Chapter 100: Pentos
At the dawn of a new day, Ian's ship finally sighted the coast of Pentos.
The sun rose over the city's eastern edge, illuminating the harbor in a vibrant orange-gold glow.
As he gazed at the approaching city, Ian's thoughts wandered.
Pentos is one of the nine Free Cities, located in western Essos, across the Narrow Sea from Westeros. It is the closest of the Free Cities to King's Landing.
It is the most populous of the nine, with sea trade connecting it to the Seven Kingdoms and the Jade Sea, as well as overland trade routes to Norvos, Qohor, and even as far away as Vaes Dothrak.
To the east lies a vast plain—fertile land stretching for thousands of miles, offering considerable agricultural potential.
Crucially, after Pentos was defeated by Braavos nearly ninety years ago, a peace treaty was signed stipulating that Pentos could not possess more than twenty warships, hire sellsword companies, or maintain an army beyond the City Watch.
So this massive walled city is actually quite vulnerable.
Wait, Ian suddenly caught himself. What in seven hells was I thinking? With fewer than ten sworn swords, I'm already contemplating taking a city? Aren't you afraid of biting off more than you can chew?
Shaking his head, Ian brought his thoughts back to the present.
"Daeron," Ian shared his plan with the second son of Lord Grafton beside him. "You know the location of Magister Illyrio's manse, right? We'll go directly there after we disembark."
"Uh..." Daeron was caught off guard, then said awkwardly, "I did attend Magister Illyrio's feast once, but he doesn't often live in that particular manse. I've heard that Magister Illyrio owns three large estates in Pentos, and countless other properties."
"So you don't know where Magister Illyrio usually resides?" Ian frowned. "Well, then just find the manse you visited. After we inform the guards of our identity, they'll naturally contact Illyrio."
"Another Westerosi noble? Piss off!" The guard captain looked at Daeron and dismissed him without hesitation. "The Magister has ordered that no nobles from Westeros are to be received!"
"I'm warning you, I'm from House Grafton of Gulltown!" Daeron's anger flared, only to be cut off by the captain's mocking tone.
"The last bastard claiming to be from House Martell was ten times more convincing than you! And the knight of House Mooton before that—but the Lord Magister investigated and found them all to be frauds! Get out of here! Don't make us use force!"
"I know Magister Illyrio personally. If he knew you were treating me like this, he would—" Daeron pointed a finger at the guard's nose.
"Are you leaving or not?" the captain said, waving his hand and prompting the Unsullied around him to lower their spears.
Startled by this, Daeron quickly stepped back, bumping into Ian.
Ian, of course, had no intention of provoking an entire Unsullied guard detail. He turned and walked away, heading down the street.
Daeron felt a wave of embarrassment and could only hurry to follow Ian.
"Ian, listen to me," Daeron said with a forced smile, stopping in a deserted corner. He had once promised Ian he was a honored guest of Magister Illyrio, but now, having been thrown out of a random manse, he felt humiliated.
Ian listened patiently to Daeron's explanation.
He knew the situation wasn't Daeron's fault. Logically, Daeron should have been able to simply go to one of Illyrio's residences, reveal his identity, and the steward would have informed Illyrio, who would then quickly receive them. That was how it should have worked.
Who could have anticipated so many imposters claiming to be Westerosi nobles appearing recently?
Ian knew those imposters were simply players desperately trying to gain access to Daenerys.
Unexpectedly, Illyrio's intelligence network across the Narrow Sea (actually Varys's network) was so extensive that they'd exposed the frauds one by one.
This had also caused Illyrio to lose patience with so-called "nobles of Westeros." As a result, Ian and his companions couldn't even get past the gate guards.
"You know Magister Illyrio personally, right?" Ian asked after Daeron finished.
"Of course, we've met several times. Pentos is a key port on our trade route. Yes! Illyrio knows me," Daeron said, a thought occurring to him.
"Once I meet Illyrio face to face, he'll confirm my identity. Then I'll make sure these disrespectful—"
"The problem is, how do we meet Illyrio face to face?" Ian interrupted Daeron, currently at a loss for solutions.
If they knew Illyrio's exact residence, they could stake out the entrance, but Illyrio owned hundreds of properties throughout Pentos—which was incredibly frustrating.
"This..." Daeron was embarrassed again. He turned his head aside and avoided Ian's gaze.
After a few moments, Ian spoke again: "You've attended Magister Illyrio's trade guild feast before, right? So is it possible for us to obtain an invitation to the feast and approach him when he holds the next one?"
"Yes!" Daeron brightened, reminded of the option. "Illyrio convenes his guild members and merchants who want to do business with him for a feast in the middle of every month, but..."
Daeron's voice lowered again. "Applying for the feast requires qualification review. If my ship were still here, getting qualified would be no problem."
"You can't qualify now?"
"I'm not a member of Illyrio's trade guild. My assets don't meet the threshold. I used to apply for each feast individually through my family's trading fleet, but now I don't have a ship."
"What are the minimum requirements to apply for the feast?" Ian thought for a moment and asked.
"Three merchant vessels capable of sailing the Narrow Sea, or one ocean-going galley capable of sailing the Summer Sea and the Shivering Sea."
Damn it. Ian, who had been considering using his wealth to purchase something meeting the requirements, suddenly felt sick.
Ships were the most expensive assets of this era. A merchant vessel capable of crossing the Narrow Sea cost at least several hundred gold dragons, while an ocean-going galley could easily cost thousands, with the finest vessels costing tens of thousands.
For example, in the books, Magister Illyrio's three ocean-going ships capable of reaching the far eastern trading ports—which were "appropriated" by Daenerys Targaryen in Slaver's Bay—were valued by the Good Masters of Astapor at a price equivalent to a thousand Unsullied.
Ian only had a little over six thousand gold dragons, and he wasn't about to spend half his fortune on a single ship.
Not to mention the waste of resources—as "Ian Rivers," he couldn't explain the source of such wealth anyway.
"Oh, wait!" Daeron suddenly interrupted Ian's thoughts. "I have some friends in Pentos's trade guilds. Maybe we can ask them for help."
(End of Chapter)
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