"I see." Listening to what Tryndall had to say to him, Valyr nodded in response. After all, the two of them were told by Merdus a week ago that the city would handle the incident regarding the five Clossbay Killers after they had given information. To him, detaining the five seemed like the most logical step.
Though, this train of thought quickly disappeared once Tryndall continued talking.
"Let me clarify myself. The five suspects we've discovered to be the Clossbay Killer have all been detained yesterday." Seeing that Valyr did not find anything amiss with his words, Tryndall worded his statement differently, as well as added another statement to let the former realize what was wrong.
"And today…"
"All of them were released from prison."
"Huh?" At the very instant Valyr's ears registered Tryndall's last statement, a look of incredulity mixed with confusion appeared on his face, not expecting the situation to progress that way.
Of course, both he and Tryndall had considered these kinds of scenarios happening regarding the incident. However, he considered all of those scenarios purely what-ifs, not really something that actually had the possibility to happen.
Yet lo and behold, the opposite had just happened.
Although they were talking in a soft voice all this time, Valyr went to the few remaining customers that still lingered within the smithy and apologized to them before kindly asking them to leave, telling them that they would get a discount to their purchase the following day if they did. In his mind, the continuation of their conversation should never be heard by anyone other than just them.
Fortunately, all of the remaining customers were understanding, becoming even more so once they heard they would get a discount once they left. With that, Valyr was able to partly close the storefront, informing those that might pass by the smithy at this time that the smithy was already closed.
After that, he returned his gaze back to Tryndall, voicing out the thought that had popped up in his mind. "At this point, there's no point in wondering whether there's more to the entire matter or not. After all, with what you've just told me, we have proof that there really is more to the matter than what it seems."
"Though I've already asked you this back then, let me bring up the question once more. Should we just stop pursuing this incident even further?" Noticing the solemn yet grim expression that adorned Tryndall's face as Valyr posed this question to the former, a bitter smile hung on the latter's mouth.
"Well, I already expected as much."
Taking a deep breath before letting out a short sigh, Valyr's face returned to a neutral expression as he returned his train of thought to what it was earlier. "Are you still having the assassins track the five of them?"
"Pretty much." Tryndall shrugged his shoulders. "After all, they're the best lead we've got regarding the deeper meaning into this whole ordeal."
"From the looks of it, we'll probably have to apprehend at least one of them to actually gain progress in that regard." In response, Valyr scratched his head as he bitterly smiled. "As always, inform me through a message as to when we'll do just that."
"You know me very well." Hearing Valyr's words, Tryndall could only let out a chuckle before nodding.
"So, about the saber I want you to forge for me…"
…
"It's been a long day today." Letting out a sigh filled with contentment, Valyr looked at the state of the smithy's storefront, chuckling as he noticed that over half of the items and equipment he had forged for opening day were now nowhere to be found. Most of the display racks only had a few pieces of equipment remaining.
Deciding to record the sales for the smithy's opening day, recalling that he had to set aside a bit of it towards the business permit, a foolish grin eventually appeared on his face once he totaled the amount of money he had made, double checking to make sure he had not calculated wrongly. "Over 800 gold coins on the opening day…"
"With the amount of money I've made from teaching at the combat training hall, I already have half of the money needed to pay back Arcenne and her father." Thinking about how the time that he would repay the two for their kindness was closer than he thought, he kept all of the money he had earned for the day into a large satchel before moving it to a hidden area within the building's living quarters.
After that, he returned to the storefront to record the numbers of items and equipment, as well as the types of equipment he had to forge in preparation for the following day. "Fortunately, I went on a forging spree to past half week or so in preparation for something like this. As long as I allocate a good portion of my time in forging, I think I can make sure I won't run out of stock anytime soon."
"In any case, I hope the players come to the smithy sometime soon." As this thought popped up in his mind, Valyr made his way to the bathroom and took a long shower.
Although he initially established the smithy as a way for him to earn the necessary funds he needed for his future endeavors, it was also the most logical solution that popped up in his mind back when he was pondering over how he would start interacting with the players without having it seem too forced.
In his mind, he thought that once the players discovered the smithy and entered to take a look at what he had to offer, he would offer all of them a linked quest that would allow them to obtain a piece of equipment from him at the end of it.
Of course, the quest he would give the guild leader from his past life, Nephilim, was going to be slightly different, recalling the kindness the man had shown him back then. Though Nephilim would also be able to obtain a piece of equipment from him, he decided to craft a custom weapon for the man as well, making sure that it was enhanced and refined to the highest level possible, as well as have all of the possible attributes on the weapon awakened.
'I guess this is how I'm going to increase my reputation among the players once the first version goes public, an NPC that can give them insanely powerful equipment.' Chuckling at the thought, he eventually got out of the shower and changed into a set of clothes more suitable for sleeping.
Lying down on his bed, he planned out the things he would have to do tomorrow as he eventually drifted off to dream land.
'I've got a long day ahead of me tomorrow.'
'I should go to sleep.'
