Tyler did not assist Avril in the orchard, of course, it had nothing to do with the ludicrous insinuation about "man and woman labor together" mentioned by the foolish loli.
In Tyler's perspective, if it were an ordinary romance, such a collaboration event, "A young boy and girl preparing together in an orchard for the Rain Praise Festival", could undoubtedly significantly enhance their relationship. However, Tyler followed a path less "bewitched" treaded. He sought a result where Avril would be intensely infatuated with him, rather than the mutual attraction commonly spoken about.
[Note 1: Mutual attraction, or mutual crush, refers to a man and a woman mutually adoring and striving towards each other.]
[Note 2: Mutual attraction is a matter of fate, not force. If any of my dear readers here happens upon it, it is advisable to cherish it.]
After four days of diligent effort, Tyler had crafted in Avril's heart a "perfect" image to be admired. If, at this point, Tyler were to step into a domain Avril excelled in and labour alongside her for an extended period, he would inevitably expose his deficiencies, and by then, the "perfect" image would undoubtedly crumble.
Therefore, during the intensive preparation for the Rain Praise Festival, Tyler did not plan on having too much contact with Avril.
·
Half an hour later, Tyler arrived on the outskirts of Ira Village. He planned to carry out a round of patrols centered around Ira Village before nightfall.
It would be challenging for "Ghost Elle" to hide in the village without being noticed, but if she chose to take refuge in the forest or mountains, finding her would be like finding a needle in a haystack.
Tyler hoped to use his identification ability to discover Ghost Elle's footprints in some forest or wilderness. There was no trick to it - without fortune at his side, he would just have to tough it out. Additionally, during his patrols, Tyler had, thanks to traps and his willow-leaf dagger (spoils from defeating the bandits), gained some experience points and hunted game.
—"Successfully killed 'Prairie Dog Rat', occupational experience +15, current experience value 135/400."
—"Successfully killed 'Green Crested Lizard', occupational experience +15, current experience value 150/400."
From summarizing his hunting experience, Tyler drew a conclusion: Creatures weak to a certain degree, such as common insects, invertebrates (like earthworms), etc., provided no experience points upon first kill. Therefore, in this world of 'Difficulty: Impossible', there was no shortcut to leveling up.
Aside from hunting, Tyler also used his identification ability to gather some useful plants, such as the strophanthus that causes heartbeat disorder, vomiting, and diarrhea; hook lip (a flowering plant) causing respiratory paralysis; castor causing spasms and cardiovascular collapse, and mandrake, rosary pea, and so forth. These poisons were all useful to Tyler, who was currently weak in direct combat.
·
Tyler kept busy in the outskirts until nightfall. When he returned to the village, he had not achieved anything in terms of searching for "Ghost Elle". Instead, the other things he did on the side bore fruitful results. Although Tyler obtained a good amount of fresh meat, he didn't plan to bring any for Avril.
Once such an action becomes a habit, the effect of sending meat later on will only be continually discounted until it becomes ineffective—yes, this was an application of the theory of "Intermittent Reinforcement".
After dinner, Tyler devoted the night's sleep to conducting an experiment on magic energy values. After a night of intermittent sleep, he arrived at three preliminary conclusions regarding these values:
Sleep is the only mechanism to replenish magic energy; meditation is ineffective.
Roughly every 4 minutes of sleep replenishes one magic energy point, with no carry-over effect.
Upon depletion of magic energy, severe dizziness incapacitates for five minutes, and for the subsequent hour, sleep cannot restore magic energy.
Concerning whether Prison Star World possesses alternative means of replenishing magic energy, such as magic potions, Tyler would have to wait until he reached a town to make inquiries, as the information within the village was limited.
·
Come the following morning, Village chief Woodall sought out Tyler. To express his gratitude, he personally crafted a hunting bow, fifteen arrows, and an arrow quiver for Tyler.
Originally, Tyler had considered using his "Deceiver" skill to coax(free-ride ≖‿≖✧) the hunting bow from the village head; now it was unnecessary.
Afterward, Tyler sought information about "Lena" throughout the village - the name of the skeletal remains placed in Elle's coffin.
Based on the overall size and the pelvis shape of the skeleton, Tyler surmised Lena to be a woman between the ages of twenty and thirty. Since her remains had been swapped into Elle's coffin, she likely hailed from Ira Village.
Yet strangely, no one in Ira Village had heard of the name Lena, not even the village head or Granny Kana... Could the individual who made the swap have purposely transported a set of bones from elsewhere? But was there a necessity for such an act?
The matter of switching the bones was more bizarre than Tyler had anticipated, providing no clues for the case of "Ghost Elle," and instead adding another riddle for him to solve. After careful consideration, he decided to abandon the investigation into Lena's identity.
Unexpectedly, that noon, an unanticipated individual brought him promising news.
"Banning, I heard you were asking about Lena? How did you know her name?"
The visitor was Mary, which surprised Tyler, as he had not expected to receive any leads from her.
"Yes, it's me who has been asking. Mary, do you know Lena?"
Mary looked around nervously, ensuring no one else was nearby before whispering to Tyler, "Lena... She was a vagrant... I can tell you more at my place."
·
Time always flies when one is absorbed in a task.
In the subsequent two days, Tyler expanded his search radius without finding any traces related to "Ghost Elle." On the upside, his experience in the Production Occupation - Hunter and the proficiency of his "Heart of Focus" skill had improved significantly.
Given the fruitlessness of expanding the search area, Tyler could only shift his focus to Ira Village.
There were two potential leads in Ira Village: one was Avril, and the other was the locked room in Avril's house.
Tyler reasoned that since "Ghost Elle" was so difficult to locate, Avril was momentarily safe. Besides, the Rain Praise Festival was to be held that evening, a special event likely to boost relationships significantly. Therefore, Tyler decided to resume his actions after the festival.
·
As the sun set in the west and twilight faded, nightfall blanketed Ira Village. Subsequently, moonlight filtered through the clouds, bathing the villagers in silver light as they prepared for the Rain Praise Festival.
Among the crowd, Tyler lent a hand, armed with a basic understanding of the festival from his earlier conversation with Granny Kana.
The Rain Praise Festival, a ceremonial rite inherited from ancient times in the Wester Kingdom, took place annually on the first full moon of May. People would host a grand ceremony, praying to The Benevolent Deity for abundant rainfall during the summer and a bountiful harvest in the fall.
For the ritual, villagers would assemble a tower-like pyre using branches, topping it with copious vibrant fresh flower bouquets, dubbed the 'Floral Fire Tower.' It symbolised offering summer's flowers to The Benevolent Deity, hoping for a return of rain blessings and harvest abundance.
In a village-scale festival like the one in Ira, the Floral Fire Tower might reach five to six meters high. In Gudetown, it could even touch ten meters. And if fortunate enough to attend the festival in a large city or the royal capital, one could witness towers exceeding fifteen meters — akin to a five-story building — a truly majestic sight.
Once everything was ready, the village chief ascended a table, starting to chant the prayer. Villagers huddled around the Floral Fire Tower, forming a circle as they awaited the official start of the ceremony. As the village's hero, Tyler was ushered to the forefront of the crowd. Surrounded by people, he failed to notice that hidden in the crowd's shadow, a figure was creeping up on him, brandishing an axe.