come along?"
"No, it's not appropriate. Let me represent the Night's Watch industries this time. I'm off."
With that, the dwarf hopped off the chair and left the office. Signaling to Morrec, his short legs carried him toward the City Watch's East Barracks directly opposite the office... being so close to one's rival certainly saved a lot of trouble.
...
"You're definitely hiding something from me. How could a single Slynt force the Imp to flee back home?" Arya pressed with wide eyes. Tyrion was her good friend, so naturally, she cared. "What's really going on? Tell me!"
"Slynt has two thousand Gold Cloaks under his command. If he gets desperate, he's a dangerous man." Egger stood up and patted the girl's shoulder. "Come, let's not talk about that. Let Tyrion talk to Slynt; we're going to the backyard for a few rounds."
"You're changing the subject again!" Arya shook off his hand. "If you don't explain it clearly, I'm not practicing today!"
"If you won't practice, then go home. This Night's Watch office is a place for official business, not a playground for kids." Egger narrowed his eyes. Arya was small and thin, weighing barely fifty pounds; there was no way she could win a tug-of-war against a grown man and former soldier. Effortlessly dragging the girl into the backyard, Egger tossed her a training sword, and the master and apprentice began a somewhat reluctant swordsmanship lesson.
The basic swordsmanship learned by the Night's Watch emphasized finding an opportunity for a counterattack while protecting oneself. Victory or defeat was mainly determined by the speed of recovery from the shock of a clash and the ability to seize openings revealed during that collision.
Generally speaking, the side with a stronger physique, greater strength, and better weapons had the upper hand.
The Braavosi Water Dance, however, emphasized suddenness and surprise. it required avoiding head-on collisions as much as possible, relying on stealth, feints, using the opponent's momentum against them, and rapid adaptation to win.
Viewed this way, wouldn't the Braavosi Water Dance naturally counter defensive-counterattack techniques? However, such a conclusion shouldn't be reached without practical testing. As a renowned style, the Water Dance undoubtedly had high growth potential. But the more complex a system, the lower its reliability; the more sophisticated the swordsmanship, the harder it was to master. This principle dictated that a beginner in the Water Dance wouldn't necessarily defeat a swordsman who had solidly mastered basic techniques in real combat.
Just like in a game, high proficiency in a common skill isn't necessarily worse than a newly acquired divine skill. Egger and Arya currently represented these two cases.
As a specialized style with both assassination and performance functions, the Water Dance first lost its major advantage of suddenness in daily face-to-face training. As for the maneuvers and agility, Egger, who had picked up on the patterns, suppressed them using the crude method of overwhelming strength.
Of course, how to deal with an opponent stronger than oneself would be an eternal subject for a girl like Arya. Though she was temporarily bullied by Egger's superior strength, she wasn't gaining nothing from the practice.
...
Having already figured out her set moves, the girl began to use her own head, piecing basic motions into new combinations and continuous techniques. These attempts were naturally full of openings at first, but this was practice, after all, and Egger had always been a diligent and patient sparring partner.
Easily deflecting a string of the girl's newly invented moves, Egger began his routine probing for information: "Arya, what did the King and your father talk about last night? Did you hear?"
"I won't tell you! That's a state secret!" Arya brandished her wooden sword, saying huffily, "Unless you tell me why Tyrion has to go back to Casterly Rock."
Heh... so the little girl knew he was asking for secrets. Thinking about it, Arya was usually quite tight-lipped and reasonably loyal to her friends; it wouldn't hurt to tell her the basics. They were so close that constantly trying to trick information out of her was becoming exhausting anyway. "Have you heard the rumors about the Queen and her brother?"
"You mean the one about her sleeping with her brother!?"
"Yes. Do you believe it?"
"I don't know. What does it have to do with me?"
How does it not have to do with you? It concerns whether your sister's fiancé is a legitimate king or a bastard. Egger found it amusing but didn't say more. "It doesn't matter if you believe it or not. The key is what the King thinks, and Tyrion is the Queen's brother."
"Oh! So that's it! I understand!" Arya was quick on the uptake and immediately shouted with excitement. Distracted, she failed to dodge Egger's next strike, and a sword landed moderately on her arm. "Ouch—"
"Alright, tell me what the King and your father discussed." Egger lowered his sword. "This might concern the life of our good friend Tyrion. Don't leave anything out, and don't go blabbing about it back home, understood?"
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