Chapter 5: Adventures at Pentos (3)

One hour ago.

"Hey owner," Shireen said as she walked around at the captured man, looking him in the eye. "I think we'd both be better if we talk through this."

"I am a servant of Illyrio Mopatis. Even if I die by you, my comrades will always avenge you in blood. Nobility? Do you think something like that can protect you? Aristocrats are, after all, human beings just like us. The reality is that even the body of an aristocrat will have a hole in it and scream like a pig when a knife is inserted." The pub owner sneered at Shireen.

"But it won't save you." Shireen replied coldly as she rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, kill me! The Coin of Pentos is not afraid of death."

Shireen's smile widened. The more his opponent struggled, the more Shireen became convinced that this was the place he wanted.

"Yeah, I wanted to meet a guy like you. A person who is not afraid of death, and will keep his mouth shut even if he is tortured and will hide information somehow. A guy like that would know valuable information."

"This is just a waste of time, just kill me!" The pub owner replied in a nervous one.

"Really? I wonder." Shireen stood up. Then she looked around and said in a very calm, subdued voice.

"Let's check it out now. That you are such a strong person who does not open your mouth to any threats." Shireen began to place her hand to the owner's head which made the owner scream painfully. Shireen was probing the owner's memories by using one of the abilities in the Heavenly Demonic Arts to find the owner's ultimate weakness. And that weakness was his son.

Lady Shireen's will was strong. Unlike the guys who screamed and spewed out information like a child, even though she cut off his finger, he didn't open his mouth. Though Shireen knew very well how to attack such a person. Shireen let go of him and the owner breathed heavily.

"You monster… how can y-you do th-that? S-so-sorcery?" the owner said, panting from whatever Shireen had done to him in his perspective.

"You have a sweet son, don't you?" Shireen smiled at him.

The owner's expression turned pale. In one memory, which Shireen was able to gather through her probing abilities, he was happy with his son who looked exactly like his owner.

"For example.." Shireen playfully curled her hair, "What if I say… I will find and kill your son who you cherish so much." The owner's expression tensed after Shireen said this.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I don't have a son." The owner looked away from her, bluffing.

"Stop lying. Didn't you see how I put my hand to your head so that I can collect one of your precious memories?"

The owner finally sneered at her.

"You monster little bitch! A noble like you is resorting to using my family as a threat?!" The owner shakes his body and groans.

Shireen walked back to the owner and waved a light red illusion in front of him with a cold expression. The illusion shows him and his son smiling. The owner looked away from her once again as Shireen stared at him deeply.

"While researching you folks, I found some very interesting information. The reason people fear the Coin of Pentos is that they will retaliate even at the cost of their lives. And I found one common thing about those men. It's that they are heavily indebted to the organization, and they weren't originally bad people. But they ended up turning into devils. Like me." She chuckled when she said like me which made the owner more uncomfortable with her presence.

"The Mopatis organization doesn't hesitate when committing crimes to make people indebted to them and turning the debtor's family into slaves. Well, slaves in all but name. Is a piece of cake for them. That is the truth about the Coin of Pentos. Following the footsteps of Braavos but in reality they don't." Shireen scoffed.

The pub owner just kept his mouth shut. It didn't matter. With that kind of reaction alone, Shireen's intentions were right.

"They push a person to the edge of a cliff, and they hold their family hostage and use them as a threat. Don't you think it's a reasonable hypothesis?" Shireen's curiosity sounded genuine this time.

"...Nothing changes even if you know the truth… my lady." The owner replied. "The Coin of Pentos will definitely get their rev-" the owner gets interrupted by Shireen's heavy sigh. He already knew that this kid in front of him doesn't fuck around.

'Really stupid people.' Shireen thought as she sighs again.

"Hey, think about it carefully. You gotta be careful when choosing to bet your money. I was serious when I said I'd kill your son. I swear by my name, Shireen Baratheon. I will make my soldiers look for him and I will kill him."

The illusion of the owner and his son smiling fades away. "Very slowly… and very painfully…" The owner began to cry out of frustration. "But before I do that, I'll give you another chance."

"Would you rather keep your mouth shut for the sake of Illyrio Mopatis and let your son die while suffering? Or will you give me the information I need to properly take care of the magister and his underworld organization? The choice is yours." Shireen widely grinned at him.

After the pub owner told everything, Shireen knocked him out afterwards. Her destination was the Illyrio's manse.

-

Information is faster than feet. As soon as the outer Pentoshi city branch collapsed, news and rumors about Illyrio Mopatis being a criminal lord reached his base in his manse. Mopatis was really annoyed as he was busy handling the preparation of someone's wedding. A wedding of a Dothraki and a silver-haired teenage girl. Good thing the silver-haired girl's brother wasn't here to bother Illyrio regarding the wedding preparation. He was there somewhere, finding a whore to fuck in the pleasure houses.

"What? Is that really true?" Illyrio asked the servant.

"Yes, magister! According to the sources, the entire division was defeated by Shireen Baratheon herself!" the servant continued, "If the Baratheon knights take action, we'd be in danger!"

"Us in danger? Where the hell is our city watch then?"

"Currently protecting the Prince of Pentos and other magisters in an event they're currently in, magister."

"Damn it." Magister Illyrio Mopatis, one of the magisters of Pentos and the leader of his criminal empire, distorted his expression.

"I refuse to believe it. I don't think a kid like Shireen Baratheon is capable of doing something like that." the fat magister clenched his left fist.

'An entire division was single-handedly defeated by someone who is only ten and ten name days and physically weak due to her greyscale disease? This doesn't make any sense.' the magister contemplates about it.

"Where is Shireen right now?"

"She has just left the outer city. I think she might have gotten information from Dawn's Dew."

"All by herself?"

"Yes, magister."

"It seems that she's looking down on us. A child dares to attack the mansion by herself?" Illyro continued, "Gather our forces quickly! Make sure King Viserys and Lady Daenerys don't know. Otherwise they'll flee to another city again, thinking that the Usurper has sent an assassin again."

"Yes, magister!"

"We will kill Shireen before we come in contact with the Baratheon knights. Those damn usurpers! We must take care of that arrogant little bitch in the name of House Targaryen!" Illyrio yelled as he commanded his people to prepare for a fight.

'Shireen Baratheon. I don't know how a weak child like you was able to do it but you dare to put your hands on me? I will kill you today mercilessly and will hang your corpse up in the central plaza. Just like how the usurper's dog brutally killed Elia and her children! The Fire and Blood of House Targaryen will be revived!'

-

"Magister Mopatis isn't here again?" The Prince asked the other magisters, rolling his eyes.

"He's busy taking care of the exiled Targaryens, my prince." one of the magisters replied.

"Right." The Prince nodded. He felt relieved that Mopatis wasn't here, he never liked the guy and he was already well-aware that Mopatis established his own criminal empire for his personal interests. The Prince wanted to destroy his political rival though he doesn't have any evidence that the man was running an underworld syndicate.

"Mind telling me what's the current situation in the former Triarchy?" the Prince of Pentos asked one of the magisters.

"There is a rumor that Tyrosh and Lys are on the verge of conflict and both tried to ally with Myr." one of the magisters brought up a possible conflict between Tyrosh and Lys.

"I guess those pesky Triarch cities are going to destroy themselves again." one of the magisters scoffed.

There was a chuckle in the court.

"So, I guess a war in that region is inevitable." Prince of Pentos replied sternly. "I never thought something like this would happen when I received the document from Myr."

"I never thought that they would go into a petty conflict again! Though this would disrupt our trade in the south, my prince. At this rate, the slave trade in the south will be lessened because of.. whatever wars these cities have!" the man continued, "I suggest we protect our trade ships or take advantage of the situation!"

"Please leave it at that." the Prince said. "No matter what happens, we must not intervene in their fight. Look what happened to Volantis when they tried to eat them, those cities formed the Triarchy that once existed as a nation. They will come at us like hyenas if ever we intervene in their petty war. For what? Because our trade route got disrupted? We have Braavos and the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. There's nothing to worry about!"

"My prince! My prince!" A yell could be heard outside the door. The soldier rushed to the door and went straight into the office.

"What's going on? You know it's rude to disturb us while having an important meeting, soldier." the Prince replied coldly at the soldier.

-

The time when the Baratheon knights with a fiery stag of a heart in the center of their knightly armor led by Ser Axell Florent and Ser Davos Seaworth, arrived at the inner city of Pentos where manses (mansions) are frequently seen in this part of Pentos, was when the sun that had risen in the middle of the sky was setting a little bit.

It took longer than expected.

As an incident occurred during training of the Pentoshi city watch, there were many factors that caught the ankle.

Ser Axell, who took the lead, revealed the purpose of the visit.

"This is Ser Axell Florent, the castellan of Dragonstone! I know that Lady Shireen, the daughter and heir of Stannis Baratheon, has entered the inner city of Pentos and is at Illyrio's manse! Open the gates now!"

A man who appeared to be the captain of the city watch showed his face. The man with a square chin and a determined impression did not respond to Axell's prompt.

"I am sorry, but the city watch cannot open the gates. If you wish to enter the inner city of Pentos, disarm alland go through formal procedures." the city watch man said with a heavy Pentoshi accent.

"Just open up you bastards!" He shouted with a blood stick around his neck as he had the momentum to break through the wall, though the gate didn't move.

"Like I said, drop all your weapons and go through the proper procedure!" the city watch man yelled back

"Lady Shireen Baratheon is in danger!" Axell yelled back. "If something happens to Lady Shireen, I won't forgive you!"

"Seriously!" the city watch man muttered in Pentoshi.

"Sir, who's Shireen Baratheon?" the other city watch man asked his fellow city watch man in Pentoshi.

"Hell if I know." the city watch captain replied, shrugging.

"S-sir! There's big trouble!" a city watch man stopped to report to the captain.

"What? Is this true?"

"Yes, the plaza is a total mess right now!"

Meanwhile, the jester Patchface translated everything that the Pentoshi city watchmen said to Ser Axell Florent. This caused Ser Axell's expression to get tense.

"D-don't tell me?!" Axell paused for a moment. "I'll break down the door, you assholes!"

-

Ah, the central square of Pentos.

Just a few minutes ago, it was peaceful. It was a place where everyday scenery was produced, but the appearance of a girl dragging down a man disturbed the people's peace.

"W-what the hell is that?" said one of the Pentoshi citizens.

"Oh Lord. May the Lord of Light wash that little girl's sins." muttered one of the Pentoshi citizens.

"What's going on? Shouldn't we stop the child?"

A blood trail can be seen from Illyrio's manse to the plaza. It could be seen that the bloodied Shireen is dragging Illyrio's hair by using her right hand while she's holding some sort of a scaled egg with the color of pale cream streaked with gold on her left hand though all eyes were looking at the child dragging a magister instead of a child holding a scaled egg.

"...P-please… s-spare my life…! Please…!"

Those who saw this brutal scene were terrified. Unbeknownst to the Pentoshi citizens who are witnessing this brutal scene, a little Westerosi girl is dragging a Pentoshi magister out of his manse. This would cause a diplomatic incident between the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros and the Free City of Pentos if ever this word would get out. Unless, the Prince of Pentos decides to set this issue aside which obviously he will do so, so that he can finally discard his political rival that was a thorn in his career.