The adventurer at the bottom is fantasizing again.

Chapter 109 The Missing Watchtower (4K)

"About half a day's journey northwest of Frostvale, there is a patrol watchtower where three sentries are stationed. They report back to the city every two days via ravens."

The last time the ravens arrived was three days ago, and there has been no news of them since.

Marcus pointed with a stick to a leather map nailed to the wall and drew a circle around the location of the watchtower.

Lorraine looked up and examined it closely. The watchtower wasn't exactly in a remote location; it was roughly situated between a place called Northwind Valley and a westward trade route, most likely there to protect that route.

"Did you send someone over to inspect it before?" he asked.

"Not yet. If you hadn't come today, the Viscount was prepared to send a few guards to investigate, but since you're here..."

Marcus smiled, took out a piece of parchment, handed it to him, and continued, "This is a simple map. If you are willing to accept the job, then this will be your first mission."

The Viscount's request was simple: go to the watchtower and check the situation. If the watchtower was unharmed, the garrison officer would handle the rest.

If the watchtower is attacked, you can decide for yourself whether to trace the source of the attack or withdraw first, depending on the situation.

Lorraine nodded and asked the most important question: "What about the reward?"

"You'll receive thirty gold coins as a reward if you bring back the current status of the watchtower. Of course, you'll need to bring back the watchtower's guard log to prove you were indeed there."

Marcus paused, then added, "If the watchtower is attacked and you eliminate the source of the attack, the reward doubles."

In other words... you can get thirty gold coins just by going over to take a look?

Lorraine initially thought Viscount Hermann was being incredibly generous.

Although thirty gold coins are not a very generous reward for them nowadays, it's still a small favor to run an errand and get thirty gold coins for it.

But then he thought about it again.

Under normal circumstances, it is unlikely that a watchtower would lose contact, and the possibility of it being attacked is extremely high, so even going there to investigate the situation is risky.

Moreover, they have one "official" warrior, one "official" mage, and Piper, who wields an excellent weapon and whose combat power is in no way inferior.

They wouldn't even consider those thirty gold coins worth anything, and would definitely choose to continue the pursuit, so the actual reward is equivalent to sixty gold coins.

It's not bad, it's comparable to the reward for a "formal" lower-level mission.

His two visits to the Viscount's mansion finally provided him with the remaining exploration experience, but unfortunately, the mansion was heavily guarded, and he dared not explore it thoroughly.

After all, there's no need to take such a dangerous step for the sake of this experience, although I'm really looking forward to reaching 100% exploration of Frostvale.

The reward, but that's far from what he can currently covet.

He was already very satisfied with having collected 100 points.

System, draw!

[Using 100 exploration experience points, you rolled the dice: 1]

Current balance: 1 exploration experience points

Points: Three

[Reward: Invisibility Powder (Trial Pack)]

Sprinkling it on your head can make you invisible for fifteen minutes.

Invisibility powder?

There's such a great thing!

Combined with Shadowstep or other spells, this allows you to launch attacks from unexpected places, leaving your enemies with no time to react.

Lorraine was already imagining using it to ambush the enemy.

Back at the tavern.

Eileen seemed to have already appeased Anya and was sitting by the window flipping through her spellbook.

The short guy asked Coach Gil for a day off (actually, Gil couldn't stand his nagging anymore and took a day off).

They were having a contest with Gustav to see who could make the other laugh without saying a word.

The match ended with Gustav losing three cups of Dwarf Brew.

Because Piper made a face upside down on the bar, he forgot to brace himself against the counter and rolled all the way to the floor.

Eileen looked up at him and asked, "Finished talking? What task did you give me?"

Once she got down to business, she quickly got into the zone.

"What? A mission!"

Piper rubbed his sore nose, got up from the ground, his face full of pride at having beaten Gustav.

"A watchtower in the northwest has lost contact. I suspect it was attacked by something. I'll tell you the details on the way."

Lorraine briefly explained the mission to the two, and then the three of them returned to their room and began organizing their equipment.

He changed into a newly repaired silver-forged steel breastplate and hung the dragon-scale round shield and the spare one-handed iron sword on his back.

Rusty Throat is still being reforged at Flintstone; it'll probably be almost finished by the time they get back.

After the short guy got his things and went downstairs first, he took out the Ember Cloak that he had drawn earlier from his system backpack.

It was a dark brown leather cloak with a charred hem that looked as if it had been burned by flames. Apart from that, it showed no trace of any magical equipment.

Lorraine draped the tent over his back. Since the mission was not far away and the target location was a watchtower, he did not bring the tent with him, but only packed some dry food and necessary supplies in his backpack.

It is worth mentioning that he has finally completed the synchronization of the Oath of the Remains. He can now sense its location, which is always faint, and he can release the "Oath of Protection" simply by mentally activating it.

There was also the invisibility powder he had just obtained, but to his disappointment, there was only a small packet, which looked like it could only be used two or three times.

Looks like I'll have to use it sparingly.

Leaving the room, Eileen had already changed into her adventure outfit and was waiting idly in the corridor, clutching her staff.

She glanced at Lorraine's new outfit, raised an eyebrow, and asked in confusion, "Why did you get a cloak?"

"I've discovered that wearing a cloak allows me to hide my weapons underneath, so I can launch a surprise attack, hehehe..."

Lorraine made up a random excuse.

"I see."

Eileen nodded without the slightest doubt.

After all, in her opinion, this was exactly the kind of thing this guy would do.

Afterwards, they called Piper along and went to the apothecary in Frostvale to buy a tube of mild antidote and a bottle of mild healing potion for twenty gold coins.

Without a priest accompanying us this time, it could be troublesome if we encounter enemies who can use poison. The Ring of the Burner can only be used once a day, so it's always good to be prepared.

After putting everything away, the three of them left Frost Valley City through the west gate and headed northwest along the trade route marked on the map.

[Arrived in the new area, Northwind Valley, current exploration progress 1%]

[Reward: 50 Exploration Experience Points]

Current balance: 51 exploration experience points

We walked for about half a day.

The bushes and dwarf pines on both sides of the road grew denser and denser, and a watchtower made of rough stone appeared on a low hill not far to the right of the road.

The watchtower wasn't very tall; Lorraine roughly estimated it to be only six or seven meters. The tower itself looked intact, showing no signs of having been attacked.

"Be careful."

Lorraine gave a low warning, then took the sword and shield off his back and held them in his hand.

"it is good."

Eileen and Piper also went on alert.

They carefully made their way up the mound.

Something's not right.

Lorraine glanced at the fence below the tower; the ring of signal bells tied to it had fallen to the ground, and several of them were crushed.

"Pip found blood."

The short man pointed to a spot on the ground inside the fence, where there were several dark brown bloodstains, the edges of which were already blurred.

"It looks like the sentry is probably in grave danger."

Lorraine crouched down and examined it carefully. The bloodstains showed signs of dragging, unlike the spray-like bloodstains that appeared after an attack.

"This is not the scene of the crime," he said.

"The scene of the incident?" Eileen asked, puzzled.

"It's alright, they were most likely attacked up there."

Lorraine forgot that this was a kind of specialized term, and it sounded rather strange when he tried to put it into common language. He pointed to the half-open watchtower door: "Shall we go in and take a look?"

"Um."

They cautiously opened the watchtower door. The oil lamps hanging on the walls inside were all extinguished, and there were no windows at the bottom, only a faint light shining in from the doorway.

"Prabhā!"

Eileen chanted the incantation for the Light spell in a low voice, skillfully imbuing the spell onto his shield.

Lorraine cautiously peered inside, shield in hand. The first floor contained only some overturned debris scattered haphazardly on the ground.

"There's a cellar here."

He found an entrance behind the stairs, glanced at Piper who was peeking around, and said, "I'll go down. If there's an ambush, I can use magic to come back. You guys keep watch up here."

"All right."

"I'll go outside and set up a warning spell."

Although a cellar sounds like the kind of place where something might be lurking, the actual environment is very poor and not suitable for staying for a long time.

The top of the watchtower was actually the most dangerous place. If the enemy was still around, the three of them going into the cellar together would be no different from committing suicide.

After several adventures, he can now reach these conclusions subconsciously with almost no thought.

Lorraine first lay on the ground, then used her shield, which was imbued with a light spell, to shine the light inside and make sure she didn't see anything lurking. Then she jumped down.

"Dong Yi"

The sole of the boot made a dull thud as it hit the stone slab, the sound echoing through the cellar.

He waved his hand, dispersing the dust that had been stirred up.

"There's no one down there."

Lorraine looked around with his shield and found that all the supplies stored in the cellar had been looted, leaving only some firewood and miscellaneous items.

They didn't even leave behind the stored arrows and spare bowstrings; all the weapons on the weapon rack were also taken away.

"Something's not right..." he murmured.

No matter how clever the wild animals are, they can't possibly take these things away, and the sentries couldn't have hidden them beforehand, especially since the place was just locked up.

Was this place attacked by bandits with hunting dogs?

That doesn't make sense either. Why would bandits attack a watchtower instead of a caravan that carries more valuable goods? Besides, there's this cellar that was inexplicably locked after being looted.

He carefully inspected the area, confirming there were no hidden dangers or anything useful, and then climbed back up.

Lorraine briefly explained the situation to the two of them.

Eileen suggested, "The attackers might have closed the cellar door to cover up their tracks. Let's go up and check it out."

"it is good."

They climbed up the stone steps.

"Pip smells the scent of a wild beast."

The shorter man walked behind, his nose twitching a few times, and whispered a reminder.

"Come and look, there are claw marks here."

Lorraine found a mark on the stone wall beside the stairs: three pale white parallel claw marks, most likely left by the beast.

"Wolves?" he asked, puzzled.

Eileen examined it carefully, frowning, and said, "If it were a wolf, it should be quite large, and the location of these claw marks... how did they get there?"

The claw marks were located on the side of their heads, some height above the stone steps beneath their feet, and the steps were spiraling upwards.

If it were pouncing from above... Lorraine imagined the scene and figured the wolf would most likely crash into the wall first.

"It must be a wild animal that can stand upright, maybe a bear?" he said.

He suddenly remembered Sylvia's giant bear, but then thought it unlikely that it would attack this place. "An upright intelligent creature... with claws... that would actively attack humans... a werewolf? Or a gnoll?"

After listening to his description, Eileen quickly drew two conclusions. She hesitated for a moment, then frowned and said, "Gnolls are alright, but if the attackers were werewolves, the three of us definitely couldn't handle them."

She pointed upstairs and continued, "Humans killed by werewolves will be infected and transformed into werewolves themselves. Even dealing with a single werewolf is difficult, let alone a group..."

'

"Let's go up and check the situation first."

Suppressing their doubts, they continued up the spiral staircase and soon reached the second floor of the watchtower.

"It seems this is where they were attacked." Lorraine frowned as she looked at the bloody scene before her.

The second floor looked as if it had been swept by a tornado, with broken wood fragments and splattered blood everywhere, as well as two spears that had been torn apart, but only the shafts remained, the metal spearheads were gone.

There was also a faint, gamey stench in the air.

"I found the duty log."

Eileen picked up a notebook from the ground, its edges torn from being stepped on, walked over to Lorraine, and used a light spell to flip through its contents.

"The Ninth Day"

Weather: Sunny, a bit cold.

Patrol route: Back from the old quarry on the northwest ridge, everything is normal.

Note: The wind is a bit strong, and the flagpole at the top of the tower has become loose again. It's only been a few days since I took over the post, and it's already become loose four times. I've been the one fixing it each time, and I've applied to replace it with a new flagpole.

"The Tenth Day"

Weather: Cloudy, still cold.

Patrol route: Northwest ridge—back from the old quarry, everything is normal.

Note: Nothing much happened today, but there are only three boxes of dry food left in the cellar. Why haven't the supplies arrived yet?

"Day Eleven"

Weather: Sunny, and a bit warmer.

Patrol route: Northwest ridge old quarry - back, everything is normal.

Note: Jason said he heard wild animal howls while on night duty and suspected that a pack of wolves or other wild animals were approaching. Tomorrow, the patrol will be changed to the area around the watchtower.

"Day Twelfth"

Weather: Cloudy.

Patrol route: Patrol around the watchtower.

Note: Large animal claw marks were found on the back slope. Two-person night watch has been ordered, and all watchtowers are on high alert.

This concludes my diary entry.