A few seconds after Zephyr left the shop, the man closed the main door. Then he opened a door at the other end, walking deeper into the shop.

Immediately, everything darkened. Except for the dim light of a crystal lamp, there was no other light source shining inside this room.

The shopkeeper slowly shut the door behind him, further reducing the light. The sealed windows trembled slightly as the air pressure from the door being closed pushed on them.

The extra stock for the weapon shop was kept inside this room. They lined the sides of the walls and shelves nearby.

The shopkeeper glanced over them as he made his way to a corner. In the dim light, he could see something lying on the floor.

"Hey," He called out, seeing it tremble as his footsteps neared.

"Hey, get up." The man called out again.

Still, the thing lying on the floor didn't even move an inch. It was frozen in fear.

"Hm."

The man sighed.

"I will chop you up and throw you into the sea if you try to fake death." The man said after a slight pause.

Instantly, the thing covered in rolled-up clothes sat up, making a clanking noise. The person was bruised from head to toe, bleeding slightly from his nose. The chain attached to him and the floor was making a clanking noise as he moved.

"How does it feel to be treated the same way as the kids you sold?" The man asked, lifting his foot and kicking the degenerate lying on the floor.

The man on the floor was the actual owner of the weapon shop. His mouth was sealed shut by some sort of binding tool in the shape of metal brackets.

The man screamed in pain as the kick landed squarely on his chest. However, no voice came out as the metal brackets diffused the sound before it could leave his mouth.

Seeing this, the man who acted as the shopkeeper smiled. He kicked the shop owner again.

The man on the floor deserved such treatment from him. After all, he was working with the underworld to sell children across borders. Although he didn't directly capture and sell the children, he did profit from it.

The crime was enough to warrant death.

However, the man had the strong backing of nobles. There was no way to prove that the money flowing through his hands was connected to the human traffickers. Which means even if he was sent to be judged, he would escape punishment.

The man who acted like the shopkeeper crouched near the shop owner. He smiled slightly and began to speak.

"I just found out something interesting, and I have no time to waste on you. So, would you mind giving me the ledgers?" He asked.

"Nod if you are willing or shake your head if you are unwilling."

The man on the floor breathed heavily as he felt a suffocating aura cover his body. The warrior before him was a thousand times stronger than him. There was no way to escape.

But if he hands over the ledgers, those connected to it will silence him. If he didn't, he might die today.

"Wooo." He breathed through the gaps between the metal brackets covering half his face.

They were attached to his face with magic. If he tried to open his mouth further, they would dig into his skin.

Wincing in pain, he lifted his head and nodded.

"See, it wasn't that difficult, right?" The man smiled like a devil.

The blood of the man on the floor ran cold as he witnessed the terrifying smile.

—-

A few hours later, the man who acted like the shopkeeper walked into an inn at the far end of the town. With measured steps, he climbed the stairs and walked into his room.

He placed the bag full of ledgers he carried to the side and closed the windows. Lighting a small candle, he opened his bag and took out a crystal ball.

Runes danced inside the crystal ball as he carried it to a table. A few seconds later, with a flash of light, the crystal ball turned dark, showing a shadowy figure inside.

"How did it go?" The shadowy figure spoke.

The fake shopkeeper smiled.

"It went well. And there was a surprising discovery."

"Was there more evidence than the ledgers?"

"No, but I sensed an interesting magic signature on a little mage from the Royal Academy."

"Hm! Is the Royal Academy involved with the human traffickers?" The shadowy wore a deep frown.

"Fortunately, no. But I sensed a resonance mark within the boy."

The shadowy figure paused. Disbelief was evident from his action.

"Are you sure?" He asked as if hope had been rekindled in his heart.

"Yes. I can't possibly make a mistake."

"Does that mean he is alive?"

"Either that or he handed over his role as our leader to someone else. After all, only the sacred mask can create the resonance mark."

"True…" The shadowy figure nodded. "Who is this boy?" He asked soon after.

"His name is Zephyr Venturi. From my preliminary investigation, he seems to be the failed genius mage of the Storm Tower. And more importantly, the boy seemed to have somehow prevented a godspawn from being let loose on the west coast by killing a necromancer."

The man took a small pause to breathe before continuing.

"Many exaggerated rumours are circulating in the town about how he defeated an intermediate necromancer alone while being a beginner mage, and so on. I don't know for certain what to believe. But I will be conducting an investigation nonetheless."

The shadowy figure nodded.

"How does the Royal Academy relate to all these?"

"From what I deduced, he seemed to have left the Storm Tower to join the Royal Academy. The intermediate mage Aurelia, the princess of the kingdom and the disciple of Corvinus, is with him. So, I presume it is true."

"Hm…"

The crystal ball shone slightly again. The mana in it was depleting, and the connection was about to be terminated.

The magical crystal ball was a long-distance communication artifact they excavated from an ancient ruin. It could allow a person to communicate with someone thousands of kilometers away once a day for a few minutes.

Since he had used it a few hours ago, the duration of use had shrunk even further, and the tool was about to terminate the connection.

Both the fake shopkeeper and the shadowy figure realised this.

"I will send someone to collect the ledgers." The shadowy figure began to speak in a hurry. "You should hand over the ledgers and step away from this mission. Try to follow the young man if you can find out everything related to him. Also, protect him for the time being from the shadows. I need some time to discuss it with the others."

"I understand."

"Then, that's it."

"Yes."

The shadowy figure in the crystal ball dissolved into nothing and disappeared, as the runes resurfaced on it.

The man sighed, looking at the crystal ball.

"It's time for Order to return." He muttered, thinking about their leader, Gale.

—-

Zephyr returned to the Viscount's manor. He silently nodded and walked through the gate.

The knights and guards nearby nodded enthusiastically as they saw him. Unknown to him, the legend of Zephyr seemed to have spread far and wide.

Zephyr felt the eyes of those around him occasionally focus on him as he walked to his room. Most of them were murmuring as they pointed at him.

It would be an understatement to say that he was feeling a little uncomfortable due to the attention he was receiving.

Avoiding the eyes, he swiftly made his way to his room and closed the door.

'Well, that was unnerving.'

He preferred fighting a necromancer over that…whatever that was.

'Anyways, l don't have to suffer through all these for long. The viscount is willing to give us a carriage to travel back to the capital. By tomorrow, the carriage will be available, and we can leave.'

He silently said, taking out a meat bun that he carried within his robe pocket. As he bit into it, he also took out the small spell book Aurelia gave him to read.

There were a couple of other spells within the book he thought were interesting, like the smoke containment spell. There was also a water condensation spell that could cool water vapour and turn it into water.

These spells, by default, were not that great. However, Zephyr could see the potential for further modifications in it.

After all, if he could contain air instead of smoke, he could literally suffocate an enemy to death. So, he wanted to understand how it exactly worked.

For that, he would have to engrave them on his core, dismantle and study the individual runes, classify the runes to find the primary ones, and also create a new spell structure that can imitate it.

It would take some time for him to do all that. But it would be worth it in the long run. After all, the secrets behind the runes were not something he could unravel in a day. It requires his constant effort for many days, months, or years.

It was literally like learning a new language. With a Rosetta stone, it would be easy, but without it, he would have to stumble around to find the purpose of each rune.

Zephyr had sufficient confidence that he could do it with enough effort and time. So, he hummed a tune as he consumed the meat bun while flipping through the spell book.

The spells were not present in the game. He was seeing it for the first time and wanted to find some way to exploit it for his use.

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