Chapter 52: Bribeblood

“You seem very distracted,” Jiahai whispered to Zen.

They were both in one of their only classes that required them to be seated while the lecturer… lectured.

Jiahia noticed Zen’s far away look, not the usual drossy and bored look they would both have during such classes.

“Zen?”

Some form of recognition came into Zen’s eyes as he looked at his friend with a confused look, as if if he had woken up to someone staring at him. “Hmm?”

“I said you look distracted.”

“I’m always distracted in Weapon History class.”

“Well… more than usual today.”

They both kept quiet when the lecturer’s eyes swept over them while he talked. When the lecturer’s vigilance had passed they began to speak again.

“Hey Chu Jiahai, can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“What’s a bribeblood?”

Jiahia frowned and the silence between them seemed to materialise into something physical, separating them…

“Where did you hear that term?”

“Xu Hau,” Zen said. “That’s what she called me… my family.”

Jiahai turned his attention to the lecturer as did Zen. Their educator fell silent, watching them before continuing a moment later.

“Let’s speak about this after class,” Jiahai offered.

Zen nodded before pretending to listen to the lecturer. After what felt like hours to Zen, the class ended. Zen and Jiahai exited together, books in their hands.

Zen heard giggling. His head turned to the source, three girls were obviously talking about them, one of them glaring at him in disgust while her other friend whispered something in her ear. He felt his rage build up at people openly gossiping about him like that. He simply took a deep breath and looked away.

‘What do the latest rumours say about me?”

“Well, one version says that you’re a virgin…”

Zen raised an eyebrow, “That’s news worthy of a rumour? That a 13 year old is a virgin? What age are people losing it these days and how can I be like them.”

“Well, the rumour says you were so desperate to lose it, that you entered the girls’ bath.” Jiahai said.

“Oh.”

“Another one says… well, that you saw the City Lord’s daughter naked.”

Jiahai looked at him expectantly, his head leaning uncomfortably close to Zen.

“What?”

“Well, is it true?” Jiahai said, his voice hardly holding back his excitement.

“No! Maybe? I don’t know.” Zen said. “I was just running, all I saw were flashes…”

“Flashes of Xu Hau?”

“I don’t know,” Zen said, “I don’t know who I saw, nor did I really have time to appreciate it. But it would explain why she was so angry.”

“Oh,” Jiahhai said in disappointment. “Anyways, another rumour said you trained Shibi to find naked girls and call you to peep on them.”

“Psht, that idea is… not a bad one.” Zen rubbed his chin.

“Are you thinking about it?!”

“Uhm… no… of course not.”

“Mmm.” Jiahai said, not convinced. “Oh well, we haven’t hunted together for a long time. We should do that tonight.”

“Mmm.”

“Alright, bye.” Jiahai said. He was marching away as quickly as possible but realised after a few moments that although his legs were moving, he was standing still. He looked back at Zen, who held him steadfast by the collar with an annoyed look on his face.

“Jiahai, have you forgotten?” Zen said. “You told me you’d explain to me what a bribeblood is.”

“Oh… okay.” Jiahai sighed in sadness. “Well, I guess it starts with the Overlord. You know of the Hierarchy of the Lords, right?”

“Yes, I’m not stupid.” Zen said. “The Hierarchy of Lords is the system of lords that rule the land, from the City Lords to the one who rules them all, the Overlord.”

“Yes, I’m sure you know that the 8th Overlord was the first Overlord that did not have two noble parents. His mother was a noble princess but his father, although a skilled soldier, was commoner born. When he grew into power he made a new decree, having experience the pain of the royal family shunning him and his mother for having a child with a commoner. The decree stated that any family can rise to the standard of nobility, either through reputation, strength or money. Since reputation and strength are hard to measure and usually go hand in hand with money, most commoner families ascended to nobility merely by having a lot of money and paying to get registered as nobles. Some of the original nobles did not like this, so they made a distinction between the nobles, the purebloods, which are the original nobles and…”

“…the bribebloods,” Zen completed, finally understanding the term, “those that brough their nobility instead.”

Jiahai gulped. “It doesn’t matter. It’s a stupid term used only by…” Jiahai kept quiet when Zen placed a hand on his shoulder.

“It’s okay, Jiahai.” Zen forced a smile onto his face but his eyes gave him away. “There’s no need to say any more.”

Jiahai nodded as Zen walked away. “I… I guess I’ll see you tonight!” he shouted after Zen who gave no sign that he acknowledged the comment.