Come, let me see.

Sejuani's face immediately turned as if it had been roasted on fire, and a hint of annoyance flashed between her brows.

"Hey! What are you doing!"

Despite her angry outburst, Sejuani neither backed down nor reached out to stop them.

Herren's hand merely gestured at Sejuani's hip.

"Let me get a general feel for your size. Perhaps I can forge you a suit of armor... at least it will give you more freedom of movement."

Upon hearing Heron's explanation, Sejuani breathed a sigh of relief.

So it was just for measuring body shape... Pshaw! So it was for measuring body shape after all!

"Why don't you just say it directly? Why all the mystery..."

"What? Did I offend you?"

"...No, not either."

Sejuani shook her head, trying to clear her mind.

"But what's the point of armor?"

"If you lose, a good suit of armor can save your life. If you win... with armor on your back, you don't have to kill your mother. I think... after all, they are mother and daughter, there's no need to make it a life-or-death struggle."

"No... We, mother and daughter, don't need you to worry about us... I think you always have some inexplicable compassion, just like Ash."

"Perhaps."

Herren shrugged, neither confirming nor denying; he didn't think it was a bad thing.

"So... how long will it take to make the armor?"

"I'm not sure, maybe... a day or two?"

When Heron was in the Hearth, he mostly practiced forging iron. Although he had thousands of years of knowledge about armor making, he had no experience in forging a complete set of armor due to limited materials.

Therefore, one or two days is just a conservative estimate, and more time may be needed to allow for errors.

"A day or two? No... that's too long."

Sejuani frowned.

"A day or two is a long time? Why are you in such a hurry?"

"..."

The Frostguards could arrive at any time, perhaps today, perhaps tomorrow. Gugia was about to betray Harren to those men in black robes... Sejuani couldn't wait any longer.

But perhaps it was her feminist spirit at play, or perhaps she felt that Winter's Claw owed Harren something, but Sejuani didn't tell Harren the truth... Moreover, she felt that even if she told Harren, he would most likely make the same choice as Ashe—to leave alone and not cause any trouble.

Sejuani didn't want to go through that again, and she was willing to fight for it even if it meant death.

"I said I don't have time, and I mean it... Never mind."

"Hmm... okay then."

After thinking for a moment, Herren had no choice but to settle for second best and took out the Bloodthirsty Flail, which was already starting to gather dust, from his pack.

"Here, this is for you."

"This is... that weapon you always carry with you?"

"It was true before, but not anymore. My entropy power is much easier to use than this... I always feel like I'll shake my head off first when I use this."

Sejuani reached out and picked up the Bloodthirsty Flail. The weight of it made her arm muscles tense up in order to lift it completely.

A strange power surged into her body. Sejuani could clearly feel that the weapon seemed to be feeding back to her, transferring its power into her body...

"Another enchanted weapon? I... I'm not sure if I can handle the flail; I've heard it's difficult to use."

"Trust me, you'll find it very easy to use."

Harren said with great certainty, after all, Sejuani in the original timeline used a True Ice flail, which she wielded with incredible power... It was made by connecting a whole block of True Ice with chains, and it was definitely much heavier than Bloodthirst, a weapon forged from cold iron.

"……Thanks."

Sejuani's eyelashes drooped slightly. After hesitating for a moment, she did not refuse. She did urgently need to improve her chances of winning... and this was not for her own sake.

"Has anyone else besides me told about this? Like Ercas and the others?"

"No, I only told you."

Sejuani answered instantly and decisively, making Herren laugh.

"What? Are you trying to make me grateful for your trust?"

"If possible, that would be best."

Sejuani was in a much better mood and even had the energy to crack a few jokes.

Besides, I'm going to risk my life for you, so it's only fair that I expect some gratitude in return...

"So, is there anything else I can help you with?"

"You don't need to do anything, just wait for news... If I succeed and become the War Mother, I will build you a separate furnace and send people to help you collect materials... If you continue to show unnecessary compassion, as the War Mother, I also have the right to indulge you..."

"Alright, alright, there's no need to make empty promises to me so early. I'm not hungry yet."

Herren returned to his main focus on forging iron, continuing his hammering and tinkering.

Sejuani nodded upon hearing this, but the smile on her face gradually disappeared.

"If I fail... don't bother collecting my body, just get out of Winter's Claw as fast as you can, the farther the better, whether you go to find Ashe or somewhere else."

"Walk?!"

Herren paused in his forging, his gaze sharpened, and he raised his head.

After staring at Sejuani for a while, Heron calmly asked.

"What happened?"

"What?"

"You're hiding something from me, aren't you?"

"Ha, what nonsense are you thinking? Do I look like the kind of person who keeps things to myself?"

Sejuani acted confidently and didn't seem guilty at all.

Deceiving, like murder, is a survival tactic that Sejuani is very good at.

Herren stared at her for a long time, but couldn't figure out what was going on, so he looked away and continued to work diligently on his blacksmithing.

"Okay, if anything comes up, you'd better let me know first."

"I will... Well then, thank you for the weapon. I need to go back and practice more, otherwise I might end up cracking my head open first."

"Whatever."

As Sejuani turned and left, disappearing from Harren's sight, Harren immediately dropped what he was doing, hung his hammer at his waist, then his Heartsteel on his chest, and finally raised the power of entropy.

Finally, he looked at old Ian in the distance, shouted loudly, and after Ian turned around, he pointed to the fire and gave him instructions.

"Ian, keep an eye on things for me. Make sure you remove all the impurities from the remaining cold iron ore. I'm going out for a bit; I'll need it when I get back."

"Huh? Me?"

Old Ian pointed blankly to himself.

It's just about removing impurities from the raw ore, which is actually quite simple for old Ian.

But the thought that he was doing part of a master forging process... made him feel flattered.

Helen didn't say much. After giving his instructions, he hurriedly left with the power of entropy.

Old Ian was left stunned for a while before rushing to the stove.

"This might be a test, an opportunity, a chance... If I do well enough, the master might take me as his apprentice..."

Old Ian was full of energy, as if he had become twenty years younger. He swung his hammer so hard that it was impenetrable. A piece of raw ore that could be cleaned of impurities in a few minutes took him half an hour to polish...