Four days later, Kahn and the Caravan finally came closer to the outer areas of the capital.
During their travels, Szayel told him a lot about his background which made Kahn feel happy about his choice to save the heir of the Vandereich clan.
The reason why Szayel was ambushed was because currently, their faction held the most positions in the Finance Ministry and under the order of his father, he was to be sent on a secret visit to backtrack a money-laundering scam that could potentially reveal many government officials; and their corrupt businesses done by misusing their power & authority.
Although the Rakos Empire was under an Oligarchy in the past hundred years, it wasn't about oppressing people and using fear to rule. In a way, the three factions kept each other on their tiptoes before any of them tried to misuse their power or take over the empire.
The citizens weren't persecuted, ostracized or shunned in any way just because they belonged to a particular race or a species.
Even for humans, Kahn had seen plenty of black, brown, white & even some yellow-colored skin tone people. The thing called Racism hadn't fucked up this empire at least.
And to his delight, misogynistic practices or misconceptions of society were non-existent.. Women were not looked down on just because they were… women. Every part of the society had a place for them as long as one was capable.
Everyone was treated equally under the law.
Although there were some factions and extremist groups who still carried these beliefs such as the supremacy of one race over another, treated those below their standings as slaves or biased beliefs against particular skin color. The vast majority completely overshadowed them.
Based on the information Kahn heard from Szayel & Albestros, many reformations happened to this empire, many wars and coups were done in the past one thousand years ever since this empire came to be. Many things such as slavery system and segregation against a particular race or species had resulted in many civil wars and caused too much bloodshed over the millennium.
And hence, when the Imperial family was overthrown, all the clans that lived to see through the day from the old eras reached a combined consensus to create new laws.
Although they weren't perfect, the power of the people hadn't been taken away in the name of maintaining law & order by ruling authorities. Even though the majority of government sectors were run by noble factions, there was no rule that a commoner wasn't allowed to aim for top positions. As long as they had the capabilities, no one could hinder their growth.
Unlike many Isekai worlds, education was an institution available to every citizen and part of society.
Even the Noble clans who ran amok in a place like Flavot city wouldn't dare to get noticed by the people living in the capital. Because the public alone would force the government to take action instantly.
In his case, Kahn felt lucky because Rakos Empire wasn't under a Theocracy. Otherwise, he'd be hunted down by the cults and churches of the other Gods & Goddesses they served as soon as he arrived in this world. God of Darkness had indeed sent him to the best location available that'd help him grow.
From Albestros, he learned that the capital itself was nearly 53 times bigger than Flavot city and the way of lifestyle was like a difference between the ground and the sky.
When Kahn and the company finally reached 10 kilometers away from the main entrance gates, he stood on a hillside road and was gobsmacked..
"This is a capital? Why don't they call it a state itself?" asked Kahn in a bewildered tone.
From where he stood, Kahn could see nearly 40 of different roads going towards the entrances of the gate. A single gate itself was two kilometers broad and more than a few thousand guards managed the entrance at different bisections. At this moment, he could see at least 50 thousand people comprised of different races and physical appearances going inside and outside of the main gates. Dozens gigantic magical cannons that were even bigger than Rudra were mounted on the 500 meters tall wall that felt like they touched the sky..
"What are these supposed to protect you from? Titans?" he asked himself. These walls even put Wall Maria to shame. Even Colossal Titan wouldn't dare to appear close to these magical and metallic cannons that seemed to have the capacity to obliterate an entire big mountain with a single shot.
Above the gates, he saw the gigantic words introducing the name of the capital.. Rathna.
Named after the first emperor, Rathnaar.
What bewildered him more were the magical ships flying in the air as if some starship suddenly came from Outerspace, the only difference was they were made from wood and different metal alloys. Some even had the capacity of carrying over a thousand people at once.
And there were also dozens of railway tracks that entered the capital with their own routes apart from the gates. The magic trains that entered the separate burrows had engines that ran on magic cores and were made to transport over two thousand people at once. And that too regardless of their size and shapes.
And a flock of giant flying beasts such as Griffons, Manticores and some arctic felines with wings were also part of these traveling groups towards the capital as part of transportation mode. There were airports inside the walls based on where you wanted to land.
This was no longer a standard medieval setting like Kahn had seen in the Flavot city. Rather a completely different and far advanced civilization.
Kahn felt like he suddenly went from living inside Gotham and moved to Wakanda.
"What the hell is up with this disparity? Was I living in a small and remote village?" questioned Kahn.
[This is a completely different setting. As if the Author finally did some research in World Building.] he complained after getting overwhelmed by the new revelation.
And this was just one of the 17 entrances.
"Don't get scared, kid. I know it's a lot to take in. But the amount of resources such as magic cores the capital has is in abundance. They are basically used for everything here. And the commerce here is thousands of times bigger compared to our old city. Everyone who sees it for the first time loses their mind; I was no exception." spoke Albestros after watching Kahn's flabbergasted expression.
Kahn quickly changed his continuance to that of understanding instead of staring at the gates like a country bumpkin.
"This.. It is out of my expectations or how I imagined it to be." replied Kahn.
"Ha.. So Sir Kahn has never been to the capital before?" asked Szayel with a smug expression and irked Kahn. He was being looked down upon.
"Brat, do you not want to reach your clan headquarters alive?" asked Kahn as he gave Szayel a deathly stare.
"I mean.. It's just the entrance. There are 87 Districts in the capital altogether. Each of the district is as big as a city itself." spoke Szayel..
[Bloody hell. Does this mean the capital alone is 5 times bigger than New York?] he contemplated.
He felt a sudden foreboding of doom. Because this was just the entrance. What awaited him inside the walls would blow his mind away.
Based on his calculations.. The capital itself was at least 2700 kilometers long.
[And if this is just the capital, how big is Rakos Empire altogether? If that's just one empire.. Then what about the other 14 empires?] Kahn's brain short-circuited and he sat on his seat.
"Hey.. What's the total population number?" he asked the vampire heir.
"Close to hundred and ten million, give or take." replied Szayel solemnly as if it was a common thing to know.
"What the fuck?! How many people does your clan have then? I'm not talking about the entire faction." questioned Kahn.
"Our Vandereich clan has around 5 million members. And one million are trained fighters. Why do you ask?"
"You gotta be kidding me. If that's the case, then why were you escorted by only 300 warriors? Your envoy should've consisted of at least 10 thousand people. And why were you using carriages? You could've hired one of these flying ships." rebuked Kahn as he found the information simply illogical.
"I was on a secret mission, sir. And contrary to what you may believe, not everyone can use magic; let alone invoke a fighting class. And out of one million, there are barely 100 people who can reach the rank of a Grandmaster Rank in their lifetimes. And lesser numbers for Saint Rank fighters. Even my Grandfather is only a 7th stage Saint. And he's one of the 3 strongest people in the entire empire.
The only person who ever reached the Peak Saint Rank in the past millennia in this empire was the first emperor, Rathnaar the Conqueror.
Someone like you who reached Semi-Saint Rank at such a young age is one in millions. Even my father reached the same rank when he was fifty. And now he's a 4th stage Saint Rank warrior after living for a hundred and fifty year, currently he holds the position as the leader of our clan." clarified Szayel.
"Wait.. Then how old are you?" asked Kahn curiously..
"58 years.. Sadly I'm only a Peak Master Rank Magician." revealed Szayel in an embarrassed tone.
Kahn was rooted on the spot again. This was a lot to take in. The one he was calling a brat was old enough to be his father..
And if this Szayel was right.. Then the first Emperor was someone who could destroy a thousand kilometer area just with his single attack. And he was only a Peak Saint Rank.
Kahn didn't dare to imagine what a Demi-God could do based on these superficial standards.
He cursed in his mind and spoke to himself.
[Fuck this shit! I don't want to play this game anymore!]
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Author : I know this is basically an info dump but I think of you as smart readers who have a creative imagination. And I don't want to spend chapters explaining the same thing over and over which will bore you to death.
So I refrained from doing too many detailed descriptions of everything regarding political & social structures and the entrance to Rathna.