The reigning Sealord, Ferrego Antaryon, was waiting in the ship’s reception hall.
The Sealord himself was dressed very simply, in traditional Braavosi grey-brown linen robes, with three copper keys hanging from a silver chain around his waist.
In Braavos, only assassins wore gaudy and vulgar clothes; truly wealthy people, skilled swordsmen, and the Faceless Men usually wore black and dark garments.
Standing behind him, besides two silent attendants, was a man.
The man was lean, dressed in tight grey clothing, with a dark blue doublet trimmed in silver over it.
He looked to be around thirty, with brown hair and a face so calm it bordered on indifferent, save for a pair of grey-green eyes that were exceptionally bright, as if they could see through the undercurrents beneath the water’s surface.
In his hand, he held a slender sword with a narrow blade that gleamed with silver light.
Viserys recognized this type of sword; it was a Braavosi rapier, used only by the uniquely Braavosi “Water Dancers”.
“Welcome, Prince Viserys.”
“This is Syrio Forel,” the Sealord said, seeing Viserys look at the man, introducing him, “He is the First Sword of Braavos and my personal bodyguard.”
Syrio Forel looked at Viserys and gave a polite bow.
Viserys remembered the name.
He was the teacher in the original story who taught water dance swordsmanship to Arya Stark in King’s Landing.
It was this man who later used his life to cover Arya’s escape from capture.
It was also because of the swordsmanship he taught that Arya caught the attention of Jaqen the Faceless Man.
He was an important link in prompting Arya to become one of the Faceless Men in the future.
“Braavos has heard many stories about you, some quite astonishing.”
The Sealord’s voice pulled back his thoughts, his gaze shifting to Arthur Dayne, lingering for a moment on the hilt of “Dawn”, and then falling back onto Viserys’s face with a trace of unnoticeable scrutiny.
He was evaluating whether this boy was truly a leader or merely a mascot pushed to the foreground by the knights.
Afterwards, Viserys greeted him according to etiquette with appropriate words, neither humble nor boastful.
He made a request to the Sealord, hoping that House Targaryen could temporarily reside in Braavos to conduct legitimate trade, and promised to abide by the laws of Braavos.
The Sealord listened patiently, his fingertips gently tapping the armrest of his seat.
“Braavos opens its doors to all law-abiding free men,” he slowly said, “Free trade, free faith, free residence.
As long as you do not break our laws or bring outside weapons into our waterways, you may stay, and your people may stay.”
Braavos is neutral.
We will not intervene in the Seven Kingdoms’ war for the throne.
It was so in the past, it is so now, and it will be in the future, as long as Braavos remains Braavos.”
He leaned forward slightly, his gaze turning sharp: “This means you can live, trade, and accumulate wealth here.
But you cannot establish a base in Braavos, recruit armies, or plan a counterattack against Westeros.
Once we discover any such actions on your part, the protection will immediately terminate, and Braavos will become your enemy.”
Viserys looked calmly into the Sealord’s eyes, with no superfluous emotion visible on his face.
“I understand, Your Grace the Sealord.”
His voice was steady, carrying a tone suiting his age yet unusually calm, “What we seek is precisely a breathing space and fair trade.
Thank you for your shelter and candor.”
However, inwardly he was thinking that once dragons grew up in the future, Braavos would be the first to be dealt with.
This city known as the “bastard daughter of Valyria”—its builders were merely a group of runaway slaves from the Valyrian Freehold, who sailed desperately to the corner furthest from the Freehold, building this refuge among saltwater lakes and reefs.
It was just that the ruling Dragonlords of that time were relatively merciful and pardoned their crimes.
However, these descendants of slaves who survived by luck built their city entirely of stone and mounted giant crossbows on the city walls; every single design was aimed at dragons.
Now they put on a posture of tolerance and neutrality simply because dragons had become legends.
Once dragons descended into the world again, the descendants of these “bastard daughters of Valyria” would probably be more eager than anyone else to destroy dragons.
Viserys noticed that the Sealord opposite was observing him.
Therefore, he directly closed off his emotions, making his facial expression appear even more indifferent.
However, this only made the Sealord inwardly feel surprised.
Moreover, he found that the Westerosi knights behind Viserys, especially the legendary “Sword of the Morning”, seemed to approve of everything the young king did.
This discovery made the Sealord put away the last trace of contempt he had for Viserys.
“Very good.”
The Sealord leaned back against his chair: “However, I heard you have around two thousand people.
That is no small number.
For the stability of Braavos, I can find a place to settle you.
North of the Purple Harbor, near the Ragman’s Harbor, there is an abandoned warehouse district. Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
The place is large enough, by the sea, and has high walls.
It has been vacant since a fire many years ago.
You can temporarily settle there.
Of course, it still needs repairs, and as for the rent, it will be calculated at market rates, collected by the Iron Bank as an agent.
What do you think?”
The Sealord’s proposal sounded like help, but actually harbored calculations.
An army of two thousand entering his city—how could he possibly let them roam freely?
That abandoned old warehouse district was isolated yet convenient for surveillance; being by the sea meant it was convenient for his fleet to surround them, after all, Braavos possessed the largest fleet in the world.
However, Viserys did not refuse, because his original intention was just to find a foothold.
Without dragons, he couldn’t make any major moves anyway.
And this was obviously much more efficient than them blindly searching themselves, and the location was quite good, fitting their residential needs.
Viserys thanked him once more.
Over the next month, Braavos welcomed these newcomers with hustle and bustle.
The abandoned warehouses at Ragman’s Harbor were indeed as dilapidated as the Sealord said, but the structures were still standing.
And to their surprise, high masonry walls enclosed the warehouses into a large courtyard, and the warehouses even had their own small dock, albeit piled with rotting wood and silt.
However, clearing it up would make it convenient for his fleet to station there.
Settling two thousand people was a complex project.
Fortunately, there was Ser Willem Darry, who showed amazing organizational talent, dividing the personnel into several teams: one team was responsible for clearing ruins and reinforcing walls; one team was responsible for procuring supplies and negotiating with local craftsmen; one team was responsible for guards and patrols, familiarizing themselves with the surrounding environment.
And another team, composed of the most loyal and reliable confidants and Dragonstone veterans, controlled within the scale permitted by Braavos, acted as private bodyguards who could wear full armor and weapons.
Others had to temporarily unload their arms onto the ships; even patrolling soldiers could only be equipped with a bare minimum of longswords.
Viserys did not stand aloof.
He inspected the site every day and inquired about the progress.
Although many specific affairs were handled by the knights, the final decisions and resource allocation still required his nod.
He was also learning knowledge belonging to this world on the side, things invisible in the original work, after all, this was a real world.