[Ren’s POV]
"Sorry."
I watched as the man who had bumped into me hurried up the stairs. I didn’t have the energy to chase after him, nor did I see any reason to. He’d apologised, after all, so there was no need to make a big deal out of it. Besides, I had far too much shit on my plate to waste my time worrying about some random guy who had accidentally bumped into me.
I’d arrived in Haremdale yesterday, and things were already more complicated than I’d have liked. I’d even gotten delayed this morning because the innkeeper had come to my room with not-so-pure intentions. Honestly, I still didn’t understand why she hadn’t arrived at night, but whatever. The NPCs in this world were always offering me sex, and I usually refused them. I had standards to maintain, after all.
However, with all the stress I’d been dealing with because of this whole Joseph situation, I’d finally folded.
And just like that, I lost all the aura points I’d been accumulating.
That was a major L on my part. I could already imagine how disappointed I’d have been in myself if I’d been watching this unfold from the outside. But, no lie, that session was straight fire.
Still, I couldn’t let a pair of cheeks distract me from my actual objectives. I was the hero, damn it! Heroes were supposed to be valiant and noble. They were meant to stand tall in the face of adversity, remain focused on their goals, and never allow trivial things to distract them.
They certainly weren’t supposed to sleep with every woman who came their way.
At least, that was what I told myself.
I also had no idea what Joseph and the Dale sisters were doing at the moment. The last thing I remembered was Clara mentioning that the group that had attacked her was from Haremdale City. Their name was the Thorn Collective, or something along those lines. I wasn’t entirely sure I remembered it correctly, but it was the only lead I had to work with.
I figured that if I asked around, someone would eventually point me in the right direction. I couldn’t just wander around the city, hoping to stumble upon them by chance. That would be a complete waste of time, and I’d already wasted enough of it dealing with the mess Joseph had dragged me into.
I looked around and spotted two city guards patrolling the streets. They seemed like the most reasonable people to approach for information, so I made my way towards them.
The moment they noticed me approaching, they immediately straightened up.
Well, that was more like it.
"Good afternoon, my lord. Is there anything we can assist you with?" the older of the two guards asked.
I dared not correct him. Technically, I was a lord if you thought about it carefully. There was no point arguing over a title when the other person was already willing to show me respect. Besides, it wasn’t as though I was going to complain about being treated like someone important.
"Uh, yes. Do you know where I can find the Thorn Colleagues?" I asked.
The guards exchanged a confused look. For a moment, I wondered whether I’d gotten the name wrong. I was terrible at remembering details that hadn’t seemed important at the time, and considering that I’d only heard the name once, I couldn’t be blamed for forgetting it.
Thankfully, the younger guard’s eyes lit up.
"Do you mean the Thorn Collective, my lord?" he asked.
Ah, so that was their name.
I nodded once.
The two guards exchanged another look. This time, however, their expressions changed, and they smiled eerily.
"We are everywhere and nowhere," they said in unison.
I stared at them for a moment, slightly confused by their response.
What the hell was that supposed to mean?
Then realisation hit me.
The two guards were part of the Thorn Collective themselves.
Well, that certainly made things easier. I’d been about to ask them where I could find the organisation, only to discover that I’d already found two of its members. Talk about convenience.
"Oh, great! Since you’re already here, I’d like you to point me in the direction of your master. I need their help finding someone," I said.
The younger guard merely nodded before responding.
"Our master would like to see you as well, Valiant Traveller. Would you please follow us?"
That was surprising.
I knew my fame was rising quickly, but I hadn’t expected word of my heroism to have reached Haremdale City so fast. I’d only arrived yesterday, yet here I was, being recognised by members of a secretive organisation without even having to introduce myself properly.
Not bad. Not bad at all.
Perhaps my reputation was growing faster than I’d anticipated. Maybe the people in this city had already heard stories about my achievements, and the news had spread further than I’d realised.
I couldn’t help feeling a little proud of myself.
I gestured for them to lead the way and followed behind them.
The journey to where their boss was located took over two hours. By the time we arrived, we had reached the northern side of the city, where the nobles lived.
The difference between this part of Haremdale and the streets we’d come from was hard to miss. The streets here were fairly clean and well taken care of, giving the entire area a more refined appearance. Even the city guards patrolling this neighbourhood wore different uniforms from those worn by the guards accompanying me.
The guards in this part of the city rode beautiful white horses and wore navy and gold uniforms. In contrast, the two guards I was following wore worn-out black uniforms.
The difference was rather noticeable.
We continued walking for quite some time before finally arriving at a massive estate. The architecture was beautiful, and the giant golden gates made the place look even more imposing. Four guards stood stationed outside the entrance, and they were clearly different from the city guards we’d passed earlier.
These were probably the estate owner’s personal guards. They wore red uniforms, each bearing a crest depicting thorns wrapped around a bird.
Sighing quietly, I couldn’t help feeling disappointed by how things were turning out.
It was always the same story. Some dodgy organisation was secretly being run by rich and powerful people. Why did these things always have to follow such predictable patterns? Where was the creativity in that?
If I were still streaming, my chat would have been having a field day with this development. I could already imagine the comments flooding the screen.
L script.
Minus aura points for predictability.
Trash.
Delete this!!!
And those would only be the first few comments. There would probably be plenty more people complaining about how clichéd the whole situation was. Someone would inevitably call the entire plot trash, while another would accuse the author of running out of ideas.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t streaming anymore, so I couldn’t even enjoy the luxury of reading my chat’s reactions. All I could do was endure this cringe development and hope it didn’t affect my aura.
We stopped near the gates, and one of the four guards approached us. He stopped in front of the two guards who had accompanied me, then moved in to hug the older one before leaning in to kiss the younger guard.
I found the whole exchange strange, but it didn’t really matter. I figured it must have been some sort of greeting between members of the organisation. I wasn’t familiar with their customs, nor was I particularly interested in learning them.
After they’d exchanged greetings, the guard in red turned towards me. He looked at me for a moment before glancing back at the two guards who had brought me here.
"Is this him?"
The older guard nodded.
The guard in red then gestured for me to approach, and I did as he asked. The closer I got, the wider his eyes became.
"V-Valiant Traveller, please follow me. Her Ladyship is waiting," he said.
I could see him shaking.
Well, that was more like it.
I’d released a little of my aura to intimidate him. I didn’t particularly like the fact that he’d asked the others to confirm my identity, as though my fame weren’t already well established. Still, his reaction was satisfactory enough.
At least he seemed to understand who he was dealing with.
I followed him inside to meet the leader of the Thorn Collective. Since Joseph and the Dale sisters were here looking for the organisation, I could use the Collective to sniff them out and finally get Joseph to answer a few of my questions.
There was a lot that NPC and I needed to talk about, and I wasn’t going to let him avoid the conversation this time. If he resisted, then that would be the end of him.
Actually, now that I thought about it, him crossing paths with me again was going to be the end of him anyway.
I had questions, and I expected answers. It was as simple as that.
With that in mind, I followed the red-clad guard into the huge-ass estate.
And dare I say, it was magnificent.
These were the kinds of places only people with old money could afford back home. The whole estate had an air of wealth and prestige that made it clear its owner wasn’t someone to be taken lightly.
I couldn’t help but appreciate the sight, even if I was here for business rather than pleasure. The place was practically screaming money, and I could only imagine how much it would cost to maintain an estate this enormous.
The guard had said, "Her Ladyship," so I really hoped she was a ten.