In addition, he also allowed Raul, who had been constantly on edge, to relax, and ordered him a bottle of Arbor wine.
Although this bottle of wine was the lowest grade of wine sold from Arbor, it still cost two gold dragons, which was definitely the most expensive wine Raul had ever drunk, so much so that he changed his afternoon habit of gulping down mead and sipped it little by little like a kitten, afraid of drinking too fast.
Watching Raul drink, Linde couldn't help but smile, then said, "You don't need to drink so carefully; just take another bottle with you when we leave."
Raul quickly shook his head and said, "No need, this kind of wine isn't for someone like me."
Seeing Raul's reluctance, Linde didn't insist; he sat for a while longer, and feeling that there was nothing new to hear if he stayed, he stuffed Glory, who was tearing at his clothes, back into the cloth pouch, ready to end the mission and leave.
But for some reason, his body suddenly paused again, an inexplicable expression of surprise appeared on his face, and then he sat back down, leaning once more against the wall near the copper pipes, patted Glory on his chest to keep him still, signaled Raul to be alert, and then fully concentrated on eavesdropping.
The reason he suddenly changed his mind about leaving and sat back down was because just now he heard some voices coming from the aisle above, and one of the speakers was none other than Littlefinger Petyr Baelish.
Linde naturally paid attention to Littlefinger Petyr Baelish, a shadowy figure who influenced the direction of the Seven Kingdoms, and many highly-replied posts in relevant forums were also related to him; undeniably, from an outsider's perspective, Littlefinger was definitely a very charming person.
It was precisely because of this that through those discussions about Littlefinger, Linde understood Littlefinger extremely well, one could even say better than Littlefinger understood himself.
Before coming to King's Landing, Linde had thought he might meet Varys, another shadowy figure, but he hadn't expected to meet Littlefinger, because according to his understanding, Littlefinger was still serving as a customs officer in Gulltown at this time, and would only be transferred to King's Landing by Jon Arryn after he had increased tax revenue tenfold and achieved remarkable results.
Therefore, when Linde heard someone mention "Lord Petyr" just now, he was very surprised, even thinking for a moment that it was just someone with the same name, until that person further informed him that this Lord Petyr had already shipped some goods to Gulltown, which could help increase tax revenue; only then did he confirm that the Lord Petyr above him was Littlefinger.
Through eavesdropping via the copper pipes, Linde discovered that Todd's Pumpkin, this establishment, was owned by Littlefinger, and that Littlefinger was also the owner behind several other taverns and brothels on Silk Street; clearly, he had already begun to lay out his schemes in King's Landing at this time.
When Linde learned he was in the world of Ice and Fire and considered his future direction, he had previously compiled a list, categorizing people who could be used, those who could not, those who could be befriended, those who could not, and so on; among them was also a list of the most dangerous individuals, and Littlefinger Petyr Baelish was on that list.
Linde felt that even with his prophetic advantage, he had no confidence in gaining a complete upper hand against a schemer of Littlefinger's caliber, so at that time, he thought that if one day he truly became an enemy of Littlefinger, then without overthinking anything, directly killing Littlefinger without regard for the consequences would be the most correct approach.
Now, the first important figure Linde wanted to actively kill appeared before him in this manner, making him sigh at the interesting twists of fate.
Through eavesdropping, Linde learned that Littlefinger had secretly come to King's Landing this time to meet someone, and the person he was to meet was interestingly Janos Slynt, the current Commander of the City Watch.
Although Janos Slynt was the commander of King's Landing's largest standing military force, his social status was not very high; in the eyes of the influential officials in the Red Keep, this butcher's son was merely their watchdog, but Littlefinger seemed to see it differently; he could see the enormous hidden interests within the power Janos Slynt wielded.
Inside the room, Littlefinger gave a few instructions to the tavern manager, then dismissed him; after leaving, the tavern manager ordered that the private rooms on both sides of Littlefinger's room be emptied and that several people guard the aisle to prevent eavesdropping.
Not long after, Janos Slynt arrived as agreed.
Linde had originally thought that these two together might be concocting some grand conspiracy, but after listening for a while, he discovered that Littlefinger had secretly come to King's Landing to find Janos Slynt for smuggling.
It turned out that Littlefinger had a batch of goods from the Free Trade City States that needed to be unloaded in King's Landing; if based on the value of the goods themselves, he would have to pay a large amount in taxes, but he did not want to pay this tax, so he found Janos Slynt, hoping that the Commander of the City Watch could help.
Although the taxes at the docks were not under Janos Slynt's jurisdiction, the security at the docks was his responsibility; with his capabilities, helping Littlefinger smuggle was not difficult, and from their conversation, it was clear that they had collaborated more than once this year.
"I'm very curious what kind of goods would make you, Lord Petyr, personally make this trip?" Janos Slynt's voice came through the copper pipe; his grating, duck-like voice was very distinctive and instantly memorable.
"Some trinkets from across the Narrow Sea," Littlefinger said vaguely, then emphasized, "These things are for the important figures in the Red Keep, and I think, Lord Janos, you..."
"Don't worry, I'm not interested in these things. As long as it doesn't cause me trouble, and Lord Petyr can provide enough compensation, that's fine." Janos Slynt said greedily, "This time I want double the compensation, and it must be paid upfront."
After the Commander of the City Watch finished speaking, it was a while before Littlefinger said, "Alright, but the goods will be stored in the warehouse at the docks before delivery; you must be responsible for their security."
"Agreed." Janos Slynt replied without hesitation.