KNIGHT OF THE END

The Plan

When the first ray of morning sunlight passed through the window and shone onto the soft bed， Julian had already opened his eyes.

He sat up and looked at the scenery outside the window—surrounded by mountains， under the sunlight， the emerald forest radiated vibrant vitality， and the crisp， melodious bird calls seemed to play a beautiful symphony. Julian focused on admiring the beautiful scenery before him， then revealed a heartfelt smile; he hadn't seen such a beautiful view in a very long time. In that enclosed soul space， although there were luxurious decorations and a warm bed， he couldn't see the beauty of nature， nor could he feel the warmth of the sun. They say people only know how to cherish things after losing them， but now for Julian， he still had a very long time to enjoy this world anew.

The wandering souls had already disappeared into the dark shadows at dawn， returning to their underground world. However， their efficiency was indeed very high. When Julian walked out of his bedroom， what he saw was a clean， tidy corridor; those moth-eaten curtains had all been drawn and neatly gathered on both sides. The dilapidated， dirty glass had become clear and bright， shining like new—if one didn't consider the spiderweb-like cracks on them.

The overgrown weeds on the floor and the cobwebs on the ceiling had also completely vanished， and the dull red carpet had now become brightly colored. The wandering souls strictly executed Julian's requests， perfectly displaying everything they were capable of doing.

In fact， regarding this group of wandering souls， Julian only discovered their existence after taking possession of this castle. Subsequently， leveraging his power as the Knight of the End， Julian signed a contract with these wandering souls and became their master. According to the wandering souls themselves， the location of this castle was once the territory of a certain necromancer. In that distant era， this necromancer mastered a secret art to bind the souls of others and created this batch of wandering souls. According to Julian's guess， that necromancer probably wanted to create a batch of undead servants for his own use， but unfortunately， he went out once before completing this step and subsequently died under an enemy's attack. Thus， this group of wandering souls， bound by the secret art yet unable to obtain physical bodies， was left stranded in this godforsaken place. Later， as time passed， humans occupied this land and built a castle here， forcing the wandering souls to hide and live in the underground shadow world. It wasn't until Julian appeared and discovered the existence of the wandering souls that their fate was changed.

And because being bound by the secret art meant these wandering souls would neither die nor disappear， Julian entrusted them before his death to manage and guard his castle， select powerful souls to absorb， and maintain the operation of the magic circle to facilitate his resurrection.

And from the looks of it， these wandering souls had done a very good job.

However， the only regret was that after the sun came out， they still had to hide back in the underground shadow world. That wasn't because they were afraid of disappearing， but because of the natural fear undead creatures had of the sun. Even if the sun couldn't hurt them， it would significantly weaken the abilities of these wandering souls， rendering them practically no different from air during the day.

And right now， Julian was the only human in his castle—in the youth's memories， although an old coachman had come here with him， the old coachman had quickly bolted after delivering the youth to the castle， leaving this dangerous and eerie place and leaving the youth here alone.

It could be seen that although this youth surnamed "Felix" knew the rumors here， the unique courage and persistence of a young person kept him from retreating. And last night， Julian had also inspected the items carried by the original owner of this body. He had to say， this successor of a fallen noble was incredibly poor; besides food， he only had one change of clothes and a few books on continental history. Of course， the youth also held the documents issued to him by those nobles regarding the granting of the fiefdom; all those documents were real and not forged. Perhaps the nobles had long considered that this kid wouldn't live long there at all， and wasting time and energy to forge them was completely meaningless， so they simply brought out the real certification documents.

This document indicated that he—Julian Felix (for convenience， Julian simply combined his name with the surname on the document， which wouldn't arouse suspicion)—had obtained the governance rights of this castle and the surrounding areas. Like other lords， he needed to pay taxes to the kingdom on time， and dispatch troops to fight to protect the entire country when the kingdom was in trouble. Of course， corresponding to this， he possessed the right to formulate taxes within the territory， the right to conscript troops， and... the jus primae noctis (this is not a typo， you know what it is， yeah).

How utterly boring.

Seeing this， Julian curled his lips. In his past life， he had maintained a skeptical attitude towards this jus primae noctis， especially since the nobles had absolutely no interest in this rule. Although in the beginning， it was indeed created to display the status and power of the lords， in fact， most nobles respectfully declined this power.

The reason was also very simple: as a lord， there were so many things to be busy with every day， especially for those grand lords who owned so many villages and towns under them. People were getting married all the time， and as a lord who couldn't even finish his own tasks， where would he find the time to run around exercising his right of the first night? Taking a step back， once the right was exercised， if offspring were produced later， there would be even more trouble. Nobles always believed their bloodlines were sacred， noble， and inviolable. Therefore， if a commoner gave birth to an offspring with noble blood， the noble must take them back to raise， which became a stain on the noble. In this era， there was no way to verify paternity through things like DNA， so there were many cases of people faking being a lord's child in an attempt to extort money. And for many women， once pregnant with a noble's bloodline， they could obtain money， and even honor (after all， in the eyes of ordinary people， a noble's bloodline was also noble). So sometimes， the eagerness of those brides for the right of the first night far exceeded that of the lord exercising the power.

Because of this， the right of the first night had long become a system that existed in name only. After all， if a noble wanted beautiful women， they could get them through any means， and those getting married weren't necessarily all beauties; if they messed up and attracted a bunch of trouble， it would be bad instead. So up to now， although the right of the first night had not been abolished， its only remaining significance was merely to remind the commoners that they were still the property of the nobles.

This certification document was the most valuable among the items the youth carried. Following that were a dozen or so gold coins， and a short sword for self-defense—this noble descendant was indeed extremely poor.

Although a lord could also collect money from his jurisdiction， Julian was very clear that within his territory， apart from that small town at the foot of the mountain， there were absolutely no other human settlements. Even in the surrounding mountains， there were only wild beasts; one couldn't even see thieves or bandits. Back then， Julian chose this place simply to rest and hide himself， so in his view， having no human presence was actually a good thing， but now Julian found that things might become a bit troublesome.

But before that， there were more important things to do.

Thinking of this， Julian couldn't help but pick up the youth's self-defense short sword. Like other nobles， this kind of self-defense short sword had basically no offensive power to speak of. From the gemstones and gold threads inlaid on its scabbard， one could tell that it was made with aesthetics as the priority， specifically crafted to fool rich people.

As a Knight of the End， what Julian needed most was his own weapon， and this short sword obviously couldn't be used as one. So， he needed something of better quality.

At this thought， Julian suddenly remembered that in the small town at the foot of the mountain， there seemed to be a blacksmith. In his past life， Julian had even forged some interesting little things there. Although seventy years had passed， he figured there wouldn't be any huge changes in such a small town; even if that blacksmith had grown old， his descendants should have inherited the shop.

Without delay， since he had made a decision， Julian had no intention of stopping his actions. Fortunately， that old coachman still had a bit of conscience and left a horse for the youth before leaving， so Julian didn't stand on ceremony. He mounted the horse， passed through the mountain road， and soon arrived at the small town at the foot of the mountain.

It was just that Julian didn't expect his appearance would immediately become the focus of the small town.

As a remote mountainous area， Twilight Town wasn't exactly isolated from the world， but it was definitely a place with very poor mobility. In such a place where outsiders almost never appeared， any unfamiliar face would become the focus and topic of everyone's attention. Because of this， Julian had just entered the small town when he immediately caught everyone's attention.

"Look， that's him， he's the new master of that castle."

"So pitiful， still so young..."

"Holy Grace above... this world is truly..."

Pity， fear， sorrow， doubt， curiosity—all kinds of gazes shot towards Julian， then quickly withdrew. Julian didn't mind their stares， just leisurely rode his horse towards the blacksmith shop in his memory. Although such a closed-off small town had poor mobility， its only advantage was that there were almost no changes. Even after seventy years， walking on the street， Julian could still see many familiar buildings; even the sign of the Rose Tavern was still hanging crookedly， completely unchanged by time. It was as if time in this small town had completely stopped， without any changes.

Because of this， Julian quickly found that blacksmith shop. Compared to seventy years ago， there were a few new changes here; the original old wooden door had a layer of copper cladding added， and the wooden board of the sign had been replaced with brand-new peach wood—for a small town with almost no changes， this bit of change was already considered quite conspicuous.

Standing at the door， Julian took a light breath， feeling the heat and the scent of forging steel coming from inside. Then， a smile appeared on his face as he pushed open the door and walked in.

Then， Julian froze.

As the saying goes， one cannot judge things just by their surface.

It was only today that Julian truly grasped the real meaning of this phrase.

From the outside， this blacksmith shop hadn't changed from before， so Julian had subconsciously assumed that the inside wouldn't have any special changes either. But he hadn't expected the other party to be like a duck paddling in water—all the action was hidden underneath.

The weapons， shields， and armor hanging on the walls in Julian's memory were all completely gone. Replacing them were pitchforks， hoes， and rows of hanging， dazzlingly bright... kitchen knives.

This wasn't a blacksmith shop at all; calling it a farming tool store would be more accurate.

Julian stared blankly at the figure behind the kitchen knives and pitchforks， wielding a hammer and clinking away at forging， and for a moment， he was somewhat speechless.