The next morning…

Tristain, Royal capitol, Grayfield estate  

 

Lying and greed were both things that psychologists speculated humans had evolved when they were still closely living among monkeys. Greed ensures that a monkey will store food in excess of what it needs and lying ensures that the other monkeys don't find out about it. These were survival instincts that were useful for the individual but hurt the overall whole of the group. These traits had long caused many issues for humanity when they were used to harm others.

 

“I see, so the noble ranks were abolished and the size of the territory was determined by the amount of taxes that could be provided to the crown... “ Ashton muttered.

 

The kingdom had gone bankrupt under the combined forces of greedy nobles and poor leadership from the crown. With two major enemies on the borders and few allies on the continent, they couldn’t afford to have civil strife so the king at the time came up with a plan to fix all of it. Base the amount of land a person can get on the amount of money they pay in taxes each half year. By leasing the property from the crown you are expected to pay a tax rate of half of all profits made on the property, as well as a tax for owning it, and the more you pay annually the more territory you would be allowed to lease. 

 

The military that defended the cities and the borders were all maintained by the crown and the noble houses were only allowed to keep a token guard force. This made Ashton breathe a sigh of relief as he didn’t want to be in any kind of war or battle if he could avoid it. Monsters existed in the world and were a constant problem for people in cities and towns, they all required walls or they had to be built in special areas. There was an entire system of gaining power in this world to fight, but most nobles didn't partake in this pursuit and focused on making money instead.

 

“And now there are over a thousand noble houses but only fifteen great noble houses. Only a handful of the old nobility was able to adapt to this new system and maintain a semblance of their old power..” Ashton muttered as he set the book in his hands to the side and picked up another that was open to a page showing his family's coat of arms. “The Grayfields were a commoner family that rose to prominence under King Prosperity, what a silly name for a king.”

 

Every king in Tristain took on a moniker that was supposed to encompass the vision of their rule. King Prosperity took the throne after the previous king was forced to sell even the streets in the royal capital to raise money for all of the debts they had incurred after a failed invasion into one of the neighboring nations sparked a civil war. The commoners wanting more representation and a voice in the House of Lords demanded a change to the system, and this is what the old king had come up with. If they can make enough money even a commoner can rise.

 

“The Grayfield family started by producing concrete in the limestone-rich area of what would be Grayfield to the southwest of the Kingdom. Stonemasons, architects, and builders are what the family was known for and it was founded by his great grandfather, Delron Grayfield. Then there was a drought followed by some of the worst food shortages in history caused by an epidemic that killed most of the wheat in the area. The death toll was so high that the demand for new buildings reached an all-time low and most of the nobility suffered massive losses, this happened during his grandfather's time.” Ashton had often heard about famine killing hundreds of thousands of people a year in the medieval periods, but it was the first time it felt real to him. 

 

Ashton had bags under his eyes from only sleeping a couple of hours on the couch at the side of the room. He had hoped he would wake up back in the office he fell asleep in, but he was starting to wonder if he had passed away somehow. In all of the novels, he had read the person who was sent to another world was either called there by some god or the victim of transmigration after they died. It was a pity too because he had been the picture of perfect health on Earth.  

 

“Then Ashe’s father Bayron Grayfield began buying the women who couldn’t afford to eat and using them in brothels while he started brewing alcohol from a type of berry that grew in the hills of Grayfield and sold it in taverns. Once he made enough money from these ventures he started opening gambling dens and various other businesses. He married Ashe’s mother and had two sons and one daughter, then he got injured during a hunting trip and died of an infection. His mother was then in charge of the estate when his older brother died in a duel after a gunshot to the stomach. His mother died of grief a few months later leaving Ashe as the lord of the estate at the age of 18, and shortly after he exiled his sister.” Ashton finished with the book in his hand and set it to the side.

 

He sighed and leaned back in the large chair in the study and looked around the room at what he had done through the night. Most of the books on the shelves had been pulled down and rifled through. If they were useful they were on the desk and if they were useless to him he placed them to the side on the floor. Focusing on the kingdom, its history, and customs he spent the entire night studying because he was informed of something after the Duke had left. He had been invited to a gathering being held by many of the young nobles and house lords that was supposed to foster friendship, most of them wouldn’t take over their families until their mid-thirties to forties.

 

“I am so screwed right now!” Ashton said and began running his fingers through his hair as he sat at the desk. “I don’t think I can go back to Earth… I might be stuck here…” 

 

While he didn’t have a lot going for him, it was the things he had built carefully over his lifetime. His apartment, his manga collection, his computer game library, his job, his friends, they were all gone and he was never going to see them again. He never thought he would miss the life he had but now that he was scared and alone he felt a fear that he had never experienced before. He didn’t have the useful knowledge of guns and firearms, the flintlocks that were already in the world were about the best he could understand and come up with. 

 

“Psychology, Accounting, and business management, these are my most useful skills in this world.” Ashton turned his attention to the accounting books, but a frown crossed his face. “I have no idea what the sources of his income are, I bet each one has their own accounting books.” 

 

All that was listed was profits coming in, but he had several different books that were all different. With the bookshelves empty. A safe had been revealed with a dial that had the letters of the alphabet of this world on it, but he had no idea what the combination was. Looking out the window the morning sun had just risen and the garden was glowing with morning dew, he could also see the workers just starting their work. He had also learned of this world's view on slavery and he was thoroughly disgusted by it. 

 

“I can’t free them even if I want to, there are command words that need to be spoken to control the collars. They can’t leave my side for longer than a few weeks or the collar will activate and kill them as runaways if they don’t return.” Ashton muttered to himself. “I can’t control them either, that is a good thing though.”

 

As far as he was concerned they would be his responsibility, if he died then the collars would also kill the slaves with him. From reading the notes he also couldn’t figure out why the House Lord had killed himself in the first place, it didn’t make much sense to him. From the little he understood of him, Ashe Grayfield was a man who was willing to do anything for profits and he was deeply corrupt. There was contempt in the man for anyone who did not have money and he put a price tag on everything. 

 

The Duke had been unsurprised at Ashton’s casual behavior, and from what he had read of the customs he had been quite insulting to the man. Normally you would need to send a request to someone stating your desire to meet with them, followed by being invited by the person and having a meal together. There were all kinds of formalities pertaining to rank and it was normally considered rude to be so casual with each other. He was interrupted from his thoughts by a knock at the door.

 

“My Lord, I have your meal…” A hesitant voice called through the door. 

 

“Just give it a push, it should just fall over.” The door’s hinges had been destroyed by the blunderbuss under the desk.

 

Crash!

 

The large wooden door fell over with the maid’s hesitant push, she looked like a catkin with black ears and white hair. The first thing that he thought of was a teenage girl but then he had to remember that adult catkins were smaller than humans in general. She hesitantly sat the plate on his desk and looked around at the mess that the study had become. The Lord was in an even worse state with heavy bags under his eyes and his clothes were covered in sweat from the heat of the candles on the table.

 

She paused as she could smell a thick oily smell in the room and looked over to see that thick black wax filled the candle holders. The candles burning were not the ones meant for light but the candles that were used to seal envelopes that had a much different wax consistency. There were also weapons all over the floor of the room, a small pile of loaded flintlock pistols, blunderbuss, throwing knives, and bottles filled with thick smelly liquids that were sealed with wax. The maid was so surprised by the state of the room that she uttered a question.

 

“What are you doing… My Lord!” She added at the end out of shock.

 

In response to this Ashton held up the large ring on his finger with the crest of the wolf on it. “I was going through the items in my ring, It needed to be cleaned out.”

 

The ring he was wearing consisted of three pieces and it had an internal section that could spin on an outer shell that made up the ring. A rectangular groove was cut into the ring so it could be spun easel and a number was set that corresponded to the particular slot. His ring had 25 slots and from what he read they could only hold something that had the volume of a basketball. While this could stretch to encompass something the size of a rifle it couldn’t exceed that volume, the other problem was that he couldn’t figure out how to store anything inside of it.

 

Getting it out just involved turning the dial to the numbered compartment and opening your hand palm up. He copied the same actions that Duke Everim had performed and a rifle fell into his open hand. He then opened every single slot on the ring and found a large collection of guns, weapons, and several bags of gold. The more alarming one was kept in the last slot of the ring and contained papers for false identities in all of the neighboring countries and several bags of platinum from them.

 

“The carriage has been prepared for you.” The maid told him hesitantly. “A bath has been drawn for you as well.”

 

“I see,” Ashton said with a straight face and turned to the maid and pointed to a stack of books. “I will need you to carry those to the bathroom.” 

 

“Yes, My Lord!” Most of the maids never asked and only obeyed, that was the golden rule. She had almost violated this earlier and while Lord Grayfield was acting strangely, she also wasn’t planning to take too many more chances with her life.

 

Ashton watched her grab the books in her arms and begin walking out of the room, he counted in his head to ten and stood up from his chair as well. He then began to walk shakily after the maid with his legs crossed. Realizing that he had no idea how people in this era used the bathroom, he had been forced to hold it all in the entire day he had been in this world. Doing a kind of dance to keep everything in he stumbled out into the hallway and saw the maid at the end of it. 

 

His stomach was cramped and he was slightly hunched over as he reached the end of the hallway and started walking down the stairs. The strong scent of food assaulted his senses and the smells of roasted meat and oats filled the large dining hall in the foyer. The moment he saw the maids standing at attention around the table he felt his heart break knowing that they were waiting for his scraps. Some of them even had children who were already fitted with their own collars. 

 

Suddenly a crushing weight began to settle on his shoulders when he realized what he was up against. If he ran away then everyone in the mansions would die and if he died then they would die as well. While he didn’t personally know any of them, if he was going to be living here then they would become like the crew he would have at a new store. One that he was completely responsible for since he had no way to free them and the collars they were equipped with were impossible to open without the owner's password.

 

“My food has already been delivered, you are free to eat whatever is on the table.” He said as he walked by one of the maids towards a hallway that he hadn’t seen before that led into the wing under his.

 

The smell of smoke filled his nostrils as he watched the maid enter a bathroom at the end of a hall. A lot of the staff were looking at him funny as he hobbled down the hallway in a cold sweat with a pale face. Some of them whispered words about him getting possessed or being stalked by one of the spirits of his victims. He could tell from the words that they were only concerned with their fates as they were bound to him by the collars.

 

The first major difference to this wing from the one he had been in were large suits of armor that were decorated with various ornamentations like fierce beasts and archaic writing that stood on display. They looked like they could begin moving at any moment and start wielding the large axes, swords, maces, and spears at any time. The armors glowed with arcane light and occasionally blue lights could be seen flashing inside of the visors. An eeriness emanated from the armors as if they had been thoroughly soaked in the blood of combat.

 

Paintings of various landscapes were hung on the walls. They depicted the scenes of large forests, mountainscapes that pierced the clouds, and fierce beasts. Mosaic carpets covered most areas of the floor and the sound of water being poured caused his kidneys to cramp painfully. Taking deep breaths he pushed open the door and was greeted with the sight of a large tub that had a wood-burning stove to the side that was being used to heat water. 

 

A chamber pot… He finally saw his goal, and he couldn’t help a look of disgust crossing over his face at the sight of it. It had a lid on the top of it that mimicked a toilet seat, but it was just a large jar that sat on the ground. A frown crossed his face when he saw maids in white aprons carrying buckets back and forth from the stove to the large bathtub. That bathtub is larger than a ten-man jacuzzi… It must be back-breaking to fill it…

 

He looked at the ten maids and did a quick calculation in his head, just preparing his bath had cost close to thirty man-hours since they had been working on it for close to three hours.

 

“You may all leave.” He ordered plainly.

 

The maids in gauzy clothes all stopped filling the bathtub and looked at each other with confusion before ten sets of eyes turned onto him.

 

“I wish to bathe alone today.” He said again with a bit more force.

 

The maid who was carrying the books set them on the ground and also turned to him with a look of suspicion. He could tell that he was acting out of character but he didn’t care, when it came to using the restroom he wouldn’t be able to with all of the beautiful women around him. While some people might be into this kind of play, he wasn’t one of them.

 

“Out, now!” He ordered as he felt his stomach beginning to gurgle painfully causing him to double over in pain.

 

“Yes, my Lord!” They called in unison as they began to hurry out of the room. 

 

A group of four rushed over to the tub and walked into the water and began lifting another woman out who had a blue fishtail for her lower half and light blue hair that covered pale blue skin. She looked like a mermaid with a beautiful female figure for her upper half and a blue cloth wrapped around her chest. He saw that there was a collar attached to her neck and felt a strong feeling of disgust for the person who inhabited his body previously. There was a feeling of hoping that the original Ashe Grayfield found himself in some hell somewhere…

 

***

Meanwhile…

Earth, ???, The manager’s office of a store

“Ashton! You piece of shit! How dare you sleep on the clock!” A short pudgy man with a bald spot began yelling at the man asleep at the desk.

 

Ashton, who was sleeping at the desk, began to mumble and twitch as his eyes began to flutter as he lifted his head with a look of shock on his face. He began looking around the small office and his eyes nearly burst out of their skull when he saw an animated screensaver of an ad that was run by the store. 

 

“Are you going to listen to me?! Or do I need to have you written up!” The manager called.

 

“You are... quite loud. I… don’t like loud people.” The man behind the desk said slowly with a cold tone. 

 

“Is that a threat, or an ins-” The manager began but was stunned by what happened next.

 

Springing straight up and standing on top of the desk slightly crouched, Ashton took a step forward and whipped his foot right into the manager’s face. Blood and several teeth came out of the store manager’s mouth as he was rocketed backward and landed against the safe and began sliding to the ground. Ashton then walked forward and lifted the man off the ground and stood beside him facing him towards the desk as he pushed him forward and grabbed the back of his head. The sound of the store manager’s skull rebounding off the top of the desk sounded like a drum being played. After enough hits that blood began to soak the papers and money on the desk, Ashton finally threw him into the smaller chair.

 

“Alright, fatass... I am going to tell you…. how this is going to... work.” Ashton enunciated this last word with a savage squeezing motion using his two hands in the direction of the store manager’s throat. A warm smile was spread over Ashton’s face and a cold gleam was in his eyes that caused the store manager to snap out of his stupor and feel a deep sense of fear. “I have many questions for you, and if you don’t answer… well… let’s just say that... I am a man of many… means.” 

 

Cold laughter began to fill the room, causing the store manager to start whimpering in fear and pain as blood leaked from the many cuts on his face. His nose was flattened and leaking blood and mucus, one of his eyes was swollen shut, and his face was covered in bruises.

 

“Ashton, why ar-” The manager tried to reason with the man but was stopped with a savage slap to the side of the face.

 

“If I don’t speak… you don’t… Do you understand?” Ashton told him flatly. “Now... my first question…”

 

***

Meanwhile…

Tristain, Royal capitol, Grayfield estate  

 

“I feel human again…” Ashton muttered from the bathtub.

 

Sitting against the side of the tub, he used the stone walls of the tub to hold a book and keep it out of the water. He was reading over the various noble families since he knew he was going to be meeting quite a few of them at the gathering. He only really needed to know of a few of them but he was discovering something the longer he spent in this body.

 

It is better than mine… Stronger, faster, and with much better memory. While it wasn’t photographic memory, it was much better than anything he had previously. He could read something once and easily summarize the information contained within and store it away. In the past, he had needed to keep careful notes of the different tasks he was working on to keep the information sorted.

 

Standing from the bath and closing the book with a sigh, he made his way to a small alcove where a stack of clothes sat ready for him to wear. This shirt was gray and ruffled as the other one had been in the front, but it also possessed gold thread and a monogram of the symbol of the house. A set of belts that had been specially tailored to hold his firearms went over his waist providing a weight he wasn’t used to. The pants were linen with leather reinforcement at the knees and around the ankles to protect them from his boots. 

 

The large black coat was something he had worn on his way down, he didn’t know why the lord had liked it so much. The only thing he could think of was that it had to do with the lithe frame that he had been born within a world that valued strength. It had taken Ashton some time to get used to it because his arms and legs were much more slender than he was used to. The only thing that was bigger on the man was something that Ashton didn’t care to mention.

 

As everyone wanted to seem closer to the common man, most of the dress was simpler than Earth’s and the things nobles competed over were the materials and the colors. The duke had worn a vest and Ashe Grayfield had worn a heavy coat, the current fashion focused on outerwear while the ruffles on the shirts were on the front to stick out of the outerwear. The only positive thing he had discovered was that the black and gold tattoos were only across his knuckles. While he realized that this was something only a modern person would care about, it still bothered him.

 

It looked similar to the Victorian-style wear he had seen on Earth in anime that depicted that time frame, but embroidery seemed to be incredibly popular. Firearms were also incredibly prevalent and he discovered that the first musket was something his great grandfather had developed. Grayfield had been known for having sulfur deposits that were still mined and used to this day but the firearm production was something that his grandfather had closed. As a part of his great grandfather entering the noble houses a lot of his creations became widespread and no longer produced much profit for the family.

 

Ashton had decided to forgo food in hopes of spending more time studying the books he would need to be able to pass as a noble. He also took some time studying the superstitions and religions of the world, what he discovered was what he feared. The people in this world were deeply religious, this was due to the priests offering to heal most of the sick and injured for only minor donations. They had a holy kingdom that was located to Tristain’s northwest and was one of the largest empires in the region. 

 

If he tried to explain what happened to him then they would claim he was possessed and recommend him to the church to be executed. To survive he would need to make people think he was Ashe Grayfield. A knock interrupted him and he looked over at the door with confusion.

 

“Enter.” He said calmly. 

 

The door was pushed open by a maid who was tall at six feet and an inch(185CM) with a large bust and an apathetic expression on her face. Her hair was the color of blood and her irises and lips matched her hair, on the top of her head was a white pointed ear with a red tip. A large mass of fluff followed behind her as she walked through the door and then spread into nine long bushy tails that seemed to move with a mind of their own. The tips were blood red and the rest of the tail was as white as snow and fluffy like a fox. 

 

Her dress was similar to the maids, but her black skirt was cut short and she had a long white gauzy dress underneath that hung to the ground just above the floor. The sleeves were long and widened at the ends hiding her hands inside of them, she gave off a dangerous aura like standing on the side of a cliff. Her breasts seemed larger than they were since she had an athletic figure with a slim waist and plump thighs that resembled a runner. The frill on her head that the other maids wore was not present and instead, she used a ribbon to tie up her long flowing hair. 

 

The two looked at each other for a moment and he could see her nose sniffing the air before a savage scowl spread over her face revealing fangs. “You are not Lord Grayfield, how did you get into his body? This Kumiho is very familiar with her lord! What have you done with him?”