Status Magic – Behaving much like video games from many of your homeworlds, the status magic of this world allows you to view your current statistics. You see, your natural talent, body, mind, abilities, traits, and learned skills have all been converted into statistics that you can view. You can also see limited information on anyone that joins your guild or party as well as hirelings, slaves, pets, and mounts. Equipment, items, and money can also be found here, along with the history of status effects such as damage, healing, disease, or poison. Perhaps, for those of you from certain worlds, you should think of your old world as ‘analog’ and this new world as ‘digital’.

-The Adventurer’s Guild

Nash awoke with a start but the only thing that greeted him was an empty room and a strangely warm right arm. Tamsyn was nowhere to be seen and the sun was streaking in through the many small windows placed high on the walls of the fancy bedroom. The door was ajar and he could hear singing coming from down the hall.

Pulling a nice suit from his inventory, Nash was immediately dressed and got up to find out where the mysterious singing was coming from. Opening the door further, Nash stepped out into the hallway. The singing was coming from the right so he headed that way. The singing grew louder and soon was joined by the delicious smell of cooking bacon. Nash’s mouth began to water as he approached the door at the end of the hall. Opening it, he spotted a blonde woman not much older than his current incarnation. She was wearing this world’s equivalent to a French maid outfit and was singing quite beautifully while a number of food items boiling or sizzling on the massive stovetop in front of her. So wrapped up in her work, she didn’t notice nash approach her.

“That smells great,” he said, nearly making the woman jump out of her own skin. “Sorry, I wasn’t trying to sneak up on you. Are you alright?”

“Oh, yes…Master?” she replied, her tone making it a question. “You merely startled me.”

“I’m no one’s master,” replied Nash, taking a tone a bit harsher than he meant to. “But I am the new Mayor, so maybe that’s what you meant?”

“Yes, of course, Mas…err, Mayor,” stammered the lady, a hint of fear in her blue eyes.

“Please, just call me Nash,” replied Nash. “And try to relax. You’re not in any trouble… unless you burn the bacon,” he finished with a smile, nodding towards the stove.

“Oh my,” fretted the lady, turning back to tend to the breakfast she was about to burn. “I’m so sorry. “

“It’s fine, beside… I’m kidding,” chuckled Nash. “What’s your name, anyway?”

“I’m Kindra,” she replied, turning back to him for a moment to curtsy.

“Please, none of that, Kindra,” replied Nash. “I prefer to keep things informal. Do you enjoy working here?”

“Oh, please don’t fire me,” she pleaded. “I really need this job.”

“My God, woman,” sighed Nash, stepping up next to her. “You really need to relax. I’m not going to fire you. I just wanted to know if you liked it here and what the previous mayor was like… though I’m starting to get an idea. Please, tell me about yourself.”

“What would you like to know?” she asked, a worried expression on her face.

“How long have you worked here? What are your responsibilities? What’s your favorite color? That sort of thing,” replied Nash.

“I’m sorry I’m out of sorts,” responded Kindra, while she raised an arm across her chest to massage the left side of her neck. “I think I slept wrong and have a terrible kink.”

“Mind if I… ?” started Nash, offering her his hands.

“Oh, please do,” she smiled.

Kindra froze for a moment while Nash started to massage her neck and shoulders. She continued to cook while Nash worked several knots out of her muscles. After a minute or so, she began to relax. Then she told him her tale.

Kindra was born in this world and was abandoned when her parents were both captured and sold into slavery. She was only twelve. The current mayor seemed to take pity on her and brought her to live in this Manor in exchange for performing maid services. It wasn’t long before the Mayor began demanding more services from her, inappropriate services. Nash felt her shudder under his hands when she said the last part. He instantly pulled his hands away from her shoulders.

“I’m so sorry,” he lamented to her. “I’m not that other Mayor and I won’t touch you again. Please believe me. I meant nothing by the massage. You just seemed so tense…. Uh, I’m going to go. I’ll be in the dining room for breakfast.”

Nash bolted from the room before Kindra could react. She just stood and watched him leave, wide-eyed at his words. Finishing her cooking, she absent-mindedly placed her hand on her shoulder where Nash had been rubbing her and smiled wistfully. It only lasted a moment before she started loading everything up on a tray.

Breakfast was served and Nash enjoyed the best breakfast he’d had in a while. Looking up with a bit of bacon hanging from his mouth, he noticed Kindra just standing off to the side. Sucking the bacon into his mouth he looked over at her.

“Again, I’m sorry about earlier, but aren’t you going to eat?” he asked.

“We’re not allowed to eat at the table,” she replied. “I’ll prepare something for myself in a bit.”

“What? Why?” asked Nash. “At least eat some of this delicious cooking. You made it, after all.”

“I couldn’t,” she responded. “The ingredients are far too expensive for a servant like me to eat.”

“Look,” sighed Nash. “I’m not the old mayor. Please, grab some food and have a seat. You can sit at the other end of the table if that makes you more comfortable. You cooked an amazing breakfast. You should be allowed to enjoy it, okay?”

“Are you sure?” she asked, ringing a napkin in her hands.

“Yes, I’m sure,” answered Nash, trying to maintain his patience. The woman had obviously been treated badly for quite some time.

Kindra finally grabbed a plate and dished up some bacon, eggs, hashbrowns, and ginniberries before sitting down at Nash’s right. Nash just smiled at her while continuing to eat. Tamsyn flitted in a minute later and gave Kindra the stink eye before looking pointedly at Nash.

“What’s all this then?” she asked with a furrowed brow.

“Breakfast,” replied Nash. “Sit, have some. Kindra here cooked it and it’s delicious.”

“Fine,” replied the miffed nixie, landing near the platter of food.

Kindra quickly got Tamsyn a plate and moved a small portion of food onto it, dicing it all up into tiny bits.

“Okay, okay,” complained Tamsyn. “That’s small enough. I can handle the rest.”

“I’m so sorry, my lady,” apologized Kindra. “I’ll make sure to prepare your meals ahead of time from now on.”

“It’s fine,” muttered Tamsyn, her eyes betraying her changing mood as she enjoyed the delicious breakfast.

After breakfast, Kindra introduced Nash and Tamsyn to the rest of the manor’s servants, all attractive women. The former mayor obviously had a type. Nash had to chuckle when he saw Tamsyn roll her eyes. Silently, he had to agree with her “assessment” but he wasn’t about to kick any of them out unless they betrayed him or failed to earn their keep. Even in the latter case, he’d do what he could to make sure they landed on their feet somewhere else.

“Excuse me,” said one of the women, interrupting Nash’s thoughts.

She had long black hair pulled back in a ponytail, showing off her high tapered ears – much like an elf’s ears. She wasn’t an elf though. Her almond-shaped eyes and mocha-colored skin proved that. Nash couldn’t begin to guess at her ethnicity if she was from his world. Here, she was called an Aethian and her homeland was in the south. She wore a finely tailored suit and looked the epitome of professional feminism.

“Yes?” queried Nash once he had taken some small measure of the comly woman.

I have some paperwork for you to sign,” she said. “As the new owner of the Manor, you have some duties and responsibilities to her care. Maintenance fees, taxes, servant’s wages, etc… Please take your time to look over these documents before you sign. Of course, you’ll receive a copy once you’ve taken official ownership. This really should have been addressed before you stayed here, but it was late and couldn’t be helped. So, here you are?”

She handed the papers over to Nash, her eyes never leaving his. She had an intensity about her that Nash hadn’t seen before. He took the papers.

“Thank you…?” he said, letting the word hang there.

“Evelynne,” she responded, finishing his sentence for him. “I’m the Matron of this fine manor and the head of the servants here. If you need anything, anything at all, talk to me first.”

“Alright, Evillene,” smiled Nash. “I’ll do that.”

After returning to his bed-chamber, it took him the better part of an hour to go over the paperwork. There were tax statements, ownership rights, mayoral charter, hiring rules, and more. Nash didn’t note anything of grave concern so he went ahead and signed the documents. The moment he finished with the last one, they all disappeared with a flourish of magical sparkles. Instantly, Nash had a notification flashing near the edge of his periphery. Focusing on it, he received several messages.

Congratulations! New Housing Unlocked: Class 3 – Mayoral Housing

Currently, your house has 22/36 rooms. Do you wish to upgrade?

Current Maintenance Costs: Iron Marks: 2,250 per month

Projected Maintenance Costs” Iron Marks: 3,000 per month

Currently, your house has 6/9 household servants. Do you wish to upgrade?

Current wages: 600 per month

Projected wages: 900 per month

Currently, your house has 5/25 guards. Do you wish to upgrade?

Current wages: 1000 per month

Projected wages: 6500 per month (Includes 1 captain and 1 lieutenant)

Nash bumped everything up to the projected maximum. He had earned more iron marks than he knew what to do with. Besides, this way he figured he could employ additional folks and increase the town’s and his own security at the same time. Finished, he left his room and was met with a surprise.

The hallway had elongated and now sported a pair of additional doors. Nash quickly walked the rest of the manor, smiling and waving warmly to the ladies as they went about their business. Indeed, the manor was larger by a dozen rooms. He also saw three additional servants, all beautiful females, so he asked Evelynne about them.

They are summons just like so many in our world,” she answered. “I don’t know how they are chosen but the previous mayor mentioned a requirements list that he tailored for himself. It should be found somewhere in your housing status magic.”

Nash thanked her and started scrolling through the finer points of his housing status screens until he found what he was looking for. Servant Attributes. Opening it up, he read the old mayor’s requirements and blushed before quickly wiping them away. In their place, he added loyal, hard-working, honest, intelligent, and kind. It was a much better list than the previous one which included some mirky personality traits in addition to some exacting physical traits. The guy was a creep and Nash was even happier that the man was dead.

The manor had a large garden and a field. Nash quickly maximized the productivity of both. He also increased all equipment and consumable expenditures to the maximum allowable. He looked at everything as an investment. Whether his old life, this life, or any of the numerous video games he had played, investments didn’t always pay off. However, they never did if you didn’t make them. No one ever got rich or became a leader without taking at least a few calculated risks.

While the staff got busy with their new updated tools or weapons, Nash decided it was high time to head back into town and get the party together for another dungeon crawl. He’d already lost a day and it had him slightly irritated, though the new manor more than made up for it. Group messaging the lot through the status magic interface, he let them all know to convene at the Seductive Succubus within the hour.

Collecting Tamsyn, who had been getting to know the staff; Nash left the manor and headed towards the market square within the town. It was a short walk and the boisterous nixie filled it with chatter and questions.

“What kind of dungeon are we going into today?” she asked.

“It’s called Chittering Madness and if the name didn’t already give it away, it’s filled with all manner of giant insects,” answered Nash.

“Ewww. Why are we going into a dungeon that’s like that?” asked Tamsyn.

“Because the loot there is good and the insects are easier to kill than the creatures in most other dungeons,” said Nash. “It’s also a good difficulty for the average level of our party.”

“Oh, I guess that makes sense,” Tamsyn glumly replied.

They walked on in silence for a couple more minutes before Tamsyn stopped and asked, “Okay, so what’s with all the hotties at the manor?”

Nash stopped and turned towards her. Her scowl told him exactly how she felt about it. Why she felt that way, Nash could only guess.

“You can blame that on the previous mayor,” answered Nash. “Don’t worry, as soon as I figured it out I changed the requirements for new hires. You’re stuck with the current ones, however. Why, do you think we need to get rid of any of them? Did they say or do anything shady?”

“Well, no… not exactly,” mumbled Tamsyn once she flitted over to his shoulder and plopped herself down. “I just don’t want to see you fall for any of them.”

“Okaaay,” replied Nash, drawing out the word in his confusion. “We’ve got a lot more important things to worry about than romantic entanglements. Besides, my last girlfriend betrayed me and I’m not in a hurry of repeating that experience.”

“Hmmm… good,” chirped Tamsyn, suddenly smiling.

Moments later and she was humming a jaunty little tune in Nash’s ear. The rest of the walk to the market was uneventful. It was near the northern side of the small city and being mid-morning, many of the shops had just opened.

Nash picked up travel meals, healing potions, and extra gear and armaments for the dungeon and the short journey to and from the place. He also finally picked up a helm which happened to be enchanted with invisibility. It also fit in such a way that his hair didn’t form to it much. It would be a surprise to the next guy that tried to knock him out from behind. A few protection scrolls for good measure and they were ready. Twenty minutes after arriving they were on their way to the tavern.