The morning followed the night.A servant knocked on the door and brought in a parcel in the form of a spatial ring. Kyon found inside 1.6 million spheres and a note from XiaoBai: "Don"t dare to waste my money, or I"ll kill you!"
Kyon grinned and took the money. As for the way to spend them... He would find it out when he decided how he would get power. He had to find out whose palm to grease, what to buy or who to hire... Kyon had no doubt that there is no such thing as too much money. Besides, 1.6 million (a total of 1.8) wasn"t that much the Grands" (0) standards.
Kyon got cleaned up and returned to the library.
And again, quiet background music caressed his soul. A subtle sense of peace penetrated his heart. He wanted to enjoy reading as long as possible.
When Kyon came to the top floor, he found there four guys, to his displeasure. All of them were the descendants of the direct blood of their families, two of them were yesterday"s fools in love. They were talking about the girl. a.r.s.en and Jeremy shared their impressions, discussed some ridiculous plan to get to know her. They a.s.sured their friends it was difficult even to approach the girl. She was too good for them! The two newcomers did not believe their warnings, just as a.r.s.en didn"t at first.
Kyon complained to himself and began to read. He knew how things went. Jeremy was alone here the first day. He called a.r.s.en the next day. And today there were four of them. And who was the reason? A girl... Certain people can destroy friends.h.i.+ps and even countries, but was that a dark-haired girl a femme fatale?
Meanwhile, Kyon discovered information about the types of the hierarchy of power in the empire.
{That"s it!} – Kyon got absorbed in reading. Soon, he identified the most promising social elevators and summed up the pros and cons of each of them specifically for himself.
War Office. It could take Kyon decades to get from an ordinary soldier to a general. And as a result? He would have to comply with the orders of the Empress; defend the borders from enemies; lead raids on the supreme beasts and demons to rob and capture as many slaves and trophies as possible; to carry out other specific military a.s.signments... All the high-ranking officials go along the line of the Empress, each Rozzarian knows this. To become a general means to get a minimum of freedom for tremendous military power. However, it can"t be used without a valid reason. The military has no place inside cities and capitals, they are confided on the border or in special camps. Kyon had no business up there. All the resources were concentrated within cities, among the families. Moreover, he never fancied robbing other races for trophies.
Ministry of Finance. From a bank employee to the chief financial officer of the empire. Immense power and influence guaranteed. He could always find a way to get colossal amounts of money, engaging in risky financial transactions or fraud. However, his combat power would be minimal, while the responsibility would be enormous... Any slightest mistake or even suspicion of embezzlement of money was punishable by death. Besides, there would always be false accusations during the endless backdoor deals of his compet.i.tors. Anyway, it would take him too long to climb this career ladder...
Ministry of Justice. It was the most extensive sector that includes diverse aspects of kingdom and empire management. From maintaining order to hunting down criminals, and paperwork.
Kyon wanted to gain the power to acquire control and resources. Ministry of Justice, or rather one of its most important branches, law enforcement, was the most promising way. There was a number of advantages. First, every investigator is in charge of strong pract.i.tioners that carry out any his orders. Second, his high intellectual abilities would help him to solve any case and quickly occupy a high post (there is always a shortage of shrewd investigators, so there is no one to fight to get the cushy job). Third, he would always have the necessary information to get resources from other families. In other words, he would have the leverage to blackmail them. And fourth, investigators, especially high-ranking ones, are respected by ordinary, as well as important people (which is essential in this world, where power means everything). Kyon made his decision to become a high-ranking investigator. The only question was how to do it.
There were books for Kyon to read for a couple of days. So, he decided to learn everything from the books that he had laid aside first. After that, he would get down to business. What if he would find something important and useful.
Suddenly, Kyon sensed someone appear in the dark corner. The girl seemed to have materialized from nothing. And it just so happened that Kyon was reading his books close to the place where she was sitting. The rustling of pages must annoy her much more than yesterday. Moreover, Kyon never forgot to practice the superior grade of the earth element, not even when he was sleeping. However, everyone around could feel his vibrations. Anyway, Kyon had the diamond token. He had nothing to worry about. If he bothered her that much, she could try and persuade him to leaf more quietly, and then he would tell her his price.
Soon, the four descendants of direct blood gasped in surprise when they suddenly noticed the object of their conversation sitting nearby. The newcomers grinned confidently and headed towards the girl, intending to get to know her. However, their smirks disappeared halfway through. Another few steps and the faces of unlucky charmers looked frightened. They pa.s.sed the girl by, to all appearances heading to the bathroom.
«What the h.e.l.l?! Who is she?!» - The one who had no problem hitting on any girl in everyday life asked in a trembling voice when they were outside.
«I don"t know... But it seemed to me that I was approaching the very embodiment of cold and gloom! As if death itself was reading a book with its black eyes! Even her clothes are black... If she had looked at me, I would not have uttered a single word... I would have frozen to death! I"ve never met anyone like her, Nikolas! a.r.s.en and Jeremy knew what they were talking about! She is really a n.o.ble foreigner! And so beautiful... Let"s follow the plan, or none of us will have the courage to speak with her…»
«You"re right… You"re right. Let"s do it.»
Soon, Kyon was a witness to a funny scene of four unlucky guys who wanted to attract the lady"s attention. She paid no attention to them. With a single disapproving glance, she instantly calmed down the home-grown womanizers.
It was quite a sight to watch four boys quietly reading books when three of them were a far cry from intellectuals. They could hardly read, anyway. Each word took them about a minute to understand. They"d better go home and do some push-ups or something of a kind. And those were the descendants of direct blood... Shame.
Laurel shook his head and continued reading.
The frequent rustling of pages irritated the girl more and more. She frowned in annoyance, and the two new guys, sensitive to any of her reactions, immediately came to the right conclusion and headed towards Kyon. However, their "enemy" took out a diamond token at the very last moment and defiantly wiped it from dust. The friends tensed and left the room, allegedly to the little boys" room, nothing else. It was so embarra.s.sing. What if the beauty thought they had a small bladder?! Anyway, they didn"t want any problems with someone of the 1st rank in the Stone family...
Kyon reached for another book when suddenly he felt a powerful spiritual pressure, not inferior to Kara"s. It fell upon him like an avalanche. The girl in black was obviously the source of the pressure. She was reading quietly at the moment.
When she heard, or rather stopped hearing the annoying rustle of the pages, the young lady looked up from her book for a second and looked at the boy. She expected to see a funny scene: the boy she wanted to bleed, had wet his pants or at least collapsed from fear. However, she saw a smile on his face and an evil light in his eyes instead. He looked like a child who had found the long-awaited picture! The book in his hands had a long and frightening t.i.tle "The legendary serial maniacs: Ford Night, the b.l.o.o.d.y architect, Doca II, the pedophile queen, and others."
The girl was puzzled. She did not understand anything. Why was he ignoring her pressure? Was he enjoying the picture of dissected bodies or was she imagining things? He didn"t even turn pale!
Kyon stopped looking at the picture and rustled the pages with even greater enthusiasm as if he had come here to read this very book.
Kyon was well aware that he was acting irrationally, emotionally. He dared to play with fire in the shape of a beautiful girl with a high level of development, who had G.o.ds know what on her mind. And yet, Kyon had several reasons to ignore her threat. Firstly, he had a high-rank token. Whoever was this girl, whose power was equal to Kara"s, she wouldn"t harm him. She could scare him, max. Secondly, the girl was insolent enough to start first. If anyone else was in his place, he would wet his pants and have nightmares many nights in a row. He had no reason to be polite in response to her att.i.tude. The case with Kirsan taught Kyon a lot. Thirdly, she was in the way of his goal to study quickly the books in the library. Fourth, she was beautiful, but it would go against Laurel"s moral principles to bend over backwards for her...
He often got into situations like this and regretted that he was not a cold, rational machine to fulfill his goals. On the other hand, if he didn"t have his weakness for beauty and wouldn"t be who he was. Synergy would not have favored him, and he would never have appeared in this world.
The girl"s patience had its limits. She finished reading, got up from her place and put the book in its place. The four boys, madly in love and just as much stupid, followed her with their eyes. The girl looked for another book on the topic she was interested in.
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If the boys were not ignorant in history, they would have rushed to help her with to find the necessary book. But they did not want to expose themselves as idiots.
Kyon was just several steps away from the young lady. The air around filled with the delicate delightful aroma of her body. He couldn"t smell any perfume or shampoo. Was she really from a n.o.ble family? Kyon had never met a high-born person who didn"t smell of various cream, perfume or oil. He felt the atmosphere around the stranger cool down to several degrees. His heart shuddered as if pierced with an icy needle. His senses weakened a notch. Depression appeared in the air, his mood dropped, his emotions withered. But Kyon ignored this feeling, imposed on him from the outside. He took the book that the girl had recently returned to the shelf and began leafing through it.
As soon as the young lady found another suitable book and headed to her secluded place, she heard his murmur: «Richard Clinton... I guess a more pathetic and weak-willed general does not exist.» - The annoying boy muttered and put the book that he already scanned, back to the shelf, shaking his head in disappointment.
"In fact, he is a recognized hero of the empire." - The girl voiced the obvious truth. Everyone, who knew a thing or two in history, would confirm it. This book described several of his great exploits that she enjoyed reading. She regretted what she had said at once. The kid must have read the t.i.tle and blurted out the first nonsense that came to his mind. It wasn"t worth answering him. She returned to her table with a straight face.
Her calm, pleasant voice, like a faint whisper of the autumn wind, excited the four descendants of direct blood. It made them jealous of the boy.
Kyon was already leafing through the next book. He didn"t even look around at the source of the remark. He answered impa.s.sively and calmly:
«Christin, Goudini and Nicholas praise Richard for high heaven. But there"s a little coincidence, two honorable historians of the three come from the Clinton family. I will spit in the face of anyone who tells me that they are not interested in highlighting the merits of the first general, the pride of their family. Take his victory over the third army of demons twenty years ago.»
The beautiful girl froze before reaching her table. No matter how much she wanted to remain silent, the annoying boy"s comment had its logic and required an answer.
«Hundreds of thousands of soldiers witnessed that victory. If the historians dared to lie, they would be accused of disinformation, which would undoubtedly blemish the Clinton family.»
«Hundreds of thousands of soldiers served faithfully to their general for many years, they went through h.e.l.l on earth for him. Even if they heard the exaggeration of his achievements, they would not scream around that it was a lie. As for rare exceptions, n.o.body would listen to the. The powerful rule the world, and the winners write the history.»
The wise speech coming from the kid was confusing. The girl was convinced that the boy did not understand a thing about what he had just said. He must have heard a couple of clever phrases from his grandfather.
«The victory over the third army of demons was possible only thanks to Richard"s ingenious tactics. Anyway, he is a general and submits only to the Empress. Saying that he lacks of will or character is the height of folly, because this is the same as insulting the Empress herself. This conversation is over.» - The girl continued on her way to the table, paying no more attention to the young ignoramus.
The descendants of direct blood were in shock. The kid could attract the attention of the beautiful lady! They even exchanged a couple of phrases! Why didn"t they learn history?! They wished they could talk with her like that... On the other hand, the boy had made a complete idiot of himself.
Kyon snorted dismissively.
«The naivete of some readers astounds me. I mean it. No one in their sane mind would believe that a hundred thousand demons made their way to the camp of people, under cover of night, without too much noise. There were hundred thousands of sleeping warriors in the camp, and no sentinel had raised the alarm. Then out of the blue, thousands of traps worked, thousands of poisoned needles flew out of the tents, killing two-thirds of the invading army. Even if the demons were mentally r.e.t.a.r.ded idiots, they would have sent a small group of a.s.sa.s.sins to kill the people, but not the whole army. And even the small group would have suspected something was wrong. All in all, it"s rather a fairy tale for children who do not have their own point of view, not a historical reference. As for general Richard, who had never refuted the lies, he can"t be considered a hero.» - Kyon finished dryly and picked up the next book.
The girl was hurt and outraged. She believed in the described events even if they did seem rather strange. But she knew nothing about tactics or strategies. The boy had rubbed the truth in her face.