Beast Slayer Online: Initialization
Copyright© 2026 by CaffeinatedTales
Chapter 162: The Bell Would Not Rest
“Your guard has truly stolen the show, Lord Stark.”
Petyr Baelish wore a shaken smile, the sort a man might wear after narrowly escaping disaster himself.
He still looked haunted by the words he had spoken inside the King’s tent earlier.
“Thanks to this swordsman, His Grace escaped unharmed.”
The latter half was directed toward the approaching Lannor. The young Witcher answered with a slight nod.
After exchanging a few cold pleasantries with Eddard, Petyr tactfully withdrew from the obviously foul-tempered Hand of the King.
Eddard and Lannor watched his retreating back together, their voices lowered.
“He did this. I’m certain of it.”
“The King will absolutely investigate the assassination attempt. Are you going to tell him?”
Eddard’s jaw tightened. He ground his teeth hard enough for the muscles near his temples to twitch.
If he could have spoken openly to Robert about the danger, he would have done so before the melee ever began.
The entire reason he had stayed silent was the stability of the realm. Robert’s temper would set the Seven Kingdoms ablaze if unleashed now.
“Look on the brighter side,” Lannor said, arms folded across his chest, fingertips tapping lightly against the leather armor over his biceps. “A move this violent only proves one thing. He’s getting desperate.”
“In his eyes, you’ve already stopped obsessing over the former Hand’s death. Yet he still panicked over this? No matter how you look at it, something enormous is buried underneath.”
Eddard felt as though a ball of tangled wire had been shoved into his skull.
If not for Robert’s safety, if not for the kingdom hanging together by frayed rope, he might have thrown down the office of Hand of the King that very moment and ridden north for Winterfell.
“This city is rot piled atop rot, Lannor...” He exhaled heavily. “Perhaps I truly don’t belong ruling in a place like King’s Landing. Once this mess is over ... perhaps I’ll leave immediately.”
“The fact you can admit that already puts you ahead of most men, my lord. But back to the matter at hand. Have you gotten any useful clues these past few days?”
“The Grand Maester gave me a book. An unbearably dull thing recording noble bloodlines and family histories. Jon Arryn was reading it constantly before he died.”
“A book?” Lannor lifted a brow. “Convenient. I happen to be somewhat confident in my reading skills. Bring it to me when we get back.”
An assassination attempt against the King should have shaken all Seven Kingdoms.
Yet before panic could spread, the broad-chested monarch appeared atop the platform once more, voice booming across the grounds, loudly displaying the fact that he remained healthy and very much alive.
The tournament, he declared, would continue with the final archery competition.
But everyone understood what had truly begun moving beneath the surface.
The kingdom’s information network had awakened.
After the rewards for the melee had been finalized, Lannor and Eddard departed with the Guard Detachment and returned toward King’s Landing.
As they arrived beneath the Hand’s Tower inside the Red Keep, a raven happened to flap overhead, cawing harshly as it flew toward the upper levels of the tower.
Eddard stopped and frowned upward.
Ravens served Westeros much like carrier pigeons, though these birds had been carefully bred by the Citadel. Smarter, stronger, harder for hawks and other predators to catch in the wild.
Which also meant they carried a certain weight.
Ordinary matters did not warrant ravens.
And a bird flying directly toward the Hand’s Tower could only be meant for Eddard Stark.
“Lannor, the book’s on my desk. Go ahead and read it yourself. I need to receive that message. Jory has the study key.”
The Guard Detachment members present had all come south from Winterfell with Eddard. There was no need for secrecy around them.
Jory Cassel still found Eddard’s trust in Lannor somewhat surprising, but there was no jealousy in it.
He was broad-minded by nature, and besides, he understood the value of a sharp mind.
Eddard headed straight toward the raven loft atop the tower while Jory shrugged toward Lannor.
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