"Mngh…" Waking a couple hours earlier than he usually did, it took a while for Valyr to get out of bed. Though, once his consciousness finally came to, he swiftly went through his usual daily routine, changing into a fresh set of clothes half an hour after he had gotten up.
'Let's double check if I've forgotten anything.' With how early it was in the day, the young man made sure to not make a lot of noise whenever he moved. Taking a long look at his room, as well as the contents of his two spatial bracelets, Valyr eventually nodded in satisfaction after confirming that he had brought everything he would need.
Briefly looking at both Wells and Edward soundly asleep in their respective parts of the room, a slight smile gradually crept up onto the young man's lips as he faintly chuckled. Making his way to the door, a thought popped up in Valyr's mind, prompting him to send a message to Wells before he left.
"Take care of yourself and Edward, okay?" Feeling like their conversation yesterday and this message he had sent conveyed everything he needed to say, only then did the young man finally leave the inn, eventually arriving at the Blacksmith Guild sometime later.
…
"Ate breakfast yet?" Seeing a young man in casual clothes head to the Blacksmith Guild under the gradually disappearing moonlight, Julian flashed a grin as he greeted the young man.
"With how important this day is for many people, I couldn't bring myself to take a detour." Greeting Julian back, Valyr flashed a wry smile as his stomach slightly rumbled all of a sudden. "Also, what's the status on the talks with the other directors?"
"Still in the process of talking with them, but I believe they'll eventually agree." Bitterly smiling in response to his question, Julian took out something from his spatial bracelet before giving it to the young man. Seeing that the man gave him some food to munch on, Valyr did not hesitate to eat the whole thing, thanking Julian in the process. "It's just a matter of you getting out of the inheritance as soon as possible."
"So, where are we heading?" Nodding as he finished the food he had been given in just a couple of minutes, the young man rubbed his stomach in relief as he asked this question.
"The Imperial Production Guild," replied Julian as he began to head in the place's general direction. "All of us shall convene there before heading to where the inheritance is located."
Nodding in understanding, the young man followed behind Julian as the two of them increased their pace. Pushing their speed to near the limits of what Valyr's AGI stat could handle, the two eventually arrived at the entrance of the Imperial Production Guild within a couple of minutes.
…
"To think you'd be the one escorting us to the inheritance this time around, Elder Faulerei." As both Valyr and Julian had arrived at the Imperial Production Guild, the two of them were slightly surprised that a group of people were already there. Though, with almost all of them having the insignia of the Imperial Production Guild on their clothing, that feeling swiftly disappeared. "I see Braum shall be accompanying us as well."
"Glad to be seeing you again, Julian." Hearing his name be called, Braum looked in Julian's direction before giving the latter a wide grin. Not long after, he noticed the young man accompanying Julian, inwardly chuckling as he knew who he truly was. "I see you've also brought Ylvar as well."
"Well, he is the guild's chosen candidate for the inheritance, after all," said Julian with a bit of laughter. Though, after that, his expression went solemn as he turned to look at Faulerei. "How long till the inheritance opens?"
"Roughly two more hours," Faulerei responded, his expression neutral. "Let us wait for the other candidates to arrive before we depart."
Hearing those words, Julian and Valyr looked at each other before slightly shrugging their shoulders. Initially, they thought that the others had already arrived before them while they made their way to the guild. Because of that, it was no surprise that the two of them hastened their paces, only for reality to be the exact opposite.
Feeling that they would be waiting for quite some time, the two of them engaged in conversation with people they knew from the Imperial Production Guild. With that, Julian went ahead and talked with Elder Faulerei about topics other than the Four Pillars' Inheritance, while Valyr approached Braum and the others, catching up on what the other side had been doing.
"Did you know Merdus is here?" While talking about the skirmish against the orcs after running out of topics to discuss, Braum posed this question to Valyr all of a sudden, causing the latter to look around. Fortunately, it did not take long for the former mayor of Clossbay City to appear in his field of vision, donning a full suit of armor that had the insignia of the Imperial Production Guild on it.
"So, that's where he ended up after the arrest," said Valyr in response, nodding in understanding as he recalled the incident that transpired in Clossbay. Recalling what Braum had said back then, the young man felt like Merdus' current position made a lot of sense. "What happened to Lucas, though?"
"He's at Clossbay," replied Madeline, one of the members of Braum's reconnaissance team. "Though we did arrest him for his crimes, the Hekaetos clan swiftly paid for his freedom after finding out his whereabouts."
"If it's any consolation, not a lot of people frequent the Hekaetos Forging Emporium anymore," said Paul as he continued where Madeline left off. Then, with a knowing smile, he added, "As far as I've heard, something called the Crimson Forge is being frequented by more people recently?"
"Is that so?" Chuckling at Paul's words, the group continued to talk a bit more about Merdus after that, telling Valyr about how he was initially a member of the lower-ranking reconnaissance teams of the guild. However, with his talent and strength, he was able to work his way up the ladder and become part of the guild's 4th Reconnaissance Team, which was one of the teams selected by the guild to accompany them on the journey to the Four Pillars' Inheritance.
After that, not much conversation had occurred as the other candidates of the inheritance arrived one by one with their escorts a few minutes later. Seeing as all of the chosen candidates for the inheritance had gathered at the Imperial Production Guild's entrance, Elder Faulerei faintly nodded in satisfaction as he attracted the attention of everyone in the surroundings.
"Before we depart for the inheritance, I have something to tell to the candidates that would enter the inheritance." At these words, Valyr and the others looked at Faulerei with curiosity. Though, once they heard the man's next words, smiles appeared on all of their faces.
"The Imperial Production Guild… no. The entire human race thanks you four for allowing the Four Pillars' Inheritance to be finally explored in its entirety."
"With that…"
"Let us depart!"
