Scarlet

As it turns out, there really is some stuff I hadn’t read about before in the book. Or learned in general.

Such as the origin of why Guardians started becoming celebrities in the first place. Which in hindsight should’ve been rather obvious.

After all, people needed hope when they were faced with what they saw as the end of times, and making Guardians – people with supernatural abilities that fight off their worst nightmares – into public figures for everyone to look up to makes perfect sense. It brings that spark of hope needed by the people.

And the Guardians get fame, fortune, and opportunity in return for being put on a pedestal. So it’s a win-win situation.

It was never really specified in class. Just the fact that it happened and some of the important developments in Guardian Society throughout the last two centuries.

Nothing else in the book is new to me though. Just stuff about the Guardian’s competitive nature towards each other, the bare bones about what the public understands about spirits, the specifics behind our status and the stuff that was already explained to me by Tar.

In the end I close the book and move onto the next one. Basics of Guardian Law.

The very first page specifies the exact laws that are the most important and that every Guardian should know.

The Assault Obstruction Act – Obstruction of a Guardian from entering a Fracture of any Class by anyone except another Guardian is prohibited by the law and is grounds for a year’s sentence in prison.

The Guardian Assault Obstruction Act – Obstruction of a Guardian from entering a Fracture of the same Class as themselves by another Guardian is prohibited by the law and is grounds for a severe fine defined by the government unless said entering Guardian does not own a certification granted by attending and or graduating from a Guardian University.

The Rightful Earnings Act – All Guardians are to be paid fairly by the government office for each Fracture they clear out or assist in clearing out based on an amount determined by a randomly selected jury of citizens and past payments to other Guardians as a whole made for that Class of Fracture.

The Association Act – Guardians may create an Association of their own with the permission of one of the Knights or every member of the Council of Governor’s. These Associations may take in other Guardians, train them, acquire and distribute their Fracture payments, and act as partially responsible for the Guardians during their stay in the Association.

The Lawful Associations Act – Associations must pay their Guardians at least 90% of their earnings from the Fractures they specifically help clear out, in addition to whatever their pay would be for working under the Association’s employ.

The Guardian’s Law Act – Any criminal charge applied to a Guardian is to be taken under consideration in a court of law and decided upon whether it should be redacted or reduced based on that Guardian’s circumstances.

Huh. I actually didn’t know about the last three laws at all. They of course taught us about the first three acts, but I guess it makes sense that they wouldn’t just go around telling people that a Guardian could get off Scott-free for breaking a law that a regular person would be sentenced to years in jail for. Or even just fined for breaking one that would lead to a life sentence for a regular person if the Guardian is important enough to society.

I do feel as if I remember hearing rumors about a couple of Guardians breaking the law and then having it covered up for them or something.

As for the fourth act? The Associations? I knew about them but not what exactly they entail. Just that most Guardians join an Association because it benefits them to work together in a lot of Fractures rather than working alone. And Associations come with a stable pay and other benefits.

Like this base for example.

I continue reading, but the first several chapters are literally just going over the laws I just read. Pointing out every detail about them, going over their origins, and even covering some court cases that they were used in.

All rather boring stuff, but I make sure to read through it once at least before moving on.

I can study that later for university.

After those chapters, there are a few dozen other laws specified towards Guardians. But none of them are really that relevant. So it makes sense that they’d ignore them.

I also notice that there are very few laws protecting a Guardian’s privacy. Which is rather stupid, but I do at least understand that they’re trying to make Guardians into public celebrities. And having extra laws to protect their privacy might hinder that, especially considering that Guardians are generally far strong enough to protect themselves.

After all, humans will never be anywhere near as strong as a Guardian. Nor as wealthy.

And from my understanding, the majority of Associations tend to do some less than legal cleaning of the internet, if what Allen told me is true.

He also mentioned that the government overlooks it since it’s part of their powers, and they don’t want to piss off the Guardians.

“You humans sure love making such complicated laws,” Tar suddenly says, having apparently been paying attention as I read.

Well, how do you fae organize your society if you don’t have them?

I feel a vague sense of confusion from Tar before he simply states, “The King makes all of the important decisions. And if he doesn’t care about it, then it’s left to the council to do what they believe he would do if he did care.”

Wait. So the fae have a tyrant as a ruler?

Wow.

Did not expect that.

“And now you see why it’s so important to select the right heir to the throne,” Tar says while appearing in the air in front of me despite us being in the public before he floats down and lands on my lap. “If the wrong heir is chosen, things could go horribly wrong in our realm. Although it shouldn’t affect you, since the fae still need humans and demons to contract in order to nourish themselves. Otherwise we’d just starve to death rather slowly.”

Huh. That’s rather sad.

“Yes, that it is,” Tar replies in his usual robotic tone of voice. But somehow I think I sense a hint of sadness inside of it despite that.

Anyways, time to move onto the next book.