Several men who looked like hunters, carrying bows and arrows on their backs, were talking to the guards outside the city gate.
The reason is still the poor governor who died not long ago. Today, Pantos still conducts strict inspections on mercenaries, caravan guards or hunters who enter the city-state with weapons and armor.
But Viserys and the guards who came to the city yesterday did not receive such treatment.
"Sir, we are all hunters from the surrounding villages."
One of the men, a thin man with a turban on his head, patted a stag on his horse and said good things to the guards.
The deer seemed to have been dead for a long time, and the blood on its body had been drained. The hunters wanted to sell the deer in the market of Pentos in exchange for some food to take home.
The guards of Pentos waved their hands impatiently.
"roll roll roll!"
"I've told you several times that people can go in and throw out all the weapons they have."
However, the hunters still pestered the guards and were unwilling to hand over their weapons.
After all, this was the guy they were eating from, and the area around Pentos wasn't peaceful either.
After all, Pentos is unable to go out and eliminate bandits. The soldiers are sparse and poorly trained, so they can only be entrusted to mercenaries or large caravans to deal with it themselves. Small caravans and ordinary farmers and hunters need to make their own fortunes.
In such a chaotic world, farmers and hunters have to carry a dagger or short sword with them when they go far away. If they encounter a robber, they can still resist.
At least you can die bravely this way.
Therefore, the hunters were unwilling to hand over their weapons and clung to the guards, unwilling to leave.
And at this time.
Gululu——
In the distance, a long motorcade drove towards the city gate of Pentos, and the wheels made a sound as they rolled over the small amount of snow remaining on the ground.
It looks like another large-scale caravan has arrived.
When they saw the arrival of the caravan, the eyes of the guards at the gate of Pentos lit up. They knew that this was another opportunity to make a fortune.
"Hurry up!"
"Come here, gather together, and give me a thorough inspection."
Yesterday, after receiving Viserys, the bulging city gate guard held up the helmet with a crooked strap on his head, and then called on his brothers to come over and catch fish.
On weekdays, caravans usually take the road adjacent to the port and rarely come in from the north gate.
Since there are no caravans coming from the north city gate, the 'tolls' will naturally be much less.
The family spent so much money to bribe them to work in the garrison, naturally in order to make a fortune. Ordinary people may not have so much savings in several years or even decades.
However, after arriving at the garrison, he followed his leader and lived a happy life of eating, drinking, prostitution and gambling. The tolls required for a year's light card were collected and given to the commander-in-chief. The brothers below will share a share...
It would take at most two years at most that all the heavy money spent on bribes at home would have been repaid, and the rest would be a net profit.
Some small caravans or middle-class families in Pentos City lined up with a lot of gold coins, trying hard to send their unsatisfactory children to work in the garrison.
It’s safe and you can make a fortune, who wouldn’t want to come?
After hearing the conversation between these city gate guards, the hunters who had just been pestering them looked at each other, and both saw the tension in each other's eyes.
Then the tall and thin hunter, who was holding the deer on his horseback, glanced at the mercenary not far away who was also blocked outside the city gate.
There was a hint of tacit understanding in the eyes of the two groups, and they nodded to each other.
...
Gululu——
The wheels of the carriage kept making noise, and the long motorcade finally arrived in front of the city gate of Pentos.
"stop!"
"Where did you come from as a caravan?"
The security officer at the city gate held up his helmet, the armor on his body could hardly be put on, and then walked over with his round belly.
Many of the hundreds of defenders at the city gate were also attracted at once.
The leader of the caravan was an old man with gray hair, who looked to be in his fifties or sixties and dressed plainly.
He was riding a tall gray war horse. The horse's hair was somewhat matted, as if it hadn't taken a bath for a long time.
"This is my hometown, sir..."
The old man's voice was somewhat deep while sitting on the dirty horse, and he spoke in extremely standard Valyrian.
He looked at the prosperous and prosperous city-state behind the city gate, with deep nostalgia in his eyes.
He has been away from here for half his life, and he only dared to return after disguising himself today.
"Don't talk nonsense to me. I'm asking you where are you from and which caravan you are from?"
The fat city gate guard naturally understands Valyrian, but his current attitude is not as timid as when he faced Viserys yesterday, and he has become extremely impatient.
"I come from Tyrosh, my lord."
The old man riding on the gray horse was not angry, but took a deep look at the city gate security officer.
Then he turned over and dismounted and said.
"I rented merchant ships from Tyrosh to sell goods to Braavos, and then purchased some goods from Braavos and brought them to Pentos."
"Pantos is very good. I'm not going to leave now that I'm here."
The old man's voice was full of energy. It seemed that although he was older, he still maintained a high energy level and his eyes were extremely sharp.
The leader of the Pentos city gate defenders couldn't help but shrink his neck, and his impatient attitude calmed down a bit.
"Braavos."
The Pentos people were still very hostile to Braavos, so the vigilance officer snorted and deliberately lengthened the tone.
"What kind of goods are you selling? Are there any contraband?"
"If you have it, take it out in advance. If you ask me to dig it out... hum..."
The obese security officer spoke in a deliberately prolonged tone, as if he was grunting like a pig.
The tone was threatening and suggestive.
At the same time, he raised his hand and opened the carriage covered with tattered cloth strips. There were some spices and even a few large boxes inside.
"Huh? What is this?"
Then the fat officer's eyes suddenly noticed those neat large boxes.
According to his many years of experience, such dark boxes at the bottom usually contain contraband.
"What we mainly sell are spices, sir."
"And those black boxes contain Loras' walrus tusks, and we also purchased some."
The gray-haired old man looked very calm and spoke calmly.
Braavos collects goods from all over the world, and the price of spices is a little lower than that of Pentos, so transporting spices from Braavos to Pentos is a regular trade route, and you can also sell spices when passing by Andalos.
Drop some.
Then the old man opened a black box, revealing the specialty walrus tusks from Loras.
This expensive product may be collected by some wealthy businessmen or nobles.
And at this time.
"Sir, what is this?"
A Pentos guard seemed to have discovered something strange and shouted loudly.