Firegrass Manor was harvested clean; the gunpowder herb was dried, baked, and withered gunpowder herb could be used as a medicinal herb or added to wine. The Governor needed this wealth, everyone understood that.
"I will await your message, awaiting Governor Kasu's fate like a dice roll, whether he rises high or falls into the abyss!" the Manor Steward said to The Handsome Man.
"Aren't you returning to Myr with us, Steward Luv!" The Handsome Man whispered.
"This manor with the red-painted gate is where I've spent half my life. I was born here, and I will die here. Besides, Myr is as dangerous now as Firegrass Manor. But I still pray the Governor wins this election, otherwise I might end up on the streets, as other Governors would prefer their own people," Steward Luv replied.
"I had forgotten that! You're right, Myr isn't exactly safe now either!" The Handsome Man also felt the tragic atmosphere. When a Governor falls, most of his property will likely be liquidated. Governor Kasu's ports, manors, shops, and even his wife, children, and slaves would not be spared.
For example, in the later period of the Dance of the Dragons, Archon Bambaro of Lys died at the hands of Mercenaries due to unpaid wages. After his death, people discovered he was deeply in debt. The Governor's creditors confiscated his mansion, sold his wife and children into slavery, and all his property (including Prince Viserys) went to the great Lysandro Rogare.
"Take care, my old friend!" The Handsome Man said in a deep voice to the Steward, then ordered a desolate horn to be blown. The Wolf Pack Company, escorting the transport convoy, would depart at dawn. For a while now, the Wolf Pack Company had blown their horns many times, and people outside the manor were watching them. But this time, it was their true departure.
"You take care too! Old friend! If things go badly in Myr, Firegrass Manor can still barely serve as a refuge. There are hills here, a manor, and some slaves, and most importantly, it's not too far from the coastline," the Manor Steward said sincerely. He was a Free Folk of Myr, and he understood Myr's politics.
The desolate horn echoed through the manor. In Gendry's room, Gendry looked at himself in the mirror, as bright as a newly forged sword. There's a saying that people look much prettier in the mirror than usual, not to mention he was already a handsome and strong Boy. Gendry was tall and muscular. His thick black hair and blue eyes were the inheritance of House Baratheon.
Gendry looked at his polished black scale armor, spiked Morningstar, warhammer, arakh, and yew longbow. This was almost his most luxurious gear. The road to Myr was destined to be full of perils.
"Knock knock!" Qyburn knocked and entered. He also wore a black chainmail, and it felt like the old man could barely support the armor. But the battlefield was, after all, full of dangers.
"Let's go, Your Highness! At our marching speed, perhaps we won't miss the Myr election game!"
"The Myr election game. Power seems to have a myriad of magic, making people move with it!" Gendry exclaimed. Magic was like embellishments and stars; in this era of slightly weaker magic, the most prominent power was still authority.
"There's no other way. Unless we are as strong as the Golden Company, with a scale comparable to a regular army, then we won't be dependent on Governors, but rather the Free Cities will curry favor with us!" Qyburn envied the scale of the Golden Company.
"There's also a worst-case scenario: Governor Kasu fails completely!" Gendry thought for a moment. Once Kasu and his family fail, what about the Wolf Pack Company? They are bound to face setbacks.
"Actually, it's best if we stay in the manor. If the situation in Myr becomes unfavorable, we'll take this batch of gunpowder herb, then retreat to Crown Town or hire a ship to the Stepstones and become pirates! It's a pity Northerners' heads are made of stone."
"What you're thinking of is the worst outcome. The Wolf Pack Company is not a band of robber knights after all!"
"I heard from Pentos smugglers that Viserys and Daenerys's lives are getting harder and harder!" Qyburn secretly told Gendry. "Initially, the Archons, Governors, and rich merchants ruling the various Free Cities were happy to host the true dragon bloodline, but as time went on, King Robert's rule gradually solidified, and fewer and fewer doors were open to them. For several years, they sold all their jewels, and now the money from selling their mother's crown has also been largely spent. People in Pentos call them the Beggar siblings, the Beggar King and the Beggar Princess."
"Viserys wants too much. He wants to sell his sister for a good price, but that price is one even the most greedy Archon wouldn't dare accept!" Gendry said. Viserys wanted the iron throne, he wanted to hire a large army to go to the Sunset Continent to restore his kingdom, which was actually beyond the capabilities of the various Free Cities. Without sufficient profit, these cheese mongers and butter sellers would not dare to launch a military adventure. As long as the great alliance of fish, wolf, lion, falcon, and deer remains, the situation on the surface is still as solid as a rock.
"The Beggar King is going mad waiting for the right moment; he wants that iron throne too much! He waits for the true dragon to return, but he has no opportunity year after year! He is also a stumbling block to our cause; you only need the Princess!" Qyburn said.
"Poor man! I heard the Beggar King also shows signs of madness, I don't know if it's hereditary or forced upon him," Gendry sighed.
Enduring the days of exile and restoration for over a decade, the Beggar King was truly extraordinary. In fact, if the Beggar King had endured two more years until the iron throne fell into chaos, he would have been overjoyed to see Westeros in turmoil, as there would at least be a glimmer of hope for the restoration of his kingdom. Unfortunately, Viserys's soul had long been scorched by day after day of waiting and anger, and he could no longer endure.
"The beautiful Dragon Princess is still a dream, but now we have to face the infighting of the cheese mongers and gunpowder herb sellers!"
...The Wolf Pack Company's banner fluttered in the wind. Because they were escorting a slave convoy transporting gunpowder herb, their speed was actually not fast!
This time, the Wolf Pack Company took a different route. The men and horses departed from Firegrass Manor and headed straight for the coastline, where pre-arranged ships would take them to Myr.
However, this journey was not safe and stable. The route from the manor to the coastline was the most dangerous and also relatively rugged, far from as wide as the main roads in the Disputed Lands. But what the Wolf Pack needed most was time; they could not wait a single moment.
Gendry saw bodies nailed to crosses on both sides of the road. There were many bodies; their flesh had already been picked clean by crows! A glint shone in the hollow eye sockets of their skulls, leaving one speechless. The wind rustled their tattered clothes, and some bodies still had handcuffs.
"These are people who were nailed to death!" The Handsome Man said. "Some were runaway slaves, some were smugglers who came to the coastline! If they were discovered, this was their fate!"
"Head went to Myr with thirty men!" Dick the Fletch said. He also arrived at Firegrass Manor with twenty men. "We still have about sixty men here, and the remaining sixty men stayed behind at Wolf's Den with their families and Attendants."
"I don't have sixty men here anymore. Morningstar and three brothers are gone. To be precise, it's over fifty brothers!" The Handsome Man corrected their statement.
"It's all the same to me!" Dick the Fletch smiled. "A Wolf Pack of over fifty men is still incredibly strong! We also have this Boy here, I heard he killed the Meereenese and avenged Morningstar!"
Gendry was a little embarrassed, but also proud.
"I always feel like someone has been watching us! It seems they've finally waited until now!" The Handsome Man suddenly said, prompting everyone to heighten their vigilance.