After bathing, Joel looked at Linde, who had changed into new clothes, and teased, "You're still a virgin, aren't you? You should try it sometime; in this world, only fine wine and beautiful women are truly real."
"Fine wine and beautiful women?" Linde gave Joel a roll of his eyes and said, "Like you, who can be easily knocked out by a street thug after two cups of mead, or like just now, having no reaction at all when those women touched you all over?"
"You brat!" Joel couldn't help but curse, saying nothing more. Back in the room, the attendant had already laid out food and wine on the table. House Tyrell's food was naturally exquisite, and the wine was even finer vintage from Arbor. This made Joel unable to resist picking up the wine and dishes and heading to Linde's room, as eating and drinking are always more enjoyable with company.
"Didn't they prepare wine and food for you?" Joel asked, surprised, upon entering Linde's room and finding the table empty.
Linde replied, "You forgot, I don't drink. As for food, I already ate at the tavern, so I don't need anything else."
Joel did not force Linde to drink. He poured himself a glass from the wine bottle and drank it in one gulp, seemingly preoccupied.
After Joel drank his second glass, Linde asked, "You didn't come to me just to watch me drink, did you?"
Joel was silent for a moment, then said, out of the blue, "He's truly formidable."
Linde was stunned at his words. At first, he thought Joel was talking about himself, but he quickly realized he was mistaken; the formidable person Joel spoke of was someone else.
"House Tyrell being able to become Warden of the South is indeed not something an ordinary family can compare to," Joel exclaimed sincerely. "Even a ten-year-old child can subtly employ political maneuvering, which is not seen in other families. There's a reason why House Tyrell has been able to suppress the various noble families of The Reach for so many years."
"Are you worried about the future of House Crane?" Linde asked.
Joel rolled his eyes at Linde and said, "What does the future of House Crane have to do with me? That's for the adults of the family to worry about. Besides, even if something happens to the House Crane that currently governs Red Lake City, isn't there still a branch that survived? House Crane will not disappear."
"If that's the case, why are you so melancholic?" Linde asked, looking puzzled.
Joel merely glanced at Linde, saying nothing. After taking two sips of wine, he seemed a bit tipsy, and his words became more numerous, like an elder reminding Linde of things to pay attention to after joining House Tyrell, and so on. Then he gestured for Linde to rest well and got up to return to his own room, where snoring soon emanated.
Joel's actions left Linde somewhat bewildered. He didn't understand why Joel had suddenly become so sentimental, and his attitude had also changed, completely different from their interactions on the journey from Golden Tree City.
Just then, someone at the door suddenly said, "He sees you as his former attendant. Your personalities and ages are very similar, though your swordsmanship has a slight difference. Back then, he also sent his attendant to Lord Barristan, but the attendant made a mistake in front of the Mad King and was tortured to death by the Mad King."
Linde's expression changed slightly, and he looked up towards the doorway, only to see an ordinary-looking old man dressed in servant's clothes, who had appeared at the door at some unknown time.
From the old man's words just now, it was not difficult to tell that he had been standing at the door for some time and had heard Joel's instructions, yet neither Linde nor Joel had noticed anyone eavesdropping outside the door, which undoubtedly put Linde on alert.
Linde felt that it was understandable for Joel not to have noticed someone outside the door, but his own senses had been extraordinarily enhanced after his rebirth. He could easily hear all sounds within a radius of twenty to thirty meters through his hearing, such as footsteps, speaking voices, and even breathing sounds.
However, even now, even though he saw a person standing at the door, he could not hear the old man's breathing, as if the old man was merely an illusion.
As Linde wondered about the identity of the old man before him, the old man, hidden in the shadows of the doorway, spoke to Linde, "You don't need to worry. I am merely a person who has lost his name and identity. I came here only to see an old friend. Originally, I should have left silently, but your swordsmanship piqued my curiosity, which is why I appeared before you."
"Is your friend Joel?" Linde did not relax his guard just because the other party showed no ill will. His hand remained on the hilt of his sword as he tentatively asked.
"He was just an accident, like you." The old man paid no mind to Linde's grip on his sword hilt. He merely shook his head slightly after hearing the question, seemingly unwilling to continue the topic, so he gave a brief answer, then asked Linde, "Is the teacher who taught you swordsmanship a Water Dancer master?"
"No," Linde shook his head.
"No?" The old man's face showed a puzzled expression as he said, "Although your swordsmanship is vastly different from that of a Water Dancer, your footwork when moving is very similar to a Water Dancer's footwork. It must be an improved version of Water Dancer footwork, specifically designed to complement dual-wielding swordsmanship. There are only a handful of people on the continent of Essos capable of improving Water Dancer footwork, and only one on the continent of Westeros." As he spoke, he looked at Linde very seriously and asked again, "Are you sure your swordsmanship teacher is truly not a Water Dancer master?"
"I can be absolutely certain that my swordsmanship does not come from a Water Dancer master," Linde replied with certainty. Then he looked at the old man and said meaningfully, "All men must die, all men must serve. Is that Water Dancer master your target, sir? A Faceless Men master from Braavos."
The old man listened to Linde's words and looked at him with great surprise. He neither denied Linde's guess nor admitted it, but merely said with suspicion, "If I'm not mistaken, Lord Linde should just be an ordinary hunter, who has never left The Reach, let alone traveled to the continent of Essos. How do you know about the Faceless Men of Braavos?"
Linde did not answer him, but drew his twin swords and said to the old man, "I very much want to witness the legendary swordsmanship of the Faceless Men. You fight me, and I will tell you where I got this knowledge."
The old man shook his head and said, "If you understand the Faceless Men, you should know that the Faceless Men only kill targets marked by the Thousand-Faced God, and you are not."
As he spoke, footsteps and voices came from outside the attic, likely some servants coming to clean the bathroom downstairs.
Seeing that someone was coming, the old man lost interest in conversing with Linde. After bowing to Linde, he retreated into the shadows.
Linde did not stand there watching the old man leave, but pursued him, only to find that the old man had already vanished from the doorway. Yet, with his extraordinary vision, he could still see a figure moving swiftly on a tree not far from the attic, leaping onto the adjacent wall, then climbing over the wall and disappearing from sight.
Seeing that the old man had left, Linde returned to his room, closed the door, and lay down on the bed. He did not return his twin swords to their scabbards, but placed them within reach, ready to be grabbed at any moment.
Although he hadn't suffered any harm just now, it taught him a great lesson, completely dispelling the slight pride he had developed from fighting Fortimo Klenne. At the same time, it made him realize that the world of Ice and Fire still held many mysterious forces and unknown powerful individuals who could pose a threat to him, and a moment of carelessness could lead to an untimely death.
For the rest of the time, Linde kept himself in a state of semi-sleep, semi-wakefulness, not relaxing his vigilance in the slightest, until dawn.
Upon hearing Joel stirring in the next room, Linde went directly to Joel and told him what had happened last night.
Joel was stunned at first, but then quickly seemed to realize something, and his face turned very grim. He told Linde not to worry about the Faceless Men, and said nothing more.
However, before Joel left, he spoke privately with Fortimo Klenne for a long time.
Afterwards, the number of guards around Garlan Tyrell doubled, and Fortimo also stayed by Garlan's side at all times, as if to prevent an assassination.