WILOW-Ch.339: Side Business
In the Sky Near the Astapor
POV of Domeric Bolton
After activating the portkey function of his flying car and selecting Muron's flagship as his location, Domeric found himself in the skies near the city of Astapor.
Typically, portkeys were created with a fixed destination point, but Domeric had recently managed to develop portkeys based on the locations of other objects.
He had to thank his past "Book of Conqueror of Space" reward for this.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to achieve this so quickly through his own research.
But thanks to this, Domeric could mark large objects like ships, or small objects he had specially made, as portkey destination points.
Muron's and his own flagship were some of these. As well as the necklaces his aunt and Ygritte always carried.
The ships under Muron's command had not yet reached Astapor and still had a few hours of travel ahead of them.
Therefore, Domeric decided to go ahead with his flying car and wait for them in Astapor.
After a 10-minute flight, he arrived at Astapor and, after landing in an empty area near the city, he put his flying car back into his inventory and entered the city.
Astapor was an unimpressive city.
For all that it had a history as long and old as the Valyrian Dynasty, the city itself did not generate any feeling of awe in him.
Its walls were small, old, and decaying. And the city was filled with slaves, so there was more reason to hate it.
Another reason he hated the city instantly was that while slaves existed in the other Free Cities as well, they were never treated so badly as they were treated in this place.
Truly, this city was worse than hell for the poor slaves.
He walked around the city for a few hours, using magic to repel any unwanted attention, before he finally decided that there was only so much cruelty he could see in a day and went to the dock, which was now filled with ships more than ever.
Half of them were his ships, but the other half were made of merchants' galleons and brigs, Slaver galleys and fishing boats.
He entered an empty alley and called Muron from his magical mirror. "My lord," Muron said as he picked up the call.
"Meet me in the Drunken Horse Tavern in front of your flagship." He said.
"You're already here?" Muron asked in surprise.
"I am. Come and meet me."
"I will, my lord." And then he cut the call.
Half an hour later.
He and Muron sat at the corner of the tavern. Once the waitress left, he put a sound barrier around them and turned to Muron, who seemed to have grown a large beard during this journey. "Have you sent someone to contact the Good Masters yet?" he asked.
Muron scratched his neck. "Nah… The boys are still unpacking the merchandise and all."
"Merchandise?" he asked, curious. "What merchandise?"
"Oh, you know… Stuff."
"What stuff, Muron?" he asked as suspicion grew in his mind. His eyes narrowed, "Have you attacked any merchant ships on your way here, Muron?"
Muron shook his head, "No, my lord. Even though those merchant ships looked so fat, juicy, and ready to be devoured. We're good folks now. So, we didn't attack them."
Using a legilimency probe, he learned that Muron was telling him the truth. Aside from a few skirmishes with some pirates and slavers, his journey here was uneventful.
"Hmm…" he nodded. "What merchandise are you talking about then?" he asked.
"Before leaving, Celly told me about all the important stuff that would make us the greatest profit in the cities on the way to Astapor. So, we departed Regalis Port with a good deal of leather, rice wine, books, ice, and glass, which we sold at Pentos. Then we bought a good many things, which we sold at Dorne, then repeated the process in Lys and Volantis, and finally at Astapor. Have to say, we've made quite a good amount of profit from this side business." Muron said, "I could even understand why those fat merchants spend so much of their time trading."
He nodded.
He had not told Muron not to do any trading, and Muron did make good time to Astapor, so there was really no reason to chastise his Fleet Admiral.
Besides, they would need to stop in these cities to replenish their food and other necessities. Domeric had no objection to them filling their pockets with some trade during this time.
Plus, Muron did make a good deal of gold, so there was that as well.
"I see. Put someone else in charge of the trade for now." He said, "Focus on gathering intelligence right now. I want to learn as much as possible about the city, especially how many Unsullied they have. I mean not just the ones for sale, but also the ones in training. We'll go and meet the 'Good' Masters in a few days."
"A voice inside me says that the Unsullied aren't the only reason you're here. Do you have any other plans I should know about?" Muron said.
"Not right now. But I'll decide what to do, or not, based on the intelligence we gather. So be prepared for anything. But our main objective remains unchanged. We're here to capture the Unsullied, and we won't leave without them." He said.
"Do you have a solution for how we're going to transport the Unsullied back? You know our ships have limited capacity. If we can't find a solution, you may have to limit the number of Unsullied you can buy," Muron asked.
"I intend to acquire every Unsullied I can, regardless of whether the ships have the capacity or not. In the worst-case scenario, I'll transport them to Westeros using my own methods. But while gathering intelligence, try to find out about any ships for sale. I'll decide on the rest later." He explained.
Muron nodded, and he removed the sound muffling spell as the tavern wench came with their order.
Muron groped the mature woman who giggled at his advances and winked at him before leaving.
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.340: Will This Be Enough?
Ch.341: Conquering the City
Ch.342: Finding a Solution