American Isekai - Chapter 129 (Patreon)

Feiden and Vetsmon walked over from inside the medical ward. I stood to greet them, seeing Feiden’s depressed face.

I sensed something was wrong so I went over and pat his shoulder.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

“...Mira.”

“Mira…”

It took a second to register before I remembered Mira was Feiden’s girlfriend.

My heart sank as he continued.

“She… wasn’t there. Not in the Steed, not in the group that abandoned us. She’s… not among the survivors.”

“...”

I went silent along with everyone else. I simply didn’t know what to say.

She didn’t make it through the initial fight. If she had been there, she probably would have stayed with us when we stopped to fight.

But now she was nowhere to be seen. Even if she survived the intial battle, since she wasn’t here, then she was somewhere out there. And that only meant that she was already dead.

Feiden’s girlfriend had died.

Since I couldn't say anything, I wrapped him in a tight hug. I could imagine how he felt. It wasn’t a feeling I ever wanted to experience.

Once we separated, I brought him over to a seat, sitting him down and simply being there.

Eventually, he asked.

“How’s Tana?”

“She’s in a coma right now. Should survive. How healthy she’ll be when she wakes back up, I’m not sure. But she’s at least alive.”

“Mm. You were keeping her heart going for hours. Thankfully it worked out.”

“Yeah. Given the shit circumstances, we all did the best we could.”

A long sigh escaped my lips. After that, we all simply listened to the surrounding voices of traumatized soldiers and cries of grief.

A few tears escaped Feiden as well, as if the sorrowful atmosphere was infectious.

……

…

Tana didn’t seem like she would wake up anytime soon. I had fears of neurological damage, but for now, we could only wait for her to come out of her coma.

Since that was the case, we notified her parents before using the depot’s teleporter and leaving her in the Puppet Master’s hands.

Vetsmon couldn’t find the templar that was watching him earlier, but despite all that happened, he still had his orders. He went straight back to the Holy See in order to report to his parents.

Feiden went back to his parents with a promise that we would meet up soon. I didn’t want to leave him alone for that long, but he needed a familiar place to process things..

That left Umara and I who went to the Talerria dukedom, the City of Joffrun.

Along with Ikhor, the two of us arrived at the mansion, the Duchess and Faey waiting at the door.

We approached, Talexia silently walking to her daughter and wrapping her in a hug.

“Welcome home.”

“Thanks mom.”

Their greeting was warm but succinct. When Umara separated, she went over to Faey.

Talexia faced me for a few seconds before stepping forward and giving me a hug as well.

I was a bit shocked. I didnt think we had gotten so close.

Sure enough, when she separated, my brows raised a bit.

“I suddenly feel my spirits being rejuvenated. Few more seconds?”

“Tsk, cheeky boy. Leave the cuddly stuff for my daughter.”

“Hehe, yes ma’am.”

We both smiled before I went over to Faey and picked her up like a child, getting a laugh out of her while poking her ribs with my fingers.

“Ack! I’m not a kid!”

“Why are you ticklish then? Only kids are ticklish.”

“Liar! Put me down!”

“Haha.”

I laughed as we walked into the house, dropping Faey when the doors closed.

I pulled her in for a quick hug before she could run.

“It’s good to see you, kid.”

“Mm, you too. I heard something happened?”

“Eh, a few beasts attacked our base. But we’re fine. Your sister singlehandedly killed them all and flew us home.”

“Really?”

“I-I did not. Stop lying.”

I got a smack on the shoulder, Faey snickering a bit.

We were invited into the kitchen before long. Although I had forgotten with everything going on, it was in fact night and we had yet to eat.

Dinner was already mostly made so we sat down at the table, the occasional topic being thrown in for a quick few words. I didn’t really talk at all.

I supposed they noticed, since after an hour had passed, Talexia broke the silence.

“John? Are you okay?”

“Hm?”

“You haven’t eaten anything.”

I looked down, finding a full plate that I hadn’t touched at all.

I scratched my head.

“I uhh… I don’t think I’m hungry. I think I just need some sleep. Is there an open room I could use?”

“Of course there is. Ikhor, if you could.”

“Mm. This way.”

Ikhor nodded and stood to lead me. Just then, Umara spoke.

“Do you want me to come with you?”

“No no, that’s alright. I’m just gonna catch some sleep, so don’t mind me.”

“...Alright.”

She muttered as the two of us walked out heading up two floors to arrive at a guest room.

“Here you are. If there’s anything else, let one of the maids know.”

“Sure. Thank you.”

“Of course.”

I gave him one last smile before walking into the room, shutting the door and taking a few steps inside.

There was nothing but silence, yet it sounded like someone was screaming at me.

Then, I suddenly felt my stomach churn, sprinting to the bathroom where I vomited up the few things actually in my stomach.

……

Ikhor descended back into the kitchen, Talexia asking.

“How is he?”

“...Vomiting.”

“...”

Silence reigned over the dinner table.

What broke it was the sudden sound of Umara’s crying.

Faey watched as her sister broke down in her seat, sobbing almost uncontrollably. She realized that whatever just happened wasn’t a small matter even though John was trying to lighten the mood earlier.

Nobody said anything and simply let Umara cry for almost 5 minutes. When her tears finally seemed to dry up, she stood weakly.

“I’m going to bed too.”

“Please let us know if you need anything.”

“...”

Umara didn’t respond and simply left the kitchen, leaving the remaining three at the table.

Faey spoke up.

“Can I ask what happened?”

“...I suppose you’ll hear about it soon enough.”

Talexia sighed.

“The base your sister was at was just destroyed. One of the strongest Scourge beasts in existence attacked it earlier today, along with an army of millions. Most of the soldier stationed there were wiped out, along with over 90% of the Magisterium’s fourth year class.”

“...”

Faey was stunned into silence, hardly able to comprehend all that.

Ikhor chimed in.

“John and your sister are only two of 19 students that managed to survive. Their entire squad made it as well, though one of them is in a coma and has yet to wake. The fact that they’re alive is a miracle. But I can’t imagine the stress for them. They’re just kids, and they had to face a monster like that…”

Ikhor went silent, recalling the image of Anarchy.

Simply gazing upon that entity was enough to drive one insane if they weren’t careful. And nothing more than its presence was enough to plunge the entire base into a deluded self-killing frenzy.

John and Umara had both gazed upon it, succumbed to its insanity, tried to kill each other, before getting pulled out of their stupor. Now, they would live to tell the tale, the image of Anarchy permanently branded onto their psyches.

Not many people, even among the survivors, could claim such a thing. And they were just kids not even out of school.

Ikhor wished he could have done something about it. But at the time, getting as far away from them as possible was the best choice. That’s why he threw himself into battle with others on the opposite side of the base. The details of what transpired there was something perhaps only his wife would ever know about.

Yet even now, he couldn't quite wrap his head around how they managed to escape the influence. Preliminary reports were suggesting that every single person who actually got a glimpse of Anarchy was dead, which was most of those who had been on the wall. That mental coercion had disappeared once the stationed Authority 12 had done something about it, but even that couldn’t cure those who had experienced the worst.

There was a reason the Four Kings on the Black Spider Repository didn’t have any pictures. It was because pictures couldn’t be captured, by photo nor eye.

It was only when the King projected their true form that people would go insane. Otherwise, they would only see an incomprehensible form that was harmless, though confusing, to gaze upon.

So John and Umara had seen Anarchy’s true form, yet weren’t going insane. Ikhor knew they did, because he had seen them up on the wall, and he had later seen the red tears of blood dried on their faces.

He wanted to know what happened, but the forces involved in that battle went beyond their own world. They might not even know, and he didn’t want to press the issue.

All he cared about was that they were alive. He couldn’t give a damn about anything else, because by all stretches of logic, he should have lost his daughter.

Ikhor looked up after snapping out of his own thought process, seeing his second daughter looking downtrodden.

He smiled a bit.

“I don’t want you to worry so much about what happened, Faey. Just be there for your sister. She will need family now more than ever.”

“Mm.”

“Good. Now, get ready for bed. Your mother and I have things to discuss.”

Ikhor sent Faey off.

After that, the night was spent spilling secrets that would likely never get uttered again.

……

…

“Any change?”

Talexia looked up from her desk at Ikhor, who sighed while sitting down across from her.

“No. Though our daughter made her way into his bed at some point.”

“Hm. They’ve been sleeping for a full day.”

“I don’t blame them. I only just woke up.”

Ikhor wiped his face.

The three of them, after going to sleep for the night, slept for an extended period. Ikhor woke up some hours ago, but he was also an Authority 10.

John and Umara had yet to wake even after a full 24 hours. Umara even managed to slip her way into John’s bed.

Both parents hoped they would wake soon.

Unfortunately, the two only emerged after another half a day. It was almost lunch of the next day when they walked down.

Their hair was completely disheveled, their eyes squinted and face covered in the markings of whatever they had been sleeping on. Umara was also on John’s back as they marched their way straight to the kitchen.

The family watched as they flipped on a water spout and started gobbling up everything that poured out like thirsting beggars.

When they eventually made it to the table where everyone sat, their front sides were drenched, but it didn’t seem like either of them cared as they stared blankly into space.

At that moment, Talexia slid a newspaper over to them.

“News got out. It’s the only thing the Kingdom is talking about now. Dozens of nobles have also gone to the Magisterium in outrage, though they’re getting shut down. The front page is… a summary of the outcome.”

John reached over as she explained, taking the newspaper and checking the front page.

There in big bold letters were the words “The Calamity Class - 131 students massacred.” It went on to summarize how the fourth year Magisterium class was almost entirely wiped out, the victims of the worst calamity in recent history. It was almost like they didn’t care about all the thousands of soldiers who died as well.

Then again, no news sold better than the one that freaked people out by telling them that dozens of children or young adults had died. Soldiers died every day. It was basically expected. What wasn’t expected was for school kids to get massacred, and no journalist would pass up such sensational news.

As for details about the King of Anarchy appearing, it seemed like that was being completely suppressed. After all, almost everyone who had seen Anarchy was dead. And it seemed the top brass weren’t keen on scaring people more than necessary. A military base had fallen. They didn’t need to know why.

Once done looking, John passed the newspaper to Umara.

He spoke while she looked over it.

“What’s graduation going to look like?”

“Not sure. There are only 19 students to graduate now besides the third years, and since there are already talks of a memorial being put up, a graduation would really only serve as a kind of funeral. They’re still deciding what to do. Regardless, it won’t happen for another 10 days. For now there isn’t anything you two need to worry about. Perhaps except plans for the military, which I wanted to talk to you about, John.”

John lifted his head when Talexia asked.

“How would you feel about coming underneath the warlock corps?”

“...I suppose it would be a better fit than the knight corps.”

“Mm. There aren’t any divisions for summoners to go into or specialize in except for intelligence. But we can’t treat you that way if you plan on doing any fighting, so you’ll go through basic training alongside the warlocks. As for who takes you under their command, I can already feel the headache. There’s always a lot of competition for the Crowned Champion, but I have a feeling you’ll be worse.”

“...”

He didn’t respond, just thinking.

Perhaps the only thing that nobility had a greater vested interest in besides the Magisterium was the military. Nobility wasn’t just associated with wealth and influence, but sheer power that needed to be succeeded with every head of the household. A noble title was directly tied to the power said nobe personally wielded.

That meant there were always noble children cycling through the military, and being the nobles they are, these children naturally don’t go through the normal channels. They get preferential treatment at every step, because every noble worth their salt has gone through the military themselves and has stood somewhere around the top of the hierarchy. The social network is vast and the strings they can pull innumerable.

Being Umara’s boyfriend and a historical summoner who became Crowned Champion, John wouldn’t be treated like anybody else. There would be plenty of people fighting to have him under their command.

But that wasn’t what made things difficult. It was the fact that John didn’t have backing that would make things complicated. He was a popular candidate for hire yet didn’t have any rights or decision-making power to himself. It wouldn’t be like Umara who would just choose to be under her mother.

Of course, Talexia would have more of a say given John’s relationship with her daughter, but that would be limited. She would definitely have to fight for it, which was why she was already feeling the headache.

Of course, she wasn’t just fighting for him because he was Umara’s boyfriend. His performance during the tournament was shocking even for her. She had never seen his combat prowess before, nor had most people. So the show he put on was eye opening, as well as tempting.

Such lethality had never been seen before. It was pure killing power in the form of long metal tubes. However it worked, all of the big players in the military wanted it for themselves. Talexia wasn’t an exception.

And unfortunately, in a grim way, the competition would be even greater since the pot to choose from was cut down by over 90%.

Well, it would all have to wait until the issues regarding that event blew over.

Suddenly, as Talexia remained silent in her own thoughts, John and Umara stood in unison and walked out of the kitchen.

She watched them with an odd face, not saying anything as they vanished into the upper floors.

She looked over at Ikhor.

“What was that about?”

“...I’m not sure.”

“Hm. By the way, did you see Anarchy?”

She asked inquisitively. Although they had gone through the same thing, Ikhor was reacting to it much differently. Sure he was also an Authority 10, but she didn’t want to disregard the differences so readily.

Sure enough, he shook his head.

“I didn’t dare look out to it. My body might be strong, but my mind doesn’t necessarily follow. Aura was never my strong suit, so I didn’t want to test the theory with Umara there. I just ran and resisted as long as I could.”

“Mm, a good choice. Something tells me that they’re going through something right now though.”

“Recovery, most likely.”

“That, or they’re preoccupied. They’re thinking about something. Chances are, it’s Anarchy.”

“...What can we do?”

Ikhor asked worriedly. They couldn’t do much about that, even at their level. It was a miracle that they weren’t going insane, but it seemed they also weren’t completely unaffected. Whatever it was, it felt like they could only wait.

Talexia was also frowning, her fingers rapping across the table.

“...I’ll call a friend. Perhaps he’ll be curious enough to indulge me.”

She tapped her Aerial with those words, sending a few messages before waiting patiently.

After a minute or so, she got a response, her tongue clicking.

“We’ll have to wait, but he’ll come. I suppose I’m not the first to call him.”

“How long?”

“A day or two. For now, let’s just watch them. So long as they don’t get worse, we’ll be able to do something about it.”

She sighed, the two of them going silent in contemplation.