As the light from the early morning sun shot through my bedroom I noticed that I was not alone.
In the bed to my left, I saw a male dwarf who did not have a beard, and he had red hair.
Now, normally, I would have panicked and freaked out at the site of a stranger, but somehow, this dwarf seemed somewhat familiar to me, as if this body knew who it was.
Then I could hear a loud pair of boots that were making their way up the stairs outside of the door to the room that I was currently in.
The boot stopped in front of the door and I heard a loud yell on the other side of the wall.
"Come on, sons, I need you both to get down here now! Your mother has prepared you a decent breakfast before you go out to accept your first jobs as functioning young adults in our society".
Whenever the voice stopped explaining through the door I got out of my bed and opened a drawer that contained my clothes.
The only thing that I had that looked decent to me to wear was a pair of pants that were dark brown but somewhat faded. The only shirt that I wanted to wear was a white shirt that had two buttons in the center of the top of the shirt.
After I got dressed I made my way down to the dining area that was to the right of the staircase.
The inside of the house was quite well-designed and sturdy. While the flooring was wood the support columns and the walls were almost entirely made of stone.
I was able to notice that the dining hall contained a variety of different animals on display against the far side wall that my father had slain and skinned.
The dining table had twelve chairs around it they were each a different height and weight.
"Ah, Gertrude, I'm glad to see that you are awake. Are you ready to begin your training as a member of the city guard?
Now I want you to remember that you are a member of the House of Digore. Your actions will have consequences on us all". My father said to me as I made it to my chair around the dining table.
I somehow knew everything about this family almost instantly after being reincarnated. Was that because I had taken over the body of this Giltrude that my new father called me?
This reincarnation did not work as I had imagined it would, but despite that, I will be doing my best to adapt to my new retirement as quickly as possible.
"Yes, Father, I will do all that is expected of me; and more in the name of The House of Digore". I said with confidence because I had a feeling that my father did not like any signs of weakness in his sons.
I mean, when I look at my father, I see a dwarf who is fit all around without almost a single ounce of fat in his body. His beard was very thick and long. He tied the lower part of his beard together with knots which was quite distinguished since most men without any form of binding that was keeping it together.
Our family was considered nobility, but we were only barons. This meant that we were not born nobility; instead, we had earned our nobility through great deeds during war or possible epidemics.
My father had used his skills with a two-handed hammer to slay an entire nest of ice drakes that were attacking dwarf miners at the time while everyone else ran in fear and panic.
While being nobility gave my family some prestige it did not help when trying to make connections. Most of the nobility looked down upon us as if we were unworthy of our status.
The only ranks that were above us were the royals, and also the Council of Elders.
I decided not to think about all of those things, and use this as an excuse to make a name for myself in this new life I had been offered because complaining about the type of life I chose to lead would not help me get closer to my end goal.
"Well, it seems that you are finally awake Touyin.
I honestly wish that you would be more like your older brother Giltrude. Honestly, I thought if I let you do your own thing until you're coming of age, you would have been more put together, but this ended up being a bad decision on my part.
Whatever you do do not embarrass the family with the simple job that I have gotten you of being an archivist. If you fail at this, I will disown you, and your name will be removed from all of the dwarven records as if you had never existed to begin with". My father said seriously as he grabbed a giant drumstick from a large plate that was on top of the table.
"Yes, Father, as you wish." I heard him say as he bowed and tried to keep his composure before sitting down in the chair that was to my right.
After my brother sat down I saw that my mother came in with her silver hair and brought plates full of a variety of different fruits and meats.
Then, after she finished that, my three little sisters sat down on the opposite side of the table, closer to my mother.
My three sisters were all triplets and they all had my father's red hair.
I was the only person who inherited my mother's silver hair, which, to the memory of this body, made me stand out among most of the dwarves in our society.
Despite all of the teasing and bullying that this body had to endure, I chose to ignore that and do whatever I could to please my new father. This is because my brother Tim and I had lost our parents in a car accident when we were only in high school.
With this new life, I would do whatever it took to please my parents as well as protect them.
After I ate the food that was available to me at the time, I bound to my mother and father, saying my goodbyes for the day, and I then made my way through the active town, trying to avoid as many people as I possibly could on my way to the guard house.
This town was unlike most of the dwarf cities I had seen in the video games I had beta-tested. The main difference was that the cities were mostly in the opening instead of embedded in a mountain. There was only one area of the city that was inside a mountain, and that area was reserved for members of the royal household or those who had to meet with Austrion, the king of the dwarves.
It only took me about ten minutes to make my way to the guard building that was to the left of the front gate of our town.
This building was made almost entirely out of brick instead of stone which made it stand out compared to the rest of the structures around it
I opened the door and saw a pair of dwarves arm wrestling while drinking. I knew that dwarves were very active drinkers and very spirited, but this was on an entirely different level.
These dwarves were giving me a vibe of I did not want to cross them or they might pop my head clean off my shoulders.
An on-duty guard stopped me from entering the guard house by pointing his spear at me.
"What do you think you are doing here? This area is reserved for those who have permission to either take charge of or become a member of the city guard".
I pulled a letter out of my backpack and gave it to him, but as soon as he saw the red seal on the envelope allowed me access to the guard house without even questioning me anymore.
"Take this to the captain and he will get you started on your duties for the day. He will be on the second floor in his workspace".
As I made my way through the guard house all of the other guards started to look at me with glances that did not sit right with me. Their stares felt like daggers being jabbed at me.
Despite the discomfort that they gave me I chose to ignore it and pursue my objective since I was not here as an individual but as a member of the House of Digore.
The stairs to the second floor are located against the left wall behind the bar. As I made it to the top floor I was able to feel a presence that demanded my respect.
I was suddenly filled with dread and fear at what might transpire in the next few minutes and the captain's room.
It took me a minute to try to get my nerve together and open the door, but when I did I was not ready for what was waiting for me on the other side.