... who's the richest of them all?

(Petyr POV)

I haven't exchanged the Silver Stags for Gold Dragons just yet. That is far too dangerous while I am on the road. I will wait until I have more security and that is something I am looking for right now. I walk through the town of Riverrun and look for an inn. You will find sellswords or men who are willing to help you for money in those establishments. Well either in an inn drinking or in a brothel, having intercourse. I need men who can fight, for a simple reason, I also need to learn how to fight and the best way to do that, is to use my cheat. 

I can copy powers and abilities, as long as I see them being used. An amazing ability and if this was a more powerful world, this would push me to the top of the food chain very quickly. In this world as well, but right now I am at my weakest point. If I survive this, then I will surely rise to the very top of this world and you can believe that.

I have a hood on and also a piece of glass in my pocket just in case I need to flee. As I enter the inn, I see the different groups of people. There aren't many women and only the one working is a woman. This is not unusual as the woman working at an inn is often bedded by those customers who can pay. The man owning the inn knows this and accepts this, as it gives them more money and doing anything against it, would mean they most probably die and the woman gets r*ped either way. 

There are a few people who I believe are rather skilled at using the weapons they carry. But I have to make sure. So I sit down and listen to their talk. While I wait, I order something to drink and pay right away. I don't want any trouble right now. As I sit there, I listen to the talk of the men around me and figure out which one is the more professional one. I wait for them to stand up and exit the inn, so I pay and follow them. I don't try to appear like I am following them, so I call out to them. 

"Excuse me.", I say. 

They stop walking and look at me. I can see them stop walking and looking at me. They were suspicious since they knew I was following them. The leader has his hand on his sword hilt and answers me. 

"What is it?"

"I was wondering whether you would be so kind as to help me go home. I will naturally pay you enough to make it worth your while.", I say and show them a bag of Silver Stags. I duplicated my 13 Silver Stags to create 50 and those are the ones I am presenting them right now. 

I throw the bag to him which he catches. He opens the bag and counts the amount for a moment. After a while, he closes the bag and looks at me. I can tell that he is impressed with the amount, but tries to appear as if it weren't much. I can respect that, but I know that it is quite a respectable amount for doing nothing more than to accompany me to the Fingers. 

"Where do you want us to go? Do you think this will be enough?", he asks me. 

"I wish to go to the Fingers in the Vale. As for the amount, I think that you will be happy to find out that there is more where that came from should we get home safely. Right now, I have no more money except a few coins, which I will need to feed myself, but should you bring me home, you will get another 100 Silver Stags.", I tell them. 

"100? Surely you jest. The journey will cost us at least 50 Silver Stags and if we come back, that will be another 50, which will leave us with barely 50 Silver Stags in the end. So if that's all you have to offer, then I'm sorry but we have to decline.", he says and throws the bag of money back to me. 

I notice the reaction of the others as he does that. They weren't ready for that and clearly didn't know that their leader was just bluffing. I however know what is going on, so I 'relent' to their requests. They shouldn't have done that though. I offered them a very very lucrative deal, but he spit in my face. 

*Sigh*

"Very well. How about 130 Silver Stags? I'm afraid, I don't have any more than that. My family is truly not that rich. I am only offering you this much because I am desperate.", I say 'dejectedly'. 

"Hm. Make it 150 and we have a deal."

"150? But-"

"Take it or leave it.", he says and turns around. 

"Wait! I agree. 150 Silver Stags, if you get me home. Please, I need your help.", I say. 

"Aye, we have a deal.", he says with a smile. 

"Thank you. Could we leave right away or is there something you have to do?", I ask them. 

"We will go to get the weapons we ordered and then we can go. Do you want to wait for us here until then?", he asks and I nod. 

"Aye, I'll wait here then."

.

After the group got their weapons, we could finally start our journey back towards the Vale and my home. 

We travel on the River Road towards the East. Over the next few days, I get to know the different people in the group. There are a total of 12 people with different specialities. The leader, Marthew is a very skilled swordsman and knows how to lead his group of men. Apparently, he has won a few tourneys in the melee, while some others in his group are skilled in other areas. There is a hunter, a skilled bowman, skilled sailors and also a few brawlers. The group is very versatile and values quality over quantity. 

We reached the Crossroads Inn and then continued on our way on the High Road into the Vale. On the first night when we were eating the game we managed to hunt, I addressed them. 

"Say, how about a little competition?", I ask them. 

"A competition?", Marthew asks.

"Aye, a competition. How about this? We will hold a small tourney where everyone can try his luck. The winner will gain 2 additional Silver Stags when we arrive."

"Oh? Interesting. Sure, let's do it."

So we held a competition where everyone could show what he was capable of. Naturally, this was not for nothing. I needed this desperately. Why? Using my Essence of the Mirror, I can copy powers and abilities I see being used, which is exactly what I am doing right now. The group of sellswords aren't really the best in their respective tasks, but they are better than some random soldiers. They are quite skilled and that is what I need right now ... skills. 

So the competition takes place and I watch them all fight each other. I copy all their skills and abilities and add them to my slowly growing repertoire of skills. I noticed that if I copy the skills of one man's swordsmanship and then do the same for another one, they don't add up, but mix and my overall skill doesn't double or multiply, but just grows a bit, depending on how high the respective skill is. So at the end of the competition, I learned to use a bow and arrow, fighting unarmed and swordsmanship. All the overall skills I gained at the end were higher than the best ones in the group. 

"That was impressive. I want to take this time to thank you all for your help in these past few days. This was truly helpful. But despite the 'good times' we had, I think it is time to say goodbye now."

"What? Hahaha"

"I think, Petyr has had enough ale for the night, hahahaha."

They started to laugh and I did as well. But in the next moment, 12 swords impaled each one of them from the back. 

*Tschack*

"Wha- ..."

"Ahhh"

"No.... ooo"

"...Pe...tyr ... why?"

"Ah, I'm sorry about that. Let me introduce to you, your doppelgangers. They took a while to show themselves, but thanks to your performance tonight, they finally had the courage to present themselves and what a debut, wouldn't you agree?", I tell them with a smile. 

"Wha...t ... is this? You betryed u...s."

"True, I did indeed betray you, but let us be honest with one another, you planned to do the same thing. The only reason you didn't do it yet, is because you wanted first to find my 'secret stash'. You should have accepted my initial proposal and not been so greedy. Now look at what happened. I have replaced you with ... well with yourselves, but loyal. They will serve me and only me, that much is certain.", I tell them and walk towards Marthew.

"Don't take it personally, Marthew. I chose you because you seemed to be the best ones in the inn, in Riverrun. So you should be proud.", I tell him and slit his throat, killing him finally. 

...

This was a very exciting and surprising day for me. As soon as I found out I could also clone other humans and not just myself, the game changed. The conditions were a bit stricter though, at least for now that is. in order to 'clone' a living person, or animal, I have to be familiar with said person. I can tell that with time and training, the conditions will lessen and I could create them much faster, but that will take a lot of training. Animals are easy to clone and I can also clone myself infinitely, just like the Essence says. 

But that's fine, I will train this and if I want to have an army, that can already be arranged using my clones. I will create a disguise for them, to hide their features and not give anything away. This way, I can use them for everything that requires manpower. And thinking about the condition of my house.

My seat is an unnamed, old flint tower, which commands no more than a few stony acres on the smallest of the Fingers. House Baelish's smallfolk consists of a village of a dozen families in huts of piled stone beside a peat bog. There is the threat of Mountain Clan attacking and r*ping and raving the village, leaving me with nothing at all. But now, this problem has been solved. Using my clones, I will have a force of inexhaustible numbers that can fight forever and die without a problem. I can see a bright future for House Baelish. 

.

We continue our way towards the Finger where my House's flint tower is located. The Flint Tower is one of the first things I will get rid of. I will first acquire a big vessel and then draw some pictures of food and grain, I will then be able to sell across the realm. Soon, Westeros will be engulfed in a war, a rebellion waged by a Whoremonger who wants his She-Wolf back, which was seemingly 'stolen' from him. But I don't care. I will create a merchant business, that will surpass all others and rise in both fame, wealth and political power. 

The pictures of food and grain will be used for me to duplicate them and then sell them 'fresh'. This way, I don't have to worry about anything rotting or turning bad and can ask for an exorbitant price. Naturally, I will sell the goods at a very low price, which will get me almost no profit. But that will only put me into the good graces of those who are in desperate need of those goods. Again, I will rise in both fame and glory. 

Money, food and manpower will never be an issue ever again. So now I only have to think about whether I want to build the port of House Baelish right away, or just sail to Braavos for the first business. I guess expanding House Baelish and improving everything about it, is the best way to go about this. After feeding the village and improving it, I can still go ahead and sail across the Narrow Sea to earn my reputation and money. 

Better get started. 

________________________________

The 'requirement' if he wants to clone other people was a way for me to temporarily keep his ability somewhat 'balanced'. Otherwise, he could just go ahead and clone all the Lords and rule Westeros. Story over. 

He will do things rather 'slowly', if you can call it that and then rise to the top.