Lynd deliberately feigned the air of a newly arrived traveler, inquiring, "I've just arrived here and don't know much about the situation. I have some questions I'd like to ask."
"Please ask!" Fenya hesitated for a moment before responding.
Lynd continued his pretense: "Why are so many Dothraki gathered here? I've walked all the way from Bello Town and encountered at least four Dothraki from different Khals. Have the Dothraki moved their Vis Dothrak here?"
Hearing Lynd's question, Fenya couldn't help but sigh, then meticulously recounted everything she knew.
Through Fenya's account, as a semi-insider, combined with the relevant intelligence gathered by the Miracle Merchant Guild, Lynd finally understood the full scope of the war triggered by the gem mine.
It turned out that the gem mine wasn't discovered just a few months ago; it had been found much earlier. However, its location was too sensitive. Unless someone could control the entire Disputed Lands, any attempt to excavate this gem mine would lead to endless wars.
Therefore, the governors and archons of Lys, Tyrosh, and Myr tacitly kept this matter hidden, not touching this tempting cake.
The reason the gem mine was exposed this time was entirely by accident. The Ragged Prince from Pentos, leading his mercenary company, the Windblown, happened to pass over the gem mine. And the Ragged Prince happened to have a very skilled mining artisan under him who recognized the gem mine at a glance.
The Ragged Prince knew very well that he couldn't occupy such a large open-pit gem mine alone with his own strength, so he intended to find partners. While negotiating with potential partners, the news leaked out. Before the rulers of the Three City States could seal it off, the news had already spread throughout the entire Disputed Lands.
To prevent the mercenary companies from acting on the gem mine, the rulers of the Three City States simultaneously came up with a bad idea: use the dispute over the gem mine's ownership as an excuse to lure the Dothraki into the Disputed Lands. At the same time, citing city-state security, they hired mercenary companies, confining them within the city-states, and also purchased a large number of Unsullied from Slaver's Bay to increase the city-states' own combat power.
The Dothraki live by raiding and do not engage in production, much less mining. Their arrival posed no threat to the gem mine.
After a period of hunting and fighting, the Dothraki would leave on their own and not stay here long. The only ones who suffered were the villages in the Disputed Lands.
However, those villages were not governed by the Three City States and did not pay taxes to them. They had long wanted to eliminate these villages, and the Dothraki were now doing them a great favor.
Indeed, the Three City States' plan was excellent: through mutual restraint, stabilize the situation, strengthen their own power, gradually gain the initiative, and ultimately achieve the goal of jointly controlling the gem mine.
But when it came to implementation, things went wrong in the very first step. Their original intention was for each city-state to attract one Dothraki, using weapons and treasures as bait to make the Dothraki attack other city-states, thereby creating wars among the Dothraki.
However, what they never expected was that when the Khals of the three Dothraki engaged in a chaotic battle here, Dothraki from other places inexplicably gathered here, and their numbers grew. There are now thirteen known Khals, and at least seven or eight more whose names are unknown.
Even the smallest of these Khals numbers five or six thousand people, while the largest can be tens of thousands. This means that a small Disputed Lands has already gathered over twenty Dothraki Khals, comprising hundreds of thousands of Dothraki warriors. This is no longer a skirmish, but a disaster—a disaster targeting the Three City States.
Afterward, the Three City States investigated and learned that the reason so many Dothraki had gathered here was due to someone spreading a rumor that the "Steed Who Mounts the World," who would unify the Dothraki tribes in their faith, would emerge from the conflict in the Disputed Lands.
Such a rumor could easily be exposed, even by the savage Dothraki, who could easily see through it.
However, when several Dothraki Khals assembled and fought chaotically in the Disputed Lands, some Dothraki Khals would inevitably come here, half-believing, to take a look. As more and more Dothraki Khals gathered in the Disputed Lands, even the most absurd rumor became a reality.
Now, over twenty Dothraki Khals have gathered here, but this is not all. It is said that many more Dothraki Khals are rushing here. Undoubtedly, an earth-shattering great chaotic battle of Dothraki Khals is bound to erupt here.
And the force that created this rumor and instigated this unrest was none other than Magistrate Illyrio Mopatis, the Archon of the Tiger Party in Volantis. This Elios has a good relationship with Lynd; he is the sole supplier of the Seven Mystery Medicine in Volantis. Nameria's current weapon, that Valyria war axe, was a gift from him.
Although they knew Volantis was behind it, the Three City States had no way to pursue the matter. The only thing they could do now was to deal with the impending crisis.
In this Dothraki crisis, the Three City States were all inevitably affected, though the impact varied in scale. Compared to Lys, which is isolated across Across the Narrow Sea, and Tyrosh, separated by water, Myr was clearly in much greater danger.
Lys and Tyrosh have some important towns on land, but their main cities are islands in the sea. It is well known that the Dothraki consider seawater to be poison and will not cross the sea, but they will attack cities. Myr's main city is on land, so Myr will inevitably bear the greatest pressure.
To this end, while Myr sought aid from other Free Trade City States, it also extensively befriended Dothraki tribes, positioning these tribes in front of Myr to shield it from the Dothraki's chaotic battles.
Fenya's mission was to transport weapons to a tribe allied with Myr. However, after the weapons were delivered, that tribe was annihilated by another Dothraki tribe. Their caravan became captives of that tribe, and then the tribe that captured them was annihilated by yet another Dothraki tribe that very night. They managed to escape in the chaos.
Because the entire caravan was captured without resistance, and both tribes were annihilated very suddenly, the weapons they were transporting had not even been unloaded from the carriages, and the horses were still harnessed to the carts.
What's more interesting is that because their carriages had a lot of empty space, those Dothraki threw the things they plundered from other places onto the carriages, and as a result, they were all carried out when they escaped.
After understanding the situation, Lynd's head immediately began to ache. From the current situation, it seemed that his plans for the Disputed Lands would also have to be put on hold until the Dothraki stopped this chaotic battle and the situation stabilized.
However, he couldn't do nothing. At the very least, the Tyrosh bonds he held had to be put to use to ensure that Tyrosh couldn't get through this crisis too comfortably, thereby balancing the power of the Three City States.
Lys also needed to be stirred up, but he couldn't easily intervene himself. He could let Volantis do it, as the Tiger Party in Volantis needed war to regain control of Volantis, and at this time, Lys, isolated across Across the Narrow Sea, was the best target.
While Lynd pondered how to adjust his plans according to the current situation, he pointed to the Dothraki warhorses outside the door and asked, "Were the Dothraki I killed from the tribe that captured you, or…?"
"No, they weren't from the tribe that captured us, nor were they from the Dothraki Khal who ultimately ambushed Zhego Kao," Fenya said, looking at the totems on the warhorse saddles outside the door. "They should be Khals from other places."
"It's Khal Quico's Khal. Judging by the totem on the saddle, it should be a Koul under Khal Quico," said a caravan guard who knew something about the Dothraki. "Khal Quico usually operates around Kohor and rarely moves south. I didn't expect him to bring his people south this time. It seems that rumor has spread north, and they believe it too."
Fenya couldn't help but smile bitterly, "Even the Dothraki from the north have rushed over. I'm afraid this place really is going to become Vis Dothrak."
"What do we do now? Do we keep going?" someone asked with concern. "If we keep walking, we'll definitely encounter more Dothraki on the way."
"Even if we don't keep going, staying here doesn't guarantee safety," another person said.
Someone else quietly suggested, "We could hire Sir Onstein to protect us back to Myr…"
Before the person could finish speaking, their companion covered their mouth, and the Night Lion worshippers glared at them.
In fact, when this person spoke, the same thought had occurred to many. To be able to shoot down so many Dothraki riders single-handedly, his strength was naturally beyond question. Perhaps only the Godsworn from across Across the Narrow Sea, as legend has it, could rival him. With such a person escorting them, they would certainly be much safer on the road.
It was just a pity that they believed they couldn't hire the Lion Knight, because he had even casually given them those thousands of gold coins. With the wealth Fenya possessed, how could she possibly afford to hire the Lion Knight?
Just as everyone felt lost and frustrated about the path ahead, Lynd suddenly spoke, "Miss Fenya, do you know any horse dealers in Myr who could take these hundreds of Dothraki warhorses off my hands?"
"I know several horse dealers who could handle the warhorses you have," Fenya immediately replied.
Lynd said gravely, "In that case, I will also set out with your caravan tomorrow. Once we reach Myr, I hope you can introduce me to the horse dealers you know."
Fenya immediately understood that he was deliberately using the horse dealer as an excuse to help her. After all, if Lynd really brought so many Dothraki warhorses to Myr, he wouldn't need her to introduce horse dealers; horse dealers would naturally come to him to trade for the warhorses.
Although Dothraki warhorses cannot be traded on the Essos continent, as this would incur the Dothraki's hatred, trading them to Westeros across Across the Narrow Sea poses no problem. Every Dothraki warhorse is an excellent warhorse, and selling them on the Westeros continent would yield one to two times the profit. These are the most coveted best-sellers for Myr merchants.
Hearing Lynd's words, the people of the caravan in the room couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and their faces lit up with joy. The fatigue from the past two days of fleeing completely dissipated.
Afterward, Lynd inquired further about Myr, especially focusing on the wealthy merchants and nobles who were revered as governors. These were the main points of Lynd's inquiry.
Although nominally all affairs in Myr were decided by the Council of Governors, in reality, Myr's power was primarily held by three individuals. One was Archon Patch, the head of the Myr Merchant Guild and the Myr Bank, who was also the instigator of Fenya's weapon transport mission. He had five Myr trade governors under him, responsible for all trade affairs in Myr.
The second was Gaimon Belleris, born of Myr nobility. According to his own propaganda, he was a descendant of the Valyria Belleris family, but few believed this claim. His title came from his wife. Five years ago, he became one of the Myr city tribunes, and then, with other Myr nobles, formed a noble council, controlling Myr's government affairs.
As for the third, he was Archon Imonton, the commander of the Myr fleet, a former gladiator slave who, step by step, became Myr's military governor. Not only did he control the Myr fleet, a crucial military force, but he also held the command of the Unsullied and the power to hire mercenary companies.
The reason other governors trusted him with military power was not only because he was a eunuch without desires but, more importantly, because he was loyal only to the city of Myr and never participated in any political struggles within the city.
However, Archon Imonton is already over seventy years old, and it's difficult for him to handle the affairs at hand. Now, almost all military matters in the city have been handed over to three military governors. These three military governors are, without exception, former slaves, and without exception, eunuchs, and all of them are former gladiators.
If one wanted to militarily occupy Myr, they would certainly have to contend with Archon Imonton. Such a person, without desires, is difficult to deal with. Fortunately, the three military governors under him are not as devoid of desires as he is.
Perhaps in the eyes of other Myr governors, as long as someone is a eunuch, they are without desires and easy to control. But from Lynd's perspective, having understood history in his previous life, eunuchs not only possess desires, but their desires are often far stronger than those of ordinary people. As long as one finds out what kind of desires these people have, they become very easy to control.
As for the noble governors who controlled Myr's government affairs, they were actually the easiest to deal with. Although they still held some wealth, it was not comparable to that of the trade governors. What they could rely on was only their empty and insubstantial noble titles, but such titles in a place like Myr were only good for bluffing normally. When it came down to business, they were useless.
The only ones who were difficult to deal with were the trade governors, with whom Lynd had the deepest connections. These trade governors were deeply involved with the Miracle Merchant Guild, and many of them were even members of the Miracle Merchant Guild. It was not difficult to analyze from the intelligence collected by the Miracle Merchant Guild that these people would usually be polite and amiable when doing business, but once their own interests were touched, they would immediately change their demeanor and, if necessary, even resort to unscrupulous means to attack their opponents.
Moreover, they were extremely exclusive. The Miracle Merchant Guild had done business with them for so long, every transaction being a large one. Yet, even so, if the Miracle Merchant Guild's trade touched the interests of even one of them, they would immediately band together to pressure the Miracle Merchant Guild, even if they had been enemies moments before.
Therefore, to deal with these trade governors, Lynd could only start from within Myr. At this point, he couldn't help but look at Fenya, and some ideas began to emerge in his mind.
-------------------------------
I've already uploaded 40 chapters of this story on Patreon!
If you enjoy it, come check out the latest chapters in advance.
[patreon.com/TripleCrown07]
Thank you so much for your support!!!
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"