American Isekai - Chapter 83 (Patreon)

When the Rail came to a stop, I stood while wiping off what remained of some lipstick on my face.

I let Umara jump on my back and grabbed our chests, walking out of the Rail.

During the ride we ended up changing clothes. Neither of us were completely prim and proper since we had gone a day and a half without really cleaning ourselves, but we still looked good enough. It wasn't like we were going to a party.

Like that we left the Rail, entering the terminal where a man was waiting for us.

He was in a tidy suit, and Umara recognized him quickly.

“Sir Heemo!”

“Lady Umara. Mr. Cooper.”

He bowed, waving to the Terminal exit.

“Please, follow me.

……

“We have arrived.”

The carriage rolled to a stop, letting me hop out and scoop Umara onto my back.

In front of us was the massive Talerria Estate.

It was a mansion unlike any I’ve ever seen. There were dozens of rooms across three stories, a huge walkway up to the front surrounded by a line of flowers and carefully trimmed bushes, and from a cursory glance on our way over, it covered a massive plot of land capable of holding far more than just the mansion itself.

It was on the outskirts of the City of Joffrun, but the surrounding area was incredibly rich. It seemed like anyone with money wanted to move near the Duchess’ own residence even though it was a distance from the city center. Then again, maybe they just wanted to get away from the noise.

Of course, nobody could compare to how rich the Duchess was. The mansion wasn’t even located near the wall, but from the back of the property all the way to the wall itself, there was nothing but fields of green. She had prohibited any construction back there for nothing more than the aesthetic, as if she were trying to make it a rural household. Not that I was judging.

With Umara on my back, we walked up to the main door. Sir Heemo, the head butler of the estate, was well ahead of us in order to alert the Duchess.

Not that they hadn’t already expected us. Before we could even get to the door, the rest of the family arrived.

Talexia Talerria, Ikhor Talerria, and Feay Talerria. They all stood garbed in proper but casual dress, looking more kept together than we were.

And they all looked at us weird as Umara smiled and waved.

“Hi mom!”

“Dear. Is there a reason John is lugging you around like a sack of rocks?”

“I twisted my ankle.”

“Why didn’t you get it healed?”

“We were running late…”

She dodged her mother’s narrowed eyes with a turn of the head, deciding to withhold the fact that we almost didn’t make the Rail.

As the Duchess sighed, I heard the scraggly voice of the Duke.

“John, you can put my daughter down now.”

“Hm.”

I hummed before kneeling, allowing Umara to climb off.

Her shoe was off, so the fat ankle was clear as day for them to see. Although she didn’t break anything, it was still a good strain which is why I didn’t mind carrying her.

The Duchess waved.

“Come inside. I’ll heal you up.”

With those words, everyone turned and went through the doors. I was met with a large entryway that led to two huge staircases sloping up to both the second and third floors.

The place, although rich, wasn’t overly flashy. I could tell that the Talerria household was more pragmatic than they were worried about impressing people.

However, just the entry hall already had all kinds of paintings, all of which were of what I could only assume were family members of the Talerria line.

They were an old family dating back centuries, as were many noble households. They had ancestors well beyond a century old that were still alive and kicking, as well as many offshoots populated by aunts, uncles, and cousins.

The main line, which Umara descended from, was most important and always ran the family as they were also the most powerful. But that didn’t mean the branch families were neglected.

They were in charge of the countless affairs the family had to deal with, whether it was running businesses or being personal soldiers underneath the Duchess’ command. So they were always nurtured, but there were also measures in place so that a family removed too far from the main line was cut off so as to not hemorrhage resources.

All of the pictures I saw while walking through the house were of important people who came before the Duchess, including special individuals who married into the family. When the Duchess passed the mantle to her daughter, she would be another photo on the wall as well, adding to the long chain.

And this estate was passed down through the generations. Currently it was for the Duchess and her family to inhabit, but not far away was the rest of the family, who I would in fact be seeing during the Christmas celebrations.

That would be fun.

As I observed the place, taking in the refined architecture and tasteful artistry across the board, Duchess Talerria brought Umara to a room and started the healing process.

A warlock such as herself obviously knew how to heal. Although it had its own special field, it was all magic in the end. Specifically, it fell under the water and fire elements.

How that worked, I had no idea. But put simply, healing was a combination of the two elements. They were difficult spells to learn and utilize, but any healer was an incredibly respected professional.

Umara would only be able to learn healing later since she was only now beginning to develop her fire affinity.

After a few minutes, Umara’s ankle looked much better. The swelling went down entirely and she said it only felt a bit sore.

And so, the introductions were made.

“John Cooper. I am Ikhor Talerria, Umara’s father. Pleased to finally meet my daughter’s boyfriend.”

“Pleased to meet you too, sir. And thank you for the hospitality.”

“Of course. And allow me to introduce you to our second daughter. Feay Talerria.”

“Pleased to meet you, Feay. I’m John.”

“Mm. Nice to meet you.”

The young teen nodded and shook my outstretched hand. I saw the Crest she bore and knew that she would become a knight, but had yet to awaken it.

She was 14, so she had two years before then.

Feay looked at me with a courteous smile, mature as she should be seeing as she was the daughter of a Duchess.

But for now she was reserved, not caring to interact with me much. Hopefully I’ll be able to win her over.

After getting her ankle healed, Umara walked back over, nudging me with her shoulder.

“We should get you settled in your room.”

“The butlers have already arranged his room.”

The Duchess chimed in behind us.

“John, everyone here resides on the third floor, as you will be. For now, we should talk about our schedule for the next few days. Come sit.”

She waved everyone over to the nearby couches where we got comfortable.

Then, Ikhor pulled out a sip of paper, reading off of it.

“Today, we are to attend to our personal affairs. I have a meeting with the Marshal of the 3rd Knights Division. Talexia, you have those plans with Raven.”

“That’s right.”

“Umara, your friend Mina is holding her 22nd birthday celebration today. You’re due in three hours at Parencia to attend that with John.”

“Oh, crap. I forgot about that.”

Umara’s eyes widened, making me wonder who this friend was.

“As for Feay, your own friends are holding an early Christmas celebration. You’ll be staying overnight, so prepare for that and be ready to return tomorrow morning.”

“Mm.”

“Then let’s prepare. Umara, take John on a tour around the estate until you need to leave. I’ll be heading out soon, as will your mother.”

“Okay.”

Everyone stood with those plans made. After that, the rest of the family dispersed to go take care of everything.

Umara linked arms with me and took me around the first level of the house, pointing out anything I needed to know.

“The first floor is where most of the household activities are taken care of. Cooking, dining, attending to guests, training, education, and whatever else goes on. The second floor is for more special work. We have two offices, two studies connected to the library, and a small atrium containing the household pool along with some rooms that act as the family storage.”

“Damn.”

I muttered as we walked around. There wasn’t much ont he first floor, but the second floor was full of cool stuff.

Especially the library and atrium. The library was so tall it extended into the third floor, and since the atrium was an open air room, it did the same thing.

They had thousands of books within the library. There were so many bookshelves lining the walls that it was all you could see, only the occasional window providing some natural light while floating lights illuminated the rest, drifting through the air on multiple levels.

As for the atrium, it was indeed a huge pool, but it was also surrounded by a garden. And this wasn’t a garden like out from, but one filled with exotic plants I had never seen before.

Inside the pool itself there were some water lilies, but unlike normal water lilies, these ones actively moved around, spinning and drifting among several others, almost like they were all performing a dance.

And outside the pool were some plants that were more active than I’d like them to be.

There were vines with feelers poking out, roses with large bulbs within their petals that glowed like a lamp, coral type plants that shot beams of light out of their hollow bodies like flashlights, and some short trees that sprouted oddly shaped leaves which occasionally dripped a mysterious liquid into the pool below it.

There were even some floating plants that drifted in the occasional breeze from one part of the room to the other.

It was rather magical, but I still found some of it a bit creepy.

Still, I looked forward to trying it out.

The atrium was connected to a few other rooms too. Two of them were hot baths while another was a large hall intended for parties such as the one coming up in a couple days.

The whole area around the atrium was intended to be a place of socialization, so I would get my chance to take a dip in the pool soon, maybe use the hot baths which were basically giant hot tubs.

And then, there was the third floor.

This was where the family resided. All bedrooms for them or special guests were here, such as my own. There were also much larger dedicated bath rooms with a variety of features such as making rain fall from the ceiling, turning it into a kind of massive shower.

All of that was the main building, not even counting the two side buildings.

One of the side buildings was called the Ancestral Hall. It was a proper place of honor for the ancestors of the Talerria family as well as the figures who had been inducted into the family throughout the generations. It held all of their familial records as well as a few dozen heirlooms.

As for the second building, it was a residency for most of the butlers and housekeepers.

Beyond that, there was the backyard, which was a massive tree filled garden bordering the definition of a forest. And this backyard led out into the vast field behind the estate that extended all the way to the walls, which I could see in the distance over a mile away.

Turns out, most of the neighboring houses and estates were taken by members of the Talerria family. It was common for that back field to act as a place for children to meet and play, while the adults had easy access to the homes of other family members.

And all of them would be coming to the mansion for Christmas. Apparently there were a lot of them. Lots of cousins, aunts and uncles, and distant relatives who still carried the family name Talerria.

With that, my tour was basically complete. Umara showed me everything she thought was interesting, including her own room where we got frisky for a bit before continuing.

By the time we finished, both parents were long gone while the sister was getting ready to leave. But we also had to prepare, so I found my room and separated from my girlfriend to change.

It was a birthday party and the birthday girl was one of Umara’s good childhood friends. While there, attendants would consist of many men and women, primarily around our age. The adults would have a slim presence.

There would also be activities before the birthday celebration. What they were, we didn’t know, but we still went prepared.

I dressed in my third best suit, a level below what I wore to the Gala. Apparently it was rude to try and outshine the host, so Umara had both of us dress down a bit, a balance between formal and casual.

After we were ready, we boarded one of the many carriages owned by the family, a small one that took us to our destination.

And when we disembarked in front of the central city palace several minutes later, we entered and made our way to the city’s Teleporter Nexus.

“Would you look at that…”

The room that contained the teleporter was massive, and the entire place was enchanted, brick by brick. The teleporter itself was over 80 feet tall and 200 feet long, constructed with 8 large elliptic rings stacked on top of each other 10 feet apart.

Each ring was inscribed with a heavy amount of runic formations that constantly glowed while the main platform actually contained a massive Authority 11 White Crystal. I could sense the overwhelming power within, not to mention how that residual power warped the light around the teleporter.

“Lady Umara, the teleporter is prepared. Please step forward.”

“Understood.”

She nodded and pulled me along onto the platform where we stood around its edge. That's when some operators to the side pressed some buttons on a control panel.

And then, the rings flashed as I felt a compressing force envelop my body, my mind feeling like it was being pulled in two opposite directions, everything in my sight blurring and shifting.

The disorientation filled my senses for but a mere second before I suddenly realized that I was on solid ground again in another place.

I stood rooted for a few seconds before zoning in and looking around, my head slightly dizzy, but nothing my strong mind couldn’t work past.

Umara seemed used to it as well, at least more than me, so we promptly walked off the platform and left the Teleporter Nexus.

We arrived in a new palace, the location being another city across the Kingdom, Parencia.

Upon walking out, there was a carriage already waiting for us, send by Umara’s friend. So we boarded and were taken to her residence.

Umara gave me some details as we rode.

“Mina Halleve is a year and a half older than I am, but since our families are close, we’ve been friends ever since we were children. She’s an Authority 7 Warlock who inherited some of her parent’s talent.”

“Who are her parents?”

“Her father is Grand Duke Charles Hawk, one of the Authority 12 Warlocks of the Kingdom, and her mother is Grand Duchess Millia Hawk, his wife and an Authority 11 Warlock.”

“Oh. Shit.”

My eyes widened, not realizing Umara had a friend who may as well be a princess, holding the fourth highest status in the world below an actual princess, her parents themselves, and the King.

Umara smiled.

“Don’t be so intimidated.”

“I’m not. Just surprised.”

“Our mothers are good friends seeing as they’re similar in power and position, and Duke Hawk is also my mother’s superior in the military. He also oversees a massive farming territory responsible for over half of the Kingdom’s food production. Along with a few mines, he’s an incredibly rich man within an impossibly rich family. They’re line traces back to the founding of the Kingdom and is even tied to one of the past Kings.”

“Wow.”

So the guy was a massive deal, a true Elite in this world. He was effectively royalty, his family potentially holding more influence than the King himself.

That was something else I thought about. How powerful was the King, exactly? Was he the highest power in the Kingdom? Or was he just a puppet that managed the general affairs of the Kingdom while the Grand Dukes ruled from the sidelines with their iron fists?

I was curious, but such things were well above me so I didn’t think about it much.

Umara hummed.

“Yeah. He almost married my mother, in fact. But despite being one of his suitors, she chose my father instead, allowing Millia to marry him without competition.”

“And she’s still friends with your mother?”

“Of course. My mother simply doesn’t care about the plans or thoughts of others. Millia realized that and it’s not like my mother had much of a choice in regard to being Charles’ suitor, so she didn’t resent her. So when she found my father and simply dropped from the list, nobody was able to do much and everything was settled. Now, Millia respects the kind of person my mother is and the two became friends.”

“Hm, I understand that, but I’m not sure about your mother not caring about the plans or thoughts of others. Seems false considering how she treats us.”

“She does that because she has to. It’s part of the responsibility of being the head of the Talerria family, as well as being pressured by all the other families who have a vested interest in my marriage. It was easy for her since she was already in line for succession, but I’m not at that point in my life yet, and you’re also not from a noble family like my father was. It was easy for her to ignore other people. We don’t have the power nor influence to do the same.”

“That’s true.”

I nodded as if I hadn’t already guessed that. Once again it was reiterated that all the cards were stacked against us. There was no use comparing, and I still had to be thankful to the Duchess for even allowing this to happen.

After that conversing more about Mina and Umara’s history with her, we arrived at the Hawk Estate. At first glance, although it wasn’t much bigger than the Talerria Estate, it was definitely richer.

The two massive statues guarding the left and right sides of the front gate, showing the weather of time yet still giving off a feeling of vast authority, painted the clear picture that this place was founded upon generations of prosperity, wealth, and unquestionable power.

Kings came and went, generations of diplomats shifted the political landscape every year, entire armies of soldiers and generals cycled through, falling to the Scourge or time.

But this Family remained standing, through all trials and tribulations, affirming its unshakable foundation with every new generation.

Not even President Carrion could compare to the depth and majesty of those within this family.

And so we pulled up to the front steps of the mansion. I was curious to see what Umara’s friend had in store for us.