If you read my story on any website besides Royal Road, the website has copied my story without my permission. As a sixteen-year-old commoner, your future is bleak. Worse, your appearance sets you apart from others. Your only achievement so far is befriending the second son of the Lord of the Keep. He has been your only friend for eleven years, initially a partner in mischief and later your hunting companion and confidant. Now your friendship is being torn asunder. He has turned eighteen and is being sent away to become a Judge Knight Aspirant. What is to become of you? Before your friend leaves, there is murder and conspiracy! Magic left the land hundreds of years ago. All you have is your bow and hunting skills. Nevertheless, you must fight to survive and save another to have any hope of a future! Note: The graphic isn't mine; it is a reimagining of a few separate images. Any objections from original artists, let me know. N.B. If you are looking for Sexual Content in every chapter or every second, third or fourth chapter, this isn't the story for you. The Sexual Content is required for a plot device, not a way of life, and the later chapters reflect that - please stop dropping Low Ratings when you feel I haven't met your idea of "fan service". This is finished as much as a multi-book vision can be. At 750,000 words, give or take and a small readership, I can only blame myself. I have learnt a lot, possibly forgotten a lot as well! I will probably return to the Chapters at some point - a touch-up here and there. The second book, though, will likely remain in my head for a very long time, so yes, "cliffs", although I hope the characters and their motivations are developed enough that you can have a good guess at the content of Book Two and tell me so I can confirm or deny! This isn't a LITRPG where classes are developed, and a hero of immense power defeats great foes. This story is based within (I hope) an authentic and consistent culture, leaving breadcrumbs for the reader to work out what is happening and why. This is a slow-burn story as the MC is stumbling around discovering her new place and role. Author's Note (Apr 2021): I dropped the Fantasy Genre for the Mystery Genre because while the setting mentions magic, it is about past glories and trying to return to them. The MC from Chapter One doesn't understand her predicament and the range of mysteries she must solve to survive. If I have this wrong, PM me, and I will change this back.