The servant raised his head to look at the sky, and the sun was still scorching.
For the people of Pentos, when it did not rain, it felt like holding one’s breath underwater, and they could only catch a slight breath when it finally rained.
But for a very few people, even if the sun were a bit more scorching, it would amount to nothing.
The servant carried a large basin of ice behind the hollowed-out wall, where five or six servants stood holding fans, fanning toward the ice basin.
The cold air emanating from the ice blocks blew into the room, sparing the master of the room from suffering through the heat entirely.
Molvagen lay on a soft chair, and the small jade bowl in his hand was still stained with a layer of cool water droplets.
Beside his hand lay a gilded scepter, carved with the image of a Harpy.
Beside him, a beardless man dressed in leather armor and wearing a spiked helmet stood quietly there, looking just like a spear.
“He is going to train until dark?”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Did you hear it with your own ears?”
“The people below told me.”
Molvagen let out a casual chuckle, then picked up the scepter and said:
“Kill him, Black Dog.
Handle this matter.”
“As you command, master.”
The beardless man wearing the spiked helmet was called Black Dog, and he was the ‘commander’ of the five hundred Unsullied private soldiers of the Qoherys Family.
The Unsullied were not loyal to any single person; whoever possessed the Unsullied scepter with the ‘Harpy shape’ would be obeyed by them.
This was also the reason why Molvagen never parted from his scepter.
As long as the scepter was in hand, he could control the entire Qoherys Family, and thereby master all of Pentos.
As for ‘Black Dog’, this of course was not his real name; he was an Unsullied, and the Unsullied were not allowed to have their own names.
Their names were replaced by some humble designations, and they had to be rotated every day.
For instance, the Unsullied commander of Dragon Mother Daenerys used the name ‘Grey Worm’.
In addition, there were names like louse, flea, maggot, and toad.
This was precisely to lower the self-worth of the Unsullied and obliterate their self-identity.
The difference was that because Black Dog served by Molvagen’s side year-round, Molvagen, to avoid trouble, allowed him to continuously use the name Black Dog.
Sewett’s thick eyebrows nearly knitted together, but he quickly realized that Molvagen couldn’t possibly kill Illyrio’s son, but rather Lanti, who had brought him this news.
Whatever Lanti said about having to train until dark and therefore refusing to serve the Qoherys Family was most likely exaggerated by him.
But thinking about it, it was indeed possible; even the household slaves of those magistrates knew who the master of Pentos was, and ‘Cyrus’, as Illyrio’s son, could not possibly not know.
Feeling the viciousness of this Lord Magistrate, Sewett could not help but feel his hands and feet grow another half-part colder.
But regardless of how it was, that fool Lanti after all fought under the banner of the Qoherys Family, and Aegon had rejected him.
Regardless of the reason, a rejection was a rejection, and he believed a response should be made.
“Then…
how does my lord intend to deal with Illyrio’s side?”
Molvagen gently moved the half-drunk small bowl in his hand to his side, and the maid beside him immediately stepped forward to take the small bowl and handed him an ice-chilled handkerchief to wipe his hands.
“I remember a band of bandits appeared around Ghoyan Drohe, led by a man named Lucci, who is a Rhoynar.
Thoxor’s men have campaigned against them several times without success.”
“Yes, my lord, Lucci has beaten back at least four encirclements by the Thoxor Family.”
“Since Illyrio’s son likes to mingle with the army, let him go after a while and give him a little lesson.”
Pentos was a city-state ruled by merchants, and merchants utterly despised risk.
In Molvagen’s view, sending Aegon to lead Pentoshi soldiers to suppress bandits would strip off a layer of skin even if he didn’t die.
And since Aegon was Illyrio’s only’son’, he could then use Aegon to take a grip on Illyrio, winning over this nearly slippery fat merchant to his side.
As for Illyrio, Molvagen also cared greatly about him.
Although he had only risen in recent years, his financial resources were formidable, and he seemed to have the intelligence of Westeros at his fingertips.
Whatever King’s Landing needed, he always seemed to grasp it at the very first moment.
But this fellow did not seem to have any intention of expanding his own right to speak in Pentos; it was as if he harbored other designs.
According to his intelligence, he seemed to be getting hot and heavy with the powerful Golden Company.
Molvagen needed Illyrio if he wanted to monopolize Pentos, but he had never found a suitable opportunity.
The matter of Aegon made him see a turning point.
…
The matter of Aegon paying out of his own pocket to improve the soldiers’ lives had long spread all over Pentos, and his rejection of the Qoherys Family had also practically spread far and wide without wings.
This also let the people of the Thoxor Family know about this matter.
“There is such a thing?!
Why did he refuse?
Didn’t Illyrio tell him what kind of people can be provoked and what kind of people cannot be provoked?”
A slightly plump man spoke.
His name was Galeri, and nominally he was the commander-in-chief of the Pentoshi army, but in reality, he lacked the majesty of a commander-in-chief, at most only taking a bit more than others when pocketing empty pay.
“Can Molvagen not be provoked?”
“No, I don’t mean that, Lord Thoxor.”
Galeri repeatedly apologized to the old man exuding twilight airs behind him.
The Qoherys Family and the Thoxor Family were the two largest families in Pentos.
The former owned all the ports of Pentos, while the latter sat upon more than half of the land in Pentos.
The point of contention between the two sides was that the Qoherys Family believed grain could be resolved through imports, having the Thoxor Family release the population in the fields.
But for their own interests, the Thoxor Family stubbornly kept the population pinned down in the fields, and even built small fortresses as resistance.
The two sides argued endlessly.
However, one had money and the other had people; neither could take down the other, so they remained at a deadlock.
“Hmph!”
The old magistrate snorted coldly and said, “Regardless of the reason why Illyrio’s son rejected Molvagen, this is an opportunity for us.”
“Send some grain to the military camp of Illyrio’s son, and just say that I deeply appreciate him.”
“My lord?
Why should we give grain for free to that kid?”
“You have a pig’s brain!
Solidify this matter—can Illyrio still run away?
He will only be able to rely on us!”
“After so many years, don’t you understand yet?
This fellow possesses the intelligence of Westeros; with him, our grain can turn into gold coins!”
“Understood, my lord, understood!”
Having said that, Galeri was about to go haul the grain, but was called to a stop by Thoxor.
“Remember, use entirely stale grain!”
Galeri’s mouth corners twitched slightly; his own lord was truly stingy enough, still thinking of saving at a time like this.
“Very well, my lord.”