The Tamer Monarch
Chapter 56: Politics (2)

Chapter 56: Politics (2)

Athar did not speak. He could not come up with an answer to this problem. What did the empire hope to achieve by this? He had no idea.

"Athar," Angelica pulled him out of his stupor.

"This is a subtle message from the empire to the masses," she continued. "It is an indirect way of asking them to value what they have been privileged to receive."

"If eggs were so freely available and everyone among the masses had access to them, who would truly value the opportunity they have been given?" she pressed. "To them, it would be nothing special. A common occurrence. Something ordinary."

"But by sacrificing a few of the boys, the empire establishes that the opportunity they have received is sacred. Something only the fortunate deserve, and they better value it."

"But Master," Athar interjected, "this logic does not seem very sound."

"I did not say it is the correct method," Angelica shook her head. "I only stated what the empire believes."

"This way, or any other, has its own pros and cons, Athar. Nothing is black and white. Nothing is absolutely true or absolutely false."

"I can show you dozens of examples in this academy alone, where children from common backgrounds are working extremely hard. Some are doing it because their parents buried themselves in debt just so their only child could get a bronze grade egg instead of the iron grade they could have actually afforded."

"Someone is working hard because his mother chose not to buy the resources that would have helped her upgrade her own beast. Instead, she spent all her crystals on her son."

Athar nodded in understanding. He could relate to that feeling. He, too, came from such a background, worse than most, and he worked hard because he knew what it felt like to be at the bottom. He was willing to climb, to push forward, because he never wanted to feel helpless again. But not every student was like him.

"Master," he said again, "but not everyone is poor. There are people for whom the cost of a silver-grade egg means nothing."

"True," she agreed. "But would not they aim for gold grade? Or even platinum?"

Athar was caught off guard by the remark. It was true. Everyone wanted to reach beyond what their current status allowed.

"But above silver grade," Angelica added, "crystals are not the main problem."

"Gold grade eggs are rare. They cannot be bought with just money. You need power and connections just to get the opportunity to spend your crystals. Platinum grade eggs are even rarer. Only those at the very top can even hope to access them."

Athar nodded. He had not known that.

"Well, I would not go into too much detail," she said. "Vale will handle egg nurturing and speak about their availability and scarcity in his class. Then you will understand the true value of a gold grade egg or even a platinum grade one."

"Though he might be a scumbag and a dog serving someone else," she added with a smirk, "he does a fine job teaching."

At the mention of Vale, Athar could not hold back his curiosity any longer.

"Master," he asked, "who is running this extortion network? And why does the academy stay silent about it, even when it knows?"

"Athar," Angelica sighed, "I could tell you but you are too weak to know such things right now."

"Gain some strength, and you will earn the qualification to learn a few secrets."

"And this too is part of politics," she added. "The headmaster of this academy, Edward, is the strongest person in the entire city. Yet even he has no choice but to keep his eyes shut."

"Because politics is involved."

"Apart from this, in an elite household," she continued, "there are a lot of issues."

"I would rather say that their life is more treacherous and they are more prone to danger than a common man," she added.

"A brother may want to kill his own brother because he might not want to share the wealth of his family with someone. I have seen people imprisoning or even killing their own fathers, just because they did not like a trade deal that their father made. Because they were not in favour of the new alliance that their fathers were trying to create. Because they were not willing to wait any longer to accumulate all the power in their hands."

"You might be a king, a mayor or a minister," she added. "You will have politics, treachery, betrayal, lies and deceit surrounding you."

Though there was not much change in Athar’s expression, inwardly he was shocked. He had not expected all these things happening in the outside world. He truly was an ignorant fellow.

Angelica and Athar remained silent for the next few moments. She wanted the gravity of her words to sink before she continued.

"Athar," she continued, "there is another thing you should know. And though it is too early for you, I believe it would be better if you realized this sooner rather than later."

Athar gave a curious nod, and Angelica continued.

"I just said that the empire spends a vast sum of resources on running academies in nearly every city. A significant portion of the taxes collected is pumped into this education system. But why does it do so?"

"Is it because the empire is benevolent? Kind? Because it cares for its subjects and wants the masses to receive proper guidance? Or is there some other purpose involved?"

Athar, by now, and from the way Angelica had framed the question had come to understand that everything had political motives in one way or another. There was no way the empire would invest so much without a deeper reason.

"Think about this question," she said. "But let us come to a more specific one. Something you have experienced yourself."

"What do you think was the real purpose behind the resource gathering and monster hunting camp?" she asked.

"To train students," Athar answered hesitantly.

"And train them in exactly what?" Angelica pressed.

"To deal with beasts... to survive in the forest," he replied.

"True, to an extent," she agreed. "But what do you think was the highlight of the camp?"

Then it clicked in Athar’s mind, something he had sensed back then but had dismissed.

"Cooperation in large numbers," he said. "All that fence building fiasco, which had no real purpose, the collection of water and food, everything. We were being trained to cooperate with one another."

"I had felt something was off. It had felt weird at that moment," he added. "But I had not picked up on it clearly..."

"Exactly," Angelica nodded with a smile. "The empire is not just providing education to students. It is moulding you all to become their future soldiers."

"They are not training students; they are preparing an army," she said, "an army which would be willing to die on their mere command."

Athar’s eyes widened in surprise. Just how many shocks was he going to receive today?

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