Archer's Adventure Manual

"Did those adventurers really have information about Inada Village?"

"Sir, I'm sure they're right. Their report is very detailed, and they are very likely survivors of the Inada Village incident," a female voice replied.

"It's incredible that someone actually survived... But that's all. I'll talk to the lord and tell him to suppress any signs of Inada Village in town as much as possible, and at least not let people know about this too soon."

"I see!"

Even after the footsteps had left, the butler remained in the room.

He sighed, "I...I had to do it."

After a moment of silence, the butler also left the dark room.

After confirming it was safe, Brian slowly poked his head out. With his fluent language skills, he could understand all their conversations.

While it may be a little difficult to understand further, it is quite simple to define this dialogue as very important information.

It needs to convey this conversation to its owner!

However, Brian still couldn't get through the gate. The two guards who remained steadfast didn't give it a chance, so it could only hide in the corner and wait.

After waiting for a while, Loran and his companions emerged from the reception hall. They relayed all the information they had to Baron Zeya and received a reward of 100 silver coins.

This reward was a lifeline for them, but for Baron Zeya, it brought him enormous gains.

Inada Village, a territory nominally under his jurisdiction, was breached by monsters overnight, and he only just found out now. He needs to take immediate action.

As soon as the dog-dagger squad left, the butler entered the reception hall, knowing that the lord was about to make a big move.

Loran had only taken a few steps when a white figure darted out and came to his side.

Loran's eyes widened. For a moment, his mind went blank when he saw Brian appear. This...didn't he leave this guy in the small room outside? How did he end up here?

Finita exclaimed in surprise, "Brian, what are you doing here!"

"Hey, that's great, Brian's awake!" Lin Wen said happily.

"Woof woof!" Brian wagged his tail and greeted everyone enthusiastically.

Loran was also helpless, not knowing how this guy had left that room. It was such a coincidence; he'd barely left before waking up...

As everyone left the castle and prepared to organize their equipment, Brian tugged at Loran's trouser leg and winked.

Loran was curious, so he crouched down to listen.

Brian then told Loran about the conversation. Loran's eyes flickered slightly. He looked around and found that there was no one else from the manor.

Lin Wen and the others also turned their curiosity toward Luo Lan.

"Let's go, let's leave here first," Loran said calmly.

After leaving the manor, the group arrived at the entrance of a small alley, where Loran began to share the information that Brian had just heard.

Loran took a deep breath and repeated the conversation that Brian had just heard.

He then said in a deep voice, "The castle steward already knew about the Inada Village incident, but the lord didn't. There must be someone pretending."

"Either the steward is hiding the truth about Inada Village, or the lord is pretending to be completely unaware of it. But it's most likely the former, otherwise he wouldn't have said he was going to do some ideological work."

Everyone fell silent, digesting the information that Loran had just shared.

After a while, Noah slowly analyzed, "The steward did not report to the lord even though he knew about Inada Village. This may mean that the matter was in his own interest, which is why he chose to keep it a secret."

"Yes, could it be that this butler has a connection with the monster?" Lin Wen agreed.

Finita frowned. "But...why would he do that? That's the lives of an entire village! Doesn't he have any humanity?"

"Human nature is unpredictable. We need to be careful of this guy. Of course, the most important thing right now is to protect ourselves. This place seems to have become a vortex of some crucial matter. The longer we stay here, the more dangerous it will be for us..." Loran said in a deep voice.

"Okay, everyone hurry up and get your equipment ready! I'll go contact the horse merchant!" Lin Wen said earnestly.

And so, everyone dispersed to prepare their equipment.

Loran also chose a blacksmith shop, where he replenished his supply of iron arrows and some lightweight stone arrows.

The shortage of arrows has cost Loran dearly, and he has no good solution for it now. All he can do is learn magic as soon as possible...

Now that Finita has learned magic, Loran seems to be able to inadvertently acquire Finita's magic as an invisible privilege of their partnership.

Just like Lin Wen and Noah, they have a chance to unlock some skills by killing enemies in battle, and Loran can take the opportunity to learn them.

However, during this battle, Finita killed the enemy, and a survival guide did appear, but the guide only contained...

"Combat Guide: Your partner 'Finita' has killed an E-rank mutant kobold, gaining 2 Adventure Points; You witnessed a flash of brilliance and gained some insights."

What's with this "some insights" thing? Shouldn't they just give him the permission to unlock the Flash spell?

However, I think there is a difference in difficulty between skills and magic. I believe that I will be able to understand it after a few more times of reflection.

But this is still only a temporary solution; at best, he can become a mage, but he still won't be able to master the method of condensing magical arrows.

Furthermore, the Adventure Manual offers virtually no help in enhancing your talents. It simply gives you a skill and tells you to use it, without explaining the underlying principles or anything like that!

It's like giving him a fish, but not teaching him how to fish!

He wanted to directly master the magic of arrow condensation, and the fastest way was to find someone who could do it, ideally someone who could become his partner, since partners have a higher chance of unlocking the skill...

"Erfen?"

Loran shook his head. No, this guy is too strange. He even managed to alarm a goblin shaman in Rice Paddy Village. Dealing with him is like asking a tiger for its skin.

"Oh, how could I forget about her!" Suddenly, a candidate came to mind, and this person seemed to have a pretty good relationship with her!

Lena!

No problem. After returning to Rockfall Town, Loran has decided to learn how to use this magic arrow. As for how, we'll see when the time comes.

"Here you go, adventurer, these are your arrows, and they cost 30 silver coins in total."

Loran felt a pang of regret; the arrows here were so expensive, and the craftsmanship wasn't necessarily that good... He still missed Old Smith's craftsmanship.