Ice and Fire: Reign of the Dragon.

Chapter 9 Slaves and Scholars

Summer sea.

This vast sea area is an important sea area connecting the three continents of Westeros, Essos and Sothoryos, and it is also a paradise for pirates.

Since Tyrosh, Lys, and Myr formed the Three Cities, or the "Kingdom of the Three Daughters", there have indeed been fewer sporadic pirates from the Narrow Sea to the Summer Sea.

But in their place came "legal" pirates.

Irony?
It's not ironic at all. After all, maritime trade does make money quickly, but it's not as fast as a business without any capital.

The ships of Lys, Myr, and Tyrosh were particularly good at switching flexibly between merchant ships and pirate ships, and some of them even joined forces with the iron races that drove longships in the Sunset Sea. As a result, the entire sea was in a strange superposition state of stability and chaos.

On the vast sea, a huge rowing ship is slowly sinking, and another rowing ship with naked female coins painted on its sails is trying to escape from this sea area.

But it seems there is no escape.

A sailing galley that was a whole circle larger than the fleeing rowing ship was chasing closely behind her, constantly throwing huge rocks at her.

Another huge warship with towering bow and stern came speeding from the other side. The wind direction was just right, and the huge sails were inflated, allowing the entire oarless warship to ride the wind and waves, and in the blink of an eye it arrived next to the rowing warship.

The purple sails of the two large ships were painted with a combination of fire-breathing silver dragons and laurel leaves. From afar, three or four more sailing ships with the same sails could be seen approaching the sea.

"The goddess' curse." The pirate captain dodged the javelins and rocks thrown by the galleon and grabbed the first mate who was running across the deck in a panic. "Didn't you say this sea area was safe? Where did the Silver Dragon's fleet come from?"

"I don't know!" The first mate pushed the captain away roughly. "Hurry up!" Before he finished speaking, a dart pierced his chest squarely.

What followed was an overwhelming rain of arrows, javelins and stones.

"Hang the white flag, raise the white flag quickly." The captain watched helplessly as the big ship rammed towards his bow.

"Do not--"

thump.

The sailing ship hit the bow of the pirate ship head-on, the bow of the ship was pressed down, the wooden boards were broken, and the whole pirate ship was knocked to one side.

The captain lost his balance and was thrown into the sea.

What happens next is much simpler.

Another galley quickly approached, threw out a grappling hook, and successfully captured the pirate ship.

According to normal procedures, the warships of the Varese family would plunder all the treasures on the pirate ship and rescue the slaves captured by the Lys people before sinking the ship. This is something the Varese family has been doing for a long time.

But this time it wasn't as fast as usual.

Because a young man was found in the boat.

"That's probably what happened."

Evans Dayne introduced his origins with a sincere face. He came from the distant Westeros, and was the youngest son of the Dayne family in Dorne Starfall. Because he had no inheritance rights, his family sent him to the Citadel in Oldtown to study. As a result, he was robbed by pirates while he was out. He and several companions were captured by the pirates.

This is the shipyard and dock near the deepwater port of Volantis. Volantis has a natural deepwater port that stretches as far as the eye can see. This good port is also the reason why Volantis has always maintained an important trading position.
The shipyard and marina are both owned by the Varese family.

After learning that his fleet had rescued a bachelor from Westeros, Longzel, who had just finished wrangling in the Senate, rushed to the shipyard without stopping.

Dr. Vesalius, who stayed behind, also arrived.

After all, he was the only one who could confirm that this bachelor was a real "bachelor." "An assistant bachelor." Dr. Vesalius made the conclusion as soon as he saw Evans.

Evans' face flushed immediately and he scratched his head in embarrassment. He had indeed not yet taken the oath of becoming a bachelor, and the necklace he wore was made of only three types: black iron for Ravenology, gold for Economics, and red copper for History.

Nothing like Dr. Vesalius's colorful necklace.

Bachelor is a profession unique to Westeros. They are trained in the Citadel of Oldtown. A mature bachelor has to go through a long period of apprenticeship and assistant bachelor until he is qualified in all aspects and then he can be sworn to become a bachelor.

The maesters in Westeros are scholars, doctors, engineers, economists, historians, and even military strategists. The Citadel where they study has the largest collection of books in Westeros, which almost monopolizes all knowledge. After swearing to become a formal maester, no matter how noble their previous surnames were, the maesters will abandon their surnames and no longer have any inheritance rights. The Citadel will send formal maesters to the castles of various lords to assist those lords with poor cultural levels in handling government affairs or serve as doctors.

A lord once said of his maester: "Sometimes I really feel that my maester is the master of the castle."

They served the castle they were sent to for the rest of their lives until they died.

The highest position among the maesters is Grand Maester of King's Landing. A maester who obtains the position of Grand Maester will directly serve the royal family and will be able to have his own seat and that of the Citadel in the King's Court in the political system of Westeros.

"Who is your mentor? Assistant Master."

"It's Maester Grey," Evans said cautiously.

"Oh." Dr. Vesalius nodded and turned to Longzel and said, "You can trust him. He is my student's student."

Longzel looked at Evans Dane from head to toe. The seventeen-year-old young scholar was wearing a dirty gray robe, had pale skin, short light golden hair, and beautiful violet eyes.

"It matches what's in the book."

Longzel thought to himself that all his impressions of Westeros came from the books brought by Dr. Vesalius and his mother's mumblings when she was still healthy.

But Doctor Vesalius has been away from Westeros for decades.

When he left, King Jaehaerys I was still on the throne. Now, the elderly king has long passed away, and the new king even has many children and grandchildren.

In these few short days, Longzel had been busy with many things, and now he was indeed a little tired. But there were still some things he had to ask.

For example, the current situation and customs of Westeros.

The prophecy in the fire told Dragonzir that if he could succeed in achieving results among the ruins of Valyria, he would soon be traveling to Westeros in the west.

He needs to get intelligence in advance.

After all, listening to stories is not as tiring as thinking about things.

Longzel sat in his seat and motioned Evans Dane to sit down as well.

"You" the young scholar was a little nervous, but he still sat down with the encouragement of Lynn Valtaken who had been trying to hold back his laughter beside him.

"Master Evans, I need to consult you about the current situation and customs of the Land of Sunset." Longzel poured a glass of fruit wine and handed it to Evans.

"I will tell you everything I know." Evans Dane looked at the glass in his hand hesitantly, and finally drank the fruit wine in the glass.

It has a unique sweet and sour taste and a rich fruity aroma.

"Let's talk about politics first." Longzel poured himself a glass of wine but didn't drink it. "For example, the current king and nobles of Westeros."

Check in for the second chapter today.

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(End of this chapter)