A dull longsword and a heartbroken villager

"Clang!" Bray accidentally kicked and broke the ice beneath his feet, making a sound.

The crisp sound startled the surrounding animals.

This also startled the female elf standing before Bray.

Oh wow, it's a female elf.

Finally, it's not a male elf anymore.

Unfortunately, before Bray could finish his reflection, the other party turned and started running.

“…” Bray stood there dumbfounded, not understanding why the other party was running away.

The way the female elf ran away with her bamboo basket was as if she had seen a monster.

Bray touched his left eye; the eyepatch was back on properly. The female elf shouldn't be able to see his cracked prosthetic eye.

So what is there left for me to be afraid of?

"Wait a minute," Bray called out to the fleeing elf.

Bray had only intended to give it a try, but he didn't expect the other side to actually stand still.

The other person slowly turned around and looked at Bray warily.

"Are you someone sent from the safe zone next door?" the female elf asked, clutching her bamboo basket with a resentful look.

"?" A question mark appeared in Bray's dead fish eyes.

"Um...you're human?" But before Bray could ask anything, the female elf widened her beautiful eyes and opened her mouth in disbelief.

"If I hadn't gone mad, I would be human."

“A lowly species like you, human, an Imperial.” Bray’s right eyelid twitched as he explained, sounding a bit annoyed.

"Aren't you from the safe zone next door?" the female elf asked again.

From beginning to end, the elf only asked Bray questions and showed no intention of explaining anything to him.

“I’m not even from the North Continent,” Bray said helplessly.

"..." The first thought that came to the female elf's mind was that this human must have gone mad.

How pitiful. I never expected to see a madman among the rare creatures other than elves in the Northern Continent.

Life after the disaster was painful; many people couldn't bear the pressure and went insane.

She saw many of her former friends suddenly go crazy right before her eyes.

“Poor humans,” she said with utmost pity.

"..." Bray was stunned by the elf's tone.

“Come with me. You don’t even have warm clothes. You’ll freeze to death in the wild tonight.” The elf beckoned to Bray.

For this elf, although Bray had delusions, at least he wasn't completely insane, and they could still communicate.

Compared to those guys in the safe zone next door, Bray is much easier to talk to.

"My name is Georgia, what's yours?" The female elf took the initiative to tell Bray her name.

The main concern was that Georgia was afraid Bray would go so far as to forget his own name, which was a common occurrence.

Since they can assume they are not from the Northern Continent, it is perfectly normal for them to forget their names.

“Bray, Brayclas,” Bray answered the question crisply.

The main reason was that Bray didn't know what he was thinking, so he didn't complain.

If Bray knew he was being treated like a madman, he'd probably be so depressed he'd become withdrawn.

Is this the Northern Continent?

"of course."

“By the way, from what you just said… it seems like there are two safe zones here?” Bray asked curiously.

"Yes, there are two safe zones."

“You could also call them two survival zones; there are many ways to put it,” Georgia said casually.

The area enclosed by the magic circle has many names, but most people are used to calling it the safe zone.

Perhaps it's because those places offer a tiny bit of security, who knows?

"The guys in that other safe zone... they're all lunatics," Georgia said, pursing her lips.

“A madman?” Bray blurted out.

Unfortunately, Georgia had no intention of answering Bray's question.

"Is there anything you're particularly good at?" Georgia asked Bray in return.

"Yes, what's wrong?"

“If you’re moving into the safe zone, you’ll definitely have to make some contributions, otherwise people won’t accept you.” After saying a few words, Georgia’s attitude softened considerably.

"You're a pitiful person too, walking on the snow without even a sweater."

“It must have been a tough journey,” Georgia said, feeling more and more sorry for Bray as she spoke.

"..." Bray was speechless for a moment, unable to find any words to reply.

"Tell me, what are you good at? I'll tell everyone about your strengths, and then you can stay here."

"Hmm... let's go hunting." Bray thought for a moment, realizing that this was all he knew how to do.

After undergoing training by a hunter with a rather peculiar thought process, Bray considered himself a beginner-level hunter.

At least the ability to control one's breathing is acceptable.

"Hunting? It's alright, I guess." Georgia scratched her cheek a little awkwardly.

In her safe zone, everyone is actually quite good at hunting, so Bray seems a bit useless.

"Let's wait and see. No one can be so heartless as to send you straight into the wilderness," Georgia tried to comfort Bray, whose mind had already broken down in her eyes.

---

Bray and Georgia's footsteps made a "rustling" sound as they walked on the snow.

On the snow, you can also see the footprints left by other creatures.

Most of them are monsters, and only a few are wild beasts.

Georgia led Bray through the complex forest to what she called the safe zone.

This safe zone is very small, probably only the size of a village.

However, although the flat area is small, the vertical height is quite good.

Why do I say that? Because Bray could see the strange buildings inside the safe zone from the edge.

The safe zone uses trees as buildings, with habitable areas from the canopy to the roots.

Often, several families can live under one tree.

Of course, it's not just these trees; there are also wooden houses scattered on the ground within the safe zone.

"Georgia, have you picked the fruit?" A still-attractive female elf had been waiting for George in the safe zone, and immediately embraced her upon seeing her.

However, she quickly realized that something was wrong.

"Who is this? Wait, a human?" The female elf stopped embracing and looked at Bray in surprise. "Is seeing a human in the Northern Continent really that surprising?"

Hearing such words twice in a row, even the usually easygoing Bray couldn't help but start to have doubts.

So humans are rare animals after all.

“Because we haven’t seen any humans for a very long time,” Georgia said on behalf of her friend.

"You may be the first human we've seen in years."

“I don’t know if there are any in the Northern Continent, but at least there aren’t any in this area,” Georgia explained with a wistful tone.

Bray relaxed his furrowed brow and shrugged helplessly.

"Georgia, how come you brought back someone after just one trip?" The female elf was surprised that Bray was human, but she quickly came to terms with it.

“It was just a coincidence. He’s a pitiful man.” Georgia glanced at Bray, then whispered in her friend’s ear.

“He might be a little abnormal, always thinking that he’s not from the Northern Continent,” she said softly.

Georgia's whispers did not reach Bray's ears, so Bray remained expressionless.

“Really?” Georgia’s friend raised an eyebrow.

"Hmm, he probably misses his hometown too much and has developed delusions."

At first glance, with his black hair and black eyes, Bree didn't seem to be a native of the Northern Continent.

It's estimated that it was during a day of disaster that the people who came from other places just now might have been ancestors of outsiders who settled in the Northern Continent.

But in any case, it wouldn't be someone who has run away from other continents to the Northern Continent.

From a normal person's perspective, this is something that seems impossible no matter how you look at it.

"Um, are you two done talking?" Bray, who had been waiting for them for a long time, couldn't help but interrupt.

Although interrupting someone is extremely impolite, Bray felt that the two elves could chat all day long.

I have no idea what they were talking about, but they seemed so engrossed in their conversation.

"Oh, we're done talking, I'm so sorry." After realizing what had happened, Georgia apologized to Bray, feeling quite embarrassed.

Afterwards, she asked her friend to take the things she had collected from the wild back with her, while she continued on her way with Bray.

"If you want to stay here, I'll have to find you a room," Georgia said, getting down to business.

She initially thought Bray wanted to settle in the safe zone, but what she didn't know was that Bray had no intention of settling in the North Continent at all.

Faced with Georgia's good intentions, Bray could only shake his head helplessly.

"What's wrong?" Georgia didn't understand the meaning of Bray's head shake at first and looked confused.

“I only plan to stay here for three or four days, I don’t intend to stay long,” Bray explained to Georgia.

"Only staying for three or four days?"

"Well, I'm actually thinking of going to Snowwind Keep. Do you know Snowwind Keep?"

If I had to pick the most memorable place in the Northland, it would undoubtedly be Snowwind Keep.

Without a clear destination, the next step for Bray is to decide where to go.

Of course, it would be even better if we could find Dorothea.

Having a local bigwig to guide you is much better than him acting completely aimlessly.

“Snowwind Keep… I haven’t been there for over two years,” Georgia said, somewhat embarrassed.

After the silver seed appeared, she never left the safe zone for more than one kilometer.

“But as for the direction, I remember it should be this direction.” With that, Georgia pointed in a certain direction.

"But I advise you not to go, it's too dangerous," she kindly advised Bray.

"Thank you for your concern." Bray declined Georgia's offer of help, but such persuasion could not change his mind.

“…” Georgia paused for a moment before speaking.

"By the way, let me ask if anyone is willing to let you stay for a few days."

"But even if others are willing, they will definitely have to write something. Just be mentally prepared." Georgia gave Bray a heads-up in advance.

There's no free accommodation here; you'll have to pay some price.

But Bray thought this was better, at least he wouldn't have to worry about anything.

As for the consequences, he'd probably accept them as long as they weren't too excessive.

What level would be considered excessive? Asking someone to cure diseases, pluck stars from the sky, or save the world would be quite excessive.

“Then come this way with me. I know a gentleman who might be willing to give you some space to sleep,” Georgia suddenly thought after rubbing her temples with the index fingers of both hands.

It was impossible for her to have Bray sleep with her, so she thought of her neighbor.

Bray thought it was a good decision and didn't refuse. He had done this many times before, sleeping with a grown man.