Ser Meryn, who was in disguise, held onto Tommen I, who was also in disguise, and hurried toward the contact point in the center of Braavos City.
When King's Landing was captured by Robb's army, Ser Meryn, who was unable to escape by boat due to the chaotic battle between several fleets on the Blackwater River, took Tommen I and fled north in a hurry along with many civilians.
In the end, he spent a lot of money at the port of Duskendale to get on the passenger ship to Braavos.
Therefore, after struggling for such a long time, Sir Marin couldn't wait to cash in the golden mountain in his hands.
Now Sir Marin is like holding a lottery ticket worth hundreds of millions. The closer he gets to the prize redemption center, the more excited he becomes, so much so that he doesn't notice the little girl behind him getting closer and closer.
Um?
When Sir Meryn took Tommen I and turned left and right to an uninhabited alley, he heard the subtle footsteps behind him and turned his head to look back.
Bah!
As soon as he turned around, he saw a short little girl with two braids leaning very close to him. Sir Marlin was feeling alert and felt a sudden chill in his right lower back.
After the little girl succeeded in the attack, she quickly left Sir Marlin's side in the next moment.
Sir Marin subconsciously released Tommen I's right hand and reached out to cover his right lower back, which was a little sore and started to spurt out blood.
"you……"
Looking at the little girl in front of him, Sir Marin covered his right waist and pointed at her with his left hand as if he wanted to say something.
However, after being stabbed in the kidney in his right lower back, he only felt limp all over. Now, let alone talking and communicating, it was difficult to even maintain a standing posture.
Some people may wonder why Ser Meryn, a strong man who once served as a member of the Kingsguard, suffered so badly after being stabbed.
In fact, many concepts nowadays have been influenced by movies and TV dramas. In movies and TV dramas, not only being stabbed, but also being hit by a gun, you even have the strength to stand up and fight back.
But this is all pure deception!
Just like there was once a hot news story about a female medical student who stabbed her cheating boyfriend for more than 20 times. The knife avoided the vital parts and caused great trauma, but it was ultimately judged to be a minor injury.
Do you think, after a strong male student was hit with the first knife while avoiding the vital part,
If possible, wouldn't he resist? Then why can he only let the weak female students stab him continuously?
This is because in reality, even if a strong person is stabbed severely, unless he has a strong will as strong as iron, he will lose his combat effectiveness on the spot.
Even in this world, Jon, who was as powerful as Jon in his previous life, was stabbed in the abdomen after being betrayed by Ser Alliser, but he could only stand on the same spot, with no power to resist.
Of course, the small group of people in this world who have extraordinary powers are not included in this scope.
At this moment, Sir Marlin, who is crumbling, obviously does not have a strong will and special extraordinary power.
"I know what you want to ask. Do you remember Syrio Forel? You killed him!
It’s been more than a year, I’m afraid you’ve long forgotten who he is, right?”
The little girl held a blood-stained dagger and walked very carefully around Sir Marin, while asking him questions.
Bah!
The little girl who walked around to Sir Marin's left rear saw that he was trying to turn around but was unable to do anything. She stepped forward decisively and stabbed his left lower back again with the dagger in her hand.
Peng!
After receiving this attack, Sir Marin could no longer maintain his standing posture and fell heavily to the ground. A large amount of bright red blood flowed out from under his body.
"I can still clearly remember the smile on your face standing behind Joffrey when my father died in Baelor Square.
Hehe, thank the God of Many Faces for sending you to me!"
The little girl looked down at Sir Merlin, who was lying on his back and trying to get up, and said with a smile.
Looking at Sir Merlin who tried to point his right hand at himself after hearing these words, the little girl nodded to him and said,
"Oh? It seems you have remembered who I am, yes, I am Arya Stark!"
After saying these words, Arya knelt down on one knee, grabbed Ser Meryn's hair with one very skillful hand to fix his head, and slit his throat with a dagger with the other hand.
Hey, hey!
Sir Marlin, who had a lot of blood gushing out from his neck, struggled and choked twice, then stopped moving.
"Woo!"
After the blond boy next to him saw Ser Meryn's death, he immediately twisted his body and whimpered at Arya.
Looking at the blond boy with a ball of cloth stuffed in his mouth, Arya stepped forward with a dagger in his hand and pulled out the ball of cloth from his mouth.
"Arya, help me! I am Tommen Baratheon, we have played together before!"
As soon as the ball of cloth in his mouth was pulled out, the blond boy immediately asked Arya for help.
To be honest, if Tommen hadn't taken the initiative to reveal his identity, Arya wouldn't have been able to recognize that this blond boy with his face blackened was the brother of that damn Joffrey.
Looking at this blond boy who was nearly two years younger than herself, Arya clenched the dagger in her right hand tightly, then slightly loosened it, and then clenched it tightly again, struggling over and over again.
"Oh, Arya, it hurts too much to tie my hands, please loosen them for me!"
Seeing Arya standing still, Tommen, who had his hands tied under his loose clothes, begged her pitifully.
call!
Upon hearing this, Arya, who was kind-hearted, let out a heavy breath, stepped forward to lift Tommen's clothes, and cut the ropes binding his hands with a blood-stained dagger.
"Why are you tied up by Marin Tran? Where are you going?"
"King's Landing was attacked by your elder brother before, and my mother and uncle were attacked by Marin when they were taking me to escape. Then he forcibly brought me here.
I don’t know where he wants to take me, but he keeps talking about wanting to exchange money for me!”
After hearing Arya's question, Tommen, who was free, answered while rubbing his painful wrist.
The news about Robb from Tommen made Arya a little excited. After hearing this, she immediately continued to ask.
"Your brother has a huge, huge wolf that stands taller than the gates of King's Landing. Well, he also has many soldiers and has occupied many places.
That’s probably all I know.”
Tommen, who was basically regarded as a mascot by Tywin, didn't know much about Robb. When Arya asked, he could only talk a few random words.
"That giant wolf is called Blood Wind, and it was born in the same litter as my Nymeria. Well, Nymeria..."
After hearing this, Arya excitedly told Tommen about Bloodwind, but when she thought of her own direwolf, her face instantly darkened.
Feeling bored, Arya stopped talking to Tommen. She first leaned over Marlin's body on the ground and rubbed it for a while, then plucked away anything valuable or useful to her.
Then she used the dagger in her hand to cut off Marin's face and put it away, then got up and walked towards the wheelbarrow parked far away.
Ta-ta-ta!
After taking a few steps, Arya heard the footsteps behind her and turned to Tommen with a frown and said, "Why are you following me?"
"I don't even know where this place is. I only know you now, Arya. Just let me follow you!"
Hearing Arya's question, Tommen, who was frightened by her bloody method of cutting people's skin, timidly answered.
Hearing his answer, Arya rolled her eyes and continued walking on her own.
In this way, Arya and the two arrived one after another at a huge temple made of dark gray stone and built on a small rocky hill.
The gates of this temple are a pair of twelve feet (about 4 meters) tall carved wooden doors. The left door is made of weirwood and is as white as bones, while the right door is made of slightly shiny ebony.
This is the famous Black and White House!
Arya asked Tommen to guard the wheelbarrow while she hid everything except Merlin's dough among the stones with the sewing needles.
Squeak!
After finishing everything, Arya took Tommen with a Marlin mask and just approached the House of Black and White. The two huge black and white doors opened from inside, and Jaqen, wearing an acolyte's robe and a hood, appeared.
door.
He said to Arya expressionlessly: "The girl took a life, but it was the wrong life! Therefore, the girl owes a life debt to the God of Many Faces!
Since a girl owes a debt, she must repay it!"
Arya, who has known the horror of the House of Black and White for more than a year, had a look of panic on her face after hearing Jaqen's words.
"She killed Marin to save me! I am Tommen I, and I can help her repay the debt you mentioned!"
Tommen behind her did not understand Jaqen's words. After understanding himself, he stepped forward and expressed his intention to help Arya pay off her debt.
After hearing Tommen's words, Jaqen turned his head and looked at him carefully. After a while, a smile appeared on Jaqen's face and he said in a gentle tone: "The boy is willing to help the girl repay his life debt? Very good, follow
Someone come in!"
When Arya heard this, she glanced at Tommen who helped her with a complicated expression, bit her lip and walked into the door. Tommen, who felt that he had solved Arya's trouble, followed her in very happily.
The door.
winter!
After they entered, the black and white temple door was closed again.
The body of Sir Marlin in a remote alley was discovered by passers-by soon after and reported to the city patrol.
Behind the prosperous Braavos is a darkness proportional to it. Deaths and disappearances occur every moment in the city. Therefore, the death of a stranger would not initially cause any ripples.
However, for some people who knew Marin's identity, the impact of his death was extremely huge.
The Long Canal is a wide waterway that runs across Braavos. At the northernmost end of the Long Canal is the Palace of Truth with its green copper vault. To the northwest are the House of Black and White, the Temple of the Lord of Light, the Isle of the Gods and other temples.
In the center of the city, Changqu is home to the tall towers of many noble families, such as the Antarian Palace and the Prestan Palace.
In the Antarian Palace, a luxurious palace decorated with gold and countless gems, an old man wearing simple and monotonous taupe clothes was lying on a large velvet bed.
There were several guards standing beside him, and a graceful maid dressed in light gauze was squatting beside the bed, feeding him soup with a golden spoon.
"Lord Neptune, Lord Besaro asks to see you!"
A swordsman with a standard figure and wearing black attire entered the bedroom and reported to the old man on the big goose down bed.
"Ahem, Quiro, all of you go out and let him come in alone!"
The current Sea King of Braavos, Ferrego Anttalion, swallowed the decoction in his mouth, and then weakly gave orders to his chief swordsman Quero Valentine.
"As you command, Lord Neptune!"
Quiro nodded in reply, then greeted the guards and maids in the palace, turned around and walked out of the palace.
After they went out, the fat keykeeper, Besaro, entered the palace panting at the speed of a turtle.
"Huh, Lord Neptune, it's not good. Marlin Tran died in an alley not far from the contact point, and the precious cargo was missing."
Besaro took a few deep breaths to calm down the wheezing caused by intense exercise, and then opened his mouth to report to Ferrego.
"Trash, you can't handle such a small thing! Why don't you send someone to wait for him in advance?"
After hearing the bad news, Ferrego immediately became furious and cursed Besaro in a weak voice.
"Lord Neptune, please calm down! That's why I didn't send anyone to wait in advance.
The first is because Merlin Tran was a little too cautious. I only received news that he came to Braavos with precious cargo, but I did not know the specific time and place of his arrival.
The second is that the noble families headed by Prestan and Frega are closely watching our movements. If I send people to wait for him in advance, it will be more likely to cause trouble."
Besaro, who was scolded by Ferrego, quickly lowered his head and expressed his thoughts in a respectful tone.
"Ahem, you are right. Braavos is no better than it used to be, with various forces intertwined in it. I can trust very few of the founders of the Iron Bank.
The cargo must still be in Braavos. Send out all your trustworthy subordinates to search carefully.
Don’t worry, after I regain my life, your Rayyan family will become the legend of Braavos with me!”
After Ferrego's anger was somewhat relieved, he weakly gave orders to Besaro, while not forgetting to draw a picture for him.
"I understand. I will start making arrangements soon. I will try to deliver the precious goods to you as soon as possible.
But you are a legend in Braavos!"
"Hehe, I just live longer. By the way, has the candidate for the next Sea King been decided?"
Hearing Besaro's compliment, Ferrego chuckled and continued to ask.
"It's decided. The governor and other key keepers just selected them according to the mysterious process a few days ago. The ceremony will be held soon!"
After hearing this, Besaro immediately opened his mouth to answer Ferrego's question. After a slight hesitation, he continued to ask tentatively,
"Lord Neptune, if it's just the king's blood, we actually have many other options before.
For example, Viserys Targaryen and Daenerys Targaryen had been living with Governor Yinlirio of Pentos.
But why are we spending so much money in Westeros?"
Hearing this question, Ferregor immediately understood Besaro's little thoughts. A strange color flashed in his eyes and he said softly: "What Tommen Baratheon possesses is not just the blood of the king.
Rather, it is the blood of the true king that once sat on the Iron Throne, the center where countless people’s wills gather in Westeros!”