Before thinking about anything else, Gareth decided to satiate his hunger. He slowly got up and dragged himself toward the baskets. Inside one of them were various baked goods, including bread and cakes. Gareth didn't hesitate. He plunged his hand into the bread, tearing off a chunk and devouring it almost whole.
The aroma of the food had already given it away, but damn, this bread tastes amazing. He struggled to remember if he had ever had any bread this delicious in both lives. Gareth devoured the piece in his hand and picked up a piece of cake from the basket. He scarfed it down as well.
Luckily for him, the cake was soft, or else he might have choked to death on it. That would have been embarrassing. He glanced at the other basket and removed the piece of cloth that was placed over it. Inside were various fruits, all looking fresh and succulent. His mouth watered slightly as he picked up an apple.
He bit into it, and instantly, his mouth was filled with a burst of fresh juice, quenching his thirst and refreshing his body. He quickly finished it, not even sparing the pit and seeds. Then, he grabbed a bunch of grapes that were still on their stem and started popping them into his mouth one after the other.
Gareth went back and forth between the baked goods and the fruit until he had satisfied himself. Still, both baskets contained a little over half their contents. It wasn't that Gareth couldn't eat anymore, but he was being rational. The woman known as the "head maid" hadn't given him any instructions, and he didn't have any idea how long these supplies were supposed to last.
For all he knew, each basket represented a day of food, yet he, because he was starving, gobbled it all up in a single sitting. Wouldn't that mean he would have to starve for two days? He wagered that that would leave him in an even worse situation than when he started out.
He carefully covered both baskets and placed them aside. Now that he had enough energy, he could finally go through the rush of information he had received earlier. From the memories, he finally figured out whose body it was he was inhabiting.
The body belonged to a young man who was around eighteen years old. Interestingly enough, the young man's name was also Gareth. Perhaps that was why he was able to inhabit his body so smoothly. Well, if that procedure could be called smooth. He shuddered as the memory of him plummeting to the ground still ran fresh in his mind.
He had been a slave for as long as he could remember. Both his parents were slaves, and he was conceived while they were still in shackles. He learned when he was young that they borrowed some money to set up a farm on the outskirts of the kingdom, but the war tore through their land, turning them into debtors and eventually slaves.
He started working at the mines when he was fifteen to help with the family debt, and with the effort of the three, they were making progress. It was slow, but it was progress nonetheless. In truth, his parents didn't have much hope for themselves.
All their hard work was for their son. They wanted to at least make sure to get him out of slavery. Their plan was going well, and with a few more years of hard work, they would have saved enough to get him out of slavery.
That was until tragedy struck and they died mysteriously. From then on, Gareth was left alone, slaving away at a mine for a debt that wasn't his own. For the next three years, he worked hard and grew quickly, becoming a fine young man despite the circumstances.
"Sigh!"
Gareth let out a long breath, his feelings complicated. Don't get it wrong—he certainly felt sorry for the young man. Having to grow up in slavery and being killed before he could get free was certainly a bad thing. However, what he was feeling right now seemed much more than that.
He speculated that because he was in his body, his emotions were affecting him, causing his feelings to heighten.
"Whatever, nothing I can do about it now," he muttered to himself before putting it at the back of his mind. Now, he decided to focus on the more technical issues. From his memories, there was nothing substantial to note. The only thing special about him was his physique.
He grew quickly, and by the time he was fifteen years old, he was able to work just as hard as the other grown men in the mine. Now, at eighteen years old, his daily output surpassed that of other miners, nearly double what they could accomplish.
This brought him a small modicum of fame among the slaves, and even the managers had taken notice of him. Seeing how hard a worker he was, everyone generally had a favorable impression of him.
However, something happened a week ago. One of the miners got sick and couldn't meet his quota. In order to help him, Gareth secretly worked extra hard, managing to fill up the quota for both of them.
However, they were caught by the second day, and one of the managers, in order to punish Gareth for his "unruly" acts, decided to starve him. Normally, the slaves were provided with two meals a day—one in the morning and one at night.
However, Gareth's rations were directly halved, leaving him with only enough for one meal a day. Mining was a very laborious task, and now that he had to perform it on basically an empty stomach, his situation quickly deteriorated.
Under such conditions, a normal person would only last for about two days before succumbing to their condition. However, Gareth surprised everyone by holding out for a week. Even the manager who had punished him was surprised to see him keep going. Initially, he suspected that the others were giving him their food, but after investigating, he realized that it wasn't the case.