Chapter 160: Motives and Methods (Part 3)
"Initially, I always thought this tournament was orchestrated by Ander Poole, a player acting alongside Suda. However, after discovering Hazan's motives, I realized things weren't so simple.
"This tournament directly escalated the conflict between Hazan and Suda to a life-or-death level, while also dragging the situation in Pentos to the brink of civil war. This gave Hazan and his allies the opportunity to freely mobilize their forces without arousing Illyrio's suspicion.
"Coincidentally, the tournament was scheduled just before the Khal's wedding. If Hazan and his allies intended to use this tournament to deal with Illyrio, then the timing aligned with the conclusion that Illyrio would be eliminated before I left Pentos.
"So I inquired in detail about the situation in Pentos from Illyrio's steward. I was truly shocked by the answer I received.
"It turned out that Prince Hazan and Magister Tetrus had both approached Magister Illyrio 'not wanting a civil war to break out,' seeking his help. Under the pretext of 'separating the two armies to avoid conflict,' they convinced him to transfer his newly formed mercenary force to the eastern district—effectively separating them from Illyrio's traditional sphere of influence, the western district.
"This undoubtedly created an opportunity for Hazan and his allies to attack the western district.
"The next question was whether Hazan's ally would be Magister Tetrus, who has amassed a large army in the north, or old Magister Rotalus, who will be sending the First City Guard Company to the Prince's Palace in the central district tomorrow to maintain order for the tournament. After all, both positions could coordinate with Hazan's forces in the southern district to assault the western district.
"I leaned toward the former, since old Magister Rotalus has not been assigned command of the newly formed mercenaries, nor has he allowed his family's private army into the city. His forces are less than half of Magister Tetrus's.
"In terms of chances of victory, Hazan and Magister Tetrus are far more likely to ally.
"And the duel tomorrow was proposed by House Tetrus. If the duel itself was a conspiracy against Magister Illyrio, then House Tetrus, as one of the initiators, was more likely involved.
"With this in mind, more evidence began to surface.
"For example, after I told Hazan that two of his water dancers were about to betray him, Hazan said he already knew.
"I was shocked. After all, would Suda easily tell anyone about something as crucial as two water dancers turning cloak? He probably wouldn't even trust his own brothers. How could Hazan's spy know?
"But if Magister Tetrus had indeed allied with Hazan, this would explain it—Magister Tetrus betrayed his own son.
"According to my previous intelligence, Magister Tetrus is an old lecher with dozens of bastards. It's entirely possible that he'd be willing to sacrifice one son to dispel Illyrio's suspicions—besides, Hazan might not necessarily kill Suda tomorrow.
"With this in mind, I conducted a reconnaissance of Pentos in my falcon form and quickly obtained more evidence.
"The Jomah Inn, nicknamed the 'Mercenary Guild' by House Tetrus, and the Free Street Arena, where both sides have been recruiting champions for the past month, are both located at the border of the two southwestern districts.
"The former already has a large number of sellswords readily available, while the latter has seen a large gathering of mercenaries and slave warriors due to Hazan and Suda's recruitment of champions over the past month. In these two places, Hazan and Magister Tetrus can temporarily hire hundreds more.
"Thus, their combined forces are nearly three times that of Illyrio, giving them an overwhelming advantage.
"At this point, Hazan's methods for dealing with Illyrio have been completely revealed.
"Then only the final question remained—why did Magister Tetrus ally with Hazan? When did they reconcile and reach an agreement?
"So I continued searching my memory for the answer, and soon I found a clue—on the morning of the day Hazan and Delif announced their betrothal, Prince Hazan, Magister Haucot, and Magister Tetrus had a failed peace negotiation at the Red Temple.
"The Red Temple is your area of operation, so I think you probably facilitated their alliance at that time using some kind of mystical means, correct?"
"That's right," Celia readily admitted. "I used intermediate Red God magic combined with potions to entrance them, making them believe that in the flames they saw Illyrio at Drogo's wedding asking Drogo to help him take Pentos, and Drogo readily agreed and sent his riders through the gates guarded by Illyrio's forces to enter Pentos and slaughter them all."
Celia said this while rising to relight the incense burner that had just been extinguished. "Then the two magisters and Prince Hazan decided on the spot to temporarily set aside their grudges and, under my guidance and suggestions, devised a plan to eliminate Illyrio."
"Wait, what are you doing?" Ian stepped forward and grabbed Celia's hand. "We're already allied. Are you trying to drug me and die together?"
"No, the substance in the burner is still the same. I didn't change it." Celia gently shook her head.
"So what are you planning?"
"I was thinking that if I get pregnant with your child, perhaps you'll show me mercy when I lose my usefulness to you."
"I'm talking to you about serious matters," Ian said, but still released Celia's hand, letting her light the incense burner.
"It doesn't interfere with serious matters. Isn't that what you were implying at the beginning?"
"Tell me Hazan's more complete plan first." Ian didn't resist. "I want to know what oversights I might have made."
"Before the attack," Celia began, "we'll first try to lure Illyrio into the Council Palace. This will effectively prevent him from escaping through the port. After all, this plan is known only to Prince Hazan, Magister Haucot, Magister Tetrus, Delif Haucot, and myself.
"After we give the order to attack, the troops below will need considerable time to react. During this time, Illyrio's intelligence network will definitely receive word, and he might be able to escape by sea before we surround his manse. Therefore, we need to trap Illyrio in the Council Palace first, and then eliminate his forces."
"Then why don't you just kill Illyrio in the Council Palace?" Ian frowned.
"Because the guards of the Council Palace belong to the Grand Council itself. No one has the right to command them, and we can't attack the Council Palace either—that would offend all the magisters of Pentos. That's also why we're confident we can lure Illyrio into the Council Palace. The interior of the Council Palace is an absolutely safe place. Since the founding of Pentos, no blood has ever been shed there, so Illyrio wouldn't suspect anything."
"So your plan is to blockade the Council Palace after Illyrio enters, then start attacking the western district, and then intercept and kill him after he exits the Council Palace?"
"Yes, that's the essence of it," Celia said, then asked, "So, which side are you going to stand on? My suggestion is to follow my plan—kill Illyrio and ally with Hazan, then follow Daenerys's original storyline until we capture Astapor."
"I'm going to stand on my own side." Ian chuckled and whispered his next plan in Celia's ear.
(End of Chapter)
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