"Your Highness, did you already know there was a gold mine inside Lonely Mountain?!"
Looking at the lumps of gold before her, which weighed thirty or forty pounds altogether, Walda asked in disbelief. This much gold was enough to mint four or five thousand Gold Dragons, yet they had simply picked it up.
"Volcanic areas readily produce all sorts of mineral deposits. Of course, the poisonous gases around the crater keep most people from daring to approach. Still, I hadn't expected an exposed gold deposit. That was quite a surprise."
Danyla patiently explained to Walda,
"Although vegetation around volcanoes isn't necessarily lush, mineral resources are often very abundant. Lonely Mountain also has favorable geography. Cold air from the north meets moisture from the Shivering Sea here, producing plentiful precipitation. Many of the North's rivers have their sources here. This place is a treasure trove!"
"But the poisonous volcanic gases keep people from venturing close. Developing it would be rather difficult, too."
Passing through the steaming clouds of hot vapor, Dreamfyre climbed back to an altitude of a thousand meters. Countless droplets immediately condensed over her body, showing just how humid the Lonely Mountain range was.
An hour later, Danyla and her companions reached Karhold. Declining Earl Karstark's invitation to dinner, Danyla took the twenty-odd members and servants of House Karstark straight back to Winterfell.
There were no particularly distinctive resources near Karhold, and House Karstark already enjoyed an exceptionally close relationship with House Stark. Naturally, Danyla did not want to spend too much effort on them. She brought them back to Winterfell before dinner.
Besides House Umber and House Karstark, whom Danyla had brought back herself, the other great houses had already arrived: House Glover of Deepwood Motte, House Cerwyn of Cerwyn, House Hornwood of Sheephead Hills, House Locke of