Archer's Adventure Manual

He looked down at the adventurers below and said in a loud voice:

"Adventurers, I am Baron Zeya, the lord of Clam Town. At this moment, I understand how you feel!"

The adventurers' voices continued.

"By sealing off the town without cause, your forceful actions are tantamount to restricting our personal freedom!"

"Yes, your arrogance will be punished by the kingdom's laws! You need to receive the punishment you deserve!"

...

Baron Zeya took a deep breath, his expression turning somewhat helpless. He looked at the crowd, his voice carrying a magical glow that reached everyone's ears from afar.

"I believe you are all dissatisfied with what I have done these past few days, but as the lord of a town, every decision I make is made after careful consideration."

"What you may not know is that a village not far from us, within our territory, called Inada Village, was attacked by a large number of monsters the night before."

"If I hadn't ordered the town to be temporarily sealed off, what kind of impact might have been placed on the adventurers who left the town and were wandering in the vicinity?"

Upon hearing Baron Zeya's words, the crowd below fell silent for a moment. Those few simple words contained a great deal of information, and they were still somewhat taken aback...

"What? Inada Village? I've heard about it. It was attacked by monsters? How is that possible? The Adventurers' Guild regularly issues cleanup missions. A monster horde the size of a village shouldn't even exist!"

Loran and his companions, who were watching from a distance in the castle, also heard Baron Zeya's speech and immediately felt disdain.

Lin Wen snorted, "If this guy knew in advance that Daotian Village had been attacked, why didn't he send troops to protect Daotian Village? Instead, he sealed it off."

"If you ask me, he's been misled by that butler. This decision probably wasn't even made by him; it's just an excuse now."

Loran agreed, "Indeed, the Baron needs to quell the adventurers' anger, and mentioning this reason seems to be the only option."

Baron Zeya continued his narration.

"I know everyone is shocked by this news, because I am shocked too. Our territory hasn't seen such a large-scale monster attack on a village in a long time..."

"Like every one of you, I heard rumors before the disaster struck, but I couldn't be sure of their veracity. So I chose a conservative approach: to seal off my town and protect as many people in my territory as possible!"

"Furthermore, I have dispatched several elite squads to patrol and guard nearby villages such as Daotian Village, precisely to prevent these scattered pieces of information from becoming true..."

Baron Zeya's words became more expressive and dramatic.

"But my worst fears came true. Those hordes of monsters could attack any village at will, while I was forced to defend in scattered groups..."

"It happened very suddenly, in the dead of night, and by the time my reinforcements arrived, it was already too late."

"Inada Village is now devastated. Everyone, this matter is of great significance. I believe you have all heard about this to some extent. If any adventurers have witnessed anything, please share what you have seen!"

The adventurers immediately became restless again.

As the first visitors to Inada Village, the Elfin Squad went to adjust their condition after arriving in Clam Town without revealing any information.

The dog-dagger squad, who knew the situation, only informed the lord and had no intention of spreading the news.

So far, only a few adventurers who have passed through Inada Village have shared their experiences, but these experiences have all been labeled as boasting.

After all, this area has been peaceful for a long time, and with the existence of the Adventurers' Guild, there is basically no situation where monsters are rampant.

Even if a few monsters develop to a certain scale, they will send out even more powerful adventurers to solve the problem. There is always one mountain higher than another, and the living space of large monster groups is basically deep in the western forests.

This also led to the ridicule of the scattered adventurers' shared experiences. In a place that had been peaceful for so long, you suddenly come out and say that a village was wiped out overnight. That's too exaggerated!

Even those who shared their experiences wondered if the village they passed through that day was some kind of illusion...

But now that Baron Zeya has also released this information, it is fundamentally different from what those adventurers who have only heard about it have.

Baron Zeya is a baron who governs the territory. Even though he is very domineering, his words still carry considerable weight.

Now that he can say that Inada Village was attacked by monsters, it can be basically confirmed that this is true.

So, the nature of Baron Zeya's blockade of his territory seems to have changed somewhat...

Those adventurers who spoke of restricting people's freedom suddenly found that their words were somewhat untenable, because from the lord's perspective, his blockade was the right choice.

"I can't believe something like that happened in Inada Village! I thought those adventurers were drinking fake alcohol!"

"Hey, do you remember? Didn't an elven ranger bring in a cage yesterday? And there was such a huge kobold in that cage! Could he be...?"

"No way, could that squad be survivors from Inada Village?!"

"Regardless of the circumstances, the Lord of Clam Town's actions have indeed restricted our freedom. Even if that's the case, we deserve an explanation!"

Adhering to the principle that since they were already here, the adventurers still wanted an explanation, otherwise why were so many of them here?

Unexpectedly, Baron Zeya spoke first, saying, "I apologize to all adventurers for the inconvenience caused to your recent operations."

"But I had no choice. Without knowing the full story, I couldn't offer any effective explanation and had to resort to the most forceful measures. I'm very sorry about this."

"Furthermore, brave adventurers, I hope you can understand one thing: Inada Village, as one of the fiefdoms under my jurisdiction, has formidable defensive capabilities. Yet, even so, the overwhelming number of monsters still managed to breach its defenses."

"This is no longer a simple problem of a monster horde. Since these monsters have chosen to show themselves and launch an attack on us, it means that they have made ample preparations."

"If we cannot unite at this moment, who knows who the monsters will target next? If lords like us perish under the monster tide, what will become of you adventurers...?"

"Therefore, I sincerely urge everyone to put aside your inner reservations. We are all human beings, and we have only one common enemy: the monsters that are about to threaten this entire region. Only by driving them out can we and our descendants enjoy the fragrant air of this sky in peace!"

"I hereby plead with you all!"

The lord, who was usually seen as aloof and superior, was now bowing deeply to all the adventurers.

The adventurers fell silent upon witnessing this scene.

Yes, because of their emotions, they all overlooked the most important information: the monster... the monster was approaching, its power enough to destroy a village. The days of restrictions on freedom paled in comparison to this...