Chapter 112: Talents and Population

Heidi and Rebecca were called to Gawain’s tent, and after hearing what Gawain had in mind, the two were, sure enough, shocked.

“Educate? Teach every civilian and even the serfs?” Heidi’s eyes were wide; she was this close to totally losing her grace. “And it is to be listed as a law of the territory. Everyone has to receive an education like paying taxes?!”

“That’s right. Henceforth, learning to read and write will not only be a right but also an obligation.” Gawain smiled; being able to see the always mature and steady Heidi being so startled by him was also a rather pleasant thing. “Now, every person in the territory has to know how to read and write. People who come to this land in the future must also do the same. Otherwise, they absolutely wouldn’t be able to survive in the new order that I’m pursuing.”

Heidi looked to be absorbed in thought. “New order…”

Meanwhile, Rebecca who was beside her was much more practical: what immediately came to her mind was how difficult this would be. “Lord Ancestor, to educate an illiterate civilian into a knowledgeable, cultured person with propriety isn’t that easy. This requires literature teachers, mathematics teachers, history and geography teachers, and also teachers who teach swordsmanship, horsemanship, as well as a couple of natural history tutors. Even after completing all this relatively basic curriculum, there’s still the super, super tough courses like art, etiquette, and heraldry. All these subjects would take ten-odd years to complete!”

Gawain was stupefied; he was about to explain when Heidi who was in front of him held her forehead and spoke up, “Rebecca… not every person requires ten-odd years to learn etiquette, art, and heraldry. Besides, as a matter of fact, even till today, you’ve yet to grasp them…”

Rebecca was dazed. “Eh? Was that the case? Why do I remember my etiquette teacher telling me that I’d completed my education…”

Heidi wore a look of exasperation, expecting better from her. “Because he really couldn’t beat you!”

Rebecca: “…”

Amber, who stood behind Gawain, was instantly convulsed with laughter; the entire tent was filled with a merry atmosphere.

Whereas Gawain had to quickly interrupt his granddaughters’ topic that was moving further and further away. “Stop, stop, stop. You’re digressing as you go on. I believe you people have misunderstood what I meant. The education that I speak of is entirely different from the kind of education that you know of, for large families to foster their heirs. I do not want to cultivate an aristocrat or an apprentice as a result of this but to foster talents who possess the ability to read, write, and understand mathematical logic. And remember, this will be mass cultivation.”

As he spoke, he shook his head. “Those methods of looking for a group of renowned teachers, teaching from the start of the day to the end, and producing a few young masters and young ladies after ten-odd years of education will not work here. The education that I demand will be very simple. For adults who hold a job, conduct two hours of fundamental general studies, literacy, and counting every day after work, that’s all. For children who still cannot take on jobs, conduct half a day of education. The other half will be left for them to help their parents by working at home.”

Such a ‘basic’ and ‘inexpensive’ way of education was truly unheard of. Heidi could not help but frown. “In other words, the minimum requirement for them is simply to be able to read and write, and the teachers would also only have to be of this standard… What use would such basic education have?”

She had actually yet to vocalize another half of her question: what do civilians need literacy for?

If this was in the past, she most likely would’ve blurted it out, but she wasn’t that sure now. This was because she had realistically seen the other side of civilians and serfs, and ancestor had mentioned, once previously, his plans for every person in the territory to become literate. That was equivalent to having given her a heads-up; only she didn’t expect that this ancestor actually meant business and was getting to it so soon.

“Being literate means being able to understand reason, being able to shoulder even more complicated jobs, being able to understand ideas that we relay to them, being able to live with clearer goals, being able to become useful talents.” Gawain smiled and looked towards Heidi. “Perhaps some people were fated to never be mages, knights, or priests since they were born. They were unable to awaken transcendent gifts, but the majority of people are able to grasp knowledge through acquired learning after birth. At least in this aspect, fate was relatively fairer.”

Heidi had yet to realize what Gawain was referring to at the start, but she was quickly reminded of a person — someone she’d just met today, the silver-haired girl from the capital.

She finally revealed an appalled expression. “Ancestor, you aren’t intending to… add rune theories into this general-studies curriculum, are you?”

“That is an intermediate to advanced level curriculum, so why not?” Gawain beamed, his spirits unprecedentedly high and joyful. “Recall carefully, Heidi. Amongst the formulas and theorems recorded in that notebook… which has to do with the gift for magic?”

Heidi’s mouth opened. She finally made a sound sometime later. “No, none, those… are all solely calculations!”

“Correct, that notebook verified a thought that I already had previously. That is, that the gap between supernatural powers and mortals isn’t as great as it is imagined to be. Perhaps such powers indeed favor those with unique gifts more, but since it is a natural phenomenon, there is no reason that more than ninety percent of the laymen in this world are isolated from it because of a mere problem with natural gifts,” Gawain said, lament in his tone. “Runes and magic do have rules, and to sum up laws… what is required is intelligence and not power.”

Yes, mortals could also engage with the supernatural realm. Even if they themselves would never be able to release a spell, they could build an indirect connection with supernatural powers through this ‘lever’ of mathematics and logic. And once contact was established, the scarily massive ‘quantity of mortals’ could almost cleanly sweep away the old order — Gawain was convinced of this.

Heidi pondered whilst in shock; at last, she hesitantly asked a question, “Do most people… really possess such intelligence?”

“Your tone is very hesitant. Which means you already have an answer.” Gawain looked at Heidi with a subtle smile. “Through your interactions with them these days, are you still not sure that they are the same people as you and I?”

“I understand.” Heidi inhaled deeply. “I will go make preparations. First, select literate people from the hundred people from the capital to serve as the most basic teachers. Then, convene the various supervisors and arrange everyone’s work and study timetable.”

“Remember, the most fundamental is literacy.” Gawain nodded in satisfaction and emphasized, “And we cannot delay the construction of the territory. Regardless of teachers or students, they cannot be released from production labor at this stage. Teachers who teach reading and writing are to participate in labor after classes too.”

“Please rest assured, I will handle it well.”

Rebecca glanced at Heidi, then at Gawain, and then scratched her hair in bewilderment. “What were you two talking about at the end? Rune theories? Why can’t I understand…”

“It’s normal that you didn’t understand because you didn’t come with us this morning.” Gawain’s figure leaned back, resting against his chair. He watched Iron-Headed Girl with a merry smile. “Rebecca, I found you a friend. She specializes in the same area as you do…”

Without waiting for Gawain to finish, Rebecca’s eyes lit up. “She can consecutively fire three big fireballs too?!”

“…Um, I’m not referring to the ability to launch fireballs.”

Rebecca’s eyes spun around. She wanted to ask — since she could not launch fireballs, was it knowing how to climb trees, steal from birds’ nests, or grilling locusts? However, as she was afraid of getting beaten up, she didn’t dare to vocalize this thought. Meanwhile, Gawain had become profoundly aware from seeing this young lady’s expression that regardless of how talented this child was, it could never change the reality of her lively and unbridled character (moreover, she’d had her head clipped by a door before). Hence, he could only tell it straight. “The friend I speak of isn’t to fool around with you. She’s here to do research with you. Her name is Jenni Perot, a member of the hundred-person aid team. She’s a grade-four runemaster and is equally gifted as you are in the area of mathematics and calculations. And the way she studies magic has many aspects that could complement and correspond with you…”

To avoid this young lady letting her mind out of control, Gawain shared everything about Jenni Perot in one breath.

Whereas Rebecca listened on dazedly. At the end, she suddenly clapped her hands together. “You said that she’d found a technique to do the framework of rune blueprints using calculations instead of spells?”

Although the process of it was tortuous, Gawain did not explain much of it at present. “Something like that.”

“Ah! I want to meet that person!” Rebecca, sure enough, had an elated look. “It feels like she’s really impressive!”

Gawain was very glad to see Rebecca being fully interested in this but still reminded before the doofus ran wild. “Do not delay the development of the Magic Powered Engine and the ‘cement’.”

“Don’t worry! I know that!”

“Then the discussion for this matter shall end here.” Gawain nodded in satisfaction; then he looked towards Amber. “Amber, make another trip and get Sir Byron here.”

Amber looked reluctant, but her figure still gradually faded in the air. “Sigh, what a laborious life.”

Soon, Sir Byron, who had been resting in the barracks, was brought to the tent. This former mercenary and now a middle-aged knight bowed to Gawain. “Duke, you asked for me?”

“Are you familiar with the serf market and refugees?”

Sir Byron faltered for a moment before nodding. “I’m very familiar with the serf market. Previously, I’d represented Miss Rebecca’s father to purchase serfs from the territories of the other aristocrat clans. As for refugees… I can’t speak of being familiar or not. Those are people who rove everywhere and are more or less like savages. At the old mine to the extreme north of Tanzan Town and the abandoned Goering mill—”

Gawain cut him off. “I don’t want those who have become outlaws, but those whose background are still clean for now.”

“There are no refugees with a clean background, but I believe I get what you mean. You want those still lingering at the perimeters of towns and villages and have yet to give up on getting a means of livelihood in the civilized world?”

Certainly, someone who was once a mercenary, who had associated with all sorts of poor people and fought in the gray zone, Byron understood Gawain’s request immediately. Then, he quickly put out a suggestion. “Lord, if you are really prepared to recruit refugees, then I have a suggestion. Why don’t we try issuing a mercenary authorization at Tanzan Town? Just say we want to buy slaves in masses —— buy slaves at less than thirty percent of the market price. This way, it would not cost more than dispatching announcers to put up notices everywhere and communicating with the feudal lords of the various aristocrat clans. Moreover, it will be extremely efficient.”

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