The first “witness” to appear was a young man Aegor didn’t recognize. Neatly dressed and well-groomed, he walked confidently into the center of the court, but instead of proceeding directly to the witness stand, he stopped beneath the judge’s platform and bowed to Renly. After receiving a nod, he turned around, produced a scroll, and announced in a clear voice, “Before this trial begins, by order of the King, I hereby proclaim a royal pardon!”

A pardon!

Slynt suddenly straightened up. For a moment, he dared to hope the King still remembered their old friendship and would save him. But the spark of hope was quickly extinguished. The pardon was not for him. Though the scroll was long-winded, its message was simple: by the King and the Hand’s decree, all City Watch officers who had bribed Janos Slynt to retain their posts or gain promotion were hereby pardoned. Regardless of the trial’s outcome, only Slynt himself would be punished. No others would be implicated. As long as they upheld the law and served the realm faithfully in defense of King’s Landing, their past misdeeds would be forgiven.

…

As murmurs of relief spread among the spectators, Slynt slumped back in the dock. A veteran of the capital’s power games, he immediately understood the meaning of this decree. The King had abandoned him. The trial was decided before it began. He was finished. Only the extent of his downfall remained to be seen.

All he could hope for now was to save his life and live out his remaining days with whatever fortune he had hidden outside King’s Landing.

…

From his seat, Aegor smiled in admiration. A brilliant maneuver. In a time of unrest and looming chaos—it quickly stabilized the political situation in King’s Landing and soothed public concerns. It delivered justice, offered the people a clear answer, and preserved stability. A textbook-perfect move. So long as Littlefinger wasn’t around to stir up trouble, and Eddard was given the room to operate freely, the political acumen of this northern lord should not be underestimated.

Still… what of Varys, that other silent schemer? What was he planning at this moment?

After announcing the royal pardon, the young man ascended the witness stand and took out another scroll. Shifting roles, he began to “testify.”

…

…

Within seconds, Aegor understood: this was the official report from the Legal Department’s investigation into Janos Slynt.

—

The former Commander of the City Watch was, without doubt, a man mired in corruption. Investigators had recovered staggering sums of coin from the various homes he owned in and around King’s Landing—houses bought for his family and his mistresses.

No jewels, no silver chalices, no art. Just coin. Stashed in boxes, beneath beds, hidden in cellars… all neatly arranged in piles of gold dragons and silver stags, stacked to the ceiling like a wall of solid metal. The City Watch soldiers sent to retrieve the hoard had thought they’d stumbled into the royal treasury itself—in fact, due to the realm’s debts, the royal treasury was nearly always empty. Tax collections from King’s Landing and the surrounding regions usually came in and went right out again, sent to pay creditors. There may not have been that much coin in the vaults all year.

After counting and converting the silver into gold, the final total was approximately 12,600 gold dragons. When combined with his real estate and other minor assets, Janos Slynt’s known fortune exceeded 15,000 gold dragons.

The amount drew gasps from the gallery. Leaving aside lands and keeps, even most earls couldn’t produce such wealth. Compared to this, the announcement of his three mistresses and two illegitimate children seemed trivial.

The young man wasn’t a “witness” at all. He was a prosecutor in all but name. Westeros had no formal title for such a role, so Renly had simply called him the first witness.

This was what happened when a man without limits hoarded power and coin. You wouldn’t believe it until you raided his house.

Aegor couldn’t help but sigh with mixed feelings. It had taken the Night’s Watch months of hard work to climb from survival to solvency. Even now, after deducting liabilities and investor contributions, their net assets probably didn’t exceed 1,000 gold dragons. Slynt had more than ten times that in liquid wealth—and had no idea how to use it. He’d been brought down by Tyrion’s Night’s Watch enterprise and the alliance of shared interests built through investment.

Had Slynt understood how to use that money to build alliances and recruit supporters, the outcome of this power struggle might have been very different, even with Tyrion bearing the Lannister name.

…

Once the “prosecutor” had finished reading the report, he bowed to Renly and stepped down from the stand.

Slynt’s face was ashen. He knew precisely how much wealth he possessed. Faced with irrefutable evidence, he had nothing to say.

The second witness was an officer from the East Camp of the City Watch: Alar Dim, once Slynt’s most loyal subordinate. Before Renly and the gathered spectators, he detailed the inner workings of Slynt’s bribery and extortion schemes—the “procedures” by which positions were sold, wages embezzled, and whistleblowers silenced. He testified that Slynt had ordered assassins to murder guards who attempted to report him and had used crossbows and City Watch soldiers to ambush Night’s Watch logistics officer Aegor West during the Red Keep riot. He even submitted physical evidence.

That final betrayal broke Slynt’s dazed silence. Realizing that even his closest men had turned on him, he erupted. Midway through Dim’s testimony, he shouted curses and accused his former subordinate of betrayal. He tried to drag others down with him, naming accomplices, but it was clear that Dim had already pledged his loyalty to the faction that had overthrown Slynt. Protected by the royal pardon, he testified without fear.

Renly silenced Slynt and called the next witness.

It was a merchant Aegor vaguely recognized, who accused Slynt of extorting protection money and threatening business owners. Slynt tried to counter by claiming the payments were all voluntary—but the excuse only drew mocking laughter from the gallery.

The fourth witness… was finally Nina.

Aegor watched with interest as the sharp girl he trusted took the stand. Her eyes glistened with tears and her voice trembled with fear as she described how Slynt had once tried to force her to go home with him. When she refused, he had his men threaten her.

“If Lord Aegor hadn’t just returned from the Vale and intervened, I… I don’t know what might have happened…” Tears welled in her bright eyes. Even as she testified, she didn’t dare meet Slynt’s gaze. Aegor had never realized how dramatic Nina could be. If he hadn’t known how exaggerated her story was, he might’ve rushed forward himself—just like many of the men in the room—wanting to comfort and protect her.

He remembered the real incident well. He had simply confronted Slynt with a few sharp words. Yet now, from Nina’s account, it sounded like he had galloped in, sword raised, and saved her from a violent assault.

(This testimony is embellished and emotionally charged—clearly meant to condemn Slynt utterly. Was this Nina’s own idea, or something Tyrion instructed before he left?)

“Lies! I never threatened her. I was just being polite!” Slynt bellowed. “She’s the one playing coy!”

To insult a woman and call her names—especially in this setting—only inflamed the room. The gallery stirred.

“Silence!” Renly slammed his chair’s armrest. “Janos Slynt, you may not speak without permission. Do that again and I’ll have you gagged! Witness, you are under the protection of the Lord Chancellor and Lord of Storm’s End. Please continue.”

“Under Lord Aegor’s protection, Slynt’s attempt failed. But he tried again.” Nina looked visibly shaken, tears sliding down her pale cheeks. “He captured my brother—Neil. He had someone tell me that unless I… came to him that night, clean and obedient, he would hang him. What happened next… Lord Renly, you know.”

“Lies! When did I ever threaten your brother.”

“Slynt!” Renly cut him off with a roar. He did know what had happened. If memory served, it had been Ser Loras who brought it to his attention. Back then, he had thought the matter involved a misbehaving Tyrell cousin. Never had he imagined such depths. That this had taken place right under his nose, with him entirely unaware, filled him with shame and fury. “Enough. The witness may step down. Next!”

—

This is the fate of a defeated man.

Like elite rangers cutting down unarmed wildlings, the trial was a massacre. No twists, no suspense, no redemption. One by one, witnesses stepped forward to denounce Slynt and reveal his arrogance and cruelty. Though Tyrion had fled, the machinery he’d set in motion continued to operate smoothly. Among these witnesses, how many had been coordinated by the Night’s Watch? How many were encouraged by Tyrion or the nobles who had invested in the Watch?

Aegor couldn’t say for certain. But Nina was clearly not the only one. What he most wanted to know was whether these allies simply sought vengeance for him… or whether they intended to ensure Slynt’s utter destruction for political gain.

Capital was indeed a ferocious beast, and Slynt—a man who had no idea what true power was—had become its first victim.

The trial continued, but the verdict was no longer in doubt. Slynt tried to argue his case, but soon realized that every charge was backed by evidence. He had done all of it—at most, the accounts were slightly embellished. Eventually, he sat slumped in the dock like a corpse, resigned to his fate.

(This trial has nothing to do with me.)

Watching the enemy crumble, Aegor thought to himself. He hadn’t bathed in days and felt filthy. He decided that once all the Night’s Watch witnesses had testified, he would leave early and return home to rest.

But just as he was about to get up, Slynt suddenly raised his head in the dock and interrupted the testimony of a River Gate officer.

“Lord Renly… that’s enough. Enough. Tell him to stop. Don’t call the next witness. I plead guilty… I plead guilty!”

“Oh?” Renly looked mildly surprised. As the King’s younger brother, Renly had spent most of his time gathering allies and cultivating political connections. He might well be the most disengaged Master of Laws in the history of the Seven Kingdoms. Today had been a rare chance to indulge his vanity and enjoy presiding over a trial. He hadn’t expected the defendant to collapse so quickly. Though slightly disappointed, he was happy to save the effort. Leaning forward, he looked at Slynt. “There are still witnesses remaining. Are you pleading guilty to all charges?”

“I admit it—all of it. I was… blinded by greed, which led me astray…” Slynt was desperate. If the trial continued, he would surely be executed. He could not sit and wait for death. He remembered his old acquaintance Alliser Thorne. “I… I request to take the black. Let me serve the realm upon the Wall, to atone for my crimes! Lord Renly, I beg you!”

As long as I live, there is hope. With my background and connections, I’ll be made an officer at the Wall. After Robert’s Rebellion, plenty of nobles and officers were forced to join the Night’s Watch. I’m not the only one—I know others. Once I reach the Wall, I’ll make allies. Build a base. In three to five years, I’ll rise to command. Then… I’ll reclaim everything they took from me.

“Well, you must not have seen the wights Ser Alliser brought from the North while you were in your cell,” Renly said with a grin, remembering the ghastly thing Eddard Stark had summoned them all to see. He’d had nightmares for two days after that. If there were truly tens of thousands of such creatures beyond the Wall, then guarding it might be a fate worse than death. “The Wall is in dire need of men. If you’ve truly made up your mind, I have no reason to deny your request.”

“Wait a moment!” Just when everyone thought the trial was over, and Slynt would avoid the executioner’s axe by donning black, a voice rose from the spectators. A man in black stood up. “I have something to say!”

(To be continued.)

***

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep