Parting Ways

Just as the assailant's blade was only a few centimeters away from cutting Wells' throat, Valyr swiftly made a move, utilizing the entirety of his stats to grab the spear from his back before moving out in retaliation. With the huge difference between his and the assailant's stats, he was able to position his spear in a way that would reduce the damage he dealt to the assailant, but increase the pain received to its absolute maximum.

Bang!

At great speeds, Valyr hit the assailant at his sternum, forcefully shoving the dull end of his spear towards it as the assailant's momentum was cut short. Soon, the assailant was sent flying, colliding with a nearby stall that sold foodstuffs as everyone in the vicinity could not help but look at the origin of the ruckus.

"Urgh…" While Valyr placed the spear back in its original place, the man with black garbs groaned out in pain, clutching his chest as he looked around, noticing that quite a few people were staring at him. Soon, his ears picked up words being spoken to him, lashing him out for crashing into the food stall. Taking a look at the origin of the sound, the man met the stall owner's eyes, increasing the anger felt by the latter as he continued to lash out at the man, asking for reparations.

At that moment, only then did the man finally understand what had happened, attributing his current situation to the man that sat beside the target which he sought to kill. After all, the target's family was the reason why he was the only one barely alive amongst his siblings. In his eyes, anyone who got in his way of seeking revenge for his family was an accomplice.

Feeling immense embarrassment for implicating others into his mess, this emotion quickly turned into incessant rage as the man in black garbs stood up, enduring the intense pain he felt in his chest as he pointed at the carriage Valyr and Wells sat on. While pointing at it, he exclaimed with fury, "Protecting a nobleman… do you have no shame?!"

Hearing the words that came out of the man's mouth, the passersby shifted their attention to the carriage, their eyes widening as they seemed to have an inkling of an idea of what was going on. As they had no context of the matter beforehand, their understanding of the current situation had become misconstrued, eliciting murmurs to arise from the crowd as Wells could not help but let out a sigh.

Valyr, on the other hand, was confused at the current situation, wondering what he had done wrong. For some reason, while he looked at the passersby who appeared amidst the ruckus, they looked at him with expressions of slight disgust and contempt, increasing his confusion even further. Fortunately, it did not take long for him to realize the reason behind their reactions, a notification sound soon resounding in his mind.

Ding!

[Your reputation in Anadhar City has decreased by 10 points. Current reputation: Slight disdain.]

Reading through the sudden notification he had received, Valyr had finally pieced two and two together, prompting him to look at Wells, who took in the current situation with indifference. Letting out a sigh, Valyr lightly shook his head before signaling the horses to continue moving forward, leaving the hubbub the man in black garbs had caused.

"I'm surprised someone would make a move on you. After all, it has been a while since you last arrived here, no?" Valyr looked at Wells beside him as they continued to head towards the Anadhar manor.

In response, a bitter smile appeared on Wells' face. "Although it has been a while, people look at the defining characteristics of the noble families, not the nobles themselves."

Shrugging his shoulders, he added, "You get used to it."

"Do the people in this city hate your family or something?" Valyr could not help but ask after that, finding Wells' nonchalance over the whole ordeal slightly off-putting. "To think the people would take the side of the one who attempted to kill you."

"You've basically answered your own question." As Valyr let out a sigh after finishing his words, Wells shrugged his shoulders once more. "The people would rather take the side of the assailant of the nobles. That alone explains how deep-seated the hate for our family here in this city is, no?"

"Is everyone else in your family really that bad?" Valyr looked at Wells in the eye, wanting to see if he could find out more from his gaze.

Nevertheless, the bitter smile on Wells' face was more than enough of an answer for his question, prompting him to sigh out once more as they continued to move through the city.

…

As they passed through the various parts of the city, Valyr could not help but notice one thing. For some reason, the closer they got to the Anadhar manor, which Valyr presumed to be where Wells and everyone else from the Anadhar noble family lived, the more furious the people were when they noticed that Wells was returning to the manor. At some point, it had escalated to where the passersby would shout out profanities towards the nobleman beside him, yet Wells shrugged it off as if it was nothing.

Eventually, the two had arrived at the entrance to the Anadhar manor, its surroundings being a stark contrast to what they had passed through to get here. For one, none of the people that passed by them had the gall to scream out profanities at Wells, which probably had something to do with the line of guards in full armor around the manor's entrance.

Noticing the carriage stop in front of the manor, one of those guards approached them, only for the guard's demeanor to undergo a huge shift once he found out that the eldest son of the family had arrived. Getting off the carriage, Wells grabbed the things he had brought along for the journey before being soon approached by the other guards, all of them excited to see the eldest son make a return after what seemed to be years.

As for Valyr, he watched the whole scene unfold in front of him, prompting a light smile to adorn his face as he eventually told Wells that they would now have to part ways. In response, Wells thanked Valyr for accompanying him during the journey, soon tossing out a small satchel towards the latter.

"What's inside?" Receiving the satchel, Valyr could not help but open it up, his eyes widening as he looked back at Wells in slight shock.

Seeing Valyr's reaction, Wells could not help but let out a bit of laughter. "Consider it thanks for bringing me here safe and sound. It's the least I could do for a good friend like you."

Hearing the words that came out of Wells' mouth, Valyr let out an awkward chuckle. Feeling that the atmosphere surrounding him was gradually turning more awkward, he decided to bid farewell to the nobleman. Though, just as he was about to tell the horses to start moving again, Wells stopped him as a question escaped his mouth.

"Now that I think about it, I never got your full name," Wells said to him. "On the other hand, you got mine. Mind telling me your full name?"

"Oh, sure. I don't mind." Nodding, Valyr went ahead and told Wells of his full name, eliciting the latter's eyes widen in great shock as he wondered if he had heard correctly. However, before he could ask if what he heard was correct, Valyr already bade farewell to him once more, the carriage disappearing from the vicinity of the manor not long after.

Reeling in from the shock he had felt from hearing the name, Wells took in a deep breath as he made his way into the manor. While walking, a light smile appeared on his face, prompting him to let out a chuckle as thoughts whirred around in his mind.

"To think the man I've befriended would actually be above me in status."

"Zeihardt… huh."

"I think I'm going to owe you one, Valyr."