The next morning, the heavy snow continued to fall, but Sean had already brought Luke and the other person to the town's inn.
Having been in this world for over two weeks, Sean hadn't really had a chance to explore his territory properly. At first, he was busy handling funeral matters, and later, when things eased up, the heavy snow hit, so he never found a good opportunity.
This time, he finally had an excuse to visit the town... This small village wasn't as bad as he had imagined, but it was far from good either.
Snow covered most of the roads, making them look passable and not too dirty, but the buildings appeared quite old and worn. Sean had asked Luke about the territory's annual tax revenue—it totaled just over twenty thousand coins, averaging about two coins per person per year. Even the empire's annual subsidy amounted to seven or eight thousand coins, plus some daily necessities, totaling at least ten thousand coins.
That meant his territory's income was double the national subsidy, and he was just a baron, the lowest rank of nobility. This showed just how poor the territory of Talemian was.
But even with such poverty, basic infrastructure existed because occasional outsiders came through—whether for tourism or research, there needed to be places to stay and relax. This was also when the town had rare opportunities for external income...
"My lord, I asked the innkeeper earlier. There are five of them—three men and two women, looking like they're from the north. They've been asking around about the whereabouts of a special coin, likely an ancient one," said Luke, the scholar who had been following him.
Ancient coins?
Sounded like an archaeological team.
At that moment, Luke pulled a golden object from his pouch—a short-barreled firearm.
"My lord, take this. If you encounter danger, use it directly. I bought it back in Koga City back then and haven't used it in years, but it should still work."
A firearm!
Sean took the item from the other's hand. So this world had such things too—it turned out to be an era of firearms after all.
Holding it in his hand, unique data appeared before his eyes:
[Crude Firearm: Ammo 1, Damage 50~500]
One round of ammo? And what was with that damage range?
Did it mean hitting high or low? Sean pointed the barrel at himself.
"Hey, be careful, my lord. That's dangerous! You need to use it like this..." Luke flicked a spring-like button on the barrel, presumably a safety catch, and demonstrated how to use it.
Oh, I see!
As Sean looked at the muzzle, he understood what the damage range meant. If you shot at someone's palm, the damage wouldn't be fatal, but if you pressed it against their head and fired, that would be the maximum damage.
Given that an average person had about a thousand health points, even shooting someone in the head wouldn't kill them with one shot! Truly a crude firearm.
Just as Sean was silently complaining, sounds came from the second floor of the building... It was a wooden structure, so anyone walking upstairs could be heard throughout the entire building.
But more than the sounds, Sean needed to adjust to his vision. In his eyes, the world was the same—only when he focused on something would a bunch of data and prompts pop up.
"Today, we need to head into the mountains before the snow gets heavier. This is our chance..."
A middle-aged man's voice came from above the staircase.
When he appeared, Sean nearly spat out the water he had just drunk.
Pfft!
"What's wrong, my lord?"
This reaction also caught the other's attention. The middle-aged man came down, followed by four others—two men and two women, exactly five people.
"And you are?" The man looked at Sean with confusion.
His heart was pounding!
Not because the other looked frightening, but because of those stats—they were way too high!
[6000/6000, Neutral.] Followed by a [Confused!] mental state.
This was probably the highest health he had ever seen, three times that of Danti. He didn't know if abilities scaled with health, but regardless, this person's level far exceeded Danti's, and thus everyone in Talemian Town.
And it wasn't just him. The two slightly younger men behind him also had 6000 health, and even the girl had 5000... But the last girl—
[8000/8000, 4000/4000, Indifferent.] Also with a [Confused!] expression.
Eight thousand!
Cough, cough, cough~~
"My lord, are you alright? Maybe you should go back and rest." Seeing Sean nearly choke to death on water, Luke quickly patted him on the back.
The five across from them exchanged glances, raised their eyebrows, and shrugged, looking like they had no idea what was happening.
Calm down, calm down!
Sean reminded himself inwardly. The others didn't know he could see their strength. As long as he didn't act recklessly, he'd be fine.
Keep a level head...
After all, he was an imperial noble. They probably wouldn't dare to cause trouble.
Just yesterday, Sean had learned that imperial nobles were under special protection, which gave him the confidence to bring only Luke and the other person here. But now, it seemed even bringing others wouldn't help.
"This is Baron Weigel of the Talemian region." Before Sean could speak, Luke proudly answered.
To ordinary people, nobles were symbols of high status. Even if these were mercenaries or members of some other organization, they had to show respect to a noble—that was the empire's rule, or rather, the rule of this entire world.
"So you're Baron Weigel. A pleasure to meet you!" The oldest middle-aged man replied first, seemingly the leader of the five.
Sean noticed that aside from him, the others were carrying various instruments. The largest one was even slung over a man's shoulder. Because of the heavy snow outside, all five were wearing thick clothes.
They wore gray-black coats made from a mix of animal furs, with hoods that mostly covered their side profiles. The two girls, in particular, had dirt-like grime on their faces, giving them a plain appearance, as if they were deliberately hiding themselves.
But in Sean's eyes, she might indeed be hiding something.
"I'm Sean Weigel. I heard some researchers had arrived in town, and I was curious, so I came to take a look." As he introduced himself, he couldn't help but glance at the last girl.
Eight thousand health—that meant she was higher level than the other four. The four thousand was likely magic points.
Since Danti had just been hit with a curse magic yesterday, there must be someone among these outsiders who knew magic. Sean had never seen a magic user before.
And now, two people with dual stats had appeared—they were probably mages.
"I see. I didn't expect Baron Weigel to be interested in archaeology. What a rare hobby. I'm Kerry, the captain of this mercenary squad. We accepted a mission from the 'Recorders' to conduct an archaeological dig in your territory. I didn't expect to meet a lord with similar interests." The man who called himself Kerry signaled his teammates to wait, then pulled up a chair and sat opposite Sean.
Sean also noticed that his status had instantly changed from neutral to friendly, indicating he wasn't lying.
Not only had his attitude changed, but the confused state had also disappeared, replaced by an [Excited!] state.
As for the other team members, each had their own status.
Things like [Impatient!], [Anxious!], [Hungry!], and even a strange [Muttering!] state.
Someone was even cursing him!