Daenerys, who had been reclining comfortably, could no longer sit still. After shifting uneasily, she sat up straight.
"Very good." She nodded, naturally delighted that Braavos had been taken, but she still had one question. "However, what about civilian casualties and property damage?"
"I ordered every possible measure to be taken to avoid civilian casualties." Aegor had anticipated that Daenerys would care about this, so he answered without hesitation or the slightest hint of unease. "Although some collateral damage was still unavoidable, rest assured, Your Grace, we have captured all those responsible. This includes the members of Braavos's ruling class who chose to resist, the officers of the city guard who ordered artillery to be deployed in residential areas and aboard civilian ships, and even the members of the so-called Department of Special Affairs, who planned two assassination attempts against you and me. They have all been apprehended and handed over to Braavos's wartime committee, where they will be charged and publicly tried for war crimes."
At first, there seemed to be nothing wrong with this statement, but the level of deception it contained was astonishing.
Aegor had said "every possible measure" rather than "every measure." This was his first piece of wordplay. Once one side in a war chose to fight in residential areas, civilian casualties became impossible to avoid. Zero multiplied by one was still zero. The "every possible measure" he referred to amounted to nothing more than forbidding arson, murder, and looting.
And with the word "possible" added, he was not even lying.
Then there was "some collateral damage was still unavoidable." The so-called "some" meant that the most prosperous districts of Braavos had been riddled with holes, civilian casualties had reached four figures, and the shortage of fresh water had brought production and daily life to a severe standstill. By the standards of Earth, it was undoubtedly a massive humanitarian crisis. Yet Braavos had neither the internet nor television, and Daenerys could not refute Aegor by sending an investigative team to calculate exactly how much "collateral damage" the battle had caused. She could only choose to trust her Hand.
As for telling Daenerys that those responsible had been brought to justice, that was actually Aegor's subtle way of guiding and reassuring her. He wanted to ease her guilt and help her understand that not all of this was her fault, lest excessive psychological pressure awaken the madness buried deep within the blood of the True Dragon and cause the tragedy of the original timeline to repeat itself.
"With the assistance of reliable intelligence from the House of Black and White, the fleet successfully prevented the Sealord of Braavos and the House of Keyholders, or rather, all the city's prominent nobles, from fleeing or transferring their assets, whether openly or in secret. All of their assets and wealth will be confiscated, and they and their relatives will later be escorted by the fleet to King's Landing. Whether they are executed or exiled will be decided by Your Grace." Aegor did not give Daenerys much time to think or notice anything amiss before immediately continuing his report. "It is also worth mentioning the inventory conducted after our forces occupied the Iron Bank. I personally supervised the process, but the final result was rather disappointing. The largest treasury in the known world, which should have held wealth worth more than ten million gold dragons, contained only a little over two million in gold, silver, and other valuables."
Seeing that he had successfully captured Daenerys's attention, he paused briefly before continuing.
"At first, I suspected that insiders or looters had stolen or transferred the wealth during the war. However, after isolating, questioning, and investigating a large number of employees, we discovered that the Iron Bank's system was so refined and its management so strict that it maintained a minimum level of secure operation even while the city-state was under attack. We therefore reviewed the deposit and withdrawal records and examined the ledgers. After counting and checking everything throughout the night, we discovered that the amount of cash in the vault was essentially correct. The problem lay with the operational model of Braavos, or rather, of the Iron Bank."
"Centuries of stable operation have given the Iron Bank a reputation thousands of times greater than that of the Targaryen Bank. It possesses an astonishing ability to withstand financial fluctuations, rumors, disruptions to its flow of capital, and bank runs caused by debtors defaulting. Relying on the invisible foundation of credit, it has managed to perform the magic of turning finance into 'money' on a scale and at a speed far beyond anything I imagined. Hmm, too much detail will probably make Your Grace dizzy, so I will simply give you the figures. The Iron Bank holds more than two million gold dragons in cash, but on paper, it still owes its depositors nearly thirty million gold dragons, while a similar sum remains outstanding in loans awaiting repayment. Oh, and that includes the millions owed by the Usurper, Robert Baratheon."
More than two million against thirty million, a ratio of over ten to one!
The sheer size of those numbers left Daenerys feeling dizzy and disoriented. She completely forgot about the collateral damage suffered by the people of Braavos during the war. Her eyes widened instinctively, and she straightened her back.
"That is absolutely insane!"
"My first reaction was exactly the same as yours." Aegor agreed with a wry smile.
This was not a deception. However, the actual situation was not quite as outrageous as Daenerys imagined. The two million remaining in the Iron Bank was what was left after the Braavosi garrison and armories had urgently withdrawn large sums, and after some residents had rushed to withdraw their deposits before the war reached the city and emergency measures were imposed. Under normal circumstances, the amount would probably have fluctuated between four and five million.
Even so, the Iron Bank's audacity in using leverage and playing financial games as recklessly as people in the modern world, despite such primitive technological conditions, had genuinely shocked Aegor.
"So... is this a good thing or a bad thing?" After several seconds of shock and confusion, Daenerys asked in a puzzled and slightly uncertain voice.
"With real gold and silver already in our hands, it cannot possibly be a bad thing. However, how good it ultimately becomes will depend on how we handle the situation afterward." Aegor spread his hands with a relaxed, faint smile. "My suggestion is that we preserve the shell of the Iron Bank and allow it to continue operating. As for deposits, we will generously acknowledge the savings of ordinary people. However, for the wealthy families of Braavos and the nobles of the various city-states, we can use charges such as treason, aiding the enemy, and war crimes as grounds to freeze or confiscate their deposits. Together with those whose owners are already missing or died in the war, I believe we will be able to prevent bank runs and the bank's collapse. After that, we can sail our warships and cannons across the world under the Iron Bank's name, carrying its list of outstanding loans and collecting its debts."
"Most of the money recovered will be placed under the same gold controls used in the Westerlands, deposited in King's Landing, and converted into Targaryen national debt!" Daenerys's eyes lit up as she supplied the answer to the next step before he could say it.
"Exactly." Aegor nodded in agreement. "Compared with the cash in the vault, Braavos's outstanding debts and its position as the world's financial center are our greatest spoils of war!"
Daenerys's expression relaxed, and she reclined once more on the lounge chair. After hesitating for several seconds, she asked a question that was perhaps somewhat inappropriate for someone of her status.
"What comes next?"
(To be continued.)