Gathering Information

Gorum was no expert at dealing with people who were distressed, but he knew for a fact that people who just narrowly survived a bandit attack shouldn't be this damn talkative.

"We cannot thank you enough for saving our lives!"

"We're truly grateful for your generosity, you saved me and my daughters from such an unsightly demise."

"The way you swing that big hammer was amazing mister knight! You turned those bad guys into mush with it like 'whoosh!' "

"Yes, thank you..."

"Sir Knight, your armor is truly wondrous! Are those carvings indictive of your noble house?"

"That's a good question, good knight what house do you belong to? It must be a great house to not only have you as their warrior but to also send you to help the Hero."

Gorum was pelted with all sorts of chatter as he slowly pulled the wagon along the road to the city, going as slow as he could so as not to give the survivors discomfort. However, with how lively they were being, he was beginning to wonder if it was truly necessary.

"I do not belong to any noble house. My homeland is far from here, I've traveled a long way to aid the hero in their mission of my own accord. Speaking of the Hero..." Gorum said, deflecting the question altogether in order to get his own answered.

"Ah! Yes, if you truly are searching for the Hero you've come to the right place. He and his companions frequent this city often. Infact, I think there was supposed to be some sort of recruitment tourney for their party soon..."

'A tourney?' Gorum thought. It wasn't a bad idea, but if that was all it took to join then that would be troublesome in its own right. A tourney can be rigged rather easily, plus if all you had to do is win and you were guaranteed a spot, a spy could easily insert themselves into the tourney and claim a spot in the party for nefarious purposes.

"Halt!" A gruff voice interrupted Gorum's thoughts all of a sudden. Gorum looked down to see he was already at the city gate and was stopped by several guards.

'I must have spaced out, that's no good.' Gorum murmured internally as he looked to the elderly wagon driver.

"Ah! H-Hold on there youngins, I know how this looks but this man here is our savior!" said the old man as he shakily got off the wagon, shambling up to the guards to try and explain the situation.

After a bit of convincing and testimony from the survivors of the attack, the guards mostly dropped the hostility, but were still cautious. At the moment the wagon was pulled to the side of the gate while the guards questioned everyone.

"I see, so he took out all twelve bandits that easily..." said the commanding gate guard while speaking with the elderly wagon driver, looking Gorum up and down as he spoke.

"Well, since so many people are vouching for you, I suppose we can let you in, but if you cause even a lick of trouble, you'll be sorry!" said the commanding guard, literally yelling upwards at Gorum due to the height difference.

"I understand." Gorum said, bowing his head. For now, it was in his best interests to stay passive when confronted with such hostility, at least until he's joined the Hero's party anyway. Gorum was rather surprised he was greeted with such a hostile environment though; he expected a much better greeting than this. Perhaps he looked more suspicious than he thought...

He was half right; he did indeed look incredibly suspicious. He was much too tall and wore armor that was much too flashy. The real issue though was the unreliable-ness of his story. In this world, a 9-foot-tall man obliterating 12 bandits in the blink of an eye was akin to a fairy tale already. Even more suspicious was his attitude, he didn't want compensation and claimed no noble house. An absurdly powerful knight in gaudy golden armor just wandering around with any sort of attachment to a noble house was...absurd.

"Sir Gorum, once everyone has fully recovered, how about I guide you around the city? You said you're a foreigner so perhaps it would be better to have a local like myself as a guide." offered the wagon driver, interrupting Gorum's train of thought.

"Hm? No, that's unnecessary. I just have to find an inn and a way into that tourney you mentioned, it will be child's play." Gorum said, politely refusing the offer.

Perhaps Gorum should have accepted their offer for a guide though, because now he found himself wandering about without a guide, sticking out like a sore thumb due to his abnormal appearance.

It made sense, considering he was the exact opposite of inconspicuous. Towering above the crowd by a large margin, clanking around in lavish golden armor, toting a massive hammer around as if it were a walking stick; it made quite the impact.

Just as Gorum was wondering if he should've just accepted the wagoners offer, his thoughts were interrupted by a gathering of children in rags around his feet. 'Street Urchins, possible pick pockets...' He thought as he remembered his time on the streets.

"Wow Mister, you're tall! Y-" A ragged boy infront of Gorum began to speak, a very unsubtle loudness to his words.

"Shut up." Gorum said, cutting him off.

"Boy, I will not have my time wasted so your little friends can shuffle through my pockets as we speak. Tell me where I can go to join the Hero's party, and I'll give you some money, hm?" Gorum crouched down, holding a golden coin in his hand Infront of the child's face, staring daggers at him.

"...Mrhp...the training grounds for the town guard is where you wanna go. There's two lady's sitting at a table to sign people up, just go towards the city center and you'll find it easy." The Boy scoffed and snatched the coin as he dropped the childish act, signalling his fellow little hooligans to back off.

"Good lad." Gorum stood up and started to find his way to the city center. It was...jarring to say the least.

The City Center was a massive circular paved area with lots of market stalls, gardens and paths leading to other parts of the city. The center piece however, stuck out like a sore thumb. Sitting in the middle of the circle, surrounded by a literal most, was a solid gold statue of the governing noble that had at least 4 guardsmen at all times.

" Caneiho...what a vain man." Gorum said quietly as a he looked at the name plate at the bottom of the statue. Gorum was a bit worried about the state of a city under the control of such a person, but ultimately decided to not think on it. After all, his only task was to solve the lady problems of the Hero, Gorum himself was no longer bound to protect the public. Although...

'No.' Gorum thought, getting his thoughts back on track. Turning his attention to the packed training grounds down one of the paths from the city center, he walked towards his destination. Scanning the grounds with his honed vision.

The training grounds were bustling with crowds, spilt off into two areas separated by wooden fences. At the front of it all was a loose line formed Infront of a table with two smiling young women. Twins, it looked like.

'Well then, time to sign up.' he thought.