Chapter 128: Precautions
Egger felt as though he had been slapped hard across the face.
Just moments ago, he had been pointing at the maps and discussing grand strategies, full of ambition as he planned the future of the Night's Watch industries and the Security Department. He had been preparing to settle down and farm in this world, using the Knights Templar as a blueprint to earn promotions, raises, and reach the pinnacle of life... who would have guessed that in the next heartbeat, he would suddenly receive this news?
He knew it couldn't be that smooth. This was the world of Game of Thrones, and he was at the center of the storm in King's Landing. How could things be so easy—would the other players tacitly give him time to comfortably handle finance and build an army?
...
Egger had only just finished tasting the power of rumors, and to his surprise, someone had learned the trick in the blink of an eye. Last time, he had dropped a few slips of paper, which ultimately forced the Master of Coin to defect and triggered a rebellion involving all seven kingdoms and nearly a thousand casualties... This time, the rumor surpassed his own fabrication in both explosive power and truth. What consequences would it eventually cause?
Egger didn't even dare to imagine.
Who had released these notes?
Littlefinger was far away across the Narrow Sea. Could it be Varys? But what benefit would he gain from throwing the Seven Kingdoms into chaos so soon? If the chaos started early, it would end early. What if the internal strife among the seven kingdoms was resolved by the time House Targaryen gathered an army to counterattack Westeros?
It couldn't be another transmigrator making trouble, could it?
But quickly, Egger realized a problem more important than his farming plans or the identity of the rumor-monger: "You fellow, why are you still here? Why haven't you hurried back to Casterly Rock!"
"I couldn't bear to leave. I've discovered for the first time that 'finance' is such a fun game," the dwarf said with a grin. "Of course, the real reason is that Robert isn't here. If he hadn't gone to the Vale to suppress the rebellion, my precious head would probably have been hanging from a spike on the walls of the Red Keep by now."
"This is too reckless. Robert is currently waiting for Lysa Arryn to descend the mountain, and the Eyrie's supplies are nearly exhausted. He could finish off that mad woman and return to King's Landing at any moment! Once he returns, given the groundwork laid by the previous paper slip incident, if he chooses to believe the contents of this note..."
"He'll take the heads of every Lannister in King's Landing. You don't need to tell me that. Fortunately, through investigation, I found the person spreading the rumors..." Tyrion bared his teeth in a half-smile. "After Petyr Baelish defected, all his assets were confiscated by Eddard Stark in the name of the Iron Throne. Some were put up for auction, and I happened to use the idle gold dragons from the Night's Watch industry capital chain to buy the brothels he left behind at a low price—staff and storefronts included. Then... during my first inspection, I discovered quite a few interesting things."
Hearing that the rumor-monger had been found, Egger breathed a sigh of relief. A question suddenly popped into his mind: could a brothel belonging to the Night's Watch assets be referred to as a "Night's Watch Brothel"? Please, Tyrion, don't be so creative. He rubbed his temples. "Such as?"
"The brothel was a tool he used to gather intelligence. It has all sorts of hidden peepholes in the walls, and the prostitutes were his spies," Tyrion explained. "After I picked up this small but fully-functional intelligence agency for nothing, I had the girls help me look into who was throwing these notes around. They told me that before Littlefinger left King's Landing for Braavos, he returned to the brothel once and sought out a few of his subordinates to arrange this matter."
It was that guy? But Littlefinger always acted with caution; why was he so careless this time? Right—he was in a rush when he left and had already decided not to return, so naturally, he didn't have time to consider so much... Damn it, it's that shit-stirrer again. Egger gritted his teeth, and a sentence couldn't help but spring to mind: "If you strike a tiger and do not kill it, it will surely leave a disaster behind." He really should have found a way to kill him back then.
Of course, that was just hindsight. Not to mention that when he first arrived in King's Landing a few months ago he had nothing; even today, with the newly started Night's Watch industry, could he really kill a well-informed high official living in the Red Keep?
"Did you catch the people throwing the notes?"
"Of course I caught them. Do you really think I'm so stupid that I wouldn't run otherwise?" Tyrion shrugged. "Obviously, those last notes couldn't have been released by Littlefinger himself; they must have been from an opponent trying to take him down. This time, he's striking back with the same method. It's likely a tit-for-tat retaliation. I just can't figure out why he picked on my brother and sister... my two siblings don't have the brains for this. Besides, if Cersei and Jaime wanted to target someone, they'd go for the kill; they wouldn't use this kind of method."
The analysis was perfectly correct. The "opponent" Tyrion spoke of gave a bitter smile, momentarily unsure of how to respond.
"Anyway, as long as people see a great figure in trouble, they're happy. Who cares about the truth?" Egger felt he had to say something and followed up helplessly. "The people you caught—who were they handed over to?"
"As the brother of the accused, I obviously had to avoid suspicion. After clarifying the situation, I gave the news directly to an acquaintance in the City Watch and let him lead troops to make the arrests. After they caught the people, they handed them directly to Eddard... our dutiful and good Hand was quick to publicly debunk the rumors. Unfortunately, most people don't believe him."
The two talked as they walked, soon approaching the small lookout tower. Tyrion continued to complain about the dilemma he faced: "The same type of notes appearing twice in a row has given many people an illusion: that these two events were the work of the same person. This fellow is seen as a chivalrous hero upholding justice, specifically exposing the debauchery and ugly faces of the high-and-mighty 'Great Lords' in the Red Keep so they suffer their deserved punishment... When Eddard came out to debunk it and announced it was Littlefinger's work, people instead thought the Hand was covering up a scandal for the King and Queen... Sigh."
Justice? Upholding the will of heaven? Who has the time? The original perpetrator frowned. Although the people spreading the notes were caught, this matter was far from over. The fact that the Baratheon line had always had black hair while the three princes and princesses were all golden was like the mountain path that could bypass the Bloody Gate—no one thought of it until it was mentioned, but once it was brought up, it would immediately become a topic of conversation, discussed with relish by those in King's Landing and across the Seven Kingdoms.
The father has black hair, yet the children have golden hair—therefore, they must be the product of incest between the mother and her younger brother. This line of reasoning was, of course, devoid of logic or science. The problem was: this faulty method of judgment happened to yield the correct conclusion!
To spite Robert for marrying her while still pining for Lyanna, Cersei had decided to ensure he had no heirs. She judged whether the children she carried could be Robert's by calculating the timing of the sowing. The cuckolded King, who loved wine and picking wild flowers, rarely touched the Queen to begin with, and Cersei was skilled at satisfying her husband in other ways... In over ten years of marriage, Robert had only successfully impregnated Cersei once; that one time, the Queen had used medicine to abort it... Since Cersei had concluded through calculation that Joffrey, Tommen, and Myrcella were all Jaime's children, it was almost certainly true!
Although the identity of the rumor-monger was discovered, Cersei and Jaime had no way to prove their innocence... If Eddard or Robert grew suspicious and began flipping through records to compare the hair colors of historical Baratheon and Lannister offspring, combined with the fact that the parties involved were all prone to reckless behavior... The disruption to his plans was a small matter; if internal strife broke out in the Seven Kingdoms and he was dragged into it, that would be the real trouble!
Although Tyrion's two short legs moved slowly, the distance wasn't far after all. The two finally reached the small lookout tower. The structure was newly built; on the stairs circling the outside, the contrast between the footprints and the color of the wood was still sharp—likely fewer than ten people had ever walked up it.
"Let's head up. For what comes next, just listen; don't speak of it outside." Tyrion took the first step and began to climb. "Though it's been proven that the rumor was maliciously fabricated by Littlefinger... well, how should I put it? My brother and sister have always been close. Thinking about it now, even I find it a bit unusual. Whether the content of the notes is true or false isn't the key; the key is whether Eddard and Robert will be influenced by it."
"Hard to say," Egger said honestly. Hadn't he ousted Littlefinger precisely to prevent him from continuing to induce Eddard to investigate? But now that the veil had been pierced, what if Eddard decided to investigate on his own? He thought that once Petyr was gone, he could safely watch out for Varys; who would have thought he'd eventually be outmaneuvered by the former? The Watchman took a deep breath. "My suggestion is that you head back to Casterly Rock to avoid the heat."
"Agreed. But the reality is that too much happened during the two months you were away; the Night's Watch industry almost can't function without me now. So, I need to hurry and use this time to hand over my resources and connections to you and get everything in order... In that case, if the wind blows the wrong way, I can slap my thighs and head back to Casterly Rock immediately."
This was taking precautions, performing an early hand-over of duties. Egger truly enjoyed the feeling of having a god-tier teammate, but this matter involved Tyrion's life, after all; he couldn't keep him. "That works. You've paved the way for me. If I can't even hold onto the family estate, I might as well crawl back to the Wall."
"Haha, I think so too. But things aren't actually that exaggerated; as long as you know how to use people, the tasks you have to do aren't as difficult or complicated as you imagine... Enough of that. Let's head to the top of the tower, take a look at our estate, and then keep talking. Whew—it doesn't look high, why is it so tiring to climb?"
The lookout tower wasn't high—estimated at four or five stories, no more than twenty meters. If Egger were alone, he could have scurried up... but for a dwarf, climbing it was truly no easy feat. It took a few minutes, and Tyrion was beginning to pant by the time the two finally stood at the top.
To the east, the red comet still hung high in the sky, vivid and striking; to the west, the setting sun was approaching the horizon, radiating brilliant light... Leaning against the railing and looking out in all directions, everything in the Night's Watch Industrial Park was visible at a glance.
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