Soon the voices couldn't be ignored. Fiona's rising voice was getting especially annoying, considering all Richard wanted to do was say goodbye to the madhouse he'd stumbled into in his sleep.

"Hero! We need you present with us if we're to offer any aid!" Fiona yelled as she immediately slapped him out of his stupor.

The sudden pain woke him up, returning him to a depressing reality. Shocked, both Abigail and Richard stared at her for a few seconds. Uncomfortable with their stares, Fiona stood back stoically with a slight blush on her face before explaining herself.

"A man shouldn't look so pathetic, nor should he act so fragile regardless of the circumstances," she declared. She frowned in frustration before complaining, "I'm a mere knight, and a Hero, someone who in our legends rescues the weak, slaying sinners and dragons alike, can't even handle being thrown about. If... If you had died, I would have been labelled as a sinner in our gods' eyes..." She closed her eyes and shuddered in remembrance as a vision of his broken figure overlapped with his body that lay before her.

"Fiona, it was a mis-" Abigail started to reassure her before being cut off.

"A mere knight is bothered with this pathetic man. You should stop treating me so kindly otherwise I'd mistake your feelings towards me," Richard couldn't help but let out bitter sarcasm, "My class might be that of a Hero, but I myself have never aspired to anything remotely heroic. Me appearing in a legend one day? Slaying a dragon? Killing others? Saving... Hah, I can't even say that last bit. Tell me, if you didn't know my class was that of Hero, would you expect all of that from me from what you’ve seen so far? Don't make me laugh. If you're worried about tossing me about it then I have to say I earned it," Richard continued to scorn himself.

Looking directly at her he spoke again, "I don't want to be weak. At the same time, I don't want to let others decide my fate for me either. The first moments I remember after being pulled out of my bed and into this world, was less than an hour's worth. I've lost track in how many times I've been at death's door since then. What we're your first words you said to me? Courting death? If death is a woman, then I feel as if I'm on the verge of getting married."

Sighing he fell back and stared at the ceiling from the bed. After a few moments he spoke again, "From your end, it was a misunderstanding. However, you weren't the only one making mistakes, alright? Besides, although being tossed around wasn't the only thing killing me, it seems my luck is robust enough to keep me around. If you really want to absolve guilt one day it doesn't seem like I'm going to disapear."

Silence fell, allowing the cheerful chirps of birds to filter into the room that was starting to bathe in sunlight. Fiona expressionlessly looked down at Richard for a long time before turning around to leave the room. As she left, her calm voice lingered, "If you wish to be stronger then you should start training alongside the other men in the mornings. You've been in bed for 3 days. Any more might make us consider you a cripple."

Richard glanced at towards where Fiona had just been for a moment before sighing again.

"Forgetting yourself in front of royal personages. Your sins become ever greater," A solemn tone came from his side. The princess' expressionless face entered his eyes as he rolled onto his side in surprise.

"Uh, I'm sorry, princess," Richard sheepishly apologised. That’s right, this world has monarchies. I might be able to be polite back home but now I've acted like a rude bum in front of her multiple times. Great. Another thing that might make someone kill me unless I figure it out.

“It matters not, for now. You must fix your manners in order to be around other nobles, hero. They are not as forgiving as Fiona and I,” she spoke seriously before giving him a teasing smile. “Fiona, despite being such a busy body, is herself the daughter of a marchioness. She’s giving you a lot of slack when she’d normally pound someone for forgetting etiquette. I wonder why…?”

She’s already given me a pounding though… He held his tongue while debating on how to learn the etiquette of retorts idly.

Shaking his head slowly, he started to ask the questions that he had ever since waking up.

“Princess, the scenery has changed in the duration I was asleep. Can I enquire as to where I am?” He looked at her expectantly.

“We are in Sola Silvam, a forest that borders both the Artisan Union and the Gadari Empire, inside a secret cottage retreat that Fiona’s family set up in case of emergency,” she said with a teasing smirk.

Yeah, doesn’t help even if I know, right? At least I know I’m safe for now, I guess. Richard fought hard to tolerate her smirk, which seemed to mock his ignorance.

“Princess, I’m sure you have an idea that I have no impression on any of those places. Do you have any information on the lay of the land that would be useful to this country bumpkin? International politics? Local Culture? Differences in currencies? Value of goods? Name days? Levels? Stats, Talents, Titles, Ski-,“ His barrage cut short by an imperious wave of her hand as she postured elegantly with a smile.

“You’ll learn those soon enough, oh hero. But, before that, I’ll return some questions. Where are you from? How can you not know about name days and your status? Why do you make me feel more amiable to your presence when before you angered us repeatedly?” She rattled off with an enthusiastic light in her eyes as she leaned closer.

“From another world. We don’t have those there. A god helped me fix half the problem and the other half is a consequence of me panicking during Fiona’s beating and upgrading my charisma,” He answered quickly hoping it allow him to get answers sooner before realising something.

“Wait. You can’t see another person’s stats even if they show you their status? But I thought-?” He asked completely puzzled. What was she on about when she commented on my luck? That doesn't makes sense...

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“You’re from another world?? You don’t have a status page there?” She repeated what he said blankly, cutting him off. Failing to comprehend half his words, shock appeared for what she could as her eyes widened, “A god helped you with that?”

Grimacing, Richard resigned himself to explain his circumstances which, before he knew it, stoked the flames of interest in the pricesses eyes to even greatest heights. Suffering her questioning patiently, the direction of the light flooding into the room betrayed the passing of the hours. Richard could only silently cry out in joy when Abbigail stopped her questioning after his stomach cried out in protest.

"Ah, alright, I think we've both missed meals at some point. This princess shall postpone her questioning until a later date. I just wish you could have spoken more on those airborne metal carriages..." She reluctantly pulled away and stood up before moving slowly to the door. "I'll have the men search for something to eat for us. Try to join us outside when you're ready and we shall fill the gaps in your knowledge as you fill your stomach."

Watching her leave the room he tried to stand up only to feel an intense weakness. Seriously? These people don't stick around to help with recovery?

 As both the incompleteness he felt inside of himself and the weakness from lack of nutrition made him stagger two familiar figures barged in and grabbed him.

"Uh, what..." Richard stammered in surprise before being whisked outside the room and placed outside on a stump.

"Only doing what we're told boy. The cap'n was wondering why the hell ya weren't out yet and told us to feed ya," One of the men, who had a large scar covering a third of his face, stated before limbering towards a tent. 

Richard's surroundings covered in a healthy, late afternoon glow allowed him to notice that, despite there being a few cottages, there were even more tents in the area around him. The stump he was seated on was decidedly just a bit off from the centre of the camp which housed a level area with multple signs that it'd been used for training earlier.

"Don't mind my brother none boy, Garth be the more blunt out of the two of us," The other man, whose appearance was extremely similar to the who'd just left, started to say before being handed some food from another passing guard. Passing the food to Richard, the man continued, "Honestly though, we didn't expect to see ya make it through that night and here ya are, right as rain if only starved. Name's Garry by the way."

 "Thanks. I'm surprised myself to the point I wonder if theres any cockroach in my ancestry," Richard muttered in reply before wolfing down the dried rations. Smacking his lips that felt particularly dry, he spoke up again, "As for not being out sooner... I was waylaid by a curious personage."

Handing him a flask of water Garry nodded as if hearing something he'd suspected. "She can be like that when she finds something interesting. Drives others batty sometimes but don't tell others I said that," he sympathised before Garths voice admonished him.

"Ya wouldn't need him to since ya don't ever pipe down," Garth rebuked him as he carried a map and a couple chairs in his hands. Placing the chairs down, the twin brothers sat facing Richard and watched him finish eating.

"We've been told to give ya the answers to what ya want to ask. Even if the questions are dumb ones," Garth said as he handed the map to Richard.

"Well, boy? Ask away! The sun is setting and we have first watch so ya'd best be quick about it," Garry echoed his brother.

"Ahem, well," Richard started at their abruptness before continuing, "I guess the first would be about namedays and the status page. What are they and why are they important? Also, when I showed my status to both the princess and Fiona, they were able to see everything. Later, when speaking to the princess, it was if she had forgotten. Why?"

The brothers looked at eachother skeptically before turning back to him.

"Namedays are called such because those are the first days in which ya status page open. This happens once a person comes up on 16 seasons," Garth answered while studying Richard's expression.

"They're important because before a person experiences their nameday, they can be raised to follow a certain role, in other words a class, and before this they lead a relatively mundane existance. Most namedays pass harmlessly, however, some can be harrowing ta say the least," Garry grimmaced before glancing at his brother. Turning back to Richard he continued to explain, "The people who awaken rare roles on their nameday almost always suffer extreme side effects. It goes without saying that most rare classes are unique, even when comparing similar roles, as everyone still experiences different situations from birth."

"Me brother and I, we awakened a rare class after our first combat. We were in luck. The cap'n saved us twice that night. One of the things we did after swearing loyalty to pay for her efforts was to tell her our numbers. We didn't realise then though that even after we told her, we couldn't remember hearing eachother's. It took some time after that for an angry priest to explain to us that such things aren't allowed as others wouldnt be able to remember them even if they appraised it or heard it directly from your mouth," Garth concluded while idly scratching his scar.

Swatting Garth's hand away from his scar, Garry sighed before looking at Richard expectantly.

"What? Why are you giving me that look?" Richard asked while drawing back slightly in weariness.

"Whatcha mean what? We told ya about our nameday, tis only fair if ya tell us about yours!" Garry frowned at him while crossing his arms. Mimicing his brother, Garth also waited for his story.

Not knowing where to start, Richard looked between them before thinking about what he'd experienced.

"I... hah, it's a bit hard to talk about. It's not like I don't want to tell you two but there's certain restrictions placed on me, one of which is any divine encounter, by the looks of it, can't be discussed at length. I can only give you small details I guess," He said before taking another sip from the flask.

"I woke up, not knowing where I was except for how bright it was. A few minutes of conversation later I felt like I was being turned inside out. After that I woke up on the carriage and you both should know the rest. It took a pounding from Fiona to open up my status though," Richard finished, taking the last swig from the flask before handing it back to Garry.

The brothers quietly stared at him for a few seconds before deciding to drop the matter.

Frowning, Garth spoke again, "What else would you like to know, boy?"

"Hey, before I ask anything else, can you, I don't know, perhaps stop calling me boy? I was actually an adult in my world before coming here, in fact being 18 now would also be considered being an adult there," Richard spoke while a frown crossed his face.

Garry and Garth turned to eachother in surprise before laughing at what they thought was a joke.

"Haha, tell me, boy, can ya wield a sword, draw a bow or hold a lance? Can ya ride a horse, drive a cart or at the least, haha, can ya plow the field?" Garth asked while laughing uproarously.

"Hehe, well boy, can ya do those? Have ya killed anything? Hunted beast or men?" Garry giggled before giving Richard a direct look. "Ya may have just awakened, but ya'd be in over ya head if ya think ya be able to walk out into the world as ya are. I don't know where ya from, but here," he gestured to the darkening woods, "Ya wouldn't be able to get out of earshot before becoming food for something stronger than ya."

"Here, respect is earned, boy. When we feel as if you're a man, we'll call ya as such," Garth said before giving him an even deeper look. "Ya know, boy, the cap'n went easy on ya. She gave ya some love pats that day when she fixed ya up. If it'd been up ta either of us, we wouldn't have budged. Ya should be calling her a lady now, ya hear?"