"WE DO NOT MEAN ANY HARM," Evan shouted with all his strength, and considering the distance between them and the citadel, it was probably a good choice if they didn't want to get another arrow fired at them for not being able to respond loud enough.
"Wait there," a sharp voice came from the other side which didn't feel as loud as Evan's, despite the fact that they heard it clearly.
'So this is what a skill does, huh.' Ren assumed it to be a skill but didn't tell anyone else, it wasn't like they were so dumb that they wouldn't even understand this.
A couple of minutes passed since the group had arrived, when finally, an armored figure came from the front.
'Guards?' This wasn't what Ren had expected but seeing them, he was a little relieved to know the Inner Keep was maintained by people who had maintained the laws from before the apocalypse.
The person was more than six feet in height with a scar running along his neck, his eyes were firm as he glanced at each of them, one by one.
His gaze focused on Selene for a second longer, probably due to her unique attire which she had already explained the origins of or the absurdly long snake.
Apparently, she had killed something akin to a mini-boss which was a level fifteen vermin, which made Ren bite his own tongue in disbelief.
'The level of vermins I encountered were fourteen at the maximum.' But this was not the main issue, the reason he was actually sad was that the rewards were customizable and Selene had directly asked for the apocalypse to revert back, which obviously didn't work as she had hoped.
And not being able to get any powerful items, she had opted for a cloth that would strengthen with her and comes with self-cleaning abilities.
'I could've received an axe.' Ren sighed to himself.
The guard was about to introduce himself when his eyes darted to Ren.
His gaze narrowed immediately and just as he was about to raise his hand to give a signal to attack, Selene immediately spoke.
"He's an otherworlder. And we don't know anything about their world and he has been with us for days, so we can vouch for him that he isn't one of those creatures born of the apocalypse."
The guard's hand stopped mid-air. His gaze was cold as he spoke emotionlessly, "We have many otherworlders and none of them have those weird-looking eyes. But thinking about all of them, you might not be that of an oddball.
And you guys are from a nearby village I assume, so state your name and village and get inside. As for you, just give your name to the person at the entrance. Now follow me."
"And don't forget to drop that thing from your hands, I am just reminding you out of pity." The man turned around and started walking back in the direction he came from.
Evan and Lina glanced at each other, then at the limb of the vermyrex in Ren's hands. Ren didn't even think twice before
throwing the leg outside the Inner keep.
The walls separating this region from the rest of the city weren't as tall as the walls surrounding the city itself.
'Hmm, I still don't know their reason for keeping such high walls. Sigh, too much is happening all at once for me to grasp the whole situation.'
And the reason Ren didn't hesitate to throw it away was that the limb couldn't fit in his inventory but the canine of the vermyrex could. So he still had that canine to use as a weapon in case of an emergency.
As they reached closer to the citadel, Ren often located multiple people guarding above the roofs of two-story buildings while others patrolled around the alleys.
There were lamps at equal distances and the guard frequently chatted with some people before continuing to walk.
As they crossed the last bit of houses and reached the actual Inner keep of the city, aka the massive citadel, Ren saw a total of seven people guarding the gates and the perimeter of the citadel.
There were multiple small holes above the heavy iron-door, probably to shoot arrows from it.
The guard said something in a low voice before the armored female nodded and opened the doors.
The second guard recorded their names and details before letting them in and his gaze too lingered a second longer on Ren.
The entrance wasn't a straight path like any of the group members expected, it went straight for a few meters before it split in two directions, one to the left and the other to the right. The guard turned around and nodded before entering the left corridor.
Evam stepped in first with Lina and the rest right behind him while Ren was at the second last of the group with Selene behind him.
The passage was made of stone, it was narrow with a low ceiling and there were multiple splits in the walls with a gate ahead.
As the guard knocked on the gate, no response came for a second before someone opened it slowly and allowed them to enter.
'Ah, they are watching from the slits.' Ren's eyes widened in astonishment as he wondered how many people they had working as patrol guards and other guards to defend this place with. And his doubt was answered in the next second.
A massive open courtyard appeared before them with multiple lines of people standing in a queue.
Everyone's heads turned to them in curiosity and just as the murmurs began to grow, the place went silent.
"Eat first, then we can talk about accommodations and duties, and sorry for the cold shoulder, we need to be alert to every person we encounter, it's just part of the job. If you need help, ask someone to call for me. Name's Aron."
The man went inside another passageway in the opposite direction from the one they had emerged.
Everyone stared warily at the group. Selene's eyes twitched for a second and when she turned to Ren, he just shrugged and went to stand in the queue.
"He is going to be a pain in the ass," Selene muttered as she too stood in the queue right behind him.