Chapter 871: Dawn City

While Joan was chatting with his mentor, there was a knock on the door.

Duoer heard the movement, ran out of the kitchen wearing an apron, and cast a consulting look at Professor Moriarty.

Professor Moriarty waved his hand.

Duo'er nodded knowingly, turned around and hid back in the kitchen.

Seeing Duo'er's home attire, Joan thought, she is really not suitable to open the door to welcome guests dressed like this.

Professor Moriarty went to open the door himself, and invited a young man in his twenties to come in.

This well-dressed young gentleman is Harry Kaufman, the manager of the hot spring hotel "Happy Palace", the only son of Mr. David Kaufman, and he is here to send invitations to Mr. Professor.

Master Kaufman is tall and thin, with curly brown hair, wearing a pair of myopia glasses, and a handsome smile on his handsome face, which is neither too affectionate nor cold.

Accompanied by his mentor to entertain guests, Joan secretly compared Harry Kaufman with rich young masters he had come into contact with, such as Thomas Chap, and vaguely felt that the millionaire heir gave him a little impression violation.

Harry Kaufman's appearance and demeanor were impeccable, and his speech and behavior were very decent. He seemed to be the kind of well-educated and polite boy.

But Joan felt that this person lacked personality and was not confident enough. He seemed to be suppressing his true emotions intentionally or unintentionally. The smile on his face all the time was more like a habitual disguise.

Harry Kaufman's demeanor is not so much the heir of a millionaire, but more like a servant around a dignitary, a secretary next to a big boss, a small civil servant and the like.

In him, Qiao An didn't feel the kind of arrogance and sharpness that rich young men would more or less have.

Professor Moriarty seemed extremely enthusiastic about the soon-to-be "happy" Master Kaufman.

As soon as they met, they held hands with each other, and claimed to be proficient in the art of palm reading, and could predict Master Kaufman's future fortune through palm lines.

Master Kaufman smiled and said a few perfunctory words, obviously not interested in Mr. Professor's charlatan tricks.

Professor Moriarty insisted on reading his palm for him, and even gave Joan a wink, asking him to testify that his physiognomy is absolutely reliable.

Qiao An was very helpless, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and "do perjury", bragging about his mentor's physiognomy against his conscience.

The master and apprentice teamed up to fool around, half persuading and half forcing, and finally forced Master Kaufman to accept Professor Moriarty's kindness and agreed to ask him to take a look at his palmistry.

Professor Moriarty became more energetic now, claiming to keep Master Kaufman's fortune a secret, otherwise his physiognomy would not work, and dragged him to the study for a secret talk.

Seeing this, Qiao An tactfully got up and said goodbye.

After leaving Moriarty's laboratory, the strange feeling in Joan's heart still persisted.

The mentor used to talk with people and never avoided himself, but this time it was unusual. He clearly indicated that he did not want to be present, otherwise there would be no need to drag Harry Kaufman to the study for a secret talk, and when he asked to leave, the mentor Didn't keep it either.

Professor Moriarty's abnormal behavior aroused Joan's curiosity.

Teacher and Master Kaufman, what private things do you want to talk about?

As for the "palm reading" and so on, in Qiao An's view, it was just a "cover" for the professor to fool Master Kaufman.

Anyway, Mr. Professor is proficient in the spells of the school of prophecy, and it is not difficult to divination for others. As for whether to refer to the other party's palm reading, it is irrelevant.

After Joan thought about it, the woman who was about to become Master Kaufman's stepmother was the professor's ex-girlfriend.

When these two people talked about the marriage contract between Mrs. Josephine and Mr. Kaufman, it was inevitable that they were a little embarrassed. It was reasonable for them not to want to let themselves, an outsider, listen to some things.

Thinking of this, Joan was relieved.

...

"City of Dawn" Dunning Castle is located about 200 miles south of Midgard City. It is located in the shallow area of ​​the ancient abyss "Jinlungar", about 600 yards from the ground.

This city established by the half-drow people is also an important dock for the trade between the surface peoples and the underground peoples.

Since the city is located on the outskirts of the abyss and the terrain is low, even at noon there is only dim light like dawn. Such an environment is very suitable for Bandrow.

Half-drow are the hybrid descendants of humans and dark elves.

Most half-drow take a stand as ambiguous as their gray skins, happy to remain neutral between the surface world and the Underdark, both ways.

Half drows generally don't have a clear view of right and wrong, and the only thing they care about most is the word "interest".

Most of them call themselves "businessmen". They are not only keen to trade with surface creatures, but also maintain close contact with distant relatives in the Underdark in private.

People who hate this group of hybrids call the half-drow "grey-skinned yugoloths" because their mercenary principles are almost the same as those of the "burning hell" yugoloths.

It is said that the half-drow of Donning Castle generally worship a demigod called "The Madonna", and the half-drow priests can even obtain divine spells from the "Mother".

Of course, these rumors have never been based on real evidence. The half-drow are unwilling to talk about their beliefs publicly, and they don't care about other people's beliefs. The most important thing is that they can bring benefits to them.

In Castle Donning, there is one law that reigns supreme:

You can do whatever you want, as long as you don't hinder the transaction.

For centuries, trade has been the lifeblood of Castle Donning's prosperity.

In the New World, Midgard, New Avalon, and Andran all claim to have "the best marketplaces in the world," but those marketplaces pale in comparison to those at Donningburg.

The city's busy markets sell all kinds of goods, from the everyday, the common, the familiar, the illegal, the dangerous, the outlandish...

Buyers from all over the New World often come to Fort Dunning to purchase the goods they need.

There are also traders from the old world and even other dimensions gathered here.

On any given street, one might encounter a half-drow slaver from Donenburg, a dwarven jeweler from Nidaville, or a devil from hell.

Fort Donning's relaxed trade policy allows it to provide services and goods that cannot be obtained elsewhere in the New World.

The most famous specialty of Dunning Castle is an alchemy called "Phantom Dew".

This addictive drug is a very strong hallucinogen. The raw material is said to be a kind of cactus that grows in the Muspelheim desert in the south. Its seeds and curds are taken and fermented and extracted by a special process. Prepared phytoalkali solution.

After ingesting "Phantom Dew", there will be strong visual and auditory hallucinations in a short period of time. These inexplicable hallucinations usually last for seven or eight hours, or even more than twelve hours.