Chapter 339

Over the course of the afternoon, I gave Vesta a rundown of the area—based on the observations I’d made under the pretense of gathering supplies earlier. By the time the last traces of sunlight had faded away, we’d pretty much finalized our plan, leaving us free to move on to slightly more interesting topics. From my exploring work with Al and Coco, I’d come to appreciate the unique pleasure of idle chatter with friends beside a campfire.

“So you’re saying you don’t have anything against the Dialemacks?” Vesta asked suspiciously.

The Stocklodes—Vesta’s family—weren’t regular nobles, but belonged to a subset of the aristocracy known as the gentry. Unlike barons or viscounts, who received their titles directly from the royal family, the rank of “gentry” was given to those who’d sworn allegiance to one of said regular noble families—though the privilege to do so was only granted to dukes, marquesses, and counts. There was no limit to the number of gentry titles a noble family could bestow, but given that the title did come with considerable financial obligations, there weren’t a huge number of gentried families throughout Yugria. In terms of social standing, a gentryman ranked lower than a baron, the lowest rank of the standard nobility. However, if one was to compare the actual influence a backwater, bankrupt baron had with that of a gentryman whose family had loyally served a marquess for generation after generation... Well, it went without saying who had more sway in Yugrian society.

The Stocklodes were a gentried family under the Dialemacks, thus explaining Vesta’s interest in my possible dislike of the marquesal family. “Anything against them? I don’t have any opinion on them at all. I completely forgot the whole thing even happened...”

“The whole thing,” as I’d put it, referred to the incident when Rudio von Dialemack—a rather unpleasant second-year student—had attempted to join the Hill Path Club. Well, he’d attempted to take over the club, to put things more accurately. I’d found his demands and threats entirely ridiculous and thus had completely ignored him, something he clearly hadn’t been particularly pleased about. As it turned out, he’d apparently been misusing his influence to mess with club applications behind the scenes, which explained why there’d been minimal second-year or Dialemack Region applicants until well after I’d “passed” Godolphen’s challenge. Fey had tried to encourage me to “knock Rudio down a few pegs, or let me do it for you,” whereas Jewel had suggested we “crush him like a bug, perhaps?” but I’d firmly put a stop to their uncomfortably enthusiastic bloodlust. At the time I was still smack-dab in the middle of Godolphen’s challenge, and the number of club members was already getting out of hand, so to be honest I was feeling pretty thankful toward good old Rude.

Vesta laughed. “All those times he stood around watching us practice, I thought you were just ignoring him... You didn’t even remember who he was? He’s furious with you, Allen.”

I smiled awkwardly. “Come to think of it—you’re not in trouble or anything? You’ve been in the club right from the start...” It seemed strange that Vesta would be able to defy Rude’s wishes, given that—as the “von” in his name implied—the second-year student was the official head of the family Vesta’s was sworn to serve.

“Not at all. My orders from Rudio’s father, Marquess Romario Dialemack, were to focus on building relationships with other powerful families as my highest priority. Think about it from your family’s point of view, Allen, if you were in my position. Do you think your father would pass up the opportunity to gain favor with not only the Dragoons, but also the Seizingers and the Reverences, by allowing you to leave the club? Plus, if I was the only member of Class 1-A who wasn’t in the Hill Path Club, it would be a social death sentence.”

“Huh. But Rude’s the current head of the Dialemack family, isn’t he? Are you allowed to listen to what the marquess tells you to do if the guy with the ‘von’ is saying the complete opposite?” I asked out of curiosity, receiving a dumbfounded stare in return.

“I’ll never understand you, Allen... Sometimes it seems like you’re completely ignorant when it comes to things everyone else would consider common knowledge,” he said, shaking his head. “The ‘von’ marks Rudio as the future marquess. His succession is basically guaranteed, unless something goes horribly wrong. But when someone our age is granted their family’s ‘von’ it’s almost always just a strategic decision—a way for them to seem more influential in a school like the Royal Academy, for example. In reality, Marquess Dialemack still holds all the power. It’s pretty much the same for Fey and the others. When it comes to politics, there’s a big difference between being a candidate for the future head of a family and being the head of a family, even if only in name. Of course, bequeathing the ‘von’ to someone our age isn’t risk free. There’s countless examples of it going poorly in the past. In a school like ours, though, the additional influence it brings is nearly always worth the risk—and when your child gets into the Royal Academy, their future inheritance is pretty much set in stone anyway, so it makes perfect sense to set them up for success.”

I guess that makes sense...

It was all new information to me, but my family was about as far removed from politics and power struggles as nobles could be, and I had absolutely no interest in throwing my hat into the ring for my father’s title. I’d simply never needed to learn about any of this inheritance stuff—though that meant I’d overlooked some “common knowledge,” as Vesta had put it.

“Still, that kinda sucks for you, doesn’t it? Sure, you’re just following the current boss’s orders, but you’re doing it right under your future boss’s nose. Rude’s probably not too pleased about that, I’d bet.”