Getting the map would be simple enough, or so Kazius figured. He could spot a general store at a distance, which should have one. As they walked, the group could spot some Dwarves loading up a cart with bars of metal, while also unloading crates that appeared to have dried poultry… Indeed, it seems what the shop keeper said was true… Dwarves really did come by here to smuggle metal to the East… Dwarves were famous for their metal smelting skills and craftmanship… They even made weapons that were considered priceless. In fact, Edicts got a weapon ordered from the top Dwarven craftsman once they were accepted… Something he had been looking forward to…But now… Kazius was beginning to see it as quite the sham.
‘Is everyone out East allergic to the truth?’
Kazius felt annoyed. Smuggling metal from this place… Why not just admit the metal was not your own? Then again… To admit monsters could make such a metal… Likely would get Dwarves targeted by Zelphar and Ratier… Then again, their skill in crafting was still nothing to scoff at. Perhaps maybe when the time came, he could find some allies among the Dwarves…
As they walked, Kazius ended up making eye contact with one of the Dwarves from the group, but he just ignored it. It seems the Dwarf did not want any trouble either… Then again… Kazius was still wearing Holy Knight garb… He likely startled them thinking they were caught… Though there was the fact he was traveling with a Demon… They could probably tell that he was not with the church… That brings to question though… Why did the people here not freak out?
‘What even is the true history of this continent? I feel like I don’t understand anything anymore... The Demon King is evil… I know that much; he will try to kill Alice… And then set his eyes on the world… I am to oppose him… But then there is Azanor… He is a strange one, for a Demon… ’
“Hey Azanor… I just realized, but why are the people here not afraid of you?” Kazius asked, not really expecting an answer to some extent. After all, Azanor was a difficult person. He always gave them a hard time when it came to free information.
Alice seemed to perk up, clearly curious too.
“Oh, that? It isn’t like we are feared everywhere, you know? The Leviathan and Gorgon Snakes were not involved in the war. They have no reason to care about me being here, just like the Dwarves. The people here hate Dragons more than Demons if anything.”
“Dragons? You mentioned their bad blood before…” Alice stated curiously.
“I see…” Kazius stated, it did make sense.
As this whole conversation occurred, Eve seemed to be more interested in how shiny the buildings that they passed were. She did not seem to be paying attention at all.
“I heard the little story they’ve been telling people in Ratier… It is not true, for the most part… But it does mention monsters joining the fight… Some did, not all. Even with a threat like our STUPID king… There are always those that feel like they should not get involved. Whether it is that they feel above it or that it is something too grand for them… There was even a time when even though humans were weary, they still allowed some of some of us to walk around.” Azanor added. He was being surprisingly cooperative.
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“I suppose that makes sense… Though that implies that in the past people knew that not all Demons would be hostile towards them… I am still quite confused… You say you are an odd demon… But there must have been others that followed your lead… Now that I think about it… How do you know so much about the war and all these people? Demons are surely not omnipotent…” Kazius questioned.
“Don’t overdo it. I am not telling you much more for free.” Azanor stated firmly…
“Alright…”
Kazius was beginning to realize… But the Demon seemed to be more willing to answer questions that were not personal… The moment you brought up personal things, or things that he deemed irrelevant to them… He would just grow quiet… It did make Kazius all the more curious, but he would respect the male’s boundaries… He was opening up more at least so maybe one day, he would tell them more.
‘The vision showed more than one Demon following me… Azanor did seem like he could be one of them… But why would other Demons follow me? Then there is the fact there was a snake woman in my vision… Could that person be here?’
Well, if that person was here, he doubted they would meet her now. This place was too expensive to stick around without getting some more poultry. They would have to come back some other time.
With that, they would finally make it to the shop in question. It was a General Store. The map was one gold coin, which left Kazius with 4. A good amount considering the value of the material in the coins.
With the map in hand, the group would leave the city, rolling it out once they were outside… While the map was up to date … It was… Surprisingly… Incomplete. Kazius felt almost like he was ripped off.
“What the hell!? What even is their alphabet?” Alice exclaimed in shock, studying the map.
‘Great, it is also written in snake.’
“Whoever made this has explored maybe one third of the savage lands… I can at least read the bit that is written.” Kazius sighed out.
“To be honest, I am not sure what I expected… I guess it is better than no map… But one gold coin for this… Their gold coins are already valuable enough as it is…” Alice whined out.
“It is a nice picture though!” Eve chirped, seeming to enjoy the drawings on the map.
‘At least someone is happy…’
Kazius would study the map… It only had about 4 places on it… There was a village named Blossom to the far Southeast. A town to the Northeast named Vargstam. A… Was that just a cemetery? A big one? No name given… Just said cemetery in a large, shaded area… And then to the farther east there was a dotted line indicating Dragon territory. Likely why more of the continent was not explored.
“Most of the areas in between these settlements isn’t even filled in… I suppose it is better than nothing… But with the lack of landmarks, we may get lost if we don’t follow the sun’s position carefully… I will have to keep a good eye on the stars too… No way we can afford a compass” Kazius stated with a sigh.
“In that case… Where should we go?” Alice questioned curiously.
The question was a tough one… Kazius felt like he was running away from more than just Holy Knights… His fate was also something he tried to avoid… He did not want to be controlled by the Oracle… But… For how much longer could he run? Until he changes his fate by ending up dead? Wonder around, just fleeing without direction? Ready or not, his life had changed. Things around him kept happening… The odds of meeting Alice, Eve, and Azanor… It was not a mistake, clearly. Then again, he could do nothing against the church, as he was… So perhaps in their travels, he could grasp his powers and identity better… His party as well…
“We should head to Vargstam… It is the closest… I doubt the church knows about such a place either… Hopefully the people in Vargstam are hospitable enough… And things there are not as expensive as in Veleno… You saw how much a map like this costed… Who knows how much a day or two in an inn here would be? No way we could afford a place like this right now… We need a place to set up and think on our situation… Maybe rest… We walk quite the distances every day. We need a place to sit down and plan properly.” Kazius stated. He needed to get his shit together for his team’s sake.