Chapter 174: Jaqen's Departure
Having divided his eggs into different baskets, the Night's Watch industries began preparing for the coming upheaval of the Seven Kingdoms. This chaotic night and day had left Egger physically and mentally exhausted. After delegating numerous tasks and settling the dozen or so brothers who had traveled from afar, Egger took Jaqen, the siblings Neil and Nina, and his security detail—all those who had accompanied him through this ordeal—to a grand feast to celebrate their survival.
Returning to the residence, he collapsed into bed and fell asleep instantly.
This sleep was exceptionally sweet and dreamless. It wasn't until the small hours of the morning that he was startled awake by the sound of a cough.
Opening his eyes, the world outside the window was still pitch black, but the room was illuminated by the glow of an oil lamp. Egger's mind raced as he snapped into full alertness—he never had the habit of sleeping with a light on; no matter how lazy or tired, he always extinguished the flame before closing his eyes. This lamp had been lit by someone else!
Egger bolted upright in bed. Sitting on a stool right beside his table, directly facing the bed, was a man.
"Who is it?" Egger demanded, his hand darting under his pillow to grip a small dagger stashed there. A second later, he recognized the uninvited guest. "Jaqen! What are you doing here?"
...
Anyone waking in the middle of the night to find a top-tier assassin sitting by their bedside would feel a chill in their soul. However, Egger reacted quickly: if Jaqen wanted him dead, he would already be cold; he certainly wouldn't be opening his eyes to ask questions.
"A man offers an apology—for disturbing the Master's fine sleep."
"What do you want?" Egger frowned. He noticed that the man wasn't wearing the black uniform of the Night's Watch industries today, but rather a nondescript outfit he had never seen before.
With his hand still gripping the dagger beneath the pillow, Egger sat in bed, locked in a bizarre staring match with Jaqen.
"A man is here to bid the Master farewell," Jaqen said in his usual measured pace. "A man wonders if the Master remembers the agreement made the day we first met: that a man must inform you before departing."
"I remember," Egger recalled. He had been puzzled for a long time as to why Jaqen stayed in King's Landing so long. Just as he had decided to stop overthinking it, the man chose the most unexpected moment to resign. "But... why couldn't you say goodbye during the day? Why wake me before dawn?"
"A man asks for forgiveness again, but a man must catch the first ship out to sea today. Time is short, making such rudeness necessary."
(What a blunt fellow. A note would have sufficed, but he had to come here in the dark and scare me half to death,) Egger grumbled inwardly. He felt a twinge of regret. Regardless of Jaqen's motives for staying, having such a master at his side had made him significantly safer. It was a pity to lose such a powerful bodyguard.
Releasing the dagger, Egger rubbed his head. "Since you're in a hurry, I won't force you to stay. If you'd mentioned this sooner, I could have given you a proper send-off. Regardless, thank you for saving my life the night before last."
"It was a man's duty. But before leaving, a man has one final thing to ask the Master to answer truthfully." The Faceless Man sat quietly on the stool, watching Egger. "That 'wight' the Watchmen brought into King's Landing yesterday—are there truly tens of thousands of them beyond the Wall? Are the Others a lie fabricated by the Night's Watch to trick the realms into giving support, or do they truly exist? Can the Night's Watch hold back such enemies?"
Why was a Faceless Man so concerned with this? Egger wondered. Looking back, Jaqen had seemed like a different person from the moment he laid eyes on the wight yesterday. He had transformed from a silent wallflower into a persistent inquisitor, constantly asking about the threat... and now, he was leaving immediately after seeing it. What connection did the situation beyond the Wall have with a top agent from Braavos?
Egger pondered for a moment and soon connected the dots: the situation beyond the Wall actually did concern Braavos. The Iron Throne was the biggest client and debtor of the Iron Bank. If the enemies of humanity crossed the Wall and turned the Seven Kingdoms into a living hell, Braavos would never recover the massive loans they had sunk into Westeros.
In an age of low productivity, millions of gold dragons was a sum beyond staggering. Losing that capital would cause a catastrophic failure in the Iron Bank's liquidity.
In short: if the prophecies of the Long Night and the Others were proven true, then the Seven Kingdoms—separated from the beyond by only a single Wall—was a high-risk client the bank would flee from. Braavos might not only cease all lending to the Iron Throne or anyone in Westeros, but they might also move as quickly as possible to call in their existing debts!
Was it possible that Jaqen, having seen a living wight, heard the rumors about the prince's parentage, and witnessed the chaos in the Red Keep, realized the loan risk for Westeros had exceeded all limits and had to report back to Braavos immediately?
This was merely Egger's speculation from a merchant's perspective. The specific reason was something only Jaqen knew. Perhaps Braavos simply wanted to study wights—maybe even to create an army of the dead themselves.
...
"Not a word of it is a lie. The situation beyond the Wall is more dire than words can describe. Wights are not only made from men; there are creatures far more terrifying and powerful... and the worst part is the hundred thousand wildlings beyond the Wall who serve as a ready-made army for the wights. As winter falls, their numbers will swell from 'thousands' to 'hundreds of thousands'." Egger sat in his nightshirt, facing the Faceless Man, feeling as though he were being interrogated. "Wights and Others cannot cross the Wall on their own, but as winter deepens, the sea outside Eastwatch will freeze, not to mention the Great Gorge west of the Shadow Tower. The Wall is a reliable defense, but the Watch's manpower, supplies, and fighting strength are severely lacking. Without those, the Wall cannot function. If things weren't this bad, do you think the Lord Commander would break precedent to let a man leave the Wall to do business and train soldiers?"
Jaqen sat in silence for a few seconds. He nodded his understanding and stood up. "A man understands. Then, Master, a man bids you farewell. May we meet again, if fate wills it."
Meet again? More likely we never will, Egger thought. As he watched Jaqen walk toward the door, a sudden intuition struck him: this would be the last time in his life he would see Jaqen H'ghar. On a whim, he called out to stop him. "Wait. I answered your question. Allow me to ask one of my own; you don't have to answer." This question had nothing to do with profit or the future of the industry; it was pure personal curiosity. "You traveled all the way from Lorath to sneak into the Royal Library... what were you actually looking for?"
"A man answered once before—a man was looking for books about dragons. A man did not lie to the Master." Jaqen paused at the door and slowly turned back. "But a man admits to withholding truth. It was not a man who was curious about dragons, but a friend of a man. A widespread prophecy claimed the dragon from stone would soon be awakened. My friend happened to acquire a dragon egg around the time the prophecy indicated and believed it could hatch. Thus, a man was sent to Westeros to find the method for hatching eggs left behind by the Targaryen dynasty."
A friend? It seemed even people in this era used the I have a friend excuse. If he wasn't mistaken, this friend was likely the House of Black and White in Braavos. It seemed the theory that Euron Greyjoy had paid the Faceless Men with a dragon egg to assassinate Balon Greyjoy was true.
"But sadly," Jaqen continued from the doorway, "the prophecy of the dragon from stone being awakened was ultimately fulfilled in a Targaryen girl. Rather than continuing a futile search for ways to hatch an egg, a man feels it is far more important to bring the news of the wights' return to his home and warn his people."
"I see... I wish you a safe journey, then."
"A man thanks the Master." For the first time since they had met, Jaqen showed a faint smile. "The Master saved a man from the cage heading to the Wall. By agreement, a man must pay a ransom for himself upon leaving. A man always keeps his word. Within a few months, it shall be delivered."
"There's no need. You saved my life once; the debt is paid."
"The one who owed the debt was Jaqen H'ghar, the prisoner caught breaking into the Red Keep. The one who saved the Master was Kon, the employee of the Night's Watch office. These are two different things." The Faceless Man turned and pushed open the door. "The sun rises soon. A man must reach the harbor before the ship sails. No more talk. Farewell."
Jaqen turned and walked out, vanishing into the gray morning light. Egger sat on his bed for a while, dazed. He instinctively checked himself; aside from the wound on his shoulder, he was completely unharmed. He realized that in the months Jaqen had spent by his side, they hadn't spoken as much as they had today. Although the man never admitted to being a Faceless Man of the House of Black and White, he had shared as much information as his code allowed.
Egger couldn't help but wonder: if someone wanted to pay the Faceless Men to assassinate him, what price would the House of Black and White demand?
Though it was still early, he couldn't get back to sleep. He dressed, went out into the yard to exercise, and greeted the second day after the upheaval of King's Landing.
...
The people coming to invite him for tea arrived much sooner than expected. He had just finished telling Neil and Nina about Jaqen's departure and hadn't even left for the office when several Gold Cloaks arrived at his residence. They claimed the Hand required him for questioning.
Prepared for this, Egger showed no panic. He adjusted his clothes, calmly gave a few instructions to those still eating breakfast with him, and then followed the men out with an air of composure that left the Gold Cloaks sent to fetch him feeling somewhat out of place.
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