Winsor sat there knowing he didn't have much time to choose. He was at a disadvantage and barely knew anything about this world. To make matters worse, he was in a body of a kid meaning no one was going to really take him seriously. He also didn't know the actual value of money besides the few answers the coachman gave him so he might end up being swindled and being taken advantage of.
"Uhh, I have a request to make," he said as he decided that if he was going to choose he may at least try to get something out of it He didn't want to choose only from the options he was given. The pressure the Earl was emitting reduced for a moment before increasing again making him feel as though someone had their hand on his body and was about to crush it.
"Speak," the Earl said as his eyes squinted. Winsor couldn't really tell if he had gone too far but he could tell that his situation couldn't get any worse from this. If he offended the Earl too greatly, he'd probably end up dead faster than he would have if he left here with a bad deal.
"I choose the first option, but I'd like my name to be switched to Keith Winsor instead of Basileus," Winsor said with a determined look. "I lost most of my memories and the name Basileus reminds me of my misfortune and those memories I can't seem to recall,"
All of what he said where random lies he put together so that his name change could be seem more reasonable. He wanted to change his name because he wanted anyone else who managed to come to this world with him to recognise him and maybe reveal themselves. He knew it was a dangerous move but if he managed to meet some friends from school he would be better off than alone.
Another reason was the previous owner of the body. He was a new soul in this vessel and he felt as though he was just pretending to be him. He did have Keith's memories but they were vague and somehow merged with his. He wanted a new life without any baggage but that didn't mean he'd go around posing as someone else.
"Hmm, strange request but okay," the Earl said while rubbing his chin. He looked a bit affected by Winsor's request but continued either way since he really wanted to get this over with. "Now that you've agreed, you will be led to one of the rooms by a servant and have your meal there. I'm sure you'll like it." the Earl said while a small smile appeared on his face while he released the pressure.
As soon as he finished those words, two servants, a butler and a maid, entered with a trolley with a fancy looking porcelain kettle and some confectionaries. The maid set them down as the butler, a younger looking man, signaled at Winsor to follow him out of the room.
Usually rules of etiquette dictated that guests should at least be offered drinks and maybe a snack but the lord didn't do any such thing since there was such a large difference in rank. Winsor didn't care either as he was just happy that his weird request was accepted.
They walked for while till they reached a room that was well decorated but was rather small. It had a bed and a writing table in one of the corners. There was also a wardrobe across the room with a small mirror hung beside it. There was also a bathroom but it was basically a tiled room with a waterproof curtain and a bucket for showering. There was also a toilet so he was happy that this world had proper plumbing.
The butler without waiting for Winsor to finish looking around, walked out of the room and closed the door. Winsor didn't care and just sat on the bed and continued to inspect the room where he would be staying for the night. He had a strange feeling telling him he was going to see the walls of this room for a long time.
He soon got bored with just looking at a plain empty room that did even have any large windows. The only window it had was a small one where the desk had been placed. He reached out to his side and pulled the bag that the doctor had given him earlier. The books and two silver coins were still there, not that he expected them to be gone.
He took out one of the books that were in the bag and removed some dust that was between the pages of the book. He tried to read the words but he realised that apart from a few of the characters, he couldn't read a single thing. He had forgotten that his ability to read and understand was limited to what the former owner of the body could do before he died.
It was a surprise that he was able to say all that he wanted to before this moment without getting stuck since the body belonged to some random kid. For example, if Winsor knew of the word potato but the body of the boy didn't, he would not be able to say it since it wasn't in his vocabulary.
He tried reading the other book but he also couldn't tell what was written on it let alone in it. He could tell that these two books held a bit of value so he decided to keep them till he learns how to read whatever these books were written in. Maybe if he became really strong and did some favours for the Earl, he might request to be sent to a school where he could learn magic and gain knowledge of this world.
As he was planning what to do in his future, the door suddenly swung open and hit the wall. Without knocking, the butler returned with a tray with steaming hot food and placed it on the desk. Winsor turned and looked at him with a glare and wondered what the hell was wrong with this guy.
"I will fetch you two hours past sundown for your first bit of training. The Earl's methods are difficult so you will be staying here till further notice," the man said while ignoring Winsor's glare.
"There are clothes in the wardrobe that were prepared for you so please put them on after taking a bath, your barbarism is not welcome." he added before turning around and leaving without giving Winsor a chance to process what just happened. He even slammed the door irritating Winsor even more.
"Barbarism? bro I just spawned and your kicking down my door, can't you leave me in peace???" Winsor complained under his breath. He was already stressed with accepting the fact that he had died and reincarnated. He had already encountered many problems in the new world and was finally having some quiet time to think things through and plan them and now some random guy decides to ruin his peace.
"Whoever you are I'll make you pay," Winsor said as he angrily stared at the door. He got up and went to the bathroom to take a bath to cool off since he felt like he couldn't think straight with all the angry thoughts in his head. As he was cleaning himself, he finally calmed down and started to wonder just why he was angry in the first place.
Sure someone slamming a door is irritating but it shouldn't have rubbed him this way. He rarely got angry and was starting to suspect if his new body had something to do with it. He remembered when he was in the infirmary and felt grief even though he didn't really care about the bodies. The emotions of the new body might've influenced him but he really couldn't tell since he was 17 when he died and he guessed he was around 8 or 10 right now.
He dressed up in the clothes that were in the wardrobe and helped himself to the food that was on the table as he kept on thinking of the possibilities. The clothes he picked weren't so expensive and were a simple t-shirt and pants along with some simple shoes. They were neat and the cream coloured shirt contrasted well with his black hair that was enough to almost reach his ears. His hair was smooth and was the kind to make even women jealous.
Once he finished with his dinner, he decided to take a stroll outside of his room since he was going to stay here for a while as the Earl made him stronger. There was a long windowless corridor just outside his room so he just picked randomly and just begun walking in a direction. This was a method he had devised when exploring places for the first time, get lost then retrace your steps. He was able leave the area he assumed was the servants quarters and entered back into the main wing of the manor. He continued and found a training ground, a kitchen, a lot of locked doors, a downward stair case guarded by heavily armored guards and even a pool with a little garden.
As he was walking around, he actually lost track of time and the two hour mark came and passed. The butler had returned only to find an empty room and he began frantically searching around the servants quarters for Winsor. Sadly for him, Winsor was on the opposite side of the manor and there was no way he was going to find him within time.
Winsor was still exploring when he heard some one tell him to stop where he stood. He was afraid of being caught since he was alone right now. He was walking alongside the regular servants since he noticed his clothes were the casual clothes the servants wore on their off time and also the ones they dressed their children in if they brought them to work.
This meant that most people thought he was a child of the servants which let him move around relatively freely. Of course he couldn't really enter the restricted areas so he steered cleared of them. He was walking down on of the corridors when voice hindered by a helmet called out to him.
"Where do you think you going? This is the Rarden Manor and I'm the son of Earl Grant. Who are you? I haven't seen you here before."