Was this a warning to me? What else could noble affairs be? It’s just that when I get there, I need to be careful about what I say, and it’s best to say nothing about what I shouldn’t. Play it safe—at least that way I’ll have fewer enemies! Given my current strength... well, I don’t have much strength to speak of. My rank is only Orderer Level 2. Since I needed to stay well-rested for the journey, Sean hadn’t practiced magic much along the way. Besides, the number of spells I could cast in a day was limited, so I deliberately held back to conserve energy. So far, my magic proficiency had only reached 151, but after hitting that number, I noticed the rate of improvement had slowed down a bit.
He reached out and magically locked the door from a distance... Then used magic to close the window as well. [Magic Proficiency: 152] It took two casts to increase proficiency by one point. I hadn’t even reached Level 3 yet, and I was already seeing ‘difficulty’ creep in. If this kept up, who knows how many casts it would take to level up later on. Reaching Orderer Level 2 had unlocked another perspective in my prompts. If I went higher, I was sure other attributes would appear, but this required some time. Even training until I collapsed every day wouldn’t let me break into the advanced ranks in just a few months. That’s why I kept developing other useful skills. Map drawing was one of them... And of course, firearms!
Before lying down, Sean started organizing his meager belongings again. If he was going to stay with Freya’s wizard organization in Rietis for a while, he could learn more magic knowledge and continue studying the grimoire in his hands. Thinking... thinking... By the time he closed his eyes and opened them again, it was already the next day.
……………………
In the days that followed, Freya kept her word and didn’t linger anywhere. Every day, they boarded the airship in the morning and didn’t come down until evening. In the first few days, Sean found it hard to adjust—being blown around in the wind high up, swaying unsteadily, was uncomfortable. But in the later days, he actually grew to enjoy this kind of travel. From the airship, he could directly see the towns and wilderness below—it was quite beautiful. Once his ears got used to the mechanical noise and his body adapted to the airship, sitting at the bow every day, watching the distant and nearby scenery, became a pleasure. Occasionally, other airships would pass by, and they’d exchange glances. Though most people’s gazes were still fixed on Freya and Kalyana, some would politely greet him too. Those who could afford airships were generally wealthy—either rich merchants, nobles, or from powerful families. Not a single one looked shabby... Over these days, Sean had seen everyone on passing airships, and the women, in particular, were quite attractive. The north really was a developed region. People knew how to dress!
Aside from leisurely flights, Sean continued learning map drawing from Kalyana. Since he’d already grasped the basics, he didn’t ask her to keep drawing a scaled map of Taylemian. Instead, he used the excuse to have her map out Bifeng City. At first, Kalyana was reluctant. Though the city wasn’t large, its layered structure was very complex. If Freya hadn’t specifically instructed her, she probably would never have drawn a map of that city. It took a full six days. Kalyana used a piece of parchment nearly half a tabletop in size to sketch out the main streets and important buildings of Bifeng City. Where details were unclear, she simply marked areas like residential zones. Only a few key fortresses and defensive bastions were specially noted. Once everything was done, Kalyana handed the map to Sean... “Here! This is the most boring thing I’ve done in four years in Bifeng City.” She was clearly still a bit annoyed when she gave it to him. She only dared say that after checking that their leader wasn’t around.
To many, drawing a city map seemed pointless. A local administrator might use it to overview urban development, or a traveler might reference it. But someone who’d lived in a city for a long time would already know its layout—why would they need a separate map? More importantly, Kalyana knew Sean was going to Rietis with her, so why did he need a map of Bifeng City? It was baffling. Aside from thinking it was a prank, Kalyana couldn’t come up with any other explanation.
“How can you call it boring? It shows you’re dedicated to your work—you’ve memorized the entire city’s structure in your time at Bifeng City.” Sean replied with a smile. When he saw the map she handed over, the name [Map] appeared in his vision. That meant it had been recognized.
“You...” Kalyana glared at Sean. “What does my work in Bifeng City have to do with you? If you just wanted to learn terrain mapping, I could have started teaching you from the basics. Why did you make me draw a city map of Bifeng City? Do you think it’s fun?” Seeing Sean smile only made her angrier. The [Resentment!] status above her head had barely faded, popping up every time she saw him these days. Clearly, she had strong objections to this request but was too constrained by Freya being their leader to voice them outright.
“No, I think you’re amazing. As for this map, it might come in handy someday.” He unfolded the city map in his hands. Due to the limited parchment, Kalyana had scaled it large but drawn it in great detail. Streets, clusters of buildings—everything was laid out. In Sean’s eyes, this was already a detailed map. He could see the things on it... and the constantly moving people. Since he didn’t know most of them, they appeared as [Neutral], shown as a dense mass of yellow dots. They were so packed together they almost formed a solid plane, but he could still see subtle movements. However, Sean had only walked through a few blocks in Bifeng City, so his view was limited. Most of the rest was shadowed—he could see buildings but not the moving crowds. Fortunately, he had visited the Sky-Covering Wings’ stronghold in Bifeng City, and they had specifically marked its location on the map. This allowed Sean to see the situation inside the building. At that moment, a single white dot lingered there. He remembered that the three girls left there had a [Friendly] attitude toward him, so the white dots represented them.
“What use could this be?” Kalyana suddenly asked. “You’ll know in the future,” Sean replied. Being able to monitor people remotely—how could that be useless?
Just then, Freya suddenly walked over from the airship’s bow... “So you’re here... Get ready quickly. We might reach Rietis City by noon.”