KNIGHT OF THE END

An Unexpected Discovery

Just at this moment， that figure also noticed Julian standing at the door， hurriedly turned around， and walked towards him.

"Hello， customer!"

It was a burly middle-aged man; he was bare-chested， only wearing a leather garment tied around his waist， and his strong， powerful arms possessed muscle groups no less than a bodybuilder's. His bronze skin and resolute face made him look somewhat serious， but the words that came out of his mouth were inevitably a bit exasperatingly funny.

"Welcome to the Silver Plate Blacksmith Shop. Our shop boasts excellent craftsmanship and superior quality. May I ask what you need? A pitchfork， a hoe， or a kitchen knife?"

"This..."

This baffling opening remark left Julian slightly stunned， but he quickly snapped back to his senses and spoke.

"I want a sword."

"A sword?"

Hearing this， the middle-aged man froze for a moment; he carefully sized Julian up， then seemed to adjust his expression， but his next words were completely beyond Julian's expectations.

"I say， customer， what do you need a sword for? In our Twilight Mountains， there are no bandits or thieves， and those wild beasts hide far away deep in the old forests. You don't want to imitate those adventurers and go exploring， do you? We don't sell any swords or blades here. What's so good about things meant for fighting and killing? Why don't you take a look at our kitchen knives? Look， this kitchen knife has a thin pattern on both sides， and there's also that fruit knife， which is very easy to peel with and of moderate length， guaranteed not to hurt your fingers. Seeing as it's your first time in Twilight Town， I'll sell them to you for two silver coins!"

"..."

Julian held his forehead and let out a long sigh， then raised his head， looking seriously at the middle-aged man in front of him.

"I only want a sword， a common standard-issue one is fine too. Do you have any here?"

"Then I can only say I'm sorry， customer."

Facing Julian， the middle-aged man helplessly spread his hands.

"We don't have any swords to sell you here. After all， I think you've seen it too， Twilight Town isn't big， and no one needs to buy swords， so we generally rarely forge them."

Hearing this， Julian sighed helplessly; it seemed he was indeed quite naive to think nothing had changed， but in the end， he hadn't expected that this world truly was changing at every moment.

"Then， I hope you can forge a common standard longsword. That shouldn't be a problem， right?"

"This..."

The middle-aged man scratched his head in a tight spot， his face revealing a hint of shame for the first time.

"I'm very sorry， I don't know how."

"..."

"Because back in the day， my dad said that no one would come to this godforsaken place， and we only forge things for our own people to use. Learning to forge swords and blades is a waste of time， and besides， fighting and killing are too barbaric... so he didn't teach me."

"..."

A blacksmith who doesn't know how to forge a sword?

Julian stared at the blacksmith in front of him with an unchanged expression， but deep inside， he sighed helplessly.

"Do you really not have a single sword?"

"Hmm..."

Hearing Julian's words， the middle-aged man couldn't help but frown. He could also see that the youth in front of him genuinely needed one， and country folks were always simple and honest by nature. Being able to help others was naturally for the best， so the middle-aged man didn't decline. Instead， he tried his best to recall， and finally， seeming to have thought of something， he suddenly clapped his hands heavily.

"Oh right, my grandfather once left behind some weapons; they might still be usable."

"Oh?"

Hearing this， Julian's eyes lit up. The grandfather this middle-aged man spoke of was probably the same blacksmith he had encountered here back then. He had to admit， that old blacksmith's skills were truly quite good， and the quality was top-notch. That was why， after his rebirth， Julian had specifically come to this small town to find his descendants. In Julian's mind， even if the old man's successor didn't have any innovations， as long as he could learn seventy or eighty percent of the old blacksmith's techniques， it would be enough to meet his needs. But unexpectedly， although the other party had indeed learned seventy or eighty percent of the old blacksmith's skills... all he made were kitchen knives.

However， the middle-aged man didn't say anything more to Julian. He hurriedly rushed to the back room， rummaged through a pile of junk for a long time， and only then did he return to Julian carrying a long oilcloth bundle.

"Customer， take a look， I don't know if this meets your requirements."

Saying so， the middle-aged man opened the oilcloth bundle.

What appeared before them was a pitch-black longsword. A simple scabbard wrapped the blade， and from the outside， there didn't seem to be anything unusual about it. However， due to a lack of maintenance， the cord wrapped around the hilt had mostly come loose， and even the handguard was covered in rust. Julian reached out and took the longsword， frowned slightly， then gripped the hilt and drew the sword with a "swoosh."

Different from its simple exterior， the blade of this sword was exceptionally intricate. Along both sides of the edge， a strange groove was carved with bizarre and gorgeous patterns. However， the blade itself was also pitch-black without the slightest gleam， and it even looked a bit like completely decayed ironwork， seemingly devoid of any usable value.

Seeing this， a look of shame appeared on the middle-aged man's face. Although he had never paid much attention to this sword of his grandfather's， he was a blacksmith after all， and selling such a disgraceful item from his own hands was ruining his reputation. Had he known， he should have maintained it properly; even just polishing it would be better than its current broken state.

The middle-aged man did not notice that upon seeing the patterns on this sword's blade， a gleam of pleasant surprise flashed in Julian's eyes.

He really hadn't expected that he actually kept it!

The middle-aged man couldn't tell， but Julian was very clear that this wasn't rust at all. In fact， from the moment he saw the blade of this sword， Julian was already certain that this was a weapon made of Dark Night Refined Iron! Speaking of this Dark Night Refined Iron， it had a huge connection to Julian himself. In his past life， Julian had once found a batch of this Dark Night Refined Iron， and subsequently， Julian had the master of this shop at the time forge it into a sword. As for the remaining portion， he gave it to that old blacksmith as a souvenir. After all， Dark Night Refined Iron was priceless and extremely rare， and seeing how the old blacksmith couldn't bear to part with it at the time， Julian gave the remaining materials to him. Looking at it now， that old blacksmith used those remaining materials to re-forge another sword—presumably， he might have hoped to leave a memento for his descendants， since forging a weapon from Dark Night Refined Iron was considered a blacksmith's dream.

It was just that the old blacksmith probably hadn't expected his descendant would actually become a blacksmith who couldn't even forge a sword...

Dark Night Refined Iron was a magical metal produced only in the Dark Night Forest. However， unlike other metals， the reason this magical metal was precious wasn't just because it possessed excellent magic-breaking abilities， but because of its place of origin—the Dark Night Forest was the capital of the Elves. For those fanatical nature protectors， destroying even a blade of grass or a tree was intolerable， let alone opening mountains to mine ore; to the Elves， this was as painful as digging into their own flesh. Because of this， many people who entered the Dark Night Forest to mine ore stayed in the forest forever. As a force not to be ignored on the continent， no one dared to brazenly invade the Dark Night Forest to mine. And precisely because of this， the price of Dark Night Refined Iron was so high. Back then， Julian had just had a stroke of great luck while passing through the Dark Night Forest and coincidentally "pocketed" a few pieces.

The reason Dark Night Refined Iron was precious was that it possessed an ability called "Soul Conduction." When a wielder grasped a weapon forged from Dark Night Refined Iron， it would act like a water channel， guiding the wielder's soul to fill the weapon. This not only allowed for more flexible and free use but also enhanced the hardness and sharpness of the weapon. In front of a weapon filled with soul power， ordinary iron could pose no threat at all. It could be said that as long as someone wore armor forged from Dark Night Refined Iron and held a weapon forged from Dark Night Refined Iron， they would be an invincible existence on the battlefield.

However， Dark Night Refined Iron also had its own limitations. If the wielder did not have enough soul power， it would instead become the greatest fatal flaw. A fragile soul could not withstand fierce attacks， especially on the battlefield. Once the soul fluctuations became weak， the weapon made of Dark Night Refined Iron would consequently become dull， and might even become completely unusable. Because of this， only the top powerhouses on the continent would use weapons made of Dark Night Refined Iron to fight. Even so， on the current continent， the number of weapons forged from Dark Night Refined Iron was exceptionally rare.

"I'll take it， how much?"

Julian's own longsword had been completely destroyed in the wars of his past life because it couldn't withstand the power. Now， seeing an identical weapon， he naturally wouldn't let this opportunity slip by.

"This..."

Not expecting the customer to actually take a fancy to this piece of scrap iron, the middle-aged blacksmith was stunned. He thought for a moment before speaking.

"Then I'll just charge you thirty silver coins， and if you wish， I can polish it for you for free..."

Using thirty silver coins to buy a weapon forged from Dark Night Refined Iron was a steal no matter how you looked at it. However， Julian didn't take this petty advantage. He spent three gold coins， along with that self-defense short sword—which， according to the market price， was worth at least fifty gold coins—to buy this longsword. Of course， he politely declined the middle-aged man's "kind" offer; Dark Night Refined Iron was no ordinary item， and it was better for Julian to handle such matters himself.

Regarding this price， the middle-aged man obviously found it somewhat unacceptable， but when Julian told him that this sword was forged from precious metal， he said nothing more and readily accepted Julian's payment. As for what precious metal it was， the middle-aged man didn't ask; in his eyes， no matter what kind of metal it was， if it couldn't be used on a kitchen knife， it wasn't a good metal.

After leaving the blacksmith shop， Julian did not immediately return to the castle; after all， he had other things to do on this trip.

"Indeed， this is an official document."

Old Clark narrowed his eyes， carefully examining the seal on the document， which caused the wrinkles on his face to squeeze tightly together.

"So， you are the master of that castle?"

With a somewhat pitying gaze， Old Clark looked at the youth in front of him. How pitiful! He looked no more than seventeen or eighteen years old—how could he be exiled to such a godforsaken place?

"Sigh... It's not that I'm an old man who talks too much, Mr. Julian, but that castle..."

"Those are nothing but rumors， aren't they?"

Julian interrupted Old Clark's words. He leaned back in his chair， fingers crossed， and spoke with a gentle smile.

"I have also heard of those terrifying rumors， but after all， they are merely coincidences. Regardless， this place also belongs to the kingdom's sacred and inviolable territory， so it naturally requires someone to manage it. To retreat just because of rumors of that level would be an act of cowardice."

It is unknown how persuasive these words were coming from the culprit himself， but at least the old mayor in front of him had fallen silent， not planning to say anything more. Obviously， he already viewed Julian as a deceived and foolish noble. Clearly， the other party didn't believe these rumors and even ambitiously attempted to develop this place. But so what? Since that War of the End， this castle had changed lords several times， and which one of them hadn't come here with the same ideas， only to die?

The youth before him would be no different.

"I didn't come here this time to discuss these inconsequential rumors with you， Mr. Clark."

Julian picked up his teacup and， through the radiating steam， gazed at the old man in front of him.

"I have already seen the documents. For a long time， you have paid taxes directly to Chuka City， but now that I have obtained this fief， you should know what to do regarding tax matters."

"Of course， my lord."

The old mayor looked composed; clearly， it wasn't his first time handling this kind of situation.

"We will deliver this month's taxes to your residence the day after tomorrow. As for the operational revenue and expenditure of Twilight Town... I believe you have already seen it."

"Of course."

Julian nodded.

"However， I have something else I'd like to trouble you with on this visit， Mr. Clark. I think you've seen it as well; I came here all alone， and managing the castle is obviously not something I can do by myself. Therefore， I hope you can help me post an employment notice to recruit the residents of this town to serve me... I imagine this shouldn't be a problem for you. Of course， I won't treat them poorly in terms of compensation."

Hearing this， a clear and unmistakable bitter smile appeared on the old mayor's originally serious face.

"Although I'd really love to help you， my lord， please forgive me for being presumptuous， but even if I post the notice in the town， I'm afraid no one will go."

"Oh?"

Hearing this， Julian widened his eyes curiously and casually set down his teacup.

"Is it because of that rumor?"

"That's right."

Facing Julian's inquiry， the old mayor nodded.

"Let me be frank with you， my lord. Many families in our small town have worked in that castle before. For example， Old Marfa， starting from her grandmother， her family has always worked as maids in the castle. There's also Old Bemba， who also worked under two former lords... But to tell you the truth， whether you believe it or not， the people who owned this castle have indeed died inexplicably. And this bizarre matter has had a huge impact on us. Now people regard that place as a demon's curse and don't dare to go there at all; they aren't even willing to get close to the castle. Perhaps you don't know yet， but the old coachman who brought you up the mountain fell seriously ill the day he came back down， and he still hasn't fully recovered..."

That was because he was in a hurry to run away and thus got hurt by the night's chill， right?

"I can certainly understand your thoughts， Mr. Clark."

Julian's voice was soft， gentle， and carried an unquestionable firmness.

"However， I have already made my decision. Whether anyone is willing to go to my castle to work can only be seen after the notice is posted. Giving up before even taking action is not my creed; Doing one's best and leaving the rest to fate is the attitude we humans should have， isn't it?"

Facing Julian's words， Old Clark opened his mouth， wanting to say something， but in the end， he still said nothing. In his view， since this Lord had made up his mind， he should just let him make a fuss. Anyway... no one would be willing to accept his recruitment.

With this thought in mind， the mayor said nothing more and nodded in agreement with Julian's suggestion.