If Klein's first impression of Feysac was that its people were incredibly tall, then his second impression was probably their insatiable thirst for alcohol.
This was specifically evident during dinner, where even Lin Ruo, who was ostensibly only 12 years old, had a bottle of strong liquor placed in front of him.
And while the old viscount, who didn't have much time left, didn't come down to dine with them, Klein saw several bottles of strong liquor on the food cart when the butler delivered his meal.
This made Klein recall a saying he'd heard while wandering the Five Seas: "A Feysac man is only sober when he's in his mother's womb."
Of course, drinking wasn't a problem for Klein; although he wasn't a heavy drinker, his alcohol tolerance was actually quite high.
Klein couldn't help but glance at Lin Ruo, because he was well aware of the latter's peculiar Physique.
"Thank you, but my body isn't very well, so it's not suitable for drinking," Lin Ruo said with a smile, blinking as he felt Klein's gaze, politely declining the butler who was about to pour him a drink.
Upon hearing this, Andy, the butler, immediately showed a pained expression. "I'm sorry, Young Master…" He removed the liquor and added, "Don't be sad, your body will get better."
"Yes, I know, thank you, Andy," Lin Ruo still smiled like an angel. He glanced at Andy, then suddenly thought of something and asked, "Andy, are you a Beyonder of the Hunter pathway?"
Lin Ruo actually knew that Andy, the butler, was a Sequence 8 Beyonder of the Hunter pathway. Although he didn't look like a Provoker at all, the information clearly stated this. However, this didn't prevent him from asking, as it was essentially a way of showing an attitude.
"Yes, Young Master, I am a Sequence 8 Provoker," Andy nodded, showing no intention of hiding, and instead confessed automatically:
"I once served in the military. After retiring for some reason, I was once depressed and aimless. Later, I met the Old Master and was reborn. After that, I became the Old Master's butler and have been serving him ever since."
Just as aristocratic Families in Loen are more or less connected to the Beyonder, even if they don't become Beyonders, they know something about it, Feysac is naturally the same.
However, unlike Loen, most of the nobles in the Feysac Empire have embarked on the Warrior or Hunter pathways.
The former is due to the influence of the Giant Bloodline inherent in the Feysac people, and also because the Church of the God of Combat is the only designated faith here. The latter is because the Imperial Family of the Feysac Empire is precisely the Einhorn Family, which was once one of the four great noble Families of the Trunsoest Empire.
As a Family that once produced a Conqueror, the pathway controlled by the Einhorn Family is precisely the Hunter pathway, which also led to many Beyonders in the military and nobility being of the Hunter pathway.
At the same time, precisely because the Warrior and Hunter pathways became the mainstream for nobles and military Beyonders, a tacit rule also emerged in Feysac that made shorter people grumble, which was "determining status by height."
This tacit rule is especially popular in the military. It can be said that anyone involved in the military with a certain position wouldn't dare show their face if they weren't at least two meters tall.
However, this tacit rule was not a problem for most of the noble descendants and upper echelons of the Feysac military, because both the Warrior pathway and Hunter pathway potions had the effect of increasing height.
Warriors, needless to say, are inherently of the Giant pathway. As long as they can reach Sequence 6 or Sequence 5, their height breaking through 2.2 or 2.3 meters is commonplace. The descendants of these "Giants," who inherit Beyonder effects, go without saying. Even descendants who haven't inherited Beyonder characteristics, relying on their ancestors' tall genes, passed down from generation to generation, breaking through two meters in height is not difficult.
While the Hunter pathway's early improvements are not obvious, only increasing height by a few centimeters unless they reach demigod status for a qualitative change, Hunters can choose to intermarry with "Giants." A representative example of this is the Imperial Family of the Feysac Empire, the Einhorn Family.
According to the descriptions in the original work and the results of his investigations, Lin Ruo knew that the Einhorn Family had a custom of intermarrying with nobles of the "Giant" pathway, in order to ensure the height of their descendants.
Although Lin Ruo was genuinely curious if an awkward situation would arise if the men of the Einhorn Family were generally not as tall as their wives.
And once a Hunter advances to Sequence 4, they become male. In that case, how would the women of the Einhorn Family solve the marriage problem? They couldn't just stop advancing in Sequence after getting married, could they? Or wait until Sequence 4 and then… take a wife?
Lin Ruo thought about it and felt that no matter how he considered it, it was strange.
However, his divergent thoughts didn't prevent him from communicating with Andy with divided attention, so Lin Ruo continued to express his amazement, "How impressive!" while using his fork to poke at the steak on his plate.
He then asked with an expectant tone, "Andy, can I become a Beyonder?"
"If Young Master wishes to become a Hunter, I have the formula here. If you wish to become a Warrior, the Old Master also has the formula. However, Young Master is still young, and even if you want to become a Beyonder, it's best to wait a few more years, as this is not a very safe Dao…"
Andy didn't directly deny Lin Ruo's words, but instead, like an elder, carefully explained the risks of becoming a Beyonder to Lin Ruo, finally saying:
"Furthermore, neither I nor the Old Master only possess partial formulas. In this world, perhaps only the Church and the military possess complete Warrior and Hunter formulas. If Young Master wishes to go far on this path, it is best to join one of them."
Andy was not against his young master becoming a Beyonder, because this was a perfectly normal situation in Feysac's aristocratic circles. Also normal was joining the Church and the military—to be precise, in the fiercely independent Feysac, joining the military or the Church was almost the choice made by half of the ambitious nobles who didn't want to settle for mediocrity.
This is also related to the fact that the Feysac Empire only has one Church, and the Church's strength is not stronger than other Churches, yet it has to maintain the Beyonder Domain order of an Empire—the Church of the God of Combat needs more Beyonders from the military and the nobility to maintain peace and order within the country.
"The Church or the military, huh…" Lin Ruo then showed a thoughtful expression and continued, "Andy, what is our Family's relationship with the Church like? If I want to visit the Bishop at the Church, what preparations should I make?"
After speaking, Lin Ruo showed a slightly embarrassed but still sufficiently bright smile, "You know, I've been recuperating in the countryside and don't know much about these things."
The reason Lin Ruo brought up the topic of Beyonder pathways just now was actually to naturally lead to this matter—a young noble who yearned for the Beyonder and had a tendency to join the Church was one of Lin Ruo's basic personas for this time.
This could effectively help Lin Ruo approach the Church more naturally. Whether it was inquiring about the Church's situation or having friendly contact with Church members, it wouldn't seem suspicious.