Chapter 4: Still The Same Man
"A mild discomfort?" the woman asked again as she approached the man carefully.
"Yes love, it's nothing too seri— "
"—We need to visit the apothecary please."
She objected, caressing his forehead and looking at him with immense worry.
"That won't be necessary, I said I'm fine. Remember that we need to properly manage our funds. Using it so early into the winter isn't a good idea."
She shook her head vehemently, "No!! What if the injury gets more serious and you… you..."
Her voice lowered to an almost inaudible timbre. She looked at her husband with a pleading expression. She didn't want to say the next words but he knew exactly what she meant.
Even their daughter who became silent, only nodding in agreement, understood what her mother was going to say next.
They had just entered the winter season and she needed her husband to be in good health for the family. Lifestyle in the village was both simple and hard.
Although the women had their roles to play, men were the main source of protection and income in the village.
A village family needed a male figure to rely on to do the more laborious tasks like farming and wood gathering. Besides, it was also the winter period which increased the difficulty of their living conditions.
Winter was especially tough because the cold greatly prevented them from working the crop fields. The only thing they could do was manage with whatever they had saved up from the harvest season.
Restricting their activities to mostly indoor chores like tending the livestock and maintaining the farming tools.
The man kept quiet. From memory, he knew the nature of his wife. She was extremely hardworking and cared deeply for their family of three.
They had lost their son, his daughter's twin two years ago and it affected her greatly and so she did everything in her power to make sure that such a thing never repeated itself. She couldn't bear to lose any member of her family again.
After much persuasion, he just shrugged and acquiesced to her demands. In all honesty, the injury needed to be treated quickly to avoid infection.
His daughter remained in the hut to cleanse it while his wife took him to the only apothecary in the village.
Although they had to pay two copper coins, the woman didn't mind simply because she considered her husband's health far more important than money.
After collecting medicines from the apothecary and having his head wrapped up, they both returned back to their home. It was a simple wooden house, enough for five people to fit in.
The sun had already set which prompted the woman to head to the kitchen and prepare dinner for the family.
...
At the rickety looking dining table.
He dragged an armchair and sat down leisurely. His legs were crossed as he rested his head on his right hand. Closing his eyes, he began to sort out the foreign memories he received.
A minute later, he opened them.
He carefully observed the room he was in: A dingy and shabby interior with two clay pots at one corner. The dull lighting came from the candle on the center of the table, accompanied by the moonlight which seeped in through the windows.
However, seeing this...he smiled.
'Just a minor inconvenience.'
His current situation didn't faze him. It wasn't the best but neither was it the worst. Something like this was rendered useless in comparison to what he garnered from the earlier inflow of information.
He knew everything about his current body. His name was Ingram Lencrud. Married to Rosella and has a daughter named Ephmi. His only son succumbed to a terrible affliction two years ago and passed away.
He had no relatives and both his parents died when he was sixteen, leaving him to inherit his father's house and farm at a young age.
He was also aware of his current location:
Truys Village.
A small village situated in Bebad, one of the twelve states of the City-State Alliance.
Now, maybe a different person would have been confused but he wasn't. This was because it was one of the nations that was mentioned in Overlord.
Just that alone overshadowed his "poor" situation . After all, this was a world where fiction became reality. One which had concepts like magic that defied the fundamental laws of physics.
Thinking up to here he took a deep breath.
"Huu.. the New world huh." He turned his head and gazed at the luminescent moon through the shoddy window. "Interesting."
"Dinner is ready dear."
The thud of plates being dropped on the table and the soft voice of his wife broke him out of his immersion.
Looking at her husband, Rosella suddenly had an indescribable feeling in her heart. It was almost as if she was staring at a stranger.
However that feeling only lasted for a moment, vanishing just as quickly as it came.
She just shrugged, putting it to the back of her mind.
Just after she entered, Ephmi followed as she sat at the table. Dinner was black bread which had been baked several days prior with bean soup. They chatted away happily, talking about mundane things.
The woman kept looking on with a huge smile as her husband kept teasing their daughter. How he even made jokes about his earlier fall in the hut, prompting a burst of laughter from them.
Although they were poor villagers and had their fair share of hardship, they were happy and content.
After dinner, the mother and daughter duo cleared the table and took care of the remaining household chores while Ingram went to make sure the storage warehouse was secured.
Once they were done, Ephmi bade them goodnight and went to her room.
...
Inside their room, Ingram kept staring at his wife as she undressed. He walked towards her and grabbed her by the waist.
Using his left hand, he caressed her face.
Not expecting such an action from him, she blushed a little and stammered.
"Wha–What is it?"
The pitch of her voice was a little higher. However, once she stared into his eyes, she was drawn to him like a magnet.
For some strange reason, he looked even more...charming.
He brought his face closer to hers, almost as if leaning in for a kiss. But to her slight disappointment, he brushed his face slightly past hers and brought his lips to her ears.
"Am I not permitted to admire my woman?" he questioned as his left thumb massaged her lips. "Most especially when you're looking quite beautiful."
"...Mmm~"
His words were like an arrow to her heart. She couldn't even muster a clear reply and could only offer a short hum.
She was just a simple village woman. Even though her marriage to her husband was out of necessity rather than love, they grew to love each other. But, this was the first time she felt this way.
Her face flushed red and she was almost in a trance. She reflexively lifted her hands and hugged his neck gently.
He slid his right arm down to her buttocks and squeezed with a soft grip, making her gasp a little. With his left index finger he traced a smooth line from her lips down to her breasts.
They both looked at each other deeply. Their faces were so close that they could feel the breath of the other.
Looking at his wife he smiled, "How about I show you something nice tonight?"
She was helpless. Even though somewhere in her mind wondered where her husband had learned such a thing, it flew off her head. All that mattered was the present and without further ado, she plunged her lips into his.
...
Once she was fast asleep, he slowly got up as he put on his clothes then slunk out of the room. Upon reaching outside, he was greeted by a chill breeze that pressed on his face. It was a little dark and he could hear the chirping of crickets amidst the silence.
He just rested his back on the wall and folded his arms. His sights swept the area around him, making out similar wooden houses just like his.
Sighing, he raised his head and stared at the dark blue sky which was littered with stars.
"Beautiful," he murmured, admiring what filled his vision.
He relapsed back into a quiet state and slipped into his thoughts. He began to think of how he would proceed in this world. What moves he would make and how he would make them.
After some time he just chuckled and shook his head, "What is there to think about? It will be the same for me anyways. All I need to do is act as I've always done. Different world or not."
He had decided. Although his words may have sounded a little nonchalant, he himself knew his modus operandi.
What was the best way to acquire what you wanted? For him the answer was simple.
He would take it by any means necessary.
He closed his eyes and just immersed himself in the feeling of being in a new and completely different world.
It was surreal but his heart was as calm as a lake. He stayed that way for a couple of minutes before deciding to head back inside.
He couldn't wait to see what opportunities this world would bring to him.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone