The light of the candle could not pierce the surrounding darkness.

Darkness is like the sea, and a candle is a little starlight in the sea.

It's not the starlight that pierces the darkness, it's the darkness that envelops the starlight.

Illyrio's eyes watched the light as big as a broad bean in front of him and walked forward, and the road under his feet was not visible at all, so he could only grope his way forward.

Fortunately, the archpriest walked slowly, allowing Illyrio to follow.

The darkness around him was like substance, drowning Illyrio himself in the darkness.

It was the first time Illyrio had experienced such extreme darkness.

Finally, the light of the candle in front of it stopped.

Illyrio also stopped.

"Archpriest?"

"The archpriest is gone. An unfamiliar voice said.

The voice was calm, as if he had been a friend for many years.

"The Faceless?"

"Is there anything I need my attention to, Your Excellency?" the other man did not admit his identity.

"I've hired the Faceless One to protect me. ”

"The Faceless One does not accept protection, only assassination. ”

"I give double the price. ”

"It's not about price. ”

"Triple as much!"

“......”

"Five!"

"Okay, time. ”

"Now on, a month. ”

"Deal. ”

"Can you light the torch?"

"Can't!"

Shout!

The lights went out in that bit of darkness.

The entire space was plunged into suffocating darkness.

"Lord Illyrio, this way, please. ”

The archpriest's voice said in the direction behind him.

Illyrio turned, and the archpriest lit the candle, which was as bright as a bean.

Illyrio was much more skilled this time, and quickly followed the archpriest out of the darkness.

"Archpriest, the ...... I hired just now Faceless, where is he?"

He was waiting for the adults at the gate of the courtyard in front. ”

"Thanks, shall I pay the High Priest?"

"Yes, sir. ”

"Okay, I'll ask someone to bring money when I go back. ”

"No hurry!" the high priest raised his hand to see off the guest.

Illyrio came to the compound and saw a very clear middle-aged man at the door, with a good temperament and a flat expression, with a very ordinary sword hanging from his waist.

Illyrio hurriedly stepped forward: "This swordsman, may I ask what I should call it?"

"My name is Nameless!"

"Nameless Swordsman!"

"Yes!"

"Where is the Nameless Knight?"

'No land. ”

Illyrio cautiously said, "Nameless swordsman, I must have a name to call you, or you will look strange among my guards." ”

"Will. ”

In this world, there are not 10,000 people named Will, but 8,000, which is a very common name.

"Alright, Will Swordsman, from now on, you will be my personal guard. ”

"I'm only going to protect adults for a month. ”

Illyrio felt a pain in his heart.

He paid enough money to hire a mercenary army of 2,000 men.

"Good!" replied Illyrio, crisply.

Now is not the time to feel sorry for money, now is the time to feel sorry for life.

Illyrio led Will out of the Red Temple, where his carriage, his guards, and his four Unsullied cavalrymen were waiting outside.

The Unsullied had an expressionless face, a bronze helmet, a spike top, a spear shield, and a short sword pinned to his waist. The other guards looked at Will, who was dressed in ordinary clothes, with strange eyes. Will's sword belt is a very ordinary sword, but he looks like Mistress Illyrio's new bodyguard.

Illyrio got into the carriage, and Will followed him, and sat across from Illyrio.

The carriage was wide enough to sit flat like a small bed.

"Will ...... Swordsman......" Illyrio laughed, "May I see your swordsmanship?"

"Can't!"

"Oh, that, well!"

"We're going to go to the government hall, and whatever you hear or see, can you keep it a secret?"

"The mouth of the servant of death cannot tell any secrets, this is our faith. Mistress Illyrio, you're talking too much. ”

"I'm sorry, I'm not going to be verbose anymore!"

Illyrio didn't have to doubt the credibility of the Faceless, but he felt that Will around him didn't look like the Faceless, which was why he had so much rambling.

Faceless people are ordinary people, but this Will is a person with a somewhat outstanding temperament, which is not the temperament of a top killer. The more top-notch the killer, the more ordinary it must be, so as not to attract attention.

Although Will's sword and clothes are ordinary, and he speaks a lingua franca, with the accent of Westeros on the other side of the Narrow Sea, these are nothing, but his temperament is not a killer temperament, and his temperament makes people notice him at a glance, like a glorious knight.

But Illyrio believed in the recommendation of the High Priest of Death, and believed that no one would dare to pretend to be the Faceless in front of the idol of the Grim Reaper.

In that case, dispel your worries and let's go.

*

Pantos Government Hall.

Will stood behind Illyrio with his sword.

"Lord Doge, Telosi and Mill have surrendered, and a messenger has arrived to report that Aegon VI Targaryen may be coming to us Pantos. "One of the administrative officers was worried.

"Tylosi and Mill were defeated so quickly?" Illyrio couldn't believe as he stood up.

"My lord, Telosi and Mill were not defeated, they surrendered on their own initiative. Another governor said.

Pantos used to have forty governors, and everything had to be decided by more than half of the governors, and sometimes a government could not be decided for a year, because it was impossible to have more than half of the votes.

Illyrio has solved this democratic system of too many governors and turned it into a centralized system. He himself was the supreme centralizer, and the rest of the governors were appointed by him: the Governor of Water, the Governor of the Roads, the Governor of Affairs, the Commander of the Garrison, the Commander of the Navy, the Governor of Commerce, and so on.

"Aegon has dragons, Lord Governor. At this time, our intelligence is not sure whether he will declare war on us Pantos or not. The commander of the Navy said.

The commander of the garrison said in a low voice with melancholy: "Ladies and gentlemen, Aegon slaughtered the entire city of Rees, and after the whole city was slaughtered, he sent dragons and cavalry to slaughter and burn the entire Isle of Rees, and the officials, generals, and soldiers hiding on the islands, as well as fishermen, civilians, craftsmen, prostitutes, and wizards, were all searched and killed. All the buildings, fishermen's villages, temples, stone towers and castles, were also burned down. ”

"Dragonfire is irresistible to stone, and the stone walls of many giant castles are said to have turned into fluids due to the fire. Aegon VI Targaryen was a young man, but he was unusually ruthless, and his methods shocked the people of Telosi and Mill, and the people of the two city-states refused to seek war but only peace, and when Aegon released the news of the attack on Telosi and Mill, the people all went to the consul's mansion to petition for peace rather than war. ”

"To sue for peace is to surrender. Illyrio said, "Governor of Affairs, do you know what the terms of the surrender of Telosi and Mill are?"

"Surrender unconditionally, Your Excellency. ”

"Since Aegon VI Targaryen is so murderous, I'm afraid that Tylosi and Mill will be slaughtered if they surrender!" said Illyrio.

"There was no slaughter, my lord. I have received very certain information that after the surrender of Telosi and Mill, all the consuls were protected in their positions and positions, and that no one was slaughtered in the two cities. The commander of the Navy said.

"Oh. So what if Aegon VI Targaryen heads north with Mill and Telosi's fleet and wants us to surrender as well, will we fight or make peace?" Illyrio asked, glancing the room.

"No one can resist the dragon, and neither can a warship fight a dragon. Even if his dragon doesn't attack our city, set fire to all the villages and crops of our people outside the city, and kill all the people in our territory, we can only watch from inside the city, and his dragon continues to grow. The commander of the Navy said.