Bab 20: It's free real estate
(Petyr POV)
Sitting inside my office in Gulltown, I look outside and wonder how long it has been since I started this. After coming back from the Mirror Reality, a bit over one year has already passed, making my clone a very successful tax collector and the one who oversees customs. But where Petyr in the lore cheated his way to more money and used bribes and the like to climb the ladder, I did it very differently.
I took this challenge seriously, not because I wanted to appear like a good boy, but because I saw this as a chance to learn and grow my own business empire and the taxes and customs in Baelish Harbour. The realm has long realised that a new number one spot has arrived for the position of the biggest harbour in Westeros and it makes them interested. The harbour is designed to allow for trade and other ships to dock and resupply or just stay for a while and have a gander at the nice and orderly market I created. This market was supposed to function like a supermarket did and since the market was ever growing bigger, I guess supermarket is a good description for it.
I added another bit of architecture on the island in front of Baelish Keep. It is very close to the harbour and allows me to build there and add some housing for workers, a small part of a fighting force and the like. I had to increase my protection quite a lot because everyone's greed in this world is unbelievable. I will never have a surprise attack by the Greyjoys. Not just because they are on the other side of Westeros, but because I added safety measures to ensure it never comes to that.
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Gulltown was supposed to be a way for Jon Arryn to take advantage of me, but that won't work. He doesn't realise that besides not really making Gulltown better, I am enticing more people to come to Baelish Keep to do their business. The profit I am making in Gulltown is also not put into coffers or sent to the Eyrie. No, I am giving it away. That's right, I am giving everything away to the poor. There is a reason for this and I'm not an idiot, but more on that later. There has to be a punishment for Jon Arryn and this is the best way. He will suffer and Robert Baratheon as well.
The year 284 AC was marked by the birth of Princess Daenerys Targaryen, which caused the death of Dowager Queen Rhaella Targaryen, during a big storm. This storm caused the remaining Targaryen fleet which had been protecting Rhaella and her son Viserys Targaryen, to die while they remained in exile on Dragonstone, the last remaining seat of House Targaryen. The fleet's destruction allowed Stannis Baratheon to take the new Baratheon fleet and capture Dragonstone. The garrison at Dragonstone, however, was already willing to give up Viserys and Daenerys. Ser Willem Darry spirited the two remaining Targaryens away to safety, to prevent their capture and deaths.
Honestly, I could have done something about it and yet, I didn't. I might still do something in the coming years, but that isn't certain.
The incestuous relationship between Cersei Lannister, the Queen of the 7 Kingdoms and her brother Jaime Lannister, a Gold Cloak, has born fruit and she is expecting to give birth to their first child, Joffrey. These two have nerves of steel, I will give them that. The marriage between Cersei and Robert Baratheon hadn't even started and she had sex with her brother. Quite impressive. Cersei was at first enthralled by the happy crowds at the royal wedding. However, her enthusiasm for the match ended when the drunken Robert called her "Lyanna", while having sex with her on their wedding night. I have to say, that Robert understands how to make enemies out of people with his 'no fucks given' attitude.
The marriage rapidly deteriorated, and Cersei resumed her incestuous relationship with Jaime. During the early year of their marriage, Cersei declined Robert's invitations to hunt with him, as Robert's trips allowed her more time with Jaime. Because two of Robert's Estermont uncles from Greenstone had remained at court for half a year following the wedding, Robert insisted on repaying the visit, and Cersei and Jaime accompanied him for a two-week stay at Estermont. While there, Cersei suspected that Robert was sleeping with a cousin of his, and had Jaime follow Robert to confirm her suspicions. Cersei and Jaime slept together on Greenstone, and Cersei likes to believe that was the night their eldest son Joffrey was conceived. Whether or not that is true, I don't know as I don't care to watch them in their act, but the time of birth will tell me the truth.
Jon Arryn was also an interesting man to keep track of, well at least in the beginning. He is an old man already and not as smart as he believes to be. His demise is already planned thoroughly. I promised to take everything from him and I shall do that.
The first task Jon undertook was making peace with Dorne. The southern region was incensed by the deaths of Prince Lewyn and Princess Elia during the war, and Prince Oberyn Martell tried to raise the kingdom to support Viserys Targaryen, the surviving son of King Aerys II. The Red Viper has already plans in motion to secure a marriage between Doran's daughter and Viserys. I will make sure that this will fail for sure or just burn the two letters confirming their claim. This way, more chaos will be caused and makes me happier. I don't even know why I am doing that at this point, but it just feels right. I might need therapy. Last year after Robert I Baratheon took the throne, Jon returned the bones of Lewyn Martell to Sunspear and brokered a peace with Doran Martell, the Prince of Dorne. However, Ser Gregor Clegane and Ser Amory Lorch, who had 'killed' Elia and her children, went unpunished by Robert, creating a persistent bone of contention between the Iron Throne and Dorne. I almost lost my cool, when I saw the reaction to this and I did a good job on Gregor and Amory. It is always useful to have two goons at hand which you can sacrifice to suit your needs and damage the reputation of someone else at the same time.
To strengthen Robert's hold on the throne, Jon negotiated the king's marriage with Cersei Lannister and advised that he retain her brother, Ser Jaime, on the Kingsguard, thereby opposing Lord Eddard Stark, who proposed sending Jaime to the Wall for his killing of King Aerys. The discussion between Ned Stark and Jon and Robert was hilarious to watch and the stupidity of Ned Stark is as thick as the Wall to the North. He holds himself to standards which Jon Arryn taught him but doesn't abide by himself. Because Jon Arryn understands what it means to put up a front unlike Eddard, who thinks it smart to have honour as the highest goal in his life.
Robert considered the assassinations of Viserys and Daenerys, believed to be the last two Targaryens and thus possible threats, but Jon dissuaded the king from the idea. He might have a lower bottom line than he shows publicly, but he still has one. Poor fool.
Robert left Jon with much of the responsibility of running the Seven Kingdoms. That might seem like an honour to be the second most powerful or influential person in the Kingdom, but Jon could not stop Robert from spending huge amounts of coin on tournaments and excess, putting the realm in serious debt. I admit that I am not innocent on the matters of the debt, since I had clones steal money while making it look like it was someone else and put the blame on the lawless areas of King's Landing. I did this purposefully. The current Master of Coin was none other than Jon Arryn himself. Well, not officially of course, but he took the role aside from his other roles. He didn't trust anyone to do it as well as he does. I used the lack of a Master of Law and the lacking City Guard to cause problems in King's Landing and then killed off some of the Guards I didn't like or who refused to take bribes and were inside someone else's pockets.
The Lannisters have serious power, or should I say 'had'. Tywin Lannister, Cersei, and even Varys the dickless idiot spent a considerable amount of coin, which I have ruined for them. roughly 80% of the City Watch are either loyal clones or in my pocket. I like to keep things complicated to throw off someone who might become suspicious. I am doing too much, but safe is safe.
So after I caused some slight chaos, I stole a lot of money from the coffers, alarming Jon Arryn and making him spend weeks looking for the culprit. He didn't find him of course, but what he did find, were countless spies for various houses, making him more paranoid and angry and taking away a lot of sleep. And while he is focused on the inside of the Red Keep, I take away more of the outside. The slums if you will, the poor part of King's Landing is getting in line more and more. I am making more money than I could ever spend and use that money to create more things, despite not needing to. Baelish Keep has grown again and the market is larger than anything the world has ever seen. I have the best weapons, armour and overall the best men to fight for me and my interests. So what could I possibly want still?
The answer is both good and bad at the same time. On one hand, I want enjoyment and on the other, I just want to create a stable base, where I could come back, to relax when I finally begin my travels through the Multiverse.
Then there is another thing I want to experiment with in this world: time and magic. Dragons interest me quite a bit and I am interested to see, whether they would change in any way, shape or form if I were to copy them and make them loyal to me. Will they still be magical creatures or do they lose that aspect? Does my Essence transform them in any way, and would that mean that it is above the concept of magic? Is magic different here in this world than it is in others? And if yes, which I believe to be the case, then how would that influence me or my power? I am very excited about trying out new things and learning more and more.
After training with Oogway and becoming so much stronger, I am interested in growth as well. Chi is life energy and after not only learning from Oogway but also copying all his skills and abilities, I have acquired a way to grow even more than I already have. The clones I create are alive, as long as the original was alive as well. Since Chi is life energy, could I somehow combine these two features to combine the clones I make and create some amalgamation of sorts? I am humoured by the fact, that something as simple as 'Mirrors' has such overpowered implications and applications. I don't think there is a true limit to what I can and can't copy or reflect.
I am taking it slow, however. I am still in a very weak reality and as such, I can't go around throwing Chi-attacks around to defeat Dragons. Well ... I could, but where would the fun be in that? No, I have another plan on how to acquire Dragons or Dragon eggs and it involves the law of time.
But more on that later, now I will focus on increasing my secret empire, while I make life harder and unenjoyable for Jon Arryn and Robert Baratheon. I can tell, that Jon is already thinking about giving me the position of Master of Coin, but hasn't done it yet, since he knows I hold a grudge. How pathetic he is ... I will enjoy playing with him further.
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Next chapter, we will see what other things he can do to mess with things. And it doesn't have to be in the 'present' either.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone