...

The smell of manure and ammonia penetrated his sensitive nose. The sounds of gossip, loud and uncultured, with a dialect he could barely decipher, were penetrating his ears, making him, for the first time, actually listen to how commoners sounded.

It was poisoning his mind, making him remember his past life of homeless screaming at him while whipping their genitals out, of punks setting trashcans on fire, and of lovers screaming at each other at night in a language he could only guess.

Alexander was loving it, 'At last!'

He immediately went to the carriage window, wanting to pull away the delicate silk curtains, but was suddenly pulled back by his only obstacle to freedom, "Keugh! Let me go!"

Behind him, Lili, his temporary guard, appeared and took him by his collar with her maw, biting into it and pulling him back. She murmured angrily, "Mr. Alexander! Please calm down! You are not allowed to venture into the city!"

However, he became overly angry, pushed nonetheless toward what he would think was true freedom, at least liberated from the golden cage he had been sitting inside since being reborn, "Come on! I am a damn noble! Give me some dignity, and let me just look outside!"

Lili growled and pulled back with more force, letting him fall to the ground. She jumped on a seat and looked down at him, clearly unhappy, "Mr. Alexander, the agreement was to bring you only to the courthouse and back while securing your perimeters as much as possible."

After Bartholomew, Nila, and his cousins left, he was alone for two weeks, doing nothing but relaxing, which he needed after dozens of sleepless nights. However, some days ago, his Mother called him to her office, saying he had to go to the Courthouse.

While she was reluctant to let him go, she knew it was time for Alexander's Noblesse Oblige. He needed to dedicate two years to the well-being of the Empire and its subjects, generally through military and administrative work.

Usually, he would need to do twenty years, but this could be circumvented by doing it before he was ten, doing more sophisticated work like being a judge, a way invented by the higher nobility in central Mal-Gil so their puppies could avoid their duty.

Now, he was in the city, on his way to do his duty, but Lili wouldn't let him go, even though he wanted to peruse what Wolfsteeth looked like. Even worse, he felt like some fabergé egg since around his carriage were more than thirty soldiers, with carriages at the front and back, protecting him as he would crumble at the slightest push.

Alexander suddenly smirked at Lili, who was still looking down at him. She frowned, already knowing what was to come. He took something out of his pocket and showed it to her, "How about a very yummy treat for your good work? Can't you be a good girl?"

Lili sounded incredibly annoyed when she spoke while becoming slowly invisible, "Mr. Alexander, I would rip everyone else apart if they treated me like a normal dog..."

Alexander interrupted her, clearly wanting revenge by being cheeky, "But you are not a normal dog, though? You are the bestest girl there is!"

His pettiness never disappeared after all this time, but he became more creative. For example, when he was alone with Lili, he conjured dog treats for her to tease her when she became overprotective.

He stood up, dusted himself up, and wanted to pat Lili condescendingly. Before he could touch her, she disappeared entirely. Regardless of his provocation, he could see her smiling before becoming only a blob of weirdly shaped mana to him.

After all the time with her being permanently around him, he became more intimate with her, and his jabs and snides were fortunately seen as fun and play, nothing serious. It drastically changed after he taught her the mana skills and sometimes gave some pointers, making her much stronger and more versatile.

It was apparent that Alexander was just petty when annoyed and tried his best to help her whenever possible. Because of that, they had a rather friendly atmosphere.

When the mana moved weirdly around, he heard her speak cautiously, but what she said made him incredibly happy, "You may go out once at the market."

Alexander felt ecstatic, knowing what was happening. It was obviously impossible to send him to the city without him getting overly dramatic or worse. As such, they probably would give him a little taste, making him feel like he won. He had no problem with getting manipulated since he didn't want to do something extreme either way.

He was a noble and couldn't act insanely like Sarah did years ago. For once, he had no desire to get his shit beat out of him, and second, he needed to act accordingly to his status if he wanted to avoid gaining an infamous reputation. His name was now linked to the charity, which apparently supported many kids, and with his education system being in its infancy, he needed to show his best side so no nasty rumors would spread.

Alexander sat down again, giddy, 'I can't believe I will see normal people!'

While the estate also had commoners, it didn't mean much. Before entering the outer parts, servants or workers would be intensely educated about how to behave, making them always thoughtful of their actions and words.

He had once a long talk with Melina, his head maid, after thinking that all commoners were like at the estate. It was not true, though. She told him she needed to undergo months of training, following others around and copying how they talked, what they wore, and even what they were allowed to eat and when. Her family did so to some lesser extent, too.

After this whole training, when they returned to Wolfsteeth, they felt superior, basically moving up in class or, rather, creating one of their own.

While the upper classes were full of nobles, royals, and all the exceptions, those who worked for them became what Alexander liked to call fake nobility.

Due to their proximity, they were sometimes treated as nobles since they represented their Master or Mistress, thus making them very authoritative, which was also intended as such. However, because of that, they changed quickly from their commoners' way and started symbolically flaunting their status.

Here, his Mother would make their retainers a head shorter if they abused their power, but it was usually seen as something normal. Depending on the territory, it differed significantly, at least what Patricia and his cousins told him.

However, those thoughts were quickly interrupted when they stopped. He heard Lili sounding a little nervous, "Mr. Alexander, you may open the curtains."

Alexander rolled his eyes, finding them a little too dramatic. What would they think he would do? Set the whole city on fire? He wasn't stupid, just slightly eccentric and impulsive, but he knew when to act accordingly.

With that thought, he slowly opened the curtains, showing he could control himself, 'Why are they looking at me like that?' He saw the city his family ruled for the first time.

From the outside, many guards looked nervously at the door, and further away, many commoners looked at him and whispered to each other, full of fear, 'What's the big deal?'

Alexander wanted to know what was happening and opened the window by pushing the wooden frame down. However, it was a big mistake. The already terrible smell he sensed inside the carriage from the outside intensified by multitudes, with new ones assaulting him, which he couldn't believe existed as they were just horrendous.

This made him almost puke, wrenching. He immediately cast the anti-gas spell on himself, scurrying away from the window with tears in his eyes, "Keough! What the fuck is this?!"

Lili sighed audibly, though, sounding cheerful, "This is why I didn't want to let you out."

Alexander was confused. It was as if someone had replaced every pleasant smell with something horrid, making him wish back when he had a sensitivity overload. However, it was now somewhat okay after using the anti-gas spell, which also killed all smells, "What do you mean?"

Lili barely held her chuckle back when she spoke, "Every canine-kin, canine fauner, and so on have a lot of problems going for the first time into the city since there are so many different kinds of smells, which also are irritating to us."

"But I never smelled something like this at home?!"

"Of course. The Lady is strict because of you and your siblings. She does not allow certain food, spices, and herbs that could irritate your sense of smell."

Alexander nodded, sitting down again, suddenly finding the trip incredibly irksome, 'Okay, calm down... this is a problem, though.'

He couldn't go out with the spell active, making him look like a snob and weirdo who couldn't breathe the same air as commoners. Even if they did not know what the thin greenish film around his mouth and nose was, it would let them perceive him as odd.

Thus, he dissolved the spell, getting immediately attacked by the multitude of smells, making him almost puke again while listening to Lili chuckling, 'I hate my fucking life!'

Smelling became a powerful sense for him, unlike when he was human. He could tell what someone ate, who they met, and what they did over the day by their smell alone. Yet, he forgot that it could also bite his ass since everything irritating felt like a flash grenade thrown before his eyes.

It was overwhelming. Alexander had no idea how other canine-kin could do it, but he needed to get used to it. There was no other way around it, even though he hated every single second of it, like walking through a place full of homeless camps, which assaulted his sense of smell but a million times worse.

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After a moment of straining many skills to endure it, he slowly calmed down, getting a grip on his bodily reaction, but the disturbing smells were still there, 'This is Outer Circle. Pure Outer Circle.'

Alexander took the knob of the door of the carriage, forcing an amiable smile, wanting to show his best side nonetheless. It was something he would need to live with and get used to.

When he opened the door, he was surprised by what he saw, but positively, 'This is life!'

Staying on the carriage's step and looking around the marketplace, he was baffled. His puppyish curiosity wanted him to run around and look at everything, talk to everyone, and just discover the world.

Alexander smiled widely, feeling his face blushing, 'Okay, calm down, Alex.'

In the middle of a giant plaza stood a giant fountain made of colorful stone, fitting the city's name. It looked like a giant wolf who howled into the air, with water coming out of its maw. Around it were finely chiseled stone flowers in different colors, embellishing the rough figure in the middle through their contrast.

Around it were at least a hundred stands, some just open carriages, others a rug on the ground, and other intricate booths made of fine wood engraved with elaborate designs, with vendors from all walks of life, be it merchants, artisans, or just the one-time seller who needed some cash quickly.

The stands were organized chaotically but somewhat specifically, in a labyrinth-like way, like a Swedish furniture store, one that you couldn't flee even if you wanted. They were in multiple rows, with barely any place to walk in between them, trying to fit as many stands as possible while allowing a little space for the buyer to walk between them.

All the stands were diverse. They sold everything from food to jewelry, weapons, silk, potions, and ingredients of all kinds. Quality also differed significantly, from cheap stuff, like badly self-made DIY utils, to beautifully tailored garments.

Houses encircled the plaza with what he could see were restaurants, artisan workshops, or simple general stores, showing some of their wares outside, trying to be part of this cluttered but charming market.

It was a cornucopia of smells and sights, which overloaded his senses immensely. Yet, he couldn't be happier, trying to ignore his poor nose, 'At last! Real people!'

From tellings, Alexander knew these markets opened everywhere around the city throughout the week, and some even never closed, being perpetually open and changing the vendors every couple of days.

Usually, towns had one once or twice a week. Still, Wolfsteeth was enormous and had a similarly massive population, so its city dwellers' needs weren't easily satisfied.

It was not all. Even the buildings and their architecture fascinated him, as they differed from the estate. They reminded him mainly of the early golden age of Arabic culture, mixed with Bazynthinian-style architecture and sprinkled with Western influences from the Mediterranean Sea countries from the BC era.

He could also be wrong since all his knowledge came from pop media, mainly movies with talking parrots and transforming llamas. Nonetheless, it was wild and interesting. Nobody cared about regulations; people built their houses, shops, etc., as they saw fit.

Though all were wildly different in design, the material was mostly the same, as they used the adobe lime mix. With this, he also saw much potential for the cement he would use. Yet, such a thing needed to wait for quite some time until Bartholomew got to test his cement formula.

After the short observation, taking in all the sights and smells, he walked out. However, when he did, all the commoners looked at him in fear, which confused him at first until he saw what was to the left and right of him. There were all the soldiers encircling his carriage as if he were a president visiting some third-world country roamed by terrorists, 'This is insane.'

Furthermore, his carriage blocked the small street, which clipped the marketplace and gave the best access besides two other ones that he could see further away, 'I bet all the carriages waiting are insulting me inside their mind.'

Walking out, he also looked at what was going on behind the carriage, finally seeing the other two before and behind him, blocking all the entries while staying sideways, 'Oh yeah... this is really the commoner experience I wanted, ' he thought sarcastically.

He walked to the soldiers, a veteran he knew from the estate, and became a little annoyed, "Really? Do you want to scare the living sh... do you want to frighten everyone?"

The whole market came to a standstill because of him. Everyone was watching and whispering to each other; some puppies who wanted to leave were held back by their parents because it was rude to leave, 'Just great...'

The soldier bowed down, sounding stoically but also nervous, "Mr. Alexander, by all due respect, but the carriage alone would garner attention."

Alexander looked behind him, frowning, 'He is right.'

The carriage he was riding was far above what he saw around him. His was the typical Leonandra one, enormous, looking like a tank in red and black colors, and with a giant sigil on the side. Even the draft animals, the war hogs, were oppressing all the other draft animals who stood further away through their stare.

All others looked more like what he had in mind regarding carriages, more wooden and shabby, which seemed normal for commoners. He sighed, resigning to his fate. While he could now throw a tantrum, it would make him look bad, lead to chaos, and much more, which he wanted to avoid in the first place.

Alexander looked at the dozens of soldiers, pointing at two, "You follow me. The rest stay behind."

For some reason, they followed his orders without arguing against them, which confused him at first but, after a moment, made him understand what that meant. He looked around, immediately finding the culprit on one of the rooftops, marking him with a spell, making the relatively not-obvious fox-kin flinch and wave to him, 'Sarusos is also here... how considerate.'

His Mother really planned ahead with everything, making him have small wins here and there while not letting go of the need to protect him, 'I seriously doubt there is someone who could actually kill me here.'

Most commoners looked relatively weak. Their aura was meek, and many had nutritional deficiencies, visibly so. It was too evident that, while not heavily impoverished, they weren't up to the standard he wanted them to be.

They were his future subjects, and he would now think of more ways to supplement those shortages, even though, over time, it would probably be handled just fine when trade became a breeze, his food projects developed, and the prizes dropped.

Alexander sighed, throwing it to the back of his mind, before he waved the soldiers toward him, "Follow me, don't say anything, and let's look around."

When he walked forward, nobody took their eyes off him. He was literally like an influential politician roaming through the inner city. Yet, some stares weren't filled with fear, which confused him. Some were filled with admiration, like that of Ariana, who almost worshipped him.

Most of those came from puppies, which made him somewhat confused. He couldn't think of anything that gave them a good impression of him since he also had no idea what rumors said, mostly ignoring them altogether since he got more than five nicknames already for the dumbest shit.

'I should probably wave my hand, right? What did the etiquette rules state again?!'

Alexander became a little nervous since he only knew how to interact with his servants, which was casual. Outside, though, he had no idea. After some thought, he decided to play a noble but in a more amiable way.

While he wanted to be very casual, in a modern Westernized style, there were many reasons why he couldn't. The most important was that the people had a perception of nobility, and it was firmly ingrained in them. It could quickly backfire if he tried to be too different, making him less appealing to follow when he took over later. As such, he decided to be a little more casually modern while maintaining the demeanor of nobility, changing it little by little.

He waved at the young ones with the most amiable smile he could muster. They stared at him, only to quickly kneel, seeing how sweat collected on their foreheads. Others around them also bowed down in fear.

'This... their reaction is not so weird, actually.'

From what he read, Teeth cities, and especially Wolfsteeth, were full of migrants who came from other territories, probably hearing that living conditions were better here. So, most were not acquainted with the rather elusive Leonandra household, which mostly only delegated their work. Patricia and his cousins told him that it was more common for the ruler to hold a speech, go outside, and so on in other territories.

Here, though, his Mother was radically efficient and gave only a speech every couple of years, ingraining into her subjects the image of a Knight, while his Father, as a druid, mostly only gave speeches and ceremonies in front of the Temple. As such, their approach was hard work and change, but Alexander doubted that most would see the little policies here and there that bettered their life.

Even on Earth, most wouldn't appreciate it if their politicians actually did something worthwhile, only to cry that it could be done better. So, expecting uneducated commoners to understand such intricacies would be too much.

Alexander sighed, not liking this experience at all. He wanted to see their daily lives, but all that happened was that they were too cautious around him.

He opened his mouth, trying to use every skill he had, "Hello my dear subjects! Please be at ease! I am only here to enjoy my time so just keep on doing what you were doing!"

After he said it, they stood up and, after a moment, started moving again. They talked at a much more acceptable volume, haggling, bargaining, and so on while being incredibly cautious.

'Huh, I already want to go home.'

He shook those thoughts away and walked through the market, looking at everything with great interest and forgetting his actual goal of observing commoners.

'Oh, what nice accessories!'

'Uhhh, this looks and smells tasty!'

'Ohhh! Are leather bracelets in again? I looked really cool with one... hm?'

He suddenly smelled something he hadn't had for years, fearing that it didn't exist, 'Is this...?!'

Alexander quickly walked to a stand that had many sweets. Even though they were not what he had eaten at the estate, he saw something he missed very much, 'Chocolate!'

Standing before the stand, he looked at heaven, 'Holy shit! So many yummy things!'

Before him, on a white linen sheet, on a simple wooden table, were all kinds of sweets, mainly chocolate and cookies, mostly made into cute animals, 'I need this in my life...'

Alexander had a sweet tooth, and without his increased metabolism, which required him to consume around 8,000 to 10,000 calories per day just to sustain the training he did, he would probably become morbidly obese. Still, a third of his diet was sweets, making all his cooks and bakers work 24 hours a day.

He looked up and saw the vendor, a woman he would describe as cow-kin, who looked nervously at him. Funny enough, she had purple hair, "Does my Highness like to have something?"

Alexander nodded, "Mr. Alexander is fine, but I want to buy the..." He stopped himself from buying the whole stand as it would look unmannered, "...a chocolate bar..." He looked around, finding one shaped like a dog, "...this one!"

The cow-kin studdered suddenly, "Ehm, I can't sell it to Mr. Alexander; I apologize!" She immediately bowed down, almost bashing her head against the table.

Alexander raised an eyebrow, pulled out an average gold coin, and showed it to her, "Why? I have the gold, though?"

It was silent, and he could feel all the gazes on him, 'What's going on?!'

The cow-kin vendor didn't straighten up and shivered slightly, not moving until a soldier came from the side, whispering, "Mr. Alexander, your gaze is a little aggressive..."

Alexander raised an eyebrow and looked at him, only to smile briefly, "Oh, my bad, haha!"

Besides Narsiz and Janina, his siblings and parents had a slightly intense gaze, making it hard for many to approach them and talk casually. So, newbies at the estate were usually very careful around them, fearing the worst.

He looked back, now trying to control himself, softening up a lot, "So, tell me, vendor, why can't you sell those to me?"

After a moment, the cow-kin stuttered through her sentence, "I... chocolate is poisonous... to Mr. Alexander."

Alexander blanked suddenly, imagining the worst, "Wait, you surely mean it's bad for my teeth, right?"

It was dead silent, and his biggest fear came to light, only for a soldier to whisper again, "Mr. Alexander, chocolate is poisonous for canine-kin."

"..."

Nobody said anything or moved while Alexander was having an existential crisis, 'Why was I born this way?'