Chapter 107 Retrial Plan
"I never agreed with their plan from the beginning!" Ian declared, his voice suddenly thick with emotion. "But my voice carries little weight, and I failed to convince my two brothers."
Hearing this, Illyrio's gaze shifted to Darren Grafson.
"It's true," Darren nodded. "Sir Ian never took part in our raids. He only agreed to travel with us to Pentos to join His Majesty." By now, after spending so much time with Ian, Darren had adopted a simple code of conduct: no matter what Ian said, he would cooperate, no questions asked.
"Very well. You have proven yourselves," Illyrio finally said after a long silence, nodding again. "Please, remain here for now. The four knights under your command may also be brought in. When the time is right, I will naturally recommend you to His Majesty."
"What about Talobane?" Ian asked, his expression one of deep concern.
"I will handle his affairs. You need not worry yourself with it any longer," Illyrio said, wiping his mouth as he rose from his seat. "And you have no need for self-reproach in this matter. I discovered everything on my own. You have not betrayed anyone."
"Have a pleasant evening," Illyrio added, and then he departed from the table.
Ian was still mulling over the meaning of Illyrio's final words when he turned and found more than a dozen charming Yunkish maids standing behind them.
He instinctively clutched at his lower back and patted Darren Grafson on the shoulder. "They are all yours. I wish you a pleasant night."
With that, Ian walked out of the banquet hall as if fleeing for his life.
***
Once back in his room, Ian's demeanor quickly returned to normal.
The afternoon's exertions wouldn't have genuinely tired a man of his current physical condition, but the pretense of exhaustion gave him a perfect excuse to decline Illyrio's more extravagant gifts, freeing up his time for more important business.
The first matter at hand was to re-examine his entire plan.
He was not, of course, reconsidering his plan to swear allegiance to Viserys. The reward for the second main quest—a staggering five thousand gold dragons and twenty attribute points—was too great to pass up. He was determined to exploit the loophole in the system, leveraging the legal theory of Viserys and Darry's bastard status to secure a title.
And judging from Illyrio's line of questioning, the Magister hadn't doubted his identity for a moment. He had merely been testing Ian's values and abilities. By all accounts, Ian had passed that test.
Now, all he had to do was wait patiently to be introduced to Viserys, and the second main plotline would be complete.
The part of his plan that truly needed revision was what came next. Should he take the money and run after completing the quest, or should he follow his original idea and align himself with the Dragon Mother?
He had thought he'd been sufficiently wary of Illyrio.
After all, though the Magister didn't play a prominent role in the histories Ian knew, his past was formidable. A sellsword who, alongside the eunuch Varys, clawed his way to become the most powerful man in Pentos—such a man demanded caution.
But after the day's events, Ian realized he had still gravely underestimated the reach of Illyrio's intelligence network within the city.
He wasn't the only one. Even a significant merchant in Illyrio's own chamber of commerce, Talobane, had made the same mistake. Had Talobane suspected for a moment that Illyrio could uncover the details of a slave trade from a single invitation, he never would have entrusted the task to Ian in the first place.
Ian's original plan had been to maintain a posture of powerlessness before Illyrio while secretly using the Magister's chamber of commerce to expand his own contacts and earn money as an agent.
After all, once the second quest was complete, he would have over twelve thousand gold dragons in his possession. He couldn't just let the money sit and gather mold for two months in Pentos.
But the terrifying efficiency of the intelligence network Illyrio had just displayed made Ian want to abandon that plan entirely.
In Pentos, it seemed, no secret was safe from Illyrio. Making money discreetly was impossible.
Yet the thought of spending two months playing the meek subordinate, doing nothing, was unbearable. He would rather complete the quest, take the money, and simply disappear.
But what then? Where would he go after he ran?
He could buy a few ocean-faring vessels and trade with Yi Ti.
It was certainly the fastest way to make a fortune outside of the system's rewards. He recalled the story of Corlys Velaryon. The Sea Snake had led a fleet of twenty great ships to the east, returning with pepper, elephants, and silk. Six of the ships sank on the return journey, and most of the elephants perished, but even with only fourteen ships making it back to Westeros, the profits made House Velaryon the wealthiest family in the Seven Kingdoms. Even the Lannisters with their gold mines and the Hightowers controlling Oldtown, the continent's largest port, could not match their riches.
But the plan was fraught with limitations.
First, there was the cost. The kind of great ships that could sail from Pentos to Yi Ti—across the Narrow Sea, the Summer Sea, and the Jade Sea—were comparable to the carracks of his own world.
A single carrack cost roughly eight thousand ducats to build. Three would be twenty-four thousand. Converting the currency—with one gold ducat being about 3.56 grams of gold and one gold dragon being 7.56 grams—twenty-four thousand ducats was equivalent to approximately eleven thousand gold dragons.
In other words, with all his funds, Ian could afford three Pentosi ocean-going ships, at most.
If all three ships survived the voyage, a single trip could net him around thirty thousand gold dragons. If he sold the ships afterward, he could nearly quadruple his initial investment.
The second issue was time. A round trip to Yi Ti would take at least a year. With only thirty-odd players left in the game, a year was an eternity in which anything could change.
Third, there was the risk. The Sea Snake was one of the greatest navigators in the history of Westeros, yet even he lost more than a quarter of his fleet on a single voyage.
Ian knew nothing of navigation. Even if he used a basic skills scroll and poured all six of his available skill points into upgrading navigation to an advanced level, he would still only be as competent as an ordinary ship's captain.
His success would depend entirely on the captain he hired. And how easy was it to find a truly good captain?
Shaking his head, Ian dismissed the plan.
But other business ideas were difficult to formulate. Any venture with immense profits was already monopolized. Without business experience, a powerful background, or connections, he could hardly find a foothold.
Then another thought came to him: farming.
The continent of Essos had vast tracts of unclaimed land, or lands that were technically owned but functionally abandoned.
Places like Andalos, the ancient homeland of the Andals, or the upper reaches of the Rhoyne River, the ancestral home of the Rhoynar. He could simply march into one of those disputed regions, hire a band of mercenaries, and claim a piece of land for himself.
But…
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