Valterion: The Space/Arch? Mage

Chapter 97: Clarity

Location: Magicon Empire; Magicon System; Terra; Imperia

Once we’re finished with our food, we leave the restaurant together. We take just a few steps along the hallway when Chris turns back to me. “Alright, let’s take this somewhere quieter. Is my apartment good, or do you have something else in mind?”

The only other quiet place I can think of is the Stargazer, but seeing my brother’s apartment sounds more interesting… “No, that’s fine. Let’s head over there.”

“Perfect, I’m going to take you with me, as the warding spells wouldn’t let you in otherwise. Ready?”

I nod. “Yeah, go ahead.”

He casts the Teleportation spell, and the magic envelopes me. We disappear from the hallway and arrive at the penthouse of another tower in the city.

“Be right back,” Chris calls out and vanishes again. I take in the room I’m standing inside right now. It looks industrial. Pieces of metal are everywhere, and everything is in a dark color scheme. Lots of glass as well. Curiously, I step through one of the doors and arrive in Chris’s living room. A gigantic window covers one wall and offers a nice view of the city. We’re a bit higher up than the nearby towers are tall, so the view isn’t even blocked very much. The interior design stays the same though, and a black leather couch is the prominent piece in the middle of the room. It faces the window which I guess can be also used as a screen. Along the left wall is a big cabinet made out of glass and brass. It’s filled with tens of different bottles of liquor.

All in all, it’s a bit unexpected. I thought Chris would prefer red velvet and other things that are associated with Nobles and Royals. I sit down on the couch and kick off my heels, then I just rest and wait for him to arrive.

Fortunately, it doesn’t take long. Just five minutes later, he steps into the living room as well. This time he looks like Christopher Valterion again. He grins and sits down at the other end of the couch. A flick of his wrist has a bottle with amber liquid and two glasses floating over. “Whiskey?” He asks, already filling up his glass.

I shrug and agree. “Sure.”

A few seconds later, I have my own glass floating beside me. We both raise our glasses, then drink a sip. Chris sighs. “Just what I needed right now… Now, please tell me what’s so confusing for you.”

I take a deep breath. “Alright, it’s pretty much everything. I completely messed up my first encounter with a Noble. And now I’m starting to think that our parents did this on purpose, just for their amusement. I’m just waiting for them to jump out of a bush and shout ‘Surprise!’ After the mess last night, I decided to learn more about all those Noble things and went to the library. There I read a book and am now more confused than ever… I’m now at the point where I’m even questioning the whole system… Wouldn’t it be better to just cast it all aside?”

Chris is silent for a moment. “Hmm, to answer your last question, I’d say no. Especially at the time of The Empire’s founding, a clear structure was necessary. The people just came out of a massive war, and everyone was looking to the Big Five for guidance. They couldn’t handle everything alone, so they came up with the Noble class inside The Empire. People who did extraordinary things during the war of after were awarded a Noble title and a few privileges. In return, they had to keep up their good work and help the other people settle in the new nation. Today it’s not much different. The Emperor still gives out Noble titles for extraordinary deeds in The Empire. Take the Silvanis for example. They started as a normal family, and now they are at the cusp of becoming the sixth Ducal family. In return, they provide the biggest shopping experience in the galaxy and help the people get the things they need and provide countless jobs for all the citizens.”

He smiles. “That’s it pretty much. Nobles enjoy a higher status among the population and should be something like role models for the people. Only at the highest levels, Nobles start to gain political power and shape the landscape of The Empire. That’s also the reason why all Nobles try to push for greatness. Again, the Silvanis are the most successful at this time. There are rules though… Nobles are required to keep the population out of their power plays. It’s called the Noble Game and is quite regulated. I can explain a bit later on if you want. This is the part I like so much about all this.”

A frown enters his face. “Of course, not everything is roses and sunshine… There are always people who don’t play by the rules. An example would be the family of your friend Charles. They messed with companies they owned which resulted in a lot of people losing their jobs. That’s where people like me step in and try to fix things. In the worst cases, the Emperor even confiscates their titles. The other thing that doesn’t work that well is influence. It’s something we’re basically unable to stop, as there are always people who look up to Nobles and if they want something, there are always people who do it for them in the hope of getting recognized or even taken into the family. It’s not bad per se, but sometimes it’s misused, like in your case. But that rarely happens, as most things are heavily regulated as well. Including what Charles did. I’m already working on that one by the way.”

Finally, he stops, and I stare at him in silence. It’s a lot! And quite different from what I’ve read so far. Also, with Dave and his parents’ company. Where do the free lawsuits come in if people like Chris are already dealing with things?

“Uhh, so you’re saying that being a Noble is nothing special? That’s so different from what I’ve read earlier. And Grandma Amelia already told me about the mess with the company. It belonged to the parents of a friend… She said something like free lawsuits, as The Empire can’t have its eyes everywhere?”

“Exactly, others and I try to step in when we can, but we can’t be everywhere at once. That’s where the lawsuits come in. People can fight for their rights without worrying about the costs.” His face suddenly brightens. “Ahh, now I get it. You heard our parents’ complaints about Nobles, right?”

I stare at him a bit blankly, not having expected that question at all. I nod slowly.

“That explains a lot,” he chuckles. “Our parents don’t want to deal with many things besides taking care of our family. Minor annoyances like Nobles playing the Game don’t go along with them at all. That’s why you probably only heard negative things from them.”

“Yeah, I can’t say, they said anything nice about Nobles, but from what you told me so far, I’m not exactly sure, what is nice about them…”

“Yeah, I’m not the best at explaining things… What’s great about the Noble system is also part of the Game. I guess, now is a good time to explain a bit… As I said, the biggest rule about the Noble Game is that it can’t affect normal citizens of The Empire negatively. If it happens, there are exactly two warnings together with heavy fines. If a Noble family breaks the rules again after that, the Emperor steps in and either confiscates their title or everything they own in assets in less severe cases. The Junbuns are on their last leg by the way, and I guess Charles will be scolded quite heavily by the Baron.”

Hmm, now he explained the rules, but I still don’t see what’s good at all this. At least I now know where the Junbuns messed up exactly. Their dealings affected Dave’s parents negatively, which means they broke the rules of the Game.

Chris smiles warmly. “I see, you’re still a bit confused. Don’t worry now comes the interesting part. The goal of the Game is essentially to reach Ducal rank. There was a sixth Duchy a few thousand years back by the way, but unfortunately, they messed up badly and had to be stripped of their rank. Anyway, to reach a higher rank the Noble families have to offer extraordinary services to The Empire. Can you guess how they do it?”

Wow, the fact that there once was a sixth Duchy is already a lot, and now I have to guess how Nobles advance their titles? How should I know this? Wait… That’s it! Oh wow, now it’s obvious and the book completely ignored that fact. I look back up and notice the twinkle in my brother’s eyes. “It’s the companies, right? If they are successful, they not only offer a lot of available jobs, but they also help the economy, bettering The Empire on every level. That’s… That’s genius!”

Absolutely genius and I mean it. The prize of possibly reaching Ducal rank and gaining so much political power with it drives up competition like crazy. This on the other hand either leads to extremely good products or extremely low prices. A win-win situation.

Chris grins broadly. “I knew you had it in you! Absolutely right. The benefits far outweigh the downsides, that’s why the Noble system is still part of The Empire, even if the Noble titles don’t mean much anymore.”

“The downsides are all the things with influence, right? What’s with all the name-calling and revering for Nobles though? If they don’t have actual power, who cares if we call them lord or whatever?”

Chris’s eyes twinkle with amusement. “Think about your questions again. You basically answered your second one with the first.”

Oh! Right, influence.

He continues. “To give you a very simple example. Imagine a baker. He needs flour to make bread. Let’s say his supplier is a Baron who owns a mill. If the baker wants to receive his flour continuously or at the same price, he can’t call the Baron or his relatives a moron in their face. Don’t you agree? On the other hand, imagine our baker being nice to the Baron, maybe even offering him free things from time to time. Maybe the Baron is inclined to take the baker’s kids under his wing or even marry them to his own kids. Then the baker is suddenly part of the Baron’s family and starts benefiting a lot.”

Did he just insult me? He specifically mentioned the calling someone a moron to the face part… But I guess, I can see the point. I now also understand the offer Charles made me right before that. It’s probably a life’s dream for most people. The distant chance of someday being part of a Ducal family… And if you’re young and see so many people sucking up to you, I can now also see how someone can become so arrogant like Charles.

My face must have shown my realization, as Chris just nods. “That’s exactly what happened with you. You insulted the grandson of a Baron, and as you outperformed him magically, he pulled on the influence his rank brings and managed to issue a city-wide ban for you. Actually, he called in favors, as he himself didn’t have the pull to pull it off himself. But that’s none of your concern as long as you’re in college. I’ll take care of it. Aria and I quite enjoy cleaning up such messes. And as your genius cousin Randolf filed an official report about the unjust behavior, your case even landed on my desk officially, as Aria and I oversee such things on Terra.”

So I was right earlier. Charles really used his influence to ban me, and Tim somehow used more influence to counter him. “Thanks for the explanation, Chris. This helped a lot. But I have one more question. Are you something like the Noble police?”

He laughs so hard, that he spits out his whiskey. “Oh my god! You’re the first one to frame it like this… But yes, that’s basically my current job. It’s one of the political powers the Big Five have: keeping an eye on the other Nobles and ensuring they play by the rules. Now I do have a question as well. Just what book did you read earlier?”

“Uhhhh, it was called ‘A Primer on all things Nobility’ by Richard Zwendi.”

My brother’s eyes widen slightly. “Really? Why? That’s a book written by an ex-Baron who lost his title by breaking the rules constantly. He wrote a book to vent his frustration on the, in his opinion, unjust actions of The Empire. Clara, why didn’t you stop her, you should know better?”

I frown. He’s right. Clara did recommend the book to me. Why would she?

“Uhh, the book I recommended was ‘A Primer on Nobility’ by Lars Minge, as you know those titles are similar on purpose… Sara mixed them up when she accessed the digital copy. And well, can we just say, I didn’t notice?”

“No, we can’t? Don’t tell me you have another stupid bet running with my parents?” For all things they hate the Noble Game, they sure like to mess with me…

“Thank you for asking. No, it has nothing to do with your parents. It’s kinda stupid actually. Remember the fact that you aren’t allowed to cheat during your studies at FBC? Apparently, helping you find a book in the library is fine, but helping you fix your own mistake isn’t… I got the notification when I was about to tell you.”

“That’s even more stupid!”

“I agree, now that I was directly questioned, I was finally able to tell you without repercussions.”

There’s probably a hidden loophole in such a dumb rule, but I don’t have the energy to explore that right now. Maybe later… For now, let’s just be angry at the college staff for making such a stupid rule.

“Sorry, Clara, I didn’t mean to doubt you.”

“No problem.”

Chris claps his hands. “Alright, do you have any further questions? Not to kick you out or anything, but Aria’s dropping by soon, and well, she doesn’t know about Sara Green, and I’d like to keep it that way for now.”

“Nah, I’m good. Thank you so much. I really needed this! Any last words of advice?”

“You’re welcome, and no. Just keep going as you are. Well… Maybe try to be a bit more respectful to the next Noble you meet. I don’t think they like being called a moron,” he winks at me and I groan.

“I didn’t even call him a moron! It was just easier to explain that way as it was basically what I meant.”

Chris bursts out laughing and I just shake my head. At least I should now be ready for my next Noble encounter.