Hearing that the Guide was here, Josh got out of bed so fast that even he wouldn’t believe it. If being told of it later on.

He was finally going to meet his ‘savior,’ the one person who was supposed to have all the answers to the questions that had been plaguing him.

Josh was still fastening his shirt when they left his sleeping quarters to go and meet the Guide. Bella told him that the Guide was waiting for him in the dining hall.

As he came into the dining hall, he couldn’t help but gasp as he took in the look of his Guide; her curves, lean and sleek, together with her at least seven-foot height, made for an amazing figure, her face impossibly smooth with pointed features. Her ears, long and pointed, together with her silver hair, gave her an air of mysteriousness.

Is that an elf?

Josh was about to introduce himself when she raised her hand to prevent him from interrupting her breakfast. Not even glancing in his direction.

It didn’t take more than ten minutes for her to stand up and throw a scroll towards him as soon as he landed his gaze on her.

“That’s the royal decree that declares you as a Baron and gifts you this Land,” she said.

She didn’t call me Milord.

“Uhh, I can’t read, Lady?” Josh replied.

“Elaria Kryos,” she introduced herself, “Magus of 4th circle.”

Magus that must be above or equivalent to Baron for her to act so casually.

“Forgive me, Elaria, I have no idea how the ranking system works in this world.” Josh excused himself from future misdemeanor if he failed to act with proper respect.

With an annoyed look, she started explaining the noble ranks they went like this: Knight -> Baronet -> Baron -> Viscount -> Count -> Earl—Marquis -> Duke -> Grand Duke = Arch Duke -> King.

With the difference between Grand Duke and the Arch Duke being that. Arch Duke is someone of royal blood who failed to inherit the throne, while the Grand Duke is someone who is elected by other Dukes to act as their representative.

After that, just a second later, she explained the mage ranks.

Novice Mage -> Apprentice Mage -> Mage - > Magus -> Grand Mage -> Grand Magus -> Arch Mage.

She didn’t forget that he couldn’t read as he opened the scroll, she chanted [Oculus Comprehensio].

Isn’t that a fucking Latin? Oculus definitely means something about eye or eyes? And comprehensio, isn't that just a comprehension?

As soon as the light blue motes that directed the spell landed on him, everything in the scroll became readable and clear to him, no longer in gibberish but in a language he understood English.

The scroll itself didn’t say much except that by royal decree, he had been granted lands of the previous Baronet Bran Daim, together with the tutelage of 4th circle Magus Elaria, and that he should be ready for a call at any time as the prophets foreseen a crisis of a magnitude never seen before, to come in the near future.

“Why was the previous Lord Baronet, yet I’ve been granted a Baron title, which, if I understand, is one step higher.” With an enquiring gaze, he asked Elaria.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

She sighed before answering. “You have the potential to control a town core, which requires a mana rating of at least five,“ she explained to him.

That made the situation not even any bit clearer to him. He was about to open his mouth and ask her to clarify as she shot him a cold gaze with a scornful face before throwing him a book titled ‘Proper Etiquette and Customs of Pertis Kingdom'.

“You should read this before we continue to converse, Josh,” she explained before leaving him alone in his study room with a book that he could read now.

The book explained to him that he was extremely disrespectful towards her the whole time, as her title of Magus basically made her a Viscount, which was one rank higher; he shouldn’t be starting any conversations unless permitted to do so together with her being his mentor that doubled down as a student shouldn’t interrupt his mentor without permission.

Since she was also a rank higher, he shouldn’t be walking alongside her, but behind her, unless permitted otherwise as well; he shouldn’t join a table of a Lady or Magus, in this case, uninvited.

So, if I were to summarize, don’t talk, don’t eat, don’t ask, bow down, do as told.

Feeling bewildered, he put down the book on the table, not even getting through one-fourth of it, and leaned back in the chair.

I have to act around her as Leo acts around me.

As she entered his study room, learning his lesson, he rose up from the table and slightly bowed towards her, noting that even though he was lower than her, he was still of noble rank.

“Much better. Rise up, Baron Josh, “she said with an appreciation in her tone.

“Magus, there have been questions plaguing this humble student of yours.” Josh doing his best to speak in a formal tone. “ I’ve been summoned to this world whose name I’m yet to learn. Told to Lord over its lands with no previous experience of mine, given a six rating for mana, yet not explained what it means,” he took a deep breath as he wanted to continue before being interrupted by Elaria.

“Could you keep it to one at a time, Ward Josh?” With her annoying gaze from before returning to her pretty face.

Okay, let’s start with the most important one.

“Magus, I remember I was told we were summoned to face a crisis, yet not explained what kind of crisis.“ Josh asked as his first question.

With a thoughtful gaze, she walked towards the window before starting to answer.

“Crisis, I guess you could call it a ‘crisis.’ Remember how I told you to need at least five mana sensitivity to control a town core?” She looked at Josh, looking for affirmation. As he nodded, she continued. “There were fourteen cities and sixty-seven towns without a suitable Lord to command over its core. Even I, as a Magus, have only four on my mana sensitivity,” she explained to him before nodding as if to go on and ask her another question.

“So the crisis is basically not enough people with good enough mana sensitivity?” he said before quickly adding, “Lady Magus.”

“Yes, but also, there’s always at least a famine or a war going on, and sometimes even a demon lord makes an appearance, so fear not; you will be kept busy, Ward Josh,” she answered.

Even in a fantasy world, depopulation is the most dangerous.

“Lady Magus, if I understood correctly, I have no town core to take control of anyway, so my second question would be what I will have to lord over,“ he asked.

“You can converse with me at ease,” she said, asking Josh to drop the formal speech.

Why the hell did you get so mad at me before then?

“Honestly, that’s a hard question to answer, but it's a simple one: just make the people living in your land happier and go to sleep on a full stomach,” she added as if that explained everything.

“B-but,” he uttered before shutting himself up.

How I am qualified for that?

“What but?” she asked him.

“Nothing,” he answered, as he didn’t want to hear her answer to his declaration of being unqualified.

“What does the six for my mana rating mean?” he asked after a dozen of seconds for his third question.

“It’s how many motes of mana you can collect and use in a second,” she explained to him.

“It changes everything: what spells you can use, how fast you can use them, how fast you can learn magic. It changes everything about magic, and of course, the higher, the better,” she added on.

“How good is a six?” he asked her.

“It’s very good among mages. I would say it’s top one percentile, though among those that were summoned over the years, it’s bottom one percentile,” she explained, not caring that the second part might have insulted him.

The answers, being much simpler than he expected, caught Josh off-guard, his mind wandering between what was happening now and what he was supposed to do from now on.

“How come I can understand you even though you don’t speak English?” he asked as his fourth question, remembering that he had been told before that his guide would have the answer.

“It’s God’s artifact that summoned that makes that possible. It changes a bit of you to make it possible for you to live in this world. It makes you overcome emotions faster, makes you able to converse with any being that would want to converse with you, and marks you as a person of this world rather than a foreign entity,” she replied.

Makes you overcome emotions faster?

I guess that explains how I got over the deaths of guards so fast.

With a thoughtful gaze, Josh wandered around his small study room, not knowing what else had changed him or what was left of the original him, before his Mentor interrupted him with the only thought that he knew he would love in this world.

“Now, shall we learn Magic?”