It was noon already when we decided to go to the place Jonah told us about.
"Hmph... This is quite disappointing for a baron of such a large town to have," Fin complained, staring up to see the height of the mansion in front of us.
"You've come to deliver a letter from the lord's brother?" the guard looked at us with doubtful eyes. "If I may ask, why didn't you ask to be welcomed beforehand? A messenger would suffice, and we would have welcomed you with more effort," he asked.
"Don't worry, we're not here for pleasantries. As Eria-sama said, we only came here to deliver something to your master," Fin explained.
"I... I see..."
"You can let them in."
The other guard who came to ask permission from inside the mansion came back and finally allowed us to enter the gate. They were certainly thrown off by us and didn't know what to do when we suddenly came in front of them without prior invitations. Because of that, they directly went to their superiors for directions.
Since Fin was a noble with a higher rank than their lord, they cannot just tell him to go away. Having him with me sure helps a lot in this kinds of situation. He's like a free VIP ticket for me to use.
"Please, allow me to guide you inside the mansion."
A maid who came along the guard bowed at us, asking us to follow her. She guided us to one particular room inside the mansion. As a sudden guest, we're treated as something similar to businessmen or merchants. We did not have any prior reservations, so it's reasonable.
"Welcome," entering inside the office, we were greeted by Baron Heldrick himself.
Like his brother, he has a very masculine face. As Jonah said, the two of them looked pretty similar. And although he's not as big as Jonah, you could still see that he was trained like him. His body, or more particularly, his muscles, were bigger than most soldiers.
"I cannot trust the words of strangers, but seeing that a noble of a higher status is with you, I assume that what you're saying is true?" he said, his voice sounding much rougher than his brother.
"Of course," I nodded.
I immediately handed over the letters and began explaining the events that lead to us coming here. Since I didn't really have a lot of things to say, I quickly finished talking. Then without minding our presence at all, the Baron read the letters in front of us. Apparently short, it only took him a moment to read all their contents.
"I see... I understand. Then, as what my brother asks of me, I'll have you the best reception this town an offer."
"You don't need to worry about that," Fin interrupted.
While the first letter was personal, it looks like the second one was a letter of introduction for Fin and I. Most likely, it's asking for us to get a better welcome in this town. We might be able to get beneficial discounts in all kinds of establishments with it. I'm sure that letter also contains some other messages, but since it's private, I won't ask for more of it.
"Mrrh... It looks like you won't be needing my help with that. As expected of a noble of your caliber."
Fin had already troubled himself in providing me all the necessary expenses for staying in this town and more, so it won't be of any help at all. I honestly think that Fin was being unreasonable, but since he insisted on it so much, I simply couldn't refuse.
"Then, if you have anything in mind in which I can be of help, you can ask for that instead," Baron Heldrick offered.
"Nothing of that sort," Fin scoffed.
"Well, we're doing quite well on our own," I answered as well.
"Is that so? In that case, you can simply ask for my support in any other time. A favor for a favor."
"Umu, we'll do that," I reluctantly nodded.
Baron Heldrick's help might come in handy in the future. I might stay in this town for some time, while Fin will leave sooner or later. I doubt it will happen, but if I ever get into trouble, he'll be helpful.
"I hope that we'll be able to form a good relationship, Eria. I want to get along with you. After all, my brother holds a good opinion of you," he said, a spark glinting in his eyes.
Hm? Shouldn't he be saying that to Fin instead? Between the two of us, it's quite obvious that it should be him who he'd want to form some kind of relationship with. Even more so when he knows that his family is one of the most prominent nobles in the entire kingdom.
"Hmph! Let's go, Eria-sama. Our business here is done."
"H-Huh?"
With no hesitation whatsoever, Fin turned his back with the intention of leaving right away. It looked extremely disrespectful, but I guess as a noble, he gets a pass for it. However, my surprise came from how he roughly pulled my hand out of nowhere.
"S-Since that's all we came here for, we'll politely leave now," I apologetically bowed my head to the baffled Baron.
"It's fine, I don't want to trouble the two of you anymore than this," Baron Heldrick said with an understanding look on his face.
"Let's go, Eria-sama."
"H-Hey!"
Before I can say anything else, Fin casually dragged me away. The same maid who guided us inside the mansion also guided us back out of it. Only once we're outside that Fin finally let go of my hand.
"That was rude of you, Fin. Just when did you become so disrespectful?"
"T-That was," he stummered. "It's hard to explain, Eria-sama, but he was the one being rude..."
"It didn't seem like that to me at all..."
"But it's not just that, he was also looking at your body so intently..."
"Eh? You're mad about that?"
It's true, from the start, Baron Heldrick had his eyes focused on some particular parts of my body. I even caught him licking his lips at one point. But pretty much every man we come across to was the same, so why particularly hate him for it?
Of course, it did not take long for me to realize what Fin was thinking. From the sudden embarrassed look on his face and how he abruptly turned away from my gaze, it was easy to understand.
"Fufu... You're getting pretty bold, aren't you, Fin?"
Fin did not say anything, but the redness of his face gave me all the clues. It was either because he was still angry about Heldrick, or he was embarrassed that I was able to figure him out.