*Knock* *Knock*

The sun’s rays shone through the window illuminating the room Roy was sleeping in giving it a golden glow.

Hearing the knocking on the door. Roy slowly opened his eyes and yawned. He slept like a log the other night, which honestly surprised him as he didn’t think he would be able to even get a wink of sleep in this unknown place.

Roy quickly got out of bed and opened the door, seeing Martha's attendant standing there with a grumpy look on his face.

"Miss Martha has called you for breakfast, I will wait for you to get ready Sir. Even though the attendant was impatient as he didn’t understand why he had to go and wake this guy up he still spoke politely to Roy.

"Wait a moment, I will get ready as soon as possible" With that Roy closed the door and quickly freshened up.

‘That guy looked like I owe a debt to him’ Chuckling to himself, Roy got ready and followed the attendant to the same office he was in last night.

Roy entered the seemingly old-fashioned office and saw Martha waiting for him calmly with her trademark smile on her face at the head of the table filled with food.

Yes, Roy concluded that she always has the same smile on her face.

"Good Morning, Martha"

"Good Morning. Roy. It seems you had a good sleep last night."

"Yeah, even I am surprised how I am able to sleep so tightly here."

‘Of course, you will be able to sleep well. If I hadn’t secretly casted [Mind Rest] on you, you would’ve greeted me with dark circles under your eyes’ Martha thought to herself. Martha has casted a simple spell to ensure that Roy will have a good night here and by looking at his refreshed face it looked like her efforts were not in vain.

"I was waiting for you to eat breakfast together. Hurry up and sit down, there will be a knight from the Viscount’s mansion coming to get you later so finish your food fast." Said Martha as Roy sat down in front of her and start eating. After they finished their breakfast.

*Knock* *Knock*

The same attendant that Roy met in the morning peered inside the room and said.

"Miss, the knight from the mansion is here."

Martha looked at Roy and nodded.

"Come on, be on your way now lad."

"See you later, Martha" Roy then proceeded to follow the attendant to another room, where he discovered a firmly positioned knight donning steel armor. He bowed as soon as he spotted Roy.

"Good Morning, Sir. I have come to get you on the orders of Sir Viscount. Are you ready to depart sir?" The Knight addressed Roy politely.

‘Why is he talking like that? At first I thought that’s how people here speak but Martha was different so that shouldn’t be the case. Maybe the people from Viscount’s Mansion are all weird.’

Roy thought in his head and labelled all the people from the Viscount’s mansion as weird. He didn’t know it yet but all the nobles speak to each other this way, even the common people have to speak this way while talking to them. It’s more of a tradition than a compulsion. It also sets apart nobles from other people and at the same time satisfies their vanity about being superior to commoners.

The Knight and the attendant both saw Roy getting invited by the Viscount in the sanctuary yesterday, so they subconsciously thought of him as a noble from another city. Hence, the formal speech from the Knight.

"Yes, please lead the way." Listening to Knights polite words Roy responded in kind. Nodding his head at his reply. The Knight gestured Roy to follow him. Roy trailed behind him and swiftly boarded the carriage prepared for him. Soon a familiar mansion entered Roy’s sight.

A maid was waiting for them at the front gate waiting for Roy. After getting off the carriage, the maid led him to the same guest room where he had his discussion with the Viscount.

As soon as he walked into the room, he noticed the Viscount sipping tea calmly and two individuals squabbling in front of him. He had no idea what they were talking over because he didn't understand their language.

Seeing him entering the room, the two guys stopped fighting and turned to look at him at the same time. The look in their eyes showed that they were analysing Roy.

‘The heck, I don’t like the look in their eyes. It’s disgusting’ Roy shivered as he thought that while looking at the pair of strange men that were staring as they were going to eat him alive.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

"You are here, Roy. We have been waiting for you." Thankfully Jonan interrupted before things got awkward. As Roy made his way inside he noticed the two men wearing the bronze pendant around their neck.

"This is the guy you spoke of, Jonan. Doesn’t look much to me." Roy moved his gaze towards the guy that spoke, he saw a middle aged man that was two heads taller than him, and with his dishevelled black hair and untrimmed beard he gave off a feeling of being unreliable to Roy.

‘What’s his problem?’ Roy doesn’t know why the guy was picking a fight with him but he was in no mood to entertain him.

"Look at him picking a fight with a guy that he just met. Why did you even bother inviting this brute here, Jonan? Said the remaining man of the two. Wearing a violet robe with his shoulder length hair and sharp eyes he gave Roy a scholarly vibe. It looked like he didn’t get along with the dishevelled man.

"Shut up, beanpole. If you have a problem with me being here, you see the door over there, you can take your scrawny ass out of here."

"Are you picking a fight with me, Krom?

"So what if I am, Lud.

*Clap*

Just as Roy was getting excited at the possibility of watching a fight, a clap resounded in the room turning all their attention to Jonan.

’’Now, I believe we are all respected individuals here. There is no need to fight to figure out a dispute. Am I right, both of you?"

Roy didn’t know why but he was kind of intimated by Jonan now. It seems like even the two troublemakers felt intimidated as they stopped making a fuss. They snorted at each other and looked away.

Jonan nodded as he was satisfied with this outcome. Then he gestured Roy to sit down beside him.

"Now that’s out of the way. Let me introduce you two to this young man right here. He is Roy Fortis, a newly arrived drifter and the person you two are going to tutor."

‘Wait, did he say tutor?’ Roy exclaimed in his mind.

‘No, wait. This might be a good thing. I don’t know anything about this place, it doesn't hurt to learn more but leaving aside the thin looking dude, can that guy even teach me’ Roy casted a suspicious glance at the dishevelled man. He reassured himself by thinking that he couldn’t judge a book by its cover. Maybe he will surprise him.

"Roy, the one with the purple robe is Lud Salen and he will be responsible for teaching you the language and common sense of this world."

"Pleasure to meet you, Roy. Lud said as he raised his hand for a handshake.

"Nice to meet you too, Mr. Lud." Roy said as he shook hands with Lud

"You can speak comfortably Roy. We are going to be spending a lot of time with each other so it’s better to be comfortable around each other" Lud replied with a gentle smile on his face, he seemed like a totally different person than before when he was fighting with Krom.

"Sure, Lud." Roy said and glanced at Jonan, waiting for him to continue with the introductions.

" The other one is Krom Harhead. He will be your combat instructor."

‘Combat Instructor?! Could it be that this world is like what I have read in those novels with dangerous beasts roaming around ready to tear people into pieces with their sharp teeth?’ As Roy was busy speculating. Jonan continued speaking.

"Lud will tell you why you need to learn combat later but get this in your mind Roy if you want to survive in this world it is better to have some combat experience." Jonan concluded.

"Tsk Tsk, look at those thin arms, you can’t even swing a sword like that, you’re in some harsh training, brat. Said Krom as he shakes his head while clicking his tongue, lamenting over Roy’s physical conditions.

Roy felt annoyed but didn’t retort as he knows his condition the best and like Krom said he was somewhat thin compared to his peers.

"Lud will teach you in the morning while Krom in the evening. Lud you can use this room for the lessons. I believe you are going to start now." Jonan asked Lud.

"Yes, we will start as soon as Roy is ready. Lud replied as he stared at Roy.

"Then we will take our leave in order to not disturb your lessons." With that Jonan stood up and walked to the door and stopped as he just remembered something.

"Krom, come with me, I have something to discuss with you." Jonan said to Krom before walking out. Krom also stood up and followed him.

"Now that the disturbances are out of our way, let’s start our first lesson shall we? Before anything else, I think that I should teach you about our language. What do you think, Roy?

‘Finally’ Roy thought as his eyes gleam with excitement. He has been so frustrated because of his inability to comprehend this world’s language moreover learning the language is a necessity to survive in this place. So of course, when asked, Roy was obviously going to choose to learn the language.

Seeing Roy nod his excitedly Lud seemed satisfied. He continued.

"While learning a new language it is necessary to start by learning all the letters."

Roy nodded urging Lud to continue. Lud smirked when he saw this as he have been waiting for this, he said.

"There are 72 letters in the Aavinisian language that is commonly spoken throughout the continent, Roy you would start by memorizing all of them by tomorrow. Do you understand?"

As soon as he heard that there are so many letters in a single language, Roy knew he was going to have a hard time learning it but even so he grit his teeth and replied to Lud who was nodding appreciatively towards Roy.

"Alright, I will do it."

While Roy was going through a torment memorizing letters of a completely unknown language. Jonan and Krom were walking through the hallway of Jonan’s mansion.

"What do you think, Krom? Is he talented in the way of sword?" Jonan asked inquisitively. Krom narrowed his eyes in displeasure and replied.

"Do you think I am a prophet or something? No even if there was a real prophet in place of me I don’t think they will be able to tell if a person is talented or not just by having a look. Why do you think I will be able to do it, Jonan? Are you drinking in broad daylight again?

"Relax, I was just asking if you can tell. Most of the drifters can’t use magic except for a few so we got to find other ways so that they can fight and being a swordsman is the best way to defend yourself." Jonan replied as he sighed.

"For you to think this far ahead for a kid, it seems you quite like him, Jonan." Krom said as he stared at Jonan, prompting him to answer under his gaze.

"Well, he is the first drifter under my jurisdiction and I don’t want him to die prematurely." Hearing Jonan’s word made Krom realize that Jonan has somehow got attached to the boy in this short period of time. Sighing he assured Jonan.

"Don’t worry, even if he is not talented I will teach him some of my techniques so he can live safely as long he is in your territory"

"Thanks, Krom. I owe you one." Krom snorted at his words and went silent, making a training plan in his head for Roy to follow.