10 Making Profit From War

After the speech of Gerold, more and more slaves came to meetings. They also began to pray with him. With the miracles he performed and his charity acts, people were becoming fervent believers of God. They asked him questions and found their answers. And all of this happened just in a month of time.

The act of unity of slaves attracted slave traders in Lys. At first, they thought that slaves were planning an uprising but after spying their night activities, they learned that they were just praying so they let them do whatever they want. Although it would have been a problem in other cities, it was not a problem in Lys because there were many religions in the city, from Yndros of the Twilight to Saagael. One more God should not have been a problem but their thoughts were to differ in the future…

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282 AC, Lys…

Gerold was trying to make his mission reality. After they introduced mechanical clocks to the market, it began to sell like a hot cake but soon imitations began to show up. As this was a medieval world, there was no such thing as a patent. Everyone who knows how a mechanical clock works were able to copy and create his own. So, Gerold had to provide more blueprints about different things. And he had the just right thing in mind.

There was a war brewing in Westeros and war meant opportunity and money. Gerold had many ideas about what to introduce to the world as a weapon. He did not want them to advance too much because there were no regulations about weapons so it was even possible for him to die. It was not for the information about these inventions then his mission would have been hard to complete.

He was planning to introduce "hwacha" as the new weapon. Hwacha was a spurting tube which was able to fire over 100 arrows. He was going to name it as the launcher. Hwacha was hard to pronounce and he loved simplicity. These things were capable of taking down entire formations of densely packed armies. Its ammunition was an exploding arrow, made with gunpowder. However, Gerold did now want to introduce gunpowder, yet. He wanted to keep the material he was going to use as a secret so he resorted to another method.

Raenar was shocked when he was given blueprints of the new invention by Gerold because one of the materials was a common poison produced in Asshai. It was a deadly poison but it was cheap to produce. Gerold knew that material as nitric acid but here, it was named colourless fire. People were using it as a poison, however, Gerold was going to make nitroglycerin from it and then use it to fuel arrows. It could be dangerous to use it on the battlefield as it was highly sensitive and inclined to explode if moved. However, using it in defensive positions like castles would be a good idea.

Raenar opened a workhouse for the manufacture of launchers and ordered the first batch of colourless fire. They were going to start the manufacture immediately after the arrival of colourless fire. Raenar proposed selecting people from his own house's personal's families. Gerold accepted it but he wanted to see each of them before they started their job. He was planning to test their loyalty with his powers. He did the same thing to each of the Raenar's people and, of course, he found some spies from other magisters. However, he was not sure about their families. He did not know whether they were loyal or not.

Meanwhile, Raenar was also making business deals and alliances with other merchants. He was constantly expanding his business and making profits. Slowly, he was also gaining popularity among the common people.

Aemar and Elaese were socializing with other young masters of merchant families. They were inviting them to the meetings they held with Gerold. One by one, they were talking with Gerold alone. Gerold was showing them the light of God and they were confessing their sins and faults. It was just like in Gerold's old world. People needed someone to share their secrets and seek forgiveness. And Gerold was providing them with this. He was already known in the circle of young masters because of his charity acts. At first, they regarded him as a fool but talking with him alone, they realized their mistake and started to trust him completely. Gerold also gave them advice in their family affairs. Big merchant families were like the court of nobles. Despite being related by blood, they were stabbing each other in the back, competing for power.

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283 AC, King's Landing…

Qarlton Chelsted was shocked when he was chosen as the Hand of the King at the start of the rebellion. Before that, he was the Master of Coin and he was content with his position. Indeed, his new position brought him to power but it also brought responsibility. Although he was a firm supporter of King Aerys Targaryen over his eldest son Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, he knew that the king got wiring loose inside his head. He was burning people here and there. With the rebellion, he became madder than ever. Every night, he was raping his own wife and burning maids alive.

Qarlton was horrified when he was summoned to his solar, just three months ago. Apparently, he heard a new weapon in Essos and wanted from him to go see them and if they are effective as the rumours then buy them in batches.

The next day, Qarlton set off to Lys and several days later arrived there. He never went somewhere else from Westeros so he was amazed when he saw the architecture of Lys. The more surprising thing was its people, all of them were like the royal family. They had silver hair and purple eyes. It was a little strange to see so many people with valyrian blood but he had no time to look around so, directly, he went to House Eragor's mansion. He was informed about House Eragor by the king's spies when he came here. Apparently, they were the rising star of Lys. Merchants, free man, common people and even slaves were seeing them in a good light. As the only family who does not practice slavery in Lys, they should have been alienated by other merchant families but instead, they were allies with most of the magisters.

When he arrived at the mansion, he was greeted by a young man and led to inside. Later, he learned that he was the son of Raenar Eragor, head of the House Eragor. They went to a study room and inside, there was a middle-aged man sitting on a chair behind the desk and a young man, still looking green.

"Greetings, Lord Chelsted. I was expecting you yesterday, did something happen on the way?" asked the man who was sitting at the head of the desk.

"There was a storm and the ship got delayed because of that. However, I hope it does not affect the negotiations," said Qarlton.

"Yes, yes. Please, take a seat. Would you like something to drink?" Raenar was courteous.

"Arbor wine would suffice. I would like to start negotiations immediately…" Qarlton looked at the young man sitting across him. Even when he came inside the room, he didn't react so he was a little suspicious about him.

Raenar smiled and said, "Ahh, forgive my ignorance, I forgot to introduce him to you. He is Gerold and a confidant of my family though we see him as an equal."

Qarlton was still a little suspicious but had to accept whatever he said because they were literally losing the war and needed something to change the tide. However, he did not recognize him because he did not even have a last name and was just a commoner, "Hmm, I would like to see the rumoured launchers. From what I heard, they are quite deadly. Even the disciplined army of unsullied was decimated in seconds."

"Of course, I prepared a small demonstration for your arrival. If you follow me, I will show you the might of launchers." Raenar liked straight people so he smiled widely.

They got up and went to the backyard of the manor. It was really a big manor so showing the new machine here was a proper place.