Around noon, Levi found Knight Si Kai in the merchant caravan’s camp, grooming his warhorse and preparing to depart.

"Knight Si Kai, I need you to deliver this letter to Miss Liya. Please give the Duke my regards as well."

Si Kai took the wax-sealed envelope and solemnly tucked it inside his tunic.

"Rest assured, Lord. I will see that it is delivered."

Levi nodded.

He would rather entrust the letter to Si Kai than to Miriel, precisely because the middle-aged knight possessed a true knightly spirit.

Levi had always been a good judge of character. This was the kind of man who valued his creed and honor more than his own life; he would never stoop to secretly reading the letter.

’Not that I’m afraid of anyone reading it, of course.’

’Lord Li has always been upright and honorable, open and aboveboard his entire life!’

With his hands clasped behind his back, the Lord watched the merchant caravan depart. A cool breeze blew, and he felt a strange sense of emptiness, shaking his head to dispel the fleeting sentiment.

The departure of Muto and the merchant caravan had certainly diminished some of the life and bustle in High Cliff Castle.

But within a few days, more smoke and fire began to rise over High Cliff Castle.

Slaves served as laborers under the direction of the Feder Craftsmen, erecting one earthen blast furnace after another not far from the Bengyong River.

Under the persuasive influence of the Lord’s three-finger-thick Cowhide Whip, the two Wendigo Beasts became much more cooperative, beginning to haul mined iron ore from the Feder Tribe to High Cliff Castle.

These two Giant Beasts stood two and a half meters tall at the shoulder, weighed over a thousand pounds, and possessed incredible stamina, making them perfect for hauling cargo.

A single Wendigo Beast could pull a wagon piled high with iron ore, consuming only ten bundles of ryegrass per hundred kilometers.

And such lush green grass grew everywhere in the Wilderness.

The most experienced Blacksmith in the Feder Tribe was a man named An Zhi. The moment the Lord laid eyes on him, he was certain the man would get along well with Dwarf Blacksmiths.

He was a short old man with white hair and a full beard. Whether from his long years of smithing or not, his frame was stout and densely muscled.

If the Lord hadn’t asked if he was a Dwarf—a question that angered the old man so much he nearly produced his family tree—no one would have doubted he had Dwarf blood in him.

The name, however, reminded the Lord of the Dwarf named Migen. ’Speaking of which, I still owe him six hundred Gold Coins.’

Since the Feder Tribe and the Evil Fang Tribe had joined him, they had voluntarily presented their wealth, causing the Lord’s personal coffers to swell once more to over two thousand Gold Coins.

But Levi had no intention of repaying the debt immediately. ’After all, the contract gives me a year, which means sometime next July or August.’

’Six hundred Gold Coins now is worth far more to me than six hundred Gold Coins next year.’

An Zhi poured the prepared charcoal into the blast furnace, added iron ore in the correct proportions, and then removed the separated dross. He repeated this process again and again.

This continued until only irregular, variously sized chunks of crude iron remained. Finally, these chunks were melted down into molten iron and cast into palm-sized, trapezoidal ingots.

Once cooled, they were stacked in neat rows. These ingots could then be used directly, whether for forging weapons or Armor.

To further improve the quality of the iron, the carbon content would need to be reduced. Through additional refinement, it could be made into steel.

And weapons forged from Fine Steel were highly sought-after goods anywhere on the Middle Ages Continent.

Zat squatted on the ground like a curious bear, watching the ingots slowly cool. He scratched his bald head, unable to comprehend how rock-like iron ore could turn into bars of iron just by being burned in a fire.

Truthfully, he had come over specifically hoping to secretly learn the craft. After all, the Beastmen lacked Blacksmiths, and he believed that with their intelligence and eagerness to learn, they could become just as good at forging weapons as those potato-shaped Dwarves.

"Stop staring. You’re only suited for swinging a hammer."

Levi couldn’t stand the look of limpid stupidity in his eyes.

However, it did give Levi an idea. ’In a world with such backward technology, things like blacksmithing rely entirely on manpower.’

’Therefore, a powerfully built man is naturally suited for the forge.’

’Although these Federation People are skilled smiths, and are considered burly for humans, they really can’t compare to other races like Beastmen or Trolls.’

’High Cliff Castle’s smithing industry is booming now. All it needs are some employees willing to work around the clock.’

The Lord was actually considering whether he should go capture a few Trolls or Ogres specifically to swing the sledgehammers.

’After all, it would be a real shame to let such hulking brutes go to waste. They’re perfect for smithing.’

But all that would have to wait a few days. Right now, Levi had something more important to verify.

Several experienced Feder Blacksmiths led their Apprentices, setting up a row of anvils and beginning to forge the iron ingots into weapons.

That brute Zat also joined in, grabbing a smithing hammer. The Iron Hammer, which looked quite large in the hands of a Federation Person, appeared as comically small in his grip as a water bottle in O’Neal’s hand.

Levi bought a Double-Bladed Axe from his system—the one specifically used by the Tier Five Beastman Giant Axe Guards—and instructed the Blacksmiths to forge a weapon as similar to it as possible.

He was conducting a simple experiment.

Soldiers from the system all came with standard-issue equipment. For example, the Tier Four Soldier had its Warhammer, while the Tier Five Giant Axe Guard had its Double-Bladed War Axe, Horned Iron Helmet, and Iron Armor.

This equipment could always be purchased from the system’s store.

But his military budget had been so tight before that the Lord had to stretch every coin as far as it would go. As a result, he had never once fully equipped his Beastmen with a complete set of standard-issue gear from the system.

The Beastman Guard Team had always used weapons purchased from the Migen Weapon Shop in Bailiu City, and even the Stitched Armor they wore was pieced together from individual parts the Lord had bought.

So far, this approach didn’t seem to have any negative effects; every time the Beastman Barbarians advanced a tier, their power still increased significantly.

But Levi wanted to know if there was a real purpose behind the system providing different standard-issue equipment for soldiers at each stage.

In other words, was there a difference between having the Barbarians use equipment from the system versus equipment he had crafted in the real world? Would the standard-issue system gear provide a greater boost to their power?

The Feder Blacksmiths were all highly experienced. The moment they handled the Double-Bladed War Axe Levi had bought from the system, they were full of praise, declaring that the weapon was undoubtedly the work of a master craftsman.

Everything from its weight and form to the exquisite patterns etched upon it was simply perfect.

"Lord, we can’t guarantee we can forge a weapon comparable to this one. We can only try our best to minimize the difference."

the Feder Blacksmith finally said with great regret.

"It’s fine. Just do your best," Levi reassured him. "The most important things are the weight and the shape; there’s no need to worry about the decorative patterns at all."

He had never expected the Blacksmiths to forge a weapon identical to one from the system anyway. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

’The system’s weapons were expensive, but their quality was undeniable. You truly got what you paid for.’