Mouse_Is_Duck felt like he had been walking forever. He was starting to feel like a Skaven rat-man crawling through a dungeon.
Fortunately, an object appeared ahead that made him let out a long sigh of relief. It seemed he was getting close to the mystery.
Approaching the object, Mouse froze as his dim flame illuminated it. After a long pause, he slowly spat out two words:
"Holy sht."
A giant's skull?
At the same time, through the System interface, Viserys also saw the object through Mouse's perspective. It was indeed a humanoid skull, but massive—several times larger than a normal human's.
Viserys knew Illyrio dealt in spices and dragon bones, but what use was a giant's skull? And why pile it in a sewer? Viserys didn't understand.
Mouse took a few steps back, marveling at this colossal "artifact" and silently judging Illyrio for being a pervert. In the faint light, he also noticed scattered bones littering the ground around the giant skull.
To the ignorant Mouse, these scattered bones looked like trash left behind by feasting beasts—worthless junk.
But Viserys, a Targaryen, recognized them at a glance. Except for the conspicuous giant skull, the rest were dragon bones. Raw, unprocessed dragon bones.
Dragon bones discarded so casually? It seems whatever is hidden deeper inside holds significant weight in Illyrio's heart, Viserys muttered to himself as he watched Mouse move forward.
Mouse pulled down his hood. For some reason, standing among these eerie bones made his body feel strangely hot.
He continued forward with his tiny flame until a stone door blocked his path.
Scattered dragon bones adorned the area around the stone door like morbid decorations. The spooky scene made Mouse feel like he was in a tomb-raiding movie.
"A zombie isn't gonna jump out, right?" Mouse swallowed nervously, his earlier bravado completely gone.
Finally, adopting the mindset of "I'm already here, might as well," Mouse began to feel around the surface of the stone door. Soon, his fingers brushed against a protrusion.
Bingo!
Mouse pressed the switch, and the stone door slowly ground open.
After confirming there were no poison gas traps, Mouse summoned his courage and walked in.
He swept his small flame across the room, and his pupils instantly dilated.
"Hoarding armor and crossbows in a medieval noble's house... that's legal, right? Like, probably?"
After a moment of stunned silence, Mouse gulped, his eyes glowing green with greed as he looked at the dust-covered plate armor in front of him.
Watching through his perspective, Viserys's eyes were also glowing gold. It wasn't "Young Griff" (Aegon) as he suspected, but this was an unexpected windfall!
As Mouse circled the room, looking at the racks of armor, crossbows, spears, and swords, Viserys understood immediately. This was Illyrio's secret armory!
---
After the initial excitement, Viserys began to weigh his options. Should I flip the table on Illyrio right now for these weapons?
He hesitated for only a second before making up his mind. The butcher Mouse killed was definitely one of Illyrio's henchmen. With his henchman dead, the Magister would soon discover his armory had been compromised and immediately suspect Viserys.
After all, these outsiders had only been here for one day, and suddenly the Magister's "ammo depot" was breached. If it wasn't Viserys's men, who else could it be?
Even if Viserys was a crucial piece in Illyrio's grand game, House Targaryen had a spare heir: Daenerys. Illyrio could easily kill Viserys and push the more controllable girl onto the stage.
F it. If I hadn't seen it, fine. But now that I've seen it, there's no turning back.
Tomorrow morning, I'll have a player army of nearly 200. I'll strike first, kill Illyrio, and seize these treasures!
Actually, he didn't even need to kill Illyrio. He could slaughter the Magister's loyalists and put him under house arrest. That way, the other factions in Pentos wouldn't notice anything amiss in the short term.
Of course, paper can't wrap fire forever. But Viserys was confident. Give him a few days—hell, three days.
Once his player army snowballed, their numbers would easily surpass the Pentos City Watch. By then, it wouldn't matter if the other Magisters realized something was wrong.
Watching Mouse quickly exit the stone room, Viserys closed the System interface. His mind was made up.
Tomorrow morning, he would invite the Magister for a "chat"!
He would smash a cup as a signal, and the axe-men... no, the Players would rush out and seal the deal!
Inviting a guest to dinner, only to bury him in the hall. The old "Banquet at Hongmen" trick from his ancestors on Earth would work just as well in this world!
Huff! Huff!
Mouse dragged the butcher's heavy corpse and threw it into the hole. He panted heavily, wiping sweat from his forehead.
After hastily covering up the scene, he scrambled over the wall and left. Ignoring stealth, he hurried toward Viserys's room.
Strange enough, there wasn't a soul on the way there, but on the way back, he almost ran into an Unsullied patrol.
Fortunately, Mouse managed to reach Viserys's door without incident.
He looked around cautiously to ensure no one was watching, then raised his hand to knock lightly.
The door opened instantly from the inside. Viserys pulled the unsuspecting Mouse into the room and shut the door quickly.
"What is it?" Even though he knew exactly why Mouse was here, Viserys feigned ignorance.
"Your Grace... do you want treasure?"
Want? How could I not? In the dark room, the corners of Viserys's mouth curled up.
"Where is this treasure..."
---
Before Dawn.
Viserys stood in the courtyard where his "Kingsguard"—the players—were staying.
Although it wasn't fully dark on Earth yet, many players eager to experience the game had already logged on.
Amidst the sounds of birds and the fragrance of flowers, players walked out of their rooms one by one, as if spawning from a summoning circle.
Soon, both new and veteran players gathered. The count reached 145, packing the spacious courtyard.
Viserys silently counted the curious players. Those who hadn't logged in were probably busy in real life or still stuck at work, but he couldn't wait any longer.
After his usual speech to hype up the players, Viserys looked at them seriously.
"The glory of House Targaryen shall be restored, starting today! And this glory, I shall not enjoy alone!"
Log in and immediately start chopping people? Say no more! After Viserys briefly explained that they were about to throw hands, the players began whispering excitedly.
Although Viserys could brute-force his way through with the current player count, doing so might let a few fish slip through the net. Plus, Viserys wanted to secure command over Illyrio's thirty Unsullied.
So, he decided to stick to the plan. Mouse_Is_Duck, the Master Assassin who had performed a great service last night, was sent to bait the trap.
Illyrio never had a habit of waking up early. But the rude shouting forced him to dress and walk out of his room. He looked at the intruder with dissatisfaction.
"I recognize you. What is the matter?"
"Bad news, My Lord! His Grace has been assassinated! He's wounded and has fled to our quarters. He is demanding to see you immediately!"
Mouse_Is_Duck spun a tale right off the bat.
"What?!" Someone tried to assassinate Viserys in my own home?!