Chapter 981: Before the Tide
Chapter 981: Before the Tide
“Alright.”
Hearing the question that came out of Tristan’s mouth, Valyr went silent for a bit before nodding with a solemn expression.
With that, the three began to make their way to where Tristan and Alfaera previously were, moving through the various streets of the town while doing so.
Wanting to familiarize himself with the new layout of the former village, Valyr pushed his perception to the limits, committing the general layout of the town to memory.
At the same time, Tristan and Alfaera gave him additional information on the various places they passed through along the way, allowing the young man to gradually build up a rough map of the town in his mind.
Of course, if the young man could help it, he would’ve spent more time roaming around the town, acquainting himself with every nook and cranny as the former village was the first place he’d really established his footing the moment he appeared in Greater Beyond.
But as thoughts of the upcoming monster tide continued to linger in his mind, he was forced to put the thought on hold for the meantime, arriving at their intended location around half an hour later.
—
“And here we are. The town hall.”
Listening to Alfaera’s introduction, Valyr looked at the building in front of them, only to look back at her with slight shock. “That’s… the town hall?”
“If I forgot that I was in a town right now, I would’ve thought that was a city hall.” Though the building before him was nowhere near as large as the city hall back in Clossbay City, it was still large enough for Valyr to think that the building was more suitable as a city hall than a town hall.
After all, compared to the other buildings within the hall’s imminent surroundings, the town hall occupied an entire block for itself, spanning at least over a hundred meters on all sides as far as the young man could infer.
Of course, after realizing that the building before them was the town hall, Valyr began to come up with other reasons as to why the town hall was so large for its current scale.
Then again, such thoughts immediately disappeared once he recalled who was leading the town.
“I’m guessing you’ve made the town hall this large with the long term in mind?” asked Valyr as he continued to look at Alfaera, immediately letting out an inward sigh of relief after seeing the latter nod in response.
“It wouldn’t make sense for me to move the hall every time this town grows in size, after all,” replied Alfaera, giving Valyr more insight to her thought process. “It wouldn’t only confuse me every time, but the citizens of the town as well.”
“Plus, I’m avoiding the relocation and demolition of nearby buildings by making the hall large in advance.”
“In comparison, the upgrades to the other sectors are more in line with what you’d expect for a town,” Tristan continued where Alfaera left off, only to let out a slight chuckle soon after.
“Then again, the same couldn’t be said for the Blacksmith Guild branch.”
At those words, Valyr nodded in agreement, recalling how the Blacksmith Guild branch back in Anadhar Town was larger than it should be for a town of that scale.
The same went for the Blacksmith Guild back in Algerie Kingdom, though Valyr felt it made sense in that regard since it was supplying almost every item imaginable there.
‘On second thought, it makes sense for the Blacksmith Guild to be large,’ thought Valyr to himself after thinking about it for a bit more, deciding not to continue the topic any further after that.
Thankfully, neither Tristan nor Alfaera continued the current topic either, instead making their way to Alfaera’s office with Valyr in tow.
“I suppose we can talk freely now.” At the moment Alfaera sat on her chair, it was as if a slight burden was removed from her shoulders, prompting her to look at Valyr with a slightly apologetic smile. “I apologize for requesting you to come here.”
“It’s not really that big of a problem,” said Valyr in response, assuring her with his words. “After all, this is where I got my start.”
“Speaking of which, have you guys heard of the war with the orcs in the kingdom?” asked the young man not long after, keeping an eye on their expressions.
“We have.” Tristan looked at Alfaera for a bit before giving Valyr a nod.
“As we’ve decided to establish Astarto Town as a forging town similar to Anadhar after you left for Clossbay, the Blacksmith Guild reached out to us by the time the war reached its peak, hoping that we would supply weapons to contribute to the war efforts.”
“Due to how much support the Blacksmith Guild would give us in our development of the town, we decided to accept,” Alfaera said in continuation of Tristan’s words, prompting Valyr’s eyes to widen in slight surprise.
“Were you planning to establish Astarto as a forging town all this time?” asked Valyr as he looked at Alfaera, only to see her look back at Tristan in response.
Noticing that both her and Valyr were looking at him, Tristan let out a bit of laughter as he replied, “It was more like the idea came about when you showed your talents in forging.” “In my mind, it would be a good idea to establish Astarto as a forging town with you at the helm,” continued the man. “After all, your skills and talent in forging are great enough to catch the attention of many.”
“I wouldn’t even be surprised if the armor you’re wearing right now is something you’ve forged yourself.” Tristan pointed at the True Wyvern Armor Valyr was wearing.
Hearing those words, Valyr grinned as he confessed that the armor was indeed his own work, briefly leaving Tristan at a loss for words.
“I don’t mind if you two catch up on forging and all that.” Though Alfaera happily listened to the conversation that was unfolding between the two, she eventually reminded them of the reasons why they were here. “But you could save that later on, considering we’re here to talk about the upcoming monster tide.”
“And to think you were the first one to bring it up, Tristan.”
Laughing in response, Tristan raised both of his hands as if he were caught red-handed. “Cut me some slack, will you? It’s been a while since I’ve had a good conversation.”
“In any case, Alfaera’s right.” At those words, Tristan returned to his previous solemn demeanor. “We have a feeling that the upcoming monster tide would be unlike any of the previous monster tides we’ve encountered before, which is why we’ve asked you to come
here.”
“How bad are we talking?” asked Valyr, pushing all of the other questions and topics he had for later. “And what were the other monster tides like in comparison for you to say that?”
In response, Tristan explained to him that the three monster tides they’ve weathered while he was out in the inheritance were progressively more difficult than the last monster tide he’d defended alongside them.
However, the increase of difficulty was still to the extent that the entire town working together could still handle it, improving the town’s ability to unite as one during crises.
“To be honest, the third monster tide arrived a bit over 20 days ago,” said Tristan, prompting Valyr to raise his eyebrows. “In fact, some of the town sectors are still recovering from the losses accrued in that tide.”
“Yet, for some reason, even though not even a month has passed since the previous tide appeared, another monster tide is already heading our way,” he continued, shaking his head
at the thought.
Naturally, Valyr found it weird. “Why is that? Did something special occur for it to happen?”
“None as far as I know of.” Alfaera and Tristan shook their heads.
“Though, the Tidemother we killed during the third monster tide did say a few things that might serve as a clue to why we’re facing this one early,” said Alfaera soon after, prompting
Valyr to perk up his ears.
Only for his expression to turn slightly grim soon after.
“If I remember correctly, it said something about avenging a Tidemother from the Alltide?”
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