Guard
Alfie awoke to the sight of a medievalesque ceiling adorned by a bright crystal chandelier and white ceilings.
Looking around in a daze, he saw this room now filled with luxurious antiques, including dressers, closets, mirrors, and much more.
He put his head back down after he finished surveying the whole room. He must've been asleep for one hell of a long time if this was his room now.
Tightening a fist he noticed the drastic increase in his strength. Despite all logic, he had survived and even gained so much from his heavenly tribulation.
Looking within, he saw his two stars pulsing with pristine spiritual energy every few seconds. By adding his second star, his capacity to hold energy increased tenfold.
He wanted to test more of his strength but doing so in his bedroom wasn't the right time.
He needed information on how long he'd been knocked out and the situation of the settlement.
'Rina, just how long have I been knocked out?' Alfie asked.
[Give or take maybe about 2 weeks. You've like missed a ton of stuff by the way.] Rina replied.
'Wanna give me a quick recap?' Alfie sighed.
[Well, the population has increased to about 1500. Ivory's fighting off rival troops from another lord. Fawn's been leading in your absence. And I think that's about it.] Rina finished.
'Ivory's doing what?' Alfie questioned.
[Oh yeah, about like a week ago we found troops from another lord snooping by our territory. For the most part, Ivory's been taking care of them though.] Rina clarified.
'They haven't caused any trouble have they?' Alfie asked.
[Nah, Ivory kills them off before they can even get within a 10-mile radius of our place.] Rina shrugged.
'Good. I'll talk to him about it later on.' Alfie thought.
Seeing the mirror in the corner of the room Alfie walked up to see his current appearance.
Though he had seen his reflection in his regained memories, this would be his first time actually seeing them.
Looking at his reflection he saw the figure of a scrawny kid with black hair and golden eyes.
His skin which was originally deathly pale had regained a good shade of pink. Looking more thoroughly at his face his eyes were particularly striking.
Of all things, he was definitely a pretty boy. Not that he hadn't been in his past lives but this time even more so.
Strangely enough, his appearance never changed too much, his features stayed the same only the color of his hair or eyes changed.
Either way, it was high time he stopped admiring himself, he wasn't that egotistical after all.
Exiting his room he navigated through a maze of corridors and corners before he managed to find the main hall.
Hanging from the ceiling he saw a massive chandelier made with the same material as the one in his own room.
He honestly wondered how they had been able to get their hands on such materials, but he had his ideas.
The western frontier, although undeveloped, was filled with amateur merchants seeking to gain partnerships with the next rising lord.
Though uncommon some people choose to relinquish their title of lord. They instead live in the source world as other professions usually under the reign of another lord.
It's a pretty shamed decision as the cost of relinquishing the title of lord resets you back to 0 stars and makes it harder to progress.
Usually, people only relinquish their title if their kingdom is on the verge of collapsing, but even then most would rather die than relinquish their title.
On most occasions either choice would lead to death, one path though was seen as a more honorable death.
Exiting his manor he saw the familiar blue sky but the forest wasn't as close as it used to be.
Instead, he saw houses to the east, farms to the west, commercial areas in the south, and barracks near the north.
Rina was right while he was gone, he had indeed missed a lot. Other than the first 100 subjects he was sure that the other 14 hundred knew nothing of him.
While Alfie had been taking in the view of the more developed settlement, one of the new patrolling guards had seen him dangerously close to the manor.
"You over there. Step back from the Lord's manor." The guard yelled.
Alfie looked towards the person who called to him. He had never seen him before, so he must've been part of the new batch.
The guard placed his hand on his shoulder and urged in a stern tone, "Look I get you're probably new but the Lord's manor isn't something you can just easily approach."
Alfie smiled at the misunderstanding, he wasn't mad though the guard was simply doing his job.
"Strange, you know I've never seen the lord. Have you?" Alife commented.
"His Highness is currently resting in his chambers from his recent heavenly tribulation." the guard stated.
"But isn't this settlement only a few weeks old?" Alfie asked.
"If you don't believe my word look towards the charred area to your left." the guard offered.
Walking towards the location, it was indeed still charred. More than that it emitted a strange aura of sorts.
"Did you see it in person?" Alfie asked.
"What are you trying to say…" The guard's eyes narrowed.
"Who's to say that he's not lying," Alfie commented.
"Speak your next words carefully. I do not take disrespecting the Lord lightly." The guard spoke.
"Why are you so ferociously loyal to someone who you don't even know? You have no solid ground to base your loyalty on." Alfie questioned.
"I was given a second chance to protect the innocent. For me that is reason enough." the guard replied.
"So your loyalty goes to the people and not the lord. Am I right?" Alfie asked.
"At the moment, yes." the guard replied honestly.
"You're a good man." Alfie smiled.
'Rina show me his status.' Alfie thought.
[Name: Conrad Oreview
Species: Human
Age: 900
Current rank: 1 star
Skills: (Parry 5, Shield 5, Pain tolerance 4,... )
Talents: (Parry 6, Pain tolerance 6, Fortitude 7)
Abilities: Virtuous Stand]
It seemed Alfie had acquired someone in the range of 5 to 6 stars in potential. He honestly couldn't believe the luck he was having.
In the distance though he heard the sound of running coming from a familiar face.
It seemed his act of being a normal subject had come to an end.