The soul inside the young man with the beady eyes belonged to none other than Roy Fisher.
Roy Fisher lived in a world that was getting invaded by beasts. He didn't have much to do with it as he was just a trainee aiming to become a hunter. At midnight, after reading a fantasy novel, he went out and bought a cup of ramen and two sausages from the nearby 7/11. While on his way back home, he, unfortunately, encountered a dungeon break.
A hole opened close to him, and a monster walked out of it on all four.
They made eye contact.
After what felt like a torturous year to him, it attacked him.
Then... let's just say he was no more.
Roy still vividly remembered how while keeping him pressed beneath its claws to make it impossible for him to crawl away, it tore his legs apart in an instant and chewed them
He couldn't run away, and he couldn't crawl away.
He could do nothing but watch it eat him limb by limb.
After it ate away his limbs while enjoying listening to his mournful and painful ear-wrenching cries, it brought its mouth close to his face.
The sensation of what happened after was still haunting him, making him sweat faster.
He thought people would see their life flash by when they were going to die.
But nothing of that sort happened to him when the monster bit his head off his shoulder.
Maybe he died too fast.
'Or maybe… Those old fogies were all liers!'
Roy cursed beneath his breath.
When he remembered the last moment of his life, he forgot to breathe for a second.
"Didn't I just die in the mouth of a monster that I unlucky came across on my way back home? Then What am I doing in this room? I-is this… the afterlife?"
He murmured, but his personal maid still heard him.
"What a horrible thing to say, My lord. Did you have a nightmare?"
Just now, Roy noticed a young lady close to his rather big bed.
As she was previously lying on the wooden floor and he could hardly bend his neck down for some reason, he overlooked her.
She had ruby-like eyes and black hair.
And she was looking at him with tired but worried-filled eyes as if she was not a stranger to him but his dearly beloved who would die out of sadness if something happened to him.
He was surprised, to say the least because she was cosplaying a maid!
He had always desired to see a maid in real life, but who could have guessed that his wish would be fulfilled after his death!
'Wait! When did maids start appearing in the afterlife?!
'Something's off here.'
Roy's eyes widened, and he looked at the maid amicably.
"Uhh… Who are you? Why are you dressed like a maid? And where is this?" He spoke softly so as not to scare her off.
"Huh?"
Now, it was the maid's turn to be struck silly like her young master.
"…"
"…"
They both gawked at each other like monkeys eyeing their reflection in the mirror in horror for a few moments before the maid broke off the silence by touching his forehead and taking his temperature.
"Your fever has died down. But why are you still acting strange? Could it be… you hit your head when you jumped into the pool and forgot your memories?"
"Yes, I can't remember anything."
The silly maid received a nod of the head from her young master. Roy, for now, decided to play along with her. He couldn't do much in this situation. He found out that even moving his body was too much for him.
"You're the third scion of Badulf, the most famous count in the Great Sun Empire, and the only son of Lady Florence, and I am your maid, gifted to you by her highness."
She went on to tell him about all the important things he should know.
It was after half an hour that, thanks to the help of his gullible maid, Roy not only understood that he was in no afterlife and that he had transmigrated into the body of the youngest son of the most famous Count in the empire.
Last night, he had soaked in 'Cold Water' for too long and thus had gotten sick. She looked out for him all night.
Roy felt a little happy. He had always lived a hard life because he was an orphan. Never in his dreams could he have imagined that he would die, only to wake up and find out that he had become the son of a wealthy man. He could live a life of luxury now. The only thing bad about him was his figure and face. Well, money should be able to solve all his problems, no?
"Can you bring me a mirror?"
Roy had discerned he was fat and ugly from the maid's words.
But he was curious about just how fat he had to be to struggle even to move and how ugly he must be to make his fiancee cancel her engagement with him after getting a good look at his face.
"Yes... I will bring one to you right away."
Although she was reluctant to leave her amnesiac young master all by himself, the maid still nodded her head, urged by his pleading gaze.
The black hair covering her brows and the area down below lifted up, and Roy caught a glimpse of the dark circles under her eyes.
Immediately he realized that she had stayed awake all night to take care of him, and when she couldn't take it anymore, she collapsed next to his bed.
'How could she be so ferociously loyal to her failure of a young master? If I were to serve a silly young master, I wouldn't work as hard as her. She is also underpaid and overworked. Yet, she holds no desire to complain to anyone at all. A hard-working young woman like her… deserves a better life.'
The sound of footsteps going away snapped him out of his monologue. He raised his head and saw her sliding open only enough for her to slip out.
"You've worked hard."
Before she could go out, she heard her young master's words full of gratefulness.
She felt happy as, for the first time in many years, he hadn't turned a blind eye to her and had recognized her efforts.
Her lips stretched back into a smile. She was unconscious to it. She turned back to him with a genuine smile still visible on her face.
"Thank you."
Roy was mesmerized by her smile. Even though he had said only a few words, it was enough to make her happy. He had never met an honest person like her in his entire life. Her face was like a real-time translator of her emotions. Her every emotion and thought was visible on her cute peach-like face.
He only got to see her smile for a second as she closed the door immediately so that the cold wind outside wouldn't invade the room and kiss her 'Fragile' & 'Sickly' young master.
A while after, she sneaked into the room with a medium-sized mirror in her hands that she was struggling to hold.
"Young master, I have brought the mirror."
She was looking at him with the desire to hear him praise her.
Roy, with nothing much to do, fulfilled her desire.
"Good! Place it here."
Roy hurriedly patted the empty spot close to him, and she placed it on the bed next to him.
He looked at his reflection in the mirror, and his eyes widened.
He was fat… and not just fat but extremely obese.
He was no less than 550 pounds.
That weight for a 5 feet 7 inches wasn't unhealthy… it was life-threatening.
On a scale of 1 to five, he was at five, on the verge of exploding.
'Eh? He's not as bad looking as the young miss of the Charlotte family made him out to be.'
He was fat but not ugly. His eyes were beady, but only because there was too much fat around his eyes and on his face. He could discern that behind all that fat hid a handsome face.
"Ahh!"
While he was looking at his reflection, a great pain stabbed his brain. He clutched his head and cried out like a little girl who had her candy stolen by the neighbor's kid.
A great deal of information flew into his brain, showing him the memories of Roy Badulf Baldwin, whose soul he could feel merging with him.
The pain he was feeling increased by two folds, and his cries got louder.
Looking at his miserable state, his maid also cried.
"My lord, are you feeling pained? Should I call the doctor?"
Roy heard Amelia cry out in worry for him.
She had no surname as her family had abandoned her on the streets when she was but a child. Dressed in shaggy clothes, She would have died that winter day if not for his mother, who picked her up and brought her to a place too warm, which in turn, was the same as giving her a second chance at life. Amelia was loyal to him for a reason.
His mother had treated her like her own.
To repay her, she was willing to waste away the rest of her life serving him.
"No need."
Roy helped her sit close to him and wiped the tears from her eyes. She was too emotionally fragile when it came to him.
"I am fine."
He patted her shoulder to reassure her that nothing was wrong with him.
She gazed at him without a hint of disgust. "What just happened?"
"I seem to have remembered everything."
"Really?" She shouted out, her eyes brightening up in joy.
"Yes, Amelia. So there's no need to trouble yourself with calling the family doctor."
She hadn't told him her irrelevant name so far after he lost his memories, so hearing him call out to her helped her confirm that he was no longer an amnesiac.
The maid immediately fell to her knees.
"Thank the Great Sun."
And started praising the God of the Great Sun Empire
Roy's eyes narrowed.
The setting of this world was similar to the novel he had finished reading the day he died.
The Sun was the most followed God in the Far West and people here could use magic and Aura.
