American Isekai - Chapter 106 (Patreon)

“Hello hello!”

“What? What is it?”

“Nice to see you too.”

I pushed open Maxwell’s gilded doors, receiving an enthused greeting and a scrunched face.

If he wasn’t always like that I might think he actually didn’t want me here.

I stood in front of his desk and smiled.

“What do you want?”

“Do you have a house or anything? I only ever find you here.”

“I do, but I can’t bring you there otherwise you’ll start bothering me in my own home.”

“Man, you didn’t even sugarcoat it. Whatever. Check this out.”

With a grin I brought out the head of the Royal, Maxwell’s eyes narrowing.

“A Royal?”

“That’s right. It could shoot lasers out of its eyes like the Cyclops Scout. What would you think about making it into a Crown?”

“...Well, it’s even better than the Scout. But how did you get this?”

“A simple story…”

I explained the whole situation to him from beginning to end, and he seemed to understand how I was able to get my hands on the Royal when it should be impossible.

“It seems to be a lucky situation for you. Although you’re breaking some rules, it’s not like they know. Very well, you have suitable material and the sooner it gets processed, the better. I didn’t expect you to get material like this anytime soon… Looks like I need to make a visit.”

“To who?”

“An old friend within the Church. Hold on to the material and come back here tomorrow morning. We’ll leave then.”

“Cool. And that reminds me, I have a friend heading to his Peerage tomorrow. His name is Vetsmon Verga.”

“A Verga? That’s a valuable friend to have. Their knights are some of the most exemplary. The wife of the current Head was a student of mine as well. Nevertheless, if it’s a Peerage, then we’re going to the same place. You’ll get to see him.”

“Groovy. I’ll go back for now then.”

“Mm.”

With that, I left the Polaris Headquarters, going back to the hotel room.

Along the way, I notified Vetsmon that I would be heading to the Peerage as well, wherever that was.

After some conversation with him, I found out that the Church controlled its own massive city that rivaled the Capital. That’s where all the Peerages were located, and from a cursory description, it seemed to be an incredibly rich place.

I learned that Vetsmon would be using the Capitals teleeporter to head there. And after a quick message to Maxwell, I was told he would be doing the same thing.

Perhaps we would run into each other, but after a conversation, Maxwell made it clear that he wanted me to stick with him for the duration of business. He said that his presence within the Church was sensitive and that he didn’t need to make this matter a big deal. That meant I would need to keep my head low with him so long as he was there.

That meant I wouldn’t be seeing Vetsmon immediately, but I would later once all was concluded.

With all of that said, I ended conversations with both. By that time, I was already within the Hotel with Umara.

“You’re going to the Peerage?”

“Yea. Maxwell apparently has a friend there that can help me with my Crown. Vetsmon is going too.”

“I see. Well, I was talking to Tana and she said that she’ll be visiting the Vetsmon at the Peerage after she’s done with her parents.”

“Oh? Then maybe you should come with me. We can all meet up.”

“Will that be fine?”

She asked while taking a seat beside me, bringing over a package full of cookie treats.

I grabbed one and chomped down while nodding.

“I don’t see a reason why not. Worst case, you just stay with Vetsmon until I’m done. I’m not sure how long business will take, but it can’t be that long.”

“Alright. Let’s do it then.”

She smiled and threw a cookie into her mouth.

I watched her for a second, the two of us just staring at each other.

“You’re so pretty.”

“So are you.”

“I am quite the looker aren’t I? By the way, I have a question.”

“What’s that?”

She scooted as I thought back to our recent battle.

“During the fight with the Royal, you never brought out your Flicker Companion. I haven’t seen the pup in a while even besides that. Was there a reason?”

“Oh, yea.”

Umara waved, the six legged wolf jumping out of her body and appearing in front of the couch.

My eyes widened. The snowy blue wolf with horns and wings was now twice as big as it was before, clearly stronger.

“Turns out, theres a period of time that the companion needs to spend assimilating with you. Bringing it out minimally is best for a while until that assimilation period has passed. As for how long it takes, it entirely depends on the age of the Flicker and the difference in power between it and the host. And I was quite a bit stronger than him, so it’s taking a while to fully assimilate. It’ll be less than a month until we’re both on the same page, but that also meant I couldn’t take him out.”

“Was it just because he was weak?”

“Yes, and the fact that he’s even more vulnerable than normal while assimilating. There was a high risk of death if he had engaged the Royal, and his speed wouldn’t have helped me much, so I just decided that he was better of staying put.”

“Makes sense. Come here.”

I waved to the wolf, the creature trotting over before nudging my hand with its snout, tongue flopping out and tail wagging.

I messed with it for a bit while conversing.

“Have you played with him at all?”

“Not really. He’s not a pet. Though the way you interact with him has me questioning that.”

She muttered as I pushed the beastly canine to the floor, rubbing his belly and getting a nice kick out of it.

I chuckled.

“Well, do what you need to do. If it makes no difference, might as well bring him out more. I can't imagine isolation inside a cold dark mind is fun.

“Excuse you, but I think my mind is plenty fun, thank you very much.”

“Come on, look how deprived he is. I can almost see his ribs.”

I poked his chest, having to reach through a thick layer of fur just to hit skin. Even then, it seemed there was a huge layer of muscle coating the boy’s entire body.

Umara rolled her eyes.

“Uh-huh. Unfortunately, the pup needs to stay inside. Assimilation is fastest that way.”

“Well then I guess the pup needs to hurry up, doesn’t he? Yes he does!”

“Haarrr!”

The Flicker let out a small howl in response, making Umara laugh.

“Anyway, if you’re coming with me, then get ready to leave tomorrow morning. Prepare for a multi-day trip.”

“It should be fun. I’ve only been to the Holy See once as a child. I’ve yet to see it again.”

“The Holy See, huh…”

I pondered, thinking how the Vatican on Earth was located within a tiny city-staten by the same name.

I was curious to see what it was like.

……

…

“So this is where you brought me. It looks nice.”

Umara looked around as we entered the Polaris Headquarters hand in hand.

We made our way straight to Maxwell’s study, throwing open the doors to find the man himself preparing some materials.

“Maxwell!”

“It’s too early for your voice. And why did you bring your girlfriend?”

“She wants to see the Holy See.”

“I’d also like to thank you for what you did for me during my Enlightenment.

Umara stepped forward and curtsied formally.

“I may not have been conscious, but I hope I wasn’t too much trouble.”

“Mm, don’t worry. Nothing more than a rudimentary procedure. Your mother and I already discussed it. Now, delivery man, carry those cases. We’re heading to the Teleporter Nexus.”

“Can’t even use my name.”

I clicked my tongue while grabbing a stack of cases. They were kind of heavy.

“Why can’t we put these into a spatial sack?”

“Unless you want to degrade the integrity of your own, I suggest carrying them. They’re special materials to be used for your Crown.”

“I see. How much besides the corpse do we need?”

“A significant amount. Your body will be altered on several levels. It is not simply an auxiliary addition. We will attempt to give you the greatest benefit afforded by the corpse while focusing on sensory aspects. But regardless, you should be prepared for an extensive and possibly dangerous operation.”

“Alright. So it’s genetic. I can see how that would be dangerous.”

“I’m not sure what that means…”

Maxwell frowned at the term he was unfamiliar with.

I sighed.

“Nevermind. Where’s the carriage?”

“Will be arriving in a moment.”

“Then why am I carrying this…”

I rolled my eyes and set thing down until there was a place to put it.

Eventually, the carriage came and took us and our luggage to the teleporter platforms. I didn’t see Vetsmon there, and the batch of transports we were assigned to wasn’t waiting for anybody.

So before we knew it, we had teleported and arrived within the Holy See.

My feet planted on top of another platform, my body taking a second to orient itself.

Once there, we grabbed our luggage before leaving the building we had arrived in.

The plaza outside gave us a fantastic view of the central city.

And it was quite unlike anything I had ever seen before.

From the plaza I looked up to see 8 massive towers, each one being around 600 meters tall. Each of them were located around each other in a circular formation, but because each one was so monumental, the area all of them covered was vast.

I couldn’t accurately guess the area, so I started thinking in terms I knew well.

“That’s gotta be at least 100 football fields put together. Ridiculous…”

“Come on.”

Maxwell waved, walking straight toward those towers.

Each of the 8 towers had their own distinct style. From brutalist architecture, to sleek and minimalist, to golden and rich and artistic. None of them were the same even if there were some similarities.

However, in the center of this circular formation of towers was a statue with a height I had never seen before even on Earth.

It was easily triple the height of the towers, and was a statue of Jesus. In his hand was a sword which was held up and pointed off toward the horizon. It was an image I had never seen of the same Christ on Earth, giving off a completely different vibe.

I had to crane my neck just to see the top because it was so tall. It would easily be the tallest structure if placed on Earth, and it reminded me of the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro.

The base of the statue almost looked like a small mountain, covering a massive area as needed to support such a structure. And because it was in the center of the towers, it easily made the area they covered a few times larger. I started to think that 100 football fields wasn’t a big enough estimation.

8 towers surrounding a single statue of Christ. Like the Whetted City, the Holy See was also covered in artistic renditions, clearly giving the city a unique culture.

In conclusion, this place was absolutely capable of rivaling the Capital. In fact, just based on the structures, I would say this place was even better.

The city around it was massive too. I couldn’t see clearly enough though to guess how far into the distance it extended, not to mention how I was still carrying those heavy packages. .

At least around me though, there were hundreds of densely packed buildings. The roads were at least wide, allowing good through traffic, butin any one area there were thousands of people and hundreds of carriages and vehicles going up and down the roads.

It resembled an industrial America, and a conservative guess said there were a few million people within this city alone.

Umara and I walked behind Maxwell, sightseeing as we crossed a few streets and made our way to the plaza of the towers.

“So which tower are we going to?”

“The 7th Peerage of the Franks. They are warlocks specializing in Alchemical practices, especially Crowns. I have a friend there that will help concoct your Crown and perform the procedure.”

“This guy must be pretty old if he’s your friend.”

“Yes. He should be approaching a century. So you better pray he still has the steady hand he did back then.”

“Tsk, now we’re just playing with my life.”

Umara chuckled as we crossed into the plaza, formally called the Walk of Saints.

From there we entered the 7th Tower, the entrance of which was a massive open gate formed from some kind of black translucent crystal.

There were so many people going in and out of the tower that we couldn’t possibly stick out. Maxwell said his presence within the city was sensitive, necessitating subtlety, but that didn’t seem to be required right now.

Once we entered the building, greeted by a grand hall, Maxwell turned around and faced us.

“I apologize Lady Umara, but this is where John and I must proceed alone. I wouldn’t want to involve you in potential complicated matters, if only out of respect for your mother.”

“I understand. I’ll wait here.”

“Are you sure?”

I asked, letting her nod with a smile.

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll just call Vetsmon. It’s not like I can get lost when we’ve got such a convenient landmark.”

She glanced at the huge statue, causing me to bob my head in agreement.

“That’s true. If you need anything though, just let me know.”

“Sure. Just keep yourself safe.”

“Complicated matters will present themselves and be resolved today. After I meet who I need to and resolve any potential conflicts, you will be free to join John as you wish. For now though, it’s best if there are no misunderstandings that might associate yourself with me.”

Maxwell explained the general situation, easing Umara’s worry.

After that, we said our goodbyes and ascended the tower while Umara lingered around the Walk of Saints. She was a big girl and could take care of herself, so I didn’t worry.

Like the Black Spider Hotel, there were tons of elevators in the tower that could bring you to any floor. There were even mini-teleporters that we used on the higher floors.

Wherever we were going, it wasn’t open to the general public.

Sure enough, after ascending what had to be a hundred floors, Maxwell had to utilize some kind of badge to allow himself higher. It wasn’t long later that we arrived and exited.

The floor we entered had floors, walls, and a ceiling of pure white marble that felt more like sterile tile than actual marble.

From the entry hall, we moved into an offshoot where we found a single pair of doors.

“He should be in here. I wouldn’t know him to be anywhere else.”

Maxwell walked up and kicked the door, making them sound like a gong that shook the hall.

A yell came in response.

“Who the hell is it?! Is courtesy a forgotten fucking art?!”

“It’s me, you wrinkly old ass!”

“...”

There was silence, meanwhile I was processing how Maxwell could actually be aggressive. It was kind of scary.

In a few moments, the doors flew open, revealing a short old man with a slight hunch. His most outstanding feature was the fact that he was adorned in a heavy coating of several overly rich robes. He looked like a greedy king, even worse than Maxwell.

His eyes were wide when he saw Maxwell, as if he couldn’t believe it.

“...Albarain?”

“Terrace Gold. You don’t seem to be enjoying retirement. I don’t see two dozen women wrapped around your crotch.”

“Fuck, you just made this reunion a lot easier on me. Can I expect to be questioned by a fucking  Paladin after this?”

“Not if you have any common sense. At least tell me you haven’t been pissing away the last years of your life.”

Maxwell barged into the room, looking around to see tall shelves filled with books and stacks of paper.

There were a dozen different tables as well, all of them filled with what I could only assume were alchemical tools and supplies. Most of them were inactive, but some were working, small flames ignited under glass baubles and clear tubes twisting and turning around containers.

He scoffed, stepping away form the door and presenting an opportunity for me to slip in. I decided I should blend in with the background for a bit.

“Of course I haven’t. You think any of the kids these days are smart enough to replace me? I swear, it’s like the only thing their parents are good for is teaching them how to wipe their own ass. Otherwise, I need to fill their tiny heads with everything imaginable. God forbid they figure some things out on their own.”

“You were cut out for a lot of things Terrace. Teaching wasn’t one of them.”

“That just means I’m still the best at my craft.”

“Humility obviously hasn’t grown on you either.”

“Heh, you’re one to talk. Now what do you want? I can’t imagine you’d come here unannounced if it weren’t a big deal. Not after almost 30 years of silence.”

“...”

Maxwell was silent, observing the room a bit more before turning to his friend and nodding toward me.

“The kid. I need you to concoct a Crown for him.”

“And who the hell is he, that you’d come out of hiding just to get him some lousy Crown?”

“My name is John Cooper sir. Pleasure to meet you.”

“So he’s a kiss ass. What else is new with young ones these days?”

“...”

My smile twitched, my approach to our interactions threatening to flip on its head. The only thing that held me in check was the fact that this man actually had to do something for me. I didn’t need him turning me into some freak in the process just because I pissed him off.

Maxwell rolled his eyes.

“He’s my successor. That’s all you need to know. And all I need for you to do is make him a crown and perform the procedure.”

“Sucessor…”

Terrace faced me, his bright eyes scrutinizing my body.

I could feel his Aura wash over me in the process. It wasn’t threatening in the slightest, but it was incredibly precise. It felt like there were a thousand eyes observing me, even capable of seeing through me like I was under an x-ray.

Then, he cast a spell that enveloped me with runic formations, Mana scanning through every inch of my body before disappearing.

“Well, he certainly has fantastic integrity. Honestly, it’s one of the best I’ve seen, not to mention that he’s an Authority 4 summoner. So a strong Crown won’t be an issue. What’s the basis for it?”

“A Royal descended from the Scouting lineage. John, show him the head.”

“Mm.”

I raised my hand, the head of the Royal appearing.

He waved, and the ehad flew out of my hand. He scanned it like he did me and shrugged.

“Decent, so long as he wants a sensory type Crown.”

“He does. Vision is his most important reliance. Think of him like an archer.”

“Well, disregarding everything else, vision is rather important…”

“I have the rest of the necessary materials as well.”

“I saw that, but don’t bother. Crown technology has advanced significantly since three decades ago. I’ll pick out some, but you probably odn’t have the rest. Don’t worry, I’ll get the rest.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet. You used your badge to get up here, so someone will-”

“Someone already has.”

I suddenly turned around, a new voice entering the room.

The man I laid eyes on, in a word, was massive. He was even bigger than Vetsmon, standing over 7 feet tall, and was built like a wall. At least, that’s from what I could see from under the large black coat he wore.

He had a wide grin, like he found everything amusing, and some short blonde hair. He didn’t look young at all with a grizzled face and some scars for trophies.

But most of all, he felt dangerous. He was by far the most dangerous man I’ve ever met, and yet, I couldn’t actually detect anything from his Aura. He felt like he didn’t exist and yet had all too powerful of a presence.

Maxwell cleared his throat.

“Anderson…”

“Heretic. I didn’t think I’d ever see you again, least of all here. And to think you have a successor now. A little heretic. Of all the things, that’s not something I’d ever believe unless yuo showed me.”

“My protege has nothing to do with me past, and you know that.”

“That doesn’t change what you’re teaching him, Albarain. You know that.”

“And none of it will change the fact that you will not get in my way!”

Maxwell yelled, something I had never seen him do. And the entire room went silent in response.

Yet, Anderson never stopped smiling.

“...You’re right Maxwell, I won’t get in your way. You know that.”

“It’s been 30 years Anderson. I don’t know, and I needed to make sure. Because there are few I can trust.”

“Oh yee of little faith. How could I possibly change so much that I wouldn’t at least respect the greatest summoner to ever live?! You know me well enough, dont play dumb.”

“Hm.”

Maxwell hummed as Anderson walked over and pat his shoulder.

“I mean, I’ve even saved you the trouble of erasing your entry into the upper levels. And here, use this for now.”

“Your badge? Why are you interfering? You’ve never been one to help.”

“I’m not helping you. I’m helping your successor. The poor kid needs at least one advantage if you’re going to turn him into a heretic. Letting him slide through here undiscovered can be considered a small favor. Besides, I’m curious to see why you of all people chose him.”

“Because if anyone is capable of breaching the Great Barrier, it’s him. If I could ask for anything Anderson, it would be as you said, to let him remain undiscovered. You better hope he’s allowed to grow.”

“High praise. For now, I’ll wait and see.”

After shooting me a deep glance, Anderson spun on his heel and walked out without another word.