...And I recognized the art by the second page or so.
I'm not sure whether I've ever seen a mangaka write so many different types of stories (an action epic here, a heartwrenchingly cute slice-of-life 4-koma there, plus that one shouta-bestiality-yaoi comic that we'll try to forget about...) with such similar trappings (beasts and beast-men, historical dramas, well-built middle-aged men, oh my).
Certainly no-one who's so good at all of it. This first chapter is gripping, even though almost nothing happens besides laying down the setting.
(I mean, there's some—or rather, lots of—things by this author that I never ever want to read, but I assume those ones are good for what they are, too).