บท 265: Chapter 265

Next Day

"My father doesn't usually acts this impulsively." Tyrion said once he told them about the plans of Tywin Lannister to form an alliance with Myr, Tyrosh and Ibben, buy Unsallied soldiers and attack his home. "When the Mad King insulted him, he waited for almost a decade, stewing in anger in Casterly Rock before he finally got his chance. Then he sacked Kings Landing and killed all Targaryens."

"Seems like you've made quite a foe in Tywin Lannister my lord." Karsi said and he scoffed.

"Not really." He said "If I want to do so, then I could kill Tywin or Kevan at any moment and end this whole farce. But veterans are only formed in a battlefield. For all that I've trained my legions the best I could, they've still not participated in a real battle. This will be a good opportunity for them to show their metal."

"Against the Unsallied?" Tyrion asked "Forgive me my lord but I've seen your men. And while they are indeed the best in Westeros by a huge margin… the things I've heard about the Unsallied…"

"They're not fabrications." He said "I've seen the Unsallied with my own eyes. I've even freed and brought quite a few of them back with me. In fact, you might not know but when I first started forming an army, I used these same Unsallied as their commanders."

"Huh… I did not know that." Tyrion admitted.

"The core of my army is made up of Unsallied, ex-mercenaries, gladiaters and older and more experienced men who had participated in war before. My recruits are green indeed but their commanders are not."

Tyrion nodded at his words "That still won't help us against the Unsallied. We might win, thanks to our walls and ships, but we'll also lose a lot of men."

"Unsallied are good." Mocqo said from his seat "Very good."

"We won't be losing any men that way." He replied "I don't plan on fighting the Unsallied."

"You aren't…" Tyrion looked confused "What are… oh!!!"

��Yes. An army like the Unsallied would be wasted in the hands of the Lannisters." He said "And I want every advantage I could get in this upcoming war."

Tyrion nodded "I have a feeling that I should have seen this coming." He said "I know that you're rich. But do you really have enough gold to buy the whole Unsallied army?"

"Wait? We're buying slave soldiers now?" Karsi asked, horrified by the mere thought of it.

"I don't know how I feel about this either my lord." Varko said and Walton nodded as well.

"I'm not buying slave soldiers." He explained to them "I'm… liberating them."

"Liberating?" Karsi asked.

"Yes. I'll buy them, true. But once they arrive in my shores, I'll free them. At that point, if they want to leave, then they'll be free to do so. But if they stay and join my army, then I'll give each and every one of them a house and a decent pay. It is the least of what they deserve."

"I seems a little manipulative." Tyrion said "The only thing they've ever known is battle. And they don't have anywhere to go either aside from doing what they've been doing and joining you."

He shrugged "I know it's manipulative. And I don't like it either. But our other choices are to let them be bought by the Lannisters, in which case I'll sink their ships before they ever reach my shores. Or be bought by the magisters in the other cities where they'll spent their whole lives as slaves before eventually dying of a wound or old age." He said "If you have any better idea then I'm listening."

His generals and other commanders remained silent and he nodded.

"How are we going to bring them here?" Tyrion asked "In case we've forgotten, Astapor is quite far from here. It might take us 3-4 months to just get there on ship. Not to mention the pirates and the bad weather."

"Muron will go." He said.

"I will?" Muron asked with some surprise "Who will protect your ships and chase away the pirates then."

"After your last culling of the pirates near Sisterton, I don't think they'll harass our ships for a year or two. Of course, some pirates might get bold and attack in your absence but this is a risk I'm willing to take."

Muron frowned at that "How many ships I'll take with me?"

"Hundred." He replied "50 war galleys, your flagship Kraken and 50 for transporting food and bringing back the Unsallied."

"How many Unsallied are there?" Karsi asked.

"Not sure about the exact numbers." He said "But it should be somewhere between 5,000-10,000"

"That many." Walton said, his eyes a little wide in surprise.

"That many." He nodded.

"That many won't fit in the only 50 galleys." Muron pointed out.

"You can buy, borrow or steal the ships from the merchants, sell sails or slavers." He said with a negligent wave of his arm "Do whatever it is that you want. I want that Unsallied army in my lands before the end of the year."

"It will be done." Muron said with a bow and he nodded.