Most of Arthur's impression of Pentos came from Daenerys and Magister Illyrio in the original books.
Besides that, he knew little about its customs and culture, apart from what Victar had mentioned about Pentoshi trade goods like dragonbone, spices, cheese, and jewelry.
When Vicwu finished explaining the "lowly" status and function of the Prince of Pentos, Arthur found it hard to stifle a laugh.
Usually, the Prince of Pentos only performed ceremonial duties, presiding over meetings and feasts.
Every New Year's Day, he had to deflower the maidens sacrificed to the land and sea.
Most importantly, when the Pentoshi believed the gods were angry with them—for instance, if they lost a war or the harvest failed—they would slit the Prince's throat and sacrifice him to appease the divine wrath.
Good gods. To put it nicely, he was a hero who sacrificed himself to balance the accounts.
To put it bluntly, he was a sacrificial pig. If the Pentoshi were unhappy one day, they killed the Prince to cheer everyone up.
Vicwu: "We might be lucky enough to see their sacrifice. Brother Shan said when he returned that there were signs of a poor harvest in Pentos. That's why our ships are full of grain."
"Is that so?" Arthur said with a hint of anticipation. "Then we must pray for favorable winds so we don't miss the big show."
When a person's anticipation is aroused, time seems to pass slower. Fortunately, the winds were good, and on the morning of the fourth day, all three ships sailed into the harbor of Pentos.
Arthur didn't feel bored during the three days on the Ice & Peach.
After breakfast in the morning, Arthur taught the four squires swordsmanship.
Among them, Jimmy Sunderland was the best swordsman and the fastest learner. Vicwu and Vicliu's performances were mediocre.
Zack was the worst learner. He looked very clumsy with a sword, lacking any technique or form. Arthur felt weapons like warhammers or poleaxes suited him better.
In the evening, Arthur would wrestle with Jimmy Sunderland and Zack for entertainment.
Zack Stone showed amazing strength in wrestling and hand-to-hand combat. He was very strong and had a very stable base. Without activating [Naked Duel], Arthur couldn't do anything to him for a while.
In their spare time, Vicwu and Vicliu would play the bone flute and play Cyvasse to relieve his boredom.
The relationship between the four squires was also very good. They were close in age and knew each other before.
They became even more familiar during the three days on the ship. Sunderland would show off the noble vows of the Westerosi Kingsguard and stories of legendary Kingsguard members to Wu and Liu.
Aspiring to become a Kingsguard, Jimmy, draped in a white cloak with a red stripe, recited like a bard:
"The Kingsguard swears to hold no lands, take no wife, father no children. They pledge loyalty only to their king.
"They swear to obey the king's commands, keep his secrets, offer counsel when needed and remain silent when not, serve at his pleasure, and defend his name and honor.
"They serve for life, until death. Even when old, crippled, or mentally broken, they must continue to serve."
Vicwu and Vicliu were shocked and asked in confusion, "If you really become a Kingsguard, won't you have no descendants?"
"I am the youngest son of a cadet branch; I wouldn't inherit lands anyway." Jimmy stuck out his tongue. "As for descendants, there's my rice-bucket brother and my other brothers."
Saying this, Jimmy patted his rice-bucket brother Zack on the waist. "Look at my brother's physique. The seeds he sows alone will ensure I have more nephews than brothers."
Zack swatted Jimmy's hand away, annoyed. "You make it sound like I'm a breeding pig. I'm not."
"Speaking of holding no lands, I have to mention my idol, the living legend, the current Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, Ser Barristan the Bold." Mentioning Old Barry, Jimmy's eyes almost sparkled with adoration.
"As the eldest son of House Selmy, he could have inherited the lands and castle of Harvest Hall!"
Then Jimmy listed Barristan Selmy's great achievements as if he had done them himself.
After the three ships underwent customs inspection and docked, the sailors and crew couldn't wait to head to the taverns.
It was difficult to light fires on wooden ships, so few people on board could enjoy hot, cooked food.
Most crew members usually only ate black bread and blood sausage, washing it down with rum or beer.
Of course, if the ship was sailing close to shore and the waves weren't big, the cook would occasionally boil a pot of hot meat soup.
"My Lord, according to the plan, the ship will stay in Pentos for about three days to a week, depending on the trading of goods."
After learning the docking time from the captain of the Ice & Peach, Arthur took his four squires to a tavern recommended by locals on the pier.
While gathering information, they also tasted the local specialties.
Arthur estimated that Pentoshi people must have a sweet tooth; every dish here was sweet.
Honey roasted duck, egg and lime cold soup, almond milk over veal cutlets, creamed herring, candied onions, pungent cheese.
Even the local specialty, amber sweet wine, was cloyingly sweet, as Arthur had tasted before.
Vicwu leaned close to him and whispered, "My Lord, what a coincidence. Tomorrow I can see the Prince of Pentos being executed."
"Haha, kid, that's nothing new." The tavern server brought a delicately made Pentoshi cake and chattered endlessly.
"One year we executed four in a row. The gods were truly angry that year; the crops in the fields yielded nothing, and we kept losing foreign wars.
"But after sacrificing four Princes, the gods finally appeased their anger. We reached a truce with the Braavosi, and the fields had a bountiful harvest the next year."
Arthur tossed the server a silver coin, took a sip of the cold soup, and commented, "Then the fifth Prince must have been very grateful to the previous four."
"Absolutely. You know, the Prince gets to deflower the most beautiful maidens of Pentos every year." The server, having received the silver coin, spoke even more eagerly about the Prince, his face full of smiles.
"When he goes out, he rides in a sedan chair full of ivory and gold. There are also three heralds clearing the way for him, holding golden scales, an iron sword, and a silver whip respectively."
"If you want to watch the execution, at sunrise tomorrow, at the junction of the Sunrise Market and the Prince's District. There is a high platform. I estimate there will be many people there tomorrow."
By the time everyone had their fill of food and drink, it was dusk.
Arthur didn't eat much; he didn't like sweet and greasy things very much. Jimmy and the others liked sweets.
Finally, Zack finished off most of the food.
This meal, plus booking three guest rooms for three nights, cost Arthur about 10 Silver Stags worth of coins.
In Westeros, 1 Silver Stag could buy a pound of salt or sugar, or an iron pot.
Time quickly came to the second morning. The Sunrise Market was huge, but it was still packed with all kinds of people, and many more were coming from other districts.
Standing on the stone steps, looking at the dense crowd of heads and listening to the various noises from the crowd, Arthur was sure the population of Pentos was definitely larger than Braavos.
Soon, a sedan chair decorated with ivory and gold, carried by eight strong servants, approached from the direction of the Prince's District.
Arthur noticed that the eight bearers all wore spiked helmets, but each was incredibly obese.
Soldiers with spears cleared the way at the front of the sedan chair. Following the soldiers were three heralds who, as the tavern server said, held golden scales, an iron sword, and a silver whip respectively.
The three heralds kept shouting their respective four words: "Fair Trade! Fear No War! Obey Justice!"
"Fair Trade! Fear No War! Obey Justice!" With the heralds' calls, people in the crowd also responded.
The chaotic voices in the crowd slowly unified until the Prince of Pentos's sedan chair stopped below the high platform.
The Prince of Pentos stepped out of the gold and ivory decorated sedan chair. His expression was solemn, looking majestic and noble.
He wore a golden crown, lined with silk and satin, and a red silk cloak with gold piping fastened on his shoulders with gold clasps.
He wore rings with various gems on all ten fingers and held a scepter carved from a whole ivory tusk tightly in his right hand.
"He looks like a king," Jimmy muttered softly. "Although I've never seen a king, I think... this is what a king looks and dresses like."
Vicwu and Vicliu also commented, "He looks more like a king than our Sealord of Braavos."
Zack rubbed his rumbling belly with one hand and said, "I'm hungry."
"Just looks like one. To rule, a king relies not just on appearance, but on..." Arthur's words were interrupted by the shouts erupting from the crowd.
"Fair Trade! Fear No War! Obey Justice!"
Arthur looked at the high platform again and found the Prince of Pentos stopped on the steps. He couldn't seem to take the few steps up.
The longer the Prince paused, the louder the crowd's shouts became, slowly mixed with curses.
The words usually used to clear the way for the Prince had now become his death warrant.
Finally, the Prince was dragged up the platform by two obese Unsullied wearing spiked helmets, one holding each arm.
The Prince knelt on the silk carpet, clasped his hands, and sobbed out with his last strength: "May... my death appease the anger of the gods. Gods have mercy, bless... Pentos."
After saying this, the executioner slit the Prince's throat with a sharp dagger. Blood flowed, the crown fell. The Pentoshi in the crowd raised their arms and cheered. The devout hugged each other and wept with joy. Among the mercenaries and foreigners watching the fun like Arthur, some looked amazed, some incredibly shocked.
After the sacrifice was completed, many guards and servants arranged by the Magisters of Pentos beat gongs and drums in the square, distributing free food.
Arthur wasn't used to the sweet and greasy food. He just asked for a bowl of sweet soup and drank a few mouthfuls, counting it as partaking in the Prince's funeral feast.
In the next few days, Arthur toured all over Pentos. It was much larger than Braavos and divided into several districts.
The Magister's District, the Prince's District, the Spice District, the Freemen's Trade District, the Sunrise Market, and the Sunset Market.
The Freemen's Trade District was actually the slave trade district. Pentos was originally a slave city-state. Long ago, it fought a war with Braavos, lost, and was forced to abolish slavery and ban the slave trade.
On the surface, Pentos indeed had no slaves, but in reality, it just changed the method.
People here called slaves 'free bondservants'.
Free bondservants were legally free people with the right to refuse service, as long as they didn't owe their masters debt.
But their earnings were often lower than the cost of food and clothing, and they lived under their masters' roofs. Therefore, their debts grew day by day, with no hope of ever paying them off.
Although Arthur watched the grand spectacle of the Prince's sacrifice to heaven in Pentos and ate at his funeral feast, regrettably, Arthur didn't unlock any new Tactic Cards.
Arthur felt it might be because Pentos was different from Braavos; there was only the Temple of R'hllor, the Red God, and no other temples.
On the night of the fourth day, the three ships replenished water and food, and the holds were filled with cargo.
Most of the cargo was various spices and seasonings like cinnamon, cloves, saffron, as well as perfumes and solid incenses made from spice flowers, and a small amount of agate, jewelry, and ivory.
Vicwu and Vicliu's brother, Victarion, told him that a small bag of these mixed exotic spices could sell for 5-10 Silver Stags in Westeros.
Perfumes and incenses, if encountering noble ladies who liked them, a small bottle could sell for 20 Silver Stags or even higher.
Agate, jewelry, and ivory were even more expensive.
"My Lord, next we have to cross the Narrow Sea to the west, then sail along the coast of Westeros to reach Starfall." Victarion specially packed a bottle of perfume and gave it to Arthur.
"This way we can largely avoid encountering pirates in the Stepstones."
Arthur sniffed it; it had a faint floral scent, not very strong. "Roughly how long will it take?"
Victarion replied, "If the wind is favorable all the way, about three weeks. If not, it will take longer, maybe a month or two."
During the sailing days that followed, Arthur returned to his previous state.
However, compared to the calm seas from Braavos to Pentos, the ships encountered considerable storms while crossing the Narrow Sea.
The continuous violent rocking of the ship made Arthur, who didn't usually get seasick, feel dizzy.
In this weather, the kitchen couldn't light a fire. They only had cold food like white bread, blood sausage, and biscuits.
"Do you need some wine, my Lord?" His four squires performed better than him. "Usually for seasickness, getting drunk helps."
Two of them were from the Three Sisters, and two were Braavosi; their ancestors had dealt with water for generations.
Besides making Arthur seasick, the storm also blew the fleet off course. When they crossed the Narrow Sea, they found they hadn't reached their intended destination but Tarth in the Stormlands.
"My father has been here." Vicwu pointed to the azure seawater and introduced:
"Legend has it that Tarth is rich in sapphires, but Father told me that actually, only the seawater around Tarth is very deep blue, the color of sapphires. There are no sapphires on Tarth."
Arthur wasn't in the mood to care about sapphires. He just rejoiced that the wind and waves along the coast were not as frequent as on the open Narrow Sea.
This allowed the seasick Arthur to recover, no longer living a life of vomiting when awake and sleeping when drunk.
The subsequent sailing days were relatively smooth. After two weeks, the three ships passed the Stepstones infested with pirates and entered the Summer Sea.
In the following voyage, the closer he got to Starfall, the more flustered Arthur felt, a feeling of timidity near one's hometown.
Before leaving Braavos, Arthur learned that the current Lord of Starfall was his cousin of the same generation, Edric Dayne, who was currently 6 years old.