As nice as the building Duke Hasslerouge met me in, apparently it wasn't his house. In fact, he technically didn't even own that building, it is the house of the mayor of the town we were in, a vassal of the Dukedom of Hasslerouge. So that means Duke Hasslerouge is far richer than I had imagined in the first place. I am no stranger to being around rich people from my old life, but noble wealth is an entirely different animal.

This means an eight-hour-long journey in horse pulled carriage. While the carriage is plush and well decorated the ride is horribly uncomfortable as wooden carriage suspension on wood and iron wheels is horrible compared to car suspension, plus its a warm summer day and there is absolutely no air conditioning, mixed with the heavy wool suit I am wearing it is miserable.

Duchess Hasslerouge fans herself feverishly in an attempt to stop herself from becoming overly sweaty. The Duke keeps most of his head out of the window and I sit across from them both looking as if I had just gone for a swim. I literally grew up working out in a desert for heat tolerance practice, I still sweat like a hog, both in this life and the last.

The carriage thankfully enters a darkened forest and in the shade, the heat is far more manageable. This allows the Duke to settle back into his seat and he looks right at me and then says,

"Since we have a good while remaining on our journey, tell us about yourself some, I mean more like who you are, not what you have done."

I nod and decide to give a SparkNotes version of who I am,

"Well... I guess I should start off by saying I am an only child. I was born to two middle-class parents, one a soldier, and the other a leatherworker. I guess my childhood was fairly normal, my parents loved me deeply and doted on me. I had quite a few close friends growing up I rather enjoy running around in the woods or out in the desert or mountains finding things to do and play with.

Uhhhhh... I can really find entertainment in just about everything I do. I'm not picky about what I enjoy so I can have fun doing most activities or find a way to make them fun. I apprenticed under a blacksmith for a long while so I'm decently skilled in that craft, and I dabble in leather working and tailoring. That's really it for me. Hobbies are really something established adults have in Frontiersman society."

The Duke nods along to my description of myself and then the Duchess speaks up,

"Well, Isa, if it's possible we could find your parents and buy them to reunite you all."

My face drops and I shake my head and explain to her with my throat threatening to tighten and tears push at the back of my eyes,

"I'm sorry ma'am but that's not possible. I watched my father die on his feet during the fall of my city. He was impaled with multiple spears. Thankfully his death was quick. I don't know the fate of my mother...I hope she died during the fighting."

The Duchess covers her mouth with one hand while still fanning herself and I can see her eyes moisten as she replies,

"I am sorry Isa, that's a horrible story. I couldn't imagine watching a family member die in such a violent way... and as for your mother... I understand. "

The Duke uses one arm to embrace his wife to somewhat comfort her and he says to me,

"I'm sorry son, but the war against the Outcasts was a necessary evil... if it's any comfort our kingdom did not participate in the destruction of the Stella Coyote."

I shake my head and respond,

"It's sorta alright, you didn't thrust the spear or put the shackles on my wrists. You are not to blame for my woes."

The Duke nods and then tries to change the subject,

"Well. You told us about yourself, so let's explain the Hasslerouges family history..."

He begins a long story about the founding of the kingdom. I learn the kingdom is called the Kingdom of Alrius named after its first king. Other than that it's just a boring history. I half-listen to it all because I don't want to be left completely out to dry, but I just stare out the window at the vibrant green forest. The trees look similar to oak and hickory so it reminds me of home back in Missouri growing up and playing in the woods.

While reminiscing I hear something thud against the wooden wall of the carriage. I swear thinking about just how cliche this is. The bandits in the woods. I watch out the windows as about ten men surround the carriage and the guard riding on the back is slain quickly. I keep swearing as I hear my heart start pounding in my chest. My seat returns and my hands start to shake. I simply say to my adoptive family,

"Do as you wish. I'll take care of this situation."

The Duke smiles and opens the door for me. I step out with him close behind. He says to me,

"Try not to hold me back young man. I am the head of my family for a reason, not just birthright."

I laugh and take the short sword off the hip of the dead guard. As I remove the sword from his hip I realize something, there is no blood pooling around the guard. I watched him be sliced from dick to chin, if it killed him then he'd be bleeding profusely. As the sword finishes sliding free of its sheath I just barely notice him flinch. When I come back upright I wind up a kick and plant the toe of my shoe square into the side of his helmet. The helmet goes flying off and he lets out a startled shout. I follow up with another kick and he falls limp. The Duke looks over at me confused and says,

"Why did you do that? That's our man!"

I shake my head and respond,

"Either he was planning to ambush us while we were distracted or he is a coward, both are something we do not want. Because I don't know his intentions I didn't kill him."

The Duke nods and I see his hands start to glow around the edges as the bandits come closer. I take stock of how they are armed and armored. I don't know exactly the financial situation of this kingdom, or how things work in this world compared to earth but if I remember correctly medieval bandits would be armed with either scavenged or makeshift weapons and armor, while also being rather malnourished and untrained. These guys are not that.

They are armed with well-kept weapons and are wearing somewhat decent clothes, but their armor is nearly non-existent on most of them. They look strong and confident, not backing down or flinching when I kicked the head in of our guard. Their expressions are off too, not wild or confident, but cold and collected, like trained professionals.

Six of them approach the Duke while four try to encircle me. The shortsword in my hands is rather cheaply made but its blade is sharp and seems to be sturdy enough for this fight. My hands keep shaking as I wait in anticipation, they seemingly read this as fear, but unfortunately for them, it is not. I always have had an issue with shaking like a leaf before any kind of wrestling match back on earth and even when I was growing up with the Stella Coyote. I guess it's just my body's reaction to adrenaline pumping, but to those who know, it means that there is a fight coming.

The four are not stupid and try to rush me all at once, one from my left thrusts a spear toward me and I manage to grab the pole just under the head. I raise the spear and use the pole to block a downward blow from an axe. With my sword hand, I force one carrying a sword to back off and stop his attack. The force of the downward strike causes me to take a step back making the last bandit miss his attempt to break my ribs with his mallet. While moving back I yank the spear past me and slam the crown of my head into the nose of the spearman. His nose crunches under this hit and he recoils back holding his nose and releasing his weapon. I feel warm blood trickle down my face as I must've busted my head open during the attack.

The axeman is able to untangle his axe from the pole of the spear and prepares another heavy strike from above. I drop low and swing across his body, the sword slashing across his thighs as I do so. He drops the axe to hold his now gushing femoral artery. I barely manage to dodge the swordsman's next slash to my neck but my upper arm gets a pretty nasty gash. The mallet then slams into my right ribs causing me to crumple as all the air leaves my body. I feel one of my ribs break but I quickly regain my footing and lunge forward with my sword as the swordsman prepares another strike. The pointed end of the blade buries itself deep into the gut of the swordsman who instinctively drops his weapon and grabs my wrist in pain. He is stronger than me and he pulls me into a bear hug despite the pain of his injury. He holds me so the mullet man can smash my skull. I then wrap my arms around him as well and lower my center of gravity before I bend backward.

The change in position causes the man to fly facefirst over me as I reverse-suplex him into the ground. He lets out a surprised noise as his face meets hardened dirt. With our combined weight his neck makes a terrible noise and his body goes limp. Due to my move, the attack from the mallet misses by mere inches. I quickly go belly-down and retrieve my sword as the mallet man stands over me. He comes down with the hammer and misses my face once more. I grab his wrist and strike upward with my sword while pulling him down onto me. The blade barely misses his neck causing only a minor cut but now I have him in a guard position.

I manage to pull one of his arms across his body and put his head between my legs. I lock my legs together with his arm across his neck and pull downward with my right leg as my left lies sideways across the back of his neck. He struggles for a moment hitting me weakly in the side causing the broken rib to scream in pain, but they get weaker and weaker as he slowly passes out from lack of oxygen. When he finally goes limp I release him and cut his neck just in case he isn't completely gone. Before I can react the one with a broken nose tackles me to the ground causing me to let go of my sword.

He attempts to pin me and plunge a knife into my chest but I catch his hands. He puts his body on top of the knife in an attempt to overpower me in order to kill me. I slowly start losing the battle as the knife inches toward my chest, I strain with all my might but I am too weak, unfortunately for him though, he neglected to hold my legs. Using my leg I catch one of his and pull hard to the side. This throws him off of me and I roll on top of him. With the tables turned I let one hand off the knife and begin punching him repeatedly in the face. My knuckles start to bleed as I keep bloodying his face. He lets go of the knife to protect himself and I take the opportunity to pick it up and plunge it into his head killing him instantly.

I stand up breathing heavily from the fight just in time to see Duke Hasslerougt incinerate two bandits with a burst of flame from his hands. I assume he can handle himself and turn just in time to take an arrow in the left bicep. I scream out in pain as I nearly spin around out of both shock and the force of the missile. I hold my arm tightly and find the source of the arrow. From the trees, a huge man walks out while holding a fired crossbow in his right hand. He has two scimitar-looking swords on his hips and he is the most well-armored of the group by far. I can see through the gaps in his helmet he is smiling at me. He stands across from me and throws the crossbow onto the corpse of one of the men on the ground and he says to me in a mocking voice,

"Nice job there kid. Now be a good boy and surrender kindly so that I can deal with daddy over there. I can promise I won't take care of mommy in front of you."

I exhale sharply with a smile and reply,

"What? A fatass like you? Why the hell would I surrender?"

I can tell this guy is good and is most likely the leader. I also can tell he will most likely kill me due to my injured arm, but I doubt my fate will be anything but terrible if I surrender. I stand in defiance without any weapon. He frowns and draws both swords before saying,

"Well... I could use a warm-up."

He then starts chanting and lists off,

"Minor Physical Strengthening... Minor Physical Prowess... Minor Agility... Minor Iron Skin... Minor Ability boost... Greater Pain Reduction."

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His body glows as he says these things and I assume he is using magic to boost his physical capabilities. I swear under my breath about how unfair and bullshit it is that this world has all kinds of cool magic, I at first didn't know about, and now I am without fighting someone who can use it.

Without warning, he rushes forward with insane speed. I fall to the ground dodging his attack as I feel the wind rush over me. I grab his ankle with my right hand and he simply kicks forward and sends me flying a few feet. Whatever he did it made him beyond strong. I am very average strength for my build, but this guy looked stronger than average, and with the added magic he must easily be able to squat eight hundred pounds.

I cough as I stand up and he tries another rushing strike. This time I raise my knee while ducking. He runs into my knee right at his guts. The metal of his armor bends under the force, as does my kneecap which instantly shoots pain through my entire body causing me to fall. I land on the corpse of the spearman and he kicks me in the ribs knocking me another few feet away and breaking another few right ribs. I manage to start to stand up and he begins another attack but falls onto the ground as his right leg gives out suddenly. On one knee he looks up and sees the bloody knife in my hand. When he kicked me I plunged the blade deep into his Achilles tendon. His skin was tough due to his magic so the stab wasn't exactly like I had planned, but I still severed the tendon quite thoroughly. That pain spell or whatever he used must've made it where he didn't even feel the attack.

Now on my feet again I stand in front of him as he tries to stand up and fails as his right ankle gives out every time. I pick up the spear on the ground and move just out of the strong man's reach. He shouts at me,

"You wouldn't be as dishonorable to strike me when I cannot fight back."

I reply coldly,

"Yeah... I kinda just don't give a shit. A win is a win."

I thrust the spear forward and he does deflect it. Unfortunately, he has to keep one of his hands planted on the ground meaning he cannot retaliate as I kick him in the chin. He falls to the ground flat and I quickly pounce on top of him. From behind, I put him in a rear naked choke. The padded cloth around his head and neck gives no protection as I reinforce my choke. I sit on his lower back and lean backward to make it even stronger. He cannot reach me behind him as his armor blocks the full range of motion at his shoulders. Slowly he loses consciousness and I just keep holding on. Even after he stops moving I keep the pressure on until I am certain he is dead, and just as a precaution I use the knife on the back of his neck ending him completely.

I roll to the side and hold my aching ribs and feel the arrow still in my left arm scream in pain. I hear footsteps approach me and look up to see Duke Hasslerouge standing over me with a smile on his face. He says,

"Well... Looks like you are a keeper. I owe you my sincerest thanks, Isa. "

He extends his hand to me and I take it slowly standing up while groaning, then the adrenaline starts running out and the pain hits me with its full force causing me to let out a pitiful whine. The carriage door opens and Duchess Hasslerouge comes rushing out. She first checks on her husband making sure he is unhurt, aside from some singeing on his gloves he has no signs of ever being in a fight other than messed up hair. While I on the other hand am completely covered in blood, both mine and the bandits. She looks me up and down once and grabs my good hand. She then says lowly,

"Minor heal wounds."

A lime glow flows over me coming from her and instantly the pain is lessened greatly. After the glow is gone I check my right arm and see the small slash wound is completely closed, as is the gash on my forehead. The arrow is still in my arm and my ribs are broken, but hey, good enough.

The pair help me back into the carriage as we leave all the bloodied corpses behind. I guess the driver just sorta sat in his seat and did nothing the whole time. I fall asleep pretty quickly upon leaning in my seat and the entire ride goes by in a hazy dream-like state. That state where your eyes are closed and everything goes foggy, but you are still able to hear everything going on around you and still think, but still feel almost as if you are asleep.

I listen to the conversation the noble pair have. They speak highly of me, about how skilled of a fighter I am and how I have no fear of death. The problem is they couldn't be more wrong. I think about the fight and how terrible I was, before my enslavement I would have slaughtered the four original bandits without even breaking a sweat. The last guy though still might've been trouble. I haven't trained or really fought correctly since then either so I have no conditioning either. As for fear, that's the only thing that kept me going, the fact I am afraid of dying is what motivates me in a fight. I'm not fearless, just really good at hiding my fear.

I think back to the hard times when I first became a slave. The memories of what happened flood back and I jerk to full consciousness when I feel a light kick to my shin. I shoot upright with a groan as my ribs and arm ache badly. Outside the sun is almost fully set with the last streams of orange light disappearing for a second. The carriage is stopped in front of a gorgeous manor. The walls are made of pale stone with tall windows and skilled mason work on each corner and along the roof. Banners hang off the walls which I assume are of the Hassleroug coat of arms or possibly the kingdoms.

The Duke says to me,

"We have arrived. You are not in the most presentable state to come and meet the rest of the family yet, so we will have you go get healed and clean up."

I nod and reply,

"Yes sir, just tell me where."

I hold my arm which still has the arrow in it which is good, that means I didn't bleed more than I already have. I climb out of the carriage carefully, each step sending pain through my hurt knee and ribs. I am told to follow a well-dressed old man who I learn is called, Hartford, no other name or title was given other than he is the head butler and head of all staff in the manor. He leads me away from the decorative main doors of the house to a side building. I limp after him which seems to be the correct pace as he moves rather slow most likely due to his advanced age.

The side building appears to be some kind of staff quarters and I am led to a seemingly random door. Once the doors open I take a step back in surprise and shock. I am hit with what is effectively a mental flashbang.

I kinda guessed if this world has both dragons and magic there is a good chance of there being other fantasy races, but I never expected them to be so... creepy.

Before me is what I can best describe as an elf. Long pointed ears going nearly straight from side to side from the head. It looks feminine enough so I assume it's a female with long white hair. She stands around a diminutive four foot not. Her size and those features don't bother me, it's the face. My best description is a CG model that the artist tried too hard to make look beautiful, but they can't afford high-quality modeling software resulting in an uncanny nightmare of a creature. Her eyes look almost as if she is blind but the pupil is still a dark black and the way she tracks me shows she still can see. Her eyes also seem too large as if someone tried to forcibly put anime eyes on a normal person and they sit a little too far apart and sit on the side of the head more than a human.

Hartford doesn't seem phased at all about the creature in front of us and she stands at attention to the head butler. I also notice the iron bracelets she has on, identical to the ones that used to be on me. He then says to her,

"Please take care of the new young master. He requires healing and a change of clothing. "

The elf gives a quick bow and the old man shoves me into the room with her and leaves me with this thing. I hate being critical of people's appearance as it's so shallow but she is an uncanny valley nightmare. I lock eyes with her for a moment and quickly my apprehension disappears. I can read that expression easily, its the same expression I saw on the faces of those who have been in bondage for years. She is broken, like a showhorse. She simply stands there staring at me, clearing awaiting orders and I just say,

"Well... can you fix me up?"

She nods and grabs my left hand. The movement of my arm causes the arrow wound to hurt. She stares at the now bleeding injury and I ask,

"Want me to take it out?"

She nods and goes to reach for it with her off-hand, but I beat her to it and yank the bloodied stick from my arm. It hurts like a bitch, but thankfully it had a Fieldhead with no barbs so it comes out clean. The small woman then says in a quiet tone,

"Greater Cure Wounds."

She gains a bright green aura that flows from her onto me, this feels many times stronger than the one the Duchess used on me earlier. I feel my ribs mend and breathing becomes easier. My knee stops hurting and I watch as the hole in my arm mends closed. All that's left is the blood all over me, aside from that there is no sign I was ever in a fight. She then speaks to me in a quiet monotone voice,

"I will lead you to the baths. I will also retrieve some proper clothing for you. "

I nod and she begins walking out the door. I follow her closely still keeping a few paces between us. I notice her ears twitch and somewhat swivel like a horse or rabbit. The halls of this building are rather plain so my assumption this is a staff house is most likely correct. Eventually, we enter a stone room with a basin in the middle. I can see what looks to be plumbing and let out a sigh of relief that this place also has running water.

The elf shows me how to work the mechanisms and I am happy to see that through some magical process that is beyond me the water can be warm. I thank her and she bows before leaving the room. I assume she is going to find me some new clothes. I strip down after she is gone and submerge myself in the warm water. On a small shelf nearby there is soap which I am also thankful for. I keep the tap running to keep the water flowing as I wash the blood and grime off my body. Prior to this, it had been a good few months since I took more than a dip in a river to clean myself so I have a lot of cleaning to do.

The room gets steamy and I find myself unwinding and even begin whistling Sweet Home Alabama to myself as I let myself pretty much melt in the nice water.

Then a hand touches my back. The hand gently touches a certain part of my back and pins of ice shoot up and down my spine causing me to recoil and stand leaping to the other side of the basin as I shout in English without thinking,

"DON'T FUCKING TOUCH ME!"

I look at the intruder and see it is the elf who stares at me with those big eyes. I expect to see the fear that she had offended a new master but instead I see something that turns my stomach. Pity and understanding. Something I hoped no one would ever stare at me with.

Her eyes aren't locked in eye contact, on my privates, or aren't even looking in a random direction in shame, instead, she stares at my torso with the patchwork of scars and patches of destroyed flesh. It must look like a patchwork doll to her, and unfortunately, she must recognize the cause of these scars, only a few clean cuts are from fighting, and the rest are not.

I remain standing breathing heavily with my heart pounding in my chest as I stare back at her with wide eyes, at least she is dressed, the only difference from before is her sleeves are rolled up. She then speaks to me in a quiet tone,

"I apologize. I did not realize we may be kindred."

I shake my head, no longer as angry or upset as I understand maybe nobles have servants bathe them, I'm just not used to it, and she didn't know better. I ask curiously in the language of the Alrius kingdom,

"Kindred. What do you mean by that?"

Her eyes stay locked on my body reading the map of torn flesh, most likely noticing my exposed ribs, and despite my ribs being visible, complete lack of toned abs, signs of mistreatment through lack of nutrition. She simply replies in the same quiet voice,

"You were once in bondage such as I. So we are kindred spirits, those whose destinies were owned and controlled by another. You fortunately have been brought into my master's household for reasons unknown to me."

I nod acknowledging her point that we must've had some similar treatment at some point in our lives. I sit down back into the basin so I am no longer completely exposed to her. Now our eyes are locked in contact. I then explain to her,

"Yes. I find my current predicament strange as well. I want you to understand I did not mean to lash out as I did and shout at you. One I was surprised by the sudden touch, two you touched a really sensitive scar, and lastly, I do not care to be assisted when cleaning myself."

She nods and replies,

"I understand young master I will no longer attempt to assist in your bathing unless ordered by the master himself.

I apologize wholeheartedly for touching that wound of yours. When I entered and saw it I was surprised to see such a wound on someone who is now in a noble household. I understand the sensitivity to touch... I understand it far too well."

I nod and feel a pang of guilt in my heart. I had thought of this elf as some kind of abomination due to the uncanny valley, but I understand her situation all too well. I don't know what the people of this world think about the way she looks, maybe she is attractive to them or something, but regardless, being a woman and a slave never is a nice or kind affair.

I exhale loudly swallowing my apprehension about her looks. She might look strange to me, but she seems to be a kind soul at heart so I shouldn't judge her purely based on the fact I have literally met no other humanoid race but humans and now her. So I decided to introduce myself,

"Well, I haven't given you a proper greeting yet so. Well, I'm Isa and I'm a Frontiersman from the Stella Coyote. No need to call me young master or anything, just call me Isa. I guess call me master Isa if you'll get in trouble if you don't. I don't want you punished for something I said."

She smiles at me and then replies,

"I am Aelia (E-Lia). I am a forest elf, I am one of the household slaves of the Hasslerouge family. My duties are normally that of keeping the indoor plants healthy and some household cleaning duties. I was only told to take care of you due to being the only one in the household at the moment with healing magics at their disposal."

I smile warmly and say,

"Well nice to meet you Aelia, I hope we can get along."

She gives a small smile before she stands up and walks to the door. She then says,

"Please hurry up Master Isa, I have your clothing ready and the family is awaiting you to begin supper."

I nod and stand up before walking toward her. I only vaguely think about my nudity as my years as a Frontiersman made me rather comfortable being nude around others due to the culture having no issue with nudity. I am handed a towel and I dry off before dressing myself in a set of overly fancy clothes.

The clothes are black as the night with red accents and gold trim. It looks like an officer's uniform from the 18th century. Aelia has to help me out with the order I put pieces on as it is way too complicated for me to do alone. In total the entire set is fifty-six separate pieces I have to put on.

I run my hand over my chin and feel only a little stubble growing so I feel as if I do not need to shave. I nod to Aelia and she leads me to the main house through staff doors and hallways.

I never actually see the main halls of the manor as we take this path. Many of these halls are behind walls so staff can move through without being seen. Eventually, I am led into one of the halls. It's beautiful, with red walls with paintings of past family members decorating them. The floor is made of polished granite and chandeliers emit a golden glow making everything feel even fancier. At the doors stand two heavily armored knights who eye me suspiciously as I approach now alone as Aelia disappeared into a hidden door.

After standing in front of the door for a few moments the knights both step in front of me and open the huge wooden doors revealing the dining room. I swallow nervously as I step into the massive room. I feel my hands shake due to nerves as I prepare to meet me new family...