By the time Alex and Sophie returned to the castle, it was already afternoon. Looking at Sophie's town and the surrounding mountains, it felt like returning from a city to a rural village.
During their absence, the dwarf mines had been restarted. The dwarves would now settle near the mines. Alex, being considerate, arranged for the undead to handle the transportation of iron ingots, given the difficulty of transporting them over mountain paths. The dwarves only needed to focus on mining.
Once the iron was transported back to the castle, the three Furnaces were put to work—two for smelting ore and one for crafting equipment.
As for the dwarf fortresses around Grimstone, Alex trusted Durin to handle them.
Currently, the Silverbeard Clan was at war with other clans and had no time to deal with Alex. Besides, the rebellion was led by the dwarf commoners themselves, so other clans wouldn't assist the Silverbeard Clan.
