First morning

With such an environment, Darkmoor was simply to expensive to developp. There was only one town and a coastal village. There had been 3 others attempts at making villages in the past, but they had all ended in big failures. The current population of the region didn't exceed 5000 people.

Axel sat down on his bed, looking at the ceiling, with the moonlight filtering through the window. If not for aquiring the character skills and items from Kamidori, he would have been quite depressed by his new situation. His master rank in synthesis wasn't just for show.

'Just by looking at the items around me, I can identify the materials used, and know their most common properties. I have precise knowledge of crafting now that I didn't have in my previous life... Heck, I'm pretty sure it was enhanced by my own general knowledge of sciences and technology from my previous life.'

"Previous life, eh..." he said with a grimace. "That's right... While I won't forget who I was, that chapter of my existence has ended. I'm now Erwin Bradheim, 3rd prince of the Heizenbourg kingdom, and ruler of Darkmoor. I guess I could call myself Erwin Axel Bradheim" he finished in a half joking manner.

He raised his arm toward the ceiling and clenched his fist.

"Whoever killed my mother and tried to kill me, just wait. I'm going to survive, and turn this wild region into a prosperous one. And when you come for me again, I'll be ready."

With that said, he fell asleep. He woke up the next day when he felt somebody touch him and pull on his clothes. Because he lived alone in his previous life, suddenly having some unknown in the same room as him, touching him, was terrifying.

"HAAAAA!"

He suddenly sat up and wildly punched toward where the person touching him was. It was a clean hit, and the person collapsed on the ground. When he looked at the person, he relaxed. It was the servant his mother had assigned to him when he was 10yo. She was a girl 4 years older than him, named Alexia.

"Ah!" he exclamed, realising what he had just done.

He got out of the bed to check on the girl still sprawled on the ground. She was dazed, her upper lip was cut and both it and her nose were bleeding. A bruise was starting to form where he hit her.

"Alexia, are you alright? I'm really sorry for hitting you, I didn't know it was you, and you surprised me" he said as he helped her back on her feet and had her sit on the bed next to him, while checking her injuries.

She was also one of his relatives. She was the illegitimate child of his mother's cousin, so they were second cousins. She was taller than him, had gorgeous mid-back lenght black hairs, and almond deep blue eyes that sucked you in. Both him and his predecessor loved her eyes a lot. She had pretty features with a tanned skin, a well sized bust, and an equaly attractive rear. She was also a half-elf, with pointed ears but human-sized, not elongated like pureblood elves.

There were several intelligent races in the world, but the important ones were the humans, the elves and the dwarves. All 3 of them originated from the same continent. They were also the first races to developp into countries, thus they were often reffered to as the 'civilised races'. In the Heizenbourg kingdom, non-human were considered second-class people, and discriminated. People of mixed heritage like Alexia were looked down upon by both humans and non-humans.

Elizabeth couldn't be said to be kind to non-humans, but she was fair with them. When she learned about the result of her cousin's dalliances, she didn't want to see her relative forced into prostitution, or worse, sold into slavery in another country. So she decided to make her her son's servant.

"Y-y-your highness?" she asked, completly surprised, while holding her face. "You're awake?"

"Ah, yeah. I feel much better. But what about you? I hit you hard."

"I-I'll be fine, your highness" she replied while bowing. "There is no need to worry about me. I'm sorry to have surprised you."

'Ah, that's right' he thought.

While he had never mistreated her, his predecessor had never been particulary kind to her either. There was always a certain distance between them, there relationship stricktly master-servant. Seeing him that worried about her had confused her. In turn, she had become wary, not really knowing how to react.

"How long have I been unconscious" he asked to break the akward mood.

"You collapsed shortly before arriving to Rodden town" she replied while placing her towel on her face to stop the bleeding. "You've been asleep for 4 days. You almost died a day ago before starting to recover."

"So, we're in the Black castle? Has everyone properly settled in?"

Rodden town was the only town of Darkmoor, named after its founder. The castle was named Black castle to match the name of the region, to remind people that it was made for a life in a dangerous place.

"Yes. While some areas of the castle are in need of some cleaning and renovations, the rest is in good condition. If you would excuse me, your highness, I'm going to call the healer to have a look at your condition."

"Yeah, you're right. Have him take care of you first. Then tell William and whoever was in charge of the territory until now to meet me in an hour."

"As you wish, your highness" she replied while bowing, then swiftly left the room.

'Damn' he thought as he watched her leave, his eyes on her rear. 'She's going to drive me nuts.'

10 minutes later, the healer came. It was a man in his late 30s named Frederick Frost, tall and lanky, with surprisingly silver hairs and eyes. It was an uncommon condition, similar to albinism, but completly harmless. He had served his mother since she got pregnant with him. The man had seen him grown from the beginning, taking care of him whenever he got ill or wounded.

"Erwin!" he called him as he rushed into the room. "Dear gods, Erwin, it's good to see you awake!" he said with moist eyes.

"Good morning Frederick. Sorry to have worried you."

"I thought you would be gone too" he said while gently placing his hands on Erwin's shoulders. "I was preparing for the worst... Your recovery was completly unexpected. Now, please lie down and let me check you. This seems too good to be true. I want to make sure that everything is okay, and that there is no risks of relapse."

"Sure" he replied while complying. 'Too good to be true? You don't say, Fred' he thought sadly. 'If only you knew...'