Chapter 95: Island's First Arcane Arts Academy (13)

Less than a week remains until the annual Winter Veil Festival.

Winter is waning, temperatures are rising, and rain is gradually increasing; it is often a fine, continuous drizzle.

Under the nourishment of warm rain, fine strands of tender green fuzz begin to sprout in the forests and plains.

Outside Crescent City, twenty guard knights escort a finely remodeled luxury travel carriage, slowly moving along a gravel-paved country lane.

Luosen sits alone in the carriage, his gaze gliding over the sparsely distributed, decently growing bitter winter wheat fields on either side of the road.

Bitter winter wheat is cold-resistant; sown in early October the previous year, it is harvested at the end of April the following year.

The wheat yield is decent, but the flour ground from it has a terrible texture, slightly bitter, usable only for subsistence.

But because of last year's rebellion, even this bitter wheat wasn't planted well. If he hadn't brought back a large amount of grain, many would have starved on the island this year.

Even if it grew well, White Sturgeon Island's grain output is still slightly insufficient, so every year they import some from Shire County to make up the shortfall.

But this year, Luosen doesn't plan to do that: 'Once the first batch of anti-fishman forces is formed, we'll start exterminating the Eastern Sea Fishmen.'

The vast eastern sea is exactly where the northern cold current meets the southern warm current; aquatic resources are extremely abundant, making it a huge golden fishing ground.

Securing this fishing ground would greatly increase the islanders' seafood on their tables—fish, seaweed, giant lobster, plus pearls, coral, underwater minerals, etc. —boosting the total resources of the territory by an order of magnitude.

Lost in thought, the voice of Regiment Commander Ailiya came from outside the carriage: 'My lord, it looks like it's going to rain again.'

Luosen looked at the sky—overcast, with a somewhat strong wind, but fortunately the temperature wasn't low and the wind was warm—so he said: 'Speed up, don't let the academy's instructors get soaked in the rain.'

'Yes, my lord~'

The convoy immediately sped up, and the carriage became much bumpier.

The convoy continued forward across the plain; after about two kilometers, it drove onto a slightly elevated but very barren gravel slope.

The slope's surface had been roughly leveled, and with the newest hardened yellow clay they enclosed a huge area of about 2,000 mu.

Of course, due to construction time constraints, most areas' walls only had foundations laid; only one gate was truly completed.

As the convoy approached, they saw a specially made black clay stele erected before the gate, its golden characters spelling out 'Island First Arcane Arts Academy'.

Many people were already waiting at the gate.

They are all mages, and also the academy's arcane arts instructors.

Together they number over four hundred; most are local island commoner mages, while a smaller part are formal commoner mages hired from Shire County at expense.

Although these mages' arcane accomplishments are ordinary, only a few have reached the high-tier level.

But they have all been carefully selected—each gentle, patient, with solid arcane foundations—making them ideal as introductory instructors.

Today, Luosen, who is the Minister of Education and also the academy's first dean, will conduct the final inspection before the school term begins.

When they were still over a hundred meters from the gate, to show his regard for the academy's instructors, Luosen got off the carriage early.

Upon stepping down, he discovered a long new red carpet laid out on the ground.

Although the carpet is of ordinary quality, compared to the many arcane arts instructors' half-worn, even patched clothing, it stands out conspicuously.

Luosen frowned and told Ailiya, 'Have someone roll up the carpet; from now on, stop with all this pointless pomp—just walk whatever path there is.'

'Yes, my lord.'

Ailiya had followed Luosen in Dawn City for ten years, also lived ten years of simple life, and she is not fond of noble extravagance.

He immediately sent someone to take up the red carpet.

Without the carpet, the uneven dirt road was revealed, instantly making the scene feel much more desolate.

Luosen put on a black wide-brimmed leather hat, slipped his hands into the pockets of his leather windcoat, stepped on the slightly sticky mud road, and strode toward the academy gate.

Probably because of the carpet incident, the mages welcoming at the gate appeared listless, heads slightly lowered, as if fearing reprimand.

Luosen stood at the gate, surveyed the mages, and earnestly projected with his Second Ring Group Soul Voice: 'Esteemed arcane arts instructors, I need you to remember one thing.'

'In my academy, the sole standard for judging an arcane arts instructor's achievement is: whoever teaches outstanding students!'

'Whose students have strong magical power, whose students achieve good arcane arts scores, whose students receive the best care and attention—those individuals will earn higher honor and better treatment.'

'As for everything else, I don't care at all—understood?'

He spent a fortune building this academy to cultivate arcane arts talent.

What he needs are instructors devoted to nurturing talent, not flatterers.

'Yes, my lord.'

The instructors replied loudly.

Luosen then looked toward the foremost line, a white-haired, kindly female mage, and solemnly admonished her.

'Madam Feixieli, as the Executive Vice President you especially must keep my words in mind; absolutely do not impose Shire County's noble treatment onto me.'

The female mage's face showed deep apprehension, her body even trembling slightly: 'Yes, my lord, I will firmly remember your teachings.'

She wanted to bow, then wanted to kneel, but managed neither, leaving her quite embarrassed.

Seeing that he had left a deep enough impression, Luosen relaxed his expression.

'All right, Madam Feixieli, don't worry about these formalities; please show me around the new academy.'

She is a commoner high-tier mage, hired from Shialin City at a high salary of 200 ogres per year, and is a well-known arcane arts enlightener in the city.

Perhaps her arcane accomplishments are merely moderate, but she makes up for it with a good heart and rich teaching experience.

Therefore, Luosen values her greatly.

And besides her, the academy still has over fifty similar mages from Shire County.

Their level is clearly much higher than that of the island's native mages; their pay is naturally higher as well, starting at 50 ogres a year, with free food and lodging provided.

As for the island mages,

Luosen gives them an average wage of only 30 ogres, paying only a small half in cash, the other large half offset by various goods.

The local mages have no major objections to this.

First, their level truly is inferior; second, the island as a whole remains in a natural barter economy, valuing coinage far less than tangible goods.

In their view, should the island ever fall into chaos, supplies can be eaten and used, while gold and silver currency can only be looked at.

However, Shire County already has a developed commodity economy model, with a developed market and many things that money can buy.

Luosen's salary is high; even placed in Shire County it is high pay, so the Shire County mages are also satisfied, even secretly despising the island mages, thinking they are unsophisticated country bumpkins who have never seen the world.

Both sides' ideas stem from their own living environments, neither is wrong; what the lord should do is govern according to individuals, achieving optimal allocation of resources.

"I understand, my lord."

Madam Feixieli finally regained the composed demeanor befitting a high-tier mage.

"At the academy, just call me dean."

"Yes, dean." Thus, under the leadership of this respectable vice-dean, accompanied by hundreds of spell instructors, Luosen began touring this island academy hastily built with great human and material resources.

As expected, the academy's first batch of students will be very large, reaching twenty-two thousand people.

This includes all youths under twenty, as well as a small group proven to have outstanding spell talent but who missed their youth, under thirty years old.

After opening, a full-time teaching model will be adopted.

Besides laying the meditation foundation, they will directly impart concrete skills, not wasting time pondering deep principles, striving to produce a batch of mages with professional skills as quickly as possible.

As for new ideas like freedom and democracy, not a single word is mentioned; instead, they instill the traditional thought of 'loyalty to the lord, loyalty to the island'.

It is very much like a vocational technical school from my previous life.

Walking through this hastily built academy, Luosen saw row after row of simple single-story flat houses.

This is because it is the first time using tempered yellow clay as a new material, lacking much experience.

"Dean, this is the teaching area; there are 100 classrooms in total, each able to accommodate 100 students studying together."

"Because there are many students but few classrooms, we temporarily adopt a rotating class schedule."

Luosen stood at the doorway observing, finding the classroom empty, with no desks, only a series of small stools, and at the front a writing board made of tempered black clay.

Fortunately, the lighting conditions are good.

One reason is the relatively large windows; another is the ceiling hung with ever-bright rune lightning lamps.

Achieving this in a short time is already good; moreover, even though many things are produced on the island itself, it still cost Luosen over forty thousand ogres.

Of course, it will gradually improve in the future.

"How is the distribution of the students' books?"

Madam Feixieli immediately reported: "The clay tablet book *Island Enlightenment Volume* currently has enough copies for three people to share one; we expect to have one per person within a month."

The book was personally compiled by Luosen, containing only the most basic yet effective knowledge, guaranteed to suit everyone.

Using clay tablets is because paper books are truly too expensive; buying over twenty thousand copies at once would be unaffordable for Luosen.

Thus, only the spell instructors currently have paper books.

Naturally, the students' pens are charcoal sticks, and their paper is blank clay tablets, or simply the ground.

After inspecting the classrooms, next is the cafeteria.

"The cafeteria currently has a hundred large pots, using black stone as firewood; the students' staple food is salt-boiled potatoes, with side dishes of various vegetable meat stews, vegetables being the main component, with as much meat added as possible."

Because they knew the lord was coming to inspect, the cafeteria had already prepared food samples.

Luosen examined them one by one; after Ailiya confirmed the food was fine, he had someone serve him a small bowl of vegetable soup.

He looked at the food, seeing only some meat oil floating on the vegetable soup, able to see some minced meat fragments, and able to smell some food aroma.

Under the nervous gazes of everyone, he took a few bites; he felt the taste was not exactly delicious, but still edible, the cleanliness was acceptable, and he could taste some meat flavor.

"It's okay. From now on, do it this way—only better, never worse. Most students are growing, so they can certainly eat a lot; the portions must be sufficient."

Having said that, he drank the remaining vegetable meat soup in the bowl in a few gulps, then after returning the small bowl, one could see Madam Feixieli looking at him with astonishment.

Not to mention the aristocratic families of Shire County; even prosperous commoner households disdain eating such stew from a large pot.

Luosen knew why she was surprised and fully understood, because Shire County's standard of living is indeed much higher than that of the island.

He seized the opportunity to loudly say: "Remember, every student in the academy is a citizen of the island."

"As lord, my duty is to ensure every island citizen can eat their fill, and on that basis, to eat as well as possible."

"So, from now on, I will come to the academy cafeteria at least one day each month to eat the same food as the students. I will come randomly, so do not think of specially catering to me."

Madam Feixieli was not startled but showed respect, bowing and saying: "Yes, dean."

She originally thought that this baron establishing the academy was just following the trend of reforming new academies on the continent; even if willing, it would be limited by his vision and attitude, ultimately becoming mere superficial effort.

But now, she no longer worries.

Afterward, under Madam Feixieli's guidance, Luosen also toured the students' dormitories, the water wells for drinking, and even inspected the toilets.

Finally, he gathered over four hundred spell instructors and gave a speech on the requirements for running the school, thus concluding the first inspection of the academy.

When he again boarded the carriage to leave, it was already past two in the afternoon.

The rain that had been held back all morning finally began to fall, but only a light drizzle, with little impact.

Inside the carriage, Luosen pulled out clean leather boots to change into; the pair stained with mud naturally ended up hanging on the storage rack outside the carriage.

"My lord, the academy's daily expenses are not small."

Ailiya's voice came through the carriage window.

"It is indeed considerable, but investing one unit of money now will yield at least ten units in return."

It even accounts for more than thirty percent of the island's total expenditures, and because many youths have left production to study new abilities, the island's labor force has been greatly reduced.

In order to free up more resources for the academy, he and Selena both announced cuts to daily expenditures, setting an example for the upper class of the archipelago.

In short, save wherever possible.

Because high-quality citizens are the foundation of a modern nation-state.

"If you don't do it, others will, and someday you will be beaten up by people; you and your citizens will have to work as oxen and horses for others! Therefore, he not only must do this on White Sturgeon Island, but if he someday successfully takes control of Weilan, he will also do the same there."

To let Weilan quickly catch up to the citizen quality of the various kingdoms on the White Continent, one must tighten one's belt and take this potent medicine of consolidating the roots and nurturing the essence.

"My lord, it seems there is a person standing under the tree ahead."

Luosen was stretching his waist, and upon hearing this, he said: "This place is not a wilderness; having a person there is normal."

He had already noticed that person; from a distance they looked perfectly normal.

"She seems to have sprained her ankle, sitting by the roadside rubbing it."

As Ailiya said that, Luosen's heart twitched slightly, producing a strange feeling—this was the unique sensitivity of a High Circle Mage.

【No, not an ordinary person!】

He could actually evade his ordinary perception, only feeling something abnormal when the distance exceeded two hundred meters—this person must be highly extraordinary.

This time he came out in his true form, so he couldn't afford to be careless.

He immediately told Laifu, "Cast the Fortune Divination Technique twenty times and check for omens."

The Otherworld Mage divines fate, but since his soul is from Earth, he asks about omens.

A few seconds later, the GPT Laifu trained by Earth people returned the result.

"Most divination results show 【Encountering a noble person, utmost great luck。】"

(End of chapter)