Ugh, what a headache, and when I touch my left cheek it hurts even more.
My face was swollen, and I only took one punch. Imagine if it had been more. And, after all, who was that man? He's a good puncher. I certainly wouldn't beat him in a fight. Especially with this weak body I have now...
I just know I need to train, and I also need to find out information about this world, and a mirror, of course.
I need to know if I've become uglier or at least a little more handsome. Without being too narcissistic, of course. I hate people like that!
Other details of this new life of mine, like where I am, when I am, and how this whole place works, were unknown to me.
Judging by the fatigue I no longer feel, I'm almost certain I slept for several hours. And apparently, I only woke up now, when the sky no longer has two suns and isn't red and purple.
Now, in the deep darkness of the night sky, a small light shone, it looked like a very distant star, and by the intensity with which it shone, I was sure it was a strong, very strong one.
What a strange world this is. Do semi-humans exist? Or enormous, venomous monsters like in Stephen King's horror books? I hope not, that man is a machine of tremendously frightening ideas.
If this isn't a world full of horrors like the Human Centipede or Tusk and is actually a magical world with dragons and attractive elves, I don't mind living here at all. That is, if it's not the kind of magic that George R. R. Martin likes to put in his books. Now that I think about it, has he finished or is he going to finish the damn book?
Oh, how I love the man, I will miss him. I will miss Julia and I will miss the garbage that was the food of my old world. I suffered a lot in it, but I won't hate it. I suppose this is goodbye then.
Judging by the way the room looked, I could tell it was in the Middle Ages, or perhaps a few centuries later.
The walls were made of wood, decorated with carved designs, curtains on the windows, and inlays of what appeared to be pure gold.
The floor was entirely covered by a large red and white carpet. And the furniture in the room was all made of mahogany.
There was a large bed with something I don't know the name of above it, a bedside table, and a small tea table with three chairs around it.
I was lying on this large bed thinking. Thinking about whether I should finally get up and go talk to someone or wait for someone to come here to talk to me. Fortunately, after a few minutes, the second option of my thought materialized.
A beautiful young woman, this time with platinum blue hair, entered and, with a big smile, said:
??? — Good morning, slave. (She tries to control herself to avoid laughing. Now, laugh at what? I must be really ugly, or else she's laughing inside at the shame I caused a few hours ago.)
Denis — Excuse me, but could madam please tell me her name? I'm new here. I hope you understand.
??? — Repeat... (The big smile on her face immediately fades. What did I say wrong?.)
??? — I apologize, but... would it be possible for me to know where I failed you, my lady? If this mere slave has disrespected you in any way, then I apologize again for such a thing. (I first used "madam" just like the slaves did in American movies set in the Mississippi cotton fields, and the called her my lady. Is the way I'm calling her wrong?)
??? — First, you call me madam, as if I were the wife of some duke, and now you call me my lady, even though Ana was the one who bought you?! Do you understand your mistake, slave?
Denis — Yes... (And I think of a name to call her, but nothing good comes to mind. Fortunately, she speaks.)
??? — Ariny, call me Ariny when Dad or Grandpa are away; if they are present, call me Miss Ariny. You don't need to use formal language when they are not present either.
Denis — All right, Ariny. If you'll allow me to ask, where are we? What year is it? And why did you give me permission to speak to you informally? I am a slave, and as far as I know, slaves don't speak informally to a noblewoman.
Ariny (confused) — You... where did you come from? You know nothing about the place where you live or who you live with?
And, in fact, it was strange that I knew nothing about this place. But it wasn't like I could tell her I wasn't from here and had been summoned by a humanoid monkey. Besides, who was that monkey?
Denis — I... I don't remember anything besides my name, ma'am. (And it was true, I only knew my name. That is, if my name is still the same. I've read many webnovels and came across many where the protagonist ended up with someone else's body. Now that I think about it, this body is definitely not mine, so if it's not mine, shouldn't I, like, have the memories of this body? Ugh, what a drag, I hate this.)
(I'm thinking about things that don't suit me. Maybe I should lie about my name and invent a new one, but which one... Luis? Fernando? Klein? Jon? Darius? Tyrion? Ethan! Just like the hero of my favorite fiction book! Ethan is a good option, simple and cool.)
Ariny — And what is that name? I don't want to have to keep calling you slave all the time, it's annoying and, for some strange reason, it makes me feel bad.
Denis?/Ethan? — Ethan, Ariny. (New life, new person.)
Ariny — Ethan... Beautiful name. (And she walks to the tea table, takes a chair, turns it around and sits down) The place where you are is County Decatry, and the man who gave you a punch yesterday is the Earl, also known as the great hero of Endomyar, my father. Ana and Sara are also his daughters and my half-sisters. We live in the year 7335 after Macano, the god who chose you. And that's why you woke up in this luxurious bed. My father likes you and he apologizes for yesterday. In his words, he says he acted impulsively when he saw you slapping Ana, and he says he understands why you did it, and honestly, I would have done the same. That crazy sadist. But tell me: why the slap?
Ethan — I think... it's better not to mention it, I wasn't in my right mind at that moment.
Ariny (in a dry tone) — If you slap her, you have to finish the job and not stop halfway. If you had hit her more yesterday, I'm sure you wouldn't have gotten such a big punch.
Ethan (confused) — What?! That... doesn't make sense. Yes, she asked me to hit her more, but I doubt she was serious. I'm sure she said it jokingly and not seriously.
Ariny approaches me, places her hand on the bedside table and pulls a piece of paper from under the glowing candle.
Ariny (with a big smile) — Anyway, here! (and hands me the paper) This is something called the Screen of the Gods, something only the strong can obtain, and which serves as a magical identification that allows you to see how strong, intelligent, brave, and even how beautiful you are, but as I said, only the strong have this ability. And since you're going to enter a Torus Endra tomorrow, I'll give you the Macano paper so you can see your abilities.
I take the paper and stare at it intently to see if anything happens until Ariny starts laughing hysterically.
Ethan (annoyed) — Argh! Why doesn't this thing work!
Ariny (with tears in her eyes from laughing so hard) — Ha-ha-h... HA! Ah, Ethan, you just need to spill some liquid on the paper and then you'll see the magic happen... Ha-ha-Ha!!!
Ethan — Which liquid?
Ariny — Any, as long as it's from your body. Ha-ha!!
Ethan — Thanks, I'll spill something on the perverted paper, even if it's my blood! Tsk, is there anything else I need to know, Ariny? You mentioned something called "Torrus Endra," what's that?
Ariny (still with a big smile on her face) — I'm not going to tell you. Anyway, I know I'm beautiful, but I have to go. You can admire my face tomorrow. (but before she leaves) And another thing, the female chosen ones of gods like you don't like male chosen ones at all, it's almost like a curse, so be careful.
And she leaves the room. Just as she entered, she disappeared quickly.
That conversation was quick and very uninformative. Damn, I have to improve the way I speak! In the few minutes we've talked, I've only discovered that the Monkey who brought me here is actually a god, Wow, not cliché at all! But, well, at least I found out this place is a county.
Now, what was the name again? Damn, it's like those authors who write a character's name once and expect the reader to know the character's name for the rest of the book without mentioning it again.
And we're in the year 7335, which seems strange, considering we haven't left the Middle Ages yet and there should be a lot of technology. Oh, wait, yes, I completely forgot—Magic! That's why they didn't have technology, they don't need it!
I feel like I'm going to like this place. And it won't be a little. Now, if there aren't any pretty elves for me to look at...
And so, I leave the paper on the bedside table to deal with it later, and I'm going to train these skinny arms. On my second push-up, I conveniently spot a mirror under the bed and go to touch it, but end up collapsing to the floor from exhaustion.
May this new life of mine bring me great pleasure...