Chapter 8: Crazy Hierarchical Society
Crazy Hierarchical Society
Should I say that I was lucky that I decided to sleep instead of entering the palace like usual on the day that my horn was growing.
Reason being having a horn gave me higher status and was a sign of me graduating from being a Hornless(Child), the process seems to takes quite some time.
To be exact, I gained a lesser knight(esquire) rank just by growing my horn.
The Demon kingdom had a slightly, crazy hierarchical society, almost every demon had rank. You'll become a lesser knight once you grow your horn, knight once you become fifteen years old, quasi-baron, baron, viscount once you gained special contribution in the battlefield was what I'm referring to as crazy.
Their status wasn't gained from territory or house, they still gained status even if they're not the eldest son, even the demon king's children had to start from the bottom and raise their status with their own capabilities, that point alone made them completely different from the human race.
And then, their rank was directly connected to the chain of command in the battle. It goes without saying that the one who reigned from the top was the Demon King.
For the demon race who love standing above the others and hate being ordered, they had to shed blood everyday to raise their peerage
By the way, the races other than the demon race were also granted with peerage.
Night elf or dragon was granted 1st class citizenship. There might be high ranking undead who gave their pledge to the demon king. Leader class of the beastmen(Such as king of beastmen or patriarch).
As for the devils, they received the same treatment as the demon race.
Me? I'm a baron.
It was study time. Sofia told me so with a flat voice devoid of any interest as she was correcting my demon race letter's writing.
You don't seems to care about it.
I'm not a combat type devil, to begin with, I'm not even interested in those titles. You will find it out really easily just by looking around which devil is the true combat specialist.
That's reasonable.
Devils were directly connected with strength and magical power. After my horn was growing, I could tell something along the lines of This guy is weaker than Sofia or This guy is stronger than Sofia.
Thus, the demon race who grew their horn was the self-evident of the devils. Meaning that a small devil who raised their peerage to viscount by collecting a lot of merit could boast that their peerage was higher than Sofia. Not that I ever heard of that kind of small devil though.
Nevertheless, if everyone in the demon race can raise their peerage, isn't that going to cause a problem with the inheritance of the demon king throne?
Uhm? Can you be more elaborate with your question?
Suppose that someone reaches the rank of Archduke, the highest peerage below Demon King, doesn't that mean everyone has the chance to claim the throne? the crown contest must be really messy though.
It seems you have yet to understand that point. Now let me to ask you, is there any problem with that?
My hand stopped moving the moment Sofia asked that question.
I see, Demon King rank had nothing to do with blood connection huh.
In short, anyone with enough strength could become the Demon King. They didn't mind no matter how much of a mess was caused by such a situation That looks like a crazy hierarchical society from the point of view of a former human like me.
Even the current Demon King, Your Father, except for those who pledge absolute obedience from the bottom of their heart, he executed everyone from the other faction and raised to the throne built from a mountain of corpses including his own siblings.
Sofia said those words as if that was a trivial matter.
I mean, only someone who survived such fierce struggle can get the full control of the selfish demon race, Jilbagias-sama.
I see, no one is going to follow a weak person, is it?
Yes. No one can claim the throne without proof called Demon King's Spear.
That Spear huh.
I recalled my fight against the Demon King.
It looks like a boorish, simple obsidian spear. But no doubt about it, it was an extremely terrifying, enchanted item. It could easily punch a hole into our shield which had been enchanted with numerous layers of charms and prayers as if it was nothing more than a piece of paper. Even the all out attack of my sword saint comrade couldn't leave a scratch on it.
What is that, Demon King's Spear?
I tried to ask the Devil of knowledge in front of me about the true form of that terrifying weapon.
Ah, come to think of it, I haven't explained that part to you huh. No wonder Jilbagias-sama is also wanting to know about it since it's natural existence for the demon race.
Sofia hit the palm of her hand as if realizing something and then gleefully started the explanation.
The spear that was inherited by His Majesty, the Demon King is basically the first Demon King, RaohgiasIn other words, your grandfather Enchanted spear created with his own life.
With his own life, eh.
That sounds a lot like what the dwarf did.
Just like dwarven's True Strike. Once in their lifetime, the dwarves, the race whose blacksmithing skill sublimated into magic, could create an extremely terrifying magic weapon in which they pour their entire soul in it.
That's it! Corre how do you know about it?
Sofia who replied so upon hearing my muttering was looking puzzled right now.
Oh shi*t. I'm supposed to act like I don't know anything that she didn't teach me yet! And this devil before me was the one who controlled all of my curriculum!!
I read it, in the book.
In desperation, I replied with whatever first came to mind.
Different from the old me. The current me had properly learned demon race letters, human race letters, and currently learning elven race letters. I even read books, who knows how many books I had already read at this point. And thanks to my young body, I could pretty much learn anything.
Ironically, it was thanks to the devil's education that I changed from someone who hates studying to someone who loves studying
Ah, the history book that you read 371 days ago does have a description about dwarf races. It isn't explained in detail but, it seems you read the book properly, huh.
Sofia was looking in the air, nodding as if she understood it.
SAfeeeee. Seriously, this fella even remembers what I read!
I might be doomed this time if there was no description about dwarf race in the book that I read!!
Let's stop muttering something that came out into my mind like that again in the future.
Well we're strayed from the topic. So, can you continue?
Yes. You're absolutely right Jilbagias-sama, Demon King's Spear is enchanted weapon. The first demon king gained the power of Soul Eater after making a pact with a devil.
So that's the origin of the demon king's incredible strength, Soul Eater's heretic art.
Our pan humanity alliance was aware of that name but its true nature was wrapped in mystery. The Human race had no way to infiltrate the demon kingdom to conduct secret investigations, thus barely aware of the domestic situation in this place.
I urged Sofia to continue while surpressing my rising heartbeat.
Soul Eater is the authority of devil Cannibal, it's magic that converts the soul of the prey eaten by it into magical power. And then, with that magic, the first demon king used almost all of his mana to create Demon King's Spear so that its holder can inherit that ability.
That isolated demon king's power.
And that soul eater's heretic arts.
Everything was due to that spear huh!
Thus, the demon king's contest is literally the contest to become the spear's wielder. There's zero meaning in just holding it. Only after one survived the competition, and slaughter did one gain the right to wield the spear and gain control over all retainers.
Honestly, the inside of my mouth was parched.
To sum it up.
Then
Though I swore just a while ago to not speak too much, I couldn't help but want to ask a question.
In a chance that spear is lost things will get, really messy, right?
Correct.
Sofia nodded.
In the case, that spear is lost Without King that wields great power, the demon race's unity is pretty much a pipe dream.
I noticed that there was some sort of sarcasm in her voice when she said those words.
But then, I doubt someone in this world has strong enough power to destroy that spear. I mean, it's enchanted with the devil's authority and the crystallization of the first demon king's soul you know? In the first place, His majesty Demon King is always carrying it around with him, destroying that spear is pretty much impossible at this point.
I don't care about that.
Yeah, I don't fu*cking care.
Even if it was impossible, I was definitely going to Destroy that spear.
I found the weakness of the demon kingdom. That was plenty enough for the current me.
Oh right! There's a book that telling the details about this. It's written by His Highness, first Demon King himself.
Sofia suddenly loosened the buttons of the che*st part of her butler attire, and pulling out a jumbo-sized, dictionary-like book.
WHERE ARE YOU TAKING OUT THAT BOOK FROM!?
My body is a library you know.
A LIBRARY!?
I KNOW THAT THEY'VE NO FLESH BUT, THIS IS TOO MUCH RIGHT!!
I received the book while still half bewildered after seeing Sofia's action.
It was a simple book with sturdy binding without any ornament or whatsoever.
Written on its cover was an equally plain title.
Chronicles of the Demon King's Founding Nation.