Chapter 70: The Angry Buyer
Tyrion wasn't supposed to be looking for the young papermaker? How did he end up here at this moment and successfully bring in the first customer? Also, they had agreed to wait until the seal arrived before starting this venture. How did it start early?
A bunch of questions crowded Aeg's mind, but overall, raising funds was a different kind of business, and for businessmen, having customers come in was never a bad thing.
Stopping the adventure story he was telling, Aeg stood up, pushed the door open, and left the "office" to enter the outer room of the Night's Watch office.
Against the backdrop of Tyrion's familiar short stature, a figure Aeg recognized appeared tall and imposing, so unexpectedly.
"Ser Jaime!"
"Imp!"
As Aeg exclaimed in surprise, Arya's cheerful and excited voice also rang out.
***
Impressive. The yet-to-open Night's Watch office was truly a gathering of big names. Tyrion and Jaime, two important figures from House Lannister, and Arya Stark, the youngest daughter of House Stark, along with several guards dressed in the attire of both houses. For a moment, Aeg thought he hadn't traveled through time but had accidentally stumbled into the backstage of the "Game of Thrones" set.
Seeing Arya run out from the inner room of the Night's Watch office, Tyrion's surprise was no less than Aeg's recognition of Jaime. He didn't like being called by his nickname to his face, but there was no point in arguing with a little girl, so he greeted her friendly and openly: "Good afternoon, Arya. What are you doing here?"
"I'm learning the sword from my master."
"You, learning the sword?"
Ten-year-old Arya was already about the same height as Tyrion, and the two chatted while Jaime and Aeg's conversation began.
"What do you really want?" Jaime frowned, not hiding his inner irritation. Every time he thought back to the mess that happened in Winterfell, it felt a bit surreal. He and Cersei had always been careful with their affair, which was why it hadn't been discovered by Robert for years. But that day, he didn't know what had gotten into him, and he continued their tryst with reckless abandon. That would have been fine, but then, unfortunately, he scared the Stark boy into a fall.
*(You, a Night's Watchman who knows too much, should just stay at the Wall and wait to die. What are you doing in King's Landing?)*
Aeg heard the underlying message from the kingslayer and thought to himself that this was not good. He had wanted to avoid other important characters in the plot and make a fortune quietly, but who would have thought that Tyrion would bring his brother directly here? Although it was Aeg's suggestion to start with people close to them, this was. too "close."
He couldn't show weakness, nor could he let Jaime think he was here to blackmail him. After some thought, Aeg could only play it safe: "I am here on the orders of the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch to gather food, supplies, and equipment in King's Landing to resist the wildlings."
*(I'm not here to cause trouble for you two lovebirds. I'm here on official business.)*
"Hmph, the Night's Watch has so many people, and they just happened to pick you. What a coincidence."
*(Yeah, right, who believes that?)*
"The Lord Commander saw fit to entrust me with the responsibility of overseeing the Night's Watch's logistics."
*(I'm telling the truth, believe it or not.)*
"Fine, since you're friends with Tyrion, I'll take one of those bonds of yours."
*(I'm just unlucky, can't I just pay to get rid of trouble?)*
"Excellent, please take a seat inside, Ser Jaime, and let me explain the rules and details of the Night's Watch bond transactions and returns."
*(Believe what you want, I'm not going to argue with money.)*
Tyrion, while dealing with Arya, who was overly interested in the dwarf, didn't miss the conversation between Aeg and his brother. It sounded normal, but there was something odd about it.
"Alright, alright, Arya, you'll have plenty of chances to meet me in the future. Let's let your master and me handle business today, okay?"
"Fine, what are you going to do? What's a Night's Watch bond?"
"Come in, and you'll understand after listening." Aeg rubbed his head, feeling a headache as he invited everyone into the office. He moved chairs and benches to make room for everyone, including Arya.
"No need for much explanation. It's just a hundred gold dragons per share, right? Just tell me how many you want me to buy."
*(Stop playing games. How much do you want to shut up?)*
Aeg wasn't sure if he was overthinking or if it was just an illusion, but he felt like he and Jaime could understand each other's thoughts. Just as he was pondering how to respond, Tyrion interrupted their subtext exchange with a puzzled look: "What's wrong with you, Jaime? Didn't you say you were free today at noon? Why are you in such a hurry now that we're here?"
"It's nothing." Jaime crossed his arms, sighing. "It's just that seeing someone in black makes me inexplicably uncomfortable."
"I didn't know you had that problem." Tyrion rolled his eyes.
"It's a new one." Jaime looked at Aeg, then at another Stark child. "Can't you let your apprentice play somewhere else for a while?"
"Why?" Arya pouted in protest. "What's so secretive about it!"
"It's nothing, let her stay here." Aeg shook his head. He didn't really want Arya to be deeply involved with the Night's Watch bonds, but this wasn't a secret. They had just started to get familiar with each other, which was a critical time to build a relationship. If he forcibly sent her away and locked her out, it would be secondary if this curious child threw a tantrum. It would be unfortunate if she went back and told Eddard that he and two Lannisters were having a "secret meeting" in the room.
"Then, next, I will explain the detailed rules of this Night's Watch bond to Ser Jaime."
After several days of discussion and revisions, the mature version of the detailed bond rules had been finalized. Based on minor modifications to the original content, they added some supplementary clauses and added a rogue clause at the bottom that was common in Aeg's previous world but actually ineffective: The final interpretation of this bond belongs to the Night's Watch.
In front of Jaime and Arya, Aeg clearly and logically read out and explained each rule according to the instructions. The second daughter of House Stark listened carefully with curiosity at first but soon yawned and lost interest. On the other hand, the kingslayer, who had been impatient at first, became serious as he listened.
"If you came to King's Landing without money and needed to borrow some temporarily, that would be understandable. But from your explanation, it's clear that you're looking to borrow money long-term. Why not have your Lord Commander send the money here? It would take a month at most to travel from the Wall to King's Landing on horseback."
Jaime had hit the nail on the head, and Aeg was a bit surprised. He had thought that Jaime, before losing his hand, was just a simple-minded and impulsive guy, but his mind was quite clear.
"Ser Jaime is one of us, so I won't hide it from you. The Night's Watch is facing a great threat and needs a large amount of military supplies immediately. and the long summer is ending, the Northern lords have also begun preparations for winter. They can't support the Wall fully at the moment, so we have to think of every possible way to get through this period. We'll deal with the rest later."
"You won't be able to repay the money in the short term, so you can only rely on interest to attract and delay creditors, paying it back slowly over a long period? But loans to the king are guaranteed by the national treasury. What guarantees loans to the Night's Watch?"
Jaime was Tyrion's brother, but he wasn't the same person. The core secret couldn't be told to him, and the conversation had gone far enough.
Tyrion interrupted to smooth things over: "This loan is secured by the Night's Watch's land grants and all assets, with the guarantee of the Hand of the King and myself. We'll claim this publicly, but in reality, Aeg and I plan to make some moves and earn a big sum in King's Landing to solve the follow-up issues."
"Make a big sum? I never knew you could do business."
"Hmph, you'll be amazed when the time comes. Just tell me if you support me."
Jaime smiled. He finally believed that Aeg wasn't in King's Landing to blackmail him: "Of course, I support you. Who let you be my dearest little brother? I'll buy two hundred shares to show my support. If you succeed, great; if not, no need to repay. Consider it a donation to the Night's Watch, but don't keep borrowing."
After saying that, he looked at Aeg, and his eyes clearly said: *(Consider this a bribe to keep your mouth shut. Don't be greedy.)*
Aeg had no choice but to shrug slightly, not bothering to explain in vain, lest he make things worse.
"Alright, let's start filling out the bond."
"Jack went to get the seal and hasn't come back yet. What should we do?"
"Just use a handprint. No need for all that trouble." Tyrion waved his hand, took out the blank bond he had copied from the drawer, dipped a quill in ink, and began to write.