The fragmented sunlight seemed to be obscured by heavy clouds, and the Secret City of Braavos was once again shrouded in gloom today.
The bad weather echoed the grim news.
In the courtyard, with its slightly open red gate, members of the Braavos City Watch, their voices raised in discussion, took advantage of the morning chill to remove the bodies from inside the house.
"This scene is truly terrifying."
"Blood mushrooms are lethal!"
"The mushroom's poison is even more deadly than the Sailor's Wife's smile," the City Watch soldiers chattered.
The Sailor's Wife was a prostitute who worked at the Happy Harbor brothel in Braavos, and she only slept with men who married her.
Sometimes she would marry three or four times in a single night, and many men squandered their fortunes for this woman, eventually dying in destitution.
The languages of the Free Cities all originated from Valyrian, but they were all lower-end and localized variations.
The bodies from inside the rooms were all carried out into the courtyard and covered with gray cloth.
On the scene were the bodies of disfigured servants, the steward, the cook, the laundress, the gatekeeper, and the elderly Ser Willem.
A patient, mostly victims of poisoning.
Their faces were ashen, their throats as hard as rock, and their eyes bulged in horror.
However, the black-clad soldiers of the Braavos City Watch weren't particularly surprised by deaths caused by mushrooms, as humans have a long-standing affection for delicious food.
In Braavos, every year people would die suddenly from overeating fish, crabs, or mushrooms, or simply from eating poisonous ones.
Lampreys and sea crabs were truly delicious, and mushroom soup smelled wonderful.
In the future, a hapless Archon named Arro would even be poisoned by mushrooms at a feast in Pentos.
Viserys Targaryen, leading Rhaenys and Daenerys, stood on the steps of the courtyard, looking somewhat at a loss, merely staring blankly as everything unfolded.
A tall, thin silver-haired youth, and two sniffling girls.
Adult tears sometimes seem feigned, but a child's cries are incredibly infectious.
Playing the part of a good-for-nothing was quite simple, as Viserys had indeed lived a rather useless life in Braavos before, and the hope of restoring his kingdom had grown increasingly faint.
Ser Willem had burned the agreement and dared not tell Viserys about his secret marriage in Dorne.
But this was fine; relying on others was not as good as relying on himself, and besides, Viserys had no great interest in Arianne Martell.
As for the legendary strong support from Dorne, the current situation was hard to describe.
Dorne had its own difficulties: weak military strength and a small population, forcing them to remain as still as a mountain.
However, Viserys still felt quite guilty towards Dorne; not to mention Princess Elia and her children, even the Mad King had sacrificed ten thousand Dornish spearmen and Prince Lewyn Martell before his defeat.
Such heavy casualties were a severe blow to Dorne, the least populous of the Seven Kingdoms, akin to severing a major artery.
"Lord Sissa, the inside has been cleared," the Watchmen reported to their leader.
This world still had some makeshift arrangements; accident scenes were simply smoothed over like this.
No wonder when Joffrey died later, the scene was also a chaotic mess that was smoothed over.
The most prominent Braavosi in the crowd was a refined young man, Sissa, the Braavos magistrate for that area.
He was also the leader of this City Watch unit.
Young Sissa wore a grey-brown outer garment, with a Braavosi rapier at his waist, a custom of Braavos.
This light rapier was swift and deadly, emphasizing the swordsman's quick, elegant movements, stealth, and balance.
Beside him was a tall, middle-aged man, who also carried a sword, appearing to be his attendant.
In Braavos, only assassins wore flamboyant clothes.
Truly wealthy and powerful swordsmen, and Faceless Men, often wore black and dark clothing.
Braavosi officials, Keyholders, and judges often wore plain grey-brown outer garments.
In truth, no city-state of this era could be considered well-managed in terms of public order, but the chaos was usually confined to places like the slums and docks.
Mass casualty incidents like this, occurring in the noble district not far from the Sealord's Palace, were quite rare.
To be appointed to an important position like magistrate at such a young age, Sissa himself came from a well-known ancient family of Braavos.
The most prominent families of Braavos were the Antarion, Zayn, and Freyja families, who had produced many Sealords.
Below them were also some Keyholder families, banker families, officer families, and so on.
And Sissa was considered to be from such a secondary noble family.
Had he not known about such a major poisoning incident in his jurisdiction, Sissa would have almost forgotten that the exiled Dragon family resided within his district.
After all, although the agreement witnessed by the Sealord was top secret, the higher and middle echelons of Braavos were aware of the Targaryen exiles.
"Maester," Magistrate Sissa called for the maester again.
The accompanying maester had examined the servants' limbs, eyes, mouths, and throats, and even the movements of their fingers, and then carefully checked the residues at the corners of the deceased's mouths.
The maester also found residual mushroom soup in a copper bowl and leftover mushroom oxtail soup in a pot.
Viserys had once considered how to dispose of the bodies and clean up the scene, but then he decided against it.
For a poisoning scene, the most difficult part was dealing with the bodies. The more he did, the more mistakes he would make.
So Viserys simply chose to just relax with Rhaenys and Daenerys.
This was a risk Viserys had considered; taking this action was better than them becoming beggars.
"The scene was untouched when we arrived. This was an accidental incident caused by mistakenly eating blood mushrooms," the maester confidently told Sissa, who was dressed in brown. "Although blood mushrooms are delicious, they are also highly poisonous."
After all, blood mushrooms were a rare commodity, and perhaps only their deliciousness was noticed, not their extreme toxicity.
"So you're saying this accident was caused by the cook," Sissa nodded, then his gaze swept over the faces of Viserys and the others.
These servants were mostly household staff, of low status.
However, the people involved were rather awkward, so more care was needed.
"That's right," the maester nodded.
Sissa, however, still had some doubts; the matter was too perfect, so complete that he wondered if there was something fishy about it.
After all, all these servants had died from the mushroom soup.
"Viserys, why were only these few people tasting the mushroom soup?"
"Ser Willem has been gravely ill recently, and we have all been keeping vigil for him. When the mushroom soup was ready, I hadn't had a chance to eat it yet, so I let them eat first," Viserys replied.
His answer was reasonable and logical.
Sissa glanced at the guard beside him, then asked aloud again.
Viserys noticed this; it was unusual. It seemed the guard's identity was also extraordinary, and the magistrate was seeking his opinion.
"Did you have any conflicts with these servants? Or did they have conflicts among themselves?"
Viserys shook his head, "These are servants who have been with us for a long time, and we have no conflicts with them."
"Even so, Your Majesty Viserys, perhaps we can find another place to talk properly…" Sissa suddenly fixed his gaze on Viserys, and the City Watch members formed a pincer movement.
"I'm not going anywhere, I am the King," Viserys shouted, his face flushed with anger. He gripped the sword, Ser Willem's relic.
Sissa looked at Viserys; there seemed to be some amusement in teasing this landless king.
Sissa looked at Viserys; the guard beside him had not drawn his sword, and the magistrate's attitude softened.
"Since that's the case, we won't insist. But anyone who loudly proclaims himself king is not a true king," the magistrate chuckled.
"You are slandering the King," Rhaenys said. "If this were Westeros, your tongue would be cut out."
"My dear little princess, this is not Westeros under your king's rule; it is a Free City. Let's leave this matter here," Sissa shrugged, then left the red courtyard.
The bodies would be taken away for disposal to prevent any odor.
Viserys watched their retreating figures, his heart pounding erratically. That last remark from Sissa was a threat, but he was playing along.
But who was that guard with Sissa?
"What do you think of Viserys?" the guard asked.
"Aside from his looks, he's rather unremarkable. Looking at his muscles and physique, he's not a particularly outstanding warrior either."
"Indeed, how much talent can a person have if even his protector has no hope for him?"
"Then do you think this poisoning was an accident?" the guard beside Sissa asked.
"Lord Quhuru, I feel it was undoubtedly an accident. You saw that landless king, red-faced, drawing his sword when I spoke, but unfortunately, he had little skill," Sissa respectfully replied. This guard was indeed Braavos's chief swordsman, the Sealord's absolute confidant.
"On the surface, he does seem ordinary, lacking both martial skill and courage," Quhuru said. "But this matter is truly strange. That steward was no good character; I've investigated, and when he drank too much at the tavern, he even let slip that he was about to get rich. How to get rich? It could only be by stealing the wealth of these exiles."
But the steward had been very discreet and absolutely could not have been exposed, yet he was indeed poisoned.
Quhuru could only conclude that this accident was simply too coincidental; a poisoning occurred, and Viserys and the others benefited considerably.
For a chief swordsman, the most important thing was insight.
"Then if you have suspicions, why not…?"
"Do we really want to humiliate this king? He's just a child. And this is my darkest speculation. From the clues, it was just an accident," Quhuru thought for a moment before saying.
"Let this matter end here."
"Yes, you can help them with the aftermath."
"Also, find some better, honest, and reliable servants for the landless king and his party. They can also serve as our eyes and ears."
"Understood."
This sudden murder case brought the long-dormant name to the attention of the current Sealord once again.
But for the Sealord, Viserys was currently just a dispensable pawn. The Sealord merely sent Quhuru to observe.
Whether Westeros was chaotic or not had little to do with Braavos, as long as it didn't hinder their earning money.
And as for this Viserys, who knew if he would ever have a chance to make an impression on the Sealord.
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