‘I’m quite curious as to what the Extended NPC Feature Set might contain, but I can check that out once I’m finished with the celebration.’ With that thought in mind, Valyr removed the notification screen from his mind as he started eating his breakfast, narrating parts of his adventure in the Astarto Goblin Den to everyone that gathered around him.
At some point, Leon, Jonas, and Louie had arrived at the cafeteria, prompting Valyr to bitterly smile as he ordered himself another tray of breakfast, allowing him to continue his narration of his journey up to the point where he had come face to face with the dungeon’s final boss.
Unfortunately for those listening, just as Valyr was about to get to the final boss, he was finally finished with his breakfast, telling the others that he would save his story for another time. Naturally, these words caused a bit of clamor in the cafeteria, causing Valyr to let out a peal of laughter as he told them that he would tell the full story during the celebration later.
Only when the people in the cafeteria made him promise multiple times that he would tell the full story during the celebration was Valyr finally allowed to leave the cafeteria, letting out a light sigh before chuckling, thinking to himself that he would definitely miss this kind of atmosphere once he left the village in the future.
Nevertheless, as he still had to celebrate the clearing of the dungeon after acquiescing to Alfaera’s words, he placed those thoughts of slight longing at the back of his head for now, deciding to prepare for his eventual departure back to Clossbay City by buying a carriage and a couple steeds in advance.
With that, he returned to his dormitory room and carried the satchel of money he usually brought when he was outside the village before completely heading out of the barracks. Though, just as he thought that the village would hold its celebration of his feat later in the day, Valyr was swiftly greeted by the sight of the entire village in a festive mood, with bright colors adorning the main street of the village.
‘Guess I won’t be able to buy those things anytime soon.’ Bitterly smiling as he watched the scene that had unfolded in front of him, the bitter smile on his face was quickly replaced with that of slight fear once one of the people at the streets noticed that Valyr had left the barracks, causing a swarm of people to move closer to Valyr to ask him how he cleared the dungeon.
Recalling what he had discussed last night with Alfaera, he replied to their questions by telling them that he would narrate his journey through the dungeon later, thinking about the events Alfaera had prepared in store for the celebration.
Naturally, a great portion of the people that had congregated around him could not help but have glum expressions on their faces, all of them showing various levels of visible disappointment. Though, that did not dispel the joyous atmosphere that could be seen throughout the village.
After all, aside from Valyr’s achievement, from this point onward, Astarto Village could now expand to a town.
While walking through the main street of the village, Valyr engaged in a few conversations with a few people he had become acquainted with, asking them how they were able to set up everything within the span of a night. In response to the question, all those he asked gave him the same answer.
“You’ll have to ask the village chief about that.”
Wryly smiling in response before nodding and thanking those he asked, he proceeded to walk throughout the village for a bit more, eventually finding Alfaera helping out a couple of the people in putting up decorations for the celebration.
Seeing how Alfaera wore a lavender dress that faintly accentuated the air of nobility around her, Valyr could not help but chuckle as he called for her attention, prompting the former to look around for a bit to see who was calling her, only to find Valyr waving at her.
Excusing herself to the others still putting up decorations, Alfaera eventually appeared in front of Valyr with a light grin on his face. “So, what do you think? Quite a grand celebration for such an achievement, no?”
“It’s definitely a feast for the eyes, that’s for sure.” Valyr nodded in agreement, only to voice the question he had asked others earlier to Alfaera. “Speaking of which, I’ve been asking around earlier as to how the village had gotten everything set up for the celebration within the span of a night, but they’ve all told me to ask you about that. And so, here I am.”
“How’d you do it?”
“Let’s just say it came at the cost of a sleepless night,” Alfaera said in response, to which Valyr could not help but scratch his head after. To anyone in his place, it would not take long for one to put two and two together, coming to the conclusion that the village chief before him had not slept a wink in order to make sure this celebration was a success.
With such a thought in mind, Valyr told Alfaera in response that she shouldn’t really sacrifice sleep for something like this. In response, the latter lightly shook her head. “You don’t understand, Valyr. It’s not just me. Everyone that has spent most of their lives in the village have always wanted to see the village prosper at some point.”
“And you clearing the dungeon will finally allow the village to do just that.”𝒐𝑽𝐿xt.𝑐𝑜𝚖
“One sleepless night is a small price to pay, especially when taking in the cost you had to pay to clear the dungeon.” As Alfaera said this, Valyr could not help but become solemn for a bit, internalizing the words she had said to him.
After a while, he nodded and apologized that he did not take her perspective into consideration. In response, Alfaera could only smile. “It’s fine, it’s fine. In any case, since this is a celebration of what you’ve achieved, you should enjoy the most of it.”
“Speaking of which, once the sun is at its peak, everyone will be at the center of the village, expecting you to be there,” she told him. “I sure hope you’re there at that time. After all, that’s what we’ve agreed upon last night.”
Hearing Alfaera mention the discussion they had last night, Valyr let out a bit of laughter before allowing her to continue with what she doing. “Don’t worry. Since you’ve kept up your part of the deal, I’ll keep mine.”
With that, the two went their separate ways once more, with Valyr slowly making his way to the part of the village that sold carriages and horses. While making his way to where the items he needed were sold, the thought that popped up in his mind earlier in the barracks came back, causing him to let out a light sigh as a bittersweet smile soon adorned his face.
“Man…”
“I’m definitely gonna miss this atmosphere.”