7 days had passed since James met with the group comprising six individuals who introduced them as the Duke's trusted aide and were here to help him. But that didn't go very well for them as they were too frightened to out-voice their thoughts and had to compromise.

And as for James, he was following the same routine, but with a slight difference. He had started doing some exercises in the morning, cause he had to at least make this body fit until he figured out a way to get out. Other than that, everything was the same. He didn't leave the mansion, just stuck inside his designated so-called office signing piles of documents, took a stroll around the mansion inspecting how skillful these engineers of this world were, spent half a day making his unrealistic plan of getting back, which bore no theoretical result as he was too afraid to do any practical and at last slept in his too comfortable bed.

But today, he had something else to do which was planned beforehand.

***

A handsome youth with black hair and blue oceanic eyes could be seen walking along the road of the town named Esvet. He wore the clothes befitting of someone who belonged to some powerful noble family. Everywhere he went attracted the attention of local people, as it was a rare sight for them to see some noble walking down the road.

And the youth was Leonhart Tristan Von Esper, only son and heir of the most powerful Duke in the entire empire Duke Esper. But in reality, he was James who hated spotlight but was forced to come here with two of the trusted aids he had met sometime ago and some knights, including the commander named Hansh. He had desperately tried to make hundreds of excuses, but in the end, nothing worked and now he was walking along the roads of the town named Esvet.

These two guys were here to show him around the town so he could learn more about how the culture of this country and how the people lived their daily life and the knights were here for his security, but it attracted a lot of needless attention.

Reaching the town, James saw what he expected to see. It was a tiny town, compared to Elanor, where the Duke's family lived. Various shops were lined on both sides of the road and the streets were bustling with crowds. Some carriage carrying goods were moving along the roads. It wasn't something like what a 21st-century shopping district would look, but it served the purpose.

As the group made their way towards the busy area, various vendors called to them, attracting James's attention to the items they sold. Some shops sold flowers, some sold medicinal herbs, some sold weapons like swords and shields, some sold food items, and so on. Except for the weapons, everything here looked like what anyone would expect a shopping district to be.

"So, this is Esvet, huh?"

"Yes." replied one of the two aids.

"Then where do the people live?"

"They live in there..." said the man, pointing in a certain direction, where many houses both small and big could be seen in the distance.

"Let's go then..." said James, walking in the pointed direction.

As the group walked some distance, Leonhart's steps halted. Noticing the sudden stop, Hansh, who was walking just beside him, looked at Leonhart, who was looking in a certain direction with a sad look in his eyes. As he looked toward what the young Lord was seeing, he saw a family walking down the road.

A man in his thirties was carrying a little girl only 3 or 4 years old in his shoulder and a woman who was also the same age, holding the hand of a boy probably 8 years old.

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The family appeared to be enjoying their time to the fullest, as they were laughing and chatting loudly. Many couples, families walking together, were a normal sight to see throughout the town, but he couldn't understand the look in Leonhart's eyes. It was like he was longing for something, something which was beyond his grasp.

Seeing the backs of the happy family who reached the busy area and mixed in the crowd, Leonhart walked again. The happiness in those children's eyes, the look in those couple's eyes, that's what James Longed for. It reminded him of his family, his younger days, how he also walked with his father and mother, holding hands.

It had been so long since his family died, but no matter what he tried, he just couldn't forget those memories. He now had a family, but it was not his. It was Leonhart's. He had become Leonhart but still he was James, the same James who lost everything in the blink of an eye.

James wanted to accept the change. He thought by becoming Leonhart, he could start something entirely new. He could live his life, but he just couldn't accept it. He felt like an imposter who was living inside someone. He wanted to run away, but to where... he wanted to go back, but to where... He had nowhere left.

...

Soon the group made their way into the area where the town folks lived. Some houses were new, some were old. Children were playing outside their houses, women were doing various chores. And again James got unrequired attention.

Though everything was fine with the houses and the people, there was no proper drainage system for wastewater, no proper water purification system. The people just drank the water from the nearby well. The road had become muddy from the waste water coming from the houses.

James knew how much proper hygiene was necessary for any living being and these people were not the least bit worried about their hygiene or anything that could cause health issues for their children and themselves.

As they passed the houses and reached the outskirts of the town, James voiced out his thoughts to the man who was walking beside him.

"Everything is fine with this town, but why do they lack in basic hygiene?" James was shocked to see that these people had no idea about how much danger they were putting themselves in.

He was not a doctor, but it wouldn't take a genius to understand what happens when you drink your own bathed water. Well, not in the literal sense, but due to not having any proper drainage system, the water which the families used was directly getting absorbed by the soil near the well, and the people were using the same water for their regular use.

"Hygiene?"

"Yes Hygiene. Like how you maintain the mansion's water supplies, wastes, etc."

"I understand that, but... this is how the people live in here."

"What do you mean by they just live like this? Isn't this the job of the local lord to take care of the land and the people?" asked James. Back in his world it was basic manners taught in schools and the Govt. was spending billions to maintain basic hygiene, but here, these guys were doing nothing.

"It is.... But..." The man couldn't answer Leonhart's repeated questions.

In this land, the nobles were powerful and ruled over the weak. They took taxes from them and enjoyed their lives, but for commoners, it was their fate to survive. From the money they earned, they were paying taxes, buying foods, clothes and daily necessities and so on. They had nothing left to spend on fixing their habitat or to maintain basic hygiene. It was the job of the local lord to solve these small but deadly issues, but they were doing nothing.

"What...? Tell me whose job is this!" asked James in an irritated tone. It was just like what he had seen in Asian countries, like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and so on. Those countries were so called democratic means the people had elected someone to rule over them not like monarchy like here, but they were also doing nothing to improve the basic life of normal citizen. Govt. was spending money on paper, but in reality nothing was transpiring. Only the rich were getting richer and poor were getting poorer.

"That's..." The man had no answer. He knew the local lords were doing nothing, as it was their duty to begin with.

"Leave it. Tell me who ruled over this land before I came here?"

"He..." said the man pointing towards his right side, where another man probably in his mid-fifties with a fat belly was standing with a paled expression.

"You..."

"Yes, lord." He was a nobleman and a baron who had ruled over this barony for quiet a sometime, but never once in his life thought that he would have to host the son of the duke who controlled the whole realm.

In that time, noble families were ranked higher than commoners in social hierarchy, so it was a common thing or what you might say, it was in their blood to disregard them. But he couldn't understand why Leonhart was getting angry over silly matters. It was not like something would happen to him if one or two commoner child died because of some unknown disease.

"Mind telling me what the hell you did here...?"