The Temple of the Moonsingers was the largest and most magnificent temple in Braavos.
It was the Moonsinger who had once guided the Valyrian slaves to Braavos.
Late at night, Freygo stood in the center of the temple's main hall.
Directly before him stood a white marble statue more than four meters tall.
It depicted a woman holding a lantern.
Around Freygo, the light and shadows of the twelve phases of the moon shifted across the floor.
Moonlight poured through the transparent glass dome overhead, creating a cold and tranquil radiance.
Freygo did not know how long he had been standing there.
His legs had become as stiff as wood.
When he finally tried to move, a wave of numbness spread through his calves.
A dragon's roar suddenly exploded overhead, nearly making him stumble.
Quairo, standing behind him, quickly reached out and steadied him.
"Your Majesty!"
"I'm fine. I've simply been standing for too long."
The fall of the fortress was nothing short of a thunderbolt for Braavos.
In Freygo and Tormo's original plans, the fortress should have bought them at least half a year.
During that time, they could have stockpiled food, manufactured weapons, and trained new recruits.
Freygo could not understand it.
Viserys had executed those nobles, so why were the Westerosi still willing to help him?
Could there be some kind of conspiracy behind it?
At first, even Freygo himself had suspected Robert and the others.
But after thinking about it carefully, how could Robert possibly surrender to Viserys?
If Viserys had managed to infiltrate Pentos, then infiltrating Westeros was hardly impossible.
Over the past few days, the Targaryen army had not yet fully arrived, but the dragons had already begun circling overhead.
Viserys was using the same tactic again, sending the three dragons roaring endlessly above Braavos to increase the psychological pressure on the city's inhabitants.
More than a million people lived in Braavos.
And Braavos itself was composed of more than a hundred islands.
Its territory was enormous, which made the effect far less concentrated than it had been at the fortress.
Furthermore, thick fog covered the skies above Braavos throughout much of the year, greatly weakening the Targaryens' aerial advantage.
Braavos had no walls, but its fragmented terrain, combined with the continued strength of its fleet, made the city extremely difficult to capture.
After leaving the Temple of the Moonsingers, Freygo held a meeting in an underground chamber.
A long table stood in the center of the room.
Robert sat at one end.
Freygo sat at the other.
The highest-ranking nobles occupied the seats around the table, while ordinary nobles and military officers had to sit in chairs along either side.
The Westerosi nobles made up only slightly more than a quarter of those present, leaving them heavily outnumbered by the local nobles.
More than a hundred people filled the room, yet the atmosphere was heavy and oppressive.
Freygo cleared his throat.
As the host, he naturally spoke first.
"The greedy dragons are circling above our heads. In truth, they did the same thing hundreds of years ago. But you can all see how that ended. It accomplished nothing."
Freygo used a small joke to lighten the atmosphere.
After the slaves fled to Braavos, the Valyrians had sent dragonriders to search for them.
But Braavos's complicated terrain and perpetual fog had made the search fruitless.
"So, in my opinion, there is nothing to fear from dragons. The only thing we have to fear is fear itself!"
Freygo had casually repeated one of the famous sayings from Viserys's other world.
A golden quote was a golden quote.
It quickly won agreement from several people.
"The king is absolutely right.
Braavos has more than a million people! We also possess a powerful fleet, and we can obtain support from Lorath.
If Viserys wants to wear us down, then let him wear himself out!"
Tormo was the first to respond.
Robert and the other Westerosi nobles were somewhat slower.
They needed translators behind them to understand what Freygo was saying.
'The only thing to fear is fear itself.'
Eddard repeated the words silently in his mind.
He found himself thinking that it was an excellent saying.
If he survived, perhaps he could use those words to teach his children one day.
Based on their calculations, if Viserys failed to achieve any significant result within half a year, he would have no choice but to withdraw.
They had also learned the outcome of the negotiations between Volantis and Viserys.
It seemed that Viserys was simply too arrogant.
Slaver's Bay had once again organized an army and was transporting it toward Volantis.
When it arrived, the southern city-states would be able to assemble another army of at least two hundred thousand men to threaten the Targaryens.
Of course, not everyone agreed that these were favorable conditions.
The Zalyne family, for example, had been quietly courting the Targaryens for several years.
The southern city-states were performing terribly.
Their enormous armies were certainly real.
But so were the slave revolts breaking out one after another.
No matter how enormous an army was, it was still nothing more than a colossus with feet of clay.
Of course, no one could openly discuss surrender here.
Urom, who had once presented Viserys with dragon eggs, straightened his long braided beard before speaking.
"But we must also take Targaryen madness into consideration.
Especially someone like Viserys.
Ever since his coronation, he has never suffered a defeat. If he takes heavy losses, he may become enraged and do something completely unpredictable."
Urom appeared to be criticizing Viserys, but in reality, his words contained a veiled compliment.
"And what exactly are you suggesting?"
After hearing the translation, Stannis asked in his usual grim tone.
"My suggestion is that if we achieve some significant victories, we should appropriately extend an olive branch to the Targaryens.
Braavos is our home. We absolutely cannot allow it to be reduced to ashes for some other reason."
Urom spoke calmly.
"What other reason? Why don't you say exactly what you mean?"
Brynden Tully, who had rarely spoken during the meeting, spoke up unhappily.
Because of his opposition to a marriage arrangement, Brynden had declared himself independent from his family.
In the original course of events, he would eventually become Robb's great commander in the south.
His temper remained as fiery as ever.
"Of course I mean you people! You should have left Essos like Tywin did back then instead of staying behind like a plague.
If it weren't for you, the fortress wouldn't have fallen so quickly!"
Those who supported Urom immediately joined in.
The harmonious atmosphere Freygo had painstakingly created was shattered in an instant.
A fierce argument erupted on both sides of the long table.
"Enough!"
Freygo slammed his fist against the table.
The argument stopped immediately.
But his chest was heaving violently like a bellows, and it took him a long time to calm down.
"We... From the day we chose to send our armies into this war, there has been no turning back between us and the Targaryens!
King Robert is Viserys's enemy, and Viserys is our enemy.
What do you call the enemy of my enemy? How can you possibly doubt them?"
Robert looked toward Freygo and gave a slight nod.
He had only around sixty thousand soldiers left under his command.
If Braavos fell, House Baratheon would be destroyed by his own hands.
It was something he could never accept.
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