Outside, there was a bustling crowd, but inside, it was silent.
Ernst Ubi stood sideways by the second-floor window facing the street, tossing the precious and sharp Valyrian steel dagger in his hand up and down while carefully and keenly observing the outside through the slightly opened window.
Not far away, the Hightower on Battle Island stood majestically, while the streets of Oldtown below were filled with people coming and going, and a constant flow of traffic. Besides normal production and trade, the air was also filled with discussions about the former High Septon's downfall and the upcoming election of the new High Septon. The people's tone and words were mostly cheerful and expectant, without the slightest dissatisfaction or worry about royal power overwhelming religious authority, or a dictator lording over the masses.
Even just a week ago, he, like most people in the world, would never have believed such a thing could happen. Someone could actually organize and instruct others to storm the Starry Sept in Oldtown, the stronghold of the Faith of the Seven, drag the High Septon out of his den, and parade him through the streets, without suffering surging resistance and backlash from nobles and believers.
Half of the High Septon's ill-gotten gains confiscated by Lord Mace Tyrell were returned to the Faith, to be used for offerings to the Seven, later repairs to septs, and aid for refugees. The other half was injected into the account of the newly established Oldtown Autonomy Council, and would soon be used to stabilize prices, build new public facilities... in short, to benefit the citizens.
In this way, the situation became this:
The accuser was an insider of the Faith, the one who led the organization of the arrest and confiscation was House Tyrell, who were also followers of the Seven, and the ultimate beneficiaries were every citizen within the thick, tall walls of Oldtown.
A trinity, interlocking links. Even if someone wanted to seek revenge for the High Septon in the future, it would be hard to lay the blame on Aegor.
What a seasoned, ruthless, and skilled political maneuver, and one carrying the iron fist and decisive style unique to someone from a military background. Even as an enemy, I cannot help but want to applaud!
If the Night's Watch's great victory over the White Walkers, the Gift Army's march south, the Western Expeditionary Army's breakthrough in the Reach... and a series of other epic advances or feats were just rumors and stories to those who had not witnessed them firsthand, then this time, being in the midst of the situation in Oldtown, witnessing the entire process of Aegor effortlessly uprooting the Hightowers' thousand-year foundation like a grandfather beating his grandson, forcibly relocating them, and then smoothly countering the Faith's provocation and pressure, even slapping the High Septon so hard he was replaced, Ernst truly began to respect this enemy and realize how arduous the mission and task he bore really were.
Braavos plus Volantis, even together with the other seven lesser Free Cities, absolutely could not guarantee victory in a head-on confrontation against... this man, who was backed by Westeros and controlled the power of the Seven Kingdoms. Even if they were lucky enough to win the war, the outcome would inevitably be the devastation of half the world.
Only assassination, only physical elimination, could minimize the cost and destruction.
When a person was killed, they died.
This was a very simple truth.
No matter how high your position, how decisive your actions, how skilled you were in war, or how full of clever schemes, as long as your heart stopped beating and your nostrils stopped breathing, you would die, your regime would cease, and you would turn into a speck of historical dust.
Ernst Ubi was the deputy chief of the Braavosi Special Affairs Department. His official title was "Head of the First Action Group of the Iron Bank's Special Affairs Department." If you had never heard this name, that was right, because his name was one of the greatest military secrets in Braavos, and indeed, in the entire world.
The word Ubi, in a certain indigenous language of Essos that was exterminated by the Valyrians, meant "assassin." Ernst came from a mysterious family that had excelled in ending the lives of their fellow men for generations. Killing was his inherited skill, just as the position of Head of the First Action Group was almost hereditary within his family.
Only troubles or enemies that seriously threatened the interests and future of Braavos, and which all other departments of the city-state were helpless to resolve, were sent to the Special Affairs Department for handling.
And only the most troublesome handful of these problems required the First Action Group.
And only the most crucial and indispensable few among this troublesome handful required him, the Head, to abandon remote command and personally lead the team on the front lines.
And such a mission had not occurred in more than ten years.
When old Gorden Gallonier solemnly called him into his office and told him with a serious face that this mission had to be completed at all costs, Ernst was actually somewhat dismissive. In the turbulent situation where Braavos had joined the war and the Faceless Men had inexplicably defected en masse and disappeared, a seasoned special talent like himself should stay in Braavos and focus his energy on hunting down those magical assassins who could change faces, or at least organize the protection of the keyholders to prevent a counterattack from the defectors. How could he inexplicably cross the sea to kill a Night's Watch oathbreaker, just because he wanted to open a bank and compete with the Iron Bank?
This was a classic case of using a sledgehammer to crack a nut!
But now, he knew he had been wrong. This operation, codenamed "Dragon Slayer," was not only very necessary, but listing Aegor as the number one target, with his assassination priority even higher than Daenerys, who clearly had dragon blood, was no misjudgment of importance.
...
When they set off from Braavos, the Iron Bank had already received intelligence that Aegor was about to launch his Western Expedition. When Gorden Gallonier arranged a ship for Ernst Ubi, he ordered him to go directly to Oldtown, which was certain to be the final stop of the Western Expedition, to lay out a plan and wait. Half a month ago, Ernst had still been quite skeptical, wondering what would happen if the Reachmen won the war and thwarted Daenerys's Western Expedition, making his trip in vain... Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, in the end, Aegor, as the old man had predicted, lived up to expectations and crushed the Reachmen's allied army, bringing him right under his nose.
From the day the black-clad Hand of the Queen led the Western Expeditionary Army into Oldtown with high morale, Ernst began to personally observe the target in secret, compare him with existing intelligence, and tailor a customized assassination plan specifically for Aegor.
This observation was significant. Ernst immediately found himself facing an incredibly difficult target. If it were not for the intelligence indicating that this man had always been so cautious that he "even took a dozen people with him to the toilet," Ernst would almost have suspected that the information had leaked, that his assassination team had been exposed, and that Aegor knew someone was coming to kill him.
Taking a dozen people to the toilet was naturally a joke, but this Night's Watchman's emphasis on his personal safety was even more exaggerated than that. He rarely went out and absolutely did not show his face unless necessary, mostly handling affairs remotely and seldom appearing in public. Most of his confidantes had followed him since his grassroots days and were absolutely loyal to him, with no possibility of being turned. His team included people skilled in magic, such as a high priest of the red god, making it difficult to disguise oneself and get close to him even if the Faceless Men had not defected. As for guests visiting him, regardless of gender, age, status, or wealth, they all had to undergo questioning and searches...
Ernst naturally thought of finding a breakthrough through the kitchen to poison him, but that loophole had also been completely sealed after being used once by an unknown Peers.
For a few moments, his team members were somewhat shaken and doubted whether this assassination mission was impossible to complete. At this point, the value of sending a shrewd and capable operative, Ernst Ubi himself, to the front line became apparent. After careful observation and deep thought, this professional from a family of assassins finally came up with a feasible plan.
Assassination. The goal was to eliminate the target. No one had ever stipulated that it had to be done quietly.
If the target's security was so thorough that it was difficult to replicate the elegant and classical "assassination" plan used to kill the Rogare brothers, then using a fashionable, progressive, slightly rougher, and more flamboyant plan for an "open kill" was also acceptable.
What Ernst thought of was the very thing Aegor himself had brought into the world's view, gunpowder.
After the formula for gunpowder had almost publicly "leaked," the Hightowers, who were not participating in the war, also assembled a team of alchemists for research. With the Hightower occupied by Aegor, the finished and half-finished products in this workshop had been abandoned in the storeroom and laboratory. With a little effort to smuggle them out and properly arrange them on Aegor's route...
A thought uncontrollably popped into Ernst's mind. If the assassination succeeded, his name would be recorded in his family history like his great-great-great... grandfather who organized the assassination of the Rogare brothers one hundred and seventy years ago, and this "Dragon Slayer" operation would undoubtedly be listed as a classic successful case of the Iron Bank's Special Affairs Department, perhaps even ranking high, being repeatedly mentioned and thoroughly analyzed in future history books and internal textbooks of his peers.
For a killer, was there anything more romantic than this?
(To be continued.)