Viserys

Three days later, the entire army had finished resting and reorganizing. Today was the day they marched.

Their destination was Pentos, and their mission was to capture two important figures of House Targaryen, Viserys Targaryen and Daenerys Targaryen, along with three dragon eggs that could hatch into dragons.

To Eren, having the brother and sister meant not only having a future army of dragons, but also a legitimate pretext for seizing the Iron Throne. Although a justifiable cause for war did not matter much to him, having one was better than not.

I might not use it, but I can't go without it. In the future, marriage to Daenerys Targaryen would at least give him a pretext to rule Westeros legitimately. After all, Eren hoped the Westeros he would one day rule would be whole and prosperous.

Not a wasteland trampled by Titans that would take time and money to rebuild.

Eren sat in an ornate carriage pulled by Pure Titans. For the sake of marching speed and the safety of the supplies, he had the Pure Titans do all the heavy labor. When there was no fighting, he used them to guard supplies and haul all kinds of equipment and provisions.

After all, there was no reason not to use free labor that could work twenty-four hours a day. It also freed up some warhorses for breeding and for Dothraki children to train with from an early age.

The route Eren had planned this time would take them across the Dothraki grasslands and through the forest of Qohor. After reaching Qohor, they would cross the Norvos Mountains, pass through Norvos and along some mountain trails, then head west to Pentos.

Eren would not attack Qohor or Norvos as they passed through. If attacking them alarmed the nine Free Cities and caused Daenerys not to go to Pentos, wouldn't all his efforts have been wasted?

While Eren was thinking on horseback, far away in Braavos, one of the nine Free Cities...

"Get lost, you beggar king. The Iron Bank won't lend you money."

Viserys had been stopped by the guards outside the Sealord's palace.

After his eldest brother, Crown Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, had been defeated and killed at the Battle of the Trident, House Targaryen's rule had hung by a thread.

For their safety, Viserys's pregnant mother, Queen Rhaella, and the second prince, Viserys Targaryen, who was only five, had been escorted from the Red Keep by its master-at-arms, Ser Willem Darry, to seek refuge on their ancestral seat of Dragonstone.

Soon after they fled, King's Landing fell, and Robert Baratheon seized the Iron Throne. All the members of the royal family who had not escaped were slaughtered by the turncoat troops of House Lannister. Queen Rhaella, her unborn child, and Viserys became the only survivors of House Targaryen.

Nine months after their escape to Dragonstone, Daenerys was born on a night when the greatest storm on the Narrow Sea in the history of Westeros raged, earning her the name "Stormborn."

Her mother, Queen Rhaella, died after giving birth.

The Dragonstone fleet, House Targaryen's only remaining military force, was also sunk and destroyed in the storm during which Daenerys was born.

Meanwhile, Stannis Baratheon was assembling a navy to attack Dragonstone. To save themselves, the garrison planned to surrender and hand over Viserys and his sister Dany.

Before the garrison could carry out its plan to surrender the castle, Ser Willem Darry and several others loyal to House Targaryen secretly smuggled the two children away overnight to the Free City of Braavos.

In Braavos, the siblings lived for several years in a mansion with a red door, where Ser Willem treated Dany with great kindness and care.

But later, the elderly Ser Willem died of illness. The servants stole everything of value, and Dany and Viserys were subsequently thrown out.

The house with the red door, and the tears she had shed when she was driven from it, became Daenerys's only childhood memories.

For more than a decade afterward, Viserys took Dany through the nine Free Cities, seeking allies and financial support while evading those hunting them, enduring endless cold shoulders and disdain.

He had even been forced to sell their mother's crown, earning him the insulting title of "Beggar King." This time, Viserys had come to Braavos from the other cities to borrow money from the Iron Bank, hoping to hire sellsword companies in preparation for a future counterattack on Westeros.

Unfortunately, the guards at the entrance had driven him away before he could even meet the Sealord or his Master of Coin.

Of course, it was also possible that the Sealord thought Viserys would squander any money lent to him without achieving anything, and had therefore refused to see him.

After all, however wealthy the Iron Bank might be, it still assessed whether borrowers could repay their loans.

And Viserys was something of a celebrity in Braavos. Who hadn't heard of the Beggar King? All of Braavos knew his famous name.

"Oh, shit, fuck! You stupid pigs! If I take the Iron Throne one day, I'll have every one of your pig heads cut off!"

Viserys roared at the guards.

"Hahaha! You, the Beggar King, taking back the Iron Throne? You'd better worry about how you're going to get by!"

Hearing this, Viserys flew into a rage and immediately began arguing with the guards, even making to draw his sword.

Perhaps because he was the product of an incestuous marriage, Viserys was hot-tempered, easily angered, and given to lofty ambitions beyond his reach.

Ever since the fall of the Targaryen Dynasty, he had needed to remain constantly on guard against assassins sent by Robert Baratheon.

Later, as Viserys grew into adulthood, he became increasingly obsessed with reclaiming his father's throne, and his temper grew unbearable. Frequently insulted by others, the naturally arrogant Viserys often beat Daenerys in anger when he returned home, even calling it "waking the sleeping dragon's wrath."

While Viserys was embroiled in his argument with the guards, Illyrio Mopatis, a wealthy merchant and magister from Pentos, witnessed the scene.

The attendant from the Sealord's palace who had come to receive him noticed Magister Illyrio's curiosity about the scene and told him about Viserys.

When Illyrio heard that the silver-haired, purple-eyed youth ahead was Viserys Targaryen, he immediately felt there was room to maneuver.

Illyrio wondered how much he stood to gain if he funded Viserys and helped him win the Iron Throne.

He was a merchant, after all, and merchants pursued profit, always considering how much an investment might yield and whether it was worth taking a gamble.

It was like Lü Buwei during the Warring States period in ancient China. Though he had met a miserable end, his investment had at least succeeded, ultimately earning him more than a decade in power in the State of Qin.

So Illyrio walked toward Viserys.

"Your honored Highness, Prince Viserys, I am a magister from Pentos, named Illyrio Mopatis. Would you be interested in visiting my residence here in Braavos for a while?"