For the first few days into their journey to Anadhar City, both Valyr and Wells did not do anything remotely interesting or exciting. Instead, the two of them decided to banter from time to time, staving off the boredom they felt as they went about their somewhat uneventful journey. The same could be said during nighttime, where the two of them huddled around a makeshift campfire they made and ate their rations as they continued to get a feel of each other.
Around the third day, the relationship between two had marginally improved, allowing the two of them to come to an agreement that they would take turns on whoever would be in front of the carriage and whoever would be inside the carriage. Though, more often than not, Valyr would be the one in front of the carriage. However, with the atmosphere surrounding the two of them became more amicable as time passed, he didn’t mind.
By the time the fifth day had arrived, the awkwardness between the two had more or less disappeared, allowing them to chat for hours on end, only to stop when they realized that a great amount of time had passed. In fact, on this very day that the two had finally warmed up to each other, Wells decided to share a bit more behind the reason why he was in Astarto Village rather than be in Anadhar City.
“I’ve already mentioned a few days ago that I’m part of the Anadhar noble family, right?” Wells looked at Valyr beside him, with the latter nodding in response. “I’ve also mentioned before once a nobleman in the family reaches a certain age, they would have to head to some other place for a while to make sure they don’t end up growing complacent, relying on the power and authority the noble family’s reputation offered them.”
Thinking about what he was going to say next, he could not help but let out a sigh. “Unfortunately, there’s no rule or law that stops them from heading to a town connected to our family’s territory, allowing them to still utilize the perks given by the noble family’s name. In fact, that’s more or less the common decision people made when the time came.”
“And you’re an exception to that?” Valyr raised his eyebrows, finding it intriguing for a noble to intentionally distance themselves from the power and authority given by the prestige of their nobility.
“Well, I wouldn’t be in Astarto Village if I wasn’t an exception,” Wells joked, prompting a light chuckle to come out of Valyr’s mouth in response. “In any case, there’s a reason why I unhesitatingly chose to head to Astarto Village once I was of age. Well, if you think about it from the perspective of a noble, the reason’s pretty simple.”
“I hate being involved in the politics of nobility.” Hearing those words come out of Wells’ mouth, Valyr now had a hypothesis as to why he hadn’t seen Wells back then in his previous life. But of course, he wouldn’t tell Wells about it.
“Of course, I can’t escape politics as a whole. It’s something every person would have to come across eventually.” Wells shrugged his shoulders. “However, the politics of nobility… now that’s something I could escape from. The schemes, the ploys, the lies, all of those would be easily out of reach with just one choice.”
“With that in mind, when I found out that I could head to Astarto Village when I had become of age, knowing that I would be far away from all of that, I instantly jumped the gun, much to the chagrin of my parents.” Recalling the confused and disappointed expressions on the faces of his parents when he chose to head to Astarto Village, a light smile could not help but appear on his face. “In any case, I’ve learned a lot during the past couple of years while I was in the village.”
Picking up the spear he had brought along for the journey, Wells looked at Valyr and flashed a grin. “For one, I learned that I want to study the ways of the spear and reach the peak.”
“Though, I really can’t do that anymore since I’m heading back now, can I?” Realizing where they were heading, a bitter smile replaced the grin he had as he soon let out a light sigh. “Well, I guess it’ll be a dream I’ll strive to achieve.”
Saying those words, Wells eventually fell silent, allowing the rhythmic stepping of the horses to fill their surroundings. After some time, Valyr opened his mouth, prompting the former to focus his attention on what Valyr was about to say. “You know, just like you, I have a reason why I joined the village guards.”
Naturally, such words quickly piqued Wells’ interest, making him perk up his ears as he waited for Valyr to continue. Of course, Valyr wasn’t planning on dawdling around, taking in a deep breath as he reminisced about the past. “Way before I came to Astarto Village, I had committed a grave mistake that ended up destroying the life that I knew. Then again, I wasn’t the only one to commit it. Multiple others had committed the same mistake as me.”
“Yet, even though we realized what we had wrong, it was already too late for us to try and change it. Because of it, I ran away and decided to wander, wanting to start anew. I wanted to forget about what I had done.” Looking at Wells, Valyr noticed that the man before him had become engrossed in his words. “Eventually, I found my way to Astarto Village and enlisted as a village guard.”
“Surprisingly, once I got my spear from Damian, a thought appeared in my mind.”
“Hey, there’s no point mulling over the past. What’s done is done.”
“With that thought, it made me realize that there was still a chance for me to make things right, even if the chance given to me in the past was already gone. In a way, I was trying to redeem myself just for the sake of it, focusing on the present and the future that lies ahead of us.” Letting out a sigh, a light smile soon adorned Valyr’s face. “Well, if what I’ve done during the monster tide wasn’t me redeeming myself, then I don’t know what is. After all, who would’ve expected I’d become a village legend because of it?”
With those words ending Valyr’s monologue, the atmosphere between the two had become warmer as the two felt like they understood each other far better than they previously had. Even though it had only been almost a week since the two of them started talking to each other, they felt like they knew each other for far longer than that.
After the personal conversation between the two, the two of them continued on their journey, with Wells showing Valyr the fruits of his odd method of training in the barracks’ training field one day. Surprisingly, even though Wells had next to no actual battle experience as he fought against a wild monster they had come across, all of the attacks he had used with the spear seemed to exude an aura of perfection. From Valyr’s perspective, it was as if he was watching the textbook example of a skill being brought into the real world.
‘Not gonna lie, him wielding the spear suits him.’ As he continued to watch Wells gradually get used to fighting the wild monster, he could not help but take in the man’s appearance. Slightly messy dark auburn hair complementing the man’s chiseled jawline and sky blue irises. With the gunmetal gray spear he wielded, to Valyr, it felt like the man fighting the monster before him seemed more like an adventurer rather than a nobleman.𝒐𝓋𝑳xt.𝗇𝓔t
Nevertheless, after that small skirmish, the two of them continued off into their journey once more, with the gates of a large settlement appearing far away in the field of vision a few days later.
“We’re finally here. Anadhar City.” Muttering out those words, Valyr signaled for the horses to move faster as he looked at Wells beside him with a light grin. Wells lightly smiled at him in response, though a hint of discontent could be felt hidden beneath it.
Just as Valyr was about to ask Wells as to which part of the city they would stop at, a notification sound resounded in his mind, prompting Valyr to check it out. Though, once he did, his eyes could not help but widen, only to notice that Wells was looking at the same notification as well.
“A month remains, huh,” Wells could not help but mutter.
Ding!
[Version 0.1b of Greater Beyond starts in 30 days!]