Chapter 187 - 183: Royal Commanded
Miku took Ryder to the Library of the Royal Palace.
She also showed him around the library and helped him choose the best books when it came to the hierarchy of the Demon Realm.
By the time Miku stopped choosing the book, Ryder had realized that there were over 50 books in her hand.
He couldn't help but smile wryly at the impossible thought of reading the books.
Miku placed all the 50 books on the table.
"Ahh, Is this all?" Ryder asked her.
"Not really. This is the most basic stuff that I chose to help you get the most basic idea. After reading the basics, you can start with the complex stuff about the inner workings of everything," Miku replied.
"50 books of basics? Really?" Ryder let out with a wry smile on his face.
"Forget it. I don't have that much time to read. Bring me a blank paper and a pen along with a map of Demon Realm," Ryder told her, shaking his head. He realized that it was much difficult to gain in-depth knowledge from books without attaining a skill related to it because he lacked the time. He decided to only learn the basics of the basics with the help of Miku.
Miku walked away while Ryder sat on the chair near the books.
He casually opened one of the books and saw some strange symbols that he didn't understand. He closed the book and started to wait for Miku to come back.
Miku came back after some time with a few blank papers, a pen, and a map of the Demon Realm.
She gave the map to Ryder and placed the papers and the pen on the table.
"Alright. Move the books to the side," Ryder told her as he started unfolding the map, which was way bigger than he had expected.
Even though the map was compressed, it was still bigger than Ryder.
Miku picked up the books and placed them on another table while Ryder placed the unfolded map on the table before him.
He picked up the paper and the pen.
He wrote the word 'king' on the top of the paper.
"Alright. We'll start with the king. The highest in the hierarchy is, of course, the king who possesses all the powers. I know about that. What comes after the king? Who has a higher position? A prince or a High Duke?" Ryder asked Miku.
"A High Duke and a Royal Prince are said to have a similar position. Both of them are important for the Empire."
Ryder drew two lines from the word of King that he wrote on the paper. One of the lines went southeast while the other line went Southwest.
He wrote Prince at the end of the southwest line and High Duke at the end of the other line.
"High Dukes don't have any land. They are like great elders of the Kingdom who are assigned to keep the kingdom safe. They don't have to worry about the land. Also, High Dukes have the power to kill anyone in the kingdom who they believe is putting the kingdom in danger, except people from the royal lineage."
Miku started talking about the powers associated with High Dukes.
"Interesting, So High Dukes can kill Dukes if they think they have a valid reason, and they can't be punished," Ryder muttered with a thoughtful look on his face.
"Yes. They don't have land or anything, but they hold more power and authority than Dukes. If they want, they can also take the Dukedom of a Duke in control. Also, High Dukes are authorized to hold their own army. Their Armies are just like our Royal Army, but while the Royal Army is only assigned to protect the Royals in the Royal City and the borders of our Kingdom, the armies of the High Dukes are responsible for keeping peace in the land outside the Royal City."
Miku kept talking about the High Duke's powers, which sometimes surprised Ryder, especially the army thing.
" There's also one more thing. Even though High Dukes are allowed to hold Personal Armies, their army needs to be smaller than the Royal Army. They can only have twenty percent of the people in their army when compared to the Royal Army."
"That's good. I guess they did put some thought into it," Ryder muttered as he heard the second part.
Ryder made another line below the High Duke.
"The Dukes should be after the High Dukes in the hierarchy," Ryder muttered as he wrote Dukes at the end of the line.
"Yes, I'll talk about the hierarchy of the High Duke side first. After that, I'll talk about the hierarchy on your side," Miku nodded her head.
"Dukes are lower in position than High Dukes. They are assigned to rule over small portions of land called dukedom," Miku replied.
"I understand that. We have the same thing back home. They are like managers that handle the land for the King since the King can't personally take care of every portion of the land," Ryder muttered.
"Yes, they are responsible for keeping the populace happy in their dukedom and convey to the higher-ups if their dukedom lacks anything or if there is any problem,"
"They can also hold a small army, but their Armies can only be 5 percent of a High Duke's army in size. They can kill anyone in their Dukedom that is lower than them in the hierarchy as long as they feel a threat to the peace and the prosperity of the land."
Ryder nodded his head.
"After that comes marquis who handles the smaller portions of the Dukedom. They are lower than the Dukes. They can't hold armies. The Dukes assign their armies to help the Marquis and keep peace in the land,"
Miku kept talking about them and the ones lower in the hierarchy for the next hour.
"And lastly, Village heads. They are assigned to handle the villages. They are selected from the villagers. Some villages are weak, and they have weak village heads as well. I heard that some of our village heads are only as strong as the three-year-olds in our Royal City," Miku let out.
"Three-year-olds?" Ryder muttered with a wry smile on his face as he remembered how proud he was after defeating a village head when he first arrived in the Demon Realm.
"Now we get to your side of the spectrum," Miku let out.
"You, as the Crown Prince, have the authority to command the Royal army to do anything other than declaring war on anyone. You would need the majority permission of High Dukes for that, or you can use the Royal Command to force them to agree," Miku explained.