One month later.

The sun has been out for more than ten days, and the clouds in the sky are growing increasingly gloomy.

Have you ever seen snow in the desert?

Joey stood beside Catherine and asked softly.

"I've never seen one. The places I've been before don't have deserts. My father wouldn't let me come to Sandstone City either, saying it wasn't safe!"

Catherine seemed to miss her father, and her mood became low.

"Don't worry, you should be able to go home soon!"

Joey looked up at the sky again, his palms outstretched.

"It's snowing!"

Catherine looked at the snowflake that suddenly appeared in Joey's palm and said with surprise.

"Hmm, this is probably going to be a heavy snowfall!"

The snowflakes on my palm melted quickly, leaving a slight chill in my hand.

The snow scene was not visible above the smelting furnace, as the high temperature melted all the falling snowflakes, but the tobacco fields were already covered with a light layer of snow.

Are we leaving?

Catherine looked at Joey, blinking her big eyes.

"Don't flirt with me, I've put up with you for a month!"

Joey took a deep breath, suppressing his impulse towards Catherine. He hadn't been able to resist hugging her last time and had been lectured for a long time. As an intern, he already had experience with this.

"It should be soon, but before that, there are some people I'll probably need to meet first. They should be arriving soon too!"

Joey shifted his gaze from Catherine to a tall, slender figure walking towards them through the thin snow.

"Then I'll head back now!"

When Catherine saw someone approaching, she chose to avoid them; the closer they got to the end, the more cautious she needed to be.

"Okay, be careful not to slip!"

Joey wanted to take her back, but seeing that Lykins had already arrived, he decided it was better not to leave now. Keeping Lykins away from the furnace was more important than anything else.

Catherine agreed and turned to walk towards the smelting furnace.

"Mr. Joey!"

From a distance, Leigh Kings had already waved to Joey.

"Mr. Legkins!"

Joey also forced a welcoming smile from the corner of his mouth.

"I didn't expect it to snow. I should have come a day earlier!"

Leigh rubbed his hands together; it seemed he had been a bit chilly on the way.

"Yes, I didn't expect it to snow today!"

Joey stood still, showing no intention of taking Leigh to the furnace.

Leigh was slightly taken aback, realizing what Joey meant, but he wasn't angry, since his business with Joey wasn't finished yet.

"Um... Mr. Joey, what I want..."

"Everything is ready. You can arrange for someone to come and pick it up!"

"Really? That's a huge help! I was worried you wouldn't be able to finish it in such a short time!"

Leigh had originally planned to finish about half of it, but Joey had actually finished it all, which exceeded his expectations.

However, it also confirmed to him that Joey was indeed a mage, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to do this, which made him respect Joey even more.

"Okay, okay, I'll go back and arrange for someone to come over right now."

After finishing his sentence, Leigh turned and left, showing no intention of continuing the conversation with Joey.

However, he hadn't gone far when he suddenly turned around and looked at Joey.

He looked embarrassed and said somewhat awkwardly, "Mr. Joey, could you postpone that payment for a few days? I'll pay you as soon as I close my next deal!"

"no problem!"

Adhering to the principle of conducting business through friendly negotiation, Joey readily agreed.

He had been worried about selling so much ore, but now that he had exchanged it for 1,000 gold coins, he felt he had made a profit.

As for the final payment, it would be a bonus if there was one, but it wouldn't be a big deal if there wasn't, since Big Beard and Martha had already decided that there would only be 1,000 gold coins.

But Joey was even more curious about the next deal that Leggins had just mentioned.

...

The City Lord's Mansion.

"Lord of the City, I'm back!"

The dwarf knelt on one knee before Lord Saril, but they did not meet in the original hall. Instead, they went to a smaller room, which, importantly, had no pillars.

"Are you alone?"

When the dwarf returned alone, Shariel's expression turned grim.

"There are still three hundred men outside the city. Because I was worried about alerting them, Captain Zoro sent me back alone to report!"

The dwarf understood the city lord's concerns and hurriedly explained.

"Commander Zoro?"

"The captain of the Third Order of the Sebanon?"

"Yes, it's him!"

"I heard that Saibanda was attacked by the tribe and has fallen. Is he still alive?"

"After I went to Baron City and found Prince Barton, he reported your plan to the King. When Captain Sauron learned of this, he very eagerly volunteered to come, saying that he wanted to kill the troublemakers in the tribe!"

"Excellent! We've already settled old scores, let's add some new ones, and this should do the trick!"

A sinister smile appeared on Sarriel's face. He had to make sure that his plan was foolproof.

"Lord City Lord, there is one more thing I need to report to you!"

The dwarf didn't finish his sentence; he had to save the bad news for later.

Shariel looked on, curious about what the dwarf would say next.

"Commander Sauron discovered traces of an orc army on his way here!"

"Orcish legions?"

Shariel's eyebrows furrowed into a deep frown; he had a bad feeling.

"Commander Zoro has already sent scouts to investigate; we should have news soon!"

"Alright, go back and meet up with Captain Zoro later. Let me know immediately if there's any news!"

"yes!"

The dwarf got up and left, leaving Sarriel alone in the room.

Saril walked slowly to a suit of armor hanging there, which was covered with knife marks and sword marks, with a long spear standing to one side.

"Father, you fought bravely to build Sandstone City. This time, you must also protect your son and kill all those who are disturbing Sandstone City!"

Saril took off his armor and put it on. Although he looked battered and bruised, he still exuded a heroic air after putting it on.

It seems that this great battle is drawing ever closer.