By the time Daemon and the others returned to the surface, the fighting in Myr City had all but ended.
Under the combined threat of the Great Dragons and more than ten thousand elite troops from Westeros, Daemon's army had taken complete control of Myr City in just two days.
The remaining Myr Garrison and the nobles' slave soldiers had scattered completely, and all the mercenaries had fled. Daemon had rounded up more than ten thousand wealthy citizens and nobles and sent them to the Stepstones as slave laborers.
The Holy Flame Fleet had taken a full four or five days to transport them all to their destination. Their arrival immediately did much to ease the labor shortage in the Stepstones.
These pampered nobles were naturally unsuited to heavy physical labor, but they were well suited to more delicate work. Besides, they had all received good educations, making them just what the Stepstones needed to fill certain skilled positions.
As for the governors and wealthy merchants, Daemon ordered them stripped naked and locked in cages in the city's central square, where everyone could see them.
Only on the second day after the war ended did the common people of Myr City dare to venture cautiously out of their homes. Filled with unease, they discovered that little seemed to have changed for ordinary people like them, and they soon returned to their normal lives.
On the very day Daemon took Myr City, Holy Flame Island sent a group of professional administrators, maesters, priests, and other trained personnel to take over its management.
Myr City already held ample stores of basic necessities, and the Holy Flame Fleet had brought more, so the war had little impact on the city's residents.
Under the management of Holy Flame Island's professional team, life in Myr