Chapter 43: Settling In
Since the Lannister had put it that way, the two men of the Night's Watch held their tongues. They followed the Lannister master and his two servants along the main thoroughfare of King's Landing, passing through Cobbler's Square and the central plaza before veering left. They rode a bit further up the gentle slope of Street of the Sisters, gradually approaching the summit of the lowest of the three hills enclosed by the city walls.
As the elevation rose, the surrounding scenery shifted rapidly. The streets became spacious and clean, and the demeanor and dress of the pedestrians grew more leisurely and refined. Shops selling non-essential goods—luxury items—even began to appear along the roadside.
Egger quickly realized that this was the wealthy district of King's Landing. For an outsider to stay here long-term would likely incur expenses he absolutely could not afford on his own. Finally, they pulled up in front of an inn named The Albatross. Following Tyrion off his horse, Egger looked out into the distance and found that where he stood was already higher than the city walls. He was dozens of meters above the city's lowest point, just beneath the crest of Rhaenys's Hill where the Dragonpit sat. The height was perfect: the stench was greatly reduced, yet it wasn't so high as to hinder daily travel. It was truly a prime location.
"Landlord, four rooms. One each for me and my two black-clad friends, and one for my two guards. Keep them adjacent," Tyrion announced loudly as he stepped through the door. The interior decor was finer than the Great Hall of Winterfell. The proprietor clearly recognized the Imp and busily ushered servants to take their horses and luggage, leading the group toward the second floor.
"You are the face of the Night's Watch now; you must mind your attire when you go out. There are many shops on the Street of the Sisters—some sell ready-made clothes, others do custom work. I suggest you find the time to get a few outfits," Tyrion said as his final word to the two Crows before they entered their respective rooms. "Also, head out and turn right; once you can see the hole in the roof of the Dragonpit, turn left. That leads to the Street of Silk. Half the brothels in King's Landing are there. Just give them my name, and you can enjoy yourself even without coin. If you're too shy to go alone, I can take you another day. But today, I need to give my backside a rest—sleeping face down might be a good idea. See you later."
To be honest, Egger felt a flicker of temptation. He was a normal adult male with his own needs. He had been in this world for a year and a half and hadn't touched a woman... he truly couldn't bring himself to visit the prostitutes of Mole's Town near Castle Black, who were essentially village girls moonlighting for coin. Perhaps King's Landing would offer a better alternative?
The fleeting thought flashed by, and he quickly snuffed it out. He owed Tyrion a massive debt of gratitude and carried a heavy burden of responsibility on his shoulders. Where would he find the spirit or the courage to use another man's money to play the patron?
He pushed open the door to his single room, set down his clothes and luggage, and then went down to the front desk to ask the landlord for paper and ink. Egger sat down at the small table by the window. King's Landing was a dangerous place, but as long as he didn't meddle blindly in the Game of Thrones, a man of the Night's Watch was at least safe for the time being. However, if he didn't want to return to that godforsaken place at the Wall, he had to plan his future carefully.
Watching the people come and go on the street, he took a few minutes to center himself before writing down his four primary objectives on the paper: Raising supplies, recruiting personnel, mining dragonglass, and improving the image of the Night's Watch.
Compared to when he first received these tasks and had no idea where to start, a month of travel and reflection—plus discussions with Tyrion—had given him a conceptual framework. Now, he needed to record them in writing before he became so overwhelmed with work that he forgot the plan.
First, Egger and Tyrion both agreed on one thing: the task of "improving the image of the Night's Watch" was practically non-existent. In this era of poor communication, whether Southerners had a good or bad impression of the Watch, was the Night's Watch really going to send a large force south to conduct surveys and statistics?
Only he would know in his heart if he had put effort into this task, and the quality of its completion would be entirely subjective. To put it bluntly, the only reason this task existed was to serve as an excuse in case the Night's Watch leadership tried to forcibly recall him for some specific reason, even if he had performed well on the other three objectives.
As long as the worst-case scenario didn't occur, no one would ever bring it up.
Egger took his pen and crossed out that last objective.
The remaining three required real, tangible work.
But what defined completion? There was a lot of wiggle room there. If Yoren came looking for men next time and Egger couldn't produce a single soul, or if he failed to send supplies for months, or if the transport ships arrived at Dragonstone before mining had even begun... those scenarios were unacceptable and would result in an immediate recall. However, regarding how many men, how much in supplies, and how much dragonglass—there were many layers to that.
It couldn't be too little, at least not for long. If you don't pay the ransom, who is going to let you stay out and enjoy yourself?
But it couldn't be too much either. People's appetites only grow, and organizations are the same. The recruits he raised would make the Night's Watch larger, and a larger army would inevitably require more supplies to sustain. Not to mention that as winter approached, the provisions the Northern lords could provide to the Wall would surely shrink. Various factors dictated that the supply gap would only grow wider. If he gave the leadership the impression that he could provide unlimited resources, he would be doomed.
The productivity levels of this world were fixed; aside from air, water, and land, there were very few abundant resources. Even if he were the most silver-tongued orator and convinced every wealthy noble in King's Landing to bankrupt themselves for the Watch, he still couldn't fill a bottomless pit.
The ideal situation was this: the supplies, recruits, and dragonglass he provided should remain at a not quite satisfactory, but not enough to trigger a recall low level. That way, if the Wall ever demanded more, he would be starting the increase from a lower baseline.
Where exactly that safety line lay, he would have to discover for himself.
Egger solidified his core working strategy and mapped out his itinerary: he would first arrange the contribution from Tyrion—his ransom—to be sent to the Wall. Then, he would head to Dragonstone to conduct a survey and begin the dragonglass mining. Once those two matters were settled, he would return to King's Landing to find ways to recruit men and raise subsequent supplies and equipment.
...
Once the itinerary was set, he hesitated for a moment. At the very bottom of the page, he added one lines, which no one in this world could possibly understand:
Take off the black.
The effort to complete the tasks Mormont gave him was a means—a means to buy time. And the purpose of buying time was to find a way to leave the Night's Watch. He had once hoped Tyrion could handle this, but he later realized that even leaving the Wall required overcoming many hurdles. As for stripping away his identity... no one really had that authority. He would have to figure it out himself.
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