After waiting for a while, the carriage bearing House Valter's banner arrived. Although they weren't late or anything, it was our houses who decided to arrive ahead of time. It seems like all the other heads agreed to bring at least one of their daughters to the meeting the moment they learned the one who prevented the fall of the city was a man.
It's already obvious what the other houses want by bringing their daughter: Connection.
As long as they can bring that person to their side, they will gain immense influence in the future. Of course, that's also what my father wants to achieve by bringing me here against my will.
For a long time now, my father, the head of house Pyre, has been in search of a good pair for me to continue our bloodline. So my father saw this as an opportunity to engage me with someone with remarkable abilities.
It is certainly incredible how a single person is able to stop the destruction of the city, but I am a prideful woman. I cannot just accept my father's will so easily. The part where he saved the city might as well be a lucky guess for someone visiting for the first time.
House Valter head, Faram Valter walked out of the carriage first and then followed by a peculiar man with a blindfold on. He emanated a noble aura around him, which almost instantly gave me goosebumps. I was almost surprised by the sudden chills I felt. So I turned around to glance at him for the second time, trying to make sense of what I just felt. The other nobles don't seem to feel what I just felt, and still have their eyes set on the slightly opened carriage door.
We all waited for the last person to get off the carriage, but the coacher closed the door. After that we see Faram Valter continue walking without looking back at the carriage, making us realize that they were the only ones on board from the very beginning.
Naturally, it stirred chaos and confusion among the nobles. The appearance of the blindfolded man was not something any of us anticipated. We're completely dumbfounded.
"I see that the house heads had done something unnecessary." Faram Valter expressed his displeasure blatantly.
"Come on, Faram. Who wouldn't be interested in the person who saved the city?" Head of house Melotik, Aram, responded.
"Now, now. Let's stop the delay and head straight inside."
As the house heads went inside the city hall. All the female nobles that have been keeping quiet murmured to each other about the savior of the city. Majority of them were not pleased and were let down when they saw him.
As for me, I'm quite interested. There must be a reason why he wears a blindfold, right?
"To think that father brought me here to look at such a plain man."
"I was expecting a Misfit academy graduate, but that guy, I'm not familiar with at all."
"Engagement is completely out of the table."
"You said it. There's no way I'd be marrying a blindfolded man, he may be blind for all we know."
Well, the majority of the women gathered here to catch a good looking man, after all. Their reactions are just as I expected. But amongst them, there are a few who I should say have a better eye for people.
"You all say that, but that's what makes it all more impressive. That blindfolded man clearly has better eyes than anyone in this city."
"Judging a person by appearance will surely lead to one's downfall."
"Just leave them be. That means less competition, right?"
Among many female nobles, only three of them have a better sense. If I count myself, then that makes us four. What they said is not wrong, but I can't also blame the others for thinking that way.
"I see that our Aira, who usually drives away nobles trying to court her, is also interested in that mysterious man."
I heard Demi's annoying voice. She stood beside me proudly with her alluring figure that would instantly make all the other nobles crawl towards her.
"What are you talking about? My father dragged me here, so of course I'd be here." I told her, with a stern tone.
She just smiled at me and gave me the 'Heh? Is that right?' with a smug look on her face as if I was lying. I wasn't.
"Whatever, I guess there's only a few of us that's intrigued by that man with a blindfold, yeah? Like how he is able to walk properly with that thing on."
Now that she mentioned it, it's really intriguing indeed. Normally someone who wears a blindfold will hesitate to even take a few steps forward in fear of falling down. But that man has no hesitation and just walks like a normal person would do as if he can see the road ahead of him.
"I noticed it too," said Merin, while adjusting her glasses. "I doubt he'd have a blindfold on for nothing. That'd be just stupid."
"I agree. I stared at his eyes for a moment and I didn't see an outline of his eyes open under the blindfold, so we can cross out the possibility that he is doing it for show." Alura added, fiddling with her chin like an old man. Merchants are scary. Their eyes are sharp to notice such subtle details. Perhaps she developed that skill after going through a lot of inspecting their goods?
Most of the nobles dispersed after finding out the fact that the one we waited for was revealed, and went to sit on the benches around the city hall with disappointed expressions painted on their faces. Although a lot of us are still standing, I can tell that they are not that much interested in the subject of our gathering.
"So? What do we do now?" Merin asked, looking at us one by one while waiting for an answer.
"I don't know, they did not specifically say that we can't enter the city hall, right? Why don't we head inside? Since there are only a few of us that's interested in that man, that shouldn't be a problem for them, right?" Demi suggested.
We all looked at each other and nodded our heads. With that, we head inside the city hall. We are initially stopped by other nobles, telling us not to come inside. But before we could turn back, one of the house heads allowed us to enter.
"To think that there are only so many young women interested in such a talent, what a pity." House Jiu head, Fajin Jiu said, shaking his head in disappointment. "If only my daughter were here, she would surely be interested in that person as well. Well, now that you're here, why don't you observe? It seems like they want to test his abilities. It will surely be a huge help in your evaluation, no?"
He extended his arm, ushering us to our seats.
"Thank you very much, Master Jiu."
"Don't worry about it, ladies. I hope you have a good time."
He immediately left to join the other House heads after that brief exchange or grumbling.
"Hey, do you think it's true after all? Based on Master Jiu's tone, it doesn't seem like he was lying." Demi pointed out.
"Did you all forget that House Jiu is close to House Valter? I think you all forgot that House Jiu suffered less casualties second only to House Valter. That alone speaks a lot. Our families are hesitant to believe House Valter head's words, but House Jiu immediately heeded his words. They have that much trust with each other." Alura said, still fiddling with her chin.
We all gazed at her direction. Even at this point, Alura focused her attention towards that man without even blinking. At that moment, the three of us agreed without speaking to each other; merchants are not to be taken lightly.