Capítulo 6: The Militant Syndicate
The place was relaxing and satisfyingly quiet, as expected from a library. Although it wasn't the biggest library Arthur had ever been seen, it was nonetheless peaceful and a fitting place to educate himself and learn about different cultures and the world in general, which was exactly what he came here to do.
The old library, smelling of old books and parchments, had a few tall walls of ancient volumes and dusty disorderly books, though most had become some sort of a decoration to set the scene. The broad morning light did not reach the room. Instead, it was the hanging magical lanterns that illuminated the two-tired walls- making the atmosphere cozy and suitable for prolonged reading.
Arthur, still possessing the hunchback old man, came to the library at the break of dawn. He ate some tasteless bread and rushed here, eager to finally educate himself. He just could not continue living here without having basic general knowledge about the world, laws, and whatnot.
Thus did he come to Lakomt Library, which was essentially the local library in Wilsden town, and the only one in this region, apparently.
Thanks to the little bit of money Latif had owned, Arthur had no trouble feeding himself or entering the library. Fortunately, Latif wasn't a criminal or wanted by the authorities, nonetheless, Arthur didn't remove his hood, clearly preferring to move around inconspicuously.
With nothing urgent or particular to do, the parasite spent the entirety of the morning reading books. There was a big stack of books lying in front of him, and even when he finally stood up and prepared to leave, the stack had only gotten bigger. Though he wasn't technically human, he still felt hunger and thirst, forcing him to reluctantly leave the library and return to the tavern.
After more than five hours of incessant reading, Arthur had a good grasp of the world he was in… Astria.
There was no explicit detail about the position of Astria in the infinite universe, leaving Arthur wondering whether it existed in the milky way galaxy or not. Additionally, none of the books described Astria as a planet… no, it was already a well-known fact that Astria was what its inhabitants call a 'World'. In essence, Astria was flat but unimaginably huge, though most of it was absurd volumes of waters, split into different named and nameless seas and oceans.
In total, there existed four main pieces of land in Astria; The Human Continent, The Itas Continent, the Northern Continent, and the Western Continent.
'First was the Human Continent, the second largest piece of land, ruled by many governments and kingdoms, but there were three notable ones. The first was the Militant Syndicate, which controlled the central part of the continent, mainly the Archwood Region, the Hollow Creek Region, and the Ember Lands.
The second power was the Despot Collective of the Southern Marshes. Although it had strong armies under its command, the Despot Collective was ruled by a cruel tyrant and a bunch of not-so-intelligent nobles, or so the books proclaimed.
Lastly was the Global Empire of Azakin, situated North of the continent and, presumably, the one with the strongest military force.
Arthur also read about the Holy Church, which had countless religious believers and, likewise, had a decent number of armies and individuals involved in politics.
Of course, the things he had read about were mostly superficial but were enough for now, at least.
Second, the Western Continent, the largest piece of land in Astria. It was described as a barren land, filled with tribal wars and savagery. Though it was often referred to as a wasteland, the North sector of the Western Continent housed the Dwarves, who, a hundred years ago, built a glorious city and established the Dwarven Confederate. The South of the continent, however, was in shambles, filled with corpses and rivers of blood, so many rumors claim that it was cursed by the wrathful gods.
Third, the Itas Continent, also known as the Eastern Continent. Housing the legendary World Tree, a sacred, almost god-like entity to the Elven Race. Forests covered ninety percent of the Itas Continent while the other ten percent were stretching green plains that were home to the Fae Race.
Last but not least was the Northern Continent, commonly referred to as the Demon Continent. It was the smallest one and was filled with long mountain ranges and ancient underground ruins. With the exception of its southern and central regions, the rest of it remained unexplored and infested with dangerous beasts, including the mighty dragons. As a matter of fact, Uradyr, the Ice Dragon, had been living there for a long while.
In addition to the world knowledge he had learned about, Arthur read a bit about Astria's currency, which actually did not differ from one country to the other, at least not by a lot.
Basically, the Militant Syndicate and the Global Empire of Azakin used the same currency; Blakin Bronze, Blakin Silver, Blakin Gold, and Blakin Platinium, all in the same size and the shape of a coin.
The Despot Collective, however, used something called Despot White Bronze, Despot Silver, and Despot Large Gold… which was something Arthur found dumb, especially the way they were named.
The conversion from Bronze to Silver, Silver to Gold, and so on, was relatively simple and easy to memorize. A hundred Blakin Bronze Coins (could also be called Bronze Coins or simply Bronze) were equivalent to one Blakin Silver, A hundred Silver were a Blakin Gold, and a thousand Blakin Gold would convert into one Blakin Platinium.
Comparatively, one Despot White Bronze wasequivalent to ten Blakin Bronze. One Despot Silver was ten Blakin Silver, one Despot Large Gold was, however, a hundred Blakin Gold.
But, as much as the Demon Race hated the Human race, they still used their currency when undertaking shady or secretive trading, or even within their Imperial Court.
Wilsden Town was a medium-sized settlement in the Archwood Region, South-East of the Human Continent, and part of the Militant Syndicate. In fact, Wilsden was part of Baron Lernon's territory and was under his management, as declared by the Syndicate's Aristocratic Consortium.
Arthur paid one whole Silver coin for a delicious meal consisting of grilled hot meat, sweet potatoes, a juicy and freshly-roasted chicken, and a Lemon Cake- which actually tasted sour and looked inedible. All in all, the food in here wasn't as bad as he had expected, the important thing was that he left satisfied and with a full stomach.
Before he returned to the library, he toured Wilden, which was neither too big nor too small. It was, more or less, one kilometer wide and split into two parts, a Commercial District and a Residential District.
The Commercial District was actually a two-way dirt road with building on both sides. There was a basic- and pretty shabby- Adventurer's Guild, and a moderately decorated Merchant Guild. The rest were houses, inns, and taverns.
The Residential District, however, was way fancier and restricted to nobility and wealthy individuals. The road was made of white stone with tall jet-black lamps every ten to twenty meters, providing ample illumination at night. The houses weren't just old buildings but actually, villas and manors that resembled old European Architecture.
There were no police in Wilsden but the Baron's Knights and the Militant Security did a great job in maintaining security and apprehending criminals or wanted figures. Also, the adventurers, sometimes, were hired to patrol the town and stop any criminal activity they stumble upon.
As Arthur wandered the town and checked every interesting thing his eyes landed on, he arrived at a secluded and gloomy area, reeking of piss and vomit. It was on the right side of the gates leading in and out of Wilsden, a circular area, adjacent to the well-constructed wall protecting the settlement.
With the hood covering his head and half of his face, he walked deeper into this suspicious place and soon spotted large and small cages, all filled with chained people. Even for Arthur, it wasn't hard to guess what sort of place this was.
The books he read had not mentioned slavery, nevertheless, with how medieval Astria looked and felt, it wasn't that surprising to see people do this. Of course, as someone who lived on Earth, he definitely did not condone slavery, but the circumstances are now different from back then, making him capable of watching and do nothing.
Those caged and helpless people had nothing to do with him… and as much as they looked pitiful, he would not go out of his way and risk his life for them. Not after what happened on Earth, not after what he had experienced. His life was too dear with him and no amount of pity or sympathy would change that.
Amongst the slaves, Arthur spotted a lot of beastmen, which looked like humans- that is- if you exclude their furry tails and ears. There were also elves too, though only a handful, and they looked much better than their counterpart.
As for humans, Arthur saw exactly three, all women and all with blond hair.
'Must be former nobles or something.' He thought as he scrutinized them for several seconds before moving on.
Only later will he find out that the Militant Syndicate did not prohibit slavery but actually encouraged it. Slaves were considered manpower and were essential for the economy of the Syndicate. The able men will be put to endless work in the mines and factories whereas the women are used as maids or sexual toys by the aristocracy, mostly.
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