"…And with that, I guess I've prepared everything I can for tomorrow." Wiping off the sweat from his forehead, Valyr had a content smile on his face as he removed the forging hammer he wielded from the chestplate on the anvil. Moving the chestplate to where the other pieces of the set he had forged were, he identified all of them with [Analysis] to make sure he hadn't missed improving any of them.
With the smile on his face turning into a grin as he wondered what it would be like to use the armor set in action tomorrow, Valyr moved away from the workshop portion of the smithy and tended to the needs of the customers, reminding himself from time to time that he needed to hire a helper for the smithy sooner or later.
'I should also probably get a blacksmith that would man the smithy while I'm gone.' While helping some of the customers out, this thought surfaced in Valyr's mind, recalling that he would have to head to the Algerie Kingdom within the next two months or so, considering that almost three weeks already passed since he obtained the World Quest.
Deciding to ask some of the smithy's regular customers not only about a helper he could hire for the smithy, but a blacksmith that would work for the smithy as well, a familiar person eventually appeared in the smithy sometime later, concern greatly evident in her expression.
"Valyr? You there?" Looking around the smithy for a bit in slight panic, Arcenne eventually let out a sigh of relief once she saw Valyr talking with a customer, a relaxed smile adorning his face.
"Just give me a moment, okay?" Of course, Valyr had noticed Arcenne's presence ever since she stepped foot within the Crimson Forge. With that, he excused himself to the customer he had just been talking to before beckoning Arcenne to follow him to somewhere a bit more private.
"So, what's gotten you so worried that you were looking for me?" With the two of them at the workshop portion of the smithy, Valyr went ahead and started the conversation with him asking why she had come to his smithy all of a sudden.
"I heard that you were requested to show up in a life and death duel." Arcenne lightly frowned as she gazed at Valyr, who raised his eyebrow in surprise, not expecting word of what had transpired in the morning to spread that quickly.
"But seeing how relaxed you are, I guess that doesn't seem to be the case." Saying these words, she let out a light sigh of relief, only for concern to appear on her face yet again once she heard Valyr's response.
"Yeah, someone did approach me earlier." Valyr nodded, informing Arcenne that what she heard was the truth. "They said I had to show up in a life and death duel tomorrow."
"And you didn't even bother telling me about it?" Arcenne looked at him with disbelief.
In response, Valyr scratched his head as he looked back at her. "You do know life and death duels can't be rejected, right?"
"You do know I have the power to cancel them, right?" Hearing these words come out of her mouth, Valyr instantly became confused.
"But why would you go out of your way to do that?" Though Valyr had a hunch on what her reasons were to help him out on canceling the life and death duel, he decided to ask the question anyway.
"Well, there's the fact that you and my father seem to get along well," said Arcenne in response. Not long after, a slight frown appeared on her face as she looked at him. "But more importantly… aren't I your friend?"
"Friend…" At those words, Valyr bitterly smiled, not surprised that his hunch was correct. Though Valyr did consider Arcenne as a friend of his, he thought of himself as more of a nuisance rather than a friend to Arcenne, recalling the help he got from her when it came to the requirements for the Crimson Forge.
With that in mind, he thought about his relationship with Tryndall as well, only noticing just now that the latter was doing most of the work regarding the Clossbay Killer incident, realizing that he was more of a burden rather than an aid.
After pondering over his thoughts for a bit in silence, Valyr let out a light sigh. He then shifted his gaze towards Arcenne and told her that he would inform her of matters like these from now on, apologizing soon after to her as he voiced out the thoughts that were in his mind regarding their friendship.
Unsurprisingly, Arcenne found Valyr's impression of their friendship weird, telling him that she thought that she was the one becoming a nuisance to him, considering the amazing equipment he had forged for her. Nevertheless, the two of them eventually sorted everything out, prompting the two of them to look at each other with a smile as they felt like their friendship had become stronger somehow.
"So, do you want me to cancel the life and death duel?" Tracing back their discussion to what it was before the whole conversation regarding their friendship, Arcenne offered her help to Valyr regarding the life and death duel once more. However, rather than agree, Valyr shook his head, telling her that it was fine for her to not help him.
Naturally, Arcenne asked in response as to why that was the case, only for her expression to become slightly grim as she listened to Valyr's reply.
"Remember those guys from the emporium that came here to request a forging duel against me? Well, it turns out that those people are the same people that want me to show up in a life and death duel."
"All the more reason to cancel the duel, then," said Arcenne in response.
"If it were any other time, I would have probably accepted your offer." Valyr nodded in agreement with her words. "However, I'm confident that I'd be the one winning the duel."
"After all, I'm not participating in the duel empty-handed." As Arcenne raised her eyebrow in curiosity as to what Valyr meant by that, the latter grabbed the chestplate he had forged for his own armor set and gave it to Arcenne. Afterwards, he told her to use [Analysis] on the armor set, which caused her to gasp in shock once she was done reading through its description.
Giving the chestplate back to Valyr just as the screen in front of her disappeared, a light frown crept up her face as she soon posed a question to Valyr.
"Why didn't you forge this armor set for me back then?"
