Aegon raised his eyebrows: "Can't be happy? I really can't think of what bad news I could hear now."
"It's not bad news," the Dwarf said with a grin. "I did persuade the Night's Watch higher-ups to send you back to King's Landing with me to be a 'Materials Procurement Officer,' but in the process—I slightly exaggerated your abilities, and Maester Aemon decided to give you a chance to show what you can do... So, besides what I just said, you have some other tasks."
Any number of tasks is better than patrolling beyond The Wall—especially going specifically to find White Walkers. Aegon's heart was calm, and he was more curious: "For example?"
"Yoren will also South in a few days, responsible for going to King's Landing to recruit more people to see The Wall. I have decided to travel with him," Tyrion quickened his pace. The weather was too cold; stopping meant freezing to death. "Commander Mormont's meaning is that the first batch of recruits will be brought back to The Wall by Yoren. After he arrives at The Wall, he will immediately turn back to find you and bring back another batch of recruits... This will repeat. In other words, during the interval of this back and forth, you also have to recruit new soldiers for the Night's Watch."
...
The "Crows" are nominally the recruiting officers of the Night's Watch, but rough men like Yoren... what ability do they have to recruit volunteers? Their job is basically to go to various places, find the Lords, and get them to allow them to pick people from the prisons. A few who are slightly more diligent might at most wander through the slums to see if anyone who can't get enough to eat is willing to go to The Wall to make a living.
Before transmigrating, Aegon was just an engineer who relied on his skills and qualifications for a living, didn't take bribes, and didn't really need to please others. He rarely organized events or socialized with clients and owners by drinking. How could he possibly be good at recruiting? Thinking back, it was probably the ability and qualities he showed during the deserter incident that left such a deep impression on the few higher-ups who were used to seeing peasants and scoundrels, making them unconsciously think he could do anything.
Recruiting is recruiting. Even if I'm not good at it, can I be worse than Yoren and them? Aegon sighed: "Anything else?"
"Yes, Dragonstone has replied, agreeing to let the Night's Watch mine dragonglass on their island, but they can only provide convenience. Specific work like manpower and facilities will be the responsibility of the Night's Watch," the Dwarf continued. "Now, Commander Mormont's meaning is that you are responsible."
"King's Landing and Dragonstone are only separated by Blackwater Bay," Aegon took a breath, no wonder. "So, I also have to be responsible for mining dragonglass? While raising food and supplies and recruiting people for the Night's Watch in King's Landing, I also have to be responsible for mining for them? Do I have three heads and six arms? How many people and how much money is he giving me?"
"Sorry, the Night's Watch is also in difficulty right now, so funding is out of the question. As for manpower..." The Dwarf showed a schadenfreude expression: "Commander Mormont said he will ask the houses in the North for support for the workers, but you will arrange the start of the mining work, and you will find a way to advance the expenses for tools and items. The Night's Watch will reimburse as much as possible later. Oh—the Night's Watch fleet is also at your disposal."
The Night's Watch fleet? Aegon didn't know what expression to make. Eastwatch-by-the-Sea really did have a fleet, but its scale was only slightly larger than the legendary Mongolian navy: two slender oared warships—*Storm Crow* and *Talon*—were responsible for clearing smugglers in Seal Bay who sold weapons to Wildlings; a slightly larger transport ship, *blackbird*, capable of crossing the Narrow Sea, was responsible for trading with the South or the Free Cities across the Narrow Sea; the crew and port guards combined were less than two hundred... The so-called 'at his disposal' actually just meant letting him load the mined dragonglass onto ships and transport it back to The Wall.
Arranging the mining work was easy enough; he could just ask a coal or gold mine owner for advice. But advancing the initial funds—where would he, a true "proletarian," get the funds to advance? If he had to wait for the North to gather mining workers for him, he might as well go down the mine shaft himself. If he didn't want to personally dig "coal," then he could only recruit... In short, this was clearly meant for Tyrion to bleed a bit more.
...
Aegon had just been slightly moved that the Night's Watch higher-ups were willing to let him leave, but now he was overwhelmed by the pile of tasks thrown at him... The price of freedom was indeed not low.
"Since I also have responsibility in this matter, I will help you find a way."
"Tyrion..." Aegon began with some difficulty, "I'm really sorry to put you out again."
"What do you mean 'put me out again'? Do you think I'll advance that money for you? With the rogue temper of your direct superior, if I dared to advance it, they would definitely dare to delay repayment. I'm a Lannister, can I really pursue this 'small amount' of money?" Tyrion raised his eyebrows. "I will contact a few Blacksmiths, rich people who made their fortune in the mining industry, etc., to provide tools, items, and industry guidance for your 'coal mining' project on credit. Then let them go to Jeor Mormont to collect the debt and see if your Commander dares to ruin the reputation of the Night's Watch for this little money."
"That's true," Aegon suddenly saw the light. Isn't this a trick to transfer risk? When it comes to money, Tyrion does have some brains: "Then I'll trouble you with this."
"Don't be happy yet, there's one last task—improve the image of the Night's Watch in the eyes of the Westeros nobles and commoners South of the Neck," Tyrion said with a cruel expression as Aegon's eyes widened. "Now, you are a busy man holding several positions including Materials Procurement Officer, King's Landing and Crownlands Recruiter, Dragonglass Mining Supervisor, and Night's Watch Image Ambassador. Instead of thanking me, you'd better hurry back and think about how to do this pile of tasks well."
***
Under Tyrion's curious gaze, Aegon raised his hand to pinch his philtrum to prevent himself from fainting due to suffocation. He took a few deep breaths of the cold air before suppressing the urge to stay at Castle Black and continue being a Ranger.
It was obvious. The Night's Watch higher-ups had no intention of letting him leave comfortably. He had thought too simply. If one could leave The Wall by finding a rich person to pay a ransom and live a normal life with just a Night's Watch label, this world would have gone chaotic long ago.
And these tasks, this naked and undisguised Make things difficult, were the ultimate means of the Night's Watch higher-ups. As long as one of them wasn't completed beautifully enough, it would give the officers remaining at The Wall a handle. At that time, whether to recall him or let him go out of consideration for Tyrion was just a matter of a single sentence.
He had tried everything for a year but failed to attract the attention of these higher-ups. Just when he finally attracted attention and thus got a chance to leave by chance, he encountered trouble because his "value" increased... This was truly ironic.
Could he complete this pile of tasks?
Impossible. This had far exceeded personal ability. Knowing the plot and understanding character personalities was indeed a huge advantage, but it was far from being so outrageous as to become a superpower. Without external help, he couldn't move an inch... And now, the only external help he could rely on was Tyrion alone. Only such a distinctive character could allow him to get close with a slight trick. But could he, in good conscience, keep making this kind and enthusiastic Dwarf bleed to maintain his so-called "freedom" just because he was willing to help?
—