"Control, I need to control myself." Leo slapped himself the moment he woke up trying his best to not freeze like the night before, "I have seen people getting beaten to a pulp, I have watched people die. Hell, I've even seen those crazy videos of people getting brutally murdered so I must not be afraid."
"If I want to live, I must not be scared no matter what."
"You can be scared all you want, and cry and puke all you want when you reach a safe space, so for now don't fear."
Waking up early in the morning, fully motivated to survive, Leo took some bread from the rations kept in the basement of the house he woke up in to sustain himself.
After everything he saw yesterday, it was clear that running away in the middle of the night was a foolish idea. Not only because of what dangers might lay in this unknown world but for his own mental health, so he had no choice but to hide in the one place he knew he could be safe.
"This bread taste like shit!" Leo frowned at the old bread he was currently chowing down on.
The rough texture and the nearly tasteless bread were anything but filling, even on an empty stomach he couldn't bring himself to eat more than what he deemed to be good enough to survive.
Even though the rations in the basement were filled with rice, potatoes, corn, and some other grains, lighting a fire didn't seem like a rational decision considering where he was. So cooking was out of the option.
"Now, let's complete my yesterday's task," Readying himself up Leo got up and began climbing his way out of the basement once again by stacking the grains.
"The smell..." The stench of rotting flesh had just grown more than yesterday and he could already see the effects of it on some of the dead bodies, "I really need to get a move on, before I catch some disease from staying around dead bodies for too long."
"I guess, I'll start with the old man first." Leo wrapped a towel he found around his face as he began stripping the dead of their jewelry and their possession one after another.
Though most of the servants clearly didn't have much, it was still better than Leo who had literally nothing on him.
"To think, after all the countless and grueling work I did, I would be robbing the dead in another world," Leo gritted his teeth, "Hell with the fruit of hard work, I should've enjoyed my life more when I had the chance."
After nearly an hour of work, scavenging all he could, Leo headed outside the house with all his finds laying them out on the porch.
The sun was just beginning to shine warmly giving him some clue regarding what time it might be.
"Let's see, I have some bracelets and necklaces from the women. A few photographs that the servants carried with them, which I am guessing are likely of their family," Leo sighed deeply, "Well at least the technology of this world isn't too far off, despite the quality of the picture."
"And now for the valuable findings, I've got some coins which I am guessing is the currency around here," Leo counted the coins laying them in front of him, "So 8 copper coins, 40 silver coins, and 3 gold coins. I am not sure about the value of these coins but I can guess a little from what I know but I will need to gather more info to be completely sure."
"Then I have a ring with a decently sized pearl on it, and last but not least, this golden plaque."
Leo sized up his valuable finding, most of which belonged to the old man, of which two things caught most of his attention.
First was the golden plaque, it wasn't the fact that it was made of gold that bothered him too much but the name that was written on it, "Leocadius Giladron Regulus"
"This name sounds too eerie... could it be me?" Leo wondered as to how similar the name was to his, "It does sound like a noble's name from a game or something. Considereing the people that were killed around me, and from my finding, I can be sure that I am at least a noble or something of the sort."
"As for this plaque, I don't know who has it out for me so it's not a good idea to use this."
The second item, Leo was curious about even more so than the plaque was the unusual ring the old man had with him. The old man wasn't wearing the ring but carrying it in his pocket, making him doubtful about the ring's purpose.
As thorough as he could be, Leo had searched the man's finger for any trace of the mark the ring would've left but there wasn't any, except on himself.
The ring itself wasn't anything special, sure it looked expensive but nothing too lavish but it had a certain feeling to it.
That inexplicable feeling was what drew his attention the most, it was almost as if he could sense something from it, something he wasn't familiar with yet it felt almost natural.
He grabbed the ring and put it on, and just as he expected the ring fit perfectly onto his index finder where the ring mark was in the first place.
Using his fingers, he touched the ring's jewel, and to his surprise, the ring gave off a slight glow as he found himself lost in this world of regular items.
The feeling wasn't something he had experienced before but if he were to put it in words, it was as if he was digging into his pocket to find something only the pocket was huge and his hands could sense every item perfectly and grab them without a problem.
Grabbing onto the first thing, Leo watched as a bunch of shiny rocks appeared before him.
"Ma- Magic?" Leo watched the unbelievable happen right in front of his very own eyes, despite his lips twitching at the absurdity he was seeing, his eyes gleamed a tad bit differently, as he kept pulling different items out of the ring.
"It's really like watching a magician pull out a bunch of shit from his hat." Leo said to himself, "I wonder how it works, just a huge space you could fit any item into... though it doesn't seem to be infinite which is a shocker but this still could revolutionize everything."
"If only I could have Dr. Keller and his team look into this, I will no doubt be the richest man in the history to ever exist." Leo's enthusiasm was through the roof playing with the ring until the sound of nothingness woke him up to reality, "If only, huh..."
"Well, at least, this is a great find." Leo cheered himself up forcefully, "I was working up a sweat, wondering how I'll bring these items and food with me so this solves that problem. As for the items in the ring... they're well..."
The stuff he found inside the ring was the most disappointing find ever, just as you would expect a young kid to have, the items ranged from useless shiny rocks to even snail shells and a few useless toys.
"This is...", Leo took out the final item from the ring, a photograph of a young woman sitting in a chair beside a young boy who was undoubtedly himself, "Uselss, what else could I expect from a little kid but this at least confirms that this ring belongs to me."
"And this also fully confirms that I am in another world, after all, for such technology to exist-- I guess, I should call it magic."
Leo decided to get up and make a move to some place where other living humans' settlements might be, but not before raiding other houses along the way and the rations he could gather from there.
Putting all the useful things inside the ring alongside the photographs he had collected from the servants, he turned to look back at the house as he closed his eyes praying for them,
"I don't believe in god or anything of the sort, but without you guys sacrificing yourself, this body and I wouldn't be alive right now. I still have a lot of questions unanswered but thanks to you, I might have a shot at another chance at life."
"I can't give you a proper burial for now nor I will promise you revenge, but if everything goes well, I will surely return to give you a burial once I know this world well enough."
"I hope every one of you will rest in peace. Thank you."