Ark Undead

"The knights in the city use the latest technology and the best machines to make their armor. It's lightweight, sturdy, and the price isn't as high as ours, which are made by hand."

"We blacksmiths used to be highly sought-after. Now, well, hehe."

The blacksmith shook his head.

"We mainly do the work of restoring old objects, and more often, we create works of art. Occasionally, noblemen from the city will come out with their old armor and weapons and ask us to repair them. Unfortunately, those things will be hung up after they are repaired and will never be used again."

Although I wasn't particularly disappointed, I did feel a bit sentimental.

When blacksmiths were learning their craft, machine-made armor and shields were still considered luxuries of modern industry.

However, with the rise of knightly competitions and the continuous advancement of industrial technology, these old objects and crafts are becoming increasingly outdated.

"But you can rest assured, my ancestors used to make weapons for the Kazimierz border guards. Their craftsmanship is definitely top-notch, they were master craftsmen."

The undead donned his full armor, feeling the weight of the medium-sized armor, and then made some offensive and defensive maneuvers.

Hearing the commotion of the Undead, the blacksmith guessed that the Undead was dressed and came out to see the Undead testing its lightness.

"How is it? Does it fit?"

The blacksmith himself was a little nervous when he asked this question. Just as he said, he hadn't made this kind of full-body armor for several years, and he didn't know if it would suit the dead man's taste.

The Undead stopped, its head completely covered by its helmet, making its expression unreadable.

"good."

His tone didn't change much, but he was indeed praising the blacksmith's craftsmanship.

Upon hearing this, the blacksmith chuckled, his words carrying a hint of pride and satisfaction.

"I wasn't lying to you! The craftsmanship is definitely top-notch."

The Undead nodded. After a moment of silence, he took out another stack of banknotes from his money bag and handed them to the blacksmith.

"What are you doing? Didn't I say I wouldn't pay extra?"

The blacksmith shook his head; he refused to accept the money.

"Grandpa, if you're so kind, give it a nice name."

The blacksmith was still resentful about the incident with the longsword and iron shield, and he was trying to find a way to get back at the blacksmith.

The immortal paused for a moment, took back the banknotes, and then remained silent for a long time.

The blacksmith stared at the undead man, waiting for him to come up with a good name.

The immortal thought and thought, then looked up at the blacksmith.

"Come here and think about it."

"Oh, this..."

The blacksmith had probably prepared himself for the undead to have a common name. But he never expected the undead to throw this problem at him.

The problem is that naming is not a blacksmith's forte, so asking him to name a child is putting him in a difficult position.

The two stared at each other, and finally the blacksmith managed to utter a few words.

"Then... um... the Veteran Knight Armor will do!"

The blacksmith scratched his head. He wasn't exactly an educated man, and this was already his limit.

"After much thought, what I hope for most is to see this armor standing on the stage of a knightly competition one day. If that day ever comes, I should be able to see it covered in wounds."

The blacksmith chuckled.

This is a blacksmith's most sincere blessing to his creation.

"Hehe, how should I put it? Seeing the things they create brought to fruition by their users is the ultimate wish of the artisans of Kazimierz!"

The Undead looked down at the sword and shield in his hand.

Although it wasn't particularly sophisticated, it didn't rank among the best weapons and equipment used by the Undead.

But you can still feel the dedication the creators put into them.

Just as the blacksmith said, he hoped to see the armor of battle-hardened knights covered in scars on the stage of the knightly arena.

For armor and shields, scars are proof of their battlefield experience. If that day ever comes, the creators would surely be overjoyed.

But for the Undead, this statement was not only the blacksmith's own expectation, but also his responsibility.

"it is good."

The Undead nodded; he made this promise.

The blacksmith laughed heartily and couldn't help but give a thumbs up.

"It's a good name, isn't it? I think so too, hahaha!"

The Undead didn't explain what he meant; that's not what he meant.

However, the name is indeed quite good.

Simple and easy to remember.

Just then, the sound of vehicles could be heard outside the blacksmith's shop.

The Undead turned his head and glanced over. There was a car parked in front of the blacksmith's shop, and two people got out of the car.

"That's strange, why have knights been coming to our village so often lately?"

Just as the blacksmith was about to go out to see what was going on, he saw the Undead walk out of the blacksmith's shop, and then two knights outside bowed respectfully to the Undead.

It's Koss and Fran.

The skinny knight Koss saw the undead walking out of the blacksmith's shop and recognized him from the longsword at his waist and the shield in his hand as the fake square-headed man from three days ago.

"Sir, we have come to pick you up as promised."

That day, Kos used firewood to successfully pique the interest of the undead in the knightly race.

They agreed that once the Undead obtained their armor, they would join Kos and the others to enter the city and participate in the Knights' Tournament.

"Ah."

The undead hummed in response, then turned around and waved to the blacksmith.

"I'm leaving."

"Won't you stay a little longer?"

The blacksmith was surprised that the undead were leaving the village so soon. Then he saw the undead come to the vehicle and jump onto the roof.

The heavy armor almost left marks on the vehicle.

Then the Undead lowered his head, looked down at Kos and Fran, and said to them.

"Let's go."

"?" Kos stared blankly for a long time, meeting the eyes of the immortal.

He wanted to appear somewhat confused, but he didn't dare.

"grown ups..."

He walked shakily to the back seat of the vehicle and opened the back door.

Then he looked up and met the undead's questioning gaze once more.

"This is where people should sit."

"..."

The immortal remained silent for a moment, then jumped off the roof of the car and sat in the back seat.

Koss felt that this knight might be somewhat involved, but he dared not ask or say anything.

24. That's it?

"These are your identification documents. Welcome back to Kazimierz, three knights."

The knight guarding the city gate handed three cards to Kos in the driver's seat.

Kos nodded to the garrison knights.

"Thanks for your hard work."

The vehicle slowly entered Kazimir through the city gate. Only after entering the main road did Kos gradually accelerate.

This is the outer city highway, slightly away from the main urban area. However, the prosperity of Kazimir's main urban area can already be seen from a distance.

Skyscrapers, signs high up that even non-dead people can't understand, and airships flying in the sky.

To be honest, when he first saw the airship, he thought it was a round flying dragon.

That night, they fled Kazimierz, and the Undead had no time to stop and admire Kazimierz's prosperity.

Sitting in the car today, looking at the tall buildings outside the window, I felt that this place was quite developed, but I didn't feel any particular sense of unfamiliarity.

It was as if he had seen this kind of modern city before, but he just couldn't remember it.

The immortal thought for a long time but couldn't figure out where he had seen this kind of city before, so he simply continued to observe the city outside.

Everywhere you look, there are signs related to knights.

For example, canned food endorsed by a knight, or knight races sponsored by a company.

Things related to knights are really everywhere; you can see knights everywhere.

The culture of Kazimierz, in essence, is the culture of chivalry.

But now, can chivalry still be associated with honor?

The undead remained silent, stroking his shield through his gauntlets.

Kos, looking in the rearview mirror, saw the Undead observing the city, and he was racking his brains for something to say.

In his guess, the knight was a veteran who had been through many battles and might not have been to Kazimierz for a long time, but he still possessed superb combat skills.

Kazimir has changed dramatically and is now completely different from the Kazimir he remembers.

"Um, what's your name?"

Kos thought for a long time and could only come up with this sentence. He really didn't know what else to say to increase the unknown knight's favorability towards him.