"Creeeak..."
As the doors slowly opened, the mansion tucked away in a corner of King's Landing, like a maiden on the verge of blossoming, roughly received the Gold Cloaks filing inside.
Arthas led the way, studying the interior decorations with interest and shaking his head in disappointment as he walked.
There was no denying it: Janos had truly dreadful taste.
Everywhere they looked, almost everything visible to the naked eye had been coated in glittering gold.
The floor-gold!
The pillars-gold!
The walls-gold!
Even the ceiling high above had been forcibly turned gold!
Anyone with half a brain knew none of it could be solid gold-even selling Janos himself would not raise enough gold for that.
But even if it was only gilding, a house this size probably could not have cost less than a hundred thousand Gold Dragons.
"Lord Janos."
Arthas turned and looked at Janos, whom Lancel and his companion were dragging along, his eyes full of amusement.
"Would you mind explaining what all this is?"
"This... this..."
Though death was staring him in the face, Janos had resolved to keep his mouth firmly shut.
"None of this belongs to me, Lord Arthas!"
"What do you want me to explain?"
Seeing that the old bastard remained stubborn to the last, Arthas could not be bothered to say anything more and simply led everyone toward the mansion's second floor.
As they climbed the golden stairs, even the Lannister Gold Cloaks wore peculiar expressions.
The fellow really did spend lavishly!
Even the Lannisters, rich as they were, were not extravagant enough to cover their floors in gold.
Or rather, after a thousand years of accumulated refinement, the Lannisters had long since moved beyond the nouveau riche stage of covering floors in gold.
But an even greater shock awaited them.
Following Arthas, they stopped outside a room. The blond youth slowly turned and stared at Janos, whose very soul seemed to tremble, delivering his final question.
"Janos, I will give you one last chance."
"Once I open this door, it will be too late!"
His dry lips quivered a few times, but no sound came out. Our former Commander of the Gold Cloaks simply lacked the courage to confess.
Disappointment flashed through Arthas's golden eyes once more. He had already given the fellow every opportunity to save face.
Since the offer was refused, he had nothing more to say.
He delivered a vicious kick, and the gilded doors crashed down. Like a whore stripped of her covering, the room's contents stood fully exposed before everyone.
Gold Dragons!
Gold Dragons!
Mountains of Gold Dragons!
Even the Lannisters, accustomed to luxury, could not help drawing sharp breaths at the sheer quantity of Gold Dragons.
Just how much money had this fellow embezzled in King's Landing?
At the spectacular sight, even Arthas's eyes showed a trace of disbelief.
"Lord Janos, you really are 'a man of considerable ability'!"
He had thought Baelish, who was thriving on the Street of Silk, was already skilled enough at making money. Who knew there was an even greater master?
But Janos pointed into the room with trembling hands, his shrill voice carrying a hint of hoarseness.
"This... Lord Arthas."
"Who put all these Gold Dragons in a room in my house?"
"Aren't they trying to ruin me...?"
"So you admit this is a room in your house!"
Before he could finish, Arthas cut him off harshly.
Janos, who had still been hoping to argue his way out, first flinched at the roar. Then, coming to his senses and realizing he had been exposed, his expression began to twist.
He immediately collapsed to the floor, tears and snot streaming down his face.
"Lord Arthas!"
"I haven't dared spend a single Gold Dragon..."
"I was terrified of being poor again!"
Just as every villain had a tragic story behind him, our Lord Janos was no exception.
He kept wiping away his tears and snot, trying to move the impartial youth before him with his experiences.
"My father was a butcher. To help me become a knight, he sold everything our family owned before he could afford armor and a sword."
"After I became Commander of the Gold Cloaks, I had four children at home to support. My meager income simply wasn't enough to keep us going, and that was when I turned to crooked ways."
"Lord Arthas, please spare me this once, for the sake of all my years of service to King Robert!"
Arthas and the Gold Cloaks watched his clumsy performance impassively, not believing a single word.
Who in all of King's Landing did not know what a colorful life Commander Janos led, forever booking out establishments on the Street of Silk?
He had not dared spend a single Gold Dragon? Pah!
After sobbing out his story for some time and hearing no response from anyone around him, Janos parted the hands covering his face slightly and peeked between his fingers to observe their reactions.
To his surprise, everyone was looking at him with indifference and contempt.
He awkwardly climbed to his feet and brushed the dust off himself. Astonishingly, his calm expression returned in an instant.
Janos's frantic changes of expression left everyone bewildered for a moment. Even Arthas had no idea what the old bastard was trying to do.
But he did not want to waste any more time on this either. Without further ado, he raised Frostmourne and slowly held it across his chest.
"The facts are before us, Janos Slynt."
"Your time to die has come."
Facing the greatsword's cold, eerie gleam, Janos felt a chill rise up his spine, yet he remained unhurried.
Casting Arthas a contemptuous glance, and making no attempt to conceal anything from the other Lannisters present, Janos made a startling declaration.
"With all due respect, Lord Arthas."
"You have no authority to judge me."
Janos twisted his shoulders a few times, but he lacked the strength to break free of Lancel and his companion's grip.
He spread his hands nonchalantly and assumed a lofty air, utterly oblivious to the fact that he was already at their mercy.
"If you think these Gold Dragons belong to me alone, you could not be more mistaken!"
Having decided to lay everything bare, Janos no longer feared anything. His arrogant voice echoed through the enormous house.
"Only a tenth of these Gold Dragons belongs to me."
"The remaining nine-tenths all belong to His Grace, our king, Robert Baratheon, First of His Name!"
The shocking revelation reached everyone's ears. Seeing their expressions of shock and uncertainty, Janos gave a disdainful smile.
He earnestly admonished Arthas, as though he considered himself the youth's elder.
"My dear Lord Arthas, I know you are still young, full of drive, and eager to accomplish something."
"But some things cannot be achieved through hot-blooded enthusiasm alone!"
"You had better release me at once. Otherwise, when King Robert calls you to account, I doubt you will remain Commander of the City Watch for long!"
His speech sounded grand and righteous. The unbelievable revelation left uncertainty flickering in everyone's eyes, and even Lancel began to waver.
He released Janos's shoulder, crept over to Arthas, and leaned close to whisper in his ear.
"Lord Arthas, perhaps we should let him go."
"This concerns the royal family's interests. If Robert learns that we confiscated his Gold Dragons..."
"Silence, Lancel!"
To Lancel's surprise, Arthas seemed utterly determined to put Janos to death.
His golden eyes fixed on Lancel until the stare made his hair stand on end. Only then did Lancel obediently return and seize Janos's arms again.
Frostmourne's keen blade rested against Janos's neck, making the short former Commander feel the icy touch of hell for the first time.
"Janos Slynt!"
The lion's roar exploded beside Janos's ear. Trembling, he raised his head and looked into Arthas's icy golden eyes, where a speck of ghostly blue light seemed to flash.
"You violated the laws of the realm and privately amassed vast sums of wealth."
"And now, with death upon you, you still dare attempt to slander the great king of the Seven Kingdoms, Robert Baratheon, First of His Name!"
"Tell me, how could our wise and mighty King Robert ever collude with a vermin like you?"
Every word of the merciless declaration rang clearly in everyone's ears. Under their astonished gazes, Arthas began his final judgment.
"I, Arthas Lannister."
"Current Commander of the City Watch."
"Under the eyes of the Seven, in the name of King Robert Baratheon, First of His Name, hereby sentence you to death!"
"Speak your last words, Janos Slynt!"
Flea Bottom.
After the Gold Cloaks' efforts to restore order, this place, once rife with violence and chaos, had become remarkably quiet.
Almost all the commoners with homes hid inside, afraid to venture out, and could only cautiously observe the streets through their windows.
Under the Gold Cloaks' direction, the homeless also made their way in orderly fashion toward the settlement prepared in advance.
A large expanse of shelters had been neatly erected there, and the sweet scent of bread occasionally drifted through the foul-smelling streets.
Under the Gold Cloaks' direction, the homeless formed several orderly lines and collected their hard-won food.
Though the coarse bread remained difficult to swallow, compared with the "brown" made from dead rats and human flesh, it was a delicacy.
Just as these sallow, emaciated paupers were contentedly enjoying their food, a short, stocky figure carrying a shovel slowly appeared on the street, escorted by several Gold Cloaks...
Janos had yielded in the end.
He was unwilling to die such a humiliating death in King's Landing. In exchange, Arthas had mercifully offered him terms.
He was to clear all the excrement from the ground for the poor of Flea Bottom.
A week later, he would don the black and travel far to the North under the guard of brothers of the Night's Watch to defend the Wall.
The stench of excrement made Janos retch repeatedly, but urged on by the Gold Cloaks, he could only obediently wield his shovel and work.
"That's Janos Slynt!"
"The former Commander of the Gold Cloaks!"
At last, a sharp-eyed commoner recognized the fat, bloated fellow. At his shout, everyone's attention was drawn to this once-in-a-millennium spectacle.
Seeing that he had more or less everyone's attention, Lancel finally raised his voice and shouted.
"By order of the current Commander of the City Watch, Arthas Lannister."
"The former Commander, Janos Slynt, accepted bribes, perverted justice, and violated the laws of the Seven Kingdoms."
"In the name of King Robert Baratheon, First of His Name, he is hereby punished by being made to clean the streets for the people of King's Landing."
"To cleanse his sinful soul!"
Such a lofty figure had fallen so low. The commoners who had once suffered bitterly under his exploitation rushed out of their homes, hurling countless vegetable leaves and stones, along with excrement, at Janos.
With the crowd so incensed, had Lancel and the others not done their utmost to hold them back, and had the Gold Cloaks' intimidating display that morning not still held sway, these agitated commoners might have chopped Janos into mincemeat on the spot!
"Long live Lord Arthas!"
"Long live King Robert!"
"Long live Lord Arthas!"
Just then, thunderous cheers suddenly erupted from the crowd, with the cries for Arthas noticeably louder than those for Robert.
Eventually, the cries of Robert's name were completely drowned out, and everyone along the entire street was calling Arthas's name alone.
"Long live Lord Arthas!"
"Long live Lord Arthas!"
All of Flea Bottom seemed to be holding a grand celebration. People raised their hands and packed the streets solid, celebrating the long-awaited judgment of an evildoer.
Amid the thunderous cheers, only Janos's hunched, abject figure still held a shovel, laboring to clear away the filth of King's Landing.
One shovelful... after another...
Before you continue