RoWE - Chapter 66

Chapter 66: Backward Beyond Imagination

Taking on this apprentice who had come knocking, Aeg rubbed his temples. The list of things to do had grown longer, and he was tired.

Born in a peaceful and prosperous modern world, his nutritional level during his growth was no worse than that of most nobles in this world. His excellent physical condition meant that with a little training, his strength and reaction speed surpassed many old soldiers in the Night's Watch garrison. but that was about it. In the eyes of the craftsmen, logisticians, and ordinary wildlings beyond the Wall, he might be considered a core member of the rangers, an elite among elites. But in the context of the entire Westeros, he was just a bit more disciplined and experienced than young recruits. The gap in training time. less than a year. and the level of his teacher. Alliser Thorne. could not be made up for by the halo of a time traveler or a bit of cleverness.

Without mentioning the renowned experts, even Jory, the captain of the guard whom Eddard had left to watch over Arya, was not someone he could defeat.

Fortunately, Arya was still a naive and unsophisticated little girl. He only needed to put in half the effort he had used to attract Tyrion's attention to figure out how to cater to her and teach her some basic swordsmanship techniques such as gripping the sword, standing, moving, and even slashing and blocking. Before she became skilled enough to realize he wasn't the expert she imagined, he could definitely deceive her into thinking of him as a reliable and close friend, a second Jon Snow.

And then, if she wasn't just a passing fancy and really wanted to continue learning swordsmanship, he could always find a more suitable person to be her swordsmanship instructor. Like Jaqen, or someone else.

***

After agreeing to teach Arya swordsmanship, the two left the inner room. The Night's Watch office, empty except for tables, chairs, and cabinets, offered no entertainment. The girl looked around restlessly, quickly growing bored.

Fortunately, Eddard Stark soon returned with his original entourage to take his daughter away. From the thoughtful expression on the King's Hand's face, it was clear that he had already "realized" something under Littlefinger's guidance. If he allowed the big troublemaker to continue operating step by step, Eddard's trust in him would soon be established, and by then, it would be too late.

The plan to sow discord must be implemented as soon as possible, taking priority over everything else.

The day's work was almost done. Aeg gave Jack a few silver stags to buy some lightweight practice swords and was about to close up and return to the inn to think about how to stir up trouble between Littlefinger and Eddard.

"Aeg!"

Tyrion appeared to have rushed over with Moris, riding up to the office entrance and dismounting.

"I was just about to head back to the inn. What's so urgent that it can't wait?"

The imp was out of breath and waved his hand: "Let's go to the inner room and talk."

Aeg didn't know what had happened and followed him in with some trepidation, sitting down in the same place where he had spoken with Arya, waiting for Tyrion to tell him what was going on.

***

After an explanation, the Chief Logistics Officer of the Night's Watch understood why Tyrion had rushed over to find him: The paper merchant couldn't provide the "stable, cheap, and abundant" paper they needed. The art of papermaking hadn't appeared in this world yet!

The existing books in Westeros were all copied on parchment, and parchment was indeed made from sheepskin. This made books expensive, with the bulk of the cost in the paper rather than the wages paid to the scribes, as Aeg and Tyrion had assumed. Simply manipulating the smaller cost of printing would never lead to a groundbreaking revolution or earn enough money to fill the hole of a Ponzi scheme!

"To be honest, I only found out about this today after specifically looking into it." Tyrion said apologetically. With his background, when he needed paper, he would just throw a gold dragon to Moris or Jack to buy a stack, with the extra as a tip. what difference did it make to him if a sheet of paper was worth one silver stag or two?

But when he got serious and prepared to do something big, he realized that the seemingly substantial funds or pocket money he had was actually nothing.

And Lord Tywin. not cutting his dwarf son's expenses was already generous, so how could he possibly lend money for "foolishness"?

Excitedly preparing to open a factory to print books, spread knowledge, and make money on the side, only to discover that his money wasn't even enough to buy paper, was a disheartening realization.

***

"It shouldn't be like this." Aeg frowned in confusion. The era of Westeros was similar to the late medieval period in Europe, and papermaking should have been introduced long ago. Wait, introduced! This world had no China and no Arabs to act as carriers and spread knowledge, so of course, there would be no papermaking introduced!

Although he understood the reason, Aeg was still somewhat indignant: Papermaking wasn't high-tech. Couldn't the natives of this world invent it themselves? Frustrated as he was, upon closer reflection, the prevalent backward mentality of "making do" caused by irregular seasons meant that the rulers and common folk of this world had little motivation for invention and creation. It seemed understandable.

"Aeg." Tyrion asked expectantly, "Isn't your hometown advanced in all kinds of technology? How does Caina make paper?"

"I'm just an adventurer. The process of papermaking in Caina has been mature for thousands of years. It's a commonplace technology. I never imagined there would be places where paper couldn't be made." Aeg scratched his head in frustration. The prosperity and the budding capitalism of this world were just illusions. Was he supposed to develop papermaking in this world?

"The paper merchant said there's a young man outside the city who's trying to make paper from grass, but 'the stuff he makes is only good for wiping your ass.' I plan to check it out when I have time. See what's going on."

"Make paper from grass?" Aeg was pondering a solution when he heard this, and an idea struck him: Although he didn't know how to make paper, he was aware that modern paper was made from plant fibers through chemical processing.

Perhaps he couldn't, but as long as the direction was right, with research funding poured in, what couldn't be done must be made possible!

"This is good news. Do this: Tomorrow, take someone to find this young man and see what his idea of making paper from grass is. If it's just stitching large grass leaves together and drying them, then there's no development value. But if he's pulping the grass and making paper through other methods, hire him back, invest a few dozen or a hundred gold dragons, and have him improve the process and select suitable raw materials as soon as possible to make usable paper."

"Pulping grass to make paper?" Tyrion couldn't understand, but months of interaction had instilled in him a nearly unconditional trust in his adventurer friend. He nodded without hesitation: "Alright, I'll go tomorrow. Optimistically speaking, this could be a huge opportunity. Using printing to replace hand copying can only reduce the cost of making books by a few percent, but if we control the entire process from papermaking to book production, the profits will be astonishing!"

"Indeed, in Caina, we call it a complete industrial chain." Aeg was also aware of this and quickly added: "If you find that the young man's idea of making paper is correct, spare no expense to get him. Sign a confidentiality agreement and keep the trade secrets firmly in hand!"

"Complete industrial chain? Great term!" Tyrion's face, which had been dejected, now lit up with a smile again. Things were starting to get more interesting.

*****

A/N: I encourage you to take a peek at my other literary endeavors. I'm confident that you'll find them captivating. They're waiting to whisk you away on new adventures.

Also, a gentle reminder: "Don't forget to vote with your Power Stones. It will be a tremendous help in getting my works noticed by a wider audience. Your votes are like beacons in the night, guiding others to the stories we've built together."