Game of Thrones: Viserys the Three-Headed Dragon.

Chapter 48 Pirates
A trumpet sounded from the sea, and Viserys looked out and saw the pilot of the Cedurian waving a signal flag from the lookout on the mast.

The wind was not blowing in the right direction, but the Saidurion lowered its sails anyway. On the sails were the flag of Pentos and the logo of Illyrio's Guild of Commerce.

In addition, the sailors who heard the trumpet went on deck and erected the prepared flags around them, letting them flutter in the wind.

Viserys ignored Jorah's advice and walked out of the room and onto the foredeck. Jorah had no choice but to follow him. This time Viserys didn't let Dany follow him, but only let her sit in the room with Butch and Arnie.

When Viserys reached the forecastle and looked out into the distance, he saw that the galley Summer Sun and the Jeering Yoso had dropped their sails and hoisted their flags, as had the Cedurian.

The three ships were all heading against the wind, and even though all the rowing sailors on the rowing boats were in place, the speed of the merchant ship was visibly decreasing.

After slowing down for about half a quarter of an hour, Viserys finally saw the cause of all this, a small fleet of galleys armed with ballistae, trebuchets, and battering rams, as well as a few sailing ships and longships.

The most basic tactic in naval warfare during this era was ramming and boarding, which meant trying to get close to the enemy ship, creating a violent ramming, and then landing on the opponent's deck and resolving the rest of the battle there. Before the close combat, the combatants would use longbows and crossbows to attack the enemy.

This small fleet was undoubtedly sent by Myr, and ordinary pirates could not have such a configuration.

Sure enough, as soon as Viserys saw the fleet approaching the Summer Sun and Yoso, a highly maneuverable longship immediately sailed out of the fleet formation and took the initiative to approach the rowing boats in front.

The speed of the three ships finally dropped completely and they stopped motionless on the sea.

The Summer Sun and the Joking Yoso each lowered their lifeboats, and some crew members jumped off the boats to meet the Myr longship. They said something on the sea, and then sailed towards the Cedurian together.

As the ships approached.

Grolet immediately ordered the sailors to lower the ladder for boarding the ship and go forward.

Following them came a small group of leather-armored soldiers carrying the flag of the Myr fleet, followed closely by the first mates of the Summer Sun and the Joking Yoso.

The Myrish soldier in the lead seemed to be an officer. He glanced around the deck, glanced at Grole, then looked at Viserys who was standing aside and watching with great interest, and Jorah who was wearing armor and had a serious face, and finally looked at Grole. He asked in a thick Myrish accent: "Are you the person in charge of these three merchant ships?"

Grolai smiled broadly: "Yes, sir."

The officer asked seriously, "Do you have a pass?"

"Pass?" Grole asked. "I didn't hear about it when I left Myr."

"When did you leave Mill Harbor?"

"one day ago."

The officer said sternly, "Then you need it now. You can't pass without a pass. Go back to Mir and get a pass before coming back."

"Hey," Grolai said with a flattering smile on his face, "Sir, I wonder if this pass can be issued here?"

"Hmm?" The officer looked at Grolai seriously. "What do you think the sea is? This kind of certificate needs to be signed and sealed by the corresponding department, you know?" The officer snorted coldly, paused, and saw that Grolai was still smiling ingratiatingly, then said, "But you are lucky, I happen to have three passes here."

Grolet immediately smiled and said, "Oh, we are so lucky, sir. Can I see it?"

The officer took out three certificates that looked pretty good from a cloth bag hanging on his body and said, "Three thousand mire gold coins, one for each."

"Yes, yes," Grolet smiled and immediately asked someone to prepare gold coins. He asked the sailor to bring up the wine and food that had been prepared earlier. "Sir, you have worked hard and waited for me. Would you like to have something to eat or drink?"

The officer nodded with satisfaction and led the team of soldiers to eat and drink.

Soon, the ship's chief financial officer brought a large box of gold coins to the deck, where the officer openly counted them one by one.

Finally, he threw the three certificates to Grolai and said, "Take them."

Then he took the well-fed soldiers and carried the gold coin boxes off the Cedurian and left on a longship.

After seeing the people off, Grolet immediately came back and called to the sailors: "Hurry, go and put the flag on the bow." It turned out that the team of soldiers had just finished eating and "left" three flags with bright colors and special markings on the ship.

The first mates of the other two ships quickly returned to their ships, each holding a flag.

Soon, the merchant fleet put away the sails and the originally messy flags, leaving only the newest flag on the bow fluttering in the wind, and set sail again.

Viserys watched the whole process and went back to tell Daenerys this story. In the end, he could not help but exclaim: With the way the Myr fleet was going about clearing out the pirates, it was likely that the pirates in the Myr Sea would never be wiped out before the two sides reached peace talks.

It was only then that Dany realized what she had been hearing about in Myr a few days ago about the Myr fleet clearing out the pirates. This was really an eye-opener for her.

Today is destined to be an eventful day.

As long as there is a fleet to eliminate pirates, there must be pirates.

The merchant ships that bought the "pass" during the day passed by several small Millian fleets that were patrolling separately on the sea. They did not encounter any obstructions. Everyone was sailing on the sea in peace.

But at night, perhaps because they had sailed through the area cleared by the Myr fleet, Viserys, always alert, heard the warning sound of the galleys ahead. He got up and fumbled for the dagger under his pillow.

This time the horn sounded not as short as during the day, but a long one that lasted for a long time.

When Ani heard the sound, she got up from bed and lit the oil lamp at the door. Viserys was already dressed and was strapping the sword that Illyrio had given him around his waist.

Then Daenerys woke up: "What happened?"

Viserys walked over to this side of the suite, next to Daenerys' bed, sat down steadily, poured himself a glass of lemonade, drank it in one gulp before saying, "It could be a pirate."

The sour taste of the lemonade sobered Viserys up a little.

Ani came closer with the lamp. She looked a little flustered in the light of the fire, and blurted out the words she used to say when she helped Viserys get up from bed: "My lord, do you want to wash?"

"Pirates don't blow horns to warn you," Viserys ignored Arnie's nonsensical question and comforted the slightly panicked Dany. "Don't be nervous. Captain Grole is experienced. They will definitely be able to deal with it. You just need to sit in the room." He then ordered Arnie, "Arnie, come here and put on the leather armor for the young lady. The one I bought from the Myr protective gear shop is under my bed."

"What about you?" Dany asked.

Viserys stood up. "I will go out and take a look."

Before Dany could say another word, Viserys began to walk away.

When Viserys left the room, Jorah and Butch were already outside the door.

Viserys couldn't help but be surprised at how fast Jorah was. He had already put on the chain mail that he never seemed to take off. But perhaps because no one helped him or he felt it was unnecessary, he didn't put on the plate armor that he always carried with him but rarely wore.

The eunuch guard Butch was still wearing leather armor and simple protective gear, holding a sword in his hand and remaining silent.

Jorah looked at Viserys in surprise as he pushed the door open and said, "My lord, you don't mean to..."

"Butch!" Viserys ordered, not having time to listen to Jorah's nonsense. "You stay here and keep an eye on my sister."

"Yes."

"Jorah!" Viserys said without question. "Come up on deck with me." If only Jorah could say "yes" and "yes" like Butch. But he always said, "My Lord."

Viserys interrupted him: "Are you afraid? If so, don't come." Then he walked past him.

Jorah kept his mouth shut and followed closely.

There were already sailors on the deck, standing guard with torches and bows.

As soon as Viserys and Jorah appeared, Grole sent for them to come to him.

Captain Grolet was steering the ship with a normal expression. From his position, he could clearly see two ray of fire wandering near the surface of the sea where the Saidullion was in the dark night.

That should be the pirate ship.

It seemed that the three merchant ships reacted quickly, were fully prepared, and were brightly lit, supporting each other.

The two pirate ships were chasing from a distance and did not dare to get close and engage in a fight in the dark.

Viserys watched in silence, and Jorah did not speak either.

Under the dark night, this sailing posture continued for an unknown period of time. Grolai suddenly joked, "Did our musicians wake you up, sir? Their trumpets were so ugly."

Viserys picked up the joke. "Have you considered replacing the trumpeter with a band, and maybe a bard?"

Grolai winked at him and said, "That's a good idea. This way, there will be someone to sing and entertain us during the party."

"Will the guests not come, fearing that the wine will be too strong?" Viserys asked.

"Perhaps," replied Grolet, "but I never know for sure. These guests are all very eccentric."

While joking, Grolai's expression suddenly froze and he looked to the left.

The firelight on that side began to get closer, and he said helplessly: "It seems that the guests with strange tempers are coming to our bonfire party."

The situation became tense as the flames wandering on the sea gradually got closer.

Viserys couldn't help but look at the two clusters of fire that were gradually approaching on the sea. In the dark night, they looked like the eyes of a huge beast. He didn't know what kind of ships they were, but the fact that the two pirate ships dared to approach so boldly meant that they were a group of pirates whose strength should not be underestimated.

Time passed minute by minute, and the outline of the ship could gradually be seen from the approaching firelight. It looked like a large sailing ship, but its speed was faster than that of ordinary sailing ships. At least the Saidullion was definitely not as fast as them.

They stop at a certain distance.

On the closer of the approaching pirate ships, the mast flickered, as if it was sending some signal.

Grolai seemed to understand. He looked up with a serious expression and blew a strange whistle from his mouth. A strange rhythm sounded on the boat.

Viserys looked up and saw that the pilot watching from the mast had also begun to flicker some signals with torches and baffles.

This exchange continued for a while.

Grolai suddenly breathed a sigh of relief: "Fortunately, it's a friend who is willing to 'do business'."

"Doing business?" Viserys asked. This "doing business" might not be a good word, but compared to fighting with pirates on board, Captain Grole seemed to be able to accept it.

Captain Grolai shrugged helplessly: "Sir, those who are willing to do business on the sea are all friends. We all make a living on the sea, making friends is always better than shedding blood, what do you think?"

"I have no intention of judging your methods, Captain Grole," Viserys smiled. "I am merely interested and curious. May I ask how this business is done?"

"Sir," Grolet thought for a moment and replied, "It's actually similar to what you do when you buy and sell things in the market. Each side will send a small boat to the sea between the two ships, and their people will sell us some things, and we will pay for them."

"Is it the same as buying a pass during the day?"

"Sir," Grolai smiled awkwardly, "You are so smart."

The merchant ship was still traveling at the same speed as usual on the sea. The small boat sent by the rowing boat "Jojoso" and the fast boat sent by the pirate ship met somewhere on the sea. In less than a quarter of an hour, the dispatched ships had a slight contact with the other side, and the "business" was quickly over.

After finishing their business, the pirate ship gradually sailed away, and under the cover of night, the flames on the sea were getting farther and farther away from the merchant ship.

The speedboat that launched from the Jolly Yoso could not catch up with the rowing boat and finally returned to the towed Saidullion.

Although the situation was tense at one point, at least there was no bloody conflict, and the pirates had passed this hurdle.

By the time the pirate ship's fire had completely gone out and the sea was dark again, Viserys had returned to his room to comfort Dany and was now catching up on some sleep. The night was still dark and it was still early for dawn.

When they woke up the next day, the merchant ship was already far away from the sea area of ​​last night and was about to enter the jurisdiction of Tyrosh.

Viserys took his usual morning walk around the deck, getting some exercise, and then watching the sunrise from the foredeck.

But today was a little different. When Captain Grole saw Viserys, he took the initiative to talk to him in the morning. The captain handed a box to Viserys like a treasure: "My lord, there are good things. Don't you like keels? Do you want these?"

He opened the box and inside were some sparkling dragon bone and gem ornaments.

Viserys was not in a hurry to accept them. He asked him, "Are you giving these to me, or do you want me to buy them?"

"How can you buy this?" Grolai denied. "Moff Illyrio said that all goods related to dragon bones are at your disposal."

"Oh, you don't have to buy it, then it will be recorded in the dragon bone's account book, right?"

Grolai laughed: "Sir, hahaha, I really can't hide anything from you."

"All right. Leave the stuff here." Viserys couldn't stand Grole's materialism. "Don't write too exaggerated accounts. I'll check them."

"Yes, yes." Grolai handed the things to Viserys and left respectfully.

After watching the sunrise on the deck, Viserys returned to his room with the box.

It would not have been surprising to anyone to see Viserys sitting in the room holding the dragon bone.

Ani was doing her own thing at the door, sewing clothes for Viserys and Dany.

Dany had just washed and was sitting at the table on her side of the bed, reading the History and Songs of the Seven Kingdoms, written in standard English, that she had bought in Myr - this was a reading assignment Viserys had given her.

Viserys's eyes were quickly drawn to a sapphire dragon bone ornament in the box. The sapphire blue of the ornament was like the deep sea, beautiful and transparent, but the inside gave him a very strange feeling.

Perhaps it was a visual distortion caused by the internal structure of the gem, but Viserys vaguely felt that there were some ripples slowly flowing in the deep blue gem.

(End of this chapter)