73 Chapter 73
Kyon tried to steer clear of Dinah, but he couldn't avoid today's incident. He had underestimated her. Dinah was extremely good at acting and lying. He decided to be less judgmental and more skeptical next time and weigh the odds better.
He found out that Juno had thoughtlessly said "okay" at Dinah's request to cancel the order, but it was impossible. There was no way she could have said it. How could she outwit his powerful formation? What could go wrong? The formation? It was out of the question. No, it was all about Juno.
It was getting dangerous for Kyon to stay in the mansion all because of the stupid slave girl who contrived to act against him. He was unaware that his adjusted formation was partially out of order because of a fundamental error. If only he knew what it was, he would correct it right away. The mistake had nothing to do with his knowledge of formacy, it wasn't about Juno's unique body or her talent for self-deception, not at all.
No subjugating formation created by the best formacists in the world would ever work on Juno. Kyon's formation was on a completely different level. It worked, but with some mistakes.
He would deal with her punishment for canceling his order another time. Now Kyon intended to go to the library.
He directed Synergy to heal his bruised back, straightened his shoulders, picked up the first book, and buried himself in reading.
Kyon did not notice the time fly by. He put the book away only when he needed to use the toilet. Sometimes he fell asleep over the book, and the servants kindly provided the freeloader with food.
After studying the Social Studies section, Kyon came to grips with the world around him and understood what he got himself into.
On the planet Life there were three opposing races: people, demons, and supreme beasts.
People are powerful, dominant rulers of the land. They have extensive trading networks. Their spheres of administration, science, economy, and spirituality are the best on the planet.
Of course, people have their drawbacks. They are greedy, ambitious, and strive for power. Historically, eight empires had an agreement of mutual assistance in the face of danger. However, the eighth, the most remote and weakest empire of Clyath had been wiped off the face of the earth. It happened less than ten years ago during World War. The kingdom of the beasts gained a decisive victory over Clyath. They killed the warriors and took the civilians as slaves. The future of the survivors was grim. They were eaten, became pets, or turned into resources, the keys.
Dwarfs belong to the human race and have incredible, unique abilities. There are no better engineers, blacksmiths, and steelworkers in the world than this small people.
Supreme beasts are intelligent animals. They are lords of the forests and wildlife, invincible in their territories. Beasts have a bloodthirsty, ruthless temperament and a wild, inhuman temper. They are predators who follow their instincts and adhere to a strict hierarchy based on blood purity and strength. This species is devoid of being ruse or deceitful and despises those who are. Foul play was one of the reasons for their enmity with people and demons.
The beasts also hate people and demons because they catch them and use them as food, resources, and pets. The damned demons and people take what belongs to the beasts: keys, eyes, fangs, skin, bones, and blood.
Any beast becomes supreme and acquires intelligence upon entering the fourth stage of cultivation. However, some species are born with innate reason. They rightfully take higher ranks in the hierarchy.
The feline species belong to the dominant imperial family. They are Manticore, Scorpio-Lions, with their unsurpassed venom and unique power that impresses the heaven itself.
The royal family of white tigers rightfully takes second place. The innate ability of their unique bodies gives them power over entire armies of lower beasts. The beasts with the purest blood have the greatest potential.
The forests are divided into three zones: external, internal, and central. The noblest, strongest, and most influential beasts live closer to the center. It's tantamount to suicide to enter that area without an invitation.
People control the vast forest areas where lower beasts live (the third stage, inclusive). The beasts quickly multiply, so it is necessary to monitor their population.
Demons are peculiar, cruel lords of the underworld, which is no less than the territory of people, beasts, or desert lands. They are a sly, cunning, and low-minded race that worships power above all. It's quite normal for them to rob or deceive someone. They honor their traditions and purity of blood. Demons take their beliefs to the extreme, for example, the sacrifice of virgins, preferably human, at the great feast in honor of goddess Persephone.
The underground is divided into areas. Lower demons reside in the upper layer. The middle area is taken by the nobility of royal blood and their servants. Seven families live in the depths of the underground. One of them is imperial, dominating them all.
There exists a fourth race, the aquatic people who live in the seas and the oceans and will never leave them. They ignore all the other races. Their power is undeniable. The sea vessels are doomed to death without paying duties to the mermaids and the water rulers.
A long history of hostility between the three main races has created incurable hatred between them. Bloody wars are not the only reason they hate each other, there's also a huge difference in their mentality. Hostility, regular raids only add fuel to the fire and eliminate any chance of a truce.
People keep beasts for food, resources, and entertainment. They take demons as slaves or servants.
Demons do the same, only they enslave people.
Beasts use the other two races as cattle and pets. They always unleash their wild instincts on them.
Hatred for other beings is instilled in their minds from an early age. Any book of stories, tales, historical facts, and legends is full of cruel, disgusting, aggressive creatures who do evil, lead vile lives and do vile deeds.
Kyon was impressed by this perfect, absolute enmity. He had long noticed that the information in the books was biased against strangers, demonizing them. Only, he didn't care about the species or race. Kyon was the only unbiased person among hundreds of millions of people.
Each dominant race would gladly tear the others into small pieces. However, there are several "buts." First, it's extremely unfavourable to fight on foreign territory. The unusual terrain, traps, fortifications, barriers, and attacking formations don't contribute to victory. The army must be at least twice more powerful than the enemy to win the war. Second, there is always a third party who will gladly take advantage of the temporary weakness of one of the two sides and get a nice bit of goods for themselves. Third, it's well known that the human race is the strongest of all. Even the two other races united will find nothing but death.
Therefore, the three parties restrain each other, limit themselves to small-scale raids to enslave people / demons / beasts and steal their resources.
As for blood purity... In this wonderworld, it isn't about close relations with relatives. It's all about connections with high-ranking persons of the same race. For example, if Juno from the 1st rank family marries a man of the 1st or the 2nd rank, her blood purity will be preserved. If the man is from the 3rd rank family, her bloodline will be impure. It's likewise with supreme beasts and demons.
After Kyon finished studying Social Studies, he started an in-depth study of the human race. New knowledge came as a big surprise.
Previously, Kyon considered the family Stone, where he was going to build his future, incredibly strong, powerful, and authoritative. In fact, he was only partially right. The family really had a high position in the Iron Throne. Only, the Kingdom of the Iron Throne held a low rank in the Empire.
There are seven kingdoms in Rosarrioand, and the Iron Throne takes fifth place. The first-rank Stones will bow down to other first-rank families from more powerful domains. It was the law. Even if you are the best among the average, you are still no match to the worst among the best.
Any first rank family in the first rank kingdom will be much more powerful than the first rank Stones from the fifth rank kingdom.
And that's not all! Each kingdom has a royal family at the top of the hierarchy in the realm. It's sometimes assigned the zeroth rank. It's impossible to take them down.
The Grands (0) are the royal family in the Iron Throne. Everyone acknowledges their power. The Stones are like a drop in the tablespoon compared to the Grands.
Kyon was hurt. No, he didn't complain... To own the patriarch's daughter of the 1st rank family wasn't too bad. Only it was too far to the top of the world.
The empire of Rosarrio unites seven kingdoms, with the imperial capital Dantes at the head. All forces and power are concentrated in the capital. It's the kingdom of the 0th rank.
The first seven families in Dantes are superior in power and influence to any other family in the seven kingdoms. They are the pillars of the empire. The Grands (0) and the like can't hold a candle to them, such is the difference in power between them.
The sovereign family of Dantes (0) is the imperial family that dominates the whole empire. Empress Lanatelle, the bloodthirsty celestial genius is number one in the empire.
One look at this woman can freeze the blood in the veins. Even high-ranking generals are afraid to say too much in her presence. Her cruel temper is not a rumor. She used to kill people for one wrong glance. She destroyed whole families for treachery with one word. Everyone in the empire knows that she is not the kind of person to joke about.
Kyon read her biography in disbelief.
Soon he was shaken to the core by the fact that Rosarrio was only the 6th out of seven human empires!
{I have a feeling I am in a cesspool!} - He wanted to roar with anger. The more he learned, the less he enjoyed his current situation.
The power of empire number 1 compared to Rosarrio (6) is so great that it can be compared with the size of a mighty hundred-meter dragon against a bull.
«I was in the cesspool when I was a slave in the mine. I've found my way out of there. It's all over.» - Kyon calmed himself.
Then he summed up the information from the books he had read:
There exist seven human empires, one of which is Rosarrio (6), the empire he currently lives in.
The imperial capital is Dantes (0). There are seven more kingdoms, one of which is the Iron Throne (5), the kingdom he currently lives in.
There is a royal family the Grands (0) and many more families, one of which is the Stones (1), the family he currently lives with.
(A.C.: I've just described the entire hierarchy of the world. Don't be surprised if nothing is clear. For the sake of simplicity, I will sometimes write a number in parentheses indicating the rank of anything. For example, Juno (1); patriarch Bai (0); the Stones (1); the Grands (0); the Iron Throne (5); Dantes, the capital of the empire (0); the Rosarrian empire (6); Superior phase (3); Noble phase (4 ) and so on.
