"Miss Jennifer, we never had the chance to introduce ourselves properly. My name is Amaryllis Anthos." she says in a flat tone.
Ignoring Amy's disinterest, she smiles, "Leon always calls you Ryllis so I always thought it was your actual name. Amaryllis and Violet." she muses, "The Anthos family are truly named after all kinds of Flora."
"It doesn't necessarily need to be a specific name of plant. As long as it is thematically correct then any name is fine." she explains.
"So, what will we start with? Leon always calls you a good teacher, but he also calls you strict."
"I doubt that is all what he calls me."
She shook her head and heartily laughed in response, "No, but if I say it word for word then it will make me extremely vulgar."
Amy remains indifferent, "Before we begin actual etiquette, you need to know Solin's history first. Please take notes."
The girl pulled out a notebook and pen and head to the gazebo where Amy follows her trail. There are so many flowers that the mix of colors kind of hurts her eyes. This kind of setting and extravagance matches her reputation.
After stopping there, they sat at the table. The view is something out of a fairytale; romantic and showy. Honestly, it feels like a fever dream.
"What do you know about Solin?"
"The country or the ruler?"
"Both"
Jennifer leans her head on her chin to think. "The Ruler Solin was born during the twilight years of the Angel-Demon war. He was from a distant land and arrived in the Grand Continent, liberating and gathering forces to defend the continent from the angels and demons. Solin, the country, was created ten years after the aftermath of the Angel-Demon war. He was a popular war hero."
"Because Solin is an outsider, there are arguments on where he would build his new nation or if he should even build one at all. Solin is bordered with Getel and Hekaton so there had been territorial disputes that still exist today. You know the history of the aftermath of the war. If he hadn't married a princess of the previous dynasty, then Solin would have been a much smaller nation." Amy explains. "Solin remains a warrior state, not just because of monsters or foreign threats but because that is the way of life. Even though the two forces that cause the war annihilated each other, that doesn't mean future conflicts wouldn't happen. Problems will never end especially when everyone is divisive. All citizens of Solin have ancestors that agree to this philosophy which passed on to their children and taught in our education."
"Is this why there are no mercenaries in Solin? Because everyone agrees with each other?" she asks. "I heard stories about Solin since its citizens are taught in combat at an early age than other countries, like even a baby learns how to wield a knife."
"To answer your question," Amy answered. "There are no mercenaries in Solin as there are guilds and benefits that would not make anyone take that route. It didn't start off as perfect but overtime, we have laws that make it difficult for any criminal organization to be formed in our country." Then she averted, "As for babies learning how to wield a knife, that is an overexaggeration. Not every citizen in Solin is required to learn combat. It depends on the person anyway. Normally the ones that grew up in militant families or certain noble houses with military connections or legacies are required to learn them that young. Prince Leon and Rufus Valerian are examples of this. Solin is Prince Leon's founding ancestor, and the Valerian House is one of the oldest families in the Kingdom that existed even before the war. There is not a single person in that family that hasn't had an illustrious history. As for me and my sister, we both started at different times and while some Anthos family members joined the military, we are not a militant centric family. I started when I was five. Violet started when she was nine."
The rose-haired girl studied Amy up and down before staring at the garden with a melancholy look. "Funny. You'd think that Getel would be a more militaristic country but with its many walls, it is impossible to know more of what is outside of it."
Getel is also known as the many walled Kingdom. The entire country is surrounded by tall, thick walls that that keep many monsters that can outclass groups and even armies. The biggest one is the outer wall. Both sides of the wall stop at the borders. Most of the world's dangerous monster exist only in Getel after all. It doesn't just keep monsters out but also the Barbarian tribes. Most of the peasant soldiers are stationed there and come back as hardened veterans and warriors.
Someone in the original story explained that the further a citizen is from the outer walls, the more ignorant they are of the outside threats. The central nobility is one of them. They are as snobbish as any other nobles, and they do not bother going after the monsters themselves, preferring the safety and comfort inside their own homes. The lesser nobles are actually aware of the underlying threats as they constantly ask for support. Rich in resources, they put their all in their military and outside help but people in Getel prefer to look after themselves and see profits which makes the lower class unhappy.
Amy doesn't overthink past that point as she knew Getel's fate in the original story, one that she wouldn't be able to stop even with in story knowledge. It will collapse on its own weight eventually.
"Did you grow up at the frontiers?"
The red-haired girl sighs softly, "No but monster attacks are frequent in the area I lived in. The walls keep out monsters but also traps some monsters. All the ones I've seen are considered low level even by our standards. They are either hunted down or domesticated for labor. But I have seen some hostile monsters. You can basically sense their hostility."
Amy listened to her with admittedly surprise. She thought this girl is a delicate, sheltered flower hiding behind Leon as she continues to deliberate cause problems. Could it be that this girl is trying to survive?