"How many days have you been waiting at Volantis?" Redd asked as he walked, his tone casual, as if he was talking about an insignificant matter.
"About five days," Laena replied, "Douglas made very thoughtful arrangements. I stayed in a guest room near the port, and someone delivered meals and messages every day.
He did not make things difficult for me, nor did he restrict my movements. He just asked me not to leave the port area alone while waiting for your permission. I understand his caution."
"This peninsula is not very safe," Redd said. "There are remnants of orcs underground, there are volcanoes and thunderstorms on the ground, and there are Smoking Sea steam columns in the sea. You come alone, without a dragon or a guard, so you are very brave."
Laena smiled slightly, and that smile made her face softer and added a layer of warm light to her dark blue eyes, "I have heard from my father since I was a child that Valyrian Peninsula is the home of dragons and the source of all Targaryen and Velaryon bloodlines.
I've always wanted to come and see it with my own eyes. Daemon mentioned it before, but never got the chance. Now I'm here on my own, just to see it for him."
Redd didn't pause when he heard Daemon's name, nor did he show any unnecessary reaction.
Daemon died in his hands, and his body was already a mummy when it was returned to King's Landing.
He doesn't care whether Laena knows the details of this incident or what Daemon experienced before his death.
He just continued to walk forward, leading Laena through the camp and towards the ruins of Valyria city.
The craftsmen and slaves who were under construction were busy on both sides of the road. Some were carrying stones, some were mixing mortar, and some were laying stones on the foundation of the new wall.
When they saw Redd passing by with a strange woman in white, some people slowed down their movements, their eyes briefly stayed for a moment, and then quickly retracted when Redd's eyes swept over and continued working.
Laena walked behind Redd, his eyes moving slowly between the craftsmen and slaves, observing the organization and personnel composition of the construction site.
She didn't ask questions, just walked quietly on the road leading to the ruins through the camp, her white dress dragging a trail of continuous movement between the gravel and ashes, like a light blown by the sea wind that did not belong to this land.
In the next two days, Redd will accompany Laena during the day.
Whether it was the ruins of the Valyria city or the underground Dragonpit, as long as the other party offered to visit, he wouldn't mind taking her to see it with her own eyes.
There was not much conversation between the two, and except for the building they were visiting and the progress of the construction, the conversation rarely extended to other areas.
They were not familiar with each other in the first place, and Daemon died in the hands of Redd. Redd was the direct culprit for the other party becoming a widow.
Although Redd did not see any obvious hatred from Laena's expression, demeanor or eyes, he would not be naive enough to think that Laena would have any affection for him.
She came here with a certain purpose, which he knew from the beginning, and his way of coping was simple - let her see, let her understand, let her take what she saw back, and let everyone who wanted to know know what he had now.
When visiting the underground Dragonpit, Laena saw more than a dozen Demon Dragon carrying out various simple transportation tasks.
Those Demon Dragon are scattered in different locations in the passage. Some use their front paws to hold huge stones and carry them from the depths. Some use their tails to smooth the gravel and stack the stones neatly.
There are also several Demon Dragon who are transporting stone slabs cut into standard sizes by Ehm's Dragonfire from the working surface to the stacking points on both sides of the passage in accordance with the instructions given by Redd through the spiritual link. Laena was shocked at first.
She stood at the entrance of the passage and watched as a dark gray Demon Dragon, who was close to Ehm, held a stone slab larger than her body in its mouth, dragged it from the depths of the passage to the designated location and put it down, then turned back and continued to carry the next piece.
Her breathing became obviously shallow during those few breaths, her eyes were slightly widened, and her lips were half-opened, as if she wanted to say something but couldn't find the right words.
What followed was exclamation.
Her eyes followed the Demon Dragons walking through the passage, observing how they turned around without colliding with the rock wall, and how they coordinated the muscles of various parts of the body in a narrow space to complete the carrying movements.
How can Redd receive instructions and adjust her behavior without speaking, only through some kind of signal that she cannot perceive.
In her memory, only the ancient Valyrian Freehold period could tame Demon Dragon to this extent.
During that period, Demon Dragon not only served the war, but also served all aspects of life.
They are used to dig mountains, carry heavy objects, smelt ore, and provide continuous high-temperature flames for forges.
The technicians of Valyria master an ancient method of communicating with dragons, which allows dragons to accept simple instructions and complete repetitive tasks without a rider.
But that method was completely lost after the apocalypse.
House Targaryen rebuilt Dragonpit on Dragonstone and hatched and raised many dragons, but they never tried to use dragons for production and construction.
Because House Targaryen always knew that Redd was building Dragonpit in Dragonstone's Dragonmont, and tried to hatch and raise a large number of Demon Dragon, but no one thought he could succeed.
House Targaryen and House Velaryon both have their own dragons, and they know very well how difficult it is to hatch and cultivate Demon Dragon.
At the same time, due to the issue of offspring and heirs, although there are many Dragon Egg, they dare not carry out large-scale incubation.
The first reason is the food problem. Each dragon consumes a large amount of meat every day. A group of dragons consumes dozens or even hundreds of times the amount.
The second reason is that Demon Dragon without a rider cannot become a controllable force. It even consumes a lot of food to maintain, and there is a certain risk of losing control. Once an adult Demon Dragon goes crazy, no rider can stop it in time.
Laena stood in the passage, looking at Demon Dragon who were carrying stones, and was already reassessing Redd's strength in his heart.
The information she heard before coming was that Redd raised hundreds of Demon Dragon on Dragonstone's Dragonmont, but most of those Demon Dragon were in a free-range state, had not been systematically domesticated, and had not been used for purposes other than combat.
But the picture she saw now completely overturned this judgment.
Those Demon Dragon can not only be used in combat, but can also be organized to engage in construction and production labor.
The meaning behind this is that Redd has mastered a certain method and can command Demon Dragon to complete complex tasks without riding them.