King's Landing, the iron throne Room.
Tyrion Lannister was sitting on the iron throne, clearing up some recent state affairs, because he didn't know where his nephew Joffrey had run off to again. He felt that Joffrey was acting like a busy man every day, running here and there all the time.
"Varys, where has His Majesty the King gone again?"
"I'm not exactly sure, but I heard he went to see the master of ships early this morning."
"Oh? He's not accompanying his little wolf girl today?"
"Lord Tyrion, mind your words."
"Why are you so afraid? Can he hear us speaking from so far away?"
"Hard to say."
"Fine, fine, I should go do some real work too."
Tyrion stepped down from the high iron throne and gave a yawn.
In fact, Tyrion Lannister's strategic tasks after arriving in King's Landing were very clear. First was to befriend and ally with the new king, Joffrey; that had already been accomplished.
Next, he needed to replace the Commander of the City Watch with his own man to ensure his safety.
However, the Ser Jeslyn Beesbury appointed by his nephew Joffrey had already taken control of the entire defense of King's Landing. The current Gold Cloaks were as solid as a fortress, and Tyrion truly couldn't find a way to plant his own people.
He was still very uneasy about his nephew Joffrey Baratheon. Although their interests were aligned for now and their alliance remained valid, if their cooperation ever collapsed, his life would be directly in the other's hands.
Sigh, this is difficult.
Besides those two points, Tyrion also needed to find out who was leaking information to his sister, Cersei Lannister. Yesterday, when he went to see Cersei right after the Small Council, she already knew he was coming.
This was a big deal. it meant his movements in King's Landing were known perfectly by his sister Cersei. If she ever wanted to harm him, he would be in grave danger.
Tyrion Lannister knew his dear sister's psyche very well; she had been trying to find ways to kill him since they were children.
Finally, and most importantly.
He needed to find a way to deal with the impending armies of Stannis Baratheon and Renly Baratheon, totaling over a hundred thousand troops.
Currently, King's Landing only had three thousand Gold Cloaks. Three thousand against over a hundred thousand—how could they even fight?
Tyrion felt dejected. He knew Joffrey was doing his best to conscript soldiers, but time might not be enough.
If King's Landing was breached by either of those two, not only would the lives of himself, Joffrey, and Cersei be forfeit, but even the merchants and commoners of King's Landing would not be spared.
"Lord Tywin, you've really given me a difficult problem to solve."
...
In the meeting hall of King's Landing.
By afternoon, His Majesty the King Joffrey Baratheon returned travel-worn and immediately sent notice for everyone to come to the meeting hall for a Small Council.
Following behind him were the Master of Coin Petyr Baelish, the master of whisperers Varys, Grand Maester Pycelle, and a balding, thin man.
As soon as Joffrey entered, he saw Tyrion Lannister sitting in a chair with a dejected expression. He asked:
"What's wrong, my dear uncle? Who has provoked you now?"
"Your Majesty, you truly are a busy man. I haven't seen you all morning," Tyrion said crossly.
"Indeed. I accomplished a great thing this morning," Joffrey said with a smile as he sat down.
Since establishing an image of keeping his word at The Great Sept of Baelor, many people had indeed been recruited.
However, Joffrey had not forgotten that his second uncle Stannis Baratheon possessed a large fleet, so he had to prioritize the development of the navy.
So Joffrey had found Petyr Baelish this morning and asked him to find people to contact commanders with naval combat experience. To his surprise, Petyr Baelish had already made contact.
It turned out that after King Robert Baratheon's death, Littlefinger Petyr Baelish had acted as a go-between for Cersei Lannister to recruit Ser Paxter Redwyne, the Earl of Arbor and Lord of House Redwyne.
Calling it 'recruitment' was a stretch; in reality, he had been forced to comply only after Ser Paxter Redwyne's two sons were held as hostages.
After all, he was married to Lord Mace Tyrell's sister, Mina Tyrell, making him a high-ranking lord of The Reach.
To reward Littlefinger for this contribution, Joffrey not only returned all the businesses under Littlefinger's banner to him but also legalized those businesses.
This made Littlefinger incredibly happy. He could finally recover some of his losses; that debt collector had been an endless nuisance.
Most importantly, if other people's businesses were illegal while his were legal, no one could compete with him.
After thinking for a moment, Joffrey looked at the master of ships sitting opposite him and asked, "Ser Paxter Redwyne, what is the current state of our Royal Fleet?"
Ser Paxter Redwyne appeared to be nearly fifty years old, with sloping shoulders, a thin frame, and only a few tufts of orange-yellow hair on his balding head.
"Your Majesty, most of the Royal Fleet has been taken to Dragonstone by the rebels to join Stannis Baratheon. It is estimated that Dragonstone now has over two hundred ships, while our ships in King's Landing are likely not even a quarter of that."
Listening to the master of ships' report, Joffrey frowned, feeling a bit troubled.
A fleet was a hard requirement; it really couldn't be built in a short amount of time.
Moreover, Stannis Baratheon had surely been secretly building many large ships on Dragonstone during this time. Conversely, most of his own ships were small, and the few large ones they had could not compare to Stannis Baratheon's fully armed fleet.
At this moment, Tyrion Lannister, who had been silent for a long time, cleared his throat and spoke.
He first asked Varys, "Have we caught any smugglers or pirates recently?"
Varys glanced at him and answered truthfully, "Quite a few indeed. Although House Tyrell has refrained from blocking our food supplies out of concern for the hostages, they have strictly limited the quantity of various goods entering King's Landing. While the common people can be satisfied with just enough to eat, those noble lords require a bit of luxury. Thus, smuggling and piracy have been rampant lately, despite repeated prohibitions."
Tyrion Lannister's mismatched eyes—one black, one green—darted around as an idea formed. He said to Joffrey:
"We can use these smugglers and pirates to help us deal with Stannis. According to the law, selling goods during wartime is a capital offense. But if we give them a way out and have them stand with us, wouldn't that alleviate our naval disadvantage?"
Joffrey Baratheon burst into laughter upon hearing this. He stood up and swung his uncle Tyrion Lannister around in a large circle, making Tyrion cry out in shock.
Joffrey even felt like giving him a big kiss. At the critical moment, it was still the 'Imp' Tyrion who delivered!
Joffrey had a plan. He said to the master of ships, Paxter Redwyne, "Ser Paxter Redwyne, let's organize these people, and I will give you a signed decree."
"Go tell them that anyone who joins the Royal Fleet against the enemy will be pardoned of all crimes. If they perform great deeds, I will personally knight them."
"Furthermore, I can promise them that as long as they escort our merchant ships on the sea, I can sign permits for them. With these permits, they can legally replenish their necessary supplies within our territory."
"And I can allow and encourage them to plunder the ships of any faction other than ours. Based on the quantity and frequency of their plundering, I will record their merits and grant them rewards!"
Joffrey suddenly remembered the policy of the British Empire from his past life: Legalized Looting.
In the current situation, wasn't this policy perfectly suitable?
"Yes, Your Majesty," Paxter Redwyne nodded in agreement.
...
Once, there was an inn with a black iron dragon sign that was smashed and thrown away because it resembled the Blackfyre sigil.
But many years later, a part of it was washed ashore. Though the black iron was covered in red rust, people hung it back up on the inn's signpost.
"Power resides where men believe it resides. It's a trick, a shadow on the wall."
King's Landing, the Dragonpit.
In the pitch-black darkness, there wasn't a single ray of light. Only the sound of light footsteps came from the deep cavern as two figures slowly approached in the darkness.
Two men leaned shoulder to shoulder against a massive, eerie dragon bone—one bald, one blonde.
"It's already this late, why haven't you left yet?" the bald one spoke first.
"It's because that little stag king of yours has detained all the smuggling ships and pirates. Now I can't leave even if I want to," the blonde one said crossly.
"He's a little lion cub," the bald one corrected.
"It's that damned big dragon cub who detained the ships, and I can't leave!" the blonde one grew even more agitated.
"Don't be in such a hurry. Wait a couple of days for the news to blow over, and I'll find someone to send you out." Varys kept comforting him, rubbing his bald head and sighing.
"I thought I was a big figure in Pentos, but here I'm useless. All my money was snatched away by that little stag cub." Illyrio Mopatis had a face full of grief and indignation, as if he had suffered a great grievance.
"He's a little lion cub. Alright, let's not dwell on that. Now, what's the situation with our big dragon cub, little Aegon?"
Varys was still concerned about Aegon Targaryen, in whom he had placed high hopes. This concerned the schemes they had spent half their lives drifting for.
"What situation? I don't know if his head was kicked by a donkey, but he actually dragged Jon Clinton off to Yi Ti. What's so good about a country where they even reverse the order of names and surnames? If it weren't for the fact that this boy is my... mmm..."
Illyrio Mopatis was about to say more, but Varys covered his mouth.
"Shh~ mind your words! This is not like our place. You can never let your guard down, no matter the time."
Varys was always cautious, whether there was anyone else around or not.
"Hmph, I never want to come to this ghost of a place again. It's really hard for you to have stayed here all these years." Illyrio Mopatis threw up his hands helplessly.
"Stealing wealth is the lowest, stealing hearts is next, but stealing a kingdom is the highest. As long as the goal can be achieved, I would be willing even if I had to die here."
In the darkness, Varys's purple eyes flickered with a light that others could not see. His years of painstaking management seemed to be for the common people, but his true ambitions were far-reaching.
"Don't talk nonsense, we will both live well. Even if things don't go as planned in the end, I will come to save you. This is what I promised her."
"So, you still remember her," Varys said, showing a long-lost look of nostalgia.
"Even if it meant offending the Prince of Pentos and nearly losing my life, my love for her never changed. She was my Serra, the only true love of my life."
Illyrio Mopatis spoke of the past; his heart had long ago been given to that woman.
"She was my sister and my only relative. Unfortunately, now even she is gone," Varys said.
"You still have me. No one in this world can break our friendship. For Serra's last wish, I will strive for the rest of my life." Illyrio Mopatis patted Varys on the shoulder.
"Do you still remember what she looked like?" Varys asked.
Illyrio Mopatis suddenly laughed, then said with a serious expression:
"I will never forget it as long as I live."