Chapter 66 – Armor Card x Armor
The trio was walking through the forest toward the bridge. Luke glanced to check the girls' equipment. Alice still had parts of her leather armor mixed with her academy uniform, and Luke remembered finding one of her gloves after facing a wolf.
Those were simpler times.
The blonde girl was dressed in torn clothes and mixed pieces of iron armor, which he assumed came from the skeletons. She didn't look very coordinated; the armor was a mix of iron, leather, and some parts were missing. Her armor looked as if a child had taken parts from different dolls and assembled something new. Alice wasn't wearing a helmet, and Luke suspected that her not tying up her hair might be related to her electricity ability; if someone touched her, they could get shocked. Her long blonde hair could then be an advantage in a fight.
Or she might just be vain about her hair, which he was almost sure could be the case.
The small red-haired girl with short hair had no armor or protection; she was only in her school uniform, which was torn in various places, but she had replaced some parts with an undershirt. Luke suspected that, since she had only been on a school trip and was an archer, she didn't wear armor. If she had any, it was probably from the expedition. Coming to this conclusion, he realized she had returned all the equipment from the excursion before touching the bonfire, as this equipment was borrowed from the royal army. Reflecting on this, Luke noticed that Alice had parts resembling her old armor. This meant that the blonde girl had money to buy her own.
I assume her armor isn't a card but real armor. So, you can take armor to the Oblique World? I can't say for sure, as I've never experienced a journey to that world and didn't have enough knowledge to know how to travel there. I've only been to my Inner Self, where you can't bring anything from the real world with you. But about the Oblique World, there must be other rules.
He decided to clear this doubt with Alice, and she responded:
"Right, I forgot you didn't learn much about these things because you came directly from your Inner Self. Let's say the Oblique World allows you to take the equipment you're wearing. Our prana somehow is an invisible energy that surrounds us, so it covers our equipment and allows us to teleport with them. Otherwise, we'd be thrown here completely naked. So yes, you can come here in the latest fashion… but it would be useless. Cheaper than an armor item card is real armor. The cards generate their items, which can be restored once they return to being a card. So you can imagine how expensive an armor card is. Think of Anna's bow; it probably cost more than a house or even a citizen ID."
Luke looked at the archer who carried the bow over her shoulders; even though it was a card item, she didn't dismiss it as if she were constantly on alert. "It was expensive, very expensive. I didn't want my parents to give me something like this, but since they wanted me to protect myself and flee from the nobles who tried to seduce us with tempting offers of money, cards, and other things… even marriage proposals… my parents preferred to give me something I could use to defend myself and maybe acquire more items if I ever decided to go to the Oblique World." "Hmm… so your parents turned down the offers given to you? Wow, I didn't know nobles would try something with you while you were still a student." Luke was surprised.
What kind parents. They gave her the chance to choose calmly while growing up and considering her options.
"Having a healer as your subordinate is extremely advantageous for any noble family. It gives them the power to grow; remember what I said. Resources are everything, and talented people are resources."
Alice explained. "Yes. A lot of people approached me, promising various things. Some even said it would be an honor for someone like me to marry their son..."
Damn them! Leave little Anna alone... I should introduce her to Sasha one day. Maybe she needs to talk about normal things, like TV shows, social media, and gossip...
Alice sighed. "They're always like that; it's normal. But I'm glad you didn't let yourself be deceived. They make these offers as if they're doing you a favor. It's normal, but these guys are small fish. They try to harass promising Deviant students so that the Houses don't grab them when they stand out. That's why they go on the offensive with marriage proposals and similar things. The Houses aren't as... how should I say... rotten in that sense? They won't offer you something as if they're doing you a favor while looking down on you. When the time comes for them to make you an offer, you'll have understood how special you are and how special they can make you if you join them. It's a fairer exchange... the servants of the Houses feel prestige and pride in serving this great name. After all, they are the rulers of our country."
What nonsense... but I'm not dumb enough to not understand that even those who serve the small fish will have a good life. So if I were to become someone's soldier, I would obviously choose to be a soldier of a House. That way, I would be able to help that person, but my time of being someone's soldier has passed. Now I just want to live in peace.
"I have a question for you two, since you know more about this Deviant world than I do..."
I ask this question to both of them, but in truth, I want to hear Alice's answers.
The girls waited for him to finish elaborating his thoughts as they walked through the forest. "Is there any difference in serving the Houses and their armies? Because I met a soldier, and at the same time, I know there are more special Deviants. I don't understand, are they all part of an army or what?"
"Ahhh, you're talking about the generals," Anna said.
Hearing Luke's doubt, Alice decided to explain a bit: "Each House has its own small force of subservient families, allowing them to promote marriages and family unions among their subordinate vassals to strengthen ties, thus building an army somehow linked by their leaders. The Houses are the central family of this army of families and their warriors. The Houses are commanded by a leader, who is a Duke governing a duchy, a region conquered from the Oblique World. Above them, there is only the King, so you understand how powerful they are. The nobility is divided into degrees of importance in this order: Royal Family, Duke/Duchess, Marquess/Marchioness, Count/Countess, Viscount/Viscountess, and Baron/Baroness. These are the main political positions of the nobility, but the nobles don't necessarily hold these titles. They can be just a noble family."
Luke was thinking and trying to piece it together with his knowledge from Earth. "What you told me is the hierarchy of the Oblique World? But on Earth, there are other kings and queens. I still don't understand," he said.
She seemed to think for a bit.
"After the collapse of the democratic system, Earth became governed by monarchies, which caused some confusion. It's crucial to differentiate between the two worlds: Earth and the Oblique World. In the Oblique World, there is only the human kingdom called 'Obliquan,' administered by the monarchy of the Houses, which controls this part of the world claimed by humanity. The Houses and the Royal Family descend from the first nobles who migrated to this corrupted world centuries ago, replacing the old civilization that fell. On Earth, there are still remnants of countries with democratic systems, but most have abandoned this model in favor of monarchy. So, you can find other kings on Earth, but in the Oblique World, there is only one king. It's crucial not to confuse these two worlds. A king on Earth can, at most, hold the title of Viscount in the Oblique World. To ascend in the Oblique World's nobility, one must completely renounce life on Earth and establish themselves there. Therefore, the two worlds function differently: the Oblique World is inhabited by most of humanity that migrated centuries ago, while on Earth, countries with their human populations and different regimes of government remain."
Now that I somewhat understand a bit more about this noble world of the Deviants, I'll try to be a bit more direct. Technically, answering these questions isn't so bad, after all, they're things I could normally learn if I attended the academy and was exposed to this noble aspect. This subject is different from the other topic from last night, as sharing that knowledge might be punishable by death. Of course, as long as a House authorizes it, there's no problem... but we weren't under that authorization when we talked beyond the allowed limit.
"What are these generals?" Luke asked.