บท 9: Chapter 9: Unlimited Blackmail Works
In a balcony of one of the lavish houses in Braavos, Arthur leaned on the railing and looked at the giant statue that could be seen even from here. He was wearing loose clothes and his hair had grown a little taller now, but he let it grow as he no longer would be fighting anyone anymore. What he needed now was to be charming, something that combined both physical appearance and personality.
"Aren't you coming in dear?" the voice of a woman revibrated from behind him as she got closer and hugged Arthur from behind. He noticed that she was still naked, but didn't turn to look at her. "I wish I had met you as soon as you came to Braavos. We could have spent so much time together like this."
Arthur smiled, though the joy didn't seem to reach his eyes. "I had short hair back then, almost bald. Are you into bald men?"
"Hahaha~" she laughed gently. "No, but I would love to see you bald and bashing the heads of brutes. Weren't you some kind of warrior from the other side of the sea? I heard some rumors of you being undefeated in battle."
"Those days are long gone now," said Arthur, turning around and looking at the young woman who was around his age. She had dark hair and dazzling blue eyes, her body seemed to have been built for the pleasure of men and her figure was quite voluptuous. "I came here to find a woman who wouldn't be too concerned with my martial strength. Sure, I can fight very well and would fight if the woman I love was in danger. But it doesn't mean that I am that brute any longer. Back then for me, fights were everything and even fucking was secondary."
The woman smiled and leaned forward, giving him a kiss and Arthur reciprocated. Her eyes were filled with love, his eyes on the other hand were dark and unreadable.
Arthur recounted what had happened since he came to Braavos, he had been in this place for about a year now, and he hadn't made any moves yet. Instead, he observed how the market wrecked and how everyday people used it, each day was spent. After all, going into something headfirst without knowing how it worked was not a smart decision. He couldn't just swipe a wand and make money, so he had to learn how the trade-in Bravos worked and how to make himself an integral part of it.
The woman in his arms was the daughter of some big shot merchant here, though her status was quite low within the merchant's family as her mother was a prostitute. Though the young woman knew quite a lot about secret things within the trading world, as her father talked about inside deals at the dinner table to her brothers and other siblings. Now she simply relayed those things to her secret lover.
After spending some time in the young woman's house, Arthur finally left around mid-day, he closed his eyes as soon as he walked outside, and immediately he could see from a bird's point of view. After making sure he wasn't tailed, he walked back to his modest house with a red hawk always tailing him from the sky and keeping an eye out for any suspicious people.
Once Arthur walked inside his house, he saw his men doing their things, the healer was making some medicine, and the others were playing some Braavosi game that had the possibility to lose your fingers.
...
( Arthur )
"Kenas," I called out to one of the guards who had followed me from the village. He was the one playing the dangerous game while the others looked on. "Don't lose your fingers, what will your wife have to pleasure her if you lose them?"
"Yeah, I mean with how small your dick is I think your wife might still be a maiden." Added another guy jokingly. "Maybe I can help you with that."
Kenas on the other hand shook his head. "It's average size! Man~ I Knew I shouldn't have told you about my insecurities."
"Men are like hungry wolves, Kenas, once they spot weakness they will do everything they can to devious you," I advised him as a smirk slowly appeared on my face. Unlike the fake smiles used to charm some lonely wives, this was a genuine smile. Even in the worst situations, one must have a sense of humor about these things. "Also the size doesn't matter to other guys, you ain't fucking them. But what matters is how big you say your cock is."
"Listen to him Kenas, one day you might grow to be one of us," said one of the men jokingly. "We are the big dick gang. We have conquered all the women of Westeros, so that's the real reason we came East. Ah~ I wonder how the whores in Westeros cry out for my presence."
"Shut the hell up Butch, all the whores call you the one pump chump, so stop bragging about your game, because you have got none," Kenas added, this being his turn to make fun of Butch.
I only shook my head as the men's argument continued and I just walked towards the basement where the winery was. Being underground and in the dark kept the place kinda cold, so the drinks and beverages were cold. Kind of like the medieval version of a fridge.
The place was dark, and I didn't bring a torch with me. Instead, I counted the steps and used my enhanced vision to find the correct place. Once there I took out my sword and dug it in the ground. About an inch or two deep on the ground, I felt some resistance.
Yep, this was the correct place. Using my sword I easily took out the dirt and pulled out a heavy box that was attached to a chain. Opening it revealed to be a pile of gold inside, almost 5000 Gold Dragons. I don't trust any of my men with this amount of wealth, so only I knew where this was hidden.
After taking the box I put it on a small horse carriage together with my guards on tow as they sat together with me in the carriage while the healer drove. Since my house was in a well-populated area, no man would dare commit a crime here as the guards would be upon them in no time. I had purposefully chosen this place and spent quite some gold to get a relatively small place for such a high price. Sure, I had my guards, but they weren't something that could fight twenty thieves.
The best victories were those that are won without even fighting.
As we arrived at the Iron Bank, my men carried my big box of gold inside the place. I looked at the men from the corner of my eyes and both Kenas and Butch who were joking as if we were all good friends, now they looked at the chest and greed inevitably appeared in their gazes. But they knew they couldn't do anything here. Also, I don't blame them, this amount of money would set them for life. Most people would have the same look in their positions.
"Sir, please come this way, banker Gillard has told us of your arrival," a servant came towards them and he was dressed smartly. He then led us all towards a private room.
The room we entered wasn't anything special, it had a simple desk and three men were already waiting there for me. I recognized the one sitting in the middle, he was a chubby man with a declining hairline and looked like he was forty when in actuality he was only twenty-five years old. He is the man known as Gillard, the other two, I had no idea who they were.
"Welcome, Ser Arthur," Gillard greeted me and he had a giant smile on his face. "I hear that you must be here to make a deposit to the Iron Bank?"
Immediately the two other colleagues gave him a pointed look. He had just inadvertently told me that the Iron bank had been keeping an eye on me. But Gillard didn't seem to notice the men's looks, whether he was faking his naivety or not was a mystery even to me.
"It seems that you are well informed," I remarked looking the man in the eye. "And you would be half correct, good sirs, but I am also here to make a purchase."
"Well good, that's good for the both of us! I can guarantee you that the Iron Bank's offers the best deals." Gillard stated enthusiastically, immediately earning his colleagues ire as they looked at him with anger. Bankers were usually very discreet about their emotions, and showing too much could lead to a loss of profit.
"Anyway, what do you need to purchase, Ser Arthur?" One of the other men intervened. "I am sure that we can help you."
It was easy to see that Gillard and the other colleagues of his weren't as friendly with each other.
But that was extremely weird. True, I had some backhanded dealings with Gillard and we have exchanged information in the past. Still though, showing a not unified front while in the presence of others was bad. The Iron Bank didn't become the strongest bank in Essos by having people incompetent in their midst.
Something was wrong here, and I needed to find out before things developed into an unfavorable situation.
"I need a ship," getting straight to the point I decided to test how these people would react. "A mid-sized galleon that is suited for a merchant. I don't know my ships too well, so I will leave the details to you guys."
Though I said that, it was all a lie. Spending time in the docks looking at trade meant that I knew quite a bit about all kinds of ships and what one was better for what. Yet, none of this needed to be known by these guys.
The man to the right nodded and spoke for the first time. "We understand, the Iron Bank will do its best to satisfy your demands. A budget of 800 Gold Dragons would be needed for the ship's construction."
I frowned at that and expressed my displeasure outwardly too. There was no need to hide my emotions this time. "800? That's too expensive, even in Gulltown ships are cheaper. I thought Braavos had a good trade on ships, maybe I was wrong?"
Buying a ship in Gulltown cost about 600 Gold Dragons, but saying something like that out loud would immediately impede my negotiations with them. Because that said that I would be okay with that price or something just a little lower.
I needed to start on an equal footing with them in this negotiation. Also, Gillard was someone I had on the inside and we exchanged information countless times for each other's benefit. But both of us will look after our own interests, so he will look out for himself and his profits first and foremost.
"How about 785 Gold Dragons?" Offered the man on the left.
I acted like my mind was elsewhere thinking about something before replying to them. "If you can wiggle me down to 400 Gold Dragons, then we have a deal."
"In the whole of Essos, you won't find the kind of ship you are looking for with 400 Gold Dragons." Said the man on the right, shaking his head as if to prove his point. "780 is the best I can do."
Yeah right? As if you have traveled all of Essos and know that for a fact? He was short-selling me to raise his profits on this deal. They know that I have the money, so they will try to get me a deal that would require me to spend a lot
"I know that this money might seem a lot," I pointed at the box. "But there are other things I need to buy too. So I can't pay more than 410 Gold Dragons."
"What would those things be?" Asked Gillard with an innocent look on his face.
Now, this might seem like a simple question and many would answer due to how foolish Gillard had been acting. Many people would lower their guard against someone who seemed dumber than them. Sadly for them, ever since I entered this meeting, my opinion on Gillard was changed and he was suspicious.
First, I already knew that he played himself to be more stupid than he usually was. Second, the Iron Bank had hundreds of bankers and employees under him, so why did he come to deal with me? After all, the chances of getting him were lower than 1% due to the hundreds of employees like him. So the end conclusion is that the Iron Bank knew of my deals with him, and he possibly told them, and now they want to use him to get a profit over me.
Heh, keep dreaming. I had knowledge of the future and so many scams and illegal strategies that even the hundreds of banker's minds combined couldn't come up with. My strategies were hundreds, possibly thousands of years ahead of theirs.
These thoughts all went through my mind in a couple of seconds and I answered. "Well, there are many things that a Merchant needs to conduct his trade. I am sure the Iron Bank knows these things better than me."
Though their faces didn't show anything, I could see by their rigid movements that they were annoyed by my answer that pretty much told them nothing.
A slight tightening of Gillard's fist showed that he was getting irritated. Yeah, I would be very irritated too. For these bankers, time was money they could be dealing with some more schmuck that would be easy to get money out of, instead of me.
"Anyway, 410 Gold Dragons is daylight robbery, we won't be able to make any profit with that." Said the man on the left. Gillard nodded his head too.
Yeah, like I would trust anything that came out of you guys' mouths. I doubt you would make a deal in which there is no profit. "I understand your predicament, but my money was hard-earned too. I risked my life every day on Tourneys, fighting and coming close to death many times. So I hope you understand how cheap I could be sometimes. So how about 413 Gold Dragons?"
We continued our negotiations for hours until the sun was about to set. Hours upon hours passed and the bankers kept getting more irritated. I was increasing each offer with only two or three Gold Dragons, never too much, so this would waste time. A very inefficient method of negotiating that would only waste time.
Time that I had to waste and these bankers would lose more money the more time they spent here. It was obvious how this would end.
"Fine! 500 Gold it is!" Yelled out the one on the right, he seemed irritated by the deal and just walked out.
After that, I deposited the money I had with me and we all went to our own homes. This was a good deal for me, 500 Gold Dragons for a Braavosi ship was something most people wouldn't be able to get.
Not many would think this was all so I could get a good deal. That's exactly what I want them to think!
While riding in the carriage, I closed one of my eyes and my vision changed. Initially, it was very disorienting, after all, I was looking from one of the eyes of my hawk and the other in the real me. It almost made me wanna throw up, the human brain wasn't made to comprehend looking at the world like this.
My hawk was looking straight at the Iron Bank's backdoors where only the staff use.
It took until I was comfortable and in bed for someone to come out of the backdoor. And the person was someone I recognized, he also had two guards with him. This showed that it wasn't just some guy going out to get some dinner.
My hawk followed him and I saw every movement the man and his guards made. Looking for any secret messages, spy contact, suddenly bumping into people, or anything like that.
He went towards a part of Braavos that wasn't popular due to the aggressive residents and a non-profitable area. This was called the Green Canal, and as he went there he talked with someone who seemed to run a ship making workshop.
But this workshop wouldn't be noticeable to any normal merchant or people. Who would anyone make a business in such a remote place?
I cut off the connection with my hawk and opened my eyes and looked at the ceiling of my bedroom. The last order to the hawk was to follow the head shipwright, which was surprisingly a woman.
Well, I didn't care about gender if she made me good ships. But I would like to make sure if I could cut even more middlemen to get the best price possible.
...
The next day, at the break of dawn, the Iron Bank sent me a notice that I would get my newly made ship in five days.
It was surprising how fast they seemed to work. A ship in five days? Or were the ships pre-made? How long does it take to make a ship normally? For the average workforce, it would take around a month. I need someone in the know for these things, one doesn't enter a business without knowing everything there is to know about it. Only then can one reduce the chances of failure.
With those thoughts in mind, I put on some fancy clothes which consisted of some robes that looked expensive, and told two of my men to accompany me just in case. Also hiding some weapons under the robe was an easy task.
If this meeting goes well, then I think my lucky break might just come smacking me in the face. I possibly found myself a golden goose.
I went towards the shipbuilding place with my guards following me. The place was quite neat and I noticed many things that a bird's point of view wouldn't. Like the wood planks, ship keels all around with a couple of people working on them.
"Hello, excuse me," I called out, trying to find the head shipwright of this place. Then a tall, slightly muscled tan woman came out of the tent. She was the one who talked with the Iron Bank employee yesterday.
"What can I help you with, sir?" She asked, trying to sound polite but it was clear she didn't care how welcoming she sounded.
"I require some middle-sized merchant ships."
She seemed to think for a while and finally said. "400 Gold Pieces for each of them"
That should be somewhere around 370 Gold Dragons. Which was already cheaper than the 500 the Iron Bank told me. This was why people should cut out the useless middle man. But still, I wouldn't be an aspiring merchant if I was not ready to negotiate.
"From my calculations my lady."
She just snorts. "I am not your lady... little boy."
Oh is that so?... I stopped talking and just looked her directly in the eyes. "As I was saying, MY LADY. From my calculations, it should take only 80 Gold Pieces to make a ship. So why charge me so much?"
She crosses her arms. "What do you know? I have to pay my workers and pay my taxes to the merchant guild. It isn't that easy running a business brat."
I then just smirked and said. "Yeah, and I don't think you have much work... because well..."
I looked at her chest. I could see her face morphing into an angry scrawl. "And what is that supposed to mean BOY?!"
"Well, my LITTLE LADY. If you get offended by such a small fire, you shouldn't be in the forge. But what I mean is that you probably don't have a lot of customers because people usually don't trust a woman to be good at building ships."
She smirked at my words as if she had her own secret. "Oh trust me, LITTLE BOY. I can get by very well, so there is no need to be worried about me."
I just looked at her with a serious face. Ok, enough foreplay, time to get to the good stuff. "You mean the Iron Bank right?"
Her eyes widened and her body froze in place. Well, it seemed like this was a bigger deal than I thought for her. "S -So what."
I smirked well then, this is good. "Well, then the Iron Bank will lose its credibility if... some rumors started saying that they are using a woman to build their ships. They obviously wouldn't want to work with the Iron Bank anymore and then the Iron Bank will lose money."
She then calmed down and in a grave tone said. "Don't worry about me BOY I will get by..."
Then she turned around and started going back.
"What will happen if someone ruins the reputation of the Iron Bank? The Iron Bank will have its due..."
She stopped in her tracks, finally caught on to what I was saying, and turned around. "So you are willing to risk your life for some gold?"
Obviously not... I was 99% sure of how this would play out.
"If I don't risk my life for gold then what kind of merchant would I be?"
"A living one," she replied without missing a beat.
Damn, that was a good comeback.
"No I would be a poor merchant, and a poor merchant is a fućking beggar. If the Iron Bank tries to silence me well then they will silence you too. Also if you kill me here today I have already ordered some people in case I die..." I then smiled creepily. "...then I will drag you with me."
Her eyes widened in horror, I could see the fear on her face.
She also seemed kind of taken back by how I am so reckless with my life. But even if this failed, I could just scar my face, kill my traveling companions, and have a new start. No need for the Faceless Men to come after me. Though this will only be a last option kind of thing.
She then let out a frustrated sigh. This woman would have probably had me killed if I didn't have two of my guards here.
"Ok, I will sell you the ships at the same price that I sell them to the Iron Bank... for 150 Gold..." she seemed annoyed and barely was able to get the words out of her mouth.
Well then, let's see how far I could take this.
With that in mind, I put a questioning look on my face. "Who told you that I wanted a deal only as good as the Iron Bank? I want 100 Gold Pieces for each ship."
"WHAT?! NO! I WILL BARELY BE ABLE TO PAY MY WORKERS AND BUY TIMBER WITH THAT AMOUNT OF MONEY!" She yelled out loud, getting the attention of everyone around us.
I then put my pinkie finger in my ear, damn she is a screamer that one. "Ok, I will give you 107 Gold Pieces per ship that should help you and that should help you stay afloat..."
She frowned. "That is not how you make a deal."
I made a bewildered face. "What? You thought we were making a deal? No dear..."
I then put a bright smile on my face. "...I am blackmailing you."
=================
Yeah, Arthur doesn't bear around the bush and understands people's weaknesses quite well. Like when the bankers couldn't waste time on him, or when the shipwright was a woman, he doesn't care about her gender, but other mideval people do.
That was enough for him to get a ledge over her. Of course people won't stay quiet, and many things aren't as they seem. But Arthur knows that, and understands that his actions will inevitably have consequences.
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