10 Rizertia Household

They then continued their journey the next morning and managed to arrive at noon. Without taking any detour, the group quickly went toward the Rizertia Mansion which was Alicia's home.

Although he had expected this, he was still dazzled after seeing it with his own eyes, the mansion in front of him was like those in the movie. A big green garden with a fountain in the middle of it, the stone mansion with a blue roof, and so on. Alex looked around and he found nothing that fancied him.

"I am going to meet my father now. I will ask the maid to take you to your room first, so you can rest. I'm sure you must be very tired by now." Alicia smiled at Alex before ordering a maid for him.

"Alright." Alex nodded and followed the maid inside.

The room he got wasn't as big as the room he had in Zircodina Castle, but he liked this one better since it made him feel like he was at home. There was a sense of nostalgic place in this room despite the room filled with fancy furniture and decorations.

"Maybe I am tired… I never traveled this long, even on Earth." Alex sighed and sat on the bed before checking his status.

Name: Alexander Sirius (Peak Phase Body Tempering Stage)

Job: Adventurer

Rank: 2

Level: 271

STR: 342

AGI: 286

VIT: 321

DEX: 290

INT: 120

He raised his eyebrows upon seeing his status. According to his knowledge, he had reached the requirement for a rank 3 warrior, albeit only in the physical aspect. "I should start cultivating after this…"

Alex let out a long sigh, wondering whether the hero and friends had achieved something like this or not. He unconsciously compared himself to them again... With a negative point of view.

But that thought was broken by the sudden knock that echoed inside the room.

'Knock Knock!'

"Who is it?" Alex rose from his bed and asked.

"The grand duke invited you for dinner, so we came to inform you." A female voice resounded across the door.

Alex opened the door and he found three maids were standing in front of his door. He then followed them to the bathroom. After half a year without a bath, he enjoyed this bath for an hour.

"This is the grand duke's previous clothes." The maids began dressing him like how they usually did their job.

However, Alex was flustered upon their action and asked. "Wait! What are you doing?!"

He never had someone served him even in the Zircodina Kingdom, so their sudden treatment startled him. Even on Earth, he never had anyone serving him after losing the love of his parents. He needed to prepare everything by himself because they ignored him while his sister often bullied him.

"We are just dressing you." Ignoring Alex's shock, the maids dressed him skillfully.

'I shouldn't be rude… Am I right?' Alex thought and reluctantly accepted it.

Not long after, the maids slowly walked away, so he asked. "Is it done?"

"Yes. Now, please follow us. The grand duke and the rest have been waiting for you in the dining room." One of the maids said.

"Please lead the way." Alex nodded humbly before following the maid.

"Sir Alexander Sirius has arrived." The maid opened the room and informed the people inside.

There were five people inside the room, one middle-aged man and four women. The middle-aged man looked like a carefree person while the women were outstanding.

Alex realized one of the women as their eyes intertwined, she then smiled at him. He nodded to her and glanced at the other women. After looking for a while, he realized that the oldest one must be her mother while the rest were her sisters like how she explained previously.

Looking at Alex's flustered expression, the grand duke offered him a seat next to Alicia. "Please sit down, Alexander. I can call you with that name, right?"

"Ye-yes." Alex stiffly walked toward his seat while Alicia was enjoying this scene and thought, 'Serve him right.'

Alex glanced at Alicia and wanted to have his revenge on her later. However, he forgot about that because the grand duke started speaking.

"Alexander, thank you for helping my daughter. I heard how you help her from the horde of orcs." The grand duke smiled.

"No problem. I was passing by at that time, and I thought I should help them." Alex replied hurriedly.

The grand duke observed his expression and decided to introduce his family. "I didn't realize that I haven't introduced myself. I am Raymond Van Rizertia, the current king's brother. She is my wife Vera Kertia, while these two are my daughters, Lea and Mia. You can just call me, uncle."

Alex became stiff as he asked with an unsure tone. "Isn't that a bit inappropriate?"

"It's fine. Although I am a grand duke, I don't really like formalities too much since it's tiring." Raymond laughed.

Alex felt that Alicia's cheerful personality came from him. "Is that so…"

"I have heard your idea from Alicia. I can only say it's a breathtaking idea. I will inform our agriculture minister about your crop rotation tomorrow. Do you have any problem?"

"No. It isn't that useful in my hand alone after all. If it can be used for many people, then it's good." Alex shook his head furiously.

The door was opened once again as the maids brought the food.

"Since the food has come, let's eat first." Raymond clapped his hands and stopped anyone from talking about other matters.

Alex ate the food and was slightly astonished. Although the food in this world wasn't satisfactory, it was the first time he ate something a bit more delicious. He remembered the first time he ate after coming to this world and it was an awful experience. Even in his travels, he couldn't find any delicious food.

Luckily, he had gotten used to the taste in this world since it wasn't really that different from the food in convenience stores.

After finishing their dinner, Raymond looked at Alicia and asked. "Alicia. How is your travel? And how is the hero?"

"The travel was fun, albeit the hero made it feel awful. I was surprised that Father suddenly sent a message to visit Zircodina Kingdom while I was near that area. Anyway, the hero was so bad and lustful. I could feel it through the way he looked at me, and I really hate it." Alicia gritted her teeth before glancing at Alex.

When she told about her meeting with the hero, Alex's mood dropped instantly. Alicia could notice it vaguely, even if Alex didn't show it on his face and she realized there was a connection between him and the hero.

Alex looked down, not noticing that Alicia's gaze was on him this whole time.

"Do you think he wants you to be his wife and make a connection with him?" Raymond asked again, forgetting his curiosity about Alex.

"I don't like him. I think he is too arrogant just because of his status as a hero. I think he is bound to make rash actions, and nothing good will happen if I marry him." Alicia looked away in annoyance.

"Well, you can do whatever you want, my daughter. Many noble families always treat their daughters as tools for political marriages, but I don't really like the practice. No one is big enough to threaten our family anyway. That's why I rather see my daughter happy rather than having another connection." Raymond explained and ended it with a laugh.

Alex was surprised by Raymond's statement, he sensed that Raymond was slightly different from other nobles.

"Well, let's end it with that." Raymond clapped his hand and looked at Alex. 

"Young Man, I notice that you are already a rank 3 warrior. Is that right?"

"!!!" Alex's heart skipped a bit, never expecting that the grand duke could see through his strength with a single glance. Well, that shouldn't be too surprising, as expected of the grand duke.

The grand duke laughed after seeing Alex's expression. "Even though I am nothing like it, I am actually a rank 7 Magic Warrior."

"Magic Warrior?" Alex tilted his head in confusion.

"You don't know Magic Warrior?" The grand duke was surprised. People usually got surprised at his current rank, not his status as a Magic Warrior. This was the first time he learned that someone didn't know this.

"I'm just a commoner from Zircodina Kingdom, so I apologize for my ignorance." Alex hurriedly explained, not knowing what to do if Raymond thought it was rude.

"I see." Raymond nodded in understanding. "Then, what do you know about rank and its classification?"