In response to Valyr's request, the five looked at each other for a bit, sending a few small strands of mana between one another from time to time as they talked about who should go first. Eventually, the five of them agreed upon an order, prompting the man at the front to let out a light sigh as he muttered, "Do I always have to be the first?"
"You are our leader, after all," said a young woman at the back in response, lightly chuckling soon after.
Letting out yet another sigh in response to the young woman's words, the man at the front composed himself by taking a few deep breaths before focusing his gaze towards Valyr. "I'm sure you've heard me introduce myself before back in the coliseum, but since this is the first time we've met each other in a proper setting, let me introduce myself again."
"My name is Braum Gladios, a Marquis of the Astella Region, as well as the leader of the 3rd Reconnaissance Regiment of the Algerie Kingdom's Imperial Production Guild." Listening to Braum's introduction, Valyr was able to confirm that the reason why they had come to the city was indeed the possibility Aster had informed him back then. Nevertheless, he continued to remain silent for now as he listened to the others introduce themselves to him.
"Neia Starlight. Countess. Member of the Imperial Production Guild's 3rd Reconnaissance Regiment." After Braum was done introducing himself, a woman in her late twenties spoke up, her overall expression giving off the feeling of not enjoying long conversations with other people. Then again, this expression complemented her dark gray hair and dark gray irises quite well.
"Name's Paul Aubrahim. I'm a Marquis of the Astella Region as well, just like Braum. Naturally, I'm also part of the Imperial Production Guild's 3rd Reconnaissance Regiment." After Neia was a man that appeared to be in his early thirties, the aura he radiated filled with the vigor of a man in his prime. Similar to Neia, his hair and eyes were of the same color, being a deep brown.
"A pleasure to meet you. My name's Tyrst Aubrahim. Similar to Neia, I'm an Earl of the Astella Region." Beside Paul was the man that introduced himself next, his appearance bearing a few similar facial features to Paul. Of course, Valyr took note of that, causing him to stare at Tyrst in greater detail.
In response to Valyr's stare, a light smile appeared on Tyrst's face as he understood what Valyr wanted to find out. "We're brothers."
Nodding in response to Tyrst's words, Valyr then shifted his gaze to the only person in the group that hadn't introduced themselves yet, which was a woman in her mid-twenties. Naturally, the woman noticed that and took it as her cue to introduce herself.
"Nice to meet ya! I'm Madeline Rosendale, and I'm a Countess, soon-to-be Marchioness!" Having blonde hair and jade green eyes, Madeline introduced herself in a way that made apologetic smiles appear on some of the others' faces as they looked at Valyr. "With us around, you'll definitely get to Algerie Kingdom a-ok!"
"Glad to hear that." In response to the energetic Madeline, Valyr could only smile and nod to her words. Of course, with the five introducing themselves to him, it made sense for him to introduce himself to the five as well.
"I'm sure that you five probably have an idea as to who I am beforehand since you were tasked to find me, but let me introduce myself."
With a light smile adorning his face, he opened his mouth. "My name is Valyr Zeihardt, a Knight of the Astella Region. Aside from that, I'm an Elite Member of the Blacksmith Guild, which I presume is one of the reasons why you've been tasked to find me."
"That would be correct." Though Braum and the others were slightly surprised to find out Valyr already partly knew why they had come to find him, they decided to keep that to themselves since it wasn't rare for candidates to have a faint idea of why they were being summoned. "We have been tasked to find you, as well as escort you to the Algerie Kingdom due to the kingdom needing your presence."
"The Four Pillars' Inheritance, I presume?" At these words, the five could not hide their surprise anymore. After all, according to what they knew, all of the ones that were chosen to be candidates for the Four Pillars' Inheritance only found out they were candidates for the inheritance once they arrived at the Imperial Production Guild.
Yet, here was one such person who already knew he was a candidate.
"Would it be fine for us to find out how you came to know about your candidacy for the Four Pillars' Inheritance?" Curious, Braum decided to ask Valyr, causing a smirk to appear on the latter's face in response.
"Let's just say that someone informed me of the possibility," Valyr told Braum and the others. Naturally, the five tried to obtain more information from Valyr regarding the person that had informed him, but Valyr remain tight-lipped all throughout their questioning, leaving the five no choice but to give up on finding out.
"So, you're here to safely escort me to the Algerie Kingdom so I could participate in the Four Pillars' Inheritance, right?" Deciding to change the topic, Valyr posed a question to the five, who could only nod in response.
"Though I have an idea on what the Four Pillars' Inheritance is, what kind of inheritance is it exactly?" Though none of the five were truly obligated to inform Valyr regarding the Four Pillars' Inheritance, Braum decided to answer the question, considering how the man before him already knew of his candidacy.
"The Four Pillars' Inheritance is an inheritance that's been told to contain a great amount of knowledge regarding advanced technology that we aren't even close to achieving," Braum told him. "It is said that the Four Pillars' Inheritance was the culmination of the civilization that made it, containing all of the advanced technology the civilization had created before they disappeared due to the passage of time."
"However, to enter the Four Pillars' Inheritance, four people are needed to enter: a blacksmith, an alchemist, a tailor, and a sage," Braum continued, prompting Valyr to continue listening. "Aside from needing people with these four classes, the inheritance is also said to adjust to the rarity of the participants' classes accordingly, only allowing those with higher rarity variants of the classes I've mentioned to access more of the inheritance."
'The inheritance contains highly advanced technology, huh?' Nodding in response to Braum's explanation, Valyr pondered over what he heard from him. 'And on top of that, the ones that would enter the inheritance need to have a high rarity production class if they want to access more of the inheritance, which is something I currently have.'
'Though it does possibly solve one of the problems I'll be facing in the future if I continue to stay in this planet, what do they seek to gain from it?' Pondering over it for a bit more, Valyr eventually came to a conclusion.
"So, if I'm getting this correctly, the Four Pillars' Inheritance is an inheritance that relies on its candidates to have high-rarity variants of the four classes you mentioned to be able to access the entirety of the inheritance." Valyr looked at Braum, who nodded back in response.
"That is correct."
"And the reason behind your appearance is to escort me to the Algerie Kingdom, since I have a high-rarity variant of the Blacksmith class. Is that correct?"
"That is correct."
"I see." Nodding at Braum's words, Valyr went silent for a bit more as he pondered over a few things. Though, eventually, Valyr looked back at the five with a bitter smile as he opened his mouth, telling them something they weren't expecting to hear from him.
"I appreciate the offer, but…"
"I'll have to decline."
