Chapter 140: Illyrio's Trump Card (Part 1)
Furthermore, the final difficulty assessments of the other two missions issued by mercenary captain Dorian and Rol were both lower than the theoretical difficulty. Although the reductions differed in magnitude, the direction was consistent.
This also corroborated the speculation that a mission issuer's low status negatively impacted the difficulty assessment.
Could it be a ceiling? Ian suddenly thought of a mechanism—for example: missions issued by individuals below the rank of knight could only be assessed as "medium" at most?
This would explain why the missions issued by Rol and Dorian were assessed as medium difficulty. However, this didn't explain why the "Red Priestess" mission was assessed as easy.
Therefore, the assessment mechanism must be influenced by other factors. Ian thought for a long time but ultimately shook his head.
Lacking more samples, he couldn't make further judgments.
Further testing was needed. But after confirming that the "mission issuer" was an influencing factor, the next test couldn't be conducted by Rol.
He had to find mission issuers with higher status to increase the difficulty assessment of the missions.
Of course, he couldn't directly command those people to cooperate; he could only try to guide and manipulate them.
Ian quickly had an idea: perhaps Prince Hazan would be a good subject for his experiment.
The next morning, Ian accepted an invitation to have breakfast with Illyrio in a dining room at Drogo's palace.
"How are you, Ian? Did you sleep well last night?" Illyrio asked with a smile, spreading plum jam on his bread.
He always seemed to have the same expression; you could never see joy or anger on his face.
"Not so well, actually," Ian replied. "I was going to tell you about this last night. His Grace Viserys was tricked by Hazan; he agreed to let that Water Dancer under Daeron's command support Hazan in the name of House Targaryen. I'm worried this will affect your neutrality in Pentos."
Seeing Ian's worried expression, Illyrio laughed.
"You don't need to worry about that," Illyrio said, taking a sip of his amber wine, which dripped down his oiled, forked yellow beard. "When Oranto drew me away from Viserys beforehand, I already guessed Hazan's purpose."
"Then why didn't you stop him?" Ian asked, puzzled. He wasn't pretending; he genuinely didn't know.
"That involves my neutrality," Illyrio thought for a moment and countered, "How do you understand my neutrality?"
"Not participating in the conflict between the Volantis and Braavos factions?" Ian replied, based on what he 'should' know.
"On the surface, that's true, but in reality, the Volantis faction isn't important." Illyrio paused. "Speaking of which, didn't Steward Mills tell you before that my stance leans toward Braavos?"
"No, but he probably implied it."
"Aren't you curious why I'm unwilling to ally with Hazan?"
"I'm sorry," Ian feigned being stumped. "I hadn't thought about these things. Does the factional strife in Pentos have anything to do with our restoration cause?"
"Treat it as a learning experience, Ian. You'll need these skills sooner or later. Westeros is far larger and more complex than Pentos. Didn't Viserys appoint you as his Hand of the King last night?" Illyrio's expression held a barely perceptible trace of mockery.
"As Hand of the King, you'll need to know what everyone under you is thinking, perceive their intentions, balance their interests, and influence their positions. Only then can you govern a kingdom well."
"Yes, ser," Ian nodded, a strange feeling suddenly welling up inside him.
It was obvious that Illyrio now truly trusted him completely and was training him with the intention of making him the Hand of the King for Aegon VI, but Ian was constantly thinking about how to scheme against him.
But what else could he do? There was only one Iron Throne.
In Illyrio's plan, Daenerys was to marry Aegon VI, and together they would reclaim Westeros. Was he really going to become their vassal?
A man should stand tall and proud, not remain subservient to others forever.
Wait, no—Illyrio couldn't have foreseen Viserys and Drogo's deaths; his initial plan wasn't like this.
So what was Illyrio's original plan?
"Have you figured it out? If you have, let's continue," Illyrio's words interrupted Ian's thoughts.
This forced Ian to temporarily set aside his musings on the previous question and respectfully said to Illyrio, "Yes, Your Excellency, please teach me."
"Very good," Illyrio nodded in satisfaction, then gave his answer. "I am unwilling to ally with Hazan because... his uncle, Tormo Fregar, is Othello Antaryon's rival in the next Sealord election, and the latter is precisely the one I sponsor."
Sure enough, Ian thought to himself, but—
"You sponsor a Sealord candidate?" You have that kind of wealth? Ian was very skeptical.
"Do you think all Sealord candidates are Keyholders of the Iron Bank? No, no, no," Illyrio read the doubt in Ian's eyes and waved his hands repeatedly. "Any citizen of Braavos is eligible to run for Sealord.
And General Othello Antaryon, even when he was down on his luck, was already my friend—just like our king. Although he is now one of the three commanders of the Arsenal, he is still grateful to me."
Damn! Ian's heart skipped a beat. A commander of the Arsenal! No wonder Illyrio dared to harbor ambitions for all of Westeros; he had such a powerful trump card in Braavos!
If Illyrio's plans truly went smoothly, with Othello Antaryon winning the election for Sealord, Viserys gaining Khal Drogo's army, and the Golden Company, the Dornish, and other Westerosi opportunists joining the fray—
they would possess a force capable of challenging Robert Baratheon's rule even without Littlefinger's meddling and the subsequent civil war.
"You seem surprised?" Illyrio interrupted Ian's thoughts again.
"I see a bright future, Your Excellency," Ian replied immediately.
"Don't get too excited—things aren't that easy," Illyrio shook his head. "As things stand, the most likely winner of the next Sealord election is Prince Hazan's uncle, Tormo Fregar. Second place goes to a Keyholder supported by the current Sealord, while General Othello Antaryon can only rank third."
Ian had assumed Illyrio was on the current Sealord's side, but it turned out he was supporting a third-party candidate.
"So, if you were Othello, facing two such formidable opponents, what strategy would you adopt?" Illyrio suddenly posed a question.
Ian knew this was part of the 'learning,' but the question was far too simple.
"I don't know. The third-place candidate probably has little chance of winning, right?" Ian shook his head, indicating the question was too difficult.
"Think, Ian, think." Illyrio wasn't satisfied with this answer.
"Alliance with the second-place candidate to fight the first?" Ian thought for a moment and gave the most conventional answer.
(End of Chapter)
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