Heisen's Eye

Chapter 34

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Ryu's POV
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While taking a few minutes to catch our breath, I take a look around, trying to figure out our location.

This area of town seemed to be in a completely different world to the slums, with street lamps constantly on, filled with considerable magic stones that give off a light one can only describe as luminescent.

Several buildings on the streets seem to shine from the light given off, nearly blinding, had it not been for the stark contrast between each building. Some seem to be built from marble while the next would be built from brick.

Each building seemed unique, which may have been obvious, considering the number of shops lined up down the street.

Resentment seems to build up inside me as I look around, resentment from the difference in living conditions from the slim dwellers to the nobles of the town.

I could only imagine the bustle that would build up in the street at midday, making a mental note to have everything here done with before then.

As I look around, Knight manages to recover, tapping me on the shoulder to let me know.

"You know where we are?" (Airi)

"Slightly. Only a guess." (Ryu)

"Surprised you remember that much, we were only shown it for a few minutes on the ride here." (Airi)

"Something I picked up with the bandits." (Ryu)

"...I see." (Airi)

The conversation stopped there as we drop down to street level and start walking, trying to find "The Colosseum".

Going off intuition and what little I remembered from the map, we reached the bar within a few hours, the sun just now peaking over the edge of the walls.

We enter, the silence taking me by surprise.

Looking around, I only spot 2 or 3 people drinking, all of them in complete silence.

Taking a seat at a table, we order some food, making up for the lack of what we had yesterday.

"So, how are we going to know who this 'R' is?" (Airi)

The Knight speaks in a low tone, careful as to not let anyone hear our conversation.

"Take a look at the customers, they all seem to be of some level of nobility, right?" (Ryu)

I pause and let the Knight look around, nodding her head when she acknowledges my point.

"I bet the buyer'll come in and hide his rank. I think it's something similar to an adventurer rank, and you can be easily spotted from it." (Ryu)

"I suppose you're right about that, I'm sure the higher nobility could figure out who they're looking for, considering they'll know where someone of a certain title is." (Airi)

"Do you know the ranks?" (Ryu)

"Sure do. Its common knowledge for a knight." (Airi)

"Is that so..." (Ryu)

"It is, and you should probably learnt them too." (Airi)

"I know a few." (Ryu)

"Oh?" (Airi)

"King, Queen, Royalty offspring, Duke, Marquis, then a few others." (Ryu)

"They were correct, it's King, Queen, King's children, Duke, Marquis, Count, Viscount, Baron, Knight. In terms of power, the King's children and the Dukes aren't too far off, but the princes and princesses usually get treated better due to the risk of angering the King." (Airi)

"Hmm, so... Abuse of power?" (Ryu)

"More like selfish use of power. It's against the law of the Kingdom to insult the King and his family." (Airi)

"So they're sensitive?" (Ryu)

"Prideful is the best word. But back to the ranks, Dukes usually have more land than the offspring, but less name power. Counts and Viscounts are similar, but Counts usually have more power and land, but only marginal." (Airi)

I nod my head, trying to take most of the information in.

"All ranks have a duty to produce an army, but the higher your title, the bigger the army. I think it's proportional to the land you own. Oh, and just so you know, Lords or Mayors of towns are usually Counts, while Viscounts and Barons own land in the towns and around, and the Marquis usually own several towns and lend them to the Counts to watch over. Dukes are the ones that take care of the King's land, and are usually more trustworthy." (Airi)

"What about the children?" (Ryu)

"For them, it's something of a fight for the throne. They try to have the most supporters so that they can usurp it when the King steps down, but the princesses are usually worse off, since the people see little need for a Queen. Of course, the King could always choose the one to take the throne, which negates everyone else. After the throne is taken, its up to the new King to decide the fate of the others. They could be made into knights or commoners, or they could be given a nobility rank." (Airi)

"And the Queen?" (Ryu)

"Children. That's all she is there for. She holds very little power or land, so her main job is to create offspring for the King. Of course, that doesn't stop her from gaining popularity with the people. The current Queen is one of the most powerful we've had, considering the amount of support she gets from the people." (Airi)

"Doesn't sound like a happy life." (Ryu)

"I doubt it is, especially if the Queen actually loves the King, considering the fact that he is expected to take consorts." (Airi)

"Do those children have less power than the Queen's?" (Ryu)

"Usually, yes, but for them, it depends on their mana. They're judged on their usefulness to the Kingdom, and if they show talent in comandeering, they can become commanders of an army, or in some cases, they can take the throne." (Airi)

"I suppose the silver spoon they've been fed with isn't always as shiny as it seems to be." (Ryu)

"I suppose it isn't." (Airi)

Silence washes over us as the finish talking, and I sit at the table, trying to go over what I've just been taught.

Several hours pass as we sit at the table, waiting for the person named "R".

I take a moment outside to get some fresh air, a relief, considering how stuffy the air could become in the bar from the crowd inside.

I look down the street as I breath in the fresh air and see a group of 4 men, each hiding swords in their clothes, surrounding a man in a dark blue vest.

I stare for a moment before I step back inside the bar, sure of my suspicion.

I jog over to the table the Knight is sat at and take a seat, the noise of the now bustling bar masking it.

A minute passes before the group I saw enter, taking all of the attention in the bar for themselves.

Silence suffocated us as we all watch the group follow the man in blue to a table and take a seat.

Several seconds pass before the attention is diverted, the bar now back to its usual noise.

"Knight..." (Ryu)

"Let's go." (Airi)

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Author Notes
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Another chapter, another cry of disappointment.

Honestly, I'm slightly ashamed of this chapter. Not because of bad writing, but because it's mostly an info dump, but I honestly couldn't see any point in the future so far where I could put it, and this was the best point in my mind.

Also, I screwed up on the early chapters. Airi is not 16, Airi is 14. That was a mistype on my part, and I'm having trouble believing I missed it during editing, but here we are. Let me say this again, Airi is not 16, she is 14.