"Here's that Wyvern Core you asked me to buy." With the conversation that ensued between him and Julian yesterday, by the time Valyr had arrived at the Blacksmith Guild, he was swiftly escorted to a private workshop by one of the guild's attendants.
Once there, he met up with Julian, who gave him a simple-looking box the very instant they met.
"Oh, right. Give me your identification badge as well." Thanking the man for buying what he needed, Valyr was about to head deeper into the private workshop, only for Julian to request something else from him. Though confused at first, the young man eventually did what he was told, giving his badge to the man.
"What do you need my identification badge for?" asked Valyr as he took a look at the workshop he was working with. Compared to the previous workshop he had worked at, the equipment currently within the workshop looked to be more up to date.
"Remember what I told you yesterday? The final surprise thing?" Taking a look to see if there was any other equipment within the workshop that he might have missed, Valyr soon heard this question come out of Julian's mouth.
"Yeah. Your badge has something to do with it." As he nodded in response, the young man quickly came up with a couple ideas as to what the man needed his badge for. Fortunately, the latter's next words were more than enough to confirm his suspicion, causing him to scratch the back of his head.
"What rank is it this time?" questioned Valyr, feeling like he had now gotten a good grasp of the equipment he would be working with.
"Not much of an increase unlike before," replied Julian as he slipped the young man's badge into one of his pockets. "I'll just be moving you to the Honorary Lesser Elder rank."
"Any higher than that, and I'll have to explain to the other directors of the Blacksmith Guild that my decisions are for the benefit of the guild," added the man, prompting Valyr to let out a bit of laughter.
"Well then. If that's the case, let me thank you in advance." Placing the box he had gotten from Julian on an anvil, Valyr looked at the man before him as he decided to shift the topic.
"Moving that aside for the meantime, recall the small conversation I had with you last night?" asked the young man, which caused Julian's expression to become serious.
"The one regarding the Nicholas clan's young slave, right?" said Julian back, to which Valyr nodded.
"I've already looked into it." As Julian said these words, the young man raised his eyebrows in slight surprise, not expecting the man to move so quickly. "I've even had the Nine Stars Pavilion and a couple individual information gatherers look into it."
"Using your money, of course." Though, just as the young man felt awe at Julian's efficiency in completing tasks, his mood instantly soured once he heard the man's next words.
'Then again, it wouldn't make sense for him to be using the guild's funds to do it anyway.' Thankfully, he only took it as a small sacrifice towards something larger. After all, the kid would eventually grow up to become the Grand Marshal of the Zeihardt Sovereignty.
"So, what did you find out?" Feeling slightly apologetic towards the man as Julian told him that he was the one who footed the expenses soon after, the young man decided to push the thought aside for the meantime, focusing his attention towards what was more important.
"On one hand, the Nicholas clan doesn't really care too much about him." Hearing these words from Julian, Valyr could only listen attentively. "After all, he's just a slave to a large noble clan. Higher ranking servants disappear more often than those with his status."
"However…"
"However… what?" Finding out that there was another side to it, Valyr's curiosity was piqued.
"A specific member of the clan's younger generation wants him to return to the clan no matter what," said Julian in response, prompting the young man to conclude that this person was undoubtedly Edward's master.
"Did they find out the reason why?" asked Valyr in response.
"There was no reason given." Letting out a sigh, Julian faintly shook his head. "That person was adamant in not giving out the reason."
'I have a feeling as to why,' thought Valyr to himself as he inwardly smirked. With how the young man recalled all of the feats and achievements Edward had done in the past, as well as the fact that the kid had shared his life story to him, it went without saying that he had a solid idea as to why that member of the Nicholas clan wanted Edward to return.
"How about information on setting him free?" Pondering over his previous thoughts for a bit longer, the young man eventually moved onto what he considered was the most important portion of their topic.
"Though that member was adamant that he wouldn't be sold no matter what, the entire Nicholas clan was fine with voiding the contract for the young slave…" said Julian, which instantly brightened Valyr's mood.
"…for a price, of course."
"How much are they asking?" At these words, Valyr already thought about the possible price the clan wanted him to fork out. To him, it wouldn't be surprising for them to request an amount that even class guilds would even have difficulty gathering.
Fortunately…
"They said one platinum card was more than enough payment." Hearing Julian say these words, the young man was briefly left speechless, realizing not long after that aside from that one member from the clan, only he knew what was special about Edward.
"Well, to be honest, they thought that paying one platinum card for a kid was too much, even though you insisted that was a fair amount. Because they felt a bit bad about receiving so much for basically nothing, they plan on nullifying the contracts of his parents as well," added Julian soon after, which brought a wide smile to Valyr's face.
"I'm guessing I'll have to send a platinum card to the Nicholas clan, then?" Seeing that the young man seemed to be frozen with glee, Julian decided to ask the question himself, to which Valyr profusely nodded in agreement.
"I'll definitely make it up to you in the future," replied Valyr, feeling a hint of guilt at the fact that he was basically turning Julian into a helper of sorts. Thankfully, the latter did not mind it too much, telling the young man that he was doing it for the sake of giving a kid a better future.
After talking a bit more about a couple of things, Valyr was eventually left on his own within the workshop, prompting him to take in a few deep breaths. Organizing the thoughts in his mind, the young man eventually thought about the other items he would need to upgrade his Nascent Wyvern Armor to the next tier, which was his first agenda for the day.
"Julian told me before he left that I could just buy items from the guild as long as I send a message to an attendant." Muttering these words to himself, the young man eventually found the item Julian had mentioned that would allow him to call for an attendant.
Infusing a bit of mana into it, an attendant arrived at the entrance of his workshop a few minutes later, asking him what he needed their services for. In response, Valyr listed down a great number of materials that made even the attendant's eyes widen in surprise.
Thankfully, the attendant did not ask him what he planned to do with the materials, instead giving the young man a price after a bit of silence.
After clarifying the final price of all the materials he requested for, considering his rank within the guild, Valyr was left on his own once more after the attendant assured him that all of the items he had requested would arrive within an hour or so.
"I guess I should do the next agenda on my list, seeing that I have all this time to kill." Returning to the center of the workshop, Valyr gazed at the box he had received for a bit before opening up his chat function. Once open, he then selected a certain person he wanted to talk to, sending them a message.
"Hey, Braum. Are you free at the moment?"
"Been a long time since we talked." Waiting for a couple minutes, Valyr eventually received a message from the person he contacted, looking at the response with a faint smile. "Anyways, I'm not really doing anything at the moment. What's up?"
"I've heard from a certain person that you specialize in information gathering." Pondering over how he would phrase his message multiple times to make it not seem suspicious, the young man eventually responded. "Could you retrieve some information for me?"
"…you know, your message sounds like you're asking for some illegal information." Unfortunately, no matter what he did, his message still looked suspicious…
Which Braum didn't mind.
"But that's just how you type sometimes, so eh." Reading this message from Braum, Valyr could not help but wryly smile. "Do note that I charge a fee for retrieving information. After all, I'm taking a few risks here and there."
"But of course." Valyr nodded as he sent his response back.
"So, what kind of information do you need?" Seeing this message pop up on the screen, the young man thought about how he would phrase his response once more. Though, at some point, he gave up on the thought, considering that however he phrased it would be understood by its recipient anyway.
"I need you to get me information on the entire Zeihardt clan."
"The hierarchy, the members, the news surrounding about them…"
"Everything."
