Turning around in the direction of the origin of the voice, Valyr's eyes slightly widened in surprise as a girl in her twenties stood in the middle of the doorway that led to Damian's office. Though she wore clothes similar to those to what other people wore in the village, she exuded an air of class and grace around her, making one think that she might be a noble mingling with the local community.
This thought was further spurred on by the fact that her hazelnut brown eyes gave one the feeling that they were looking at the world surrounding him, as if her gaze encompassed everything they knew. Adding on her dark brown hair, which was neatly tied into a ponytail, as well as how she handled herself in social situations, it would make sense for one to think that way.
Flashing a light smile after Valyr gazed in her direction, the woman lightly nodded as she opened her mouth. "Though I have heard of your feats as the Tidebreaker during the monster tide, as well as your name being mentioned by many people multiple times, I presume this is the first time we've seen each other face-to-face, yes?"
With Valyr nodding in response to the question, the woman went ahead and introduced herself. "Well, my name is Alfaera Astarto. I am the eldest daughter of the founding family of the village, the Astarto family, as well as the current village chief."
"Would it be fine for you to enlighten me on your identity?" Hearing these words come out of the woman's mouth, Valyr lightly shrugged his shoulders before nodding.
Standing up from his seat, he gave her the same level of respect he had given him, lightly bowing before going ahead and introducing himself to her. "Valyr Zeihardt. Part of the Astarto Village Guards. A Rank 1 class holder."
Though Valyr's introduction of himself was brief and concise, Alfaera did not take any offense to it whatsoever, finding it normal for someone like Valyr to be wary around someone they had met for the first time. Nevertheless, when the man before him mentioned his surname, her eyes could not help but widen for a brief moment, looking at Valyr with a hint of surprise before her expression eventually returned back to normal.
"I'm pleased to make your acquaintance, Valyr," Alfaera said with a light smile, placing the thought of Valyr's surname at the back of her head for now. "Has the village been treating you well ever since you've arrived?"
"It has." Valyr nodded in response. "If not for the fact the village has treated me so kindly, I wouldn't have probably reached Rank 1 this quickly."
Although Valyr had multiple ways to reach Rank 1 without relying much on other people, it went without saying that it would have taken longer for him to do so if not for the opportunities the village had given him, as well as the people he had met along the way.
"Since you have already mentioned it, I would like to congratulate you on your ascension to Rank 1." Hearing the words that came out of Valyr's mouth, Alfaera congratulated him on his achievement, to which Valyr replied with a nod and perfunctory thanks.
After that, the room had become silent, with the atmosphere surrounding them becoming more awkward as time passed. Unfortunately, there was no easy way to go around it as both Alfaera and Valyr had met each other for the first time.
Eventually, at some point, Valyr could not handle the awkwardness anymore, opening his mouth as he asked Alfaera a question. "I was told earlier by Damian that you would speak to me regarding a couple of matters. Would it be fine to ask what those are?"
"Ah, yes." Seeing as the awkward atmosphere surrounding them had been finally broken, Alfaera inwardly let out a sigh of relief as she recalled the reason why she had come here in the first place.
"Well, the first matter would be me congratulating you on your ascension to Rank 1. I've made a habit of mine to congratulate everyone who has ascended to Rank 1." Alfaera lightly smiled as Valyr nodded while he listened. "As for the second matter…"
"Well, let's just say this would take a bit more time to explain." As she said these words, a bitter smile appeared on her face, prompting Valyr to raise his eyebrow in curiosity.
Taking in a deep breath to collect her thoughts, she then let out a light sigh as she looked at Valyr, her expression solemn. "Hmm… how should I go about this?"
"I'm not sure if you know of this, but Astarto Village has been established by the first ancestor of the Astarto family five generations ago," Alfaera started to explain. "At first, only a couple houses were built in this area, but as time passed, it has become the village we know and see today."
"As the fifth generation village chief, the dreams of the first ancestor have been passed onto me, which is to see that Astarto Village eventually expands to accommodate more people." She looked at Valyr, wanting to see if he followed. "In other words, no matter how long it took, the ancestor wanted the village to go beyond being a simple village. He wanted it to grow into a town, then a city, and possibly, an earldom."
"Fortunately for the ancestor, the chiefs that came before me have laid out most of the foundations needed for the village to expand into a town. As for me, I've solidified these foundations further and improved it to the point that there's not much that's stopping us from expanding." Just as she had finished her words, she noticed the slight look of confusion on Valyr's face, prompting her to follow up with a question.
"Now you might be wondering: why hasn't the village expanded into a town if there's not much stopping it from expanding?" Hearing the question, Valyr nodded in agreement.
Seeing his response, Alfaera wryly smiled. "Well… although there's not much stopping it from expanding, the thing that's stopping it is quite a big problem for the village, actually."
With that, a screen appeared in front of her field of vision, prompting her to interact with it for a bit as a notification sound soon resounded within Valyr's mind.
Ding!
[You have gained detailed geographical information on the nearby surroundings of Astarto Village.]
Seeing this notification, Valyr went ahead and brought up the system map in front of him. Within seconds, he quickly noticed how many new symbols and signs were littered around Astarto Village. Though, among all of these new symbols, one stood out among the rest, taking on the shape of a dark skull.
"It seems you've noticed it as well, huh?" Alfaera noticed where Valyr was looking. "That right there is the thing stopping Astarto Village from expanding into a town. What is it, you might ask?"
"Well, it comes in many names, but it is the bane of many unprepared villages." Hearing Alfaera's words, Valyr closed the screen before him and listened once more. "It is none other… than a dungeon."
Ding!
[You have received a new quest: Roadblock to Expansion.]
[Would you like to accept the quest?]
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