My summon to another world was even weirder than I expected

Knock Knock Knock

The knock on Zack's room door sounded incessantly from the outside.

Hearing this, Zack's eyes slowly opened, looking around confusedly, not recognizing where he was.

"Who's there?" Ronald asked unconsciously.

"Hero sir, I am one of the palace maids. I’ve been tasked with taking you to the dining room for breakfast."

Memories from yesterday started flowing through Zack’s mind, one after another. After a moment, Zack walked to the door and said:

"Wait a moment, I’ll be out soon."

Zack got up from the bed and stretched his body.

The room he was in was nothing special, one might say it only had the essentials. The only furniture in the room was a small bed and a small desk with a chair beside it.

Still, Zack knew he couldn’t ask for more. Currently, he and his companions were at the mercy of their kidnappers, so it was best to do as they said for the time being.

When Zack left the room, the maid who had been waiting for him bowed freely and began to guide the way.

A few minutes later, they arrived at the dining room.

Unlike the main dining hall of the castle, the dining room in the mage building was much smaller. Zack didn’t think this was the main dining hall; the reason was that only a few maids and his companions who had obtained magical classes were present, with the exception of Seto and his Sage class.

Zack looked at the three people seated at the table as he approached. The food on the table seemed of lower quality than what was served at the banquet, meaning it had fewer seasonings, but that also meant it was edible.

Austin seemed completely at home as he focused solely on filling his stomach. The other two companions had the classes of Shaman and Magical Tailor: Daigo Shun and Endou Miyu.

Shun was a short-haired, slender boy who belonged to the school’s "nerd" group, while Miyu had pale skin and long hair and belonged to the group of girls led by Airi.

Shun’s family owned a chain of supermarkets throughout the country, while Miyu’s family owned a metalworking factory.

None of the people at the table were familiar with each other; they belonged to different groups, and their family businesses didn’t collaborate, so they barely knew each other.

Apart from the sound of chewing, no one spoke during breakfast.

Gradually, each of them finished what was on their plate. Unlike the banquet from yesterday, this breakfast served no other purpose than to fill their stomachs.

Once the four had finished eating, one of the maids approached and instructed them to follow her while the other maids began clearing the table.

Austin tried to chat with the maid, but all he received were respectful responses. Clearly, this was not the answer he was hoping for. Still, it wasn’t completely useless, as Zack and the others managed to gather some information.

The maid, whose name was Amy, told them that they were currently in the capital of the kingdom of Parmece, Parma.

Apparently, Amy was born into a small merchant family in the capital. When she turned fifteen, she went to work as a maid in a noble household. By chance, at one of the noble’s parties, she impressed a palace lady. The next day, she was transferred to serve in the castle.

Amy’s story ended there, but one detail didn’t make sense: why was Amy here and not serving that lady from her story?

Although Zack listened attentively to her story, he couldn’t help but feel that the nobles had traded her as if she were a toy.

Zack could guess what happened next: Amy served the lady she spoke of as one of her personal maids. However, over time, the noble grew bored of her company and decided she no longer wanted her by her side. Though she had grown tired of her, she didn’t want someone else to play with her, so she decided to send her to work with the common servants.

It was just a guess, with no proof, but Zack felt it was more or less the truth. Even if it weren’t, the mere fact that a noble could, with just a few words, make Amy leave everything behind and come serve here on a whim made Zack see more clearly the tremendous power nobles held over the lives of common people.

Zack remained silent the whole way, and soon after, they arrived in front of a large door with two maids standing on either side.

Amy approached one of the maids, who nodded her head and then directed her gaze toward the four students:

"Please follow me, the wizard is waiting for you."

The maid opened the door and entered the room with Zack and the others while Amy and the other maid remained outside.

The room they entered was poorly decorated, only containing a few tables and chairs inside. Zack couldn’t help but be reminded of a classroom.

At the farthest end of the room, there was a man dressed in a violet robe, reading a book while sitting on one of the chairs.

When the man saw them arrive, he turned his gaze toward them.

"Ah. Our heroes finally show up," he said in a tone full of sarcasm.

(That can’t be good) Zack thought upon hearing the tone with which this person greeted them.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Sit down and let’s get this over with," the stranger said in the same disdainful tone.

“Mmm. Why are we here?” Austin asked.

The others had already taken a seat. Although they had all imagined the reason, they were all eager to know the answer.

Upon hearing Austin’s question, the man in the robe looked at him with a gaze full of disdain.

"You’re not very bright, it’s a miracle you’ve even gotten a magical class."

"What are you—"

"Down."

BAM

At hearing that response, Austin was about to protest indignantly when a force began to crush him to the floor.

The next thing Austin knew, he was lying on the floor. As he tried to get up unsuccessfully, the man in the robe ignored him and shifted his gaze to the others.

"I am Albert Pergus, a member of the noble Pergus family and a Storm Mage, one of the most powerful tier 2 magical classes," he said proudly.

"And regarding why I’m here, can anyone tell me what’s the most important thing for any magic user?" Albert asked while his eyes scanned the room.

After a few moments of silence, Albert raised his chin and said:

"As I thought. None of you 'heroes' know anything about magic. You don’t have the faintest idea what you’re doing. You’re like babies with a weapon, incapable of moving it an inch," he said, rubbing in their ignorance of something they had been in contact with for less than a day.

"The great archmage has personally sent me to introduce you to the complex and, for many, unknown arts of magic."

The wizard was about to continue when suddenly he heard a grunt in the room. Upon inspecting the place, he saw that Austin was still on the floor, unable to move.

"Oh."

Albert snapped his fingers, and the pressure on Austin vanished.

"When are you going to get up? If you don’t, I’ll make sure you stay there for the rest of the week."

Upon hearing this, Austin quickly stood up and sat in a chair.

Albert made a gesture with his hand, and four sheets of paper flew toward each of the tables.

"While you’re lucky enough to be blessed with my tutelage, my time is far too valuable to waste teaching basic concepts. That’s why I’ve prepared a list of books you must read by the end of the week. On that day, we’ll review the concepts you should have studied by then, and you can ask any questions you may have."

Without giving them time to process the information, Albert left through the door behind him without looking back.

By the time the four of them processed what had just happened, there was no one left.

"What just happened?" Austin asked.

Zack was asking himself the same question.