Chapter 513: Learning of the world…
=Alright children, are you ready for today’s lessons?=
“Yes, teacher Logos,” Jasper and Janice answered simultaneously.
The typical day for the two orphan kids turned disciples of [Chaos], could be broken down into four main activities: sleeping, studying, eating and free time to read or do whatever the library had available.
That last activity would normally entail things such as field trips to the city or general outdoor activities unrelated to the library, but when this was suggested, both Jasper and Janice said with the most serious of tones possible, “We already spent too much time living outdoors, we’d prefer to be inside for the time being…where there’s supervision.”
With that sad sentiment shared, both Logos and Pathos tried to figure out the best way to keep the children’s bodies and brains active while living in the library.
They did entertain the idea of setting up a “daycare” room, but that seemed excessive for just two kids.
Maybe if their lord ended up taking responsibility for burning down an orphanage or a child trafficking ring, they’d reconsider it.
But for the time being, they had two kids to instill knowledge into and a history lesson to teach.
“Please open up your books to the indicated page number and we can begin our history lesson on the Roaring Tide continent. Starting with none other than the civilization our lord will probably piss off by accident…maybe.=
“Doesn’t that seem pessi-pessi…negative. Isn’t that a negative way of viewing lord Zhen Liu’s behavior?,” Jasper pointed out.
=It is, but it just seems to be a trend among the kaijin lords to intentionally or accidentally piss off someone much bigger than themselves.=
“Really?,” Janice asked.
=Think back about the lessons on the Storm Queen, the Mad Tinkerer and the Battle Drunkard.=
“Oh yeah…,” Jasper and Janice agreed while recalling their lessons in regards to the kaijin lords that came before Zhen Liu…and the mountain of bodies they had a habit of leaving behind.
{Achoo!}
“What was that?”
=Ignore that. Regardless, children, please open your books and we can being talking about the Pearl Scale Empire and the cliques and clubs that make it up.=
“Don’t you mean sects and factions?”
=Same thing, bigger scale.=
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A segment from the Pearl Scale History Chronicles Vol.1, in regards to the factions within the Empire.
Among the countless clans and kingdoms that call the Pearl Scale Empire home, it is said that none hold deeper roots with the empire than the Four Great Kingdoms, and the Eight Major Clans that swear fealty to them.
When the Pearl Scale Emperor first made his name known to the world and sought to form his empire, it was said that there were four great heroes that immediately flocked to his banner and swore fealty to him.
The Unbreakable Diamond Berserker, Shan Jin.
The Whirling Devil Blade, Feng Man.
The Patient Sage of the Nine Treasure Garden, Bai Shun.
The Scorching Fury of the Western Skies, Huo Long.
These four heroes would be the Pearl Scale Emperor’s eyes and hands in regards to unifying the land, and as reward for their great services, they were given lands to call their own, and given the title of king.
Shan Jin’s domain became known as the Rumbling Talon Kingdom, a mountainous region rich in various ores and jewels.
Feng Man’s land was bestowed the name of Eroding Wing Kingdom, a kingdom characterized by its large flood plains, where the winds blew every which way.
Bai Shun created the Blossoming Scales Kingdom from what was originally a toxic swamp, turning the place into a place full of life, learning and medicine.
And lastly, Huo Long established Boiling Fang Kingdom, a bastion of commerce and military might, located in the heart of a volcanic lake.
The kings managed to rule their respective kingdoms with power and grace for a number of years, but as time went on, each of their kingdoms grew to sizes that made it damn near impossible for a single monarch to rule with ease.
As such, each of the kings elevated several clans to a higher status, in order to better manage their respective kingdoms.
These elevated clans would become the Eight Major Clans, otherwise known as clans: Mu, Gou, Lin, Jin, Zhen, Zhu, Phu and Ho.
…
=It should be noted that while on the surface, the Four Great Kingdoms and the Eight Major clans are in harmony with one another, there is a lot of political intrigue, backstabbing and general cold war shenanigans that seem inevitably linked with the existence of Empires. Surprisingly, no civil war, but that might be due to each of these kingdoms also being linked to the Emperor by blood…also any opposition that would’ve existed back when there were Sixteen Major clans was wiped out alongside those other eight clans.=
“That seems unnecessarily violent,” Janice noted.
=No, that’s just…society.=
“Teacher Logos,” Jasper interrupted, “since lord Zhen Liu is about to enter the homeland of his ancestors, shouldn’t we learn more about them first?”
=That…is a good point. I will acquire the textbooks for that focus on the history of the Zhen Clan, just sit here for now.=
“Okay.”
…
Excerpt about the Zhen Clan, located in the history book, “Blossoming Scales Kingdom History: The Twin Branches of the Sage”.
Of the eight major clans, the Zhen Clan and the Zhu Clan have the distinct honor of being subordinate clans for the Blossoming Scales kingdoms.
Lead by the Aether Overlords, Zhen Shao and Zhu Yuan, respectively, the Zhen and Zhu clans found their purpose under the Wise King’s instructions and became the supporting pillars for the kingdom.
The Zhen Clan served as the “sword” for the Blossoming Scales Kingdom, consistently providing talented warriors and generals that serve the kingdom’s army, while the Zhu clan found purpose as the “quill”, producing diplomats and statesmen of all sorts to help run the administrative side of things.
The Zhen and Zhu clans ended up being so skilled at their respective craft that, befitting subordinates of the Wise King, both clans ended up becoming the go-to private institutes in which families from all over the Pearl Scale Empire would send their young prodigies in order to become heroes and/or politicians, respectively.
It’s said that if one wanted to become a hero, go to Willow Scale city to seek the Zhen.
If one wanted to be a sage, go to Oak Scale City to seek the tutelage of Zhu.
…
=Now kids, keep in mind that while history is written by the winners, and they have a habit of wiping out any accomplishments or history the losers may have had we must also remember them so that we may not fall into the same pitfalls as they did. Otherwise…=
“We risk repeating the mistakes of the past without learning a damn thing.”
=Next time, don’t swear, but yes. As such, let us examine how the Pai and Gao clans, the former sister clans of the Zhen and Zhu, fell due to not a lack of firepower or resource, but because they lacked something that could make or break wars with the stroke of a pen: Intelligence.=
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“Huh…that’s weird.”
“What’s up?”
“I thought I saw something on the parapet over there…”
“Over there?”
“Yeah.”
“Huh…probably just a bird, man. Nothing to worry about.”
“Shouldn’t we inform the captain though?”
“Pfft! Forget that man, do you really want to write up a whole ass report on the day of the festival?”
“No, but…”
“But nothing! Let’s just go finish up our route and call it a day. I hear that bar has a new food item for sale because of the season.”
“Really? What?”
“Well…”
As the guards patrolling the city walls made their rounds, a small group of figures jumped out of their hiding spots and returned to their perch on a nearby tower’s parapet.
These figures were decidedly not “just birds”.
[Damn, this place is like…three times bigger than Stone Claw,] Hurricroak noted as she stared over the cityscape, [louder too, but that’s not a bad thing.]
[More…developed…too…,] Frosttusk observed, [steam…engines…]
[Lots of new things to learn here…,] Spring Brawler thought as he stared at the moving people.
[Think they have any good theater stages here?,] Razorstella lazily asked while stretching.
[City this big? Probably got like a magical version of Broadway somewhere,] Hurricroak answered.
[Ya know though, those guards had a pretty good idea. Maybe we should find some giant bird related stuff to get a flying kaijin squad going. I mean, we can fly, but still…]
[Oi! Focus. We need to scout ahead and determine whether or not there any nasty surprises in store for our lord and his family,] Nepherage told the others.
[It’s the least we could do given the situation our lord is in now…]
[Oh yeah…poor bastards,] Hurricroak agreed.
The aforementioned “situation”, the kaijin were talking about was something that no man should ever have to deal with.
Something so horrible that it plagues societies regardless of the advancement in technology or societal wealth.
And that situation is none other than…bureaucracy.
