D.S. Newman
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Isekai Mansion Arc 1 Part 1-1
🕑 Added 2023-07-30 13:06:24 +0000 UTCAs we sat at the attorney’s desk, I pondered my next move. Would I quit my job and live in England? How soon would be too soon to ask Stephanie to come visit? I was awoken from my daydreaming by Mr. Ford’s shuffling of papers.
He said, “According to the will and Mr. Higgins testimony, you are to receive all possessions of Mr. Noble’s estate immediately. This includes his 9 acre property 40 kilometers northwest of London, His 2000 Rolls Royce Phantom, the employment contract of his butler, Mr. Reginald Higgins…”
“Wait…” I stopped him there and asked, “you’re my father’s butler?” “In a sense…” he replied before allowing Mr. Ford to continue.
“And cash totaling in $41.07 million Pounds Sterling. Which converts to…” he plucked away on a calculator, “Just over 50 million US dollars.”
My jaw dropped.
“Fifty…Million…Dollars. I was expecting a million or two or three. If you had said Ten million, I would have been amazed. But fifty! The house and the cars are paltry by comparison.
What the hell has he been doing the past twenty-five years?!”
“Your father was a very…reserved man. For lack of a better term,” Reginald inserted, “he didn’t go around flashing his wealth.”
“I just need you to sign here, here, and here, then we’ll be all finished Eric,” said Mr.
Ford.
I finally closed my mouth and took the pen. I signed and that was that. After shaking hands with Ford and saying our goodbyes, I left the building with Higgins by my side.
“You’ve got a lot of explaining to do I hope you know,” I emphasized.
“Oh, I know Master Noble. More than you could possibly imagine.”
“So, I can take immediate possession. Does that mean I should go ahead and buy a plane ticket and meet you there in a couple weeks?”
“Oh no, you are to take immediate possession…immediately, Master Noble. I have a plane ticket for you, and we’ll be leaving in a few hours.”
“What?! You already bought me a ticket? You were that confident I’d say yes? What about my stuff? My apartment?” I prodded.
“I’ll make arrangements to have your personal belongings shipped and your lease absolved. The sooner you can settle into your new home, the better you can address your
ordeal.”
“Ordeal? Oh, you mean my alleged burden. Well, we’ll just see what that's all about.”
* * *
After we boarded the plane, my first time flying First Class, I looked down at my phone and saw a text back from Wraith. It said:
Wraith: What?! You gotta be bullshittin’ me
That was in response to me briefly explaining to him my inheritance. I messaged back:
Me: I’ll fill you in once I get settled and arrange for you to come visit.
I still had some time before takeoff, so I decided I should probably text Stephanie as well. But I wasn’t quite sure what to say. I mean, how soon would be too soon before inviting her to come visit?
Me: Hey I know this is kinda out a nowhere and I don’t have much time so ill keep it brief…but my dad passed away and left me a lot of money and a huge house in England. I’m on my way there now to check it out
Stephanie: Whoa!! That’s nuts. Sorry he died, I know you didn’t really know him and thats always been a sensitive topic for you…
Stephanie: At least you got something good out of it right?
Me: Ha yea, you know me.
Me: anyway…
Me: Im on my way to england right now Maybe once I get things straightened out you can come out to visit?
Stephanie: Seriously? You quitting at the firm?
Stephanie: Must be some serious cash then. Props
Me: Yea…
Me: anyway…were taking off now. Ill catch ya later
I took her non answer about coming to visit as a maybe, maybe not.
The plane started to taxi down the runway. It looks like by this time tomorrow I’d be settling into my new life. Whatever it may be.
* * *
Nearly a full day later, and after a modest series of naps on the plane and train, we took a short taxi ride to the countryside. All of the houses in this area were quite nice and Victorian. It wasn’t remote in any way, but it was a tad secluded. There was a small-town shopping area and other neighborhoods, but the properties in my vicinity were separated by at least several acres of land and brush. Then, we arrived at my new home.
The taxi turned into a small but elegant circle drive. The house was back about a football field's length from the road. Even though I knew it was coming I was still in awe at the view, and it still had not fully registered with me that this place was truly mine.
When we got out of the cab, Higgins turned to me, bowed, and said, “Welcome, Master Noble, to your new home. I’ll show you to your room and after a rest I’ll give you a proper tour and then I shall explain your duties.”
I looked up and around and said, “Okay, this place has got to have at least five bedrooms. And you’re telling me that it was just you and my father who lived here? Why all the extra space?”
Higgins jolted, stood back upright, and replied, “Umm, yes, well, your family's business dealings has consisted of hosting many far away travelers over the years. Hence the necessity for such a large space.”
That answer seemed half baked but it was okay. I wanted to rest, and I could hear the details tomorrow.
I was taken upstairs to the Master Bedroom which was all the way down the hall to the right of the staircase. It was large enough to have windows facing out both the front and back of the house. It of course had its own bathroom, larger than the others in the house. There were four other fairly large sized bedrooms on that floor. Two on each side of the hall. The third floor, which I would learn the next day from my tour, was a large two-room attic space. One side was used for storage and the other side was a smaller guest bedroom.
* * *
After getting settled and consuming a classic English breakfast by Higgins, he began an extensive tour of the property. In addition to the second and third floor bedrooms, I was shown the kitchen and pantry, the front parlor, which I passed through the evening before, the drawing room or as we like to call them, living room. There was a cozy study with a rather extensive library and aquarium. A surprisingly well-rounded fitness room. Also, the dining room, which I noticed appeared to have not been used in recent times. Higgins told me he would show me the cellar later but noted that his quarters were located down there as well.
On the grounds, the rear of the Mansion was more populated with points of interest than the front had been. There was a stone pathway that led around a fountain, garden, gazebo, and small greenhouse. Further out from the house was either a large pond or a small lake with a wooden dock. Beyond that was forestry and brush all around, disguising the view from any neighbors. The left side of the house had an old detached garage that the car was stored in.
I halted Higgins from further details of the ground by asking him, “So about these duties…am I going to have to host a bunch of lame bureaucrats and foreign dignitaries from lands I’ve heard of before?”
I was half joking, but he gave a rather startled and serious response, “‘Lame’ is an improper descriptive but yes, I suppose you could say it’s true for the rest of your assessment.”
I just stood there a moment before Higgins let out a sigh and said, “Eric, I think it's time to get down to business and show you the true secret of your family's estate. Come with me to the cellar.”
He took me back inside and led me down the stairs to the basement where his quarters were, and I presumed wine storage or something illicit that made my family wealthy. But he simply took me to a wide-open unfinished section that had an old stone well in the middle of the room. He walked past it towards another small room with a wooden door so I followed him inside. Inside was a heavy-duty floor safe. Higgins knelt down, turned the combination and opened it. There were two shelves in the safe. On the bottom shelf were three stones, each about the size of a tennis ball, but more oval shaped. The stones glowed a bright green, like a traffic light.
On the top shelf were four more stones, but these each glowed red. Though they glowed at different vibration. Two of them faintly flickered, one very very slowly flickered, and another pulsated. Next to these four stones was a black leather-bound journal. Higgins grabbed the journal and the pulsating red stone. I believe I heard him mutter, “Oh my, it’s gotten a bit worse,” before turning around to hand me both objects.
“What gives?” I asked.
He replied, “Eric. I know this is going to be difficult for you to understand and you may not believe it all at once. But you need to know your family's legacy. That book is a journal of your father’s experiences that he wanted to document for you so you would have an advantage that he didn’t have. You see, this Mansion was built in the 1880s by your ancestor, Hiram Noble. But the land has been under your family's care much further than that. The well over there was once level with the earth outside, but Hiram wanted to fortify it better, so he had the land recessed and built this house around it. It had been under watchful care by his ancestors for generations before. As far back as the time of the Druids. Your father inherited this place much the same way you just have, but it was from his Uncle Cornelius, whom he never met.
Cornelius was Hiram’s Great Grandson.”
“...Alright…” I stopped him, “the genealogy’s nice but what’s this got to do with me and glowing stones? And why’s the well so special you gotta hide it?”
“I’m getting to that Master Noble. It’s important you understand your family's connection. Every generation, a Noble has tasked it upon themselves to keep the well and stop the stones from turning solid red. If they were to turn red, it could mean the complete destruction of this world… ”
“What?!” I shouted, “you can’t be serious…”
“But I am serious Eric. These stones and that well are a connection to other worlds. The arch enemies of the Noble family are known as the Seven Devils. A Devil is born into each realm once a generation if the past Devil has been defeated. But if a Devil were to succeed in fully conquering a realm, then the essence of pure evil could seep into this world. Eric, what I’m trying to tell you is that your father spent nearly the last three decades fighting this evil.”
There was a long pause and Higgins awaited my response, expected fear, but instead…
“...AHAHAHAHAHA!!!” I laughed abruptly, still holding the stone and the book, “this is one hell of a joke that you and the old man pulled on me. This kinda stuff only happens in anime and fantasy novels. You don’t expect me to believe any of this do you?”
“As a matter of fact, I do expect you to believe me Master Noble,” he retorted in a serious tone.
I froze again, then added, “Okay, look, I’ll bite. Not only because the remote chance that this is true would be amazing but also because if I am being pranked at least it can be a really good one.”
“Sir, I assure you, everything I’ve told you is true.” “Okay…proceed then,” I said skeptically.
“As I was saying,” Higgins continued after clearing his throat, his voice reminded me of Christopher Lee, “each stone, when tossed into the waters of the well, will open up a portal to another realm. The realms are under threat from the Seven Devils. When one of the Devils is vanquished, the corresponding stone will glow bright green until another Devil surfaces. As you see, your father managed to purify three realms in his lifetime. The rapidly flashing stone in your hand is a realm he has done much work in but never managed to defeat the Devil. But its rapid flashing indicates that the Devil in that world is getting increasingly close to conquest. The two stones that are slowly flashing are worlds where the Devils are active but not yet an immediate threat. ”
“And what about the slow flashing one?” I inquired.
Higgins paused a moment and slightly gulped, “That world is one where great strides have been made against the Devil but not yet vanquished. The slow ambient glow is a signal of recess, much like when a formerly green stone world spawns a new devil. That world is of little concern to you at the moment.”
“Okay, Okay, Okay, hang on a moment…let's pretend this is all true then. That means that I inherited a freakin Isekai Mansion?”
“Isekai?” Higgins questioned.
“Eh, it’s a Japanese subgenre of fiction…it's like western portal fantasy.” Higgins seemed like he didn’t know what I was talking about.
“Like, you know, Alice in Wonderland or Wizard of Oz?” I aided him.
“Ah, yes,” he perked up, “that’s correct. Very similar situation to what we have here.”
“Yes!” I shouted in excitement, “this is awesome!”
Higgins looked surprised and said, “this is exciting for you Master Noble? I thought you would be despondent.”
“Are you kidding me? Well first off, I still don’t believe any of it…but if it does turn out to be true, then it's a dream come true!”
Higgins seemed even more puzzled and sorta blushed at my enthusiasm.
“Anyhow, sir…as I was saying, a stone that flashes rapidly will eventually turn solid red and that means the Devil of that world has taken over the realm and there is danger of evil seeping over to this world.”
“So how come no one has tried to just seal off the well?”
“For one, we don’t know that there aren’t more passages to the realms. We’re not even sure that there aren’t more stones. This well and its seven stones have been under the care of the Noble family and their allies for centuries and not much is known about their origin.”
“Okay, so how exactly does it work? Crossing worlds, I mean.”
“To cross worlds, one only needs to take a stone and climb into the well's water. You hold the stone close to your body until it glows the brightest. Your body will then glow along with it. Then you drop the stone into the water, and you will be transferred to the corresponding realm.”
I looked down at the stone in my hand and thought for a moment. Then I tossed the journal over to Higgins and said, “Here, wouldn’t want this to get wet,” as I made my way over to the well.
“Excuse me sir! You’re not considering jumping into a world right now, are you?!” he asked frightfully.
“Well yeah, might as well debunk this whole thing right now than let you carry on pulling my leg.”
“But sir…that’s not the best idea. Don’t you think you should at least read your fathers journal first…”
I stopped paying attention to him and lifted my legs over the sidewall of the well and looked down. The well was rounded off and about six feet across from all sides. We were underground in the basement of the mansion and the well had been cut down from its original depth so it looked like I’d only be about ribcage deep in water once I got in.
Holding the stone in one hand I used my other to leverage myself off the wall. My guess was right about the water's depth and the rim of the well's mouth was just a couple inches above eye level standing on my tippy toes in the water. I couldn’t see Higgins anymore, but I heard him still pleading for me to not go in. Looking at the stone, I could see the red glow getting brighter and illuminating the inside of the well. I figured after a minute or so I could get out and call him on his nonsense. But then I remembered, I was supposed to drop the stone in the water. At this point, I felt like I was glowing myself. So, I dropped the stone in the water and watched it sink to the bottom.
