Eren watched the two fight. A was strong but lacked agility, while B was agile but not as strong as A. They were like vastly inferior versions of the Mountain and the Red Viper in the later Trial by Combat. The Mountain struck with tremendous force, while the Red Viper was nimble and had stamina to spare. Of course, the Red Viper was very skilled with his spear. B down below could only fight bare-handed, so he had no advantage in strength, but the difference was not particularly great. After all, not everyone was a powerhouse like the Mountain.
After a prolonged struggle, B, despite being more agile, still gave A an opening to throw him out of the ring. But grappling with B had also drained quite a bit of A's stamina.
Watching this, Eren felt A would have a hard time fighting twenty people in a row, so he turned to look at the archery and running contests. For a people like the Dothraki, who lived on horseback, archery was paramount. In his previous life, the Mongol light cavalry had defeated Western European heavy cavalry by kiting them, thereby dominating the world. Though heavy cavalry had a high proportion of armored riders, more armor meant more weight, leaving them unable to match light cavalry in mobility.
Quite a few contestants at the archery grounds caught his eye. Incidentally, the archery contest was mounted archery. After all, the Dothraki were all cavalrymen, so he could hardly have them compete on foot. However accurately they could shoot on foot, it would be useless.
Many of the Dothraki were very accurate archers, so the targets could only be moved farther back. Archery might seem like the domain of a rather unimpressive troop type, but it actually demanded considerable arm strength. Without enough strength, a person could not draw a bow, and the stronger someone's arms were, the better the bow they could draw. But a good bow also required greater strength.
There were fewer people at the running contest. After all, the Dothraki rode horses and did not run much, and Eren's main purpose in testing their running was to test their endurance.
As time passed, all the contests ended. Many junior officers were selected and took up their posts, but no corps commander was chosen. No one had defeated twenty people; only one had defeated ten. Eren planned to make him a deputy commander to serve as his second-in-command, while personally leading the remaining five thousand men. He intended to turn these five thousand into his guards, and they would also secure the area around his tent from then on.
This deputy was named Morton. He looked to be in his twenties, the prime of a person's life. Despite his youth, he bore many scars and was a battle-hardened man.
Eren summoned everyone ranked battalion commander or above to his tent and said:
"From now on, the five thousand men under my command will secure the area outside my tent. They will be renamed the Guard Corps. As for the other fifteen thousand, they will all be combined into one corps, led by you three commanders, reporting directly to me. This corps will be called the Wings of Freedom Corps. There aren't many men right now, but there will be more later. I've also decided on your banners."
With that, Eren used his hardening ability to form a Wings of Freedom design, then used it again to form a Unicorn design. They were precisely the emblems of the Survey Corps and the Military Police Brigade, two of the three military branches.
Of course, though he had given them the Wings of Freedom banner, they could not be called the Survey Corps. They did not live inside walls, and going out to war could hardly be called surveying. He might as well simply call them the Wings of Freedom Cavalry Corps.
The Military Police Brigade's emblem was for the Guard Corps. After all, the Military Police Brigade was also a force subordinate to the royal family, so the Guard Corps served a similar function.
Eren handed the Wings of Freedom emblem to Flock and the others, telling them to pass it around for everyone to see.
"Next, weren't we planning to head to Slaver's Bay? Our destination hasn't changed, but our purpose has."
At this point, Eren glanced at them and continued:
"We'll be heading to Yunkai in Slaver's Bay next. Our purpose isn't to sell slaves, but to plunder. But remember, we're there to plunder, not to kill. I plan to raid them this time, then come back again."
"As for what to take, grain and gold come first, then women. Yunkai happens to be a place that trains bed slaves. Take all those bed slaves, whether they've been trained or not. Remember to keep your men in line.
"I want speed. Once you've finished looting, leave. If anyone wastes time having sex, I won't wait for them. They'll be left there to fend for themselves." "And once you've gathered the women and brought them away, I'll distribute them myself. If I find anyone laying hands on them first, the little giant outside happens to be hungry. He can have them as an extra meal."
The men below immediately snapped to attention after hearing this. They knew he was not joking. The earlier lesson was still vivid in their minds, and all they could think about was how to keep their men firmly in line when they returned.
Eren's plan was to plunder them once and leave them to continue developing, rather than massacre the city and take everything. He wanted to unite all the Dothraki first, then return to Slaver's Bay to conquer the place, establish a nation, and build city-states. Failing that, he could at least raid them again. As for the people who would build the city-states, wasn't that precisely the point of leaving them alive? Of course, once the castles and cities were built, he would give those slaves their freedom back.
As for taking those women, apart from wanting to collect some beauties to bear his children, he would distribute the rest among these Dothraki. After all, the more children they had, the more soldiers his future Giants Corps would have. If everyone in the world could turn into a giant someday, he would be everyone's god, though he did not know how gods came into being in this world.
But from his modern perspective before transmigrating, there were only two paths to godhood. The first was through magic. He currently had no evidence to go on and could not be sure about it. Moreover, magic in the world of Game of Thrones had periods of decline. He did not know what point in time this was, or whether magic had begun to rise again. He thought that if he encountered people such as sorcerers in the future, he could see whether he could obtain books about magic.
The second was to become a god through faith. What he was doing now-establishing the Church of the Giants and encouraging these Dothraki to reproduce in great numbers-was all intended to pass down both the faith and his bloodline. If he could find a method in the future, perhaps he could become a god through faith.
"Also, when you loot, make sure to target the slave masters' homes. How do you identify a slave master? Whoever has a big house is a slave master. The commoners on the streets have no money, so you won't get much out of robbing them. When you go to those slave masters' houses, look for maps and slaves who can translate. Bring them all to me intact."
Eren also told them some things they needed to watch out for. After all, maps would be essential for traveling far and wide to subjugate the Dothraki in the future, and so would interpreters. He also wanted to find out what point in time the continent of Westeros across the Narrow Sea was at. Most importantly, he did not speak the Common Tongue of Westeros or Valyrian. If he wanted to rule in the future, having different languages and being unable to communicate would not do.
The men below took all of Eren's words to heart. After all, the slave masters' homes really did hold more wealth, and the more they looted, the more they would gain. As for maps and interpreters, they would keep a close eye out for those too. After all, these were Eren's personal orders, and they had to carry them out.
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