"Terry!"
Gorys turned and scolded sharply, then spoke with a stern tone.
"Every civilian who moves to Gohor will receive farming tools and seeds from His Grace. They will also be given land to cultivate.
Inform the villagers as soon as possible, because war is coming soon."
The village chief did not quite believe Gorys. In this world, there was no such generous king.
Still, he nodded, saying he would notify the villagers as quickly as possible.
Just as Gorys prepared to leave with his men, he suddenly saw a girl about seventeen years old running toward the door.
Her skin was fair, and her brown eyes were bright and lively.
Strands of hair hung across the bridge of her nose as though she had rushed over in great urgency.
Gorys stared at her without blinking.
The sight made the village chief's hair stand on end.
He quickly stepped between his daughter and Gorys.
"M-my lord, I will go inform the villagers right away!" he said hurriedly, trying to block Gorys's view with his body.
As one of Viserys's guards, Gorys had no intention of seizing a common girl by force.
Realizing he had been misunderstood, he decided to leave and move on to the next fishing village.
After he and the soldiers departed, the village chief angrily scolded his daughter.
"Can't you pay attention? If those soldiers—how would I face your dead mother?"
"Father, forget that for now!" the girl replied anxiously. "Lochi rowed the boat out to the middle of the lake. It's drifting downstream now!"
"What? That foolish boy!"
For fishermen, their boat was their livelihood.
The old chief hurried out with his daughter to rescue his son. But they happened to run into Gorys returning.
After hearing the situation, Gorys ordered his men to launch a warboat and retrieve the boy and the drifting fishing vessel.
To show her gratitude, the village chief's daughter volunteered to guide Gorys and his men to other fishing villages.
Slowly, Gorys began to feel that his dream of joining the Kingsguard was facing a challenge.
While Viserys was gathering civilians, the Horse King sent two of his bloodriders—Haggo and Kovarro—to Gohor.
Both men were elite warriors.
Becoming Drogo's bloodrider was the greatest honor of their lives.
To them, their khal was invincible. To serve as Drogo's curved blade was their highest pride.
To demonstrate the strength of the horse lords, they even brought a thousand Dothraki riders with them.
In this world, when traveling among foreign lands, one relied on either gold or steel.
The Dothraki clearly preferred the latter.
"Kovarro, if the khal truly marries Viserys's sister, do you think they could really produce a khal who rides dragons?" Haggo asked with curiosity.
"You fool," Kovarro replied.
"There are no dragons left in this world. But all men like beautiful women.
Valyrians are beautiful.
The most beautiful woman should belong to the strongest man. Even the Horse God agrees with that."
"Haha, that's true."
Laughing and chatting, the Dothraki crossed the river on wooden rafts and approached Gohor.
From a distance, they saw the outer wall known as the Miraxis Wall.
The sight left them momentarily speechless. "How did that Viserys build such a long wall?"
The scale of the Miraxis Wall far exceeded their expectations.
They had seen the walls of Qohor and the cities of Slaver's Bay, but none were this long.
"What are you afraid of?" one rider said. "The bigger the city, the more women and treasure inside. Let's go!"
As they drew closer, their tension eased slightly.
The Miraxis Wall stood less than three meters high. Compared with the walls of other cities, it seemed almost laughably small.
"What kind of useless wall is this?" Haggo scoffed. "Our horses could jump it easily!"
Of course, he was exaggerating.
Still, a wall like that could hardly stop determined attackers.
"We could rush forward with a few riders, pile dirt sacks against the base—or even bodies. Our horses could climb over easily."
The two spoke freely in Dothraki, paying no attention to the curious looks from others.
Hago rode up to the Vhagar Wall and shouted loudly.
"The envoys of the greatest khal on the grasslands, Khal Drogo, have arrived! I wish to see your king. Open the gates!"
The translator beside him relayed the message to the guards on the wall.
Seeing the long column of Dothraki riders, the guard understood that the matter was beyond his authority.
He told them to wait while he reported to his superiors.
The distance between the Miraxis Wall and the Vhagar Wall was long enough to test the patience of the riders.
Just as Haggo was nearing the point of losing his temper, the guards returned with permission for them to enter.
However, the army had to remain outside.
Haggo snorted but accepted, entering with a dozen men. They passed through the Miraxis Wall and continued onward.
Seeing farms and manor houses scattered throughout the land, their contempt grew stronger.
What kind of king allowed crops to be planted inside the city? They increasingly believed the Targaryen king must be a fool.
As they rode along, they saw children running along the edges of fields.
The children laughed and chased one another, clearly well fed.
"Look at those children," Haggo said in surprise. "They're wearing shoes!"
In this age, shoes were precious.
During winter, common people might struggle to wrap their feet in cloth or animal hide to keep warm.
But now it was summer, and yet everyone here seemed to have footwear.
It was clear that Gohor was wealthier than they had imagined. This discovery only increased the riders' greed.
"If they are so rich," Kovarro wondered, "why not build higher walls?"
But soon that question answered itself.
In the distance, a towering blue-gray wall rose from the earth like something holding up the sky.
The Vhagar Wall.
Hago and his companions quickly dropped their earlier contempt.
That massive wall could never be crossed with a few sacks of dirt.
They had assumed that walls built only a few years earlier would be wooden palisades. Instead, Gohor's walls rivaled those of the great cities they had seen.
The Vhagar Wall had several gates modeled after those of King's Landing.
There was the River Gate to the south, the King's Gate to the north, the Gods Gate, the Dragon Gate, and others.
Arisa commanded the Dragon Gate.
When he heard that a group of Dothraki had arrived, he immediately heightened his vigilance.
Watching Haggo and his companions pass through the gate, Arisa spoke coldly.
"Keep your eyes on the riders outside. If they harm any civilians, kill them where they stand."
"Yes, sir."
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