Here, Jon also saw the finest jewelry craftsmanship in all of Westeros.
These colored gemstones from the eastern continent, in the hands of several dark-skinned skilled artisans, were quickly inlaid into gold and silver ornaments. Due to the added labor and craftsmanship, they became expensive luxury goods far exceeding their intrinsic value.
Of course, this was just one function of the jewelry shop.
In addition, a large number of gold bars and silver ingots could also be seen everywhere here.
These expensive precious metals, not yet processed into jewelry, were guarded by numerous fully armed shop guards. Only specialized stewards could access them and hand them to the artisans after strict registration.
And those ornaments and jewelry placed on the shelves quickly flowed into the market and were exchanged for Westerosi Gold Dragons and Silver Stags.
Seeing this, Jon began to guess what exactly Varys wanted him to observe.
However, before he could ask a question, he keenly discovered a problem.
That was, this Tyroshi-owned shop not only accepted Westerosi Gold Dragons and Silver Stags but also accepted various currencies from Essos.
Compared to the unified but rigid Westeros, the prosperous and fragmented trade allowed the nine Free Cities to have their own banks.
And these competing or even hostile city-states naturally wouldn't have unified coinage specifications and requirements like Westeros.
Therefore, various gold and silver currencies of different shapes, sizes, and weights were identified one by one by the steward at the counter, who quickly quoted the corresponding prices for estimation and exchange.
And this service was basically real-time exchange rate settlement.
It wasn't until this moment that Jon realized that this jewelry shop located in the port area wasn't just a jewelry store, but was also providing a disguised currency exchange service.
However, after realizing this situation, Jon quickly found something wrong.
That was, as the capital of all Westeros, King's Landing actually had more than a dozen official currency exchange offices to handle physical currency transactions between the Eastern and Western continents.
Whether caravans or travelers, they could record and exchange the currency they carried here for customs clearance and convert it into the denomination and quantity they needed.
And this kind of exchange office directly established by the royal family and officials naturally wouldn't provide this service for free; each transaction would charge a handling fee of one to five percent.
This item alone could actually bring considerable income to King's Landing, even catching up with the seemingly high customs duties.
As for these conclusions mentioned above, they naturally came from Petyr's account records, but the details on them seemed to have been glossed over.
It wasn't until this moment that Jon understood Varys's purpose in bringing him here.
Clearly, besides these jewelry stores, more hidden black markets could provide currency exchange, and similarly hid ways of making money unimaginable to others.
If Jon hadn't lived two lives, just walking around simply like this, he probably wouldn't have been able to detect the tricks within.
As a flash of understanding appeared in his eyes, Varys also began to beckon the transmigrator to leave, and then they stepped into the noisy Flea Bottom.
Only then did the Master of Whisperers turn his shiny bald head, like a peeled egg, towards him.
"If I guessed correctly, you seem to have understood the key to this..."
However, Jon had lost interest in Varys's beating around the bush and gave the answer directly.
"The currency exchange between the Eastern and Western continents must have brought considerable profits to the Master of Coin, right?"
When saying this, Jon didn't forget to look back at that jewelry store, the envy in his eyes undisguised.
But what the transmigrator didn't expect was that the Master of Whisperers not only didn't admit it but revealed a situation that was unbelievable.
"I'm afraid to disappoint you. Compared to Lord Petyr, I am nothing but a stray dog picking up scraps..."
Hearing him say this, Jon's first reaction was: What are Littlefinger's businesses?
However, thinking of the money-making ability of the brothels all over King's Landing, a look of understanding flashed across the transmigrator's face, which was seen by Varys without missing a beat.
"No, no, no! I think you misunderstood my meaning."
After correcting the Secretary to the Hand's thoughts, Varys added a sentence.
"I mean, these are just a small part of the wealth Petyr has grabbed, far from all of it."
After saying this, the two were almost out of Flea Bottom.
Just then, a little boy skipped up to the side of the Spider, then stood on tiptoe and whispered in Varys's ear for a moment.
Then, the Master of Whisperers apologized to Jon immediately and left him there.
Seeing this, Jon didn't care too much and soon continued forward along the street.
It wasn't until he saw the Great Sept of Baelor that he stopped thoughtfully for a moment, then hesitantly turned southeast, preparing to return to the Red Keep.
However, just a second before he took a step, a sudden prompt sounded in his ear.
[Ding-dong! Detected that the Host's status has improved, but lacks a squire. System random reward generating, please wait...]
Hearing that familiar sound, Jon rolled his eyes and immediately relaxed his control over his body.
Sure enough, before Jon could raise any thought of resistance, the ensuing prompt issued the instruction.
[Okay, since the Host has given up on active action, the System has turned on the One-Click Auto-Pilot mode. Please make effective use of the online AFK time. Intelligent Rise and Grind starts now.]
Then, Jon watched his body move, turning around to head northeast, bypassing the Guild of Alchemists, and plunging straight into the intersection of the Street of Steel and Flea Bottom.
Not long after, when Jon opened his eyes in boredom, he was already standing in front of a smithy.
Looking at the fiercely burning furnace, and then at the dazzling array of weapons on the rack, a trace of confusion flashed across the transmigrator's brow, and at this moment, he captured some underlying rules of the System's operation.
For now, this dog System seemed never to give up any opportunity to mess up the Game of Thrones.
Once he didn't take the initiative, it would jump out to correct this situation.
Just like this smithy right now; perhaps it was the key to the System's troublemaking this time.
Thinking of this, Jon immediately realized that he seemed to have overlooked a key clue.
That was Duke Ned's investigation.
After all, after talking with Pycelle, what choice would this Hand, who prided himself on justice, make?
It was precisely because he overlooked this detail that led the transmigrator to wander idly in King's Landing and be directly taken over by the System.
Seeing this, Jon's gaze also turned slightly, beginning to search for the target.
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