42 The Higher Domain

Two days later, Savyrran and Ovandarrak successfully made it to the Higher Domain without anymore incidents. Luckily for them, they did not run into the Carnage Mace Gang anymore, probably because the group had been scared shitless by Ovandarrak's unforgiving onslaught.

The same girl, Jiya, who had attended to them during their stay in the hotel, had explained most of the political structure of Hill City to them. According to Jiya, the Royal Dream Higher Academy was found in Lafkan Quarter in the Higher Domain. They would have to hail either a carriage or board a train since the Higher Domain was about two hours away. Before Jiya left them, she advised the two to be careful when they get to Lafkan. According to Jiya, nothing in the Higher Domain was as it seemed. Savyrran did not understand what Jiya meant by that, but still, she was grateful for her advice.

…....

There were seven cities in Royal Hill Province and the largest and wealthiest of these cities was Hill City, the capital of Dream Kingdom. Hill City was not only the largest city in Royal Hill Province; it was also the largest in the entire kingdom. Just as Hill City was subdivided into quarters in the Lower Domain, it was also divided into several quarters in the Higher Domain. Lafkan Quarter was historically the most important quarter in all of Hill City.

Once they got to Lafkan, Savyrran finally understood why this place was termed as the Higher Domain. Unlike Imun, Lafkan was the epitome of wealth and class. This was what Savyrran had in mind whenever she thought about the royal capital. All the buildings here were perfectly arranged adding to the city's allure.

The architecture of this place was like nothing the two had ever seen. Even Ovandarrak could not help but take in the sight of everything around him with awe. Lafkan was a combination of nature's finest and humankind's best. Not too far from their location, there was a large clear pond with ducks swimming in it. The perfect blend of greenery and architecture gave a sense of serenity to the quarter.

"Goodness, are those…" The words were stuck in Savyrran's throat as she pointed to a herd of beasts flying in perfect symmetry in the air. It was like they were following some kind of path in the sky.

"Aerial beasts. So the stories are true." Ovandarrak murmured more to himself. He had read in several books that the use of soul beasts as transportation was a very common thing in Royal Hill Province. It was so common that there were separate routes on the land, in the air, and sometimes even in water, allocated for beasts and carriages.

From what Ovandarrak had read, not many people liked to use their beast-type soul armos as transportation since it used up a lot of soul energy especially if one was not strong enough. Thus, Ovandarrak deduced that the flying beasts were simply soul beasts which had been tamed by beast masters. For a while, Ovandarrak wondered if Gray Gray could transform into one of those aerial beasts. A small smile flashed in Ovandarrak's eyes. If only he had known about Gray Gray's shape shifting abilities, they would not have wasted their time travelling by train.

Still, it was perhaps not the best idea since using his soul armos as transportation over such a great distance could be very exhausting on his mind and body. It would be a terrible idea to be both physically and mentally spent a few days to the trials. He needed his full mental strength for the trials. Once Ovandarrak realised this, he stopped beating himself over it.

"According to the map in the handbook, the academy is a few meters away from here. Should we take a carriage? There's a station over there." Ovandarrak said pointing towards a carriage station in the distance.

"No, we can just walk."

Ovandarrak nodded.

"This place is so different from Imun. Aren't they both part of the same city?" Savyrran said. Back in Southern Cape Province, there was no such thing as the Lower Domain, Middle Domain and Higher Domain. Here in the royal capital, it was very different. It was almost as though they were in a different country altogether.

"Different leaders have different leadership styles. Clearly the lord of this city has a thing for class segregation." Ovandarrak said, his keen eyes observing everything around him.

Savyrran's gaze turned to meet her brother's. "What do you mean by that? Aren't we all ruled by the same king?"

"Well, yes. But the king does not rule by himself. His rule may be absolute, but he is still backed by his sub-rulers and without their support, there is no way he could rule an entire kingdom with almost five hundred million people by himself."

"So who rules this city then?"

"A City Lord. City Lords are usually under the governor of a province, but for some reason, which I don't know, the Lord of Hill City is not under the governor of this province. In fact, the Lord of Hill City rules the city like his own little kingdom without any interference from the king."

"That is… unbelievable. Why will the king let the royal capital be in the possession of a mere City Lord? I can understand if this place was any other city. But Hill City? That makes no sense. It's supposed to be the king's city since the royal palace is here." Though Savyrran knew something about the politics of the kingdom, she did not know everything in detail. Living in Coast Town all her life, she never had to think about things like these.

Savyrran knew that all eight provinces were ruled by governors appointed by the king. The governors were either members of the royal family or members of the Four Sage Clans. Thus, while the governors were directly under the king, they still wielded immense power in the running of their territory. All sub-rulers such as city lords, mayors and prefects were all under their governors. For example, Mayor Danjo was appointed as mayor of the entire Cape District by the governor of Southern Cape Province. While Mayor Danjo had a lot of power in Cape District, there were certain decisions he could not make without the backing of the governor.

"The Lord of Hill City is no mere city lord. He is the older brother of the king." Ovandarrak added.

Savyrran stopped in her tracks. "Really? Wait… how do you know all this? You know what, little brother, never mind."

Ovandarrak's brown eyes twinkled with amusement. But in mere seconds, his stern expression was back again. "I did not learn only medicine from Doctor Avor, you know. When he heard that I wanted to go to the academy in Hill City, he would not stop talking about this place. He kept saying something about how everything had changed since the funeral."

"Funeral? What funeral?"

"He wouldn't say. But whatever it was he seemed very upset about it. Eventually, he stopped talking about it altogether. Let's just be careful while we are here, alright?"

Savyrran nodded. "We are always careful."