Chapter 134: Technology for Sale
Nina quickly slipped away to fetch cups and drinks, while Egger personally pulled out chairs for the two guests to show his respect. Turning back, he noticed a third person entering the room: a mature woman who, while not conventionally beautiful, radiated a provocative air and an exotic, singular charm.
"Allow me to introduce my paramour, Ellaria Sand," the Red Viper said, taking the woman's hand and presenting her to Egger with the easy affection of an old married couple. "Darling, this is the famous Other-slayer, the Night's Watch Chief Logistics Officer Egger West. And his paramour... what was her name? Won't you introduce us?"
...
In any of the other six kingdoms outside of Dorne, paramour was hardly a flattering term. Had anyone else asked, Egger would have denied the claim and bypassed the topic. But with Oberyn, he answered honestly: "Nina."
"Nina," Ellaria Sand repeated, watching the girl's retreating figure with keen interest. "A lovely girl, though she seems a bit green? Has she tasted the joys of love yet?"
"She looks young," Egger explained vaguely. "And as for me, I prefer girls who are fresh and succulent."
The Red Viper's paramour seemed to be bisexual herself; there was enough chaos already without her setting her sights on Nina. To avoid trouble, he didn't hesitate to slap a few false labels on himself.
"Lord Egger is truly a man of passion," Ellaria Sand remarked, slightly surprised by the bluntness of his answer. Fortunately, her attention was primarily on a certain cosmetic. She smiled and let the matter drop. "What is that on her lips? The color is quite unusual."
"It's a new product the Night's Watch industries are about to launch—a specially formulated cream lipstick," Egger replied, feeling relieved. "Once it's officially on the market, I shall send a tube each to Lady Margaery and Lady Ellaria, provided you are both still in King's Landing."
As he spoke, Egger pulled over a third chair. Margaery sat down first, subtly shifting her seat to create distance between herself and the Red Viper's party. Egger caught the detail. It seemed that despite arriving together, the two houses weren't as close as they appeared. A paramour was never quite socially acceptable elsewhere—let alone a bastard daughter. For the Prince of Dorne to flaunt her like a wife, taking her on formal visits, was considered absurd and impolite in the eyes of the other six kingdoms. Only a girl like Margaery could mask such contempt so effectively.
Both Margaery and Oberyn represented one of the great regions of the realm. If he could secure them as major collaborators, the boost to the expansion of the Night's Watch industries would be explosive.
"What!" However, before Nina could return with the cups, Egger received shocking news. "The three of you have already visited the Night's Watch industries?"
"We arrived a dozen miles from King's Landing yesterday afternoon and reached the city this morning. After a discussion, we decided not to enter the gates immediately, but to head straight to the famous Night's Watch industrial park for a look." Margaery looked at Egger with a soft smile, masking the irony in her tone perfectly. "The Chief Logistics Officer is so busy; it would have been inappropriate to trouble you to lead the tour personally, wouldn't it?"
Egger was speechless. Ellaria added with interest, "It was fascinating. I never imagined production and manufacturing could take such a form. Lord Egger has truly opened my eyes. It is a pity a man of your caliber is content to stay with the Night's Watch instead of serving the Realm at large."
As the only man among the three visitors, Oberyn hadn't uttered a word. He simply leaned back in his chair, scanning Egger's office, essentially letting his paramour speak on his behalf.
They had agreed to visit the office first, yet they had bypassed him to inspect the factories and the park directly. What was this? Then again, he had been impolite during his own initial contact with Margaery; her returning the favor with such high-minded excuses was a civilized form of retaliation. They were even now; there was no need to dwell on it.
Egger feigned indifference, but the fact that they had scouted the site without him gave him a bad feeling. Had he known, he would have ordered the security teams to bar outsiders, but he knew that forcefully stopping two high nobles backed by a retinue would have been unwise. "Since you have already seen it, I won't waste words. Are the Tyrells and Martells interested in investing? A few thousand Gold Dragons could see a return on capital and interest within a year. After that, it is pure profit."
"I have no doubt of that," Margaery replied, maintaining a humble and polite smile that left no room for criticism. "But for the nobles of the Reach and Dorne to suddenly involve ourselves in your business here, profiting so heavily off the King's subjects... it might not sit well with His Majesty. My purpose in coming here is to discuss the transfer of the full papermaking and printing technology. Something so beneficial to the realm should be used for the good of all the Seven Kingdoms."
And there it was. His previous fears had manifested. While running a business like a single-player game was satisfying, the nobles and wealthy of this world weren't NPCs—they got jealous. As the rulers of the Reach, the Tyrells controlled the most populous region in Westeros and its largest market. Why would they collaborate with him? Egger's tax-exempt status meant nothing to a family that effectively was the law in their lands. Margaery had no intention of investing to carve up the market around King's Landing; she intended to buy the technology and go solo back in the Reach.
...
Was there any room for maneuver? Egger sat behind his desk, meeting her gaze, and realized there likely wasn't. Someone like the Little Rose wouldn't act without having already analyzed the costs and benefits. If he were the King, he could swallow the market and the people whole. But did he have the political status or the voice to offer as a trade-off?
He did not. The outcome was destined. Margaery—a woman whose cunning, status, and power all eclipsed his own—could not be talked into sharing her family's inherent interests with the Night's Watch.
The only thing left was to haggle and ensure the technology he couldn't keep was sold for a high price.
"Lady Margaery makes a fair point. However, while papermaking and printing may look simple, developing them from nothing requires significant capital and labor." Egger looked at Nina as she returned with the drinks and gestured toward her. "See, my girl here was personally involved in the initial research and process improvements. Ask her how much time we spent, how many materials and chemicals we tested, before we found a viable production method."
"You've worked hard," Margaery said, not even glancing at Nina, merely nodding with a smile. "House Tyrell does not intend to take it for free. As compensation, we offer five hundred Gold Dragons as a belated 'initial sponsorship'."
Belated initial sponsorship? Five hundred Dragons... the Night's Watch industries made nearly that much in a single month! This Little Rose's bargaining skills were every bit as sharp as her acting.
"We?" Egger caught the phrasing and looked at Oberyn.
"Nothing to do with me. You two talk. Once you've settled, I'll just do whatever she does," the Red Viper finally spoke. After he finished, he pulled his paramour onto his lap, kissing her lightly in front of everyone.
What does that mean? Egger frowned. Analyzing the behavior of someone like Oberyn was likely pointless. It seemed he and Margaery hadn't planned this together; they had likely run into each other returning from the Vale and decided to come and pick his pockets as a pair!
He had risked his life, raised the capital, and poured sweat into building this industry, and these nobles thought they could just wash their hands and take home the money tree for a pittance!
Egger's teeth itched with frustration, but he was cornered. In a world with no concept of intellectual property, the fact that they were willing to buy rather than simply stealing the tech and kidnapping his staff was actually a display of extreme grace. He couldn't ask for more.
...
"Lady Margaery, let me put it this way: if we were only talking about research costs, five hundred Dragons wouldn't even be used up. But an invention that can change the world possesses intrinsic value in its brilliance. The Night's Watch took the risk of investing when the future was unclear. We have months of operational experience, process improvements, and the management models required for large-scale production. In your eyes, is all of that worth nothing?"
"Lord Egger has a point. I'm just a girl who understands little of such things; if I've said something improper, please bear with me," Margaery said, putting on an innocent face. "But since this is business, the price is negotiable. If we can't reach an agreement, I suppose I shall have to go home empty-handed and hire people to figure it out for me."
Hire people to figure it out? A polite way of saying that if the deal fell through today, Egger would find a mass resignation of his staff tomorrow. He held what they wanted, but he had no leverage to demand an astronomical price.
"Five thousand Gold Dragons. I provide the technology, the skilled workers, and training for your management... I will package and support your paper and printing plants in Highgarden or elsewhere until they can run independently."
It sounded like a lot of extras, but those were services any technology sale should include. Now, one offered five hundred, and the other demanded five thousand—a difference of a whole zero. That digit was the gap they now had to bridge.
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