Clossbay City.
"I guess the highest Gabriel's willing to go is a hundred gold coins per session." Tossing the pouch of money Gabriel had given him for today's session up and down, Valyr appeared at the entrance of the smithy with a smile on his face, receiving a few greetings from a couple of customers as he made his way to where Wells was.
"So, did you manage the smithy well while I was gone?" Seeing that Wells had his eyes closed and was sitting cross-legged, Valyr lightly tapped on the former's shoulder before posing a question to him.
"There were times where it was a bit too much for me to manage. Though, for the most part, I was able to manage just fine." Letting out a light sigh at the fact that he was interrupted, Wells looked back at Valyr, prompting the latter to flash an apologetic smile in response.
"In any case, you should really hire a helper in the smithy sooner or later, even if we don't take into consideration the fact that you have to hold a few sessions every week at the combat training hall," Wells said to him not long after. "Even if the helper's only duty will be managing sales, that alone will save both of us a ton of headache. Well, to be more exact, save you a ton of headache."
"Believe me when I say I've been searching for someone to do just that." Valyr bitterly smiled. "I've already asked Arcenne about it, as well as a couple of our regular customers regarding people that were perfect for the job. Sadly, they had none to recommend. Well, they did recommend me a couple people, but they told me that they were all working for another business."
"Is that so?" Hearing those words, Wells bitterly smiled in response, patting Valyr on the shoulder. Telling Valyr to take a bit of rest for now before proceeding to do work for the smithy, Wells eventually returned his attention to the customers, watching them for some time before closing his eyes, activated [Technique Introspection] sometime later.
In the meantime, Valyr did what Wells suggested him to do, heading to the living quarters at the rear of the building as he lied down on his bed for a bit to relax his body. Just as he was about to sit up and think about whether to get a meal before starting to work, a notification sound resounded in his mind, prompting Valyr to check out what the notification was about.
Seeing that the notification was a message from Tryndall, Valyr went ahead and opened up the chat function, reading the message Tryndall had sent to him as his eyes slightly widened in surprise at the very end.
"Hey, Valyr. Just giving you a heads-up that the five suspects are about to take action today. We might have to meet up later tonight."
"Don't they only take action once a week? After all, the Clossbay Killer only killed someone once a week." Naturally, Valyr sent a message in response, its contents asking for clarification regarding the current situation. From the looks of it, what he knew from back then was now obsolete.
"Ever since we've found out that the Clossbay Killer was actually five people, they've changed a lot of things." Not long after, Tryndall replied to Valyr's question. "With the help of the five assassins from the Adventurer's Guild, I was able to find out that the five of them actually met up a couple days ago, planning out what they were going to do today."
"Because of that, I feel like we should change our plans as well." Seeing that Tryndall had sent him another message, Valyr read it. "Didn't we agree back then that we would only apprehend one person among the five for us to make headway into this incident?"
"How about we scratch that idea and apprehend all five of them instead?"
"But we don't have enough manpower for that." As he was reading Tryndall's message, a frown slowly crept up Valyr's face. "Even if we split up, we'd only be able to apprehend two people… unless if the five assassins you've hired are going to take action as well."
"Unfortunately, they'll still be acting as scouts." As Valyr read this message, he imagined Tryndall flashing a bitter smile at him. "However, I've enlisted the help of a few seasoned fighters from the Adventurer's Guild in order for us to apprehend all five of them. Even chose ones that knew how to interrogate people."
"I've wondered about this from time to time before, but at this point, I just have to know." Lightly scratching his head at the response he obtained, Valyr posed a question to Tryndall. "What position do you even have in the Adventurer's Guild for you to command this much power? With how fast you've enlisted more help, I'm pretty sure it's far above my current position in the Blacksmith Guild as an Elite Member."
"Let's just say that I've caught the attention of a higher-up from the Adventurer's Guild." Obtaining this message from Tryndall, Valyr knew that it would be a while before the man would tell him more about it. Then again, he was already expecting to obtain a message like that from him.
"Either way, let's meet up at the same place as before, same time as well. Oh, and also, could you bring the saber I requested from you if it's done? I'll pay you once we meet up."
"Alright, see you later." Concluding the conversation there, Valyr closed the screen before him as he let out a light sigh. After staring out into the window beside his bed for a bit, he eventually stood up, deciding to head outside the smithy for the meantime to grab a meal before heading back to work.
'I wonder if Wells has already eaten lunch?' Just as he asked himself this question, Wells had appeared before him, telling him that there was a man carrying a box at the entrance, telling Wells if Valyr was at the smithy.
Pondering over it for a bit in silence, a possibility soon appeared in Valyr's mind, causing a light smile to appear on his face as he made his way to the entrance, easily finding the man that Wells was talking about.
"Is your name Valyr, sir?" Noticing that Valyr had appeared before him, the man swiftly asked for his identity.
Nodding in response, Valyr then asked the man a question as the latter placed the box on the floor. "May I ask who this package came from?"
"From uh… Lady Arcenne Stelyra, sir." Hearing the man's response, a hint of excitement appeared on Valyr's face as he paid the delivery fee for the package.
While the man that had delivered the box had already disappeared from the smithy's vicinity, Wells came up to Valyr, who was currently carrying the box the man had brought to the workshop portion of the smithy. "What's in the box?"
In response to the question, Valyr flashed a grin.
"Half Wyvern Blood."
