Leaving the city district along the riverside road inside King's Landing, Kal and his group finally passed through the crowded masses and walked out of the King's Gate.
But the moment they stepped out, everyone was struck dumb by the scene before their eyes.
What unfolded before them could truly be called a sea of people, a roar of human voices.
As soon as they exited the arched gate, their eardrums felt as if they had fallen into a great bronze bell that rang ceaselessly around them.
This noisy, congested scene was even livelier than inside the city.
Wherever the eye looked was a field of human heads—it was as though the hundreds of thousands of people living in King's Landing had all crowded together upon this newly built open plain along the river outside the city.
The festive and bustling atmosphere, the endless chatter and murmur of countless people, together with the heat rising from the densely packed crowds that turned the place into a steamer, vividly portrayed what it meant for drums to thunder, firecrackers to explode, banners to wave, and crowds to surge like a tide.
Actors performing, dancers leaping, street performers showing their skills, food vendors selling their wares—an endless stream of people wove together into a scene of unmatched liveliness.
Even though Kal had long anticipated all of this and made detailed preparations when constructing the stadium, he was still startled by what he saw before him.
It gave him a feeling as if he had returned to the fairs of his previous life.
Clearly, with the victory of war and the return of peace to the Seven Kingdoms—along with the novelty of this creation—the people were filled with curiosity toward the Tournament of Victory personally organized by the Master of Coin, Kal El.
At this time, the city garrison of King's Landing, which after selection and reorganization had been kept at around six thousand men, had already dispatched four thousand soldiers to maintain order, yet even that seemed barely sufficient.
"Looks like a good start!"
Seeing this, Kal was greatly pleased.
And beside him, Tyrion, as he looked upon the scene before them, shared nearly the same thought as Kal.
He could not help but admit as well that this man, Kal El, was not only exceptional in martial strength and brilliant in intellect, but even in the wisdom of commerce and economics he was astonishingly gifted.
Genius.
The word suddenly appeared in Tyrion's mind.
It made him unconsciously turn his head, directing his gaze toward this spirited young man standing beside him.
Perhaps he was the true gift the gods had bestowed upon mankind.
Tyrion could not help but think so.
Then he also smiled and praised, "Looks like a good omen."
Hearing this, Kal nodded, his face full of pride.
Although at first glance the crowd seemed endless, people pressing against people, packed together like a tide, with the prior planning and the Gold Cloaks maintaining order, the scene was in fact orderly amid the chaos—quietly, everything was running in an organized manner.
There was none of the apparent disorderly confusion one might have expected at first sight.
After all, Kal had already taken this situation into consideration beforehand, and had specifically ordered that during the Tournament, the King's Gate was to allow only exit, not entry.
So now, anyone wishing to return to King's Landing had to take a detour through the Lion Gate.
This was a diversion policy, meant to ensure that people would not gather too densely and cause congestion at the King's Gate, which could lead to unpleasant incidents.
Naturally, Kal and his companions did not linger and continued walking toward their destination.
Yet while riding forward, everyone's gaze was sweeping around the surroundings.
Along the streets, aside from the acrobats and performers, there were also vendors selling various goods, foods, and snacks, all wearing bright, joyful smiles on their faces.
Even those small vendors who had set up simple portable toilets were no exception.
Yes—so as to prevent anyone from relieving themselves in the open and turning his Tournament into a mess, Kal had specially assigned people for this task.
Moreover, he had even issued an order: anyone caught by the Gold Cloaks urinating or defecating anywhere they pleased would be whipped as punishment.
Although people were dissatisfied with this policy, who could complain when, in all of King's Landing, the biggest fist belonged to Lord Kal El?
As for how Kal had gotten people willingly to set up those simple portable toilets, that was quite simple.
He paid them directly by the bucket.
In fact, even at the early stage of constructing the stadium, Kal had already considered this issue.
So he had ordered a large number of pits to be dug in the area behind the stadium specifically for handling such waste.
As long as someone brought in a bucket, he would pay on the spot.
Kal did not care whether someone might try to cheat by bringing waste from the city—it made no difference to him; in fact, he rather welcomed it.
Because this was another measure in his environmental sanitation plan for the future of King's Landing.
But such a measure could not be forcibly implemented right from the start, so Kal chose a more subtle approach.
For now, he would first let the people develop the habit, and once they had grown accustomed to it, when the time came to carry out the plan in full, both resistance and difficulty would be greatly reduced.
Moreover, Kal did not believe this venture would lose money.
Though excrement was filthy, for a man who came from an era with access to vast amounts of information, Kal had countless ways to make such things useful—even to turn them into treasure.
By that time, this matter not only would not incur losses, but might even provide Robert with yet another source of income.
And once the people saw that this thing could bring profit, then the rest would no longer require Kal's involvement.
This plan was one of Kal's experiments—he had told no one about it.
Seeing that everything before his eyes was proceeding exactly as he had envisioned, Kal was greatly satisfied.
He continued riding forward.
The group raised high the banner representing the rising noble House El, and with the protection of the city garrison and his own guards, Kal and his companions moved unimpeded all the way to the stadium.
Then, a vast open square appeared before Kal's eyes—the central grounds alone provided enough space to hold about 3,000 people.
At this moment, the grounds were already packed with people.
Nobles of name and standing within King's Landing, clergy of the Faith, top craftsmen such as Tobho Mott, and even wealthy merchants had all received invitations personally sent out in advance by Kal, and thus attended this opening ceremony.
With the royal family leading the event, no one would refuse the goodwill of Lord Kal El.
Therefore, even though the open space could accommodate more than 3,000 people, it was still filled to capacity.
As for the common folk, they stood beyond the boundaries specially marked out by the city garrison, craning their necks from afar to watch the ceremony.
This too had been deliberately arranged by Kal—he wanted his Tournament to establish from the very beginning a tone of equality, regardless of birth or status.
You might be a commoner, but as long as you possessed a skill of your own, you could still stand on equal ground and compete with the highborn nobles above you.
And here, it was guaranteed that no one would resort to underhanded tricks or threats, and even certain laws between individuals would fall silent within these grounds.
Upon the arena of the Tournament, all would be conducted under the gaze of the gods, fair and just.
This was also part of the agreement Kal had reached with the Faith of the Seven, after yielding a portion of profits from certain commercial activities.
He had the Faith endorse his Tournament.
But that was only one part of it. In regard to actual supervision, Kal had also established another committee to serve as the practical overseers.
And this team was the real deal—not one that lived on vegetables alone.
One had to know that King Robert Baratheon himself had been shamelessly appointed by Kal as the first chairman of the Tournament Committee. Therefore, this Tournament was unshakably solid, not only in faith but in reality as well.
Moreover, Kal would never permit anyone to defile the broth he had painstakingly prepared.
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