Grammar help from light novel

Question

I saw this while reading a light novel:

群衆に紛れれば一瞬で見失いそうなほど凡庸な見た目だ。が、そんな彼を見る人々の視線には『珍奇』なものでも見るような不可解な色が濃い。

1. What is the purpose of が in the second sentence. Does it replace the subject from the previous sentence?

2. Why is 珍奇 quoted? And what does the なものでも mean after that?

Thanks!

Answer 1

1. The first が at the beginning the second sentence is just "But" or "However". The second が after 色 is a subject marker. (i.e., (such-and-such)不可解な色 is 濃い).
2. These brackets are not for a quote but for an emphasis. でも is "or something" or "something like ～" (See: Meaning of "でも" in "食事でもどうですか？"). 珍奇なものでも literally means "strange thing or something".

群衆に紛れれば一瞬で見失いそうなほど凡庸な見た目だ。が、そんな彼を見る人々の視線には 『珍奇』なものでも見る ような不可解な色が濃い。

His appearance is so ordinary that if he were to blend in with the crowd, it would be easy to lose him in an instant. However, the people who look at him have a deep sense of mystery in their eyes, as if they are looking at something "strange".

(This translation is by DeepL翻訳 but I found this actually very good)