Chapter 81: A noble husband
Ronan, Hesa, and Yen followed the man to his house.
They navigated deeper into the city as the surroundings gradually became dirtier. People wore ragged clothes, small-stall owners chased beggars away, and the streets grew increasingly crowded.
Eventually, they reached his house, which was squeezed between two other buildings.
"Is this your house?"
Ronan couldn’t help but ask as he stared at the nearly decapitated-looking building.
The man gave an embarrassed smile.
"No, Master... I am just a tenant here."
The trio’s mouths fell open.
The house was already falling apart, yet this wasn’t even his house.
Then where was his actual home?
"Please, Master."
The man spoke as Yen, Hesa, and Ronan followed him inside.
Yen and Hesa mentally prepared themselves to escape if the house collapsed.
In fact, they walked extremely carefully, afraid that even a careless swing of their arms could shatter the fragile structure.
Unlike a traditional bungalow, the building didn’t have a living room.
Instead, it contained six tiny rooms, with each room facing another.
One of those rooms was the "house" the man had been talking about.
They walked across muddy ground and past contaminated water filled with insect eggs. Rotten food was scattered everywhere, its foul stench assaulting their noses.
The man knocked on a door before opening it.
"Honey, I’m back."
The man spoke with a smile as he invited Yen, Hesa, and Ronan inside.
The instant he spoke, another voice rang out.
"Bastard, are you with the money? The landlord just left and complained about our six months’ rent!"
A sharp, high-pitched female voice came from the far end of the room.
Ronan and the others looked inside.
Two girls could be seen sitting on a dirty, half-split couch, playing with each other’s hair.
The room was barely three meters long.
Scattered books with torn pages covered one side, while leftover food with maggots crawling out of it sat nearby.
Clothes were piled in another corner, most of them riddled with holes.
At the far end of the room was where the female voice had come from.
It was also where the toilet was built into the tiny room.
"Ha... Master, I would have cleaned if I knew you were coming."
The man looked shy as he apologized to the three.
The trio’s faces twitched.
What the hell was this?
"Daddy!"
The two girls rushed toward the man as he picked them up and hugged them.
"Bastard! Did you hear me?"
The female voice rang out again.
A moment later, they heard the sound of water.
Then an intense stench emerged from the toilet as a slightly malnourished woman stepped out with an angry expression.
The instant she saw the man, her expression became even more furious.
"Did you bring back any money?"
She asked as the man gritted his teeth.
"Bitch, can’t you see I have guests?"
He asked as he dropped his little girls.
Only now did the woman turn her attention toward the three strange guests in the room.
"Who are—"
Her words suddenly stopped.
She stared at the beautiful faces of the trio.
From Ronan to Yen and Hesa, she had never seen three people who looked so good.
"This is my master and his companions."
The man said proudly.
The woman’s attitude immediately changed.
"Could you be the boss of my useless husband?"
She asked as she tried to control her gaze toward Ronan.
"I’m sorry for his stupidity and how useless he is... But, Boss, we need some money. Even if you need me to help, I will do anything."
She immediately knelt on the ground and pleaded.
Meanwhile, she suddenly turned toward her husband.
"You fool! You couldn’t tell me your boss was coming? We don’t even have food to feed them! This is the last food we’re going to eat!"
She said through gritted teeth as Ronan looked at the maggot-filled "food" she was talking about.
On second thought...
He would pass.
"Erm... I’ll just talk to your husband outside."
Ronan spoke as the woman nodded.
"Yes. Sorry about my husband once more, sir. If you... are interested, I can do any work this bastard can’t. Just... inform me."
She pleaded as Ronan nodded.
He could guess what she meant by her words.
But seeing their house, it wasn’t somewhere anyone would want to stay for long anyway.
"Sorry, Boss."
The man bowed his head.
"Let’s go."
Ronan spoke as they all went outside.
Yen glanced at the two girls one more time.
They reminded her of herself and her sister when they were young.
Sigh...
How time had passed.
The instant they stepped outside, Yen and Hesa violently vomited.
Their eyes widened as their chests heaved.
They were vampires with enhanced senses.
To them, the horrible stench was several times stronger than it was to ordinary humans.
They had endured for that long only because they didn’t want to open their mouths and inhale the air inside that house.
Ronan looked at the two women violently "vomiting" despite nothing coming out of their mouths and shook his head.
"Tsk... When you guys are done gagging, can we leave?"
Ronan asked.
The two women immediately gave him a sharp look.
Ronan felt goosebumps rise across his body and hurriedly backed away.
Finally, a few minutes later, they found a relatively open stall where they were served a few drinks.
The air was fresh, and the women could finally breathe comfortably again.
They both smiled in relief.
Meanwhile, the three once again caught the attention of everyone around them.
"Now... tell me about the orc race. How can one attack them?" Ronan asked with a smile.
The man smiled and replied.
"It is easy, Master. Since you are adventurers, you can apply to join the military. And since you are so strong, you will probably be assigned to a special squad involved in infiltrating orc territory and eliminating specific targets."
Ronan nodded.
It seemed taking these adventurer clothes had actually been a good idea.
Ronan asked about a few more things before finally deciding to let the man go.
As soon as he released him from his control, a system notification rang out.
[Ding! Host has two controlled slots available.]
"Do you guys remember the faces of the two females in the adventurer sqaud?" Ronan asked as he stood up alongside the two women.
"Yes," they replied.
Ronan smiled.
"Good. We will take their faces and identities."
Hesa frowned.
"How will we take their identities if we don’t know who they are?"
"Actually, that’s easy. We just need to find someone who knows them and is weaker than me. I’ll control them and obtain the necessary information."
Ronan spoke casually as Hesa nodded in approval.
"We’re attracting quite a crowd, Master," Yen suddenly said.
Ronan glanced sideways.
He could see the people around them staring at them with a mixture of admiration and lust.
"Perfect. This is a good chance to put on our masks."
Ronan grinned.
The three entered an alleyway.
When they came out, they were no longer Ronan, Yen, and Hesa.
They were now three ordinary-looking adventurers.
Meanwhile, the man left the stall and headed home.
The moment he stepped outside, his memories of Ronan and the two women began to fade.
By the time he reached home, all that remained was a strange headache and a fuzzy feeling in his mind.
"So... how was it? What did your boss say?" his wife asked anxiously.
The man stared at her in confusion.
"Which boss?"
His wife froze.
Then her face twisted in frustration.
"You are so useless, you bastard! I can’t believe I’ve stayed with you for this long!"
She continued cursing him as the poor man stood there with a blank expression, completely unaware of what had happened.