'The world is divided into five major regions.'
'The largest region, northern tundra, is an icy wasteland with nothing in it except glaciers, mountains, frozen rivers, and dungeons. Most of it is inhabited by monsters and mana beasts that have evolved to live in those conditions. It's a dangerous region with a high risk-to-reward ratio.'
'Players usually go there in the late game to get sufficiently high-quality resources to craft elixirs, potions, and one-time use weapons.'
'The second largest is the wildlands that exist south of the northern tundra. It is a large, expansive continental-scale region where the majority of all life exists. This region was even more dangerous. At its core, there even existed colossal mana beasts that could wipe out a mountain with the swing of their tails.'
'The human domain existed west of it, and the fairy domain existed east of it, all separated by mountain ranges, rivers, and other natural barriers.'
'The last region, the demon domain, existed beyond the ocean, on a different land away from the other regions.'
Zephyr thought as he moved through the street in search of a cartographer. The game usually had cartographers in all towns, so he expected one in the town, too.
'The game world is a 2d, limited-scale mapping of this world. Therefore, its regions would be similar.' He noted it down in his mind.
'First, I have to buy a map and find where exactly I am.'
The human domain, although one of the five regions, was also one of the smallest regions, right next to the fairy domain in terms of scale.
It was further divided into four regions: the Azure Kingdom, the Ashland, the Holyland, and the Philarune Empire.
Zephyr was somewhere near the west coast of the Azure Kingdom. When he looked at it from a continental scale, north of him was the Tundra region. The East was the wildland. Further east, separated by wildland, was the fairy domain. South was Ashland, and the rest of the human domain.
If he could get his hands on a map showing the topography of the Azure Kingdom, using his game knowledge, Zephyr would be able to pinpoint his location and decide what he should do next.
After all, he had promised to pay Corvinus the money. To do that, he had many different ideas, such as hunting monsters and mana beasts for their drops, venturing into business, and exploring dungeons. He could do that all or some in no specific order to make money.
'There were gold, elixirs, artifacts, and other items hidden all across the Azure Kingdom. Not all of it might be worth much, but I could still find a few and sell them to Corvinus.'
He thought as he walked closer to a nearby shop. The aroma of the meat bun pulled him closer unknowingly.
Busy men wearing all kinds of clothes, some even wearing metal armour, were waiting in front of the store. However, there were a few who wore robes like Zephyr's.
'Well, grey robes mean nothing. The apprentice mages who never awakened their mana cores would even wear it. Not everyone I see might be a mage. Therefore, they must also not recognise me as a mage.'
Zephyr pulled closer and looked at the buns stacked on a wooden shelf nearby. There were plenty, enough to feed a few dozen already prepared. The oven behind the shop was releasing continuous plumes of smoke, creating more and more buns.
Nearby, he could see a young man prepping wonderful-smelling meat fillings. An older man behind him was filling the fresh dough with the fillings, throwing them into the large oven at the back end of the shop. Another young man was serving the customers meat buns wrapped in paper.
Zephyr was a little surprised to see the orderly manner in which they were serving customers. Besides that, the buns looked too good to be made in the current timeline.
'Perhaps, the presence of mana had something to do with it. Cooking techniques must have evolved to utilize mana. Similarly, flour, which should be available only to nobles, must have become common.'
'Anyway, it's a nice bonus. I could eat food from now on.'
The world was not as backward as he predicted it to be. This was a good thing for Zephyr.
He stepped closer and stood behind the row of customers, waiting for his chance to buy the buns.
However, one of the knights serving Viscount Whitewater noticed his presence and swiftly stood up. Bowing lightly, he walked closer and asked.
"Sir Zephyr, are you here to buy buns?"
Zephyr was surprised by his enthusiastic inquiry. Still, he nodded.
"Yes."
"Oh! Then let me pack some for you." The knight wearing armour dashed to the door leading to the backside of the counter as if he had done it a thousand times.
Then he stopped, realizing his mistake.
"How many do you need?" He inquired with an embarrassed smile.
Zephyr smiled, lifting his hand to show two.
"Two…I will get it right now."
The knight replied, going up to the wooden shelf, taking out two buns. He carefully wrapped the buns in paper before returning to Zephyr with them.
Many of the men standing nearby curiously looked at the enthusiastic knight, wondering what was happening.
The knight was a young man who had been recently selected as a knight because of his exceptional talent. Most of the shop's regulars knew of the knight and his situation. Thus, they were surprised to see him treat a young man wearing gray robes with such respect.
Meanwhile, Zephyr took the buns and dug into his gray robe, fetching the few coins he had.
"How much is it?" He inquired.
"Ah! Sir, you don't need to pay. The man standing near the back is my father. These two are my brothers." The young knight pointed at the people behind the counter. "My family owns this bakery." He added with a pleasant smile.
"Still, I need to pay." Zephyr was unwilling to compromise. He grabbed a few coins and thrust them forward.
The coins he took out were copper coins with the denomination of 10. They were each ten sol, making it a total of 40 sol. It should have been more than enough for the meat bun.
However, the young man shook his head and pulled back his arm.
"Sir Zephyr, you really don't have to pay." He quickly explained. "Think of it as a gift from us for your service."
The young knight knew about what Zephyr did at the seaside village. After coming to the Viscounty, Aurelia had briefed the Viscount. Some knights had heard it while it was happening, and thus the news spread to the rest.
The men and women around began to look at Zephyr with more interest. Their curiosity was sparked as they, too, wished to know what happened.
Zephyr felt a little uncomfortable under their gaze. He adjusted his robe and pulled up the hood to cover his face.
"Anyway, I can't take advantage of you." He shoved the coin onto the counter and turned around to leave.
The young knight nodded, accepting it finally.
After that, Zephyr disappeared into the streets nearby.
Once Zephyr was gone, many questions began to float in the crowd standing before the bakery.
Who is he?
What did he do?
Do they know him?
Many questions came to the young knight.
The knight smiled, sitting down near the counter, and began to tell the full story. The emergence of Godspawn, as well as the heroic actions of Zephyr, such as sending a message to the Storm Tower and saving the villagers by battling an intermediate necromancer. All of it was exaggerated to a level far beyond what really happened to portray Zephyr as a righteous hero. Especially, the loss of an arm was exaggerated to the moon, showing it as a symbol of his sacrifice to save them.
Hearing the well-seasoned story, the hearts of those nearby thumped in excitement. The young man they just witnessed was someone who saved the entire Viscounty. They finally realised this, their eyes widening in surprise.
If not for Zephyr, a godspawn would have rampaged across the land, killing everyone. The threat that passed by without their knowledge also caused them to realise how dangerous it had been.
"Gulp."
Together, they swallowed their saliva.
"So, he deserves more than a bun." The young knight said with a smile.
"The Viscount, along with knights, was dispatched to investigate the black fog. But none of us could get through and help. We stayed helplessly behind the fog before the necromancer's accomplices attacked us. Some of us were injured severely, but the danger we faced was nothing compared to what he faced."
The knight sighed.
"It must have been hard…" Another man said, and sighed.
Although most were ordinary people, they knew about the classification of mages and knights. So, Zephyr, facing an intermediate mage while he was just a beginner mage, made them stare in disbelief. But at the same time, they knew it was not a lie. The young knight before them was certainly not a liar.
The young knight nodded.
"Yes, it must have been…" He nodded. "So, you must treat him well if you see him again."
The people who heard the story nodded together. In their mind, Zephyr was firmly placed as their benefactor.
Like that, the legend of the young mage who saved them began to spread within the Viscounty. If Zephyr had known about it, he would have cringed hard.
From his perspective, he really had no control over what happened. It was pure luck that helped him survive the ordeal. Saving those people was simply something that happened along the way.
If the Storm Tower mages were even a single second late, he would have died ten times over.
Was that something to be happy about?
Was that something to be admired?
He, for certain, would not have thought so.
Fortunately, Zephyr left early, carrying his buns. So, he didn't have to see their teary, emotional faces.
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