Chapter 18

I laugh a little as I get dragged by the people to dance along with them. It has been three hours since the battle, and the people celebrate our victory. We already burned all the bodies and made sure to take their ships to be repurposed into a patrol ship.

While the others take care of the corpse and the ships, the women and elders take care of the celebration. Horo is the one leading the celebration preparation. He takes out all of the alcohol and food we have for this celebration.

After a couple of hours of preparation, this is the result.

"My lord!"

I look to the side and see a young woman holding a grape. I smile and eat them as we continue to dance around the massive bonfire. One by one, the others start to feed me food and let me drink some wine.

After ten minutes of dancing, I leave the circle and sit next to Melisandre, who cares for Dany. I laugh a little when Dany raises her hand in expectation, and I pick her up and put her on my lap. I feed her some grapes and hear Melisandre saying.

"Congratulations on beating the first trial, my lord."

I look at her in confusion and say.

"What? What trial?"

"The trial of Kingship, my lord. This will be your first trial to achieve your kingship, and you have done it fantastically."

"First thing first, I don't care about kingship or anything like that. Secondly, what kind of outcome do you see in the fire?"

She only smiles gently at me and says.

"Of course, my lord. You might not want to be a king, but that title will fall on your lap without you knowing it. As for the outcomes… I see three."

"What is it?"

"The worst outcome is you get killed in the fight. Your people will be in disarray, and your sister will take the position of a Queen in your kingdom after she reaches a certain age. She will successfully rebuild the kingdom but cannot defeat the Great Other, so she dies in battle against that abomination."

My hug tightens around Dany, and I see her looking at me in confusion.

"Vy? Okay?"

I smile at her and kiss her head before saying.

"I am okay, Dany. I am sorry. Did it hurt?"

"No! Good."

I laugh a little when I see her shaking her head. I feed her another grape and look at Melisandre.

"Continue."

"Of course, my lord. The second vision is you winning, but there are a lot of casualties. Because of this problem, you will be facing wave upon wave of mercenaries for years to come and delay the grand plan to destroy the Great Other."

I frown at that word and say.

"What happened to the third one?"

"This will happen. Because of our overwhelming victory, the people of Lys will hesitate to attack us. It will give us time to grow."

"Does your vision say anything about us getting attacked once again or not?"

"Sadly, no, my lord. That is why I suggest we do a counterattack. We need to grow and then do a counterattack to Lys. I can spread the word about the incoming Breaking of Chain, and we will have the support of the slaves in Lys."

"Will they support us?"

"Of course, my lord. While there are a few slaves that are happy with their lives, the majority of them are people that were forced into slavery, and they are willing to fight for their freedom if we give them a little push in the right direction."

"And can you do that?"

"Of course! You did not need to worry, my lord. You are Azor Ahai. There is an army that will serve you in your duty."

I release a sigh and say.

"Very well. You do what you need to do. However, make sure not to go too extreme, okay? No human sacrifice or murdering people left and right."

Melisandre smiles at me and says.

"You didn't need to worry, my lord. Lord R'hllor supports your vision and already tells all of his worshipers not to sacrifice any human being as long as you are fulfilling the prophecy."

Really? I wonder if the Stranger is the one forcing the Red God to not force his worshiper to sacrifice humans to him. I have a feeling that this is the case.

"Good."

I nod, look at the people celebrating, pick a couple of grapes, and then eat them.

While eating some fruits, I think of a way of attacking Lys. I did not want to attack them physically but rather economically. My food trade already hurt some of them, and now I am thinking of a way to hurt them more. What is Lys known for? Slave, that is the first one. They are the biggest import and export of slaves in the Narrow Sea.

To stop this slave trade, I need to make a fleet that attacks any slave ships coming from the east. However, if I do this, not only do I need to spend a lot of time building ships, but I also need to watch out for Volantis.

I know that the Magisters of Lys will call Volantis to help them take care of the fleet I sent to that area. We can fight them, but it is a matter of time before we run out of people to send to that area. We also need to watch out for Lys, who will attack us if we send people to that area.

As much as I want to destroy the slave trade from the east, I cannot do that at the moment.

That leaves with their other trade—Lys, also the biggest wine exporter in this part of Essos. Their wine is delicious and rich, unlike other wines. Not only that, Lys also knows its perfume. It is their third biggest export, after all.

While I cannot destroy their slave trade, I can make sure to destroy their wine and perfume. Let's ruin their economy by selling a counterfeit of their product.

I look at Melisandre and say.

"Melisandre, can you ask the other Priests and Priestess to get some of the seeds of Lys Grape? I also want some of the seeds for all the ingredients for Lysian Perfume. Use whatever resource you need. Take as much gold as a bribe to get those things. I have a long-term plan to destroy Lys."

Melisandre looks at me for a few seconds before her eyes light up, and she looks at me with a sinister grin on her face.

"Of course, my lord. They will not see what is coming."