The Mountain of Ice and Fire

Chapter 7: Jaqen H'ghar

Varys, the Spider, looked at Renly with utmost respect, his voice always soft and gentle: "Lord Renly, the sellsword killed in Flea Bottom was named Iggo, from the great grasslands across the Narrow Sea, a Dothraki. The reason for his death is also somewhat related to our Lord Petyr Baelish."

"Oh?" Renly's interest was piqued, his gaze sweeping back and forth over Littlefinger, Petyr Baelish. "Lord Petyr Baelish, what's this all about?"

Petyr Baelish stood up gracefully, bowing slightly: "Lord Renly, I know nothing about this matter. Perhaps Lord Varys can explain what happened."

Varys spoke softly: "Let Lord Janos Slynt explain."

Janos stood among the courtiers in the hall; he was the commander of the City Watch. He was very strong, but not tall, with a double chin, a bald head, a fierce gaze, and an ugly frog-like face. Because he was short and stout, his figure looked like a barrel.

He was of humble birth, a native of King's Landing; his father was a butcher in the city.

The City Watch led by Janos was also known as the Gold Cloaks.

The cloaks of the Watch soldiers were all made of wool, then carefully dyed a noble gold color, hence their name, Gold Cloaks. The Gold Cloaks were the formal garrison and law enforcers of King's Landing, sworn only to the royal family.

Legally, the City Watch was under the jurisdiction of the Master of Laws, Renly Baratheon. But Renly, like his royal brother, did not enjoy managing government affairs, preferring to drink and play. The City Watch, in his hands, had de facto independence.

Janos stepped out from the ranks of the few courtiers and walked to the foot of the Iron Throne. The steps of the Iron Throne were also seven in number, containing the faith and respect for the Seven Gods.

"Lord Renly, the perpetrator of the Flea Bottom murder has already escaped King's Landing by carriage. I have issued orders to capture him with drawings. According to the investigation, the murderer is tall, bald, with a nervously smiling face. He claims to be a knight from the Shield Islands under House Tyrell of the south, but the murderer's accent is not from the south, but carries a Westerlands accent."

"The Westerlands? A knight under Lannister?"

"Lord, it cannot be determined now. Many people are capable of imitating various regional accents."

Janos's words caused both the Spider and Littlefinger to glance at him inadvertently. Has this boy already turned to the Queen? In King's Landing, the Queen represents the Lannisters of the Westerlands.

"Alright, why did the knight and the sellsword clash?"

"Lord, the deceased was a sellsword hired jointly by the owners of those brown broth stalls, with the aim of chopping off the hand of one of the old men selling brown broth, and then driving the old man and his little granddaughter away forever."

"Oh, so vicious?" Renly laughed. He appeared naive to the dangers of the world, and indeed, Renly had been a hothouse flower since childhood.

"Yes, Lord. The sellsword Iggo was killed by a knight who was drinking brown broth while he was committing the crime. The old man selling brown broth is named Baelish, and Petyr arranged for him to sell brown broth in Flea Bottom to make a living. He used to be a worker at the Mint. Baelish's brown broth business overshadowed the other owners, and he was retaliated against."

"Oh, I see." Renly's expression was one of sudden understanding. "I don't think there's any need to continue investigating this matter. Let the knight go." Renly said casually. "Sellswords from mercenary companies are not good people, what are the opinions of you lords?"

The Spider showed his usual perfunctory smile: a smile that was not a smile, only smiling and not expressing an opinion.

Littlefinger made his position clear, a mischievous smile on his lips, as if mocking as he said: "I agree!"

Grand Maester Pycelle trembled: "Lord Renly, a life for a life. We cannot so lightly let go of a murder, at least..."

"Alright, Grand Maester, as you say." Renly laughed, interrupting the Grand Maester with an obvious teasing tone. He changed the subject, "Lord Janos, what's the matter with the Flea Bottom arena killings? Why were there more than thirty casualties?"

"The arena had a conflict because of gambling, Lord. The losing side believed the other side cheated. Their gambling that day was dog fighting."

"Dog fighting? Sounds interesting." Renly laughed, revealing a tone that suggested he wanted to go and take a look, but he quickly noticed the strange gazes of the courtiers, so his smile disappeared and he said seriously, "Have the owners of the arena been caught?"

"Caught. The owner of the arena is named Rorge, and his assistant is named Biter. Rorge has long controlled the underground arena in Flea Bottom. The cause of that day was that Rorge's dog king was bitten to death by a bulldog participating in the competition for the first time, and a large group of gamblers had bet all their money on the dog king."

"Many gamblers lost all the money in their pockets, and that day, less than ten people bet on the bulldog to win. One of the strangers was a fellow from the Free City of Lorath across the Narrow Sea. He spoke fluent Common Tongue of Westeros and called himself Jaqen H'ghar."

"Jaqen H'ghar attracted everyone's attention because half of his long hair was white and half was red. After losing money, the ruffians began to suspect that Rorge's dog king had been drugged, and the suspected person was this man who called himself Jaqen H'ghar."

Renly listened with great interest: "People from across the Narrow Sea are always mostly strange, and there are even people whose hair is half white and half red? That guy dyed his hair in such a strange way, it's no wonder he was suspected by people who had lost their eyes. Was he killed by the gamblers?"

"Lord, Jaqen H'ghar was not killed. Half of the thirty or so casualties were related to him," Janos said. "When our Watchmen blocked all the exits of the arena with bows and crossbows, the arena was already full of people lying on the ground, and Biter and Rorge were both knocked unconscious by him."

Renly was unbelievably surprised: "Jaqen took down so many people by himself?"

"Lord, Biter and Rorge reneged on the payout ratio of the bets. They refused to pay the lost bets, which led to a dispute between the two sides, and finally they drew their swords and fought each other. Biter was the first to attack, stabbing Jaqen's mouth with a short knife. He believed that Jaqen had drugged the dog king. Jaqen threw Biter out of the crowd and into the wall, and it is said that no one saw his attack clearly. Biter was the first to be knocked unconscious."

Varys and Petyr both suspected without showing it, and Grand Maester Pycelle didn't believe it at all.

Janos was the kind of person who dared to do anything and dared to lie in order to claim credit. As the commander of the City Watch, he openly bought and sold official positions and was completely corrupt. The former Hand, Jon Arryn, wanted to dismiss him and found two officers who were willing to testify against him, but who knew that these two officers died only one day later.

Hand Jon still insisted on trying him, but before the trial began, the Hand himself died first.

The Hand once reported Janos's corruption to King Robert, and King Robert said that blatant corruption was better than hidden corruption. What if he replaced him with someone who was even more corrupt? These words made Hand Jon unable to eat for days and nights.

King Robert never took state affairs to heart; women and wine were his greatest loves. Therefore, after Hand Jon died, Janos continued to be the commander of his Watch, and even more openly bought and sold official positions, bribed and accepted bribes.

Varys and Petyr listened to half of what Janos, such a dishonest person, said and discarded the other half, while Renly took it all in and believed it all.

"How many people did that guy kill?" Renly leaned forward.

"Not many people were killed, three. But eleven people were stabbed in the wrist with his short sword. The injured can no longer pick up weapons to fight. Biter and Rorge were both knocked unconscious by him, and there were also many other gamblers who were knocked unconscious by him. There were other deaths and injuries in the melee."

Renly was quite surprised: One person, a short sword, killed three people, stabbed eleven, and knocked out many people. The people gambling in the arena were not kind people, many were sellswords, and Rorge and Biter were well-known villains in King's Landing.

Renly even suspected that Jaqen knew the legendary dark magic. Renly had also heard of people with strange abilities from across the Narrow Sea.

"Where is he now?"

"We have arrested him and locked him in the Red Keep's black cells."

"Good, I want to see him."

"Don't go, Lord. He is an extremely dangerous person. I have locked his hands and feet with heavy iron chains, replaced the cell door with a new large lock, and reinforced the cell door. When King Robert returns from the North, we will publicly try him. He should be hanged."

Renly looked disappointed: "What about the Biter and Rorge who opened the arena?"

"They have all been arrested and locked up with Jaqen."