Chapter 79: The Rumors Take Hold (Part 1)
"You're so slow, Master!" Arya jumped up the moment she saw Egger, grumbling with dissatisfaction.
"Where did you run off to?" Tyrion likewise frowned as he stared at Egger. "Leaving Lady Stark to mind your shop while guests wanting to buy bonds wait for you... Hah—a fine Chief Logistics Officer of the Night's Watch you are!"
Damn. Egger immediately realized who the other two men in the room were and began apologizing profusely. He had previously told Tyrion he would be at the office at all times, yet he had broken his word for the sake of a side-move of hiring Kon, nearly ruining things. To make such a mistake during the startup phase of the bonds was, even to him, inexcusable. No wonder even the usually good-tempered Tyrion sounded sharp.
...
"No matter, chatting with Lady Stark was quite pleasant," said one of the men Tyrion had brought along, smiling. He had originally come only out of respect for the Lannister name, but who would have thought he'd meet the daughter of the current Hand of the King here? Given the location of their fiefs and their social standing, they would normally have no connection to House Stark whatsoever. For that alone, the wait was not without its rewards.
"This is Ser Lian Brun, and this is Ser Roger Hogg, two knights of the Crownlands."
"A pleasure to meet you both. My apologies once again for the delay." Egger greeted the two and quickly straightened his clothes. "Please, step inside."
To borrow money from others and then keep them waiting—if these two guests had pulled a face or walked out today, Egger would have had to endure it with a humble smile. Fortunately, because Arya was present, both men remained relatively polite. Egger breathed a sigh of relief; spending two or three hours a day dealing with this little she-wolf and taking the trouble to get close to her had finally paid off.
Ordering his newly recruited office assistant, Kon, to watch the door in the outer room, Egger invited the guests into the inner chamber for a detailed discussion. Once the routine of introductions and explanations was over, both men bought a hundred gold dragons' worth of bonds as a courtesy. After the signing and sealing process was finished and a few more pleasantries were exchanged, the Night's Watchman saw them out of the office.
...
"I can understand you being busy, but give me some notice beforehand, or at least set a fixed schedule. Tell me which days you'll definitely be in and which days I shouldn't bother bringing people by, alright?"
Egger was in the wrong, so he naturally agreed to everything. For many reasons, he could hire someone to watch the door, but the authority to sign valid bonds could never be delegated. However, he truly might have other things to attend to from time to time... Thinking it over, he really did need to establish a schedule for workdays and rest days.
"I have some new ideas I need to discuss with you." Tyrion didn't intend to dwell on Egger's mistake and quickly regained his usual expression. "As you've seen, I can bring people here; that's easy. I know who has spare cash and who will give me face, and I can tell who is easily persuaded. But even if I drag them through the door, they'll only buy the minimum amount of a hundred gold dragons... You have nothing tangible to show them. Relying solely on talk won't get them to empty their coffers."
"True, but as the first and second batches of people successfully receive their returns..."
"That takes time." Tyrion waved off Egger's words. "My thought is, since we're going to be collaborating with people anyway, why not create something similar to a bond—a document that outlines the terms of investment, cooperation, and dividends to serve as proof?"
"You mean a new type of bond product?" Egger immediately grasped Tyrion's meaning. "We could create an 'Investment Voucher.' We calculate the capital needed to build the industrial chain for papermaking and printing, and then this voucher represents the holder's future share in our physical industries, like the paper mills, printing houses, and even bookstores."
"Exactly! That's what I mean. This voucher can complement the bonds. Bonds have lower returns but the principal and interest can be withdrawn at any time. But this... the return on the Investment Voucher depends on business performance and could be extremely high. However, the principal becomes part of the workshops and factories; it can only be transferred to someone else, not withdrawn!" Tyrion said. "This way, we can cater to two types of clients: those with a bit of spare cash they might need later buy Night's Watch Bonds, and those with deep pockets and nowhere to put their gold can invest thousands directly!"
"A great idea. Once the product is ready, we can produce some high-quality samples to attract investment." For some reason, Egger began to feel a faint sense of unease. "Tyrion, I'll leave this to you. Business and operations are your domain; I'll handle the ideas and technology. I'll be visiting Nina frequently lately to ensure their improvements are completed as soon as possible."
"Mhm."
Taking a breath, Egger soon realized where that nagging unease came from: everything was moving too fast. He had originally just wanted to start a Ponzi scheme to get his foot in the door. How had financing and shares already cropped up before he'd even paid out the first bit of interest by robbing Peter to pay Paul? With his status and ability, could he truly control this beast called Capital?
He wasn't an expert in these matters, but there was no turning back. Unless he scammed Tyrion and fled with the funds to the Narrow Sea to live out his days under an assumed name, he had to keep moving forward. This... was likely the mental journey every entrepreneur had to take.
Fortunately, he had almost no competitors in this world, along with the help of a resourceful Lannister.
"Are you two finished yet? Are we practicing today or not!?" Arya hated listening to all this talk of bonds and shares—aside from knowing they involved money, she didn't understand a lick of it. She only knew she'd spent the whole day waiting and doing nothing. "Those two guys earlier... they kept pestering me with questions. They even asked if I was betrothed or if I liked anyone. It's none of their damn business!"
"Actually, it is none of their damn business." Tyrion was amused by Arya. He had only brought two wealthy knights of the Crownlands; given Arya Stark's status, even if she were to marry down, it still would be to a less powerful Noble. There was no way these low-level Knights were in the running. But their interest wasn't without reason: "Your sister Sansa is already betrothed to Prince Joffrey. House Stark will be one of the most powerful families in the Seven Kingdoms for at least the next hundred years. The marriage of the future Queen's sister is something that concerns the nerves of everyone in the realm!"
"Pah! Sansa is a big dummy. Marrying that big liar Joffrey is a perfect match. I don't want to be like her!"
Egger cheered internally, but he couldn't let her continue speaking such blunt truths. He had to call a halt: "Where has my little lady apprentice gone? No coarse language allowed!"
"Hmph." Arya thought of the butcher's boy who used to practice with her, and tears immediately welled in her eyes. She sniffled, pouted, and stopped talking.
Indeed, Sansa was betrothed to Joffrey. Eddard Stark was not only the current Hand and the King's best friend but also the father-in-law of the future King. Eddard himself probably didn't realize that this fact was the very reason he dared to come to King's Landing despite knowing it was exceptionally dangerous. Unfortunately, in the original story, under Littlefinger's enticement, he soon discovered Cersei and Jaime's secret, and his original source of confidence turned into his greatest threat. With his pride, he would never allow his precious daughter to marry a product of inc*st—especially the bastard of the Kingslayer, whom he despised most. Yet his honor wouldn't allow him to harm children. Under this contradiction, everything that followed happened.
Thinking of this, Egger suddenly remembered the rumors he had personally spread a few days ago. Out of caution, he hadn't mentioned it to anyone, even tentatively, before or after doing it... He could imagine he'd be busy with other things for a long time. If he forgot the task of dealing with Littlefinger and preventing the war, and the War of the Five Kings happened anyway, that would be trouble.
He had to know now if the rumors were working to decide if he needed another way to disrupt the board.
"Right," he said, speaking as if he'd just remembered. "I've heard a very incredible rumor these past two days. I wonder if you..."
"You mean the one about Littlefinger murdering the former Hand, Jon Arryn?" Tyrion curled his lip. "It's already spread all over the city. You only just heard it? Honestly... I don't know what you do with your days."
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