The Greedy Frog
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Hey, I Ruin Stories! Chapter 37
🕑 Added 2024-05-31 20:10:49 +0000 UTCChapter 37: Masks.
“You are leaving?” She slumped a little upon hearing this. “I thought you would travel with us to Westeros?”
“That was the plan, but unfortunately, I will have to divert.”
Overextending wasn't the order of the day.
“It would be quite difficult to traverse this desert without you around,” Ser Jorah also showed a disappointed look. “We had gotten too used to your company.”
It was true. We had been roaming together for a while, and while brief, I had taught them a lot about magic, better ways to make and gather food and water, and even certain scouting methods.
And in return, I gained knowledge of the geography, history, as well as a good connection with a potential ruler.
“However, I will have to reach there before you.” I pointed at the chants that could still be heard outside. “You have a city to deal with.”
A quarter of a million people—that's the number they had to deal with.
To be fair, it was a great number for them.
“Around a little short of fifty percent of them have decided to travel with us,” Jorah’s words surprised me a little.
Even forty percent of a quarter million is one hundred thousand.
“And how many are men, women, and children?”
“About forty-five percent are adult males, thirty percent are adult women, and twenty-five percent are children.”
This made me raise an eyebrow. “Why so few children?”
You would expect the parents to want a better lifestyle for their children and to send them in place of most of the adults.
Or maybe I was looking at it wrong.
“Most Qartheen children had been sold even before we came here as children can easily be influenced and molded, hence they are bought for a higher price.”
I was indeed wrong.
“I would say twenty-five percent is quite more than I expected,” Jorah’s words made me nod. Now it made quite a lot of sense.
“But the main question is…”
“At least forty percent of them are capable of wielding weapons,” Daenerys answered even before I could ask my question. “This includes both men and women. As for how many can fight when utmost necessary, that would be sixty-five percent.”
That's very high. Excluding the very young kids and old folks… Everyone could fight.
Good for them. They got forty thousand capable of wielding weapons and sixty-five thousand capable of fighting for them.
And if necessary, they could use the old and children as bait, which I believe they would never do given their chivalry. But it is still an option for someone like me.
“So, you have really made up your mind?” She asked one final time.
“Unfortunately,” I looked at her dragons, squatting down to match them as they sat on a stool. “And I will miss these little ones.”
As I rubbed their heads and they nuzzled close to me, I realized how much they had grown. It was as if they were growing a centimeter every day.
“They have grown close to you, quite rare,” she sighed, “Not many men have been loved by dragons outside the Targaryen blood. And I believe I have told you this before.”
“You have. And I still believe they are adorable.” The golden one, Rhaegal, was the most adorable—much more majestic than the others. “If I could, I would have snatched them away from you.”
This made Jorah laugh. “Yet you helped her get them back instead.”
True.
But he didn't consider that it might have been the daily need to feed them, groom them, and care for them —which I was quite poor at— that made me nor steal them.
Taking a deep breath, the Khaleesi looked at me. “Darius?”
“Mhm?”
“Thank you.” That… That was genuine. “Thank you for helping my people when they were dying of hunger and thirst, thank you for protecting us from threats of the unseen, thank you for helping me rescue my dragons, and thank you for providing me with an army that I would have never imagined to achieve.”
“These are just events that happened naturally, I just happened to be there.”
This made both Jorah and Daenerys shake their heads.
“No, anyone other than you would have left us to rot and gone their way. But you stayed and helped us when you could have easily taken our belongings and left given your powers,” Jorah expressed. “So, I too have to extend my gratitude to you for your help.”
“It was a fun stay, and I do hope that we see each other again.” I looked at the Khaleesi, “And that time I hope to see you on the throne.”
My words made Daenerys show the brightest of smiles.
“The next time you see you, you will see a queen.”
That was confidence, quite amusing.
“I believe that.” Looking towards the window, I saw the people chanting her name. “And I believe I cannot take the front door.”
I too would be swarmed if I tried that. And I wanted none of that.
“I can help you with that,” Jorah offered, but I decided not to take the help.
“It's fine. I do not want to draw attention and rather go off without hearing the loud chants.”
Daenerys walked forward, quite sad.
“So, this is it for now?”
“This is it for now.”
Saying this, I extended my hand.
“Next time we meet, we will both have achieved something great. That is a promise.”
This made her smile as she shook my hand.
“It is a promise.”
A promise between a sorcerer and a future Queen. And all while three dragons watched us.
Dragons, creatures that could burn cities, and as long as she allowed them to grow, she would have the greatest weapon a man could possess.
As for their weakness? There were very few. Even most magic was useless against these beasts.
However, there were a few types of magic that worked on them, and it was also what I found after studying them for days on end.
I mean, at least I know which magic works on dragons.
As for my current path? That will be decided once I leave this place.
…
…
[Two Hours Later — Deserts of Qarth]
Providing enough food for them and also giving them a few tips on how to survive their future travels, I made my way through the desert and towards Slaver’s Bay.
This was what would get me to the Narrow Sea and through it to finally land on Westeros.
A long journey, but it would be worth it.
Why?
Because Essos had nothing.
No, that is not correct. Essos had everything, just not something that had any major impact.
What do I mean?
I mean that Essos is a rather quiet continent. Even after all the mystery surrounding magic, dragons, the history, and the mythical stories of Essos that Daenerys spoke of, they seemed far more impressive than Westeros.
However, the politics, the wars, and the more foul play, that seemed to be synonymous with Westeros and it was what I needed, chaos.
Interesting now that I think about it.
Westeros too was apparently like Essos, built in the context of free cities and independent kingdoms, free of any continental monarchy. However, after the invasion of Aegon the Conqueror alongside his sister wives—yes, sister wives, prime incest—did he change that setup to that of a monarchy, uniting seven kingdoms under the rule of one King.
Quite interesting but also much more entertaining. Why? Because with free cities, it was like dealing with individual entities with about no link to other cities.
However, with a kingdom such as that of Westeros, dealing with one place meant an impact on the other places as well.
A single pebble in a pond, and the entire water shakes.
But coming back to Aegon’s wives… that is disgusting even for me. I have done some really morally and socially questionable things, but incest seemed foul even to me.
So, bravo to him for introducing such a disgusting concept.
Now, I understood that most kings and queens had that practice to keep their blood pure—which was the case with Aegon too.
But did that excuse incest? Absolutely not.
No matter how hard you try, how much you try to keep your blood strong—investing in having babies through babies could only end horribly.
Deformed, sickly children.
Stillborns.
Or mentally deranged ones.
The odds were quite low to get healthy and decent children. Daenerys being an incest baby had me surprised as she seemed rather normal.
She even told about her brothers, who were rather great in her story. But upon getting the full stories from Jorah, I understood that incest certainly had an effect on them.
One was narcissistic, deranged, with sadistic tendencies.
And the other was a deranged man who believed more in dreams and prophecies than in truths.
Targaryens, an interesting family—built by great rulers and strong men—yet a disgusting bloodline.
But there are more families other than Targaryens, who also have interesting histories.
Like the Starks who are supposed to be wardens of the North. Torrhen Stark, or as the people know him—The King Who Knelt. He is amusing to me and rather likable as he was a great warrior, an intellectual, and also a brave king.
But he bowed before Aegon and his dragons and since then he had been mocked as The King Who Knelt.
And I believe those men that laugh are the stupidest.
Dragons are fearsome, and it took me a long time to figure out about the magic that works on them. Torrhen wasn't even a mage and was expected to win against not one, but three grown dragons.
If anything, he did a favor to the foolish men of his realm. Otherwise, the north would have burnt under the flames of those dragons.
Torrhen was a hero, not a coward.
But alas.
History only remembers heroes.
As for the other families? I only know about Baratheon as it is the family that sits on the throne.
Well, the one that defeated the Targaryen bloodline was Robert Baratheon because his wife-to-be got kidnapped by Daenerys' prophetic dreams brother when she was young and that led to a massive rebellion which led to the death of her brother and father and ultimately leading to Robert Baratheon becoming king.
Yet now he also has died and his insufferable brat of a son is king.
I don't know about the new king, but I have heard nothing but people spouting venom at him. Not even Robert, whom they consider to be the usurper, is hated as much as his son.
That, in my opinion, is an achievement of its own.
And as I recalled everything that I had heard, I had finally arrived at Slaver's Bay and finally had the way to go through the Narrow Sea to Westeros.
It was surprisingly quiet, but as soon as I walked, I understood the reason.
“Give up your possessions, old man!” A very harsh and unpleasant voice. “And we will consider letting you live!”
A robbery?
I walked further, towards the voices and found the ones responsible.
And yes, it was a robbery. An old injured man, a knife stuck in his lower abdomen and laying on the ground.
“Give up old—”
“Who are you?”
But by then, the men of the main robber—he had a cut wound running around his eyes, a much bigger body frame than the rest. So he obviously was the leader—they had noticed my presence.
There were five of them, two tall and fat and two thin and short. Quite an odd combination, but they stood in front of me.
And yes, the boss was the only one that matched the stereotype. Rough, ugly, scarred, and huge.
“Doesn’t matter who you are, you two will give us what you have!” The big man laughed, pointing his sword at me. Is that a cutlass?
Given his frame, the stub leg… he does look like the stereotypical pirate. But for a crew to contain only five members, that was rather shameful.
However, I did not focus on them and instead looked at the old man.
“Are you alright?” Now, I did not mind letting the man suffer or even die. But the pirates were just too annoying for me to not deal with them.
“I-I am.” He seemed fine, but not the pirates.
“You dare ignore us!”
See… annoying beyond belief.
And what do you do with annoying pests such as them?
Simple.
You squish them!”
“You—”
“Get lost.”
I did not play with them. I was slightly tired from dealing with all the Qartheen, so I decided not to waste time on them.
And what did I do?
Simple, I blasted them.
“Master!” The other four roared out seeing their boss die.
But master, huh? Looks like they are more like servants than underlings.
“Don't worry.” I assured them as I extended my arm towards them. “You too are going to him.”
“Wh—”
And in that instant, four loud popping sounds were heard as the heads of the four men blasted, letting their dead bodies fall flat on the ground.
Leaving only two people in the vicinity.
Me, and the old man.
“Don’t worry. They will certainly not disturb you anymore.” I said as I walked towards him.
“T-Thank you,” he said, groaning and clutching his wound. It didn't look like a sword stab or even a knife wound. It was more likely that he had been struck by an arrow and somehow managed to remove it.
“It's dangerous around this area. Too many robbers and too many people ready to kidnap and sell others as slaves.” I had encountered all sorts of people during my travels until now.
“True, but this has been a much bigger issue for a long time compared to when I was young.”
“Young?” This piqued my interest, and a smirk appeared on my face. “I mean, you are rather young to be saying that.”
He laughed. “Well, I will take that as a compliment.”
“Oh, no. I mean it literally.” I pointed to his face. “That is a great mask, but not enough to fool me.”
And in that instant, the old man who was injured stood before me with a dagger pointed at my neck, moving faster than I could react.
“Who are you?”
His voice was cold and sharp, like that of a killer.
“I should be the one asking you that.” I immediately melted the dagger that was pointed at me. “Who, no… What are you?”
His eyes widened as he grabbed his wound.
Yes, everything about him was fake, but the wound was real.
“You are a sorcerer…” He mumbled.
“That I am. But what about you, oh Ser Faceless.”
And maybe… maybe I shouldn't have mocked him. At least not with that name.
Why?
Because the moment those words left my mouth was also the moment a knife stood right in the back of my head, saved only by his curiosity.
“Who are you?” He asked, “And how do you know about the Faceless Men?”
Faceless men, huh? Looks like I caught myself an interesting person.
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[[A/N: Boom, MC on his way to Westeros and we get to meet a Faceless man. Sheesh.]]
