Chapter 38

It turned out to be her sister's friend.

In Gordon's memory, since the family's decline, the daughters of those noble families no longer associated with Sienna. This was the first time in two years that Gordon had seen Sienna make a friend.

Sienna, who was usually cold to strangers, could make a friend and show an extremely close relationship, so this girl must be quite good.

As he got closer, Gordon saw Shalaya's face and was slightly stunned, blurting out a name: "Annie?"

"Who is Annie?" Sienna was a bit puzzled. She recalled and found that among the girls her brother knew, there was no one named Annie.

Gordon realized he had slipped. Annie was the girlfriend he met through "The Ancient Era." Before the穿越, he and Annie had just started dating and were in the midst of a passionate and sweet relationship. During the days he lived in the Telos world, besides his parents who died early in the Earth Unification War, the person he thought about the most was her.

The reason he mistook Annie for Shalaya was that the two indeed looked very similar. Both had short hair and round faces, and were sweet and cute girls. Apart from their eyes, their facial features were about seventy percent similar. Moreover, Annie in "The Ancient Era" also dressed as a ranger with a bow and leather armor.

Of course, Earthlings wouldn't have Shalaya's emerald green hair and silver eyes, nor would they have a pair of slightly pointed ears. So Gordon quickly realized he had mistaken the person.

However, someone didn't intend to let Gordon off for this small mistake.

"Using the method of deliberately calling the wrong name to flirt, this gentleman's way of meeting beautiful girls is really outdated. In our South, even the grandfathers wouldn't use such a method to approach a lady."

The speaker was a tall, handsome young man with chestnut-colored long hair, which was slicked back with the popular hair wax, making it look neat and beautiful.

"It was presumptuous of me," Gordon smiled, ignoring the hidden sarcasm in the other's words.

"Brother, let me introduce you. This is Shalaya Streamwhisper, a half-elf ranger and my good friend," Sienna said, turning her head to look at the handsome man with a hint of dissatisfaction in her eyes, "This is Knight Koyan, a companion I met during an adventure last time."

What a good sister who always stands up for her brother. Because of Koyan's sarcasm towards Gordon, Sienna's attitude towards this knight quickly turned cold.

Gordon nodded slightly, "Pleasure to meet you both."

"Are you Sienna's brother, Mr. Gordon Freeman?" Shalaya looked at Gordon with curious eyes.

"I don't think Sienna has another brother."

"Hehe," Shalaya covered her mouth and laughed lightly, "I heard at the Adventurers' Guild that you defeated a third-circle mage with just two spells yesterday?"

"I think there was no other winner in yesterday's duel besides me."

"Since you are an excellent mage, could I ask for your guidance in the future if I have any questions about arcane magic? You know, I want to learn arcane magic and become a magic marksman, but I've never found a way to learn it."

"Of course. You are Sienna's friend, and I always welcome you to visit my home," Gordon smiled.

He did have some good feelings towards Shalaya. She was a beautiful woman who was pleasing to the eye, and she bore a resemblance to his girlfriend—more accurately, his ex-girlfriend from Earth. Most importantly, this half-elf ranger had a figure that could drive men crazy and make women jealous.

Gordon remembered a post he had seen online. The original poster put up three photos of beautiful women with different characteristics and asked others to choose the most beautiful one. The most common answer among the many replies was "the one with the biggest chest."

This showed that most men had a nearly obsessive fondness for women's chests.

Shalaya's interest in arcane magic made her and Gordon chat enthusiastically. This made Koyan very unhappy, as if a new toy had been snatched away from him.

"Shalaya is the woman I brought, and you actually want to seduce her with your mage status?" Koyan glanced at Gordon and Shalaya, "Hmph, this lowly woman. If you weren't so beautiful, I wouldn't waste my precious time on you."

However, seeing Sienna standing next to Gordon, Koyan carefully concealed his恶意.

When he first saw Sienna, the moment he arrived in the Far Frost Province to train and join an adventure team, Koyan swore to completely conquer this black-haired girl. Her unique aura made Koyan, who was used to the gentle and petite women of the South, unable to forget her.

As the second son of the Grivres family, Koyan was an experienced player with a complete set of pursuit plans. First, he would play the role of a knight with perfect virtues in front of Sienna to leave a good impression. Second, he planned to seduce Sienna's friend Shalaya before conquering Sienna.

If successful, he would have a perfect informant who could provide him with Sienna's information at any time and speak well of him. This would greatly reduce the difficulty of melting Sienna's icy heart. And perhaps after success, he could even play a stimulating three-way game with the two friends.

Koyan believed his plan was perfect and was about to succeed. As a noble who often traveled, he knew very well that it was easy to seduce young, beautiful girls from humble backgrounds who believed they had the capital to change their lives and live better.

Koyan had already planned everything. Today, he would take Shalaya to the Iron River workshop to broaden her horizons, show off his family's wealth and power, and then take her to a high-end restaurant for a big meal. Under the influence of alcohol and sweet talk, he would be able to enjoy the fiery body of the half-elf girl in bed tonight.

But now, Koyan felt he was facing competition from another man. He knew he had made a mistake by mocking Gordon with words. After all, Gordon was Sienna's brother, and doing so would only leave a bad impression on Sienna.

To rebuild his image, Koyan joined Gordon's conversation with the two girls with a confident and charming smile, "Please forgive my frivolity and indiscretion, Mr. Gordon. I don't think you would hold a grudge against a rash young man, would you?"

Koyan lowered his attitude and even belittled himself. Although Gordon didn't like this pretentious guy, he could only smile and act as if the past was forgotten.

Today, there were three people qualified to meet the Dwarven Master: Gordon, Koyan, and the brother of the tax officer of the Bluewater City.

They chatted for a while, and Koyan, with his excellent eloquence, told stories about the customs and culture of the South, earning praise from everyone. Gordon thought that if this were a game, Koyan would definitely be the type who put all his skills into "eloquence" and "negotiation."

Finally, the Dwarven Master, Dwarven Iron River, arrived at the reception hall.

This middle-aged dwarf, about 150 years old, had rough brown skin and a robust build. His prominent nose took up most of his face, pushing his eyes and mouth to the edges, giving him a rugged and ancient appearance. Of course, if described in more modern and straightforward terms, he was a "quirk."

Strange people must have strange appearances.

Gordon thought to himself.

The Dwarven Master wore an apron covered in soot and dirt, but his thick beard was well-groomed, neatly braided, and adorned with distinctive accessories.

However, what most caught Gordon's attention was the iron hammer attached to the Dwarven Master's waist. The hammer was engraved with runes, and even without using a detection spell, he could feel the vast magical power radiating from it.

It was said that this was an item blessed by the dwarven god Moradin and passed down through generations of the Iron River family. Although its value was far from that of a true artifact, it was still a rare treasure.

If classified according to the item levels in "The Ancient Era" (common, fine, excellent, perfect, epic, legendary, artifact), this was at least an epic-level item.

The Dwarven Master scanned the people present and said in the characteristic rising intonation of dwarves, "Speak up, what do you want me to forge? State your requirements and bring out the payment."

The tax officer's brother stepped forward first. This nobleman, usually supported by his powerful brother, always acted superior to merchants in Bluewater City. However, in front of Dwarven Iron River, he dared not show any noble arrogance and instead respectfully took out a beautifully decorated silver box.

"Master Iron River, I believe you will like this gift. I hope you can forge a two-handed greatsword for my son."

Dwarven opened the box and saw the contents, his thick eyebrows immediately twitching.

The nobleman didn't notice the change in Dwarven's expression and continued to boast, "This is a dwarven artifact from the Second Era, made of pure gold. I went to great lengths to obtain it from Lonely Mountain. I hope you..."

Before he could finish, Dwarven rudely pushed the box back, looking disgusted, "Get out."

The nobleman was stunned, not knowing where he had offended the other.

"Are you waiting for me to escort you?"

The nobleman awkwardly smiled and had to leave the hall with his two servants.

"Hmph, uncultured Northerner!" Koyan sneered in his heart.

Dwarven Iron River was a shield dwarf. During the Second Era, the golden dwarves, who established the dwarven empire, ruled over other races like shield dwarves and gray dwarves with an iron fist. After a long and protracted Rock War, the golden dwarven empire collapsed, and the shield dwarves finally gained equal rights.

Time healed the wounds. Now, except for the gray dwarves who embraced darkness and retreated underground, other dwarf races had basically reconciled and lived in peace. However, there were still a few racists like Dwarven Iron River who harbored resentment over the history of shield dwarves being oppressed by golden dwarves.

Offering an artifact from the golden dwarven empire to Dwarven was asking for trouble.

Koyan mocked the nobleman's foolishness in his heart and glanced at Gordon, "Foolish Northerner, a bunch of nouveau riche without any heritage. Now let me show you what true noble heritage is."