The Mountain of Ice and Fire

Pyramid, Royal Palace.

Inside Queen Daenerys' residence.

The Mountain and Daenerys were alone.

Outside the door stood a large group of people including Arianne, Jorah Mormont, Grey Worm, Missandei, Miran Los, Lun En, Emily, Claude, and Sherry.

“Mountain, tonight, there will be a lot of bloody killings. You still don't understand the terror of the Sons of the Harpy, and you haven't really experienced it yet. You killed Hizdahr and Gnarr, and Slaver's Bay will never have peace.”

“Are you complaining about me?”

“I'm stating a fact. Dragons can kill any of our enemies, but they cannot eliminate the Sons of the Harpy. They may be a small worker in a restaurant, a groom feeding horses, a soldier standing guard at the city gate, or a fisherman on a fishing boat. The Sons of the Harpy are a semi-militarized organization cultivated by the Good Masters, and also a group of believers with the same faith. They attack anyone who is not one of them.”

“I can solve this problem, Daenerys.”

A brief silence, a quiet atmosphere, a depressing stillness.

“You can solve it, how to solve it?”

“Hold a political affairs meeting, and I will assist you in solving any tricky problems Slaver's Bay encounters, including the Sons of the Harpy.”

“Tell me your plan.” Daenerys' tone still held suspicion.

“The plan is simple, hold a political affairs meeting, my Queen.” The Mountain embraced Daenerys with one arm, pressed her against his chest, and pressed his thick lips forcefully onto hers.

*

Afternoon, Royal Palace, Political Affairs Meeting.

Her Majesty the Queen sat upright under the high throne, and below the twenty-odd steps, stood full of Astapor's Good Masters. Every Good Master, large and small, on every street was summoned to the Royal Palace.

Outside, three dragons circled and flew.

Beside Her Majesty the Queen stood a giant like a god.

The giant wore plate armor, removed his helmet, and still carried the awe-inspiring giant sword on his back.

This giant had said something in front of the Beast Face Army that shocked Astapor: the Mother of Dragons had surrendered to him and sworn allegiance, and he was a dragon knight king from Westeros. In the sky, the giant dragon that people dared not look directly at was his mount. Compared with the giant dragon, the Mother of Dragons' black dragon seemed a bit too small.

Her Majesty the Queen nodded to Missandei.

Missandei stood on the first step in front of Her Majesty the Queen's throne.

Missandei said: “Good Masters, if you are from the West City, please stand with the Good Masters from the West City; if you are from the East City, please stand in the East City's position; the Good Masters from the South City and the North City are also the same, please stand in the corresponding position according to where you are from in the city.”

All the Good Masters, regardless of size, were brought here by Grey Worm and Lun En with the Unsullied Legion. The total number of Good Masters exceeded one hundred and thirty.

After a period of chaos, the Good Masters in the hall stood in four groups.

Missandei looked back at Daenerys, Daenerys nodded, and Missandei announced: “City Lords of the East, West, South, and North Cities, please group yourselves according to the streets you are on. Good Masters from the same street, please stand in the same queue.”

The Good Masters looked at each other, they had never experienced such a strange political affairs meeting.

Many Good Masters swallowed their questions. Beside Her Majesty the Queen stood a giant king who was said to be from Westeros, this guy killed people without blinking an eye, and had executed several Good Masters who dared to offer opinions this morning. The Good Masters who offended him were either beheaded or cut in half with a sword.

Daenerys nodded to Lady Emily, Lady Emily stood on the second step to the left of Her Majesty the Queen.

Lady Emily received the order and took out a large map from her arms. She waved her hand to signal, and two maids came up from the bottom step, bowing their heads to hold up the map for the lady.

“Good Masters, I will start with the streets of the East City, every time I read the name of a street, please Good Masters stand on a step below me. East City: Bala Ola Street.”

Three Good Masters walked out of the queue, climbed the steps step by step, and stood on a step below Lady Emily.

Her Majesty the Queen's throne was on the twenty-odd steps. Any Good Master who wanted to meet the Queen was not allowed to go up the steps. These steps also separated the Queen from danger, and also symbolized the Queen's supreme power. Only the Queen's most trusted courtiers, guards, and maids were qualified to walk up these steps. Anyone else was not allowed to walk up even one step.

However, the rule of not allowing people to go up the king's steps was broken by the announcement just now.

The Good Masters were all shocked, wondering what the Queen's intention was in convening this political affairs meeting.

The dragon knight king from Westeros killed Gnarr, the largest Good Master in Astapor, and also killed Hizdahr, the largest Holy Master in Meereen. Tonight, the Sons of the Harpy will surely violently attack the civilians in the city. Her Majesty the Queen summoned these Good Masters to the Royal Palace, not to ask the Good Masters to stop the upcoming massacre by the Sons of the Harpy, but to make a series of actions that puzzled the Good Masters.

While the Good Masters were surprised, they also had a schadenfreude mentality of watching the excitement. They all knew that once it got dark, the Mother of Dragons and the Dragon Knight King would know what a disaster was, and this was just a small start.

*

The three Good Masters walked up the Queen's steps for the first time in their lives, and were very close to the Queen, a distance of two steps and a platform. If they had sharp knives on them, this would be a very threatening distance to Her Majesty the Queen. However, the giant king and Jorah Mormont, as well as Grey Worm, were standing beside Her Majesty the Queen, even if they had knives, they would not be able to get close to the Queen.

The giant king walked to the edge of the platform, looked at the three Good Masters across two steps: “Are you the Good Masters of Bala Ola Street in the East City?”

“Yes, Your Great Majesty the King.” The three Good Masters answered in unison. They were terrified of this giant king. The giant king's bloody cruelty in killing people had already spread throughout the city, absolutely killing people without blinking an eye, with cruel and vicious methods.

“Names.” The Mountain shouted.

The three Good Masters reported their names.

A scholar took out paper and pen, and wrote down the names of the three people and the name of the street they were on.

The Mountain reached out and took the parchment written by the scholar, and handed it to the three people: “In the name of the Harpy, bite your middle fingers, and press the blood stains on your names.”

The three Good Masters looked at each other.

Below the steps, more than one hundred Good Masters were also surprised.

They had never experienced such a strange and bizarre thing.

But under the giant king's gaze, the three Good Masters did so.

The Mountain raised the paper: “Good Master Kirk, Good Master Christine, Good Master Archie, from this moment on, the safety of Bala Ola Street and the alleys in the East City will be handed over to you three. If, starting tonight, a murder by the Sons of the Harpy occurs anywhere on Bala Ola Street, the three of you will be beheaded and displayed to the public.”

Kirk, Christine, and Archie all thought they had heard wrong.

Below the steps, more than one hundred Good Masters also thought they had heard wrong.

“The blood you just shed is already imprinted on your own names.” The Mountain raised the paper, pointing to the names and blood stains on it, “This is the contract. After you die, your sons will take over your work and be responsible for the safety of Bala Ola. If any Son of the Harpy kills or injures any innocent person in Bala Ola, your sons will have to pay with their lives. After your sons are all dead, it will be your daughters' turn, until all the people in your family are dead. Of course, you can also work together to ensure the safety of Bala Ola Street, so that your lives and the lives of your families will be guaranteed.”

Kirk was a tall and burly bald man, wearing a high-end silk goose-yellow robe. Eight copper mirrors were sewn on the back of the robe, which represented that he was the highest level of the Good Masters in Astapor. His gaze moved away from the Mountain and looked at Her Majesty the Queen: “Great Mother of Dragons, we cannot accept such a political affairs order. This is not fair. It is the Sons of the Harpy who kill people, not us. We are loyal subjects of Her Majesty the Queen, how can we use our lives to replace the lives of criminals?”

“Don't say such high-sounding words, Good Master Kirk, when the Sons of the Harpy were rampant in Astapor, Her Majesty the Queen was helpless. She invited Holy Master Hizdahr from Meereen, and Holy Master Hizdahr visited the Good Masters of Astapor one by one. After he visited the Good Masters in the city, the killings by the Sons of the Harpy stopped. Also because of his great contribution, Her Majesty the Queen agreed to marry Hizdahr, and the two publicly set a marriage contract. Only on the day of the marriage contract, a warrior beside Her Majesty the Queen ate the honey locusts of Holy Master Hizdahr on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen, and as a result, he was poisoned and almost died.” The Mountain's angry eyes swept over the hundred Good Masters, “I believe you Good Masters all understand what I want to say, after Hizdahr visited you, the killings by the invincible Sons of the Harpy stopped miraculously, why?”

The faces of the Good Masters all changed, and each of them breathed heavily. Some of the Good Masters' faces also became very ugly.

“Good Master Kirk, can you tell me why after Hizdahr visited you, the killings by the invincible Sons of the Harpy stopped so magically?” The Mountain walked to Kirk and asked.

Kirk opened his mouth, speechless.

“Okay, Her Majesty the Queen and I have made a decision, the safety of Bala Ola in the East City will be jointly managed by Good Master Kirk, Good Master Christine, and Good Master Archie. From tonight on, as long as there is a murder or injury incident by the Harpy in Bala Ola, the three of you will all be sentenced to death.”

“...This...is...not fair...not all the Good Masters understand...the Sons of the Harpy...” Kirk stammered.

“Very good, you want to say that not all the Good Masters are related to the Sons of the Harpy, I admit that some Good Masters are indeed not related to the Sons of the Harpy, then, he can also be exempted from punishment, as long as he stands up and tells us, in the street jurisdiction he is responsible for, which Good Master is related to the Sons of the Harpy, after we arrest and try him and determine that it is true, then, this Good Master who stands up to report will be rewarded by us and exempted from punishment. Good Master Kirk, do the two Good Masters beside you have anything to do with the Sons of the Harpy?”

Kirk opened his mouth again, speechless.

“Kirk, speak.” The Mountain shouted. When he shouted, it was like a thunderclap, the entire hall rumbled, and the echo of speaking, speaking, speaking echoed in the hall again and again.

Kirk's face was blue and black, he held his breath for a long time before exhaling a long breath and panting: “Your Majesty the King, Your Majesty the Queen, I accept the political affairs order to manage the safety of Bala Ola Street, but I need Her Majesty the Queen to allocate one hundred Unsullied soldiers to patrol the streets.”

“Give you ten soldiers.” The Mountain said, “If you think ten soldiers are too few, then discuss with the other two Good Masters to increase some manpower. As long as the three of you fail to ensure the safety of Bala Ola Street, then congratulations, I will cut off your heads as soon as possible.”

Soon after, the three Good Masters Kirk, Christine, and Archie left the Royal Palace. They walked out of the gate of the Royal Palace, came to the street, looked up at the three flying giant dragons, exchanged glances, and hurried back to the East City.

There must be no mistakes by the Sons of the Harpy in the East City, if there are, they will die, there is no doubt about this.

The Mountain raised his hand to signal, and Lady Emily called out the name of the second street: “East City, Castro.”

The five Good Masters living in Castro came out. They came to Lady Emily, reported their names, then bit their fingers and pressed their blood on their names. The Mountain then announced that if a murder or injury incident by the Sons of the Harpy occurred in Castro, then the five Good Masters would be executed in public.

Castro does not refer to one street, but to several streets, as well as a market and several alleys. It was a larger area.

However, the five Good Masters were all powerful Good Masters, three of whom also ran arenas.

The five Good Masters, as the second group of Good Masters to leave the Royal Palace, from then on, they will have to work together to protect the safety of Castro. As long as a murder or injury incident by the Sons of the Harpy occurs, their lives will come to an end.

This matter was busy until the sun was setting, and finally it was all completed.

In every place in the East, West, South, and North Cities of Astapor, there are local Good Masters responsible for dealing with the riots of the Sons of the Harpy. And the Sons of the Harpy can exist precisely because these Good Masters support them. The Good Masters pay to support such a semi-militarized organization.

When the last Good Master walked out of the Royal Palace, the Mountain and Lady Emily, Missandei and others breathed a sigh of relief.

The Mountain looked at Daenerys: “Your Majesty the Queen, tonight, we can sleep well.”

Daenerys looked at the Mountain: “Your Majesty the King, what if these Good Masters unite to rebel? I see that each of them dares to be angry but dares not speak out, and their hearts are full of resentment towards us.”

“I have a good excuse to kill them all.”

“If you kill them all, the Sons of the Harpy will lose control, and the situation will be even more unmanageable.”

“No, if I kill them all, I still have a way to deal with the remaining Sons of the Harpy. Your Majesty the Queen, the troubles of Slaver's Bay, in my eyes, are not troubles.”