The Mountain of Ice and Fire

Chapter 258: Gambit

(Happy New Year's Eve, everyone! Eat, drink, and be merry, and may you win big at mahjong!)

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Although Illyrio was under the threat of death, he did not immediately seize the lifeline thrown to him by the Mountain. Anyone else would have immediately taken it, saying they were willing to become the Mountain's ally.

But Illyrio was no ordinary man. He didn't go with the flow or try to take advantage of the situation. He glared at the Mountain, still wearing a shocked expression. He didn't speak, but listened to the Mountain continue.

The more the Mountain spoke, the more he revealed his true inner thoughts, allowing Illyrio to spy on how much of their secrets the Mountain actually knew. Illyrio knew that the less he said, the safer he would be. It was clear that the Mountain knew a lot about their situation, and Illyrio could only make mistakes by saying too much. The best way to deal with it was to say as little as possible, or nothing at all.

The Mountain gave Illyrio two months, but when he was in King's Landing, he clearly told Varys that he would wait not just three months, but three years.

Why did the Mountain's words change so drastically?

Illyrio didn't know. He only knew one thing: the Mountain was very shrewd, and not at all the savage and dull person he appeared to be. He was neither foolish nor slow. He also thought that Varys would spend money to hire a Faceless Man from Braavos to kill him, but this was impossible. Because killing the Mountain was easy, but for Illyrio to get out alive from the Mountain's men was basically impossible.

As a former top assassin from a Free Trade City, Illyrio knew far more about the Faceless Men and assassins than the Mountain did.

The Faceless Men only kill people! They don't take on any rescue missions, no matter how much money is offered!

They only kill, they don't save.

If a Faceless Man were here now and killed the Mountain, he would abandon his employer, Illyrio, and leave on his own. Even if someone stabbed Illyrio in the stomach, he would watch without lifting a finger to save him.

Even if their employer died in front of them, they wouldn't even glance at them.

The employer's life and death have nothing to do with them!

For pure revenge killings, one can hire a Faceless Man with a large sum of money, and it's guaranteed. But to save someone, one cannot hire a Faceless Man. Who could rescue him from the Mountain's hands? Illyrio could only think of one person: Varys!

Varys would never sit still and wait for death!

However, there was a very difficult point. If Varys tried to save him with all his heart, would the blood sorcerer know in advance and tell the Mountain? Judging from the secrets the Mountain had revealed, this blood sorcerer was very, very powerful, just like Brynden 'Bloodraven' Rivers of Westeros.

Brynden Rivers could possess countless birds and beasts, using their bodies and eyes to see other people's unknown secrets.

Seeing that Illyrio ignored the opportunity he had offered and did not immediately express his position, the Mountain knew that he had met a formidable opponent. Illyrio and Varys were both masters of intrigue, having cultivated many little mice and little birds. They understood people's thoughts very thoroughly.

The Mountain's best ally was indeed not Illyrio and Varys, but some people are useful, even if you don't want to associate with them, you must.

For the Mountain, the most secure way to ally with such intelligent and scheming masters like Varys and Illyrio was to kill them. For someone who could see the future, masters of conspiracy were no match for warriors wielding sharp swords.

"Governor, are you willing to become my ally?" As Illyrio had predicted, if the Mountain really wanted to ally with him, as long as he didn't speak, the Mountain would definitely say it himself.

When two people are together and need to talk, if one keeps silent, the other has no choice but to speak first. The principle is that simple. But understanding this and putting it into practice is not simple at all.

"Do I still have the opportunity to become your Lordship's ally?" Illyrio said without confidence. He didn't think he had the qualifications to become an ally of the Mountain. His words were humble and his demeanor weak, but this was Illyrio's way of retreating to advance.

This was precisely Illyrio's experience. Every response from Illyrio was not simple, filled with wisdom and a keen eye for understanding people's hearts. Even his silence was a clever response, not a mute silence because of fear and helplessness.

In order to ensure that he could leave alive, becoming an ally with the Mountain was Illyrio's best choice.

However, Illyrio never took the initiative, never added fuel to the fire, and never tried to take the lead.

"I don't want Daenerys to put all the blame for Princess Elia Martell's blood debt on my head. Perhaps I need someone to deliver a message to her, and it would be even better if they could explain the intricacies of the situation."

"Lordship, what kind of message do you want to send to Daenerys? Perhaps I can do it," Illyrio said. Illyrio was 100% sure he could do it, but he said 'perhaps'.

"Back then, in the Targaryen royal nursery massacre, I was just a soldier, only seventeen years old," the Mountain said. "I couldn't disobey Lord Tywin's orders, or the consequence would have been losing my head."

The amount of information in this sentence was so great that Illyrio didn't quite believe it, because the Mountain showed 'disrespect and disloyalty' to Lord Tywin. He was shirking responsibility and pointing directly at Lord Tywin.

Was this necessary? Daenerys was still across the Narrow Sea, tens of thousands of miles away. How could the Mountain, who was so fierce and tyrannical, say such things? It was too 'weak'.

Illyrio couldn't understand why the Mountain was so afraid of the future Daenerys. Was his prediction that Daenerys would have three dragons true? In other words, the revival of the Targaryen family rested on Daenerys, not anyone else.

Only if Daenerys was strong in the future would the Mountain be afraid of her, and because of that fear, he would want to make amends.

What did the Mountain see in the prophecy that made him so afraid of Daenerys?

Illyrio said, "Lord Mountain, back then, in the nursery massacre, even if Lord Tywin didn't order you, he would have ordered someone else. When a country is destroyed, any bloody event that occurs is beyond personal grievances. We are all controlled and driven by the forces of the situation, and no one can escape."

"That's true, but back then, I did do things to the Targaryen family that violated human ethics and chivalric honor. I admit that."

"As a seventeen-year-old soldier, my duty was naturally to carry out orders; and as a duke, giving such orders was naturally to please the new king and take care of some dirty work for him. When a new king wants to sit on the Iron Throne, he needs clean honor, but dirty work always needs someone to do it, just like a room. The king needs someone to sweep the garbage, and I am the one who sweeps the room."

"Lord Mountain, I think I understand the situation you are describing. If possible, I will definitely tell Daenerys this."

Illyrio's wording was 'if possible'. If the Mountain took the money and then killed him, then naturally it would be 'absolutely impossible'.

"I think you should have a very good chance," the Mountain said.

"Lord Mountain, I hope to have that honor." Illyrio was overjoyed in his heart, but remained calm on his face. He began to dispel the Mountain's concerns about the Faceless Men.

"Lordship, it's already difficult for me to raise a million golden dragons as a ransom for my life. If I were to spend money to hire a Faceless Man to assassinate your Lordship, the first difficulty would be that the cost would be an astonishing figure; secondly, according to my experience in my assassin career, the Faceless Men only kill people and never save them. I think Varys and my steward wouldn't be foolish enough to spend a lot of money to hire a Faceless Man to assassinate your Lordship. If the Faceless Man killed your Lordship, I would definitely die too, but I really don't want to die, Lordship."