The setting sun cast large swaths of orange-red light onto the brick and stone paths of King's Landing. Aegon, Tyrion, and Arya, along with one red-robed and one grey-robed guard each from the Lannister and Stark families respectively, who were accompanying the latter two, walked out of the workshop, chatting and leading their horses on the way back to the inn.
More than a month of getting along had made these people, who came from all corners of the world and might never have met otherwise, become familiar with each other. Even Tyrion's two attendants could nod a friendly greeting and chat casually for a few moments when they saw the Stark family "nanny" who was specifically responsible for picking up and dropping off Arya at school.
...
Aegon looked relaxed. He had been in King's Landing for over a month, and with Tyrion's full efforts in matchmaking, the total amount of Night's Watch Bonds sold was close to two thousand. Since the return rate was not as astonishing as in a typical Ponzi scheme, the word-of-mouth spread was slow. Coupled with Westeros's long-standing lack of the concept of "investment and financial management"—to this day, not a single successful bond transaction had come from a customer walking in off the street.
And even among the customers Tyrion brought in, with the small exception of Jaime Lannister, all the others uniformly purchased only the minimum amount of one hundred.
However, this lukewarm state also had an advantage—most of the customers who had completed transactions came to the Office with the mindset of giving the Dwarf face, and that if this hundred golden dragons couldn't be recovered, they could always hold the Lannister family responsible. In this situation, Aegon hardly had to worry about a sudden large-scale collective debt collection by creditors.
Two thousand golden dragons is not a small amount, and combined with Tyrion's private property... without rebelling or undertaking major construction projects, it was already a considerable sum, enough to do many things.
For example, buying a large piece of land outside the city, purchasing various facilities and employing staff to build a large workshop that integrates papermaking and printing... No, perhaps "factory" is a more appropriate description. Then, for a long time, it could firmly occupy most of the output and transaction volume of Bibles, calendars, and novels in King's Landing and even the Crownlands.
And on this basis, if Tyrion could still attract investment, he would be able to expand while still holding a large amount of emergency funds!
The goal of establishing a firm foothold in King's Landing was already a certainty. The difference now was merely how much profit he would make and how far he and Tyrion could ultimately go together.
***
As the nominal Master, Aegon had tried everything to make Arya consciously dress like a girl, avoid using foul language or being rude, and know when to behave appropriately... Unfortunately, he couldn't change her habit of being carefree and interrupting to express her thoughts. At this moment, he didn't know what the girl had said to Tyrion, but they were laughing and fooling around again beside him. These two, one old and one young, a man and a woman of similar height, were unexpectedly compatible. In the original plot, they had only met briefly before going their separate ways to different fates, but now, due to a transmigrator's disruption, they met at the Night's Watch Office and somehow became rare close friends between the two opposing families, Lannister and Stark. If it weren't for the significant age difference between them, and the fact that he saw them every day and knew it wasn't like that, Aegon would have strongly suspected these two wanted to stage a melodramatic plot of "love resolving family feuds."
Turning his head, the Chief Logistics Officer only then remembered that there was another person following him—Nina was silently trailing beside him like a young wife, head lowered and not saying a word, looking somewhat shy.
...
He spent all day with people like Tyrion and Arya. One treated him as a partner, and the other called him Master. It was natural for ordinary people who didn't understand the situation to get the mistaken impression that he was a "great figure" and become nervous out of awe... It was only human nature. This young girl was quick-witted and literate, and could be considered an interesting and useful person. Aegon decided to ease the stiff atmosphere and shorten the distance between himself and this female "inventor."
"Nina, tell me, do you and your brother have any ideas yet regarding reducing costs?"
"Ah." The girl responded as if startled, looked up at him, and quickly lowered her eyes to avoid eye contact: "I have some ideas, but I haven't started trying them yet, and I don't know if they'll work..."
Aegon was sure he hadn't misread—Nina's face seemed to have flushed slightly.
He wasn't a young virgin who had never even touched a girl's hand; if he hadn't transmigrated, he might have been a father by now. His mind quickly processed the situation and realized: this didn't look like the nervousness of seeing a great figure, but rather the awkwardness and fluttering heart of encountering a crush. Could Tyrion have been right, and this girl was interested in him?
It wasn't impossible. Although Aegon himself was just a minor soldier, after coming to King's Landing, he had been busy dealing with characters like the Hand of the King, wealthy knights brought by Tyrion, and Crownlands nobles. He had put effort into his appearance—aside from the slightly strange all-black attire, his clothing, manners, and demeanor were probably more presentable than some down-and-out nobles. Coupled with the role of benefactor and behind-the-scenes boss he played in front of Nina... In this backward era where things were relatively poor, his well-executed act of being cool—being able to attract a girl of about sixteen or seventeen, who was just experiencing her first crush, didn't seem strange.
This was interesting. Aegon's lips curved into a wry smile—before transmigrating, his family's financial situation was at best comfortable, and his personal appearance was only decent. Out of the three criteria of tall, rich, and handsome, he barely met one and a half. Finding a wife was not a problem, but he hadn't experienced this feeling of being popular with girls: "Well, since they are ideas, they certainly aren't guaranteed to succeed. Just tell me about them, and I'll give you some advice."
During the process of perfecting the papermaking technique, Aegon provided some valuable suggestions based on his much richer knowledge than those around him, but beyond that, he, an outsider and leader who didn't frequent the workshop and was busy with other matters all day... was actually unable to continue showing off or providing guidance. While Nina was talking about things he half-understood, Aegon finally felt comfortable observing her. There was no need to describe those bright eyes that had given him such a deep first impression... But even removing this greatest highlight, the rest of the girl still made up a beauty—a slender figure hidden beneath thin clothes, long eyelashes, a small nose, two faint dimples that appeared even when she wasn't smiling, paired with soft, rosy skin... She was like a newly bloomed lotus, pure and unsullied.
This was a girl who was hard to be stunned by at first glance, but who would become more pleasing the more you looked at her after getting to know her. She came from a commoner background, yet she could not only read and write but also had a clever mind capable of invention and creation—such a wonderful person was not uncommon in the modern world, but in Westeros, she was simply a pearl in the sand, a miraculous existence. Aegon had encountered many women with outstanding appearances since coming to this world, but they were either Queens and daughters of great nobles, or seductive women like Melisandre, all characters who were best admired from afar and not to be trifled with. Now, suddenly having a small lotus that was easy to approach and didn't cause trouble if touched nearby, he felt a bit restless for a moment.
Perhaps he could use his "boss" status to keep her by his side, and then have the secretary handle work, and have the secretary handle... other things when there was no work?
He quickly pushed the thought out of his head. It had been too long since he had been with a woman... He couldn't let hormones control his brain when doing great things. Even rabbits don't eat the grass around their burrows. There were plenty of females in the world. It was truly unwise to have impure thoughts about someone close by who could help him.
Although he tried hard to maintain "reason," sending a beautiful girl away was not something a normal person would do. Aegon talked to Nina about improving the papermaking technique with a smile. Since he couldn't provide technical advice anymore, he simply brought out his trump card, nodding no matter what the girl said: "Well, as I said before, money is not a problem. Be bold and try, don't be afraid of failure."
The girl was not a timid person to begin with. After a few conversations and jokes, the nervous shyness of being alone with her object of admiration for the first time quickly faded, and she became more natural, occasionally looking up boldly at the man, full of curiosity—were the Night's Watch, rumored to be composed of criminals and scum, all as dashing and handsome as her boss in front of her?
...
Chatting and laughing, they arrived at the Night's Watch Office. Although Nina was not a major investor, Aegon and Tyrion still planned to go through the proper procedures and sign a formal "investment certificate" with her. To retain capable people, playing virtual games wouldn't work; they needed something substantial. And as someone who was half-insider, she could also serve as a rehearsal for when actual investors came calling in the future.
But the employee who stayed behind at the Office came forward first: "Lord, a letter from the Commander."
...
So fast? It had only been a little over ten days, and the reply had already arrived?
Aegon took the letter and found that the wax seal had been opened. He didn't know if it was done by Grand Maester Pycelle, who was responsible for receiving letters in King's Landing, or if Jaqen had quietly opened it to spy on the Night's Watch's secrets?
He glanced at the Braavos spy sitting aside, pretending to be foolish, and opened the letter.
As long as it wasn't summoning him back to The Wall, he didn't care what was written inside.
...
A few seconds later, he looked up and gave Tyrion a smile that held a hidden meaning.
"What good news makes you smile so smugly?" Tyrion curled his lip in distaste. He had written the letter sent out more than ten days ago, so he could naturally guess the contents of the reply with eighty or ninety percent accuracy: "Jeor Mormont has postponed the large-scale reconnaissance into the North and explained the reason for initiating this action?"
Aegon nodded, still smiling.
"You are now the officially recognized Chief Logistics Officer of the Night's Watch?"
Still nodding silently, and with a smug smile.
"They caught the wights?"
"Not yet, but they are trying." Aegon put down the letter. At the end of a pile of good news, there was actually half a piece of bad news, but it wasn't too bad; he already had a countermeasure. "Let's not talk about these. Let's go inside and sign the investment certificate!"
—