Unable to refute her, the woman fell silent again. Solomon's logic, in the lands of Westeros, was cold, realistic, and irrefutable.
She looked at the figure of the boy before her. He was so young, yet he had already merged with the filth of Westeros.
After a long while, she lowered her head and whispered, "I understand."
A few days later, the construction of the new Military Forts was officially put on the agenda.
In the council chamber, a huge map of the territory was spread out on the long table. This map was drawn by Evelyn—precipitous peaks, high mountains, waterways, fields, and forests. He really couldn't imagine how this woman had drawn it.
In Solomon's view, this map alone made her value indisputable. If her trouble wasn't too big, he might solve it for her.
Solomon's core courtiers gathered around the table: the two officers Luchen and Lauchlan, the Tax Officer Barna the Beggar, the Scribe Olivier, and the handmaiden Evelyn.
"I have chosen the locations for the Military Forts here." Solomon's finger tapped on several spots on the map.
Everyone leaned in. The circled areas on the map were almost all backed by the incredibly steep Mountains of the Moon and three rivers flowing down from the high mountains. In front was a vast open plain with flat terrain. Evelyn's markings told everyone the terrain was flat, covered in forests, arable, and the soil fertile.
"Backed by the Mountains of the Moon, nothing is more secure than a natural fortress. The front and sides are all arable land and forests." Solomon explained to everyone, "When war comes, we harvest the grain quickly. Even if we can't hold, we can retreat into the high mountains."
"And the other Military Forts can support each other through secret passages in the mountains at any time."
Evelyn's blue eyes looked at Solomon with confusion and strangeness. She felt his site selection wasn't for dealing with bandits, but rather for dealing with a massive invading army. He didn't place the Military Forts around the main road of the Kingsroad to facilitate commercial development and collect tolls.
Instead, he placed the Military Forts in remote, dangerous areas right next to the Mountains of the Moon, far from passing crowds, as if prepared to fight a great army. Once defeated, they would be ready to retreat into the high mountains at any time.
Solomon looked at the confused Evelyn and said, although explaining to his "handmaiden" was a bit strange:
"Here there is water, stone, timber, arable land, and natural barriers. Nothing is more precipitous than nature's ghostly craftsmanship."
"It's easy to source materials locally for direct construction, avoiding transportation costs and wasted time."
"Simply put, we dig directly into the mountain! And then live inside the mountain!"
This was something he learned and borrowed from the Dwarves, though this group certainly wouldn't know that. But he heard something that surprised him quite a bit.
"Like the mines of House Reyne," Evelyn whispered.
"Yes." Solomon looked at her, thought for a moment, and realized she was right. Then he slowly said, "But it will be more perfect than theirs."
Solomon recalled his memory. House Reyne was practically the Dwarves of Westeros, living underground in mines. Pity they didn't build a good drainage system and were all drowned by Tywin Lannister.
"As expected of Lord Solomon!!!" Luchen slapped the table excitedly, starting his daily routine of praising Solomon. "We'll build forts here one by one! The walls will use the best stone from the mountain!"
"We hollow out the high mountains! Live inside the body of the mountain range! No one can think of breaking in!!!!"
"Build the walls high and thick! Dig moats! Fill the moats with mountain water! Let's see how those damn bandits come then!"
"That's right! That's right!!" Lauchlan also began his daily routine of praising Solomon. "As expected of Lord Solomon!!"
"A true genius of Westeros!!!"
Since the two of them started working with the literate folks, they had learned a lot of new knowledge.
The courtiers began discussing enthusiastically how to hollow out the mountain, what it would feel like to live inside, how to create secret passages, and the height of the external walls, the moats, and the number of towers.
The silent Evelyn suddenly spoke, her blue eyes looking straight at Solomon.
"Lord Solomon, forgive my bluntness."
Everyone's eyes turned to her, wondering why this ugly woman interrupted Lord Solomon.
"What we are building shouldn't just be a military fortress." She walked to the table, picked up a quill, took a clean piece of parchment from the side, and began sketching confidently and fluidly, as if she had conceived it countless times. "But a mountain underground fortress capable of self-circulation and prosperous development."
Everyone except the silent Olivier frowned at her. You, a handmaiden, interrupting?
But seeing Lord Solomon looking at the woman with interest, they didn't interrupt.
Evelyn ignored everyone's strange looks. She seemed to have been suppressing this for a long time. Her quill moved rapidly across the parchment, completely forgetting Solomon's request to keep a low profile. As if planned countless times, clear lines formed an amazing sketch.
"Look here!" Evelyn picked up her drawing, her finger excitedly tapping the paper. "The outermost layer inside the mountain! Barracks! And various traps! And defensive facilities! As long as there are two warriors in the passage! Even if there are thousands of troops!!! Thousands of troops can't get in!!!!"
Solomon looked at the emotional woman, then at the sketch. All sorts of varied, vicious, ruthless, and terrifying traps made him sweat profusely. It gave him the feeling of the tomb traps experienced by the Trio. This woman is really worth it!
Decided! As long as her trouble wasn't too troublesome! He must solve it for her.
The woman's design shocked everyone present. Just those traps terrified the locals. Like building a space above the passage, so when enemies enter, oil is poured down through small holes and ignited, burning them all to death. Seven Gods, this ugly woman is too wolfish.
But the woman didn't notice, or perhaps noticed but didn't want to stop, continuing to narrate excitedly:
"The middle is the commercial district! Workshops for artisans! Like smithies! Carpentry workshops! Pottery workshops! Even inside the mountain, there must be markets and squares! Convenient for goods trading and resident gatherings!"
"The deepest part is the residential area for commoners! Only by letting the people live in the deepest part can the warriors fight the enemy with peace of mind! At the same time, their families! Are also leverage over the warriors fighting outside!!"
"The core area! The Lord's mansion! The armory! And the most important granary!"
"Then the evacuation secret passages! And the design to destroy the entire mountain body and bury all enemies when retreating...!"
The woman was still talking incessantly. Her planning was terribly clear, perfectly dividing and connecting defense, residence, production, commerce, and military functions into an organic whole.
Solomon was greatly shocked. Are there really Mountain People in Westeros? He only had a preliminary idea; how to build inside the mountain was completely visionary. But this woman put a perfect answer right in his face. How to prevent the mountain from collapsing, making it as stable as Mount Tai, even down to the placement of a single pillar, was written like a textbook.
Luchen, Barna, and the others looked at each other. All the courtiers were shocked. They had never thought that living inside a mountain involved so much, that it could be planned so complexly and exquisitely.
However, Evelyn wasn't finished. What she said next truly shocked everyone present.
She put down the quill, her expression becoming serious:
"But this is far from enough!"
"It's not just swords that can conquer a mountain cave! There are also things we cannot see!"
She looked at the confused faces of the crowd and said word by word:
"It is disease!"
"It is water!"
"Hundreds or even thousands of people gathering to live together inside a mountain! Feces and garbage all inside the mountain!"
"If we don't handle the water source and waste properly! Before long! Feces and garbage will contaminate the water! Attracting flies and plague!"
"An outbreak of plague! The speed at which it kills! Is faster than thousands of troops combined!"
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