Following the servant to the study, Witte recalled that Gonsol had helped him find materials when he was making the prototype machine at the Citadel. Gonsol, who was extremely impressed by Witte's craftsmanship, had wanted his family to get involved in the clock business, but Witte had refused.
After all, this thing was considered high-tech at the moment. The key core components still had to be made by himself, so mass production wasn't possible. It could only be a luxury item, prized for its rarity. Moreover, the first prototype clock had been bought by Gonsol and placed in his home, so he wasn't too concerned about showcasing the clock.
The maidservant poured hot Chocolate for the two of them. The maidservant who could enter the study was also a relative of House Tyrell. As the family passed down through generations, the number of people grew. Branch families would send their young children to the main family. The boys would serve as squires to the male members of the main family, while the girls would serve as maidservants to the female members. After growing up by the main family's side, the boys could generally be knighted, and the girls could find a good husband.
After chatting with the maidservant for a while, the Tyrells and Renly arrived in the study. Olenna spoke first.
"Amazing! Maester Witte! You've made something extraordinary again."
She knows I won't swear to be a Maester, and I'm not a Grand Maester either, but this old rose never stops needling me! Witte saw Renly smiling beside him. Olenna was definitely going to pay on the spot and buy it, which made him a little uncomfortable.
Witte didn't take the bait. "Good afternoon, Lady. The clock can benefit every household. Accurate timekeeping is very important. When the servants get up, when the guards go on duty, when the chef starts cooking, when the banquet starts, when to start studying, when to start practicing martial arts, etc. These can all bring practical benefits."
"You speak so well, a clock for 7,000 Gold Dragons. Do you want to be an Ironborn?" Olenna continued to needle, while others began to sit.
"Might makes right. Although I agree with that, they will always be a group of pirates, sooner or later they will be eliminated by the times." Renly seized the conversation, stating his opinion.
Olenna looked at Renly, then at Witte, saying nothing for a moment, and changed the subject.
"You didn't come just to see the clock, did you?"
"Does the Lady agree with my previous assessment of the clock? Do you think the nobles across the country will buy it? I came to discuss this matter."
"What do you want to do?" Olenna cut straight to the point; she was tired of chatting with Witte.
Witte didn't answer directly, but instead asked Renly, "Renly, what's the current clock production capacity?"
Renly took a sip of hot Chocolate, people always loved sweet things, "Currently, Sir Donner Noyi and his apprentices can make five a week."
Donner Noyi was originally a blacksmith at Storm's End. In the original story, he injured his hand during the War of the Usurper, developed an infection, and eventually had an arm amputated, becoming a member of the Night's Watch. Now, because of Witte, his blacksmithing skills were improving, and Renly had knighted him, tying him completely to House Baratheon. His apprentices' monthly income had also increased. The blacksmith shop at Storm's End had expanded considerably, and besides weapons and armor, it had begun producing clock parts.
Witte said to Olenna, "A clock needs more than just the core mechanism; it also requires fine wood and decorations. Considering these costs, I'll give the price to you, my lady, at 5,000 each. The selling price will be uniformly set across the country at 7,000 each. As for those with custom aesthetic requirements, we won't set the price; it will be negotiated separately. We will increase production based on orders."
He paused, then added, "Now, let's discuss the distribution rights for various regions."
Olenna thought for a moment, looking into Witte's eyes, "These clocks are expensive. Even if all the nobles in the Reach bought them, we wouldn't make much money. Why go through all this trouble?"
Witte stood up. "To be frank, my lady, the clock towers in various places are the first step. I'm not aiming to make money on them, just to establish a standard time in every location. This clock is the second step, making a small profit after covering costs, but it brings precise time into people's homes. The real money is in the third step: I'm researching a small clock that can be held in the hand and put in a pocket, which we can call a watch."
"So, what we're discussing isn't just the distribution rights for the clocks, but for the clocks and the watches of the future, and anything else I might create later."
Hearing this, Olenna, Mace, Renly, Gonsol, and the other Tyrell children all became serious.
Olenna then directly stated her position, "I agree with your price. I want the sales rights for the Reach, the Westerlands, and Dorne."
"You can have the Westerlands, but you won't be able to sell to Dorne! Although the Reach and Dorne recently besieged Storm's End together, you've been at odds for thousands of years; the animosity runs too deep." Given the current situation, Witte wanted to profit from the Westerlands without being too closely associated with them. Since they wanted it, he'd give it to them. Although the Stormlands and Dorne had their own age-old feuds among their nobles, with heavy troops stationed on the borders, he himself had a marriage alliance with the Dornish royal family, which opened up some avenues.
"So, I will present a plan now, and I'd like to know if the lady has any objections. House Tyrell will be in charge of the Reach and the Westerlands. House Baratheon will be responsible for the Stormlands, Crownlands, Riverlands, Vale, and the North. Where we can sell to Dorne is up to us both. Gonsol's House Hightower will handle Oldtown. For the nine major Free Cities, it'll be the same as Dorne for our three houses."
Gonsol had no objections; this was what Witte had discussed with him earlier. As the second son of his family, he originally had no prospects and was going to become a Maester. He finally managed to get on Witte's good side through his classmate connections. He didn't want to do too much, just wanted to do a good job with family's base and overseas business. Others didn't even have this opportunity.
Olenna looked at her relative, Gonsol, and thought about House Hightower's strength and business acumen. After a moment of thought, she agreed to the terms and called for a clerk to draft the documents.
While the clerk was preparing paper and pens to prepare some documents, Witte told the clerk to wait.
"Add two more things, if you please: pens and chocolate."
Lord Mace was puzzled, asking, "What are pens and chocolate?"
Renly saw Witte nod and opened the wooden box he had brought, taking out six pens and giving one each to Olenna, Mace, Willas, Garlan, Loras, and Margaery.
Everyone held the pens, examining them. The outer shells were made of ivory, smooth, rounded cylinders. There was also a metal clip on the shell, but they couldn't figure out how to write with it, no matter how much they looked.
Renly took out the pen he had clipped to his lapel. It was a similar shape, but the pen's shell was a bright white metal.
"This is mine. Pure silver inlaid with gold. I'm used to the weight." In this world, ivory was far more precious than pure silver inlaid with gold.
The people of House Tyrell realized what the metal clip on the shell was for only after Renly took his pen from his lapel. The clip was for attaching it to clothing. Several children began to try it out on their own clothes.
Mace noticed that Witte and Gonsol also had a metal clip on their lapels. He had previously thought they were some sort of decoration.
Seeing Mace's gaze, the two of them also took out their pens. Witte's pen was White Steel, representing the Citadel's metallurgy. Gonsol's pen had a wooden shell, making it look rather shabby, so he took the initiative to explain:
"I have to write too much every day in the Citadel, and my hand gets sore. So, I replaced the White Steel shell with wood myself."
Renly walked in front of the clerk, unscrewed the front and back caps of his pen, filled it with ink from the inkwell, and handed it to him to start writing the agreement.
"The pen nib is made of an alloy invented by Witte, and the ink sac is sewn from sheep intestine, allowing it to write about 3,000 characters per fill. Although the structure is simple, Witte has already mastered mass production techniques. The cost of counterfeiting would be three to four times higher than what is produced at Storm's End."
The clerk had already begun writing the agreement. The pen nib had a bend, making the cursive script very beautiful and allowing continuous writing, which was far better than a brush, which required dipping in ink after writing only a few letters.
"As for chocolate," Renly raised the cup in his hand, "it's also made from cocoa beans, but cocoa is a beverage, while chocolate is a solid block, like a sugar cube."
"The cultivation of cocoa was also proposed by Witte at the Citadel. No one ate it before; only the mountain people grew some and directly crushed the seeds to chew."
Duke Mace also took a sip and said,
"In two years, the new cocoa trees will begin to bear fruit. Now, the cocoa beans we drink are all bought from the mountain people."
Witte was proud. "It's a very good drink, isn't it? Cocoa beans are ground into powder, mixed with milk, and if you like it sweet, you can add some sugar. Both adults and children love it."
Coming to this world, children could only drink water. Milk was only available in homes that raised cows, or they had to drink wine, which was too bland. Previously, he had traveled everywhere to record the products of various places, and now he was working with the Citadel to research agricultural cultivation.
The Citadel had never had an agricultural discipline, and agriculture in this world was still at a very primitive stage. Although Witte hadn't specifically studied agriculture in his past life, almost everyone knew some basic knowledge. After entering the Citadel, he deduced, researched, and experimented multiple times, and then wrote down techniques for artificial pollination, grafting, seed selection, seedling cultivation, fertilization, and pest control. He worked with a few classmates from the Citadel to improve the yield of short-season crops.
After that, he began to write the Method of Selecting Advantageous Crops, detailing which crops were suitable for cultivation in different regions. The Citadel also newly introduced an agricultural discipline, but the metal for the Maester's Chain was still under discussion. The harvests of crops across the Seven Kingdoms improved year after year.
Now, the Reach had begun to cultivate sugarcane and cacao trees, while Dorne cultivated various fruit trees. Even the North had begun to grow large quantities of peas, rye, and oats, as well as selecting and raising pasture grasses. This was Witte's most significant contribution to this world so far.
"So, does the sale of sugarcane and cacao also fall under this agreement?" Olenna asked, looking at more details.
"Rest assured, Lady Olenna," Witte replied. "Our agreement does not include raw materials, nor does it include other goods made from raw materials. It is limited to the agreed-upon items."
Olenna walked to the clerk's desk and saw the beautiful words written with a Pen: "Add Pen and Chocolate."
With the major deal settled, everyone present was delighted. They then chatted about various everyday matters. Witte saw four-year-old Margaery pouting and walked over, using both hands to pinch her face into a smile.
"What's made little Margaery unhappy?"
Margaery held the pen and lowered her head. "I can't write yet, and I don't like pens."
"Hahaha," everyone laughed. In this world, nobles usually started learning to write around the age of six. Witte was an exception. Renly had been taught by Witte at a very young age and used to be full of resentment, but now he felt superior. [He can't write at four, and I could write hundreds of words at four.]
"Boys like swords, and girls like dolls. Luckily, I was prepared in advance," Witte said, then took a metal brooch from his pocket and handed it to Margaery.
It was rose-shaped, with red petals and green leaves. It wasn't inlaid with gems but rather had the metal dyed. The back of the brooch was uncolored, revealing the original gray-black color of the metal and a smokey pattern.
Margaery smiled. Although it wasn't a doll, a few-year-old girl could still be attracted by beautiful things. She turned the brooch over and over, and seeing the words on the back, she handed it to her grandmother, asking what it meant.
Olenna looked at the brooch. Although it wasn't inlaid with jewels, the workmanship was very detailed, and the texture of the petals and leaves was also clearly visible. The craftsmanship could compete with the best jewelry artisans. But seeing the words, which looked like they were scratched by animal claws, she was also confused. Then she noticed the material of the brooch.
"What material is this?"
"I've been studying the occult recently. This is made of Valyrian Steel. The words on the back are inscribed in High Valyrian: Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken."
High Valyrian is like the Dragon Language in The Elder Scrolls V. Witte had spent a lot of time at the Citadel, reading books about Valyrian. He'd also pulled some books about the Dragon Language from the energy sphere. Now, he could use both Common Valyrian (English) and High Valyrian (Dragon Language) fluently.
Valyrian Steel was famous, but large items made from it were rare. Small items existed, but they were also extremely scarce. Everyone gathered to look at the brooch.
"You really put some thought into this," Olenna said, looking at Witte, and her mind racing.
"Valyrian Steel swords are expensive, but there are many fragments available for purchase. I need practice to craft the arcane Maester's Chain. When I came to Highgarden this time, I figured Margaery probably wouldn't care for the things I usually bring, so I made a brooch."
Witte really didn't have any interest in the little rose, and he was already betrothed. He only wanted to establish good relations with House Tyrell to do business and exploit the agricultural resources of the Reach. The Stormlands didn't have much arable land, and they mostly grew grain.
Olenna didn't bring up the topic again and beckoned everyone to dinner.
....
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