Ice and Fire: Reign of the Dragon.

Chapter 8 Senate
"What? The Varese family's elephant carriage is heading for the Senate?"

Lamar Cyrenaica, who had just come out of the brothel, was stunned for a moment, then he immediately understood something and whipped the slave who was carrying the sedan chair.

"Idiot, what are you waiting for? Go to the Senate." He looked at the slave who had just escorted him out and whipped him. "Go find Madam Clevna and Lord Vagado and tell them that the Tiger Party is in trouble and ask our people to help. Go now!"

The slave hurriedly ran towards the Wisama family mansion.

"Hurry up." Another whip was lashed at the slaves carrying the sedan chair. These slaves dared not say anything and could only try their best to speed up their pace.

"The asses of the gods." Lamar hated the weird rules of the Varese family at this time.

The Volantis kept slaves, and it was even said that every free man in Volantis had at least five slaves. It could be said that slaves supported the entire economy of Volantis.

So Volantis established many rules regarding slaves, as they believed that only slaves and foreigners would let their feet touch the dirty ground.

Therefore, the nobles of Volantis usually traveled in sedan chairs. The more slaves carried the sedan chair, the higher the status and wealth of the nobles. Free civilians would also travel in carts pulled by dwarf elephants.

Yes, dwarf elephants are abundant near Volantis. Freemen with some assets can afford to buy dwarf elephants for transportation, and civilians with little money can also rent elephant carts for travel.

The Varese family was quite unique. Although it was one of the most powerful nobles in the Black Wall, since the reform of Cleolius, the Varese family had no slaves at least in name. Cleolius himself hated riding in sedan chairs. So from him on, the Varese family's way of travel became the faster elephant cart. Of course, in order not to be so unconventional, Cleolius still made some compromises.

He spent a huge sum of money to buy several giant southern forest elephants from the colonial town of the mysterious southern continent of Sothoryos. These giant elephants were not as beautiful as the dwarf elephants, but each one was very powerful and at least twice as big as the dwarf elephants.

After Longzel suffered from anemia for a long time, the Varese family successfully tamed the two male elephants and six female elephants and raised them in the zoo of the Varese mansion.

So on this day, a rare and strange scene appeared in the black wall.

The nobles who got the news, whether they were from the Tiger Party or the Elephant Party, those who were far away from the Senate all gave up their luxurious golden sedan chairs.

That day more elephant carts poured into the Black Wall than on any other day before.

"He is worthy of being the son of the old wizard." Mrs. Klevna, who was sitting on the elephant cart with the help of her family, was filled with emotion as she looked at Archon Vagado Cyrenaica sitting opposite her.

Vagado was a skinny old man, with silver-gold hair that had turned gray, but his eyes were an unusually clear blue. "Mrs. Klevna, no matter what he wants to do, the Tiger Party idiots have given him a good reason to profit from the fight between the two parties."

"We still have to help him." Madam Clevna looked at the hurriedly passing parliamentarians indifferently. "Even in the Bloody Era, assassinating important figures of the enemy party is not a decent act."

"Do you have evidence to prove that it was Mogul Bentaro who hired Regret to assassinate the boy?" Vagadu looked at Mrs. Klevna's lavender eyes with a little mystery.

"We have invested in the Regret House, the base of the Regret House in Volantis," Lady Klevna whispered. "Although we cannot interfere with the actions of the Regret House, our informants have personally seen the Bentarot family enter the Regret House."

Vagadu nodded in understanding. "It seems that the intelligence work of the Cyrenaica family is still not thorough enough."

"The members of the Elephant Party should help each other, Lord Ugadu." Lady Klevna smiled and responded. "Now we should talk about the spoils of war."

"An old woman who is stubborn and incorruptible." Wajiadu rubbed his teeth and complained in his heart.

"No matter what, the Varese family will take a large portion. Does Madam have any doubts about this?"

Madam Klevna shook her head. "Of course not, but based on what Longzel Varese has done recently, he will most likely choose gold as compensation."

"We will pay for the discounted gold." Ugadu made the decision. "The slaves will be paid at a discounted price, and the land and manor will all remain."

Klevna frowned.

"What does he want to do?"

senate.

People entered the hall, which was modeled after the Senate during the Freehold period of Valyria, one after another, and it was soon filled with members of both parties.

Of course, there were even more members of the Elephant Party, and they almost filled two-thirds of the seats.

The Tiger Party is sparsely populated.

The Tiger Party's governor, Belicio Megia, sat calmly in his governor's seat, while the seat of the Bentaro family was empty.

The door slowly opened.

The crisp sound of footsteps came slowly.

"The inheritor of the ancient bloodline, the law enforcer on the sea, the commander-in-chief of the Silver Blood Army, the hereditary noble of Volantis, the alternate senator, Lord Longzel of the Vareses family has arrived."

Aslan Longdel shouted out Longzel's name with full energy and stood respectfully on the side of the mosaic rotunda of the Senate.

"Lord Longzel Vareses, what is the reason for you to convene the Council of Elders?"

Mrs. Klevna, the Archon, spoke first.

"I would like to accuse someone of hiring the Regret Man to murder a noble Blackwall noble. According to the Volantis Blackwall Code, I have the right to ask the Senate to conduct a thorough search to find the murderer."

"Lord Varese." A member of the Tiger Party raised his hand and asked a question. "You need to provide evidence to the Senate to prove that the assassination really happened."

Longzel nodded towards the door.

Lynn Valtaken walked in without saying a word, dragging a head attached to a broken body, and threw it on the mosaic floor without saying a word.

The blood-stained face still bears strong Qartheen features.

The MPs in the seats began to murmur. "What can a dead body prove?" shouted an Elephant Party MP.

Longzel looked up in the direction where the sound came from.

It was Lamar Cyrenaica, Longzel nodded slightly.

"Members of the Congress, I believe you all know that my father possesses some abilities that surpass ordinary people." Longzel glanced at the members of the Congress.

These nobles of Volantis are no strangers to magic. During the reign of Old Valyria, Volantis was the most popular colonial city for the dragon kings, and it was also one of the most prosperous ports in the world. Many magicians from Asshai have demonstrated their abilities in the city. The red-robed monks of the Great Temple also often demonstrate their fire magic.

There are even many nobles who support magicians in their homes.

"He left me a potion that can make the dead speak." Longzel took a bottle of slightly reddish potion from Lin En.

"Actually, it's just that my blood is mixed with something else."

Longzel said in his heart.

He poured the potion over the body.

A strange scene happened. The corpse suddenly trembled violently, as if something was about to grow out from the place where it had been cut off.

A hoarse but extremely clear voice came from the dead man's throat.

"Bentaro, killed, the boy, little one, I'm sorry."

The whole house was silent.

It seemed that the effect of the medicine had worn off. The corpse stopped shaking, and the granulation tissue that had just sprouted also stopped growing.

"My Lords." Longzel looked around. "Do you need any more evidence?"

He was not worried that the death of the two guys from the Bentaro family would affect his plan. Alexios' death was his own fault. As for little Cavedo, no toxins were detected in his body. All doctors, even the red monk, could only conclude that he died of cardiac arrest caused by excessive drinking, but Mogul didn't believe it.

What's more, Mogul did not attend the Senate meeting at all.

"I'm sorry." Belisio, the Tiger Party's governor, bowed his head. "Lord Varese, we were not aware of this happening."

He looked at the Tiger Party member next to him. "Where is Mogul Bentaro?"

"Mr. Archon," the councillor replied. "Mr. Mogul encountered misfortune on his way here today. An out-of-control dwarf elephant knocked down the golden sedan chair of the Bentaro family, and Mr. Mogul was unfortunately trampled to death by the dwarf elephant."

"Lord Varese, I'm sorry, but there is no way to punish the murderer according to the law."

"Therefore, what I ask for is compensation, Lord Archon."

"Lord Varese, according to the law, all the property of the Bentalo family can be used as compensation for you." Archon Vagado kindly reminded. "Lord Belisio, I believe you will not shield your colleagues who have committed crimes."

"Of course not." Belisio rolled his eyes at Vagado and said kindly. "Lord Varese, look..."

"I'm not greedy." Longzel looked at the three archons and said loudly. "But the Bentalo family tried to assassinate my brother, which violated the bottom line of the Varese family. And the family is preparing to send out a fleet again to clear out the pirates in Lys and Tyrosh and protect the trade routes of Volantis. At this critical juncture, the Bentalo family actually did such a thing, which is really unbearable."

"He's going to wipe out the pirates?" Mrs. Clevna thought to herself. "But what does this have to do with liquidating property? Is he building a fleet?"

"So I asked the Senate to confiscate the land and property of the Bentaro family and compensate the Varese family with enough gold and ships."

He formally announced the Varese family's plan to the Senate. "I will continue my father's path, clear the trade routes, and start the Great Navigation again, consolidating the trade routes to Yidi and Ashai. And further open up the southern route."

"So that's how it is." These words rang in the minds of several consuls at the same time.

No wonder he was in a hurry to cash in his property. It turned out that he wanted to continue the old wizard's great voyage. Support, must support. No matter what, the great voyage is a move to make the pie bigger, which is beneficial to Volantis.

As for the Bentarot family, they had already agreed to eat it up completely, so why should they worry about it?

"Lord Varese, we are willing to participate in your great voyage plan."

"Lord Longzel, I can provide ships, please consider our family."

"Go to hell, you Tiger Party, why are you mixing with our Elephant Party? Lord Longzel, we can also provide ships and funds."

When the nobles heard about the new great voyage, they could not sit still. It was great that there were people willing to take on such a high-risk and high-profit business.

The Senate was suddenly filled with noise.

"quiet--"

With a powerful voice, Ugadou Cyrenaica managed to suppress the noisy voices.

"As you wish, the Bentaro family's property will be compensated to you in the form of gold, warships, and merchant ships. As for your great voyage plan, do you need the assistance of the Senate?"

"Not for now, but when we return this time, we may need the resolution of the Senate."

Longzel said with a smile.

Today's first update is here, the second update will be released around 23:00. I'm a new author, please give me lots of criticism and corrections. I have extra work today, so I'll update earlier tomorrow as it's a day off. I'll make some stability adjustments to the update time later.



(End of this chapter)