When she saw him, the other person also wore an expression of utter disbelief. Standing beneath her horse was none other than the knight Cleveland, who had 8000 HP.
"Baron Weigel?" Aria asked tentatively.
Not only the others around, but even the two who had met Sean before looked incredulous.
That fringe noble who never left the mountains was actually standing here?!
Sean observed the gazes of those around him.
Heh~
He figured his identity was probably impossible to hide now.
…………………………
As the heir of an earl's family, Aria would normally patrol the city on a daily basis, especially recently when all the adult sons and daughters frequently appeared in Koga City.
Their outings weren't simple patrols but more like a way to boost public awareness. When they walked the streets, they would help anyone in trouble, all to gain a better reputation.
Of course.
Fortunately, this seemingly contrived approach meant Sean and his group got rescued quickly.
When the merchants at the flower-and-bird market saw the massive swarm of rats approaching from afar and fled in panic, they happened to run into Aria and her patrol team on the main street.
Combining the strength of several wizards and warriors, the rat swarm was almost instantly dismantled. Especially after the giant rat was slain, the smaller rats could only flee. Yet even they couldn't escape the wizards' "powerful" magic.
Sean looked at the streets littered with rat corpses—thousands, if not tens of thousands—and they had all been wiped out!
"So, Baron Weigel came to Koga City to buy seeds?" Aria asked curiously.
Since he'd been found out, Sean had to come up with a believable excuse. Buying seeds was the most suitable. After all, if the orchard in Talamian was planted, most of its produce would be sold in Koga City anyway, so telling Aria directly wasn't a problem.
"Yeah, this disaster buried large swaths of Talamian's forests, and our timberlands were destroyed too. So I'm hoping to find other ways to improve the townspeople's income."
Planting an orchard was trivial compared to Koga City's well-established industrial and agricultural systems. While the others showed [Surprise!], Aria was more focused on the fact that he had left the mountains.
"I see. Then Baron Weigel could come to me too. If it's about helping the town, we can lend a hand."
"Yes, Baron Weigel... You're on Miss Aria's side too. We should keep in touch more often. Don't keep to yourself." Another man walking beside Aria said with a smile.
He had been introduced earlier. His name was Sharik, a strategist and scholar by Aria's side. However, this strategist also had some magical ability, with HP at [5000/5000] and MP at [2500/2500].
Probably a Level 5 Orderer.
Learning on the fly, Sean had already picked up quite a bit about level classifications from Ignia.
"Of course. I actually came this time to thank Count Hammel in person for his help with our town. But I heard many nobles have gathered in Koga City recently, so I held off and was looking around Brukand Avenue for fruits suitable for the town to plant," Sean said.
A strategist, huh.
Anyone with that title was bound to be deeply calculating.
And the man's words were quite skillful, directly questioning whether Sean was still on Miss Aria's side.
So Sean simply told the truth...
Smart people could figure it out on their own.
He had a scholar at home who loved to overthink things. Playing too clever with them would only lead to misunderstandings.
"I see. Did Baron Weigel find any?"
"I have an idea, but I'm not sure if it'll work. I brought some seeds from the market to try planting first."
Aria didn't understand much about this topic, so she didn't press further. Since they'd met, she naturally wouldn't let Sean go back alone. Whether as the head of the southern nobles, the Hammel family, or out of self-interest, she would invite Sean to the earl's residence.
Sean agreed.
Whether out of noble courtesy or their future relationship, he couldn't refuse.
Throughout the journey, Ignia remained silent... and her look at him carried not only [Curiosity!] but also a bit of [Displeasure!] and [Anger!].
When asked why they were together in the basement, she only said they had met yesterday and agreed to hunt monsters together.
But in truth, Ignia had dragged him out today to find monsters—she conveniently omitted that part.
She was still angry, it seemed.
Angry that he hadn't told her his true identity.
The person often with Ignia was named Warren. They seemed to be fellow disciples, and Warren was a friend of Sharik's. They often traveled together, which was why they met today.
Sure enough...
The relationships among these nobles were incredibly tangled. Back in Talamian Town, he didn't have to deal with so many connections. But now that he had joined Aria's camp, he'd likely face more of this in the future.
Count Hammel's residence.
Known as the largest noble on the southern edge of the Basharan Empire, his home was like a palace!
Though not as lavish, the garden's decoration and size made Sean feel it was close. It wasn't some ordinary castle-like building.
Just the garden at the entrance was several times larger than his own baron's estate.
It made one sigh: The rich sure have it good.
Since Sean and Ignia had left in the morning, by the time the giant rat incident was over, it was already past noon.
Aria had Sean rest in a room with the servants, bathe, and take a nap. He would meet her father, the current Count Hammel, during the evening dinner.
Perfect timing. Sean had some matters to handle.
He wanted to ask Ignia to stay, but she was taken away by her senior brother.
The whole monster incident was handled rather blandly. Aside from Aria instructing Cleveland to have someone clean up the rat corpses at the flower-and-bird market—including the mangled giant rat—and sending people to check the sewers for similar monsters to kill, that was it.
If Sean hadn't seen that everyone's status remained unchanged, he might have thought the Hammel family had raised that thing.
No deep investigation into the cause?!
That was surprising. But after thinking it over, Sean figured it was because they couldn't see the monster's [In dialogue...] status. And a monster that could be killed in an instant wasn't worth deploying massive manpower to search for.
This matter would have to remain a mystery buried in his heart...
Later, Sean wrote a letter alone and paid a gold coin for a servant at the earl's residence to deliver it to the Skovi Store.
He told the Esmeralda siblings that he had arrived at the earl's residence and wouldn't return today. But he asked Claude to take care of the small seedling in his room and also keep an eye out for the girl selling peaches. If found, he should buy a few peach saplings from her and send them to Talamian.
Meanwhile, in Aria's room, Sharik and Cleveland were both present.
The three were speculating on the baron's sudden visit and his intentions...
"What do you think of Baron Weigel? Why did he come out this time?" Aria sought the opinions of her two trusted aides.
"This surprises me too. I never expected the baron, who always hid in the mountains, to come out! From my impression of him back then, he was indeed a lord worthy of the townspeople's love, but his vision was limited. Something must have forced him out."
"You mean the avalanche?" Aria asked Cleveland.
"Maybe that's part of it, but there's definitely more. When we met him, I felt this baron was different from the rumors. He seems eager to develop his territory and keeps relying on our help."
The Weigel family had rarely been talked about in the south. Their stories could almost be summed up as reclusive and shortsighted.
"Then since he's come to Koga City, why doesn't he want to see us?"
That was the puzzling part.
Especially during this sensitive time, with the Hammel sons and daughters each building their own factions, every little move warranted caution.
But then Sharik offered a different perspective.
"Miss, you don't need to worry too much. Talamian Town has little strength to begin with. We're courting him mainly to secure a seat among the southern nobles... As for why he didn't come to us first, it's easy to explain. Even if this ambitious baron wants to develop his town, he grew up in the mountains. His innate timidity made him afraid when he heard nobles had gathered."
Sharik analyzed with a smile...
"Isn't this common? Those mountain folk can't stop trembling when they talk to us."
"True."
Cleveland agreed with Sharik.
"Sometimes we can't just look at the surface. We need to dig deeper into his origins..."
"Point taken!"
Cleveland admired the scholar's wisdom!