Finally, after walking around the streets of the town, Zephyr gained a general understanding of it.

The viscount's territory was connected to many fishing villages on the west coast. Therefore, the major export items were fish, live crabs, and clams. The majority of the money from the exports goes into the pocket of the viscount as tax, while a small portion trickles down to peasants and free men who worked.

Zephyr now knew why the manor of the viscount was so luxurious. He recalled the viscount's smiling face. It no longer looked pleasant.

Well, all nobles were like that. Viscount Whitewater was kind enough to at least give a small portion of the money to the peasants. That makes him better than most.

'...peasants were considered the lord's property. They were not allowed to move out of the land, nor were they allowed to own a business. Practically, they are slaves who have to work until they die and serve their lord.'

'The fishing village I came from was one such peasant village. These people will never get a chance to change their fate, except if they awaken the ability to use mana.'

"Sigh."

Zephyr breathed out and walked into a large shop at the end of the street. The board outside showed six-pronged star symbols in the middle of a shield.

It was a generic weapon shop that you would see everywhere in the game. He walked into the shop, expecting to buy a map or other tools from them.

Zephyr stepped through the wide-open door. His arrival immediately caught the attention of the man inside.

Adjusting his collar, the man swiftly walked towards Zephyr.

"Sir, how may I help you?" The man asked, wearing a pleasant smile.

Zephyr looked at the man for a few seconds.

'Lean, muscular build. A scar on the left cheek. Callous on his hands. This guy is a warrior.'

The weapon shop owner was a middle-aged man with the aura of a warrior.

"Do you have a map?" Zephyr asked, pulling down the hood covering his face.

The man standing next to him stood still. His eyes glanced over to Zephyr's left side, more precisely, towards his left arm. Though the grey robe covered him entirely, he seemed to have sensed the lack of an arm.

For a moment, his expression changed slightly. Before Zephyr could guess what the change was, he returned to his smiling expression and nodded.

"Yes, sir. We have all kinds of maps." He replied jovially.

"Do you need a map of the Viscounty or the map of the kingdom?"

"Get me the map of the kingdom. How much is it?"

"The normal one costs 100 sol. But if you want the special one…" He winked. "I can sell it for 1000 sol."

"There is a special one." Zephyr wondered aloud.

"Yes, for special guests, we have a special map." The man winked again.

'What the…'

The wink was a little disturbing.

"What made you think I am special?"

"Of course sir, it's your clothes. You must be a mage, right? And from the looks of it, you have participated in real battles." The man's eyes moved towards Zephyr's left arm again before proceeding.

"Therefore, I don't have to hold back. I am allowed to sell maps to nobles." The man said and winked again.

"Only nobles can buy the special map…"

"No…knights, warriors, and adventurers are also allowed to buy the map. The prerequisite is that it must be someone who can use mana."

"Why?" Zephyr raised an eyebrow.

"That's the rule…" This time, the man began to frown. It was supposed to be common knowledge.

Zephyr looked like he lacked common sense.

Was he a sheltered mage who just left the side of his master? The man wondered.

"Okay, I want to buy the special map," Zephyr said, taking out a silver coin from his pocket.

It was the only silver coin he had. And it amounted to the majority of his wealth.

When he left the seaside village, he dug out the coin from under the bed, bringing it over as a backup. He was hoping to spend it sparingly.

However, that idea had to be shoved back into his brain since the map cost a lot.

"But…can I see the map first?" He asked.

The man nodded as he dove behind the counter to fetch the map.

Zephyr patiently waited, looking at the interior.

The shop was different from usual. It was entirely made out of hardwood. The durable interior was masked by a lackluster exterior. It displayed a strong sense of contradiction.

'It must have cost a lot to build the shop.'

Zephyr commented as his eyes moved to the weapon racks displayed nearby.

Most of them held swords, wooden and metallic shields, daggers, knives, spears, axes, and other small tools. The display contained a wide variety of weapons that sparked Zephyr's interest.

He didn't really care about anything else except the knife set displayed near the bottom of the display. It had several knives that could be useful when he was gathering materials or cooking food.

Unlike the game, the dead creatures in this world don't drop items from their corpses. Last time, Zephyr had to dig out the mana core from the undeads.

So, he was interested in the knife set. It would be useful when he has to do it again.

'I should rest, recover, heal my arm, and improve my mana core to a peak beginner rank before exploring and hunting monsters and fierce beasts. So, I have plenty of time. I don't need to buy the knife now.' Zephyr said to himself.

However, the urge to buy it persisted without end.

Meanwhile, the shopkeeper dug out the map, which was rolled into a fifty-centimetre-wide scroll, out of one of the cupboards behind him.

He unravelled it and looked to make sure it was the right one before bringing it towards Zephyr.

"Sir, this is the one you wanted." The man said, placing it on the countertop.

"Okay."

Zephyr picked it up and unravelled to take a look. The special map, as the man said, contained a detailed layout of the entire Kingdom.

It looked similar to the map Zephyr saw in the game, but lacked quite a bit of information.

However, that didn't matter. His eyes swiftly moved to the west coast, depicting the hills, and moved his eyes towards the Whitewater Viscounty.

There were no regional borders on the map. The cartographer who created it omitted marking borders due to the conflict it could cause. Still, he could see the town he was in, marked near the west coast.

'Oh!'

He was pleasantly surprised by what he saw.

'We are close to a treasure.'

Zephyr watched the map for a few more seconds before rolling it back.

Then, with a deadpan face, he began to lie.

"The map is not good enough. It's the same one I have. I don't think it would be useful. Do you have any better maps?"

Zephyr's disinterest made the man frown.

"This is the best one I have."

"Then, I don't need it. Sigh."

"But it's the latest one from the adventurers' guild. I bought it last month."

Zephyr shook his head.

"Not good enough. The Royal Academy has better ones."

The moment the Royal Academy was mentioned, the shopkeeper went silent. There was no way he was going to argue back that he had a better map than the Royal Academy.

Zephyr felt a little bad about scamming the shopkeeper. So, he turned to the weapon rack and asked.

"How much does the knife set cost?"

He planned to buy it.

"That!" The shopkeeper lifted his head. "1200 sols," He said after a slight pause.

The knife set contained five knives. A cleaver, a filleting knife, a normal chef knife, a boning knife, and a small curved knife that looked like a bird's beak.

All of it was in excellent condition and appeared to have been made recently.

But the price still shocked Zephyr.

"Are you sure it's 1200 sol?" Zephyr widened his eyes.

"Hm…" The shopkeeper nodded.

"Why?"

"Oh! The blacksmith accidentally infused mana-conducting materials into it. So, he plans to sell it at a higher price."

"Accidentally!"

The shopkeeper nodded again.

Zephyr hesitated for a moment.

"Can I get a discount?" He asked with a smile.

The shopkeeper shook his head. He was finally realising Zephyr was a pauper. The excitement he showed when he met Zephyr began to decline gradually.

At the same time, he wondered whether Zephyr was trying to scam him by not buying the map. After all, he had taken a look at it. A normal person might not remember it, but a mage's memory is said to be very good. So, he could just remember the important parts of the map.

Meanwhile, Zephyr slowly pulled back his eyes and looked at another knife set. It has three knives: a cleaver, a chef's knife, and a filleting knife.

"How much does that cost?" He asked.

"500 sol." The shopkeeper replied.

"I will take that set and the knife over there."

"That would be 1000 sol."

"What!"

"Oh! That knife is made by the same blacksmith."

Zephyr, who initially felt like he was scamming the shopkeeper by not buying the map, began to realise he was the one who was actually being scammed. Still, he gritted his teeth and bought the knives because he knew they would be useful soon.

After buying everything, Zephyr walked out of the shop, slinging the leather bag he carried over his shoulder.

'While returning to the capital, I should coax the two intermediate chumps to help me find the treasure.' Zephyr thought of Aurelia and Elenor as he walked.

With them around, his safety would be assured. After all, the place he intended to explore was not exactly a dangerous location.

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