Grey huffed for breath, putting his palms on his knees as he tried to heave in more oxygen. The hope of never having to feel that burning sensation again was a huge motivator, but even so the distance had been exceptionally long. Even with stamina that was at 30—
’Thirty-three now... I wonder what the limit caps are on this...’
—He had had to push himself to the very limits just to make it this far as quickly as he did.
His hope was to get back to the city early enough that he could get to the Baron’s place and hand over the Holy Item. That matter was another time sensitive issue he was dealing with, and Grey didn’t believe it was a coincidence that the red-head had been trying to get her hands on one too.
’Shit.’
Grey looked down at himself and almost fainted. He was still wearing those damned pink panties.
He hurried to pull them off. While mind reading was a useful ability, it would only work on about 30% of people he came across. The vampires seemed to be a race with Linear Frames—as proven by the fact their Vampire Lord Frame was built for Linear Types as well—but there was clearly much more variety amongst other races.
Either way, going to a Baron like a streaking pervert wasn’t going to get him very far. He could only hope that the rest of his outfit wasn’t as much of a bother.
After a quick check of his map, Grey bolted forward again.
Soon, he was rounding street corners that reminded him of the movies he had seen of New York City high life. The streets were lined with brownstones and stoops, high class apartments and townhomes that would have cost an arm and a leg back on Earth, and probably here as well.
They looked simple enough from the outside, but he could see the chandeliers from the windows and the not-so-subtle guards that patrolled the region like a silent neighborhood militia.
Almost the instant Grey appeared, he had felt several gazes land on him with unfriendly intentions.
’Dammit. These bastards are going to stop me before I get there, aren’t they.’
Grey picked up the pace, hoping to run through, but surprisingly, the hostility he was receiving diminished significantly after a moment. Then they went back to doing what they had originally been tasked with.
’Huh? NPC glitch?’
Grey didn’t have another explanation for it, but he eventually ground to a halt in front of a beautiful brownstone townhome. There was a wide set of brown stairs, and a small garden on either side. The stairs led up to an almost equally wide set of double glass pivot doors, behind which Grey could just barely see a butler standing in wait.
Without a second thought, Grey raced up the stairs and clicked on the doorbell, trying to control his breathing.
’Let’s hope this Baron is understanding, otherwise I’m screwed.’
He was a mess. Between his makeshift pants formed of Fitz’s Nexis Suit, the Chad Suit, the Skrill Mask and his Iron Jaw, he wasn’t exactly batting a thousand.
Grey thought about putting the mechanical jaw into his Cyber Space and removing the mask at the last moment, but before he could do that the butler opened the door.
A stern, old silver fox stood. Normally, that would be a euphemism for a sexy old man, but this time, it was quite literal. The man had the head of a silver wolf and even claws on his paws, but the rest of him looked as human as it got. He even seemed to have a normal pair of feet.
"Welcome, Baron Giyoto has been expecting you."
Grey blinked. "He has?"
The silver fox only smiled, gesturing for Grey to step inside.
Grey followed through, feeling a bit skeptical.
The inside of the brownstone was about as luxurious as one might expect, and yet also more rustic. Swords and katanas lined the walls in some sort of western, eastern fusion. By the same token there was marble as far as the eye could see, but it was offset by an almost golden wood and flares of nature that pulled everything back down to earth.
The house couldn’t seem to decide what it wanted to be, but it somehow felt harmonious anyway.
’I really should have tried to clean up, I’m practically a wall of B.O. right now.’
Grey sighed inwardly and accepted his fate. Whenever everything was trying to kill you and it felt like his brain was being flushed every other hour, there really wasn’t time to think about that sort of stuff.
Finally, he walked into an office where an old man Grey could only describe as kind sat.
He was small in stature, and a bit wrinkled as though he was just approaching his late fifties, but he had eyes that put you at peace. Even as he sat there, slowly gliding a blade over a whetstone, Grey couldn’t find it in himself to find it intimidating at all.
Unlike Esmeralda, he got the feeling of true kindness from Baron Giyoto, and the man seemed to radiate a golden light because of it.
"Grey Temolt, is it?" the old Baron stood, a smile gracing his features. "Welcome, welcome. I see you’ve had a tough time making it here."
"You knew I was coming?" Grey asked in confusion.
"Of course. Well, maybe it is more accurate to say that I hoped you would. Globb was a very dear friend of mine, I find that it is only fitting someone he approved of take on his mantle."
Grey was taken aback. Globb was a friend to the Baron?
This matter wasn’t as simple as it seemed. Globb was killed because of his identity, and now Baron Giyoto was basically saying that he approved of Globb and didn’t like this outcome.
Grey wasn’t up to date with the current politics of the city, but he was fairly sure that the Goddess was above Nobles, and if the servants of said Goddess wanted somebody dead—i.e. a Holy Knight captain like that dickhead—then it was probably best you try to be on that side as well.
"Then...?" Grey wasn’t exactly being eloquent right now, but it seemed that Baron Giyoto had already made up his mind about what was happening here.
"I can give you the shop permit, but I would like you to do something for me."
’There’s the other foot.’ Grey nodded to himself, he had been waiting for it. Nothing was actually so simple in the world.
"What do you need me to do?" Grey asked.
"When you become a knight, join under my banner." Baron Giyoto said with a smile.
Grey blinked. Just as he was about to respond, the echo of the doorbell rang through the halls.
The silver fox humanoid bowed and quickly left.