Collaboration 2

Translator: Cinder Translations

...

Paul was intrigued by Hansel's words.

Faced with the widespread illiteracy in his domain, Paul found it difficult to articulate his frustrations.

Various workshops needed expansion, apprenticeship training couldn't rely solely on oral tradition; with the increasing number of craftsmen, supervisors at all levels needed to at least understand the roster; the income and expenses of the domain were becoming increasingly complex, and Philip, the old steward, was overwhelmed managing the accounts alone; the intelligence system needed enhancement, clearly requiring not just literate individuals; he also planned to establish a modern administrative system, which would necessitate a large number of clerks.

The "Recruitment Decree" had been posted early on, and many had come forward to apply, but it still couldn't meet the current needs of the domain.

Before marching to Port Frand, he had approached Leonard, the abbot of the North Bank Monastery, hoping to recruit a batch of cultured monks for his service. Initially rejected by Leonard, who cited monks not interfering in worldly matters.

He had to change his strategy, claiming to be preparing to establish a school to spread God's gospel, teaching the villagers to read so they could understand the scriptures.

Upon hearing this, Abbot Leonard became somewhat intrigued. Paul further promised unlimited supply of new type paper to the North Bank Monastery's workshops, eventually convincing the abbot to agree: he would not interfere with the personal choices of the monks, and how many people they could recruit depended entirely on Paul's ability.

Thus, a school named "Weis Academy" was established on the lakeside.

During the day, Paul forced the residents of Alden Town to send their children to the academy to learn how to read, and at night, he had the army search house by house to drag the 40-year-old adults who were idle at home to night school.

Paul managed to recruit ten young monks from the monastery by coaxing and lying. Most of them were just adults sent to the monastery by their families to become monks when they were young. The boring days of praying and chanting every day made these young people very curious about the outside world.

Of course, as Abbot Leonard said, "Their faith in the Lord is not firm enough and they cannot resist the temptations of the outside world."

All ten young men were stuffed into the academy by Paul, transforming from monks to teachers. Five of them took turns during the day and night to teach the townspeople how to read.

Upon returning to Alden Town after the campaign in Frand, for some reason, the recently appointed military priest Morrison was appointed as the headmaster of the academy, under the orders of Earl, responsible for formulating the curriculum and writing the textbooks. The obscure and profound scriptures were obviously too profound for the newly literate townspeople, but stories of heroic deeds led by the great lord against pirates were much easier to understand.

Sometimes, Morrison personally taught and brainwashed... Ahem, conducted certain ideological education for teachers and students.

But all this took time, and Paul was already impatient.

Seeing the Earl standing up, Hansel secretly rejoiced, guessing correctly.

He had visited the academy established by Earl Paul. While it occasionally happened that some nobles educated a few qualified commoners to show their kindness, it was mostly to cultivate capable servants. However, like Earl Grayman, promoting education and culture on such a large scale in his own domain was unprecedented.

Paul was intrigued by Hansel's words.

Faced with the reality of widespread illiteracy among the commoners, Paul found it difficult to voice his concerns.

Hansel found that this Earl had far-reaching ambitions. Considering his ancestors were exiled to the Northwest Bay, this fact was particularly intriguing.

Could this develop into another Giles family situation? It was possible, but highly unlikely.

The Giles family's current power wasn't solely due to the efforts of successive family heads; luck, opportunities, and the strategic location of their domain were equally important factors. Who could guarantee the Grayman family would enjoy the same fortune? Moreover, they were located in the remote Northwest Bay.

Moreover, achieving the kind of success the Giles family had wasn't an overnight affair; it required generations of patience and development.

Hansel knew that the widely circulated new type of paper originated from this lord's hands. So when Paul spoke of improving agricultural and metallurgical techniques, he judged the credibility to be quite high, about eight or nine out of ten.

For Hansel, he had some connections among the lower nobility in the south. He could bring some of those who were as disgruntled as he was to the Northwest, exactly what this lord desired.

As long as this lord could cooperate with him, continuously provide military supplies to His Majesty, he would achieve a great accomplishment. He would enter the kingdom's high-level vision and approach the core of power.

He hated being a bastard, he hated his other half's blood, he hated not being taken seriously, and he had to seize every opportunity to climb up. As for whether the Grayman family had certain ambitions, anyway, this generation couldn't see it, after his death, no matter how high the flood was.

Hansel looked at Paul, who stood up, and the sunset's rays streamed through the window onto him, his heartbeat suddenly accelerated.

Finally, the young Earl opposite extended his right hand, smiling, "Nice to meet you again, Paul Grayman, Lord of Alden on the Northwest Coast."

Hansel also stood up, extending his own right hand, smiling back, "Hansel Abbott, His Majesty's representative stationed in Alden."

"Pleasure doing business with you."

"Pleasure doing business with you."

The two hands clasped tightly together.

...

South, Thorn Gate.

Two figures stood quietly on top of the towering city walls, one was a vigorous old man with gray hair, and the other was a slightly indifferent young commander.

They silently watched the distant rebel camp for a while, and the old man sighed, "It looks like we're going to have some difficult days ahead."

The young commander, puzzled, asked, "Lord Dodge, why do you say that? We just need Princess to lead the army here, and we can take the initiative to attack."

Duke Dodge pulled out a small cloth strip and handed it to the young man, "This was just delivered by a messenger pigeon. Take a look for yourself."

The young man took the cloth strip and glanced at it, his expression mixed with a hint of worry, "Is the granary on fire? What terrible timing."

The Duke shrugged, "Most likely a spy's handiwork. From the previous attacks, it's clear that Giles' main force isn't here. What do you think, Leicester?"

Leicester looked south, "He just wants to pin us down so he can gradually deal with the isolated pro-king factions in the south."

Duke Dodge sighed again, "If Her Highness' main force can't reach here, we can only hold out here. I hope we can resolve the food and forage issues before Giles' main force heads north."

Leicester suddenly looked at him, "Your Grace, we can't just sit and wait like this. Tonight, I plan to lead the cavalry to raid the enemy camp."

The young man's eagerness to achieve meritorious deeds was understandable, and that's exactly what was needed. Duke Dodge silently admired him. The young man's demeanor reminded him of his experiences defending against orcs with the Northeast Legion and those comrades. At that time, they were all as young and eager for merit as this young man.

The Duke's heroic spirit surged, "Good, it's time to teach the enemy a lesson."

(End of the Chapter)