"What do you mean?" Emilia was a little confused.
What happened today was undoubtedly very embarrassing. The cold stares and ridicule from the nobles were truly uncomfortable. Without Roswaal, walking together, the faces of those nobles were no longer hidden and were fully exposed.
But she didn't understand at all why Ayanokouji's face still showed no expression after facing these things, as if all of this was already expected by him.
"Ayanokouji, did you meet them this time just to win their hearts?" Emilia asked.
"It's not just today; because I know nine out of ten times it will be like this." Ayanokouji said lightly.
"Then why did we still..."
"Mainly to gather intelligence." Ayanokouji continued, "Today we went to the Ross household, the Garcia household, the Rodriguez household... After meeting and talking with them, we can also get an estimate of what kind of characters they are?"
Although he was disdainful, he actually obtained a lot of information.
Judging other people's characters from their behavior, words, and actions, judging the hobbies of certain owners from the murals in other people's homes, judging the number of family members from the clothes and shoes in front of the door, etc. The first time he met them, he was like a robot, gathering all kinds of information that the opponent might have.
Everything today was just to gather information and let the other party remember him.
Although Ayanokouji himself didn't like the feeling of being noticed, now was the royal selection, and every candidate for the throne had to show their strength. Winning supporters and his own strength was positive feedback. If there were supporters, the stronger his strength, and the stronger his strength, the greater his ability to attract the support of others.
He had previously told Felix about Emilia's defeat of the Sin Archbishop of Sloth, just to let him convey the matter to the royal capital.
"I see." Emilia nodded in understanding, "We still have a lot of time now, should we contact other nobles next?"
"No need for today." Ayanokouji said slowly, "Emilia, can you contact Reinhard?"
"Reinhard?" Emilia's eyes widened, "I don't know where he might be. Maybe we can see him at the guard duty room on Noble Street, which isn't far from here."
"Mm."
The two soon arrived at the entrance of the guard duty room. Just as Emilia was about to look for someone to ask, a man slowly approached.
"Isn't this Emilia-sama, long time no see!"
Ayanokouji followed the voice and saw a man who looked quite elegant.
He was very tall, well-dressed, wearing a clean white uniform, a large white cloak on his back, and a long sword hanging at his waist. When he spoke, his upper body leaned forward slightly, with his right hand on his chest: "Emilia-sama, how have you been since we last met?"
"Yes, I'm fine, Julius, you also look very energetic!" Emilia smiled and greeted the other party, seemingly having a good relationship with him.
"It's an honor that you remember me." The man called Julius knelt on one knee and kissed the back of Emilia's hand. "Emilia-sama's beauty is even more magnificent."
'That's the same as classic Western etiquette in my original world.'
Ayanokouji thought in his heart while observing Julius's movements, and further observed the details of the other party.
The other party's words and actions seemed scholarly, and he seemed to be born in a noble family. Moreover, he had seen the appearance of the guards earlier, the sword at Julius's waist, and the fine clothes on his body. It showed that he was not an ordinary guard, but a member of the Knights.
The most important thing was he noticed that Julius had no hostility towards Emilia.
"Who is this gentleman?" Julius stood up and turned to look at Ayanokouji.
"Oh, this is my supporter, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka. Roswaal has been busy recently and couldn't make it, so Ayanokouji accompanied me here." Emilia immediately smiled, "This is Julius from the Knights Guard."
"This is our first meeting, please advise me." Ayanokouji also learned the etiquette of various countries since he was a child.
"Is it Sir Ayanokouji?" Julius's eyes widened with a hint of surprise, "I've heard about Sir Ayanokouji from Felix, and I've admired your name for a long time!"
Ayanokouji knew that his plan had succeeded, and Felix had indeed spread his name to the royal capital.
Although he gave the credit to Emilia at that time, others would surely guess that he had given assistance to Emilia. He had no identity or background, which would naturally arouse the curiosity and attention of others.
Moreover, they defeated Petelgeuse, the most famous Sin Archbishop among the Witch Cult, which was a significant achievement in the kingdom.
"Sorry, please forgive my rudeness. My name is Julius Juukulius. Please advise me when we meet for the first time." Julius immediately bowed deeply.
He had heard about him from Felix before. The other party said that Ayanokouji was a 'very noteworthy person,' so he paid great attention to him.
'Is there any credit for this person in the defeat of the Sin Archbishop of Sloth? What role did he play in it?'
Julius became curious in his heart, and his eyes focused on Ayanokouji, trying to get some information from him. Judging from his behavior, he must be a noble, but other than that, Julius couldn't get any information.
"Sorry to trouble you. I want to meet Reinhard. Is he in the guard duty room?" Emilia asked.
"Sorry, he is not here at the moment." Julius shook his head, "Is there anything I can help with? I can convey it to him for you."
"It's nothing. I just heard of Reinhard's reputation for a long time and wanted to meet him." Ayanokouji said slowly, "Emilia was previously targeted by the Bowel Hunter in the royal capital. I want to entrust Reinhard to investigate the matter, as it seems that the Bowel Hunter was hired by someone."
"Is that possible?" A surprised expression immediately appeared on Julius's face, "Actually openly trying to kill Emilia-sama. We, the Knights, would never tolerate such a thing happening!"
"If possible, Julius, please help me investigate it."
With the help of the Knights, Ayanokouji might be able to find clues about the person who hired the assassin, but he could feel that the person behind the job, Elsa, was cunning and not easy to track.
He noticed a woman dressed in red in the distance being taken into an alley by several people. It seemed that the security near the guard duty room was very average, but the other party had nothing to do with him, so he said nothing.
"I see. I will definitely do my best to investigate this matter. If I see Reinhard, I will surely inform him." Julius nodded, "Is there anything else that requires my assistance?"
"Thank you, no need for now! I won't bother you this time! Let's go first!" Emilia said, then prepared to leave with Ayanokouji.
Julius thought for a moment, then finally spoke again: "Please wait. There's something I want to ask. I've heard of the Bowel Hunter's reputation. She's a well-known assassin... Forgive my choice of words, but how did you escape from her?"
The Bowel Hunter was a well-known assassin around the world, and escaping from her hands was clearly not an easy feat.
"Thanks to Ayanokouji, he thought of a way to protect us!" Emilia immediately said.
"It was just a little cleverness and luck." Ayanokouji said slowly, "What happened was very thrilling. If I made a slight mistake, I'm afraid none of us would be in this world anymore."
"Then where is the Bowel Hunter?" Julius asked.
"She escaped, and her whereabouts are unknown." Ayanokouji immediately said, without any change in his expression.
Emilia turned slightly and looked at him with a puzzled face. She didn't know why Ayanokouji lied, but seeing him not saying much, she didn't continue to explain.
'If Ayanokouji chose to do this, there must be a reason,' Emilia thought so.
"I see, it seems Sir Ayanokouji is indeed a great person." Julius bowed deeply to the two of them, "The Knights will definitely provide a satisfactory answer to this matter!"
"Okay, thank you for your hard work." Ayanokouji also nodded, bid farewell, and prepared to leave.
"Hey! Can you help me?"
Before they went far, a man wearing a helmet walked in front of everyone.
Ayanokouji carefully observed the opponent. He was only wearing a helmet to cover his face, but he was not wearing corresponding armor. He looked very ordinary. He had a worn-out cloak on his back, but he was very strong and had undergone very strict training. However, he noticed that the other party seemed to be missing his left arm, and his voice should be that of a middle-aged man.
"Is there anything I can help you with?" Emilia asked enthusiastically.
"Like this. Our lady is missing. Can you help me find her for a while?" The man touched his head and said with a smile.
"What does she look like?" Emilia asked.
"Blonde hair, red clothes, and her behavior is very special, she looks very distinctive at a glance."
"If it's a woman with blonde hair and red clothes, then I just saw her being taken into that alley over there by some people." Ayanokouji answered, pointing to someone not far away.
"It was probably just a few minutes ago."
He had been observing all the details around him while talking to Julius and had noticed the woman in red mentioned by the man, but at that time, he thought she had nothing to do with him, so he said nothing.
He always considered himself an 'avoider.' He generally didn't care about things that had nothing to do with him. Usually, he took the initiative only if it benefited him.
"Thank you so much!" The man bowed and then quickly ran in that direction.
"Ayanokouji, let's go and take a look too!" Emilia said.
Ayanokouji also nodded. "Mm."
The two of them followed the strange man into the alley. At this moment, a woman in red was holding a fan and facing three people who looked like hooligans.
"Little girl!"
"Quickly hand over the money!"
"Be careful, or I'll mess up your pretty face!"
The vicious voices of the three hooligans echoed in the alley, and when Ayanokouji heard the voices, he already knew the identities of the other party – they were the three men he had encountered when he first arrived.
As he approached the three men, their faces immediately turned pale: "It's you! Why are you here?!"
The three men still clearly remembered the last time he defeated them one against three.