The bonfire crackled, its light illuminating three faces. Tax Officer Barna poked at the fire with a blackened stick, trying to make the flames burn larger and brighter. Evelyn was still staring at the blueprints, studying the refraction angles of light, her eyes filled with obsession.
Solomon watched Evelyn's obsession. Promising. He liked capable people.
"Barna." Solomon turned to Barna, breaking the silence.
"Here, Lord Solomon." Barna, who had been shrinking back and poking the fire, immediately put down the stick and straightened his back.
Solomon asked, "The zip lines at the construction site, how often are the ropes changed?"
Barna paused for a moment, then quickly answered, "My Lord, those are all top-quality hemp ropes, very sturdy. Using them for half a year or a year won't be a problem."
"Starting tomorrow, change them every few days for inspection and repair." Solomon's tone left no room for negotiation. "Use the unrepairable ropes to bundle materials. New ones must be used for the zip line. I don't want to hear about anyone falling from the sky."
"Do not put people on it unless absolutely necessary. Use it only for transporting building materials and stone."
Solomon knew that merchants liked to do big things with small costs, so he had to be specific. Even steel cables were prone to accidents, let alone simple hemp ropes. One slip meant being smashed to pieces. Trading an adult subject for a rope was definitely not worth it.
"Yes, yes, I've noted it, Lord Solomon." Barna agreed repeatedly, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead. He hadn't expected Solomon to value the lives of the subjects so much.
Solomon ignored him and turned his gaze to Evelyn, who had looked up at him. He smiled; she seemed curious about the zip line too. "What are you thinking?"
Evelyn looked straight at Solomon, the firelight flickering in her beautiful blue eyes. "Actually, I understand the principle of the zip line, but I was thinking, why do things hanging on the rope slide so fast?"
"It has neither horses pulling it nor human power pushing it."
Solomon adjusted his invisible glasses. This woman has a future. When will she find an apple tree to sit under and get hit by an apple?
He picked up a stone, weighed it in his hand, and raised it to shoulder height. "Look, I lift it here."
"It inherently contains a downward force. The higher I stand, the greater this force."
"Have you ever thought about why there is a difference in destructive power if I drop a stone from a high place versus dropping it from a low place?"
Solomon let go, and the stone fell to the ground.
"The zip line utilizes this force. The starting point is high, the endpoint is low, like a slope. The stone hangs on the rope and runs down by itself. As for how fast it runs, that depends on the rope."
Solomon pointed to the hemp ropes, winches, and pulleys they currently possessed, explaining how they created such an environment by tightening and raising the ropes.
"The rougher the rope, the slower it runs. If replaced with polished smooth iron chains, the speed would be faster than you can imagine."
Evelyn's breath hitched, muttering to herself, "Yes, why is there a difference in destructive power between a stone dropped from a high place and one from a low place?"
"Why is it faster the smoother it is, and slower the rougher it is?"
"Cough! Cough! Cough!" Solomon coughed three times seeing her gradually falling into a demonic trance. Don't go crazy, you are still very useful.
Seeing he had interrupted Evelyn's train of thought, Solomon pointed to the sky full of stars above his head. "Light also follows a similar principle."
"Light likes to travel in straight lines, but when it encounters certain things, it will also change direction."
"Look!"
Solomon grabbed Barna's water flask, then snatched the wooden stick and rice bowl from Barna's hands, ignoring Barna's resentful gaze. He poured water into the bowl, then inserted the blackened wooden stick into it.
Evelyn leaned in, face to face with Solomon, eyes wide. The wooden stick in the water seemed to break at the water surface, presenting a strange angle.
"It's bent..." Evelyn whispered, her eyes full of disbelief.
Solomon smelled her body fragrance but remained unperturbed. He took out a crystal from his bosom, one from House Terry's treasury.
"The stick isn't bent; your line of sight looking at it is bent by the water."
"Water can bend light. Pure crystal can too. Evelyn, you draw maps for a long time, using your eyes under moonlight and candlelight. Does your vision get blurry?"
Evelyn subconsciously rubbed her eyes. She had been doing this action more and more frequently recently.
Drawing those blueprints precise to the millimeter under dim candlelight for long periods was a huge drain on her eyesight.
"Yes. When I was young, I could see trees in the distance clearly, but now distant trees become a blurry shadow in my eyes." She answered honestly, her body pressed tightly against Solomon's.
Solomon held the crystal up to Evelyn's eyes, face to face, staring into her eyes through the clearest part of the crystal.
"If we can polish the crystal into a specific curvature, like an invisible slope, letting the light entering the eye turn a corner in advance..."
"Is it possible that those who can't see clearly could see the world clearly again..."
Evelyn froze completely. If such a thing really existed, its value was immeasurable. Countless Maesters, nobles, and kings would fight for such a thing.
To let human eyes see things clearly again—she didn't dare imagine how crazy the Maesters of the Citadel would go.
"Can this really be done?" Evelyn's voice was dry.
"Why is it impossible?" Solomon took her hand and gently placed the crystal in her palm. The cold touch of the stone made her shiver, and she lowered her head to look at the crystal.
Solomon held her hand, looking at the bowed Evelyn. "I only have this one decent crystal in my hand. It is the most valuable thing in the territory besides me."
"I give it to you."
"Because I trust you."
Seeing the situation, Barna slipped away without saying a word. Unexpectedly, Lord Solomon likes this type. I must hurry and share the news with Luchen and Lauchlan. Those two are recruiting beautiful village women everywhere; they need to switch to ugly ones like this. Don't pat the horse on the ass [flatter the wrong way].
Evelyn held the not-so-large crystal, feeling like she was holding the weight of a mountain. Her body trembled constantly. She looked up at Solomon, her blue eyes shimmering.
Solomon coughed lightly twice and looked away.
In the deepest part of the "Lion's Den" fortress, inside a newly excavated independent cave isolated from any passage, Evelyn began her work.
There was no day or night, only eternal candlelight.
The sound of sandstone grinding against crystal echoed in the cave. The woman was obsessively desperate for some reason. Using the finest sandstone, leather, even the corners of her own clothes, she ground and polished it over and over again.
Everyone was shocked. She ignored any advice to rest. Only when Solomon ordered her to rest would she rest slightly, then continue polishing.
She failed countless times. The crystal shards were covered in scratches, or the curvature was wrong, distorting the view like a madman's painting.
Finally, at a moment when she didn't know if it was dawn or late night in the cave, she held two thin crystal lenses embedded in a crude wooden frame up to her eyes.
The world became clearer than ever before. Every minute texture of the rock on the cave wall, a wisp of flame dancing on the distant candle, was so clear it made her tear up.
When she held the simple glasses with both hands to give to Solomon, she collapsed toward him. He caught her steadily, and she fell into a deep sleep.
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