Nice?

Shirong had intentionally presented himself like this and wanted to make himself look vulnerable so that he could find out the people who were truly behind this all.

The increased security was not something that could be afforded by the clans of the Deer Wood city and there was no way the top 3 clans of the city would ever let someone else assist them as it would mean conceding a certain level of power to them.

Shirong had a guess that some of the smaller clans and minor powers of the city had disguised some of the men from the Kingdom's capital and had made it seem like they were providing the resources. This made them look selfless and also elevated their image in the eyes of the top three clans of the Deer Wood city.