The Instigator

The elven assassin braced his bloodied hands, trying to struggle to his feet.

But then he felt his hands and legs being held down tightly by the Half-Elf surging around him. He was carrying an elven bow on his back and a quiver hanging from his waist.

Roy stood before him, pulled an arrow from the elven assassin's quiver, and compared it with the arrow that had struck the Hammer of Judgment Book. Indeed, both arrows came from the same Blacksmith Workshop.

A group of indignant Half-Elf wanted to continue beating the elf assassin, but Roy stopped them.

"If anyone can help me get the Elven Guard at the port, Roy will be extremely grateful!" Roy said to the Half-Elf who were watching.

Sure enough, some of these Half-Elf recognized Roy.

"Little Roy, wait patiently, the Elven Guard will be here soon," an elderly Half-Elf called out.

The Half-Elf wanted to take the opportunity to beat up the elven assassin, but Roy quickly blocked them with his arm and said, "The Elven Guard are coming, don't hit him anymore."

The elven assassin's dagger, Cedar Bow, quiver, and Magic Belt were removed, and two more Half-Elf approached, offering to take a piece of rope and tightly bind the elven assassin.

Roy tried to catch a glimpse of the big cat, but the proud cat had already jumped onto the high wall, wagged its tail, and leaped into the shadows, disappearing from sight.

Many Half-Elf nearby witnessed the Night Blade Leopard pouncing on the elven assassin. Some elves recognized the Night Blade Leopard as Mrs. Winnie's pet and began to discuss it:

"That leopard must belong to Mrs. Winnie's family."

A Half-Elf standing nearby added, "I think so. I haven't seen it in ages."

"I saw it on the beach just a few days ago..." another companion continued.

The Elven Guard arrived very quickly, clearly not wanting anything to go wrong.

It's not far from the mouth of the Da Nei River, just across the river from Brown Street, and in front of it is a crescent-shaped seawall extending into the sea.

Three Elven Guard, dressed in uniform leather armor, squeezed into the crowd. The one in the lead was an old Elven Guard of Roy's. He glanced at Roy and then asked, "Can anyone tell me what just happened here?"

The Elven Guard stared at Roy, expecting Roy to answer, but a Half-Elf beside him spoke first:

"Our neighbor Roy was assassinated... This guy shot an arrow right in the street. If Roy hadn't been lucky enough to be holding a book, he would probably be in his coffin by now."

The Half-Elf beside him pointed at the elven assassin lying on the ground and shouted:

"That's right, it was him who shot the arrow, we can all testify to that."

The Half-Elf gathered around the Elven Guard, some even shouting at the top of their Half-Elf:

"He wanted to reignite the conflict between the Silver Moon Elf and the Half-Elf, so he came to the Lower District to carry out an assassination."

With the sea breeze blowing, the Half-Elf' spirits soared, and some even surrounded the Half-Elf assassin again, loudly accusing him:

"Who assigned you this task? Tell us now, or we'll keep an eye on you from now on, watching you go to the courthouse for trial and finally end up digging a dungeon in the Parrham Island Prison."

Seeing that the group of Half-Elf around them seemed determined to get back at them, the Elven Guard could only grit their teeth and shout, "Alright, he's under our control now. No unauthorized personnel are allowed to stand here."

The two Elven Guard also took the opportunity to help the elven assassin up from the ground.

The surrounding Half-Elf became even more agitated...

Some of the Half-Elf even questioned the three Elven Guard on the spot, "What's going on with you? He was just assassinating residents of the Lower District, and now he's being protected by you Elven Guard?"

The Elven Guard looked at Roy with some helplessness, pointed at the elven assassin, and asked Roy, "Roy, do you know him?"

Roy answered honestly, "I don't know him. Oh... I saw him this afternoon in front of the Green Field Herb Merchant Guild. He was sitting in a carriage across the street. I came out of the herbs shop and he was going back into the carriage. So we met briefly."

The Elven Guard turned to the blood-covered elven assassin and demanded, "Why did you shoot Roy?"

"..." The elven assassin didn't say a word, just stared at the Elven Guard.

The Elven Guard waited a while, knowing he wouldn't get any results from the questioning, and then said to his two assistants, "Take him away!"

Two Elven Guard approached and officially took over the elven assassin from Roy.

Seeing that it was already quite dark, the Elven Guard said to Roy:

"Roy, we're taking this elven assassin with us. If you come up with any new leads, please contact us immediately."

"Okay! I will."

Roy agreed without any hesitation.

The elven assassin was taken away by three Elven Guard.

Seeing that there was no excitement to be had, the Half-Elf on the seawall quickly dispersed.

Roy was left standing alone on the rocky beach of the Great Sea Embankment, looking at the mouth of the Da Nei River.

The night sky was dotted with stars, and the sea breeze drove waves to crash against the seawall, splashing up countless white foams. The sea breeze was filled with a faint, salty smell.

Roy recalled Klayr's warning from yesterday, and heard that some Magic Herbs merchants were very dissatisfied with Roy, believing that Roy had disrupted the market order.

But what can we do?

The Magic Herbs market in Castleton is only so big. Now that it's come in here, ready to share the pie with everyone, it's bound to affect the interests of some Elf Merchants.

Klayr suggested Roy join the Magic Herb Merchant Guild, but Roy had already found out that to Castleton City Magic Herb Merchant Guild, one needed a referral from a guild member, and Roy didn't have that kind of connection...

I didn't expect them to turn against me so quickly.

However, these herbalist merchants are seriously underestimating themselves. They actually thought they could take care of them just because they casually sent elven assassins...

Roy pulled the arrow out of the cover of the Hammer of Judgment Book, put it into his Magic Pouch, and then turned and walked away.

Unexpectedly, news of Roy's assassination at the Cross Street Intersection spread across Brown Street in such a short time.

When Roy opened the door, he saw Moira standing on her balcony, wearing a simple and cool sundress, asking with a worried look, "Roy, I heard you were just attacked?"

Roy quickly waved to Moira on the terrace, indicating that he was perfectly fine and unharmed...

"Well, a Silver Moon Elf suddenly appeared and shot me with a sneak attack. Luckily, I was fortunate enough that the arrow hit my Hammer of Judgment Book!" Roy explained in a low voice.

He waved the thick Hammer of Judgment Book in his hand and answered with a smile.

Sabrina appeared on the terrace at that moment. She must have just washed her hair, as it was wrapped in a towel and she was wearing a bathrobe. While hanging the washed clothes on the clothesline, she asked Roy:

Did he say who instructed him?

Her fair arms gleamed with the color of mutton fat in the night...

Roy shook his head and replied:

"No..."

After hanging up the last piece of clothing, Sabrina said to Roy, "Starting tomorrow morning, let's go to the magic Potion Shop together to sell those Magic Herbs."

"Actually, it's not that serious, and I've already sold almost all of these Magic Herbs," Roy replied.

"It's always better to be careful."

Moira was also trying to persuade Roy.

The weather was rather muggy, and there wasn't a breath of wind on the sea; the entire sea in Castleton Harbour was extremely calm...

Layer upon layer of dark clouds pressed down in the sky, as if they could turn into a torrential downpour at any moment.

The classroom was dimly lit. Master Harper hung a nautical chart on the blackboard and beckoned to the students to come closer.

"This is a complete sea map of the Endless Sea. The map is very comprehensive and includes all the islands. Although this map is not large, it shows the approximate locations of almost all the islands. Moreover, the specific locations of all the islands are not guesses or hand-drawn; the locations of all the islands are based on evidence."

With a gleam in her eyes, Master Harper excitedly told the students, "What I'm about to tell you is that the author of this sea chart is one of your seniors. He's currently a student at the Elf Academy, and when he drew this sea chart, he didn't even enter the Endless Sea. He simply consulted a lot of information about the Endless Sea before transferring it all onto the sea chart."

"With this unique understanding of the Endless Sea, I can say with certainty that he will definitely become a great navigator in the future."

"I hung this nautical chart up for you to see so that you can learn from his spirit of diligent study..."

Roy, who was sitting in the astrology classroom, never expected that Master Harper would openly use his nautical chart to motivate the other elf students during geography class...

The elven students were also dumbfounded, wondering who could be so monstrous as to be able to piece together a complete map of the Endless Sea using only the sea charts and materials in the library. Moreover, the fact that it was praised by Master Harper meant that the sea chart had great value.

Roy showed the nautical chart to Master Harper, hoping he could help assess its reliability...

I never imagined this nautical chart would be so valuable.

Klayr sat next to Roy, while the teacher on the podium was lecturing on the Silver Pegasus Star Region. Klayr was getting sleepy, as she had no interest in astrology, but Roy did!

Now that Roy has stopped learning martial arts from Instructor Nora, Klayr immediately enrolled in astrology and became Roy's new deskmate.

"I heard you encountered an elven assassin?" Klayr asked in a low voice.

"What kind of assassin is he? Just a petty thief..." Roy said casually as he kept taking notes on the blackboard.

"Do you know who's behind this?" Klayr continued to ask.

"Have no idea..."

Klayr subtly nudged Roy, not daring to make any sudden movements, because she knew countless elves in the classroom were watching him, intentionally or unintentionally...

"You didn't join the Magic Herb Merchant Guild either?" Klayr asked.

"We haven't found a suitable matchmaker yet," Roy said, pausing to reassure her.

"I can help you figure that out..." Klayr patted her chest and said, "There's a dance tonight, would you like to go?"

Roy glanced at Klayr, who attended dances every week.

Roy shook his head, smiled, and said, "Let's forget about it!"

Just two days later, news came from the Elven Guard.

The matter was quickly investigated, and it turned out that the person instigating it was indeed the Boss of a Magic Herbs shop.

The main reason is that Roy has taken over his low-grade Magic Herbs market. More importantly, the Magic Herbs Roy sells are priced too low. If that Magic Herbs merchant wanted to sell Magic Herbs at the same price, he would not only fail to make money, but would also lose a lot of money.

He had considered talking to Roy, but then he heard that Roy was just a Half-Elf born into a single-parent family, so what was the point of talking?

What's there to talk about with a young Half-Elf student? Just find a hunter to take care of him; that's the simplest solution.

So the herbalist found a hunter who casually accepted the mission in town. He planned to assassinate Roy and then head to the Jadeite Forest Plane with the group that very night.

Even if we have clues, we won't be able to find the person.

Who would have thought that Roy always carried a thick book in his arms?

He never imagined that his carefully planned escape route would be defeated in speed by a Night Blade Leopard, and he would be smashed to the ground by Roy's hammer...

You can't escape even if you want to; that's true bad luck.

At first, the Boss of the Magic Herbs Magic Herbs shop tried to prove his innocence, but when he realized he couldn't deny it no matter what, Boss approached Roy a week before he was to be sent to trial.

That day, Roy had just come out of the magic academy with Klayr and Woods by his side. The three of them chatted and laughed as they crossed the street, intending to go to the library across the street to read some books.

The Boss of the Magic Herbs shop was a Silver Moon Elf, sitting in an exquisite carriage parked by the roadside in front of the Elf Academy.

After Roy walked out of the academy, the merchant Boss jumped off the carriage.

He was dressed in aristocratic attire and walked towards Roy with a forced smile on his face.

"You must be Roy. I'm Santos. Sorry to take up a little of your time..."

Before Boss Santos could finish speaking, Klayr realized what was happening. Pointing her finger at Boss Santos's nose, she angrily questioned, "You're Santos, the Boss of that Magic Herbs shop? You're the one who paid for the murder! How dare you come to the academy? Why didn't the Guard Squad arrest you?"

The Santos Boss didn't recognize Klayr. When he saw a Silver Moon Elf pointing a finger at him and questioning him, he immediately became angry. "And who are you? What gives you the right to talk to me like that?"

The Santos Boss frowned and gave Klayr a disapproving look.

The Boss Boss was driving for Santos had been watching the commotion. When he saw that Santos looked angry, he immediately came over, grabbed Klayr's shoulder, and tried to push him aside.

Caught off guard, Klayr was pushed backward by the coachman, and if someone hadn't caught him, he would have fallen.

This seemingly insignificant action was like stirring up the biggest hornet's nest in the academy, as the surrounding elf students immediately swarmed around...