The Glory of the Seven Gods of Ice and Fire

Chapter 195 Eastern Commander

When he stood behind Duke Hugo and looked at the meeting place where the future of the Eastern countries would be decided, Rocus Mopatis thought about his childhood in the streets of Pentos. He never thought that one day he would be able to stand with these great men.

Before he was 8 years old, he lived in a wealthy family in Pentos. They claimed to be his adoptive father and mother, but little Rokus always regarded them as his real parents. They gave him sincere love and a good education.

Therefore, little Rokus never cared about his biological parents.

For the generation of young Rokus, it was a good time to be born - the war in Pentos ended when they were still in their infancy, and both sides of the narrow sea were prospering under the rule of the Iron Throne. Therefore, the new generation like young Rokus had no nostalgia for the former Pentos. Even though they had the blood of the descendants of Valyria, they accepted the order of the new world without hesitation. Prince Tiresidus and the forty families were just stories from their fathers. Why should we hate the kind rulers of today for a group of dead people?

For adults and the elderly, Pentos under the rule of Westeros is a brand new life, but for young people like Rochus, this kind of life is just as it should be. As a child of a wealthy class, he might become a civil servant, or go outside the city to assist a lord, or even marry into a long-established Western family because of his outstanding abilities. But in general, he doesn't have to go to southern territories like Myr to seek opportunities, nor does he need to go to frontiers like Andas and Lorn to enlist in battle. He can stay in the fertile land of Pentos by the narrow sea all his life, where he is born and will die.

However, what little Rocus never expected was that on his eighth nameday, an important figure entered his home surrounded by countless soldiers and followers. He was a fat man with a long golden beard, and his adoptive parents knelt in front of him. Later, little Rocus learned the identity of this man: Illyrio Mopatis, the mayor of Pentos and his own father.

He still remembered the scene when his father saw him for the first time. It was in the main hall of the house. The man looked at him again and again with a complicated look in his eyes. Finally, he walked up to him, hugged him and put him on his shoulders. The father and son walked back to the mayor's residence under the escort of soldiers. The next day, the whole city knew that the fat mayor had a son.

"I'm sorry, son. I didn't give you the best. It's not that I don't want to, but that I can't." On the way back to the official residence, the father seemed to mutter these words to himself, and his voice was so low that only the father and son could hear them clearly. Little Rokus still hasn't figured out what his father meant by these words, just as he was surprised that his father had strength that was different from that of an ordinary fat man.

In this way, little Rocus knew his identity, lived in the mayor's manor, and appeared in the upper class of Pentos as the mayor's son. His fate seemed to have not changed much - he was still born in Pentos and died in Pentos, but if you compare it carefully, it will be very different.

Little Rochus was initially quite uncomfortable with his father. To him, he was just a stranger who suddenly appeared in his life, but Illyrio quickly won his son's heart with his true feelings.

In Illyrio's manor, little Rochus received the rigorous education that the son of the mayor deserved. In order to make his son capable of inheriting his legacy, the mayor used his own connections and spent a lot of money to hire many talented people: the Tattered Prince taught him military strategy in his spare time, Sir Rolly Duckfield of the Golden Company trained him in martial arts, the elders of the Eastern Order taught him how to maintain his faith, and the knowledgeable "Semester" Haldon taught him the language and history of both sides of the Narrow Sea, the seasons of farming, the migration of fish schools, the making of tools and the art of healing. His father personally taught him the etiquette of meetings and the handling of government affairs.

In the early days, little Rokus was almost overwhelmed by the heavy workload. According to others, even the crown prince of the king would not have to endure such a rigorous academic schedule. Little Rokus agreed with this comment. Even though his foundation was excellent among his peers, it was still very difficult to go through these days. Fortunately, although his father was very demanding in his studies, he was a gentle and considerate parent in his daily life. Whenever he was about to give up, his father would come to his side and comfort his son with gentle words. He would also let little Rokus stop and relax at the appropriate time. Over time, little Rokus got through the most difficult stage and understood the irreplaceable nature of these knowledge and skills.

Although Illyrio was initially a stranger who suddenly appeared in little Rochus' life, he won his son's heart with his dedication and true feelings.

Later, Rochus learned about his mother, Sira, who died young, and the past of his adoptive parents as his father's servants. He once asked his father why he was sent out to be fostered under an assumed name, but his father just sighed and told him that the reason and purpose were in the past and he should not worry about it. Rochus suspected that this might be related to Prince Tiresidus, who became more suspicious before his death, and he listened to his father and never cared about this matter again.

In the upper class of Pentos, as the son of Illyrio, there are countless people around him, trying to please him and flatter him, hoping to rely on him to gain their own interests. This kind of thing is very familiar to little Rocus. Not long ago, his adoptive parents married city officials, and some more active people would not let go of anyone who was related to the target. Little Rocus naturally likes this feeling of being the center of attention, but he is still clear in his heart - rather than saying that they are trying to please me and flatter me, it is better to say that they are trying to please and flatter my father. They are performing for my father.

As he got to know the system of the Iron Throne better, Rokus had a clearer understanding of himself. He remembered his father begging for help for his future. He remembered his humble appearance, which was exactly the same as those around him. The mayor of Pentos, who was second only to the mayor, was just a more conspicuous pawn under the Iron Throne.

As the saying goes, the ignorant are fearless, so little Rocus did not have the arrogance of those children of the powerful; he understood that even his own father, a father who had surpassed 99% of the men in the world, was incapable of arranging his own future, and he still had a long way to go before he could become the real ruler of power, the Mopatis Family, and he might never reach that position.

That is why, in his spare time, little Rokus missed the streets of Pentos where he lived with his adoptive parents in his childhood, and the carefree time playing with his friends. That is why he never lost contact with his adoptive parents, and would go back to visit them from time to time. He was also very happy that his adoptive parents had gained many conveniences because of his identity; however, he knew that he was different now after all - a leisurely life did not belong to him. If he wanted to take over his father's job, live a better life, and have his offspring worry-free in the future, he had to work hard to fight for it, because the future could not be achieved by lying down.

This time, my father swallowed his pride and used all the resources at his disposal to gain a merit for himself from the Tattered Prince. It was this merit that earned him his current position - Lord Hugo's attendant.

Aenys Frey fulfilled his promise and recommended himself to Lord Hugo, who was sent to Westeros by his squire and had a quota beside him. Little Rochus still remembered Hugo's surprised expression when he came to him - maybe he thought Aenys would keep him. Of course, Lord Hugo still accepted him.

Becoming Duke Hugo's attendant was far beyond the expectations of Mopatis and his son. Becoming the attendant of the God-favored One was something they had never dared to think of before, not to mention that at the moment, Lord Hugo would most likely become the leader of the entire East. For this, little Rokus was full of gratitude to the two elders who helped him. It was a pity that he had no ability to repay them for the time being. However, becoming Hugo's attendant already indicated that he had a bright future, and that day would not be too late.

Thus began the career of Locus Mopatis as a squire.

First, he followed Lord Hugo to the City of Hugo. He had been here before, when his father brought him to see the center of Andas. Now, he had a room of his own in that ancient palace.

As a servant, his life was extremely busy. He had to deal with various complicated matters for his master every day. If it were just that, it would be fine. However, after the withdrawal of the Norvos people, his workload increased exponentially.

Lord Hugo has to visit and meet many people every day. As a servant, he has to pick them up and guide them. He is very busy every day.

However, Rokus also gained a lot from it. His father once told him that being at the center of power would make people regard you as part of the center of power, and that being at the center of power would also allow one to obtain a lot of information.

As those visitors handed him handfuls of gold and silver, he understood this completely - Rocus naturally chose to refuse. He knew very well what was important and what was not important, and he would not sacrifice his future for that little bit of wealth.

Rocus did not even reveal these secrets to his father, because Illyrio said that since he was Hugo's squire, he should do his job well and not have any bad ideas. If he could make Lord Hugo happy, he could get much better than what he could provide.

At the moment, Lord Hugo is busy trying to gain the support of the Eastern lords. People of all kinds from all over the New Seven Kingdoms gather in the City of Hugo for various purposes.

Hugo talked with the lords and officials one by one, understood their needs, made promises, and exchanges of interests took place right under his nose.

The New Seven Kingdoms is a vast land. The nobles and officials in this land have various interests. Some of them are contradictory, and some are harmonious. Now, these are what Lord Hugo must face.

He also saw the other side of the one favored by the gods. The life of this man favored by the seven gods was not as easy as people said outside. He also faced tremendous pressure and carried a heavy burden on his shoulders. Many times, when Rokus saw the fatigue and distress on Hugo's face, he felt as if he saw his father.

While watching these exchanges of interests, Rocus also had an idea of ​​when Lord Hugo would announce his supreme status in the East.

He was also looking forward to that day, because at that moment, his status would surely rise.

And that day came much earlier than Rokus expected.

The Governor's Mansion in Myr, the chief official residence of the New Seven Kingdoms, was crowded today. After a series of wars, the center of the East once again witnessed history. Guarding the side of the rock throne, Rocus Mopatis looked at the Eastern dignitaries gathered in the hall and couldn't help but feel emotional. On the one hand, he remained alert, and on the other hand, he scanned these people with his eyes, and their conversations and transactions with Lord Hugo emerged in his mind.

Rokus glanced at these people, and their conversation with Lord Hugo came to his mind.

First of all, there were the nobles from Pentos. The colorful emblems gathered there. This was the place where the nobles of the New Seven Kingdoms had the most complicated power, bar none: Frey, Bolton, Stokeworth, Rosby, Teague, Rivers, Guberk, Fell, Brune...

It is said that it is difficult to have the best of both worlds. The noble forces in Pentos are complex and intertwined. The alliances and hatreds among them are like a twisted spider web. It is very laborious to win over these forces. These families have various demands and conditions, some of which Lord Hugo can meet, but some cannot; fortunately, thanks to Darry's "unspeakable loyalty" to Targaryen, when they rebelled and died, their large territory as one of the three major families in Pentos became the spoils of the Duke of Andras. Now Lord Hugo uses it as a bargaining chip to win over the nobles of the plains. The land under the farmer's emblem has been divided into pieces, so that everyone has a share, and every loyal family benefits from it.

Behind the nobles of Pentos were the Lannisters of Upper Lorn. Commander Tygett looked very haggard. In this counterattack, the Lannisters suffered heavy losses in the east and could not control the new seven kingdoms like the main family of Westeros.

Therefore, the Lion Lord turned to support his long-time ally Hugo. Littlefinger's secret withdrawal had a huge impact on the Lannisters, and they did not want this situation to happen again.

Of course, as Lord Hugo's long-term allies, the two commanders of Pentos and Upper Lorn also have a special status in the new team in the East. As a deal to withdraw from the competition, Lord Hugo arranged corresponding positions and benefits for them.

The Red Viper of Dorne stayed alone. Due to his long-standing bad reputation, not many people wanted to make friends with this Dornishman, but he didn't seem to care.

The Dornish made the same choice as the Lannisters, who had always been at odds with them, in choosing the leader of the East, which surprised Rochus. He understood the grudge between the lion and the spear, and now that the two families made the same choice, it could only be that the previous situation was so bad that the two families were willing to reach an agreement on the candidate.

At first glance, Harry Strickland, the current leader of the Golden Group, seemed to be just an ordinary official. He was so inconspicuous that it took Rocus a long time to find him.

Rocus thought that this man was a mediocre person. When Mis Toyne was still in charge of the Golden Group, although this mercenary group lived a happy life in their fiefdom, when they were needed to fight, the soldiers under the Skull Banner were still sharp.

But since the new leader took over, within a few years, the current situation of the Golden Group has changed from integrating farming and fighting to the neglect of military preparations. The mercenary group that once fought in many battles has degenerated into a group of farmers. Even though its cavalry is still strong, it cannot reverse the overall decline of the legion.

The demands of the Golden Group are also very simple. They hope to keep what they have now and gain some new benefits, such as expanding some land to Darry's old territory, obtaining more fishery shares in Mill Bay, etc.

Lord Hugo readily agreed to this. Rocus still remembered how happy the mediocre captain was, like a miser who suddenly gained a large sum of wealth.

The local officials and nobles of Myr were looking forward to the opening of the ceremony, while some officials who were temporarily promoted from the academy were very nervous, as it was their first time to experience such a grand occasion. At the same time, in the Myrish team, Rocus saw some people with sensitive identities. These guys stood under the dragon flag actively or passively in the previous chaos. When Viserys was defeated, they secretly visited Lord Hugo and pleaded guilty to him. The Duke did pardon most of them. That is why they were also full of enthusiasm for this ceremony - if Duke Tollet could not take this position, who would implement their pardon?
Although it had been conquered, Lower Rhoyne, as part of the Seven Kingdoms of the East, also had representatives present. They were knights and nobles who had fled westward under the Volantis army, and they were eager for someone to help them regain their territory; therefore, when Lord Hugo promised them that he would send troops to the Rhoyne River, these people simply declared their support for him.

Of course, little Rocus also understood that under the current circumstances, Lord Hugo was not in a hurry to recapture the mouth of the River Lorne. He needed to wait for an appropriate opportunity and solve all the current troubles.

Those people dressed beautifully and gorgeously and standing next to the landless people are the envoys of the great families of Lys. These profit-seeking and flexible guys don't care who rules them. The islanders ignore the disputes on the mainland and hide in the sea to form their own system. Lord Hugo has no demands on them and acquiesces in their practices - neutrals are always better than enemies.

No envoy came from Sothoryos, and there was no news from the East even now. Ever since the Iron Throne's forces withdrew from the East, this isolated territory overseas had been cut off from other places. Whether it was Gillian or Euron, they and their fleets seemed to have disappeared from the world, and no one knew what happened there.

As for Euron, everyone believed that he would not be affected by the civil strife on the Iron Throne, and many people even hoped that something would happen to him in the East. Apart from that, no one paid much attention to this evil sea monster.

As Gillian's brother, Commander Tiget was very anxious about his brother's disappearance. Lord Hugo also cared about his long-time friend and ally. A few days before the ceremony, they made a special trip to find the Lys envoy to discuss with him how to rebuild contact with the south. Considering that the Volantis had regained control of the Summer Sea in the east, the Lys people could only say that they would do their best.

As for the last eastern territory, Tyrosh sent a serious officer, who reminded Rochus of his equally serious master Stannis. This man only came to watch the ceremony as Stannis' representative. He would not express any attitude towards the changes in the east, nor would he make any comments.

In contrast, the King of the Iron Throne and the King in Highgarden also sent envoys to watch the ceremony, and the officials at the venue had to disperse them to avoid fighting among the envoys.

It must be said that this was an interesting situation. Rocus thought that the three kings in the west needed Lord Hugo's support to suppress the other side, so they all tacitly agreed that Lord Hugo would become the leader of the East, and they were just short of asking the Lord for help directly.

This is the power that a true king should have. Holding the Valyrian steel sword given by his father tightly in his hand, little Rocus couldn't help but think, how great it would be if he could have such a day and such power - but unfortunately, deep down, Rocus knew that this was not his life.

At this time, Lord Hugo walked into the hall, and everyone's attention was immediately attracted to him. Lord Hugo walked in wearing a coat with complex patterns and scenes from the Seven-Star Bible painted on it. He was surrounded by priests and servants sent by the Eastern Church. They all wore their most gorgeous clothes and surrounded Hugo in the center like a king.

With Hugo's appearance, everyone present straightened their backs, including Rokus.

Hugo was like the monarch of the new seven kingdoms. He walked through rows and rows of nobles and officials and came to the main seat. Luchen Frey, the "King of the Eastern Church", stood humbly beside Hugo, like a page boy.

Next, Hugo spoke the words he had prepared for a long time, but Rocus didn't listen much because he had already read the manuscripts and had even personally helped Lord Hugo read them.

The general content of this manuscript is a description of the recent difficulties in the East, and how the new seven countries will overcome these difficulties under the leadership of Lord Hugo. Finally, the most important content is naturally that Lord Hugo announced that with the support of the people of the new seven countries, he will become the Grand Commander of the East - to be precise, the Grand Commander of the East, the Regent of the New Seven Countries, and the Duke of Andas, Hugo Tollet.

As Hugo finished his speech, there was thunderous applause and cheers in response. Rokus couldn't help but be shocked by this scene. Being at the center of this great scene, Rokus was naturally touched and shocked.

When these voices stopped, Lord Hugo announced two extremely important appointments. Lord Inis and Lord Tiget both received new titles: Inis is now the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces, the Protector of the Realm, the Prime Minister, and the Commander of Pentos, while Tiget is the Governor-General of the Frontier, the Inspector, the Lord of Upper and Lower Lorne, and the Commander of Upper Lorne.

More than a decade after the end of the expedition, the nobles of the expeditionary army finally took back the dominance of the East from the Iron Throne. At this point, everyone in the venue understood that no matter what attitude they held towards Hugo, this would be the future power structure in the East.

(End of this chapter)