Chapter 14: Filthy and Forsaken IV

"Young master, there is a message from the Information Guild."

After saying so, the expressionless servant handed Herbert a letter. Herbert merely nodded and sent the servant off on his way. Herbert then opened the envelope and read the letter silently.

"As expected, they still aren't developed."

The moment that Herbert had regained the memories from the him of another world, he decided to use the Information Guild to search out the major characters that he assumes would be possible to influence earlier on. As he went through the information in his head, he noticed a pattern. Most of the allies that the protagonist would make are either in a really good position or are in a state where they would be safe from his interference. He thought that this must be some form of plot armor. On the other hand, the villains who will later face the protagonist are in a position where he could meddle in. This was the same with Ingrid, and the letter that he had received had just proven his conjecture to be right.

"You can come out now."

After Herbert had kept the letter, Ingrid finally went out from underneath the blanket. Following this, she started to fan herself with her hands. She must have felt stuffy and a little suffocated when she was hiding.

"So, where are we heading next?"

Herbert stared at her before sighing to himself. It was a good thing that he still hadn't changed his gloves, otherwise, it might have gotten dirty once again.

"What? Don't tell me we're heading back to Umbra just like that. If you're heading there in the first place, you should've taken the shorter route. Don't tell me you went all the way here for me?"

"Get out."

"I'm sorry, I was just joking. Please don't kick your cute and beautiful lover outside."

"Tenebra City."

"Oh. What are we going to do there?"

"Meet some people."

"What for?"

This time, Herbert once again looked at her with a fed-up expression. He didn't know why she was asking so much and why she was expecting him to answer.

"You don't need to know. It's a three-day journey from here and I don't want to find you a bother so listen more, talk less, and don't touch anything."

After saying so, she finally shut her mouth closed and sat by the window happily. It was her first trip in a long while. Despite their travel being bleak and boring with nothing but the repeating scenery, she still enjoyed the three days that she had spent traveling with Herbert.

On their journey to Tenebra City, they switched their escort guards as they entered another noble's territory. Tenebra City was situated under the Viscount from the Oxsword family. They are known to have one of the most extravagant and luxurious lifestyles for their rank. Although the story did not mention the confrontation between this family and the protagonist, they were definitely done in during the reorganization after the protagonist won the royal family the civil war.

In this particular city, there are two characters that will play a minor role in stepping against the way of the protagonist. One of them is a Tax collector and the other is currently still nothing but a young boy. These two are people that Herbert wants to recruit, especially the child who is just 12 years old.

When Herbert arrived at the city, the first thing that he noticed was the stark difference between the noble's district and the slums, with the placement of the two areas, it was visible that there was almost nothing in between. The gap between the wealthy and the poor had been extremely magnified. Seeing this, he couldn't help but click his tongue. According to the info that he got, the two that he wanted to recruit would be located in the slum area. This meant that he would be going to an extremely dirty place. He already felt like throwing up.

Due to the city's strategic location, it had been developed into a trading hub, unfortunately, due to the lack of management, the territory had degraded to the point that a plague would soon erupt from it. And judging it solely from its smell, Herbert could already understand how this place had become the breeding ground of sickness. It was a good thing that he already had enough information to pinpoint the location of the two that he needed to recruit, otherwise he would have to spend a lot more time in this dirty place.

"Hey, where are you going?"

Ingrid asked Herbert as she saw him preparing to leave the inn. Ever since they had left the Rozenblood Manor together in one carriage, Ingrid had been forced to act like lovers with Herbert even for his servants. As a result, the two of them had been obligated to stay in the same room. Besides, Herbert did not want Ingrid beyond his side. She had already caused him enough trouble as it is, who knows what mayhem she would unleash once she had free reign.

"Outside"

"Why? What are you going to do? Want me to come with you?"

Herbert almost rolled his eyes. After spending some time with her, he began to start feeling a headache every time she opens her mouth. The little critter just couldn't stay still, despite thinking that, he wouldn't even trust to leave her behind by herself.

"Wear some commoner garb and grab a cloak. Prepare some heavy perfume and spray it on your handkerchief."

"But-"

"What are my rules?"

"Listen more, talk less, and don't touch anything."

"Good girl."

This time, Ingrid was the one to roll her eyes at Herbert. She had long thought of him as her tool to get revenge, but this tool did not seem to want to listen to the commands of its owner. Nevertheless, she still followed Herbert's instructions and soon left the inn with two guards at her side with Herbert on the lead.

Because he had already roughly memorized the layout of the place, he could get by without getting lost. As they continued to move, the four of them soon came upon a busy street with many street hawkers that made Ingrid's eyes move about from one corner to another. It was a unique sight and she wanted to explore more but she didn't want to separate herself from Herbert. At the moment, she had little to no money to spare for any kind of activity that she plans to do.

As they turned into a couple of streets, they soon entered a relatively secluded path, this one did not have as much of a crowd compared to before, but there is still occasionally a person or two walking nearby. But as they carried on, they soon reached a gloomy area. It was only after reaching that place that she finally recognized why Herbert had told her to bring a handkerchief laced with her strongest perfume. After covering her nose, Ingrid occasionally saw people closing their windows or their doors after seeing their lineup. The two guards that Herbert had brought with him were on the bigger side, and with their swords at their waists, it was obvious that they were dangerous. Originally, Herbert did not need to bring the two bodyguards with him, however, this time, he had Ingrid with him as a burden. If ever there were any emergencies that he could not respond to, he had instructed his guards to protect her as he had enough power to protect himself.

The deeper they went, the more Ingrid frowned. She didn't know why Herbert would even come to this place. It was completely contradictory to his character to even decide to do such a thing. She could even notice him being all sweaty and uncomfortable, yet his goal seems to warrant his course of action.

After a couple more minutes spent walking, Herbert finally stopped, and his followers also followed suit. Ingrid, who was not paying attention, suddenly bumped her head on Herbert's back. Before she could even say anything, she felt that the atmosphere was oddly in a strange form of tension. In front of them appeared men with knives in their hands. They seem to outnumber them severely but she nevertheless still felt safe seeing Herbert's back in front of her.

"Damn this filthy and forsaken place."