It was already dark, and in the blacksmith's shop, father and son sat around a broken table by the fire, and dinner was still black bread and vegetable soup. The fire burned listlessly, and the dim light reflected the shadows of the three men on the mottled wall, the flames danced, and the figures swayed. Old Tom looked at Richard angrily, and Richard kept his head down and nibbled on bread. Several times my father seemed to want to say something, but in the end he didn't speak, just shook his head and turned to Donner, "Lord Merkel is such a good person!"

Donner didn't understand why his father said this for no reason, but he still made a sincere face to his father and nodded vigorously.

"Your brother doesn't know how thick the sky is, and you play with him. Knights? How can a blacksmith's son be a knight? Have you ever heard of a blacksmith's son becoming a knight?"

Donner still nodded, then reacted, and then shook his head. It was true that he had never heard of a blacksmith's son becoming a knight, and in fact he knew no blacksmith other than his father, let alone their sons.

When his father got up to scoop the soup, Donner kicked Richard under the table, and then made a grimace when Richard looked up at him, and Richard buried his head in the bread to hold back his laughter, and it seemed that it was the black bread in front of him that blocked his knighthood.

"Mr. Merkel said that he would come over tomorrow morning, and you should tell him how he got this sword...... If you can't remember, just say it. ”

Donner still nodded, and his father seemed to forget that he didn't speak.

Although Merkel was only a first-class knight, he served as an official in the knight's school, responsible for managing the school's weapons, and worked as a mercenary when he was young, so he was considered well-informed, but when he saw the strange pattern on Richard's sword, he was no less surprised than the people around him.

Such a strange sword was the work of a young man who had never set foot on the island of Lante, and it is said that this was his first work, and he had never made any iron before that. This is clearly not explained by luck or coincidence. In order to satisfy his curiosity, he proposed to Richard and his son to leave the sword for the night and visit the blacksmith early tomorrow morning. Old Tom looked at the broken half-cut sword on the ground, and he panicked, but of course he immediately agreed.

In the guest room prepared by the fat brother-in-law, the strange long sword was placed horizontally on the desk, and on the spread of stationery beside him, Mr. Merkel from the city of Dorne was writing a letter.

My dear Victor,

Hopefully, by the time you read this letter, your mind hasn't been ruined by those whimsical ideas.

Well, you must remember my sister's Jennifer, right? Assass, crybaby Jennifer, she's a mother of two now.

She married to the southern part of the empire, the island of Lante, a small island that can't be found on the map of the empire, but here, I have encountered a strange thing, and I think you might be interested.

Here I witnessed a fourteen-year-old kid slash the Empire's standard sword with a strange sword. And the sword he used was actually the first work of his brother, the son of a blacksmith, a novice with no experience.

What surprised me even more was that this sword was full of strange patterns, I had never seen such strange patterns, it was different from the patterns used for decoration on the steel swords made by those dwarfs in the north, far more detailed than that, and more ?? Mysterious. I have a feeling that it is these patterns that make this sword sharp and tough. I even wondered if it had something to do with magic?

I tried to ask the kid, but it was difficult to get any useful information from him. Oh, I may have forgotten to say, he's a mute.

How, have I managed to pique the interest of a naturalist?

I'll be staying in the island of Lant until the end of September, and if you're ready to come and see, you'll find me in the taverns on the island.

Old fellow Merkel

Life on the island is simple and regular, and the streets and alleys are slowly becoming lively as soon as the day dawns. Richard unexpectedly got up earlier than his father and brother today, and as soon as the sun was shining on the threshold, he had already carried water and was cleaning.

The spring ploughing has long passed, the autumn harvest has not yet arrived, there is no business of repairing farm tools in the summer, and it is the off-season for the blacksmith shop, so when Merkel walked in, the old Tom was just preparing to make a fire, and when he saw the knight, he immediately asked the eldest son to bring a chair and wipe it clean with his own hands. Richard stood right behind his father, his head bowed, still like a child who had done something wrong, waiting to be punished.

"You may be seated, Mr. Tom. ”

The old blacksmith was a little at a loss, and in a panic he found a small stool to sit down, and his burly body sat on the low stool, a little nondescript.

"Richard is fourteen years old, and I think I can send him to a knight's school, where I rarely see him as a strong child. Richard unconsciously straightened his back, and then looked up at Mr. Merkel's expression to make sure that he was not joking when he said this.

The youngest son was praised by an old man from the city, and old Tom grinned, and when he was halfway through laughter, he suddenly became a little depressed when he thought of something, so his expression became strange: "Blacksmith, blacksmith's son...... Hey hey ......"

Donner suddenly felt that this scene was very similar to the cadres in the countryside and the old farmers in the village.

"What's wrong with the blacksmith's son, it seems to me that both of your sons are remarkable. Merkel said as she drew the corrugated sword, "Reluctantly, I must honestly say that I have never seen such a magical sword." Moreover, I also heard that the sword was made of ordinary wrought iron. Is that so?" asked Donner.

Downer nodded.

"So, can I see how you did it?"

Donner's expression was a little hesitant. If those stories are one-tenth true, compared to the real magic weapons of this world, Damascus steel is nothing at all, and the only benefit may be that the cost of materials is a little lower. He didn't plan to rely on this development, but he was reluctant to hand it over like this.

"Donner, think about it!" the father urged.

Donner made an embarrassed expression, and then lowered his head like Richard, as if he was admitting punishment.

"It's okay, it's okay, let the child think again. Merkel was prepared to solve the mystery without being that simple. He stayed and talked to old Tom for a while before leaving. Before leaving, although he was reluctant, he still left the sword.

After that, Merkel would come to the blacksmith every day for a while, and occasionally ask Donner again, but of course to no avail. From his conversation with Old Tom, he quickly concluded that the other party was indeed just an ordinary country blacksmith.

Donner no longer strikes iron every day. Kelly sometimes came and sat with her uncle for a while. Richard returned to the habit of going out crazy for half a day every day.

Old Tom was no longer so reserved when he talked to Merkel, and he even liked this knight without a frame a little. However, in his opinion, Lord Merkel must be a special case, and the real aristocracy should still be high.

This idea of his was completely overturned on the day Victor came to the island.