Chapter 86: The Night's Watch Logistics Security Department
The half a bit of bad news in the reply was this: although Mormont agreed to Egger's idea of recruiting provisional defenders for the Wall, he did not fully accept the plan, which was laden with Egger's hidden agendas. The high-ranking leader of the Night's Watch imposed several restrictive requirements on the proposal. Since the people Egger found to help temporarily—who would return to normal life after a few years—would not take the black, they could not be called Night's Watchmen. Furthermore, they were not to receive centralized training at Castle Black alongside ordinary recruits. They had to arrive at the Wall as mercenaries rather than members of the Order and immediately begin assisting with the defense.
To summarize: the recruits Egger raised were not permitted to blend indiscriminately with the Night's Watch, and they had to be capable of participating in military missions the moment they reached the Wall.
Under these two restrictions, Egger either had to hire actual mercenaries or train them himself.
The former option was decent; in this era, mercenaries were professional soldiers with guaranteed combat effectiveness. However, while such assets were useful, they were only viable for those with deep pockets like House Lannister, or if the spoils of victory were enough to cover wages and death benefits. Egger was bringing men to the Wall to deal with Free Folk and White Walkers—two types of enemies that fell into the category of if you lose, you die without a grave; if you win, there isn't a lick of profit to be found. Defeating wildlings might net some meager loot, but killing a White Walker wouldn't leave behind so much as a scrap. Since he couldn't fund the war through war, these shrewd mercenaries wouldn't be easily fooled; they would undoubtedly demand high upfront commissions.
A few thousand gold dragons was a massive sum for starting a business, but thrown into the pit of mercenary contracts, it wouldn't cause so much as a ripple.
Egger couldn't afford such luxuries for now, so he was left with the latter option: training them himself.
Tsk, what a hassle. Egger frowned. Had Mormont seen through his plan to slowly dilute the Night's Watch to gain influence? Or was the Old Bear simply trying to maintain the purity of the Order's ideology? Or... perhaps it wasn't that complicated. Maybe he just wanted to use an extra task to keep squeezing the initiative of his subordinate who was living the high life in King's Landing.
The answer didn't matter; the focus was how to respond. Egger didn't panic. He had considered this possibility before. If the Night's Watch treated their own and outside help separately, his plan to gain overall influence and a seat at the decision-making table would face difficulties. Conversely, training recruits in King's Landing would allow him to strengthen his direct control and bond with the outside help he employed. While the latter would require more expense and energy, it was hard to say which was better or worse in the long run.
Attached to the back of the parchment was a small note. He picked it up, glanced at it, and handed it to Arya—it was a greeting from Jon. The girl nearly screamed with joy upon seeing the writing, completely failing to notice Egger's sigh as he shook his head. Stuck in that god-forsaken place of Castle Black, yet having to write to his dear little sister saying "I'm doing great and staying busy"—think about how miserable that is.
Taking Nina into the inner room, the prepared Egger, with Tyrion's cooperation, quickly signed the world's first Night's Watch Asset Investment Voucher. After handing it to Nina personally, offering her praise and encouragement, and telling her she could come to him directly if she had any trouble, the matter of papermaking was settled for the day.
According to the usual routine, Arya should return to the Red Keep, Tyrion to the inn, and Egger should escort Nina home. After a few round trips and getting to know each other better, he could likely win the girl over. But after weighing it, Egger eventually called someone else to do the job. "Kon, help me escort Lady Nina home. When you're finished, go straight back to the inn to rest. I'll close up here!"
...
He had too much to do right now. At this stage, chasing romance and wooing an innocent young girl was irresponsible to both himself and Nina.
Controlling oneself was especially important in the world of A Song of Ice and Fire.
Steeling his mind to suppress his restless hormones, Egger had two new things to consider: first, training troops in King's Landing; and second, finding a way to increase his—the Chief Logistics Officer who spent all year away—influence and voice within the Night's Watch, given that his outside help might be marginalized and stripped of voting or decision-making rights.
King's Landing was the capital of the Seven Kingdoms, after all. Training troops here was as sensitive as trying to open a private security firm next to a government headquarters. There would be many potential troubles. Even with Ned's nod as Hand, it wouldn't necessarily go smoothly. He needed a cover.
...
Egger quickly found a solution for the first issue: since he was opening factories, he would inevitably need employees, and among them, some would need to be responsible for oversight and protection. He would recruit men under the guise of factory security guards and train them uniformly. When the time was right, he would use doubled wages as bait to select the brave and hard-working among them to head north to the Wall.
As for the second problem... after pondering for a long time, he suddenly realized he had fallen into the trap of habit. Deception and schemes were so useful that after tasting success a few times, he almost instinctively turned to them. But in this matter, the situation was different.
He was a bona-fide, sworn brother of the Night's Watch, and now he was officially recognized as the Order's Chief Logistics Officer. Though he was currently a general without an army—and one of his only two subordinates was a suspicious character like Jaqen whose motives were unclear—his dual identity as a sworn brother and a Night's Watch officer gave him a natural voice and influence within the organization. This was a solid, tangible right with no trickery involved!
There was no doubt that for now, his so-called influence was nearly non-existent. But as long as he played the role of Logistics Officer well, ensured all Night's Watchmen were fed and clothed, and made it so they didn't have to worry about equipment shortages during war—while using a bit of wit to make sure the black-clad brothers knew these results were his doing and weren't claimed by other high-ranking officers...
With visible, tangible, and real changes, his status in the hearts of the Night's Watchmen would naturally rise over time. If an upfront strategy could get the job done, why resort to shady schemes?
Problems that can be solved with money aren't problems at all.
Finally allowing his brain to rest, Egger let out a relaxed sigh. The next order of business was to select a site for the factory and begin preparations to establish the Night's Watch Logistics Security Department.
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