"Is this about the question from him that you've yet to answer?" Asking this question in response to Valyr's question to him, Julian obtained a nod from the young man soon after, prompting him to rub his chin for a bit as he tried to recall where the old man was.
"As far as I can remember, he's been staying in the Spearman Guild for the past few days," said Julian to Valyr after he was done pondering. "Usually, he would be in a secluded area only elders of the Spearman Guild would have access to, only heading to the Spearman Guild's building every once in a while whenever he was bored."
At those words, it did not take long for Valyr to put two and two together in his mind after listening to Julian's response, biting on his lip as he slightly frowned. Though he was uncertain for it to be the case, he had a strong feeling that the reason why the elder had been loitering around the Spearman Guild for the past few days…
…was to wait for his return.
"I'll keep that in mind, thank you." Letting out a low sigh, Valyr went ahead and told Julian that he would head to the Spearman Guild for now, to which the latter responded with a nod.
Then, just as Valyr was only a few steps away from leaving Julian's personal workshop, the latter reminded Valyr to return to the Blacksmith Guild tomorrow, telling him that he would probably have found someone that would accompany him to the Akashic Battlefield.
Committing the man's words to memory, it was only then did Valyr finally leave the premises, swiftly making his way out of the Blacksmith Guild to head to the Spearman Guild.
After all, more than three days had already passed since Elder Noel asked him that question.
…
"Hello there." Just before he arrived at the Spearman Guild, Valyr reconfigured his current appearance through [Enhanced Polymorph], changing it to his appearance back when he had met the elder for the first time. Finding a counter that had no queue, Valyr made a beeline to it as he posed a question to the attendant on the other side. "Could I know if Elder Noel is here at the moment?"
"Give me a few moments, sir." Fortunately, rather than ask questions regarding the reason for Valyr wanting to meet up with such an important person within the Spearman Guild, the attendant felt then and there that sticking her nose into where it didn't belong would be an utterly stupid decision on her part, especially since it had something with one of the elders of the Spearman Guild.
With that, the attendant brought out a thin tablet and interacted with it for a bit, infusing some of her mana into it in the process. Eventually, the woman placed the tablet down as she looked at Valyr with a slightly curious expression. "Would it be possible to obtain your name, sir? I've obtained a message from the guild that Elder Noel has been waiting for a certain person these past few days."
Feeling a bit of pain from the feeling that he had inadvertently made someone wait for him, Valyr thought to himself that he would apologize to the elder once he had met up with him. "Would the name of that person be Ylvar by any chance?"
"Yes." The attendant nodded in response. "In that case, that Ylvar would be you, sir?"
"Indeed." Valyr nodded, prompting the attendant to nod once more as she left the counter, appearing before the young man not long after.
"Follow me, sir. I'll lead you to where the elder is currently staying at the moment." In response to the woman's words, Valyr merely nodded as he followed the woman to where she went, with the two arriving in front of a clean yet exquisite-looking wooden door sometime later.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
"Who is it?" In response to the attendant's knocking on the door, a voice familiar to Valyr resounded from the other side.
"I have brought the person you've been wanting to meet, First Elder." As the woman said these words, silence was the only thing that could be heard from the other side for the meantime. However, at some point, the familiar voice resounded once more.
"Alright. You may take your leave."
"Thank you, First Elder." Doing a respectful bow before the wooden door, the attendant turned to look at Valyr for a bit before proceeding to respectfully bow in front of the young man as well.
Remaining silent, Valyr watched as the attendant's silhouette gradually left his field of vision, focusing his attention on the door before him soon after.
"Would it be fine for me to come in, Elder Noel?" Asking this question as he remained standing before the door, Valyr waited for a response from the other side, faintly nodding once he did.
"You may."
Taking in a deep breath, Valyr went ahead and opened the door, only to be slightly left at a loss for words once he was greeted by the sight of the room's interior.
In his mind, he thought that the elder was staying in a room that only had the bare minimum amenities, getting the feeling that the old man liked to live a simple life from his interaction with him back then. However, what he saw before him was the exact opposite of that, with the amenities in the room being as extravagant, if not more extravagant than the amenities in the inn he and Wells were staying in.
'There's even a mana-powered air conditioner…' While looking at the available amenities, he eventually noticed how there was a small magic circle at the upper portion of one of the walls, constantly blasting a breeze of cold air throughout the room.
"So, how was your small journey to the Lesser Meltierre Mountains, Ylvar?" Lying down on a soft bed all this time, it was only when Noel asked this question did he stand up to get a better look at the man.
"Fortunately, I've accomplished everything that I needed to do in that place," said Valyr in response, twiddling his thumbs as he felt a hint of awkwardness between them. "Also… I would like to apologize for making you wait."
"At the very least, you know how to feel guilt." Surprisingly, just as Valyr said those words, the awkwardness surrounding the two of them instantly disappeared, with Noel flashing a brief smile at the young man as he said, "In any case, I don't mind it too much. I've consider these past few days a change of pace from what I usually do."
"Aside from that, if I were in your place, even I would do all I could to enhance my strength as much as possible."
"Especially if it's for something like the Four Pillars' Inheritance."
"Isn't that right, Valyr?"
