GOT: Chapter 192: Survival in Troubled Times

The sales of dragonglass products were more popular than anyone could have imagined. Even in modern society before the time-travel—where there was no magic and science prevailed—the selling point of "warding off evil spirits" was widely accepted and purchased by countless people. So, what about this ignorant world where magic actually exists?

After the sales department conducted the most precise market research possible, the pricing for "Dragon Crystal Products" was finally set.

Ordinary dragonglass fragments had their sharp edges and corners ground off to avoid injury and were crafted into beads smaller than grapes with irregular shapes. These were labeled as "dragon crystal particles" and sold for ten copper coins. The main selling point was, "Even the poor fear ghosts, and even those without money are entitled to ward off evil spirits." After being carved, polished, and shaped into various forms—with holes drilled so they could be strung and worn around the neck—they became "dragon crystal jewelry," priced between five to ten silver stags. Even if their supposed magical properties were questionable, the polished, shiny dragonglass itself made for a beautiful pendant. It quickly became one of the most popular accessories among the upper and middle classes.

This pricing strategy targeted both the common folk and the well-off. Once people had witnessed the wights with their own eyes and were gripped by fear, the price point was set at a level that felt expensive, yet still within reach. This ensured that the sales volume and profit of dragonglass reached a precise and perfect balance, maximizing the benefits for the Night’s Watch industry.

As for the most mysterious products... it was said that "military-grade dragonglass" could only be obtained through "special channels," such as internal Night’s Watch personnel, garrison officers, and a select few figures from the underworld. Items like dragon crystal-tipped arrows, daggers, and spearheads were extremely costly. Prices ranged from forty or fifty silver stags to several hundred, depending on the salesperson’s persuasion and the buyer’s "stupidity and wealth"—after all, the spear used to kill the ghoul that day was auctioned off for nearly twenty gold dragons.

The vast natural glass reserves of Dragonstone were excavated and transported to the industrial park, where workers processed them before selling them to the people of King's Landing. Among all the processes, labor was the biggest cost, while the most troublesome issue was preventing workers from smuggling dragonglass out of the park. It was indeed a highly profitable venture. Dragonglass, a "useless resource" that had long been overlooked, was found in abundance only on Dragonstone throughout all of Westeros. This meant Aegor had no competition, and the profit margin was even higher than that of papermaking and printing.

One must always pay the price for their actions. The downfall of Slynt, who had amassed a fortune worth tens of thousands of gold dragons yet was overthrown and executed by the Night’s Watch Industries, was still a fresh lesson. While Aegor was raking in profits and distributing dividends to shareholders and investors, he never forgot to extend benefits to the garrison and street thugs who had helped him and proved useful. To the common people, he was a figure of great power. Intimidation alone wasn’t enough. Only by scaring others while also ensuring your underlings were well-fed and satisfied could you build lasting power.

---

As the money kept rolling in, Aegor began to feel a twinge of guilt. Stannis Baratheon had initially allowed him to mine dragonglass freely on Dragonstone at the request of Eddard Stark, to provide weapons for the Wall. But now he was making a fortune from it. If the Lord of Dragonstone—destitute, isolated from power, scorned by the nobility, lacking tribute, and so poor he couldn’t afford meat became envious... and decided to impose restrictions or set up barriers, Aegor would be doomed.

Perhaps this was a case of projecting one’s own pettiness onto others, but in business, peace of mind was essential. Aegor began attempting to meet with Stannis, hoping to reassure him by offering a share of the dragonglass industry and some dividends. After all, given Stannis’s character, he likely wouldn’t ask for an outrageous sum.

...

Unfortunately, the Lord of the Narrow Sea had been busy leading the Dragonstone fleet to combat the pirates and mercenary ships swarming the area, so Aegor’s men failed to locate him after several attempts.

Things had been going smoothly, but the good times didn’t last. Unbeknownst to him, and perhaps inevitably, chaos soon erupted across the Seven Kingdoms.

Renly Baratheon and Margaery Tyrell quietly left King's Landing, and the Stormlands army, which had been en route to the Westerlands battlefield, abruptly turned back and began marching toward King's Landing. Without Arya, the young intelligence agent, Aegor didn’t learn this explosive news immediately. But fortunately, it wasn’t too late. As the city garrison began recruiting new soldiers, Eddard Stark once again rallied the remaining forces of the crown’s loyal lords. As a godfather-like figure and protector to half of the gold cloaks, Aegor held immense influence among the "commoners" of the capital. Even if he hadn’t gone out of his way to investigate, it would’ve been impossible not to hear of it.

After riding high on his commercial success in King's Landing for over half a month, a sense of helplessness once again crept over Aegor. The Night’s Watch Industry had grown strong enough to weather the storm brought by war, but it was still far from strong enough to prevent civil war altogether—and this time, it would be hit directly by it.

The Night’s Watch Industrial Park was situated on the northwestern outskirts of King's Landing along the Blackwater Rush. Renly’s army was approaching from the west via the Gold Road. If the Reach rose in support, they would likely advance eastward along the Rose Road, eventually crossing the Blackwater at a suitable point to encircle the capital.

Unless one were blind, such a massive industrial complex like the Night’s Watch Industrial Park could not go unnoticed.

The strategy of "occupying land in the suburbs to develop independently" had allowed the Night’s Watch Industry to rise quickly at almost no cost and expand into a massive enterprise within a year. However, as a satellite city of King’s Landing and an economic development zone for the capital, this industrial park—lacking even a proper wall, yet housing food and armaments—was like a sizzling piece of bacon in front of a giant army: tempting and within easy reach.

The biggest headache was that every inch of land inside King's Landing was precious. There was no way to relocate the industrial park within the city walls.

As the leader of a faction, Aegor had to ensure his own survival.


---

The situation had grown tense, and all the gates of King’s Landing were now strictly controlled. Though Aegor could still move in and out freely for the time being, if the gates were officially sealed in another day or two, no one would be able to make an exception for him. Gritting his teeth, he took his guards and three times the usual number of horses, exited through the King's Gate, and galloped westward along the Gold Road.

Due to Melisandre’s presence, Renly was destined to lose the moment he chose to fight for the Iron Throne. What Aegor needed to do now was stop him... or at the very least, persuade him not to drag the Night’s Watch down with him.

...

The sky was clear, and the air was crisp. The Gold Road was filled with gold-cloaked scouts dispatched by Eddard Stark as an early warning system. Thankfully, Eddard’s authority and recognition among the garrison troops was nearly equal to that of the commander himself. Aegor was neither stopped nor questioned. Setting out in the morning and traveling non-stop all day, he encountered scouts from the Stormlands the next morning. After stating his purpose, he was led into Renly’s camp.

Even though he had seen the combined armies of the Six Kingdoms under Robert’s command during the rebellion in the Vale, Aegor was still stunned by the scale of the military camp before him. One glance was enough to tell him this was far more than the “over ten thousand” Stormlanders Allar Deem had spoken of earlier. Not because he could count them instantly, but because he saw the Golden Rose of Highgarden flying beside Renly’s crowned stag banner.

In less than ten days, the Reach had mustered an army and rushed to join Renly. Even though their elite troops were still fighting in the West, the sheer number of soldiers now present was staggering... King's Landing might not be defensible at all!

This war to “exterminate the lions,” which had unintentionally united the six kingdoms, had provided Renly with a perfect opportunity to usurp the throne. On a normal day, if someone were to gather troops at Storm’s End or Highgarden, messages of condemnation from King’s Landing would have arrived before the troops had finished assembling. But under the guise of marching west to fight the Lannisters, Renly’s forces had calmly passed through King’s Landing’s gates without raising suspicion. Better yet, the Stormlands had always ranked last in terms of military mobilization speed. This flaw became their greatest asset at the most critical time. Because of their slower pace, the other five kingdoms and the crownlands had already committed their armies to the Westerlands battlefield, leaving no one available to rush back to defend the capital. This would be a one-on-one showdown between the Stormlands army and the King’s Landing defenders, bolstered by the newly raised Reach army.

Was this string of coincidences all part of Renly’s deliberate scheme, or had he simply taken advantage of the situation?

Passing by camp after camp, Aegor did his best to identify the sigils of various Stormlands and Reach houses. He had done his homework, but still couldn’t recognize them all. In addition to noble forces, there were plenty of mercenary knights and free riders. These men hadn’t responded to Tywin’s call in the Westerlands but were now flocking to Renly’s banner—seeking to side with the more charismatic and generous contender in this battle between the two Baratheon brothers.

...

When Aegor was finally led into Renly’s command tent, the Lord of Storm’s End was having breakfast with Margaery and his close companions. They laughed and conversed, seemingly brimming with confidence in their victory.

"Your Grace, the Chief Logistics Officer of the Night’s Watch, Aegor West, requests an audience."

"Send him in." Renly didn’t pause in eating. When Aegor entered the tent and stood at the center, Renly even asked cheerfully, "Chief Logistics Officer, have you had breakfast? My camp’s cook made extra food. Would you like some?"

I don’t know much about Renly’s true capabilities, so I won’t comment—but in terms of charm and making friends, he was unrivaled. You never had to worry that he’d publicly humiliate you for no reason or suddenly lose his temper and hurl a goblet at your face. A man like that was perfectly suited to be a local lord, yet he had been appointed Master of Laws. It’s little wonder the Baratheon dynasty had gone to rot.

Now this man was openly eyeing the Iron Throne. Aegor couldn’t say for sure who was more suited to be king—Renly or a Lannister. If forced to answer, he’d probably say: maybe neither.

Though he had some internal misgivings, Renly’s amiable nature at least made the coming conversation easier. Aegor bowed and said, “You are too kind, Lord Renly. I have already eaten.”

“It’s ‘Your Grace,’” corrected a tall guard behind Renly. “Not ‘my Lord.’ You should kneel before the King.”

Your Grace? Aegor was baffled. He was still in King’s Landing and hadn’t heard of Robert’s death. How could Renly declare himself king already? Had Eddard hidden the news, or... The guard’s voice sounded strange. Looking up, he saw a tall, ugly woman standing behind the smiling Margaery.

It was Brienne the Beauty. This should have been their second encounter, but it was the first time Aegor clearly saw her face. He had to admit... the actress in the show looked far better.

“King Robert has passed away. Hand of the King Eddard Stark concealed the news and altered the will, planning to crown Stannis Baratheon as king and then usurp the Seven Kingdoms.” Margaery smiled warmly and explained the situation to the stunned Aegor without missing a beat. “I trust Lord Aegor is not here to plead on behalf of Lord Stark.”

If he didn’t already know Eddard Stark’s character from a god’s perspective, Aegor might have believed them. To seize the Iron Throne, people could stoop to the vilest lies imaginable... The sheer shamelessness was beyond comprehension for any decent person.

“The Night’s Watch is neutral and does not meddle in the Seven Kingdoms’ politics,” Aegor said solemnly, secretly grateful—thankfully, he hadn’t been greedy and tried to sell the printing patent. Though he had suffered some financial loss, he maintained a good relationship with the couple in front of him, and there were no conflicts of interest between them. As long as he framed his request under the banner of righteousness, there was a high chance of success. “I’ve come for a different matter. The Night’s Watch Industrial Park lies outside the city walls and lacks fortification. In the chaos of war, swords do not distinguish friend from foe. I humbly ask my Lord to spare the defenders of the wall.”

“Night’s Watch Industrial Park?” Renly repeated, then chuckled. “So that’s why the logistics officer is here.”

Many royal lords held shares in the Night’s Watch enterprise. Among King’s Landing’s nobility, this was common knowledge. As Renly marched toward the capital, he would need their internal and external support to seize the Iron Throne with minimal bloodshed. Not to mention, he had seen the wights with his own eyes in the Red Keep. Even if he hadn’t, Renly would never deliberately damage the Night’s Watch’s assets.

Of course, not actively targeting it was one thing. But who could guarantee that the tens of thousands of soldiers from the Stormlands and the Reach wouldn’t loot or destroy something along the way? Aegor’s visit was a timely reminder. Renly waved his hand and said, “That’s easy to fix. Go back and build a wall around your Night’s Watch territory. Paint it black. I’ll issue orders that no soldier from the Stormlands or the Reach may touch it.”

That simple? Aegor was genuinely surprised, but quickly understood the reasoning behind it. Seizing the opportunity, he added, “There are also some workshops inside King’s Landing…”

“Tell them to hang a black cloth over the door.”

“Thank you, my Lord!” Aegor said gratefully, though he still avoided calling him “Your Grace.” Between the two stags, Stannis would certainly win. If that rigid man knew he had acknowledged Renly as king, he might hold it against him.

“It’s ‘Your Grace!’”

Margaery waved a hand, signaling Brienne not to quarrel over trivialities like titles with a Night’s Watch officer who wasn’t part of their noble game. Then she leaned close to Renly’s ear, stared at Aegor, and whispered something to her future husband.

Aegor was alarmed and wracked his brain. Aside from snubbing her slightly during the Vale rebellion, he couldn’t recall having offended Margaery in any way. What was this clever girl scheming now?

As the nobles of Stormlands and the Reach in Renly’s tent either stared at him curiously or ignored him entirely, Aegor endured that long minute in silence. After what felt like ages, Margaery pulled away from Renly’s ear. The latter immediately looked up at Aegor and spoke again.

(To be continued.)