CHAPTER 221: 221. THE TOWN PEOPLE’S REACTION

For the first time, the route changed and went toward the walls that Theo had only seen from afar till now.

It kept getting closer and closer until finally, he started seeing people outside of it in uniforms.

When they looked at the carriage from afar, they knew it was the Merrick’s, but when they saw the window open and the glance of Theo for a moment, they kept staring with widened eyes as if seeing a ghost.

’Okay, this is very weird,’ Theo thought and kept looking out the window, but to his dismay, every single person that went past had their eyes on him.

Until finally, the carriage entered the opened big gates of the town, and Theo went to the window directly to look at how it was.

And the wait finally felt like it was worth it.

The town was BUSTLING with people of all kinds.

Some were wearing armors of different kinds. The armors, from one glance, could be segregated between good and bad with a single glance.

But there were not just people with armor there, but other people that had normal clothes on.

At first, Theo knew that the town would be doing good as his father was really, really sensitive when it came to his people, though he didn’t show that to the outside world but only to his family.

But everyone was wearing clean and good-quality clothes, and the shops and homes all around were made with concrete-type stuff.

There were street lights that were not activated right now. These were the ones that were in the castle too, the magic stone–operated ones.

But it was not only the armored people, or the normal citizens of the town, that made Theo feel like it was worth the wait.

No, it was the tamed beasts that were all around doing all kinds of work with their humans.

Theo even saw a fire-covered small creature sending streams of fire every few seconds to keep the pot hot.

One red-furred ape that was as big as the ape Elias had, but only a lot broader like a gorilla, moved with boxes of fruit on his shoulders and arms. It seemed to be doing a delivery.

There were many things Theo missed because the townspeople had stopped working because of the carriage with the Lesser Griffin moving before them.

Some even got their beasts inside their beast space, making flashes of light everywhere, which made Theo realize just how many had achieved level 5, making it so, so common.

It was one thing to learn it in books, but to realize it in the real world gave a lot more satisfaction.

Everyone kept looking at Theo inside the carriage and kept following it until Theo felt a halt.

A moment later, the door of the carriage opened, and Theo saw the window become a lot bigger than the one he was looking out from.

People made a crowd around the carriage; their faces were a mix of everything, but Theo could see a lot of them smiling, excited, and curious while looking at him.

The Baron tugged his hand once, giving him the head-up to move out now.

Theo did just that and got off, and that was when he saw the scale of the crowd that had formed.

It was not just the front but a full circle where people were only staying back because of the gaze of the Baron and the Lesser Griffin guarding them all.

When everyone was out and the Baron was just about to announce that Theo was their last heir, the 9th son of the Merrick Barony—

An old man from the crowd spoke in a voice that made Theo realize without even looking at him that he had no teeth.

"Aren’t you going to introduce the heir to us, Baron!? We have been waiting for so long!"

When the old man spoke this in shock, Theo froze completely; he hadn’t realized the commoners were going to speak out like this.

He looked at his father to see if he was calm or not but froze again, the Baron had a vein popping on his head already with his teeth gritted.

"I was just about to do that, you old bastard! You are the one who interrupted me!" The Baron roared, and everyone around started laughing in excitement.

"Is that so? I am old and forgetful, forgive me." The old man spoke with a humble smile that turned into a toothless laugh.

When Theo saw the crowd all bustling and laughing while the Baron kept sending slur words to them, Theo finally placed the last nail to the coffin with his confusion.

He looked toward Lucien, who was standing just beside him.

Lucien crouched to Theo’s ears and spoke in a whisper, "The townspeople are very close to our father, Theo. And even though Father shows he doesn’t like this, they all know he does, so just keep observing for now." Lucien spoke with a chuckle and went back up.

"Alright, alright, just shut it for once." The Baron spoke in a loud voice with a normal expression this time, which gave the cue to the townspeople that it was time they stopped.

The Baron kept his big hand at Theo’s shoulder before moving him a few steps toward the crowd to put the spotlight on him.

"Hello there, young master! What’s your name?"

"Hello, young master!"

"We finally got to see you, young master."

"Hahahah, look, he has the same expression as the Baron."

People kept asking questions in a loud voice, but one thing was similar in all of them: they were very happy.

Theo didn’t know why it was. In his eyes, this was just a ceremony being forced on the people of the town once when the heir turns 10 years old. But looking at them all, Theo couldn’t help but think if it was all an act or real kindness.

He needed to ask the Baroness later.

"HE IS THEO MERRICK, THE 9TH HEIR OF THE MERRICK BARONY! REJOICE AT HIS PRESENCE!!"

ROARR...!!!!

The crowd erupted loudly, and Theo just stood there, as dumbfounded as he could be.