CHAPTER 324: CHAPTER 324: ONE OF EUROPE’S THREE HOLY SWORDS

Today’s information: One of the three Holy Swords—residents of a district in Paris are selling old household items, including a longsword once used by the Holy Knight Roland. Go and buy it for a successful find.

Pictures and the location of the relevant items are attached on the second page.

Hmm?

After returning from a visit to Reya’s vineyard and taking a nap at the hotel, Chen Yiyang got up in the morning and saw today’s find information. He felt as if he hadn’t woken up yet.

The sword once used by the Holy Knight Roland, Chen Yiyang was familiar with it.

This sword, without surprise, should be called Durandal, one of the three major Holy Swords of Europe.

Thanks to Japan’s extreme admiration for European culture, many famous figures and items in European history appear in Japanese anime and games.

So, Chen Yiyang also knew of the great name of Durandal.

The owner of Durandal was Roland, the first knight of Europe to have the name of Holy Knight.

And the monarch whom Roland served at the time was Emperor Charlemagne, who founded the Charlemagne Empire.

This empire disintegrated after Charlemagne’s death, eventually splitting into France, Germany, and Italy.

According to legend, Durandal was bestowed upon Charlemagne by an angel, and Charlemagne then gave it to Roland.

Later, Roland died in battle, and the sword became lost.

Of course, it’s not to say entirely lost.

A sword has been hanging on a cliff in a small town in France for years. Locals claim this sword is the legendary Durandal, which Roland, before his death, threw to prevent it from falling into enemy hands.

So, this sword flew across most of France and ended up stuck in the cliff of their small town.

Of course, it’s impossible to know how many times the sword hanging on the cliff had been secretly replaced over the centuries, weather-beaten and yet perfectly preserved.

No French artifact expert would think this sword is the legendary Durandal.

It’s said that this replica sword was mysteriously stolen before the Olympics held in France. No one knows if it was a local act to boost tourism.

After a simple breakfast, Chen Yiyang called a guide, informing him that he was planning to explore outside.

"Are you going to the Thirteenth District?" The guide immediately said after hearing where Chen Yiyang wanted to go, "Then you’ll need to bring bodyguards with you."

"No problem, but is the Thirteenth District really that unsafe?" Chen Yiyang asked curiously.

"Paris has twenty central districts—the First, Fourth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, and Sixteenth are famous tourist areas with plentiful attractions, also wealthy areas of Paris.

The high cost of living here ensures security, with plenty of police presence. At most, there might be some petty theft, but violent incidents rarely occur.

The Second, Third, Fifth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Districts have more museums and universities but fewer attractions, relatively safe and convenient.

The Tenth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Districts are the working-class areas of Paris. Here you can genuinely experience the daily life of Parisians, but be cautious around the nearby wholesale markets and the North Station, which are somewhat chaotic, though unlikely any incident would occur if not visiting alone.

The Seventeenth, Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth Districts are predominantly Arab and Black communities, so the security environment, you understand. Even with bodyguards, I wouldn’t recommend visiting these districts.

"What about the Thirteenth District?" Chen Yiyang asked with curiosity.

"The Thirteenth District is a Chinese community. People living in this district generally abide by the law. However, since the Chinese tend to carry large amounts of cash when going out, many thieves from other districts like to operate in the Thirteenth District.

If you’re just going there for a stroll, bringing bodyguards makes it absolutely safe."

"Alright, I got it." Chen Yiyang nodded.

With two bodyguards, Chen Yiyang rode in a minivan from the hotel all the way to the Thirteenth District.

This indeed is a Chinese gathering area, with many streets and markets filled with Chinese signage.

Walking along the road, all he heard was Mandarin.

For a moment, Chen Yiyang thought he had returned to his homeland.

The place given by the find information was in a street market within the Thirteenth District.

This market has a special area for selling various old furniture and miscellaneous items of the residents.

The welfare of the main European countries is generally good, and residents do not have issues with affording meals.

However, the transaction rate of second-hand items has always been high, and people generally prefer purchasing second-hand items for use.

The reason is that old Europe can no longer produce a large number of low-priced industrial products.

The United States also cannot produce them, but it does not stop them from printing US Dollars to buy cheap goods from Huaxia. When old ones break, just replace them with new ones.

However, the Euro printed by old Europe is not as easily used as the US Dollar.

To buy things from Huaxia, they still need to spend US Dollars.

Over time, these high-welfare states of Europe, especially France’s US dollar reserves, became insufficient.

So, the main reason for the global economic decline in recent years is that old Europe has been spending more money annually than it earns.

And they cannot just print money like the United States, resulting in a gradual decline in the consumption power of residents and spreading to other fields.

But saying so much, actually, Chen Yiyang just wanted to sigh over how the French market truly has all sorts of second-hand home goods.

People even brought out washing machines produced over a decade ago for sale.

But the prices are indeed cheap.

After wandering around this market for a while, Chen Yiyang arrived at his destination: a small stall of modest size.

The stall owner was a young mixed-race girl, seemingly a descendant of a Huaxia and French union.

Chen Yiyang approached, trying to greet her in Mandarin.

The girl’s Mandarin was average, but she could communicate with some stuttering.

"Are you a tourist from Huaxia?" The girl guessed Chen Yiyang’s identity and enthusiastically introduced herself, "Although I have Huaxia blood, the last person from our family to have been to Huaxia was my great-grandfather."

"That long ago?"

"Yes, my great-grandfather was a Chinese laborer during World War I who stayed in France afterward."

World War I Chinese laborers, huh.

During World War I, Huaxia sent about 140,000 Chinese laborers to Europe.

Later, about three thousand Chinese laborers remained in France, as they married French wives.

But that’s already almost a hundred years ago.

Chen Yiyang did not expect this girl to still have such distinctly Huaxian features.

One can only say the genes are strong.

"Here are some items that belonged to my great-grandfather and great-grandmother. My great-grandmother was a collector back in the day, and after she passed away, my great-grandfather preserved her collection and no longer sold them to others.

But I’m currently short on money, so I have to sell them now. Would you like to take a look?"