The merchant ship didn't enter the massive port of Pentos. Instead, it sailed further, crossing the bay, passing a beachhead, and then a giant lighthouse, before entering a smaller, cleaner harbor.
A panorama of mansions with red-tiled roofs and courtyards opened up before them.
These courtyards were built on the mountainside, facing the sunrise, with a massive red temple at the highest point.
Illyrio gestured for Viserys and Daenerys to disembark from the merchant ship. They boarded a small boat that had been prepared in advance. With the help of Illyrio's confidants, they rowed the boat slowly into a hidden mooring point, concealed beneath a water channel of a certain courtyard.
Viserys remained silent throughout the journey, discreetly glancing around.
Illyrio seemed quite pleased by this, believing Viserys to be impressed by his cautious and secretive approach.
After getting off the small boat, Illyrio led the way. They walked through a long, winding, hidden passage. Pushing open a wooden door, they found themselves within Illyrio's courtyard.
It was a corner of the garden, with a clean, cobblestone path, lined with various flowers, evergreens, and ivy. On one side was the sea, and on the other, a magnificent building with tall brick walls.
Compared to a modern Earth park, the courtyard wasn't very large. The brick walls on either side were easily visible, tall and topped with iron spikes.
For a private courtyard, it was considered luxurious.
"Welcome to my humble abode, Your Majesty Viserys, Your Grace Daenerys," Illyrio said with a serious bow.
"Hmm," Viserys replied with a stern expression. "It's a decent place, Governor Illyrio. When does the feast begin?"
"The feast?" Illyrio's expression was a little strange, as if he hadn't expected Viserys to ask such a question with such seriousness in this setting. But he quickly covered it up. "Of course, Your Majesty. Please, follow me."
Under Illyrio's guidance, the group soon entered the building. Then Illyrio summoned eunuchs and maids to take Viserys and Daenerys to wash up first – yes, besides the usual maids, Illyrio even had eunuchs, responsible for taking care of daily life and guarding the courtyard.
"Wash up?" Viserys questioned. "Is this a custom before a feast in Pentos?"
"Uh?" Illyrio finally felt something was off. From the moment they landed, Viserys's attitude towards him had subtly changed, and only now did he finally understand.
It was like this: previously, he had been willing to be a subject in order to serve as Viserys's finance minister, and Viserys treated him as such. But after landing, Viserys acted as though he were merely a guest at a banquet on his host's territory.
Illyrio couldn't help but ask, "Your Grace, forgive my impertinence, but have you perhaps misunderstood the nature of this invitation?"
Viserys raised his head and straightened his back. "Governor Illyrio, rest assured. As long as your guests don't mock me as the 'Beggar King,' I won't cause any trouble during the banquet. I guarantee your honor will be preserved." Turning to Daenerys, who looked utterly bewildered, Viserys made the same assurance. "Daenerys is the same. You can be certain she will be quiet at the banquet and won't provoke those noblewomen."
He looked as though he were completely at ease, ready to attend the banquet and socialize.
Illyrio frowned, certain that Viserys had completely misunderstood something.
But before Illyrio could say more, Viserys, full of enthusiasm, instructed Illyrio to have the eunuchs lead him to wash up, then told the equally bewildered Daenerys to follow the maids.
Illyrio wanted to clarify the situation with Viserys. "Your Grace..."
"Governor Illyrio, no need to say more." Viserys interrupted him again, a knowing look on his face. "Don't worry, I understand."
"What exactly did you understand?"
Illyrio was momentarily stunned.
The scene was a bit absurd.
The eunuch and the maidservant didn't dare to act without Illyrio's instructions. Viserys waited patiently with a smile on his face. Daenerys was lowering her head, seemingly lost in thought.
"What about what we discussed before?" Illyrio asked, bewildered.
Viserys still wore that 'I understand' expression, nodding, "Of course, I understand, Governor. After the banquet, I'll act as if nothing happened. I give you my word, as a Targaryen!"
Illyrio's eyes flickered, and he didn't know what he was thinking. In the end, he didn't say more, just waved his hand, instructing the eunuch and maidservant to take the two of them to wash up first.
Viserys didn't know what Illyrio was thinking, but that wasn't important. What was important was that if Illyrio wanted to continue using this new Viserys, everything he had negotiated with the previous version of himself needed to be re-evaluated.
Since things had come to this point, let's talk it over again.
Viserys's strategy was simple: no matter how clumsy his acting, no matter how weak his words, he needed to send a signal to Illyrio.
"Oh, what? Weren't we just putting on a show before? Letting me, a disgraced prince, be your guest to spice up your grand banquet? You're serious about helping me reclaim the throne? I thought we were just joking around, having a laugh, brother."
No matter how Illyrio reacted afterward, as long as he didn't flip the table, Viserys could seize some degree of control over the conversation.
If Illyrio felt he was being played and couldn't swallow his anger, and decided to resort to violence…
Then, it would only be up to him, the Beggar King, to utter the words, "My sword is always sharp."
However, in Pentos, assassinating a guest during a banquet was a grave crime.
In a way, as long as both sides didn't completely tear off their masks, the possibility of resorting to violence was small. After all, in situations where things could be handled with dignity, not everyone was like a Frey.
Of course, Viserys had actually considered another strategy: to feign compliance at first, and try to obtain a few dragon bones from Illyrio to study whether they could activate the "Collect Dragon Soul" quest, and see if it could trigger the dormant power of the Gleeok King within him. Then, he would decide whether or not to play tricks on Illyrio.
But on second thought, even Daenerys, the Mother of Dragons' blood hadn't worked. Getting a few dragon bones might not be useful either.
Speaking of which, the very notion of "having the Gleeok King's power within" was actually a "question" for Viserys. From his personal experience since transmigrating, aside from his body having a different soul, his physical condition hadn't changed much compared to his original self.
He hadn't gained any extra strength, nor had he acquired any magic.
That is to say, from a biological standpoint, he was still just an ordinary Targaryen descendant, not a human-shaped magical elemental creature, the Gleeok King.
There was nothing he could do. The entity that had imprinted the quest on his mind was a lazy one. Aside from issuing the quest, it didn't offer any hints on how to complete it, leaving it all up to him.
In the world of Hyrule, after achieving the goal of 'obtaining the Gleeok King's materials,' he also had no idea how to 'become the Gleeok King.' Speaking of which, he had prepared numerous plans at the time, but he never expected to succeed on his first try—oh, right, his first plan was to swallow it whole.
It must be said that swallowing monster materials whole was a very risky behavior, and it was extremely painful at first. The Gleeok King was a purely magical elemental creature, and the materials it dropped after being killed were its liver, wings, and horns—hard, huge, filled with the taste of magic, and extremely difficult to swallow. Fortunately, as he gradually finished swallowing the liver, he also slowly began to transform into the Gleeok King, growing scales and a dragon's head through magic. And after devouring the wings and horns, he became the complete Gleeok King.
It was just a pity that he wasn't given much time to experience the power of a magical elemental creature's body before some force brought him to the world of A Song of Ice and Fire, turning him into an ordinary human again.
Even though he couldn't feel it now, Viserys was certain that the notion of "having the Gleeok King's power within" was beyond doubt.
So, his problem was how to gather the Dragon Soul.
Undoubtedly, Daenerys, the Mother of Dragons, was the closest lead. Though she didn't seem to have much to do with the Dragon Soul at the moment, that didn't mean it would stay that way after the Red Comet appeared. After all, Daenerys had many extraordinary abilities in the world of A Song of Ice and Fire, a rarity in the Targaryen family for hundreds of years. She was The Unburnt, the Mother of Dragons, and she had Dragon Dreams. With all sorts of buffs, she was undoubtedly a "chosen one."
Viserys vaguely remembered that, according to the original plot, he and Illyrio would conspire to sell Daenerys to Khal Drogo, the Dothraki Khal, in exchange for tens of thousands of troops to conquer the Seven Kingdoms. But after transmigrating and absorbing Viserys's memories, he found that Viserys knew nothing about the Dothraki Khal at this moment.
Originally, this simple-minded Viserys only vaguely knew that he would eventually abandon Daenerys, relying on selling her to gain power. But the people he considered were all the nobles of the Free Cities, who were not mentioned in the original story. Of course, he would sometimes consider some Westerosi nobles, but the thought that they were supporters of the usurpers who overthrew the Targaryen dynasty made him dismiss the idea.
Then, the clues became very clear. The one who proposed selling Daenerys to the Khal in the original story was definitely Illyrio.
But the current Viserys didn't plan to sell Daenerys, nor did he want to be controlled by Illyrio and the schemers behind him.
To muddle the plans and buy time.
This was the reason Viserys began to feign ignorance.