Chapter 9: Brother Long Er: Everyone, do you want the Wagang Sword?
"How much is the golden eagle?"
"Excuse me, sir. This is for our performances. I have raised this one since it was a child..." The speaker was a Dothraki.
Surprisingly, his Valyrian was quite good. It seemed that he had lived in Tyrosh for a while.
"Ten gold dragons."
"Sir, this is not a matter of money."
"Fifteen gold dragons."
"Sir, this golden eagle..." The Dothraki began to show an embarrassment on his face.
"Thirty gold dragons."
"Please treat it well."
...
Finally, Viserys bought a screech owl, or owl, from the Dothraki for Dany.
Because Viserys once told Dany that owls have the ability to see at night.
She also wanted to experience the feeling of night vision.
After the transaction was completed, Viserys chatted with the Dothraki.
"Why don't you go to the sea of grass and come here to perform?"
"It's like this, my lord. The khalasar where I was originally was near the Red Waste, but as the Red Waste expanded, we had to migrate everywhere. As a result, we met a khal named Balbo, who annexed our khalasar, and I escaped..."
"Balbo? Does he have a son named Drogo?" Viserys asked.
"Yes, yes, in fact, the khalasar now belongs to Khal Drogo."
The name "Drogo" immediately caught Dany's attention.
Illyrio had said before that he wanted Viserys and Drogo to marry.
Although the second brother of the dragon had promised her that he would not use her as a bargaining chip for marriage, for some reason, Dany still felt a little irritated when she heard the name.
Viserys was thinking about another thing.
That was the reason why Drogo "went west".
He knew that in the original book, after the mother of dragons became pregnant, Drogo announced to his subordinates that he would go west.
But that was because he had a "claim" to the Iron Throne after marrying the mother of dragons.
After taking down the Iron Throne, even if he can't sit on it, he can still be the 'emperor'.
But this reason is not strong enough in his opinion!
The Dothraki Grass Sea is separated from Westeros by the Free Cities and the Narrow Sea.
And it is no problem for Westeros to gather an army of 100,000 or 200,000.
Even if he has a claim, he has to weigh it.
There must be some real pressure that forced him to start a war to divert the contradiction.
Now Viserys has found it, that is the Red Waste!
The Red Waste expands, resources become scarce, and contradictions intensify. This is the real consideration for Drogo's westward expedition.
And now Dany will definitely not commit to Drogo again.
The horse king has no reason to declare war on Westeros, so he can only start with the free cities!
In the future, if he takes down a piece of land in the free cities, it is estimated that he will inevitably conflict with the horse king.
But now he doesn't even have an army in his hand, so it is really redundant to think about these problems.
Putting this matter aside for the time being, everyone continued to stroll around to relax. After that, Viserys and his party strolled around together again.
No matter where he went, Regis liked to stretch his neck.
He showed the scar that had just been sutured.
"Yes, it was stabbed by a two-foot-long scimitar!"
"It's only this long, and it comes out from the back."
Whenever someone was attracted by the scar on his neck, he would introduce it to them without waiting for them to speak.
This made everyone else a little embarrassed.
Everyone came to an open-air stall specializing in hair dyeing.
The stall owner placed several beds, and those who wanted to dye their hair either lay down or lie prone, letting the stall owner pour dye on their heads.
Viserys thought that hair dyeing products were very pungent, but he didn't expect that the hair dye they used actually had a faint fragrance.
Several people had never seen hair dyeing before, so they stopped to watch.
Seeing that there were many customers dyeing their hair here, Regis showed the scar on his neck.
As soon as someone saw him, he started to brag.
Dick, who couldn't stand it, said:
"Regis, dye your hair? I'll treat you."
Knowing that he was being teased, Regis shrank his neck and touched his bald head a little embarrassedly.
Big Bear and others couldn't help laughing.
In the next two days, Viserys and Melis dealt with the spoils of war with them.
It was useless for mercenaries to have so many ships, so they considered selling the ships.
In view of the great role played by Viserys in the battle, Melis suggested that he deal with one of the ships. Viserys
said that he could keep the ship first and let her help him buy a batch of new weapons.
He knew that if he wanted those people to work for him, he had to give them benefits first.
Replacing equipment and improving food all cost money.
What's more, these things are not for them to take for free.
If you spend money to replace their equipment, you will have a greater say in the distribution of spoils.
Eat Viserys's food, take Viserys's sword, and of course fight for Viserys in the future!
However, although weapons are easy to say, armor must be weighed.
The prices of the two are not at the same order of magnitude.
So Viserys wrote to Illyrio two days ago, asking him to find a way to get some armor.
This guy hasn't exploded gold coins for a while, so he has to bleed.
Soon three days passed, and everyone boarded a boat to go to the Windblown's camp on the mainland.
This means that Viserys's mercenary career has officially begun!
The Windblown's camp has about 4,000 people.
The blue canvas tents stretch endlessly, occupying two adjacent hills.
At the same time, some large and small blue and white striped flags are hung.
"This is our camp. The captain likes to call it the canvas castle. It only takes an hour for us to set off."
Meris explained to Viserys. After two days of getting along, he found that Meris had great respect for the Tattered Prince.
It was a kind of worship that was similar to a daughter's worship of her father.
Viserys observed and found that the Tattered Prince had arranged the camp very strictly.
At first glance, it was a camp that could only be arranged by a veteran who had been in battle for a long time.
Seeing that it was the Tattered Prince himself, the people on the sentry tower of the camp passed flags to the guards below.
Soon the gate opened, and a team of guards moved away the defensive barricades.
Soon, everyone entered the camp, and the Tattered Prince summoned the sergeant major to prepare for a meeting.
As a new member, Viserys must of course participate.
"Dany, let's go first."
As an interrogator, Meris usually does not attend combat meetings.
She said that she would teach Dany something new after arriving at the camp.
After saying goodbye to Dany temporarily, Viserys and Dick went to the big tent together.
The furnishings in the tent were very simple, with only some stools and a map as big as a door panel.
Not long after, a mercenary in his forties with a beard dyed red walked in.
As soon as he saw Dick, he started to joke.
"Hey, Dick! How was your honeymoon?"
"It was fine, but your wish for a brother will have to wait."
"Go to hell!"
"Let me introduce you, Viserys Targaryen, the Braavos sword tournament champion and our newest member."
"Viserys, this is 'Lentil' Budge, the sergeant major of the fourth battalion."
"Sir Budge." Viserys stood up and greeted.
"Viserys, you're the..."
"Yes, the Beggar King."
"Haha, do you know what we call the old captain? The Tattered King, you two must get along well."
This 'Lentil' Budge was very familiar and soon started chatting.
Soon, the sergeants majors of various battalions arrived one after another.
Judging from their skin color, they came from all over the world.
Black skin, brown skin, white skin, olive skin.
Among them, there were two sergeants majors who walked closer.
One of them was black and the other was white.
According to Dick's introduction, both of them were called 'Jerrod'.
In order to distinguish them, the white one was called 'Redback Gerrod', and it was said that he had a large red birthmark on his back.
As for the dark-skinned one, he was naturally called Black Gerold.
As mercenaries, they would take a quick look before almost everyone came in.
Viserys had silver hair and purple eyes, and he was wearing excellent armor, which naturally attracted their attention.
Of course, another reason was that he was too young.
Everyone who saw him was a little suspicious, because they all knew that their captain would not let young people be commanders.
Just when someone wanted to get close to Viserys, the Tattered Prince came to the big tent with two mercenary leaders.
One of them was tall, over 1.9 meters!
His face was covered with scars, and he had a Dothraki scimitar on his waist.
Judging from the exposed blade, the scimitar was actually made of Valyrian steel!
There were patterns on the blade that looked like blood splashing.
The other man looked about 50 years old, and his gray beard looked weathered.
"The one with scars all over his face is called Kargo, and the one with white beard is called Danzo. The captain trusts them the most."
The images of these two people are very distinctive, and their roles are quite obvious.
One is to give the old captain some advice when necessary, and the other is to enhance the old captain's deterrence.
The old captain, the Tattered Prince, sat there, and everyone shut up.
He glanced around the tent, and everyone sat up straight unconsciously.
"I have three things to say. First, I have renewed my contract with Tyrosh, and our enemies will remain unchanged for some time to come!"
Viserys raised his eyebrows and found that the old captain's voice was particularly loud.
Hearing his words, some people nodded thoughtfully.
Most people still had unchanged expressions.
At this time, a short and sturdy mercenary with a spider web tattoo on his body stood up and asked:
"Captain, will the Cat's Corps still serve Lys?"
"Yes."
"I request to continue to garrison Shield Lake, even as an ordinary soldier!"
"Let's talk about this later!"
The mercenary who spoke was the sergeant major of the 7th Battalion, Wei Bo.
He wanted to say something else, but the tall Cargo sitting on the right hand side of the Tattered Prince looked at him, and he sat down obediently.
"The second is the garrison of Shield Lake. Who is willing to go?"
"I'll go!"
Budge, who was sitting next to Viserys, stood up and said.
The old captain nodded. Most of Budge's battalion were archers, so it shouldn't be a problem to go to garrison at Shield Lake.
Seeing that the garrison candidates had been chosen, Vibo seemed a little uneasy.
"Third." The old captain pointed in the direction of Viserys. "Viserys Targaryen."
The second brother Long stood up and showed his face in front of everyone.
The eyes of the sergeants were focused on him. It was not very clear when they saw him just now. When everyone saw his face clearly, they felt that Viserys was too young. He was so young
that even if he was asked to serve as an auxiliary soldier for others, they would dislike him.
"You will take over the position of the sergeant major of the seventh battalion and be responsible for the reconstruction of the seventh battalion."
"Yes!"
However, before the second brother Long sat down, Vibo raised his objection.
"Captain, how old is he? If he is allowed to be the sergeant major of the Seventh Battalion, it would be better to directly disband the Seventh Battalion!"
Wei Bo looked directly at the old captain, and this time Kago did not threaten him with his eyes.
Because it is really hard to convince the crowd to let such a young man command a battalion.
After all, which sergeant major present here has not been working in the mercenary group for seven or eight years or even ten years.
They became sergeants majors at the age of thirty or forty.
"This is my decision. If he cannot rebuild the Seventh Battalion within three months, the Seventh Battalion will be disbanded. In addition, this Viserys is the champion of the Braavos sword competition a few days ago."
As soon as the old captain finished speaking, most of the dissatisfaction in the hearts of the people dissipated.
Although it is not known whether Viserys can command, at least he is very good at fighting.
And being able to win the championship shows that he should have some skills.
Although the dissatisfaction of the crowd has been reduced a lot, the second brother Long felt a look of scrutiny.
Kago.
Viserys looked at him, and saw the desire to have a duel in each other's eyes.
"If any of you want me to test his depth, or want to compete with me, I am always waiting." Viserys made a somewhat obscure dirty joke.
After all, you should say what you want to say to the person you meet, and being pretentious at this time will be annoying.
Sure enough, his joke worked. Some people smiled knowingly, and others were more accepting of him.
"Count me in."
"I'll come too!"
Soon three or four people expressed their desire to challenge.
Among them was Vibo.
But what surprised him was that Cargo, who looked irritable and warlike, did not challenge, but watched quietly.
"Okay, no problem, I'll be waiting for you in the seventh battalion." Viserys said.
"It's just that in my opinion, a duel alone is meaningless. It's exciting only when there are stakes."
So he drew his sword and showed it to everyone.
And the mercenaries were also connoisseurs, and naturally saw that Viserys's sword was a genuine Vulcan steel sword.
"Everyone, I won this sword in a swordfight. It belongs to the winner whoever defeats me!"
Viserys' words immediately caused an uproar.
My goodness, is this a big deal right at the beginning?