The next morning, after personally inspecting White Cloud City, Daenerys regretted killing all the lambs too early.
The resources here were so abundant that they could live here forever.
Almost every street and large courtyard contained at least one well, and the water in these wells had not run dry.
This made sense. If Daenerys's water team could draw water from shallow, meter-deep pits, then the ten-meter-deep stone wells would naturally be full to the brim.
In the courtyards, clumps of demon grass grew between the flagstones, enough for the horses and lambs to breed.
It was a pity the lambs were all gone.
Horses weren't ideal for meat, and killing them for meat would be a waste of resources.
After touring the entire city, Daenerys immediately began the construction effort.
The old women were tasked with clearing the orchard of weeds and gathering fruit for Khalisar's daily needs.
Under Ser Jorah's leadership, the strong women organized the abandoned palace. The palace had enough housing for all the Horse People.
The elders were responsible for feeding the horses and repairing their saddles, bridles, stirrups, and horseshoes.
Daenerys personally led the Bloodriders and Dothraki warriors in demolishing the low-rise houses in the city's slums. The salvaged bricks and stones were used to repair the palace. The cleared ground was stripped of its flagstone foundations, and the exposed earth, along with the bare soil, was plowed by the horses.
Daenerys led the Khalisar on a mass expedition outside the city to gather a large quantity of firewood and weeds. They spread these materials across the freshly plowed earth, and a massive fire burned for a day and a night.
After the second plowing, the ashes of the plants and weeds were thoroughly mixed with the soil. Then, carefully selected large-grained wheat was scattered across the earth.
In this world, where summers lasted for more than a decade, the concept of spring planting and autumn harvest was nonexistent. If humans had to wait for such a cycle, they would have starved to death long ago.
As long as the land was empty and winter hadn't arrived, they could plant any crop at any time.
The idea of spring peaches or autumn pears didn't exist here either.
Fruits that appeared only in different seasons on Earth could be seen here simultaneously, with different fruit trees bearing heavy harvests on their branches.
Turnips were one of the staple foods of this world, and Daenerys's Khalisar had always carried them.
Now, the shriveled turnips were cut into pieces and first steamed in damp cloth until they sprouted seedlings before being separated and planted.
In addition to the ever-present turnips and wheat, they also discovered beets, onions, garlic, blackberries, mint, and peppers in the gardens of White Cloud City.
The inedible plants in the garden were uprooted and fed to the horses, and the cleared land was entirely planted with grain.
The children also kept busy, wandering through the labyrinthine alleys and darting between house windows, searching for ancient bronze artifacts, rusted iron pots, and weapons.
In the Khalisar, there were old men who knew the blacksmith's trade. They had once been slaves to Drogo, but the new Khals, like Bonno and Jhakko, had abandoned them when they grew too old to lift a hammer.
Daenerys selected four Dothraki warriors with the lowest combat skills and assigned them to become blacksmiths.
"We are great horse warriors!" they roared, their faces flushed with indignation. "We were born to kill and be killed! We will not do the work of slaves!"
Daenerys longed to mock them: *Without killing, you will only be killed. With your skills, what use are you beyond training others in swordsmanship?*
"Who says a blacksmith cannot kill?" Daenerys said sternly, her voice ringing with righteous indignation as she began to spin a tale. "Do you know who I am? Daenerys Stormborn, Princess of Dragonstone. I was once the daughter of the King of the Sunset Continent. My brother Rhaegar was no weaker than any Khal except Drogo, but he was murdered by the Usurper."
"That man, Robert Baratheon, killed my brother and stole the throne that belonged to my father and my brother. He was almost as powerful as the great Khal Drogo."
The four Dothraki listened, their faces blank with confusion. They knew their Khaleesi was the last princess, which was why the original Khal Drogo had been willing to marry her.
"Khaleesi, I don't understand," one of the Dothraki mumbled.
"Ah, that Usurper, Robert Baratheon, a man as strong as Khal Drogo..." Daenerys tilted her head back at a forty-five-degree angle, gazing at the sky with a melancholic voice. "...was just a blacksmith!"
"Ahem, ahem, ahem." Ser Jorah choked on his own spit.
"I just want you to know that even a blacksmith can become a great warrior," Daenerys concluded.
"But that Usurper... the Khal of the Sunset Continent, was really a blacksmith?" the Dothraki asked doubtfully.
Daenerys's expression turned stern. She looked at Ser Jorah and asked, "Sir, swear by the Seven Gods and the Old Gods—what weapon did the Usurper use?"
"A warhammer," Great Bear replied dryly.
"Hear that?" Daenerys's sharp gaze swept over the Dothraki. "Think about it yourselves—can a warhammer smashed against a skull kill a man?"
"The Usurper struck your brother in the chest," Great Bear said, his voice hoarse. "The red dragon emblem on his chest, made of rubies, was shattered. The rubies scattered across the riverbank, and that's why the place where Prince Rhaegar fell is now called Ruby Ford."
"You've all seen Ser Jorah's iron armor," Daenerys said, shrugging. "The Arakh couldn't cut through it, yet the Red Dragon battle armor, which was even harder, was smashed to pieces by a warhammer." She looked around at the dumbfounded Horse People and answered her own question: "What does this prove? It proves that blacksmiths have a bright future!"
"Are you willing to learn from a master blacksmith now?" she asked.
"I am, Khaleesi. I want to be a blacksmith too," her Bloodrider, Jhogo, said excitedly.
Daenerys looked at him.
Soon, four blacksmith apprentices, under the guidance of the master smith, began to reforge the salvaged artifacts.
Not long after, the children of the Horse People discovered a stack of scrolls in a stone chamber. Daenerys rushed over, her heart filled with anticipation.
But she was disappointed to find that the passage of time had ruined the scrolls. Only the first page remained legible; the rest had fused into a single, brittle mass that crumbled to dust at the slightest touch.
Still, she had made a significant discovery: a map in the stone room that seemed to be a library.
The writing and illustrations on it were faded, and the parchment was nearly decayed, but it still showed Daenerys's current location.
*Hmm, White Cloud City is at the center of the map.*
To the west lay a range of mountains. Further west, three cities were marked. Daenerys translated one name into Ancient Valyrian: "Meereen."
To the east, another mountain range stretched, beyond which lay the sea.
The most valuable information was the geography south of White Cloud City. Directly south was the ocean, but without a scale, she couldn't determine the exact distance.
She could only estimate White Cloud City's location by comparing it to the Lhazar River. The city seemed to be roughly halfway between the river and the southern ocean.
Daenerys and her group had traveled for five days, covering approximately 500 to 600 kilometers, but not in a straight line, and their starting point wasn't on the Lhazar River.
She estimated that traveling another 600 kilometers south would surely bring them to the coast.
This was good news.
The second piece of good news was that within 100 kilometers southwest of White Cloud City, there were two more cities. Like White Cloud City, they were located in the Red Waste.
That place, like White Cloud City, must have also become a dead zone over the centuries. As Daenerys had suspected, the map showed a river that once flowed from the Lhazar River Basin, connecting White Cloud City with the other two cities. Now, the river had completely vanished.
So, did Daenerys now have two new "farmlands"?
She regretted it for the second time for slaughtering the lambs so early. If only she had kept them, she could have turned White Cloud City into farmlands and developed the other two cities into pastures—that would have been perfect!
But it turned out she had overthought things.
The knights she sent out the next day, following Daenerys's directions, indeed found the second and third White Cities.
Like White Cloud City, they were characterized by white walls, white towers, and white buildings. Apart from being smaller in scale, they were virtually identical.
However, Jhogo, the leader of the expedition, reported: "Khaleesi, the nearest city is too eerie. A circle of rusty iron spears, each tipped with a skull, surrounds the walls. When the wind blows, I can hear them laughing—a devilish cackle! I didn't dare enter."
Daenerys was speechless. *You can hear the wind, too?*
*Devilish cackles? If there were real devils, they'd be laughing at how cowardly you Dothraki are.*
Sensing the Khaleesi's displeasure, Jhogo quickly pulled a dark iron bracelet from his pocket, its center inlaid with a thumb-sized, fiery red opal.
The opal glowed with a transparent, natural brilliance, completely uncarved.
"Khaleesi, look what I found in the second White City."
"It's just an opal. Worthless," Daenerys said, shaking her head.
"Worthless?" Jorah asked, taking the bracelet from Jhogo. "This opal is fiery red and transparent, completely natural and uncarved. And it's not small. In the Free Federation, it's worth at least five gold coins. If we remove the gem and have a skilled silversmith set it in an filigreed gold bracelet, the price could double."
As he spoke, the knight's tone grew wistful, his rugged, bearded face gradually tinged with memories of both sweetness and pain.
"Why would a man like you know so much about women's jewelry?" Daenerys asked, deliberately guiding the conversation, wanting to learn his story.
Jorah glanced at the curious Dothraki staring at him and hesitated, remaining silent.
Daenerys turned to her Bloodriders. "Rakharo, Aggo, each of you select three warriors, two horse herders, and two food gatherers. Each person will have three horses and carry enough food and water."
First, proceed to the third white city in the southwest and establish it as your base. From there, search in the southern, southwestern, and southeastern directions for a day's ride.
Your targets are threefold: town ruins, animals, and any humans you might encounter.
Remember, your safety is paramount. Do not attempt to hunt any unfamiliar animals; simply note their appearance and location.
"If you encounter people..."
"Can we try to make contact?" she asked Ser Jorah, the seasoned driver.
Jorah pondered for a moment. "Work in pairs. One of you will attempt to communicate, while the other returns to report."
Daenerys nodded and instructed the Dothraki, "Do as he says."
Then she turned to Jhogo, who had just returned from the third white city. "Blood of My Blood, though this place has remained uninhabited, now that we've found it, others might stumble upon it as well.
I want you to lead two ten-man teams in repairing the city gates.
We lack sturdy, heavy timber, so there's no need to rebuild the wooden gates. Instead, stack stones in the gate archway, leaving only enough space for a single cart to pass. Then..."
...and construct a small barbican behind the main gate.
However, the Horse People don't understand what a barbican is, and even with Daenerys's explanation, Jhogo couldn't grasp the concept.
"Let's leave it at that for now."
After the Bloodriders and Horse People departed, Jorah hesitated. "Your Highness, what are your plans for the future? Will you truly live here forever?"
-----------------------
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