Astarto Village.
“Our sources tell us that this is the place where Valyr Zeihardt was last sighted.” Under the warm rays of the sun, a group of five people dressed in light gray plate armor stood at the entrance of the village, attracting the attention of passerby once they had entered the village.
“Will we even find an answer from this place, boss?” One of the five asked the man at the very front with a slightly doubtful expression. “It wouldn’t make sense for someone in his place to be staying at a village. Wouldn’t it make more sense for someone like him to hide in a city or a kingdom instead?”
“And that’s why it’s better for him to stay in a village,” another one among the five responded to the previous person’s question. “After all, a village is the last thing people would expect him to stay in, considering his upbringing.”
“Stop it, you two.” The man at the front looked at the two that were talking with a stern expression, prompting one to respond with an apologetic smile, while the other one responded with a smirk.
Returning his gaze back to the front, the man took in a deep breath before radiating the entirety of his aura, allowing everyone in the village to be notified of their presence. “Our goal here is to find out Valyr’s current whereabouts. If we don’t get anything from this place, we move on. But if we do…”
Whoosh!
With the pressure being emanated by the aura, as well as the overall threatening feeling everyone felt from the aura, it did not take long for a couple notable people to appear in front of the group of five, the two of them looking at each other for a bit before looking back at the five with a frown.
“Got any clue on why they’re here, Damian?” Tristan sent a message to the man beside him through the chat function, taking in a deep breath as he tried his best to endure the pressure the aura was giving him.
“No idea.” In response, Damian sent back a reply before lightly shaking his head.
Knowing that silence wouldn’t get them anywhere, Damian decided to initiate the conversation, focusing his gaze towards the man at the front. “Would you mind reining in your presence, sir? It’s making many people in the village feel uncomfortable.”
“I presume you two are notable people in this village?” In response, the man at the front lightly nodded, suppressing the aura he had released as he posed a question to the two.
“That would be correct.” Tristan nodded before introducing the two of them to the man. “My name is Tristan, the only blacksmith in this village. Beside me is Damian, the current leader of the village guards.”
“Would it be possible for you to introduce yourself to us, uh… sir?”
“Where’s your village chief?” Rather than respond to Tristan’s question, the man frowned.
“That would be me.” Coincidentally, just as the man had asked the question, Alfaera had appeared beside the duo, causing the two to inwardly let out sighs of relief as all of them sent each other a few messages, all of them clueless as to what was going on.
Seeing as the man at the front of the group was just staring at her, Alfaera took the hint and lightly nodded before introducing herself. “My name is Alfaera Astarto, the current leader of Astarto Village, as well as a Baroness of the Astella Region. May I ask what brings you five to the village?”
Though some of the people among the five raised this eyebrow in interest once they heard of Alfaera’s nobility, this swiftly died down as the man at the front finally introduced himself to the trio. “I go by the name of Braum. Behind me as my comrades, making up one of the multiple reconnaissance teams of the Imperial Production Guild.”
Hearing the phrase Imperial Production Guild escape from Braum’s mouth, Alfaera’s eyes slightly widened in surprise as he told everyone, except for Tristan and Damian, to leave their group alone for the meantime. After that, she offered the group of five to head to a place that was somewhat more private, to which the five lightly nodded in agreement.
Apologizing for the slightly cramped nature of Tristan’s smithy, Alfaera took in a deep breath as her expression turned solemn, her gaze focused on Braum. “Sir Braum, may I ask why the members of a prestigious guild from the Algerie Kingdom are here in our humble village?”
“As expected of a Baroness to be more knowledgeable of our identity.” In response, Braum lightly smiled, with Damian and Tristan somewhat confused as to what the two were talking about. Nevertheless, this confusion of theirs disappeared once they heard the reason for the group’s visit.
“Well, to answer your question, we’ve been tasked by the Imperial Production Guild to find a certain individual,” Braum said to the three. “Do you perhaps happen to know of a man named Valyr Zeihardt?”
At that moment, the three were taken aback by Braum’s question, not expecting Valyr to be the reason for their visit to the village. Because of that, the three of them frowned not long after, thinking that the guild was searching for Valyr due to nefarious intentions.
Of course, Braum and the other four were quick to pick up on the change of the trio’s mood, prompting Braum to lightly nod as he explained a bit more about the situation. “From the looks of it, the three of you indeed know him. Well, that makes things a lot simpler.”
“The reason as to why we’ve been tasked to find him is due to the fact that he’s being sought after by the Imperial Production Guild due to his forging capabilities.” Hearing this, the suspicion the trio had regarding the group’s intentions decreased, with Tristan and Damian’s suspicion swiftly disappearing as he had more knowledge regarding the matter.
“Does this have something to do with his class?” Tristan posed the question to Braum, who nodded in response.
“Indeed. The Blacksmith Guild has tested Valyr’s capabilities not only in forging, but in combat as well, deeming him a suitable candidate to be sent to the Imperial Production Guild.”
“Test?” Finding some of the man’s words odd, Tristan traced his memories back to the only time Valyr had interacted with the Blacksmith Guild, wondering which part of it was the test in combat. He knew that Valyr had to show his capabilities in forging during the registration, but he didn’t know how the man’s combat capabilities were tested.
“The ambush?” At that moment, he recalled that the two of them were ambushed just as they were heading back to the village, prompting a look of understanding to briefly flash on his face as he shifted his gaze back at Braum. “Is that how he was tested in combat?”
“According to what the Blacksmith Guild had given us, that seems to be the case.” Braum nodded, causing Tristan to let out a sigh of relief before letting out a chuckle.
“I see, I see. To think that was the reason all this time.” With that in mind, Tristan looked at Damian and Alfaera, sending the two of them a few messages through the chat function regarding the current situation. Eventually, the two of them nodded at him, prompting him to nod back as he posed a question to the man.
“Can you swear that your group’s reasons for finding Valyr aren’t malicious?” Hearing the question, the expressions of the five went solemn as Braum responded on behalf of the entire group.
“As part of the Imperial Production Guild, it would be a disgrace for us to have any malicious reasons for our actions. Doing a misdeed is equivalent to bringing shame to the name of the Imperial Production Guild itself.”
“Is that so?” Tristan lightly smirked at the man’s words before nodding. “Since that’s the case, then I guess I could trust you guys a bit more.”
“I have a feeling there’s more to the reason as to why you’re finding him, but he’s currently in Clossbay City, according to what he told me.”𝒐𝓋𝑙xt.𝐜𝚘𝓂
“However, if I ever find out that you five actually had malicious intent towards finding Valyr, I swear to the heavens that I’ll find the five of you no matter what.” As these words escaped Tristan’s mouth, a palpable killing intent radiated out of him, prompting some of the five to gulp in slight nervousness.
“We would rather die than do something like that.” In response, Braum promised them that they truly asked them for Valyr’s whereabouts due to their earlier reason, not having malicious intent at all.
Thanking the trio for their time, the group of five then left Astarto Village, with the three watching as the group’s silhouettes gradually disappeared from their field of vision. At the moment the group’s silhouettes from their vision, the three looked at each other before lightly scratching their heads as all of them had the same question in mind.
‘Have we done the right thing?’