Dante, having fully recovered, looked at his father before shaking his head.
"I knew you weren't a Sovereign." Aurora and Justin exchanged amused glances before asking at the same time,
"Oh? How?" Dante merely shrugged. "Intuition... or something like that." Of course, he was lying. It was simply based on the countless novels he had read on Earth.
There were plenty where the protagonist grew up believing his family was ordinary, only to discover halfway through the story that they were actually terrifying monsters standing at the peak of the world. His father clearly wasn't going to reveal everything.
Dante doubted those were even all the titles. At most, Justin had only revealed enough to satisfy his curiosity without exposing the world's true ceiling. If he compared power to a scale from zero to one hundred...
Then before today, he had assumed Sovereigns stood near the top. Now? Both he and the System were almost certain Dante wasn't anywhere near the end. If zero represented the weakest and one hundred represented the absolute peak...
Then Dante was probably somewhere around sixty or seventy.
Maybe higher.
Dante sighed inwardly.
'Fucking hell... but this is fine. The gods really didn't abandon me. My shitty luck on Earth gave me more cheats than I originally thought. Not only my skills... my parents and siblings are cheats too.'
'Good. My plans aren't ruined. I just happen to be born into the "protagonist with an absurd backer" trope. **I honestly thought I had escaped those clichés because this world felt so grounded compared to most novels. *Apparently not.'
'Still... this conversation was worth it. It also confirms something important. I can't rely on my family forever. *Whatever I build myself will ultimately matter just as much. Besides... this feels like some horrible combination of an isekai and a cultivation novel. Tsk what bullshit.'
Pushing those thoughts aside, Dante asked,"How big is this world?"
For the first time during the conversation... Both Justin and Aurora visibly tensed. Justin smiled. "The Observable World... meaning the lands that have been reliably explored, mapped, and connected through established trade routes."
"They're separated by vast oceans. As for their names...They're surprisingly unimaginative."
A chuckle escaped him."If you truly wish to understand their scale, don't focus on maps. Focus on how long it takes to travel between them. There are three primary methods of long-distance travel, though you'll learn about those another time. For now, the continents are enough." He began counting them off.
"The Northern Continent."
"The North-Eastern Continent "
"The Eastern Continent."
"The South-Eastern Continent."
"The Southern Continent."
"The South-Western Continent."
"The Western Continent."
"The North-Western Continent. For some reason, people occasionally call it North-Eastern Continent Two. something I've never understood why."
"Then there are the North Central Continent..."
"The South Central Continent..."
"The Mid Central Continent..."
"The Owal Continent..."
"And finally...the Regardo Continent."
Dante blinked.
"...That really is lazy. So the Central Continent is divided into three?"
Justin laughed before ruffling his son's hair again.
"It is. You'll understand why once you begin exploring the world yourself. For now...Just know that these continents are unimaginably vast. They're so large that even today, the exact measurements remain uncertain."
"Most estimates come from the nomadic tribes. They've explored more of this world than almost anyone else. They, alongside several powerful organizations, control a great deal of information."
Dante slowly nodded. 'I really don't like information dumps... Still... the amount of secrecy in this world is ridiculous.'
Then his thoughts shifted.
'Actually... it makes sense. Information loses value once everyone has it. Information wins wars, creates wealth. creates and maintains power. *More importantly... it controls outcomes.'
'I don't need more strength right now. I need someone capable of gathering information buying information every time isn't sustainable.'
'I barely understand how political power flows... how the economy functions... or how influence is actually maintained. 'I really underestimated that.'
Then again...
He wasn't in a terrible position His skills family and his own subordinates , infact his existence itself. He was an anomaly, if he managed to die with all this It would almost certainly be because he did something incredibly stupid. Besides...
Simply surviving had never been his goal. Standing at the very top... Living entirely by his own rules...that was. The fact that even Sovereigns respected information monopolies only made this world more interesting.
A world ruled solely by strength would eventually become boring. Power only had meaning because there were people who feared it. People who obeyed it. His thoughts paused.
'...System had* been awfully quiet ever since I recruited Vexion as well'*
'Whatever.'
Mentally, he called out.
"System... what do you think?"
[Master... it is possible that a skill related to secrecy is influencing the spread of information.]
[It is also possible that this is simply an agreement maintained between Mythical Beings, Sovereigns, and those who stand above them.]
Dante nodded.
"I thought as much. That would mean the restricted information probably concerns methods of increasing one's strength... Or locations... Or paths toward greater power."
"Whenever information is monopolized, someone is trying to control outcomes."
It reminded him of Earth. There the weak always existed the poor also always remained. There were countless complicated explanations economics , politics, opportunity
He had never cared enough to study them deeply. What mattered was that the system encouraged people to climb. The poor looked toward the middle class. The middle class looked toward the wealthy.
Everyone desired what stood above them.
His thoughts settled. Fine. I'm honestly getting bored already. I'd rather learn information when it actually becomes relevant. Anything before that just feels like another information dump. I've learned enough for today.'
'I got what I needed'
Just as he was about to end the conversation—
[Master...]
The System spoke again before he could.
"...Yeah?"
[Does Master believe information itself changes depending on one's level?]
[As in... those at lower levels only receive incomplete or inaccurate knowledge until they become strong enough to learn the truth?]
Dante smiled.
"Yeah" based on everything Father revealed today..."The general population probably knows almost nothing beyond the Sage realm. "They likely believe Legendary Beings are already the absolute pinnacle, so on and so forth. "Only after reaching those heights do people slowly discover what truly exists beyond them."
He paused before glancing toward Justin.
"As for Father..." I'm no longer worried. "I'm convinced he's one of the strongest beings alive. 'Why someone like him chooses to live as nothing more than an emperor... I'll figure that out later. More importantly... My final question today should confirm several theories I've already started forming."
[I understand.]
[Thank you, Master.]