Depart

-IMPORTANT-

Diogenes is the name the protagonist chose for himself. He was not the real Diogenes in his past life; it is just his new name.

It was just that there was no chance to present himself in the last chapter. It would be weird if I decided to keep writing "The protagonist this... The protagonist that...." So, from now on and in the future when you read Diogenes, I'm talking about The Protagonist.

________

Conversion of money in ASOIAF:

Copper pennies (cp): 10,000

Silver stags (st): 100

Golden dragons (gd): 1 

________

The Reach was one of the constituent regions of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. 

It shares borders with several other regions: The Reach shares its western border with the Westerlands, ruled by House Lannister from Casterly Rock.

To the southeast, The Reach shares a border with the Stormlands, ruled by various noble houses, including House Baratheon of Storm's End.

The northeastern border of The Reach is adjacent to the Crownlands, which surround the capital city of King's Landing.

And Dorne: While not directly bordering The Reach, Dorne is located to the south of The Reach. The Dornish Marches serve as the buffer zone between The Reach and Dorne, and there are occasional conflicts and skirmishes along this border.

________

One week later:

Diogenes spent one week getting ready to leave Lannisport. Just today, as the sun began its descent beyond the horizon, casting long shadows across the cobbled streets of Lannisport, the opportunity he was waiting for was about to appear. 

As he navigated carefully through the crowded streets and his eyes scanned the faces of the passersby, he finally arrived on the outskirts of the city and saw the bustling marketplace once again. 

As every day he had been coming, there were stalls adorned with colorful fabrics, exotic spices, and gleaming jewelry lined the streets, while merchants haggled loudly with customers over prices.

Soon, amidst the chaos, it wasn't hard to catch sight of his target, a large group of travelers gathered around a caravan.

Their voices raised in animated conversations adding more chaos to the atmosphere.

Hoping for this group to be the correct one this time, Diogenes drew closer and tried to overhear snippets of the conversation:

"We're heading to the Reach." That who would seem to be the boss of the caravan, a stout man with a weathered face and keen eyes, was in the midst of convincing new recruits and he declared with his tired voice.

Probably this was not the first time he said it today. "It's a long journey, but for those brave enough to work, there's coin to be made." 

'That's timing.' Thought Diogenes, seeming relieved. 

Finally, he would be able to leave the city. For one second, the idea of going to talk to the boss and trying to get hired appeared in his mind, but as soon as he thought of his appearance and age, he threw away that thought.

Anyone who would see Diogenes would see a weather-beaten body, with dirt and grime accumulated for days, his hair was matted and tangled, adding a rugged appearance. His clothing, once functional but now worn and torn, was hanging loosely on his frame, evidence of his rough living. 

The fabric was stained with dirt, sweat, and if you gave it a closer look you would even see little marks of blood in some parts, hinting at the trials and tribulations faced along the way.

Of course, Diogenes was not happy about being so dirty. Although there were places to get a kind of a shower if he really wanted it, he didn't pay attention to this matter by now because since he was a vagabond from the streets right now, he can't act like if he is not. It would be unnatural and someone would notice something weird.

"...Alright, everybody, as I just said we are on a long journey heading to King's Landing. Straight down the Gold Road it is a travel of several weeks or even months, you know how it is..." While Diogenes was still thinking about his appearance, the same voice from moments before talked again.

"....!"

And as soon as Diogenes heard what the caravan boss said, Diogenes's face turned all pale and almost yelled a curse!!

'Fuck!! weeks or even months? How far is fucking King's Landing? I thought that would be just a few days... on the show, Littlefinger and some characters used to travel all the time and almost always seemed to appear on the other side of the continent a few days later... I didn't even notice it. This has to be a hole in the plot for sure...' Feeling his now cold hands, Diogenes noticed he was being too naive to think it was going to be everything so easy.

'At least I am not going to King's Landing; I will stay in The Reach, that's far less than the half of the travel..' 

This was a strong hit of reality for him; he started to reconsider if this travel was the best option for him. How will he keep it up with the caravan for at least some months?

"...One week later, we will start our journey! We will await on the close to the entry of the city for all who decided to work for us. Now, in other matters, If we assume a relatively smooth journey without significant delays or problems, the travel time to the first village where we will stop for the first time will be around two weeks or so, we will stop at Deep Den village for a week before we depart again." Just as Diogenes was racking his brain, the voice of the stout man sounds again before stopping for a couple of seconds so the crowd could digest his words and continued: "After it, we will head straight to King's Landing, only stopping in a few small villages to rest, this would take two or three months, of course, if we don't have any accidents." The man smiled to the crowd.

"Mm... two weeks or so..." Diogenes whispered and thought: 'Deep Den is kinda close to where I want to go...'

'Somehow, I will make it!' An expression appeared on his face that almost said "It's just life, I don't want it!" Diogenes just decided he was just going to stick to the plan and follow the caravan; after all, where he is traveling to will just take one month at most to reach... that's what he hoped.

Before, when he decided to go to The Reach, he already decided where to live too, during these days of investigations, he came to know about Coldmoat.

Coldmoat was a modest castle located in the western near the border of the Reach and the Westerlands, two of the major regions on the continent.

This location places Coldmoat in a strategic position between these two regions and likely influences its role in regional politics and conflicts.

House Webber was the noble house that holds Coldmoat. House Webber also had sworn to House Tyrell of Highgarden, the ruling house of the Reach. Lord Webber is the head of House Webber and the lord of Coldmoat.

Coldmoat was surrounded by fertile lands suitable for farming and agriculture. The castle had its lands, which were worked by smallfolk who owe fealty to House Webber. 

But what was the most interesting thing for Diogenes was that Coldmoat was connected to nearby villages, towns, and other settlements by roads or trails.

These roads would facilitate travel and trade between Coldmoat and other parts of the Reach and the Westerlands. 

Diogenes also was interested in the wooded areas and hunting grounds. Although these woods could also serve as hiding places for bandits or other threats, so Diogenes knew he had to be cautious about it too.

Overall, the castle was in fertile lands, with all the features necessary for defense, agriculture, and everyday life in the feudal society of Westeros.

Diogenes wanted to live in one of the most apart small village, one close to Coldmoat and the gold road. 

"..."

After a while, Diogenes noticed the man was talking about King's Landing and some villages close to it, but since Diogenes' target was not so far away, he didn't pay attention to it, and soon he got bored. So he decided to leave and get into his business. 

He had things to think, things to do, and things to plan.

________

One week later:

At dawn's gentle kiss, Diogenes, wearing the same dirty clothes, appeared near the entry of the city, this time with a leather bag on his back, looking at the distant caravan that now had a dozen soldiers and another two dozen armed people who were the recruits that the caravan was able to hire during this week, making a total of probably fifty people, counting the caravan staff.

These two weeks Diogenes did a few things: steal, run, and hide.

Since he decided that he was leaving Lannisport, he was thinking how the hell he was going to be able to buy enough food for his travel. All he had was 75 silver stags, of these, the most part of it came from the savings of the dead kid before Diogenes took control of his body.

And although Diogenes thinks that it was a good amount for a vagabond kid, this was not enough to buy the food, not even close once he discovered the travel was going to be of one month (In the best case).

So, with no option at all, he had to steal, he didn't want to die before his journey starts, so he tried his best to do it in the smartest and most careful way he could, and although it was fucking risky and his heart almost exploded a couple of times, he had success...

________

In the bustling streets of Lannisport, where merchants peddle their wares and nobles roam, Diogenes, now in the vagabond's kid body relied on his intellect and nimble fingers to survive. Having memories of spending years navigating the city's labyrinthine alleys and hidden corners, Diogenes came to know how to blend into the shadows and evade the watchful eyes of the city guard. He was indeed well aware of the city's layout, its markets, and its inhabitants' habits.

From his memories, Diogenes couldn't avoid thinking one only thing.

You should never underestimate a kid that could survive by himself for years in a hostile place... or you would regret.

Over the following days, Diogenes employed his knowledge of the city's layout to evade capture and make strategic forays into marketplaces and food stalls, where he deftly pilfers additional provisions to supplement his objective. With each successful theft, Diogenes's confidence grew up more and more until he almost fucked up everything, Then he forgot all that confidence and started again.

Carefully he selected his targets. He knew where to find vendors with lax security measures or distracted attention; these weeks he discovered that there were those who liked to flirt with the young married women, those were the best targets, allowing him to pilfer small quantities of dried meat, dried raisins, and some cheese that he hoped it was going to be enough for his travel...

________

Thinking about his little and dangerous adventure during these two weeks, Diogenes smiled and shook his head almost like if he wouldn't be able to believe all what he did.

Soon, the sun was moving up on the sky and he noticed the caravan started to move.

Taking a big breath, Diogenes felt the fresh air going through his nostrils and with nervousness he started to walk on the caravan's directions too...

Armed with his ill-gotten gains and fueled by determination, Diogenes sets out on his journey, his pack filled with food to sustain him for the month ahead. Though his methods may be dubious, his resourcefulness and cunning enabled him to secure the sustenance he needed to embark on his travel.