Chapter 131: A Tour of Riftfall

"Okay, Lyra. Can you show me around the village?"

Lyra looked at him with a blushing face, causing Valerian to sigh internally again.

"Yes, o- of course."

Gesturing for her to lead, they began to walk through the village, with Lyra explaining everything they saw. The village wasn’t big, but it had enough history to make up for it—history that Valerian was most interested in.

"Our village, Riftfall, was founded a long time ago by my ancestors, the Vaelis family! It has been a lot of generations since then, so I’m not sure where our founders came from, as they didn’t pass their story down to us."

’Bummer.’

Where these founders came from would be a vital piece of information, but unfortunately Lyra didn’t have it, so Valerian just let her continue.

"We are currently fifty-four people living here, and we of course have our guardian that protects us from the forest, Sir Asterion."

Valerian’s ears perked up when she mentioned the man. If he couldn’t learn anything about the founders of the village, then the SSS-ranker was the next best stop. The man looked to be in his mid-forties, and with the lifespan of someone of his rank, he must have been inside the village for a long time.

"Is it possible for me to meet this guardian again? The last time, I wasn’t able to hold a conversation with him."

Back in the medical room, he learned pretty much nothing from the old man, since he just walked away after granting Valerian permission to stay here. But he had to talk to him if he wanted to understand these people and where they came from.

Lyra looked at him with a complicated expression and clearly didn’t want to say what was on her mind. Noticing the reluctance, Valerian began to ponder.

’Should I use my charm to get the information out of her? But I’m with Seraphine now, and it kind of feels like cheating.’

Back at the beastfolk camp, he wasn’t yet in a relationship, so he had little issue with abusing his charm, but having a girlfriend and then using that strategy didn’t sit right with him.

"It’s okay if you can’t tell me."

Dropping the topic, Lyra let out a glad sigh of relief and continued her tour through the village. They passed by some of the villagers and Lyra greeted them. But when Valerian said something, they reacted strangely.

Either they wouldn’t answer or just outright ran away.

’Why are they so scared? She doesn’t seem scared.’

Looking at the girl to his side, the question popped up in his mind. But he wrote it off as teenage hormones interacting with his appearance.

After nearly two hours, they finished their tour, and Valerian made sure to map out everything he saw, just in case he needed to find a building later.

"That’s about it. It’s not big, but it’s what we have."

Standing back in front of the medical building, Valerian’s eyes couldn’t help but wander to the forest at the end of the village. There was no fence or wall protecting them from the monsters that lurked within.

"What about the forest?"

Lyra followed his gaze and turned to the trees.

"We are not allowed to step into it. Only the fighters that got Sir Asterion’s permission are allowed to enter the forest."

Valerian’s eyes narrowed. This whole thing wasn’t sitting right with him. And the forest in particular gave him a weird feeling. It was like the mana was trying to drag him inside, but at the same time begging him to stay out of it.

These conflicting emotions he felt from the mana only solidified this weird feeling.

*Growl*

Valerian’s eyes went to the side and saw Lyra with a beet-red face as her stomach growled.

"Ah, I- I’m sorry."

"There is nothing to be sorry about. Are there food problems around here?"

Lyra shook her head quickly.

"No, I just haven’t eaten yet... Are you hungry too?"

Looking up at him with a red face, she almost had a pleading look that he too was hungry, so she didn’t look like a glutton.

’Should I eat their food?’

He wasn’t sure if it was the best idea to eat the food that they gave him after getting this weird feeling from the forest, and he didn’t need to eat in the first place. But looking at the embarrassed girl, he just let out a sigh.

"Yes. Can I eat with you?"

Her eyes began to sparkle at his question, and she nodded her head profusely.

"Yes! I would love that! Come with me."

She quickly turned around and walked toward one of the buildings, and Valerian walked behind her.

After a few minutes, they arrived at a rather big house made from the white wood. Lyra opened the door and held it open behind her.

"Come inside."

Taking her invitation, Valerian stepped into the house. It looked a bit old, but still held its shape, with newer-looking wooden planks in some places.

’Now that I think about it, I haven’t asked about her family.’

She mentioned that her ancestors founded the village, but she didn’t say anything about her parents or siblings.

Lyra disappeared behind a corner and yelled to him:

"You can sit at the table! I will bring us something!"

Seeing a large table, Valerian walked over to it and sat down on one of the chairs. Left alone for a moment, his gaze wandered around the room.

He spotted what looked like a picture sitting above the fireplace mantle. He stood up and walked up to it.

When he picked it up and saw the image on it, he began to form an idea of what was going on.

’So it’s like that.’

In the image were four people: one adult woman, one man, and two smaller children. All of them had silver-white hair, purple eyes, and markings on their bodies.

One of the little children was a girl who held a striking resemblance to Lyra, and the other was a smaller boy.

"Oh."

Hearing a voice from behind him, Valerian turned around to see Lyra standing in the doorway. She carried a pot of what looked like some sort of stew, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open.

"I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snoop around."

Placing the picture back on the mantle, he looked at the girl in front of him.

"No, it’s okay. It’s nothing I’m trying to hide. Want to hear my story?"

With a sad smile, she placed the pot on the table and retrieved two plates and two spoons from somewhere.

’A pocket dimension.’

It made sense that she would have such a thing. After all, she also had the space affinity and was living inside a dimension intended for him to better master his own space magic.

Valerian walked to the table and took his seat on the long side of the large table, while Lyra put some of the stew onto his plate. She placed it in front of him and put some onto her own before sitting down across from him.

"Go ahead, eat."

With a slightly nervous smile, she gestured for him to eat while watching him.

Valerian looked at the stew, and he would be lying if he said it didn’t look good. While he was still a bit skeptical about this whole village, he raised his spoon and took some into his mouth before swallowing.

Lyra watched him with bated breath, wanting to know if he liked it.

"It’s good."

Valerian didn’t say more, as that was the best way to describe it. It tasted good, but it couldn’t even come close to the food Seraphine cooked for him. Still, that compliment put a smile on her face before she too began to eat.

During the meal, they didn’t talk, and the only sound heard in the house was the clinking of utensils.

’This is awkward.’

Sitting in silence in a stranger’s home and eating stew was not something he had expected when he entered this trial. And to make it worse, the stranger was constantly throwing glances at him that he had to ignore.

After an agonizing ten minutes, both were finished and full. Well, Valerian stopped eating when Lyra was finished. Since he didn’t have a regular mortal stomach, he could eat as much as he liked, but eating away all the food of this girl wasn’t exactly something he wanted to do.

"You can go to the sofa. I will take care of the dishes."

Lyra began to collect the plates and spoons and made her way into the kitchen. Valerian stood up and sat on the couch, while his eyes wandered again to the family picture that sat on the mantle across from him.

After a few minutes, Lyra returned and sat on the couch next to Valerian. After a few seconds of silence, she started to speak.

"I lost my family five years ago."