I look at my advisor and release a sigh.
"Tell me what is happening in that part of the world."
Bakir nods his head and starts his explanation. It was an explanation of how a man wanted to create chaos across the kingdom because of his jealousy and revenge, an explanation about how a spymaster wanted to put the crown to other people on the other side of the sea, and an explanation of how the king cannot put a baby inside his wife, so his wife decides to fuck her brother.
"What a mess."
I release another sigh and look at Bakir, who nods his head.
"Bakir, do you think it will disturb our investment in that place?"
"In the short term? No. I'm afraid for the long term, your highness. It depends on the people in the higher place. Two people want to see the Seven Kingdoms fall into chaos, and both of them have a lot of influence. The first one has a lot of spies while the other one has influence from all the nobles borrowing the money he got from the Royal Vault."
"Yeah, a mess. Lucky for us, we never let them borrow our money."
I know that lending money in this day of age is a very risky business. If a kingdom decides that it does not want to pay any of its debt, the king can just tell the bank that he will not pay. The bank cannot do anything but attack the kingdom directly.
If the bank has enough firepower, they can get their money back, but if the bank and anyone else do not have enough firepower to do so, they cannot get their money back.
Iron Bank can ensure they get their money back because they have a hidden weapon. That hidden weapon is in the form of the House of Black and White. What is that? That is a temple filled with a deadly assassin that can kill you without you knowing about it.
You don't want to pay your debt? Well, you will die, and the Iron Bank will ask your heir about their debt. If they also don't want to pay? Well, make sure you have a lot of children then because the Iron Bank will keep sending assassins until your line is gone, and they will steal money anyway. In the end, Iron Bank will always get their money back.
They are just like casinos on Earth. The house always wins.
"Your highness, may I give some advice?"
"Of course, Bakir. You are my advisor. Your advice will always be heard."
"Thank you. I think we need to quickly finish the canal, your highness. It will cost us more to pay the worker to work more hours but if the canal is finished, we do not need to worry about civil WAR that will happen in Seven Kingdoms to hold back our project."
Oh? This is the first time I hear Bakir so sure about something. I guess I can see it. Two massive players want to cause chaos in the realm… Yeah, all of the scenarios inside my mind to save the realm will always result in civil war.
"That is good and all but shouldn't we just delay the project? We don't want them to disturb our trading in our newly acquired territory, right?"
"That is true if not for the counteroffer Lord Tully, Lord Arryn, and the King himself sent to us. The contract says that if there is something major happening in the realm and the canal has not yet finished, we shall return the territory to Lord Tully. I think the Civil War is a good enough reason."
"Ah, yeah. I almost forgot about that part of the contract. Very well. Bakir! Send another hundred magicians to Westeros."
"Of course, your highness. Fifty-Fifty just like before?"
"Aye. Fifty Black Dogs and Fifty White Cats. However, make sure to send a new member instead of more experience. At least make sure the newly recruited member is the highest number. Also, make sure to inform Ser Willem about this situation. Tell him not to worry about this situation but tell him to prepare in case this situation goes south."
"Of course, your highness."
"Anything else?"
"Nothing at the moment, sir."
"Good. I need to go and sleep. It is already late."
"Have a nice dream, my liege."
I nod my head and get back to my bedroom, where I see Dany, Ari, and Rhae already sleeping on my bed. Haaa… They always sleep in my room even when they have their own bed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lyman Darry - Lord of the Land of Darry|
"What do you think, cousin?"
I look at my cousin, who read the letter from his king. I can see him frown after reading them for a few seconds.
"Of course, we will prepare. I hope you did not mind preparing for war, cousin."
I shake my head and say.
"I don't mind, Willem. I already know that the stag cannot hold the realm together."
As much as I wanted to avoid admitting it, the previous Targaryen was not good at ruling a kingdom. The Mad King ignores the plea of the lower nobles and even kills some of the lower-level nobles without care.
While the House of Darry is located in the middle of the King's Road, we do not prosper. The reason? Bandit.
House of Darry cannot keep producing knight after knight to defend the land without the help of the others. We are out of armor, weapons, and food because of the bandits around the area. Then the civil war happened and made the House of Darry even more miserable.
Bandits get even bolder and grow in size.
We only started to prosper when King Viserys took control of my land. He sent soldiers to exterminate all the bandits in the area and help my city grow bigger and cleaner. All of the common folk have jobs to do because of many projects.
As much as I don't like the previous Targaryen king, King Viserys is a worthy king to follow.
"Thank you. I will train the soldier into a worthy bearing the title of Soldier of Darry."
"Hahahahaha! You don't need to be this serious, you know? Even King Viserys wrote in the letter not to focus on this one task."
"Yes that is true but King Viserys is too kind. He will always say that and it is my job to give him the best."
I sigh a little. I don't know how King Viserys is, but I feel that Willem is the one thinking that.
"Very well."
"Ah! King Viserys also asks you to hire more people. Do you know someone who is willing?"
"Oh, you don't need to worry. I already have a plan for the worker."
King's Landing has a lot of desperate people willing to take a job for a piece of bread a day. If they know how much money King Viserys is willing to give them for their work, they will shit themselves when they hear it.
Paying them two silver moon coins every three days and even making sure they get food to eat is something unheard of in the entire Westeros. Usually, we only pay them three silver moon coins after the project is done and only give them food to bring to their family once daily.
However, by ensuring they get food three times a day and are paid every three days, King Viserys gets himself a loyal and hard-working group of people.
"Oh? What is it?"
"King's Landing."
"Ah, say no more. Anyway, if there is nothing else?"
"No. I only want to give you the letter."
"Then I will get going. I have a lot of people who need to train."
I nod my head and see him walk away from my office. Even though King Viserys wants us as a neutral place, I don't mind going to war against the stag. He who saves the House of Darry deserves our loyalty.