Mm. [ He hesitates a moment - which could be an indication that he's actually about to say something honest. Or it could also be an indication that he's performing the hesitation as a way to lure the other person into thinking he's about to be honest. With By, there really is no way to tell. ]

Small-town, actually. My father was the youngest son of his very large generation, so there was no real inheritance aside from one of the draftier Vorrutyer houses out in the country. So there was that, and the country academy where I failed to go to school. Naturally, I fled for civilization as soon as possible. I was sixteen on the cusp of seventeen when I came to the big scary city.