While Josh was enjoying his breakfast. Porridge filled with dried fruits and a watered-down ale, the doors to the dining hall opened.

He raised his eyes from the table to gaze at the newcomers. He already knew two out of four, Bella and Leo, out of the other two newcomers. One of them was a middle-aged man with a soft, rounded face and long dark brown hair tucked back securely into a bun before being covered by a headscarf to keep it out of his way.

If I had to guess, that’s the cook.

The other seemed to be Bella's senior, an elderly woman wearing the same ankle-length brown dress and woolen stockings as Bella. Her grey hair tied into a ponytail gave her elegance, and her wrinkled face with stern gaze reflected a lifetime of discipline.

Leo stepped forward after the hall and took a deep bow, with others quickly following their bows while staying one step behind Leo.

“Milord, I've brought the servants who live inside the manor for you to see,“ Leo said to Josh.

“Milord, the maid would be Lyra. She was the personal maid of the last two lords. She also mentored Bella in becoming a proper maid. The cook is Igor. He came to this land from far north during a famine that happened there twelve years ago before settling down here as a cook in our manor.“ Leo introduced the two newcomers to Josh.

“Nice to meet you, Lyra, Igor. My name is Josh Brookes. If I were to believe in the madness that happened, I’m your new Lord.” Josh introduced himself back to his servants.

As if before coming inside the dining hall, they practiced their introductions in unison. They spoke.

“Milord, It’s our honour to serve you,” with seamless unison they said.

I won’t even bother trying to tell them to not call me Milord

I’ve learned my lesson!

Josh stood up and pointed toward the food served at the table, a grin on his face.

“Come join me. Let’s have breakfast together.” He said with the most commanding voice he could come up with.

“Milord, we wouldn’t want to overstep our place,” Leo replied, now the only one facing Josh. Others stepped away to the back of the hall, waiting for their Lord to dismiss them.

Great, I guess I will be dining by myself for a while.

“Okay then, Leo, I shall finish my meal alone. After that, I want you to accompany me outside the garden for a walk. I have lots of questions for you.” Doing his best to mimic a formal tone, Josh spoke out.

I should start acting like a pampered noble.

“Without further ado, the servants shall return to do their bidding.” Barely suppressing a grin, Josh commanded.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

“As you wish, Milord.” The servants repeated one after another, adding a quick bow before they left the hall, leaving only him and Leo inside it.

***

It didn’t take long for Josh to finish his breakfast. He headed out together with Leo for a brief morning walk as he had plenty of questions for the old steward to answer. “So anyways, Leo, what am I’m even supposed to lord over?” Josh broke the silence.

“Milord, besides this manor, you have four villages in the four different cardinal directions from this manor that fall under your command.” The old steward started explaining.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“From smallest to biggest, you have at the north Shallow Lake Village. In the east, you have Blackthorn Village. In the south, you have Whispering Woods Village, and the biggest one, just a mile to the west from the manor, is Daim Village, which is named after the ancestors of this land. Milord,” Leo explained to Josh.

So, four villages and a manor. That’s a lot, but it's also less than I expected.

“And how many people reside in those villages, Leo?”

“Milord, Daim Village, the biggest one out of four, has around five hundred citizens and a little bit more than three thousand serfs,” Leo replied before being interrupted by Josh.

“Wait a second. What’s the difference between serfs and citizens? Also, over three thousand people, how is that still a village?” Josh asked for Steward to clarify.

“Milord, serfs are indebted to you, so they work your land to repay your debts. Citizens are debt-free. They usually have their own property or land. For your other question. To become a town, you need a mana core, but that’s for your Guide to explain, as I don’t know much about them myself.” Leo replied.

So, I have over three thousand people owing me money, and I only got here a day ago. Way to go, Josh.

“And how much are they indebted to me, Leo?” he asked with a bewildered smile.

“Their contracts are in your study, Milord,” Leo replied.

“Okay then, let me rephrase my question: In the last decade, how many people got out of their debts.” Not getting over the fact that over eighty percent of people living in Daim village owed him money with an aggressive tone, Josh asked Leo.

“That would be around three a year, Milord,” Leo replied, evident confusion from the Lord's rage.

That’s more like slavery than debt contracts.

“So around thirty in a decade, and how many citizens got indebted in that timeframe?” He asked, knowing that the answer was likely to be north of thirty.

“Milord, I believe that to be around thirty as well. But you would need to look at the documents in your study to know for sure.”

“How is that different from slavery, Leo?” flabbergasted, he asked the old Steward to explain.

“Preposterous, Milord, Pertis Kingdom got rid of slavery centuries ago. If any of the court officials heard this conversation, we would be hanged, Milord.” With a pale face, Leo replied.

So slavery but not slavery, oh god, that’s gonna be fun to deal with.

“We will get back to this topic later, Leo. Now, could you please tell me how many people live in the other three villages?”

“Milord, in the second biggest village, Whispering Woods Village, around hundred-seventy citizens reside, and two thousand serfs. In the second to the smallest village, Blackthorn Village, we have around eighty of citizens and thousand two hundred serfs. In the smallest Village, Shallow Lake Village, we have around forty citizens and around a thousand serfs, Milord,” Leo said.

“That’s all according to the count we did seven years ago, so the numbers might not match anymore, Milord,” Leo quickly added to his answer.

How are they still villages? The smallest one has over a thousand people living in it.

“Can I go see those villages, Leo?“ Josh asked with a thoughtful expression.

I got to see how a common man or ‘indentured servant,’ in this case, lives in this world.

“We would have to make preparations, Milord,” Leo replied.

“Lead me to the study then, and you should go make preparations for my visit to the villages while I visit the study,” Josh replied, trying his best to mimic a formal tone from before, remembering that he said to himself that he will act like a pampered noble.

“Also, you should make a new count of all the people living inside the villages. That’s a first task from me as your Lord,” he quickly added on as if not to forget to do it later.

“With pleasure, Milord,” Leo said while heading back to the manor to lead Leo to the study room.

Leo quickly bowed as they entered the study room before leaving him alone. He studied his surroundings to be a modest-sized room with nothing much as its decorations. The room had a dark table like the dining hall one, just ten times smaller. On top of the table, a candlestick with an unlit candle sat near it, a stack of yellowish papers. Behind it was a window like the one in his bedroom. To the left of the table, a small bookshelf containing no more than twenty books stood. The room had nothing more to explore, so he sat down.

He took the nearest stack of yellowish papers to see what they were all about.

Wait, I can’t read it. It’s not in English, hell the letters aren’t even Latin.

He facepalmed after examining the gibberish on the yellowish papers before standing back up and heading out of the study room to look for someone to read the papers for him.

“Wait, how were we able to understand each other? They were definitely not speaking in English,” he muttered to himself.

It didn’t take long for him to find Bella cleaning the halls.

“Hey Bella, what language I’m speaking right now?” He asked, thinking that reading should come second to speaking.

“Milord, you are speaking in Common,” Bella replied, caught off-guard by his question.

“Not English?”

“What is English? Milord.” flabbergasted, she asked him.

Must be some magic-fuckery going on here.

“It doesn’t matter. Can you read some papers for me in the study room, Bella?” Josh asked in deep thought.

I speak in English, and she replies in Common. The English letters are Latin, and the common letters are gibberish. How will I ever learn to read?

“I don’t know how to read, Milord,” she replied. With her eyes wide open.

“Great, just fucking great,” he quietly whispered.

“Anyone that you know of that can read?”

“I believe only Leo knows how to read in this household, as he was a former knight, Milord.” With a thoughtful expression, she replied.

“I’ll be heading back to the study room. When you see Leo, tell him to come to me.”

“With pleasure, Milord,” she replied while taking a deep bow.

I should take a look at the books. They might be different from the stack of papers on the table.