Under the sound of the narrator's announcement.

Ronald and Catherine stepped into the village before them.

The "Maze Picture Book" still perfectly restored the state of this place.

There were almost no original inhabitants to be seen here; instead, the army of Lin Yin City had taken over, using it as a temporary command point. The structure of the labyrinth was also born under such special circumstances.

Every road, every shop, every dwelling in the entire village.

Was occupied by a considerable number of Lin Yin City's Casters.

Some were preparing a Spell to attack the nearby sand dragon, while others were in a state of exhaustion, resting where they stood.

Ronald and Catherine walked among them.

Without much effort, they passed through the village quite effortlessly and then faced the giant dust beast before them once more.

They were already quite close to this colossal creature.

Within easy eyesight, the sand dragon lay sprawling on the ground. Its white body rhythmically rose and fell, looking like a living entity at a glance.

"Is this also a maze?"

Just as the two easily passed through this village and were about to continue their journey, Catherine suddenly pulled Ronald.

"According to what you said before, everything we've gone through so far should have been quite dangerous, right?"

"But this village…we got through it so easily?"

Catherine's inquiry made Ronald pause immediately.

Although they had only gone through the canopy maze and dark forest so far, from these experiences, they could roughly analyze the style presented by this "Maze Picture Book."

One maze after another, scenes accompanied by crises, and such a relentless pace that barely gave anyone a chance to breathe.

Suddenly, there was a simple and easy village to pass through.

It really didn't fit with the overall style of the maze.

"Catherine, you're right to remind me."

"There must be something wrong here; we probably overlooked something very important."

Having made a decision, Ronald immediately turned around.

The danger level of this maze must be handled with extreme caution; he could not accept significant oversights. After all, in the later stages of the maze, this could very well become the cause of their failure.

As early as their first entry into the "Maze Picture Book."

Ronald had already realized the significance of such critical clues.

Catherine followed Ronald in turning around and continued to ask:

"Where do you think we should start?"

Ronald pondered briefly, and the conclusion became clear in his mind:

"The village's small maze is primarily made of people; if there's something very important hidden here, it should also have something to do with people."

Sure enough.

Just as Ronald answered, the narrator's voice sounded simultaneously.

[Very fortunate! The adventurer, with his smart assistant's reminder, realizes that there's a key character hidden in the village!]

[So, can he find this important presence?]

Upon hearing this voice.

Ronald and Catherine exchanged a glance, quickly forming an idea:

"Since they are all part of Lin Yin City's army, we'll find their commander."

The two turned back, deliberately plunging into the human-formed maze.

They also tried to talk with these Lin Yin City soldiers, but after the transformation in the "Maze Picture Book," these animated figures only uttered fixed lines like 'I don't know' and 'You can't go past here.'

Their sole role in this village was to act as walls obstructing Ronald and Catherine's action.

A quarter of an hour later, the basic structure of the whole village was clear in mind.

Ronald and Catherine didn't waste more time exploring the terrain; instead, they walked through the crowd and reached the small square in the northeast of the village.

The terrain was open here, with large buildings beside, a well offering drinking water.

In the current maze setting, the probability of someone like an officer existing here is the highest.

Having defined the area, they resumed their search.

Ronald and Catherine soon found a clue.

At the entrance of a courtyard, a few soldiers stood there, but they weren't forming an obstruction like a wall.

In other words—as a house with guards!

Such a special target placed before them, Ronald and Catherine naturally walked over.

Then—"Unauthorized personnel, do not enter."

Before the two even stepped into the courtyard, the guard moved to block the entrance.

Though unable to enter, Ronald and Catherine felt considerably better.

With such an obstruction, there must undoubtedly be something valuable inside this courtyard!

"Catherine, let's look around."

Knowing that barging in was not an option, Ronald naturally led Catherine away, planning to find a way in from the surrounding area.

After making a round.

They discovered the courtyard had only one front gate.

The other places were surrounded by intact walls; the back door was firmly sealed, with no chance of sneaking in.

Having circled back to the original position, Catherine immediately asked:

"Ronald, what should we do now?"

"Or should we abandon the secret of this place and continue focusing on cracking the mazes ahead?"

Ronald shook his head decisively:

"No, doing so would make this trial even more challenging."

"Catherine, the main point of solving the maze is to use observation and Wisdom. Such a hastily eager attitude will only lead us astray."

Upon hearing this, Catherine stopped talking, and instead, she and Ronald pondered how to solve the problem together.

The two then found themselves at a standstill.

Around the square, they couldn't find a way in, and the possibility of sneaking from a high point didn't exist either. As for those soldiers—no normal conversations could be had here, so there was nowhere to leverage from this aspect.

A few more minutes passed.

Ronald continued observing the soldiers, wondering if he had missed any crucial clues. But Catherine, standing beside him, had a completely different focus.

The tower master of the astronomy division didn't focus on the soldiers.

Her gaze lingered on the surroundings, eventually locking onto a facility in the square. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Catherine raised her eyebrows slightly, calling for Ronald without turning her head:

"Ronald, have you got anything over there?"

Ronald called back loudly:

"I'm still trying!"

Knowing Ronald hadn't achieved anything yet, Catherine simply called him over:

"Why don't you come over here; I think this thing might be interesting!"

"Oh?" Ronald curiously walked over.

When he reached Catherine's side, she pointed at the facility she was observing, her tone and expression somewhat subtle:

"Isn't this the well?"

Catherine nodded and gestured to Ronald.

"Yes, it's this well."

"With the sky blocked and the ground sealed, if we really want to find another way in, we can only think about doing so from underground."