By the time the two had arrived in front of the door that led to Damian's office, the two knew a bit more about each other, prompting a somewhat amicable air to surround the two of them as Valyr knocked on the door.
"Come in." Hearing those words resound from the other side of the door, the two went ahead and let themselves into the room, their sights being greeted by Damian surprisingly looking at who had arrived for once.
"Oh? Well, that's quite a surprise." Unsurprisingly, seeing that Valyr had arrived in his office with another person in tow made Damian raise his eyebrow in curiosity, wanting to get a better look of who accompanied him. Fortunately, it did not take long for the man show himself to Damian, with the former giving him a polite half-bow. "To think I'd see Valyr and Wells in my office at the same time."
Although Valyr was somewhat left at a loss for words from the fact Damian recognized Wells, this shock quickly died down as he recalled that everyone who became a village guard had to go through him to get enlisted. On the other hand, Wells was far more shocked than Valyr was, knowing very well how he had enlisted in the village guards. "You recognize me, sir Damian?"
"How could I not?" Damian let out a bitter smile. "Your parents gave me a hard time when they told me to enlist you as a village guard, flaunting their positions as nobles and whatnot."
"Anyways, what can I do for the two of you?" While Wells felt secondhand embarrassment from recalling the actions his parents took to enlist him as a guard in Astarto Village, Damian continued with the conversation, thinking of the incident with Wells' parents as nothing more than a moment in passing.
Just as Valyr was about to say what the two of them were planning to do, it was only then did he realize that from a certain perspective, heading to Anadhar City at such a time seemed insensitive, considering that the village was in the middle of its repair efforts. Thinking that there was a chance their request could be rejected, he took in a deep breath before opening his mouth. "We just wanted to ask if it was possible for Wells and I to take a leave for a while."
"Ah, there's a chance I might not come back," Wells added just as Valyr was finished talking, prompting Damian to raise his eyebrows.
Taking it as a sign to elaborate on what they meant, Valyr went ahead and explained. "Wells and I will be heading to Anadhar City. I'll be heading there to do some things before heading back once I'm done with them."
"I was called by my family to return to the city as soon as possible." Wells lightly sighed. "Which is the reason why I said I might not come back with Valyr."
"Though it would be great if we got your permission to take a leave, we would understand if you reject us for the meantime," Valyr said, setting his expectations low. "After all, the village is in the middle of its repair efforts. It would be insensitive for us to leave the village in a precarious condition."
Hearing the words that came out of Valyr's mouth, Wells could not help but become silent, only realizing now that he hadn't thought of that aspect. With that, he lowered his expectations as well, thinking that there was a high chance their request would be rejected.
However, surprisingly, Damian shrugged his shoulders in response to their words. "Well, although the village is in a precarious condition, it's not like it can't take care of itself. Valyr, Wells, you're free to go to Anadhar City."
"Eh?" Although Valyr was happy that they could leave as soon as possible, he was somewhat confused by the instant approval. Noticing his slight confusion, Damian's expression became somewhat soft as he explained.
"Valyr, you've helped the village out a lot during its time of need. The least the village could do in exchange for your contribution is to let you do what you need to do."
Hearing that, Valyr could not help but let out a sigh as a smile appeared on his face soon after. Nodding, he thanked Damian for allowing them to leave the village at such a precarious time. Though, before they left his office altogether, Damian told them to add him to their friend list, which allowed them to have a Level 25 Sword Dancer on their lists a couple minutes later.
After that, the two headed to their respective dormitories, grabbing all of the items that they would be bringing along during the journey. By the time the two of them met up once more near the barracks' entrance, Valyr could not help but let out a chuckle, seeing that Wells had brought along a couple bags with him.
Nevertheless, as the two had decided to depart for the city before the sunset, the two did not waste any time, heading to a certain shop in the village that sold almost everything they needed for the journey. As Valyr only had a dozen or so silver coins to his name, Wells decided to foot the bill for everything, throwing money at all of their problems as Valyr promised himself to pay Wells back when he had the chance.
While buying the items needed for the journey, Valyr made a brief visit to Tristan's smithy, telling him that he would be out of the village for a while. Although Tristan was slightly surprised by Valyr's sudden decision, he shrugged his shoulders in response to it, asking Valyr the reason why he even told him he was leaving.
Knowing very well that the man would be slightly concerned while he was away, Valyr told Tristan that he would only be out for a couple weeks before returning to the village. With that, Valyr and Wells continued to buy the remaining things they needed for their journey.
Fortunately, just as there was only half an hour left before sunset, the two of them had finished buying everything they need, being greeted by the wooden carriage and the horses they bought just a small distance away from the village gates. Wanting to make sure that the journey was somewhat comfortable for the two of them, Wells opted to buy a wooden carriage that had a roof on it, as well as a system that dampened the effects of uneven terrain inside the carriage. Naturally, Valyr told him that a normal wooden carriage was already fine as is. But as Wells was paying for everything, he eventually decided to let him be.
As for the horses, with how fine their carriage was, they decided to buy two of the finest steeds in the village, which gained Wells' thumbs up of approval. Then again, both of them had no complaints about it, considering that the stronger the steeds were, the faster they could get to Anadhar City.
Placing all of their rations and utilities inside the carriage, as well as the items they had brought from their respective dormitory rooms, the two of them securely tied the horses to the carriage before sitting at the front. After double checking to make sure that they hadn't forgotten anything before they left, Valyr went ahead and took the reins, signaling to the horses to start moving.
And with that, their journey to Anadhar City began.
