The Mountain of Ice and Fire

“Oh?” Ian widened his eyes.

“Lannisters always pay their debts. In Westeros, no one doubts that saying.” Little Devil said as if singing.

Ian glanced at Little Devil. What did this dwarf mean by saying this to him?

“His Majesty the King isn’t good to you, why are you still his governor?”

“His Majesty the King isn’t good to my family, but not to me.” Little Devil said somewhat reluctantly.

“Why does Your Excellency the Governor say that?” Ian put down his wine glass heavily.

“The only reason my father didn’t drown me when I was born was that he couldn’t prove I wasn’t his biological son.” Little Devil tapped Ian’s wine cup with his horn cup and drank it all.

“Your father doesn’t like you?”

“It’s not that he doesn’t like me, it’s that he hates me with helplessness. No one likes a dwarf, right? Especially not Lord Tywin Lannister. When I was born, my mother died giving birth to me. My father and sister both think I killed my mother.” Little Devil said these words were true. Ian could also see that Little Devil’s emotions were real.

“I also have an older sister, Cersei Lannister, she is the one who most wants to kill me.”

“Oh? Because your mother died in childbirth because of you, she loved her mother deeply, and then resented you?!” Ian’s hand holding the wine glass hovered in the air.

“My brother’s son Joffrey, who had an incestuous relationship with her, was poisoned at his wedding ceremony. Later, after investigation, all the evidence pointed to me, so I had to escape.” Little Devil took out a small knife and tapped his left false eye, making a light tinkling sound, “The loss of this eye was thanks to my dear sister.”

“She gouged out your eye?”

“No, it was King Gregor Clegane. At that time, he wasn’t the king yet, he was the Grand General of the Queen Mother Cersei, the Minister of Military Affairs of the Seven Kingdoms. He was ordered to arrest me, and after catching me, he gouged out one of my eyes and went back to report.”

“One eye? Instead of your head?”

“His Majesty Gregor at that time chopped off the head of a death row prisoner to impersonate me. My eyes were one black and one green, and the Queen Mother Cersei was very familiar with my eyes. In order to gain her trust, His Majesty Gregor gouged out my eye and installed it on the face of the fake head, deceiving the Queen Mother Cersei at that time.”

“His Majesty the King is indebted to you!” Ian said, “He saved your life.”

“Yes, that’s the fundamental reason why I’m willing to be loyal to him.”

“I am conquered by His Majesty the King’s bravery.” Ian raised his wine cup and took a big gulp, “I am a gladiator, I have seen many death warriors and heroes, but no one has ever possessed His Majesty the King’s unparalleled and unmatched might.”

“His Majesty’s martial power is invincible, and his dragons are also invincible.” Little Devil raised his glass, “Let us toast to His Majesty the King’s unparalleled power.”

Clang!

The horn wine cup and the huge wine cup collided together.

“General Ian, His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen will return to Westeros in a few days, do you know this news?” Little Devil wiped the wine stains flowing from the corner of his mouth.

“I heard some rumors.”

“That’s true. His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen will ride dragons back to Westeros to attend Sansa Stark’s wedding. Sansa Stark is Arya Stark’s older sister.”

“The wedding of Arya, the Heavenly Mandate Elder of the House of Black and White’s older sister?” Ian was a little surprised.

“Yes, the person Sansa is marrying is the younger brother of His Majesty the King’s Queen, named Reynard Westerling. His Majesty the King’s Queen is named Jeyne Westerling.”

“Oh!” Ian widened his eyes. He found that he liked listening to the Governor talk about these people and things related to the King.

“General Ian, aren’t you planning to go to Westeros with His Majesty the King to see the world?”

“Your Excellency the Governor, after you said that, I really want to go, but His Majesty the King didn’t ask me to accompany him. Braavos has just been taken down by His Majesty and needs someone to maintain Braavos’s stability. The Iron Bank can’t do without the legion’s defense, there’s a sum of gold inside that can buy the whole world.”

Little Devil put down his horn cup, slid off the stool, went to close the door, came back, looking very cautious.

“General, this is one of the reasons why I invited you to drink tonight.”

“Oh?” Ian’s murderous eyes stared at Little Devil.

Ian had met this Governor before, but wasn’t familiar with him at all. He had his own sharp observations and judgments about the Governor in his heart.

“I received a secret report that General Steven Clegane will launch a surprise attack on the Iron Bank after His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen leave Braavos.”

Ian’s eyes staring at Little Devil became even bigger, the beast meat he was chewing on also stopped swallowing, he stared at Little Devil, his whole person seemed completely stunned.

“I can’t determine the truth of this news right now, and I don’t want to make His Majesty the King uneasy because of this uncertain news. Steven Clegane is His Majesty the King’s confidant, listen to his surname, his surname was given by His Majesty the King, and he has the same surname as the King, both named Clegane.”

Ian stared at Little Devil without saying a word, his left hand was grabbing the beast meat bone, his mouth was stuffed with meat, and his right hand was still holding the wine glass.

He just stared at Little Devil, motionless.

“Steven Clegane is a pirate from the Stepstones, and he hasn’t sworn allegiance to His Majesty the King for long. His Majesty the King won a great victory in the naval battle against Her Majesty the Queen, and the first person to surrender and swear allegiance to His Majesty the King at that time was Steven, this pirate leader. Ian, it’s not that I don’t believe Steven, it’s that I don’t quite believe that a great pirate can become a loyal and brave royal general in such a short period of time.”

Pah!

Ian spat out the meat in his mouth.

Pa!

Ian dropped the beast bone he was holding in his left hand.

Boom!

Ian put down the wine cup in his right hand heavily.

“Your Excellency the Governor, why don’t you report to His Majesty the King that Steven Clegane is going to attack the Iron Bank and seize His Majesty’s gold?”

“I can’t determine the truth of this news. If it’s false news, a rumor, I will kill a loyal general, and besides, he is named Clegane.”

“Then what are you going to do?”

“I hope you can help me.”

“How to help?”

“Get close to Steven Clegane, gain his trust, and when he makes a move, we will ambush our men and catch Steven Clegane red-handed.”

“I am better at killing people.” Ian said with a frown.

“Steven is from a pirate background and is martial; you are from a gladiator background, you are highly skilled in martial arts and have experienced many battles. There are not many people who can impress Steven, and you can be considered one of them. There is so much gold in the Iron Bank that even if Steven successfully attacks and opens the gate of the Iron Bank, he will not be able to move all the gold. You and he are both the main generals stationed at the Iron Bank, so if he wants to attack the Iron Bank, the first person he will approach will be you.”

“He will plan to kill me first?”

“In order to avoid complications, he may test you with words to see if he can pull you into the water. If you don’t agree, he will secretly kill you first. There is so much wealth in the Iron Bank that it can accommodate more people to share the spoils. My judgment is that General Steven would rather work with you, safely and without incident, and then each of you can sail away. The world is so big, with inexhaustible gold, you can be a rich man and a noble wherever you go.”

The murderous aura in Ian’s eyes gradually eased.

Little Devil stared at Ian intently, watching every subtle change in Ian’s expression.

Mountain and Daenerys will leave Braavos, and Little Devil has no trusted generals around him. Mountain has arranged the legion defense force of the Iron Bank in two layers. The first outer layer is Ian’s legion, and the second inner layer is Steven’s soldiers; and the last layer, the death warriors in the military fortress, are under the leadership of the original key holder, Attwood.

Mountain is leaving Braavos, and he is not too worried about the Braavos navy rebelling. If the navy rebels, he will come back to suppress them next time. Mountain cannot lose the gold in the Iron Bank, which is the ballast stone for the entire Eastern Expedition and the establishment of a new world.

Can Mountain trust Generals Ian and Steven?

Absolute trust!

Are Ian and Steven the kind of subordinates who are not moved by the sight of gold in the Iron Bank?

If so, Mountain will no longer send a large number of Clegane legions into Braavos.

If not, Mountain will send a Clegane legion to station in the Iron Bank.

However, the legion sent from the Westeros continent will not be able to arrive in less than a month by boat.

And Mountain doesn’t have that much time.

Sansa Stark’s wedding is very important and has been postponed again and again.

Sansa’s wedding will bring the most important support for Mountain to stabilize the North, and it will also open the prelude to the new lord of the Reach.

Mountain wants to conquer the world, he must first take down the various forces of the Westeros continent, and make the entire continent unified under the Clegane banner. If the North cannot be persuaded by Mountain after Sansa’s wedding and still chooses to be independent, Mountain must also ensure that the North is Clegane’s absolute ally: able to come when called, able to fight when coming.

——Sansa’s wedding is very important!

In Braavos, Mountain only has a few bones to use. Whether he can use these limited bones to make a good soup, Mountain will have to try it to know.

Of course, Mountain also has Arya, this powerful helper.

But given the transcendent status of the House of Black and White, it’s best to solve things yourself as much as possible. When you encounter truly unavoidable major events that require the House of Black and White, Mountain will ask Arya for help and use the power of the House of Black and White.

The most powerful help, don’t abuse it at ordinary times. A good knife must be used where it is most needed.

Mountain believes that now is definitely not the time to use the House of Black and White to help him guard the Iron Bank, now is precisely the time to truly show goodwill to the House of Black and White.

*

The next day, General Ian and General Steven met in a tavern.

Ian carried Little Devil’s mission.

Is General Steven really going to launch a surprise attack on the Iron Bank after His Majesty the King leaves?

If it’s true, General Steven must face the first layer of defense of General Ian’s legion. Will he, according to Little Devil’s idea, try to reveal a little information to win over General Ian?

The first time Ian saw General Steven, his intuition told him that General Steven’s temperament was really a little different from usual.

At the same time, Mountain and Daenerys, with their guard general Ben, came to the House of Black and White. They entered the Elder’s room and met Arya Stark.

After the monks offered scented soup, a simple greeting also came to an end.

Mountain came here for both official and private matters.

“Elder Arya, the Governor’s Office will establish the first Clegane Bank in Braavos. Is the House of Black and White willing to invest some gold to become one of the bank’s owners?”

Arya didn’t expect Mountain to come and talk to her about this.

She has no interest in these external affairs.

She also has no interest in the various business trades invested by the House of Black and White.

She doesn’t care about this.

She is more interested in swordsmanship, magic and world travel.

“Paper money bank?”

“Yes.”

Arya glanced intentionally or unintentionally at the guard general Ben standing behind His Majesty the King.

This is another face of Arya’s senior brother.

Ben is now the Internal Affairs Elder of the House of Black and White, with equal status to Arya.

In the House of Black and White, only Arya and Senior Brother Ben are in charge of everything.

The seven elders have become two elders, the House of Black and White has been greatly injured and needs time to recover. The remaining elder candidates also need time to be identified.

“I need to consider it.” Arya was ambiguous.

If Mountain asked her about assassinating someone, she could give a very clear answer immediately.

“To put it simply, does the House of Black and White need to make money?”

“Yes.”

The expenses of the House of Black and White are not small, so of course it needs to make money. Otherwise, the price of hiring a Faceless Man would not be outrageously high.

“That’s fine, the House of Black and White needs to make money, and Clegane Bank can make money, and it’s the most profitable. If you can’t understand how a paper money bank makes money, then imagine it as the way the Iron Bank makes money. Then it’s decided, the Braavos Clegane Bank branch, I will invest 70% of the cost, and the House of Black and White will invest 30%, and the profits will also be divided according to the proportion of investment. Clegane Bank occupies 70% of the profits, and the House of Black and White occupies 30%.”

“Then how much principal do we need to contribute?” Arya didn’t see any opposition in Senior Brother Ben’s indifferent eyes.

“You don’t need to invest first, I will pay the 30% of the money for you first, and when you make money, I will deduct the 30% of the investment from your dividends. If Clegane Bank loses money, I will bear all the losses.”

This is clearly letting the House of Black and White get something for nothing, earning 30% of Clegane Bank’s profits.

Arya glanced at Ben again, she saw that Senior Brother had some hesitation, Senior Brother is an honest person, he may not be willing to take advantage of Mountain for nothing, but Mountain has just taken down the Iron Bank, and what he doesn’t lack is money. Since he offered to help with the principal, this is a good thing, why can’t you want such a bargain? Besides, Arya secretly arranged for Senior Sister Long Face and Junior Sister Little Charm to guard the Iron Bank for Mountain.

“Okay, then it’s settled.” Arya made the decision on the spot.

“Elder Arya, this is the cooperation agreement for Braavos Clegane Bank.” Daenerys took out the agreement that the doctor had already written.

“Contract?” Arya asked.

“Yes, a contract. I have already signed it, you only need to sign the contract in the name of the Elder of the House of Black and White, and my official business here will be completed. Next, I want to talk to you about the private matter of going back to the Westeros continent to attend Sansa’s wedding.”

"Sansa's wedding?! When are we going back?!" Arya's voice suddenly rose.

She showed none of the indifference and transcendent cultivation of a reclusive elder; she was still that little girl from the mortal world with a sense of family.

She is Arya Stark!