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—
Braavos
Sea Lord's Palace
The Sea Lord was a master of negotiation, as one who was elected to this position had to be, and just like all their previous negotiations, this one was hard and tiring.
Not to mention the shipwrights he had sent over.
But they did reach a deal after two very tiring weeks.
Both Braavos and Asgard would waive any tolls and fees for the ships and traders of the other and lower the tariffs significantly enough, with the option to fully remove them when Asgard grew big enough to handle more trade.
They also agreed on cooperation against piracy and slavery to ensure the safety of the Narrow Sea for both sides' benefit.
Ferrego also insisted on the involvement of the Iron Bank—probably requested by the bankers, knowing they were friends—as Robert refused to have much to do with them beyond the interest they gave to his gold, both in investing in Asgard as well as offers of lower interest rates for any loan he might take, but Robert only agreed to allow small amounts of investment, knowing even as wealthy as he was, he couldn't match the Iron Bank's financial strength and any investment they made would give the bankers influence in Asgard. He agreed to the loans but would try not to take any unless it became absolutely necessary.
Free lodging for up to a week would be provided for the traders to support the flow of commerce, and they also agreed any long-term trade deals would be discussed with each other first as a courtesy, and only then with others if a deal could not be reached. This would be implemented later when Asgard started to export in greater amounts.
—
Braavos
Docks
So here he was, taking a stroll around the city with a translator and Davos, who had had the ships repaired and refurbished and filled their holds with trade items of value, such as pearls, gems, and accessories, as well as weapons, spices, dyes, and silk. Not to mention the four hundred thousand gold interest he had collected from the Iron Bank.
Being a smuggler, he knew the most profitable items of trade, as well as their prices and where to sell them.
He also visited the artisans, especially the glassmakers, and their luggage would be loaded when the Asgard contingency was ready to return home.
They were talking about gaining access to other ports in Westeros, and with Robert antagonizing the wealthiest of the kingdoms, they had to come up with a clever solution.
As they reached the market area, Robert couldn't help but notice how alive it was. Merchants everywhere, peddling their wares, from basic necessities to luxury items, and everything else one could imagine.
He decided to explore the market to see if anything caught his eye. The food section was something even the Reach would be envious of. Exotic fruits, gleaming vegetables, various kinds of bread, dried meats, cheese, and a lot more. He bought a little bit of everything to taste and was about to move to the part that contained arms sellers before his eyes fell on something.
Yellow-green, elongated pods on the ground next to a merchant selling exotic fruits. He approached the merchant, inspecting them closer.
Cocoa pods.
They were cocoa pods of all things, put on a rag as if they were not worthy of standing next to the fruits.
"How much for them?" Robert pointed to the pods, turning to his translator.
The young man and the vendor had a brief conversation before he translated back.
"He says they are too bitter to eat but are good for health if you can stomach them. It's one iron coin for all."
Right, claim something is good for health when you don't have any other way of selling it.
There were easily twenty or so of those pods, and Robert saw no issue with that. When he was done with them, they would be worth a lot more than an iron coin.
Robert handed over the coin and took the pods along with the rag until he found something for them.
"Let's go, Davos. I'll return to the palace after dropping these off."
"Yes, my lord." Davos wondered why his lord wanted to buy them, but then again, he didn't seem to do things without a good reason.
Nonetheless, the trio made their way to Black Betha, but the translator stayed out when Robert and Davos boarded the ship.
—
"What are we to do with these, my lord, medicine?" Davos asked; after all, Lord Robert was as healthy as a horse, as far as he knew.
"Hah, no. That merchant didn't know what he was selling. We are going into the chocolate business with these."
Who knew making his own chocolate would come in handy like this one day?
"Chocolate, my lord? What is that?" Davos said, the word sounding foreign to his tongue.
"Just one of the best things mankind has ever created, and believe me, we are going to make enough coin with that to put most businesses to shame." Robert sounded so sure of it, and Davos already wondered what this chocolate tasted like.
"Now we just need sugar; we did buy some, right?"
"Yes, my lord."
"Excellent." Robert stopped, remembering something.
"Damn it, I was so excited I forgot to ask where he bought them. Find that out, will you?"
Davos just nodded.
—
Another thing Braavos was really famous for was its courtesans. Robert had no interest in them, but they did have interest in the Father of the Dragons, if the barges berthed around them and the really beautiful ladies making eyes at Robert were anything to go by.
The crew, though, were very interested, acting like lovesick maidens, but Davos knew how to run his ship, so they didn't do anything but ogle.
He was out in the port and saw a small crowd gathering to watch one of the barges. Robert just shook his head and went to see if he could find some lodestones. He may not know how to make a compass out of it, but maybe he could find someone that could.
The crowd had turned into an agitated beehive, two men shouting at each other before they pulled out swords and the crowd parted, giving the duelists a small venue to fight.
The Braavos Water Dance was a fighting style that focused on speed, balance, and grace, similar to fencing.
It was interesting to watch, but Robert wondered why they were fighting in the first place.
"They are fighting over Nightingale." his translator supplied, probably having noticed the confusion on his face.
"Nightingale?" Both sides of him had chased women, though Robert was more successful on that front; Matt had never gone as far as to fight for someone not interested in him.
The translator simply pointed out to one of the barges where a beautiful woman of light brown skin, full lips, dark wavy hair, sapphire blue eyes, and a heart-shaped face, dressed in dark purple silken attire that left nothing to the imagination, was standing on the deck, watching the fight, pleased.
She blew him a kiss upon noticing him looking, though Robert just turned to the fight, ignoring her, more interested in the fight.
The two men had similar builds, lean and agile; the Water Dance preferred accurate strikes to target the weak points in the body.
He could see why it was called a dance, but it was over all too soon. One of the duelists, the one with longer hair, kept going for the other man's face and, when he overextended himself, stabbed him in the throat, leaving the man on the ground to gurgle and choke on his own blood.
Seeing no need to drag out his opponent's death, the victorious duelist stabbed him in the heart, putting an end to his suffering.
The man then turned around to face the crowd; Robert didn't understand the language but could guess he was asking for challengers from his demeanor and the way he brandished his sword.
When none came forward—though Robert considered doing it just to annoy the attention seeker—the man got on one knee, holding out his hand towards the most famous courtesan of Braavos.
The woman smiled, amused by the men fighting over her, and threw a rose at the man, drawing out a cheer from the crowd.
Corny.
"Come on, Davos, we are burning daylight for no reason."
Davos followed with an affirmative mutter, but Lady Luck was not on Robert's side today.
The duelist's voice rose, and the audience slowly turned, stopping him in his tracks. He looked back to see the crowd had parted and the duelist was pointing his sword at Robert, making a "come" sign with it.
Robert pointed at himself to ask if he actually meant him, and the man nodded.
"What's his problem?" He turned to the interpreter, not understanding.
"He claims you insulted Nightingale and challenges you to a duel." He pointed at the courtesan again, who was smiling with a devious grin.
"He has no idea who I am, does he?" Robert smiled, feeling giddy all of a sudden.
Robert approached the challenger when he shook his head.
"Tell him I'll fight barehanded." Robert muttered, stretching to get ready.
"He says," Davos started but he stopped the sailor with a hand. "I get it."
The Water Dancer probably said something along the lines of "your funeral" from the way he was posturing and the cocky grin on his face.
Robert walked into the manmade ring, his eyes locked on the brown orbs of his opponent. He raised his fists in a defensive gesture and waited. The Water Dancer was watching him for an opening and initiated the fight with a feint stab. Robert didn't react, still waiting. The Water Dancer tried a couple more feints to no avail.
He tensed, coiled like a cobra ready to strike, and stabbed at Robert's chest with the grace and swiftness of a jaguar. Robert, with a quickness that belied his size, dodged, and his opponent overextended himself, falling into the same fatal mistake the dead duelist did.
Robert's arm coiled around the sword arm of the Water Dancer like a snake, and he slammed his palm right into the man's throat, causing him to choke.
Next, Robert kicked him in the knee, and when he was on the ground, slammed the Braavosi duelist's arm to his knee with such force that the arm broke and the bone stuck out. The crowd gasped at the brutality of it, with some emptying their stomachs, and the Water Dancer let out a wail of agony.
It didn't last long before Robert jammed the bone straight into the man's throat and killed him.
The onslaught happened fast enough for the crowd to take a couple of seconds to register the death of the Water Dancer.
Robert let the corpse drop and dusted his hands, throwing a look at the instigator of it, who did seem disturbed by the violent kill.
"Anyone else?" Robert challenged, but the crowd dispersed, understanding what he meant, while some of them dragged the body away.
"That was…" Davos searched for the right word before Robert stepped in.
"Brutal?"
"But well done, my lord."
"Yeah, let's see if any of these idiots ever challenge me again."
—
Turns out that duelist he killed was kind of a big deal in Braavos, enough that people began to challenge him, either to test themselves against the man that killed one of the foremost water dancers of Braavos so quickly and efficiently or to avenge him.
At any rate, Robert had had enough and decided that to challenge him, they would have to pay a hundred gold dragons or the equivalent as a fee, which cut the number of challengers sharply. But he still did make close to a thousand gold dragons and made sure to not kill anyone else.
No need to gain infamy in the city.
Robert didn't really care about the duels that much due to something else.
The cocoa pods.
Turns out they were from the Summer Isles, used as medicine, and somehow made their way here. They weren't known much outside of the isles due to the bitter taste, as people didn't know how to process them.
He would visit Summer Isles with a fleet to buy as much cocoa as he could after getting grinders and ovens specifically for chocolate making, and he would have to get regular sugar shipments to Asgard. Reach was closer, but since they were in the Targaryen camp, making a deal might not be easy, but shipping sugar from Braavos would increase the price of chocolate. He would make his choice based on Highgarden's—Olenna Tyrell's, in actual fact—answer.
Workers would also be needed, but perhaps Tyrion's wife would be interested? In fact, he could employ widows and women that are looking for a new life other than selling their bodies, killing two birds with one stone.