Lord of Rot

Shifting low-probability events in his favor, turning them into high-probability ones, required accurate foresight. He also had to ensure that any unfavorable outcomes wouldn’t exceed his limits.

Only then could he maximize the effects of the Lucky Potion.

The honey water settled in his stomach, relieving much of the overstuffed feeling.

’Porcupine Territory’s most basic survival needs have been temporarily met, but a more important era is dawning—the age of magical agriculture.’

’I have to get that island under my control.’

’I must ensure no one else can land there.’

’The kingdom wouldn’t bother with the ownership of a small island; sailing skills alone have limited the issue of maritime territories so far. But eventually, someone will land on that island, and my Spiritual Power has a limited range. It can’t radiate that far. ’

’I wonder if Toma the scholar has a solution.’

...

After dinner, the sky had just begun to darken.

Groups of people, clutching paper and pens, made their way to the castle. Candles guided them through the vast, maze-like interior.

No one dared to wander off. Getting caught would not only lead to punishment but also cost them the opportunity to return and study.

Among them were those who were already exhausted from their day’s labor, yet they forced themselves to come at night. They were desperate to change their fates by gaining knowledge.

Another, more cheerful group consisted of younger boys and girls.

Their parents had ordered them to attend night school at the castle, not for any other reason than to secure a chance at an apprenticeship at the city hall later.

Everyone knew that working at the city hall required knowledge.

It meant no more toiling under the sun, no more hard labor, and better pay.

Common folk who felt they had missed their own chance now hoped to cultivate it in their children.

The moment the mixed-age group walked into the classroom, they saw the Lord sitting off to one side. They all instantly stood ramrod straight, not daring to move or even look for a chair.

”Lord!”

”Yarrn, Lord!”

”Lord!”

”Sit,” Leech said with a wave of his hand. ”I’m just here to observe with you. Don’t mind me.”

Hearing their Lord say this, they breathed a collective sigh of relief and obediently found seats.

Everyone fell silent.

It was about time. Joe was the one teaching now.

You could always trust a merchant’s arithmetic skills. ”Lucky Kid” Joe was currently on track to become Porcupine Territory’s financial director.

Joe entered, holding a bound book, and saw Leech. He bowed and greeted, ”Yarrn, Lord.”

”Don’t mind me. Please begin the lesson,” Leech said.

Joe nodded. ”Yes, Lord.”

He had known Leech for a long time and understood that when the Lord said not to mind him, he truly meant it.

Each person had a sheet of paper, but they weren’t holding quills. Quills and ink weren’t cheap, so they used charcoal sticks instead.

These were small blocks of carbon made from burnt wood—cheap and plentiful. Everyone carried a small bag of them, though their fingers were always pitch-black after writing.

Leech didn’t charge much for the paper either: ten sheets for one copper star.

This covered the basic cost of materials and labor, with just enough left over for taxes.

Joe began his lecture. Since the night school had only just started, he was currently teaching addition and subtraction.

After watching for a while, however, Leech spotted a problem.

There was no denying that Joe’s examples for arithmetic were practical, always relating the problems to the students’ own lives.

The only problem was the lack of interaction.

He would lecture passionately, but by the end of the class, the students had only listened to his theories, looking drowsy.

If anyone could learn this way, they’d have to be a genius among geniuses.

’That’s right,’ Leech thought. ’This world has never really had the concept of a ”teacher.” The education system is completely undeveloped.’

’Apprenticeships basically start with manual labor. How much you learn depends entirely on your own observation; the master rarely offers direct instruction.’

’This model of openly sharing knowledge with everyone is probably a first in this world.’

’Of course, nobles have their own methods of instruction, but it’s different from a typical teacher-student relationship and isn’t a useful model. Their one-on-one, or even many-on-one, tutoring could never be widespread. Not in the current Porcupine Territory, and not even if it developed for another thousand years.’

Leech hadn’t come to observe before. Now that he had, he saw just how many problems there were.

’They need a blackboard and some chalk.’

’Those aren’t hard to make. I can just find a wooden board and use the charcoal sticks on it. It can be washed clean with water every day.’

Kro, the teacher for the second class, was already waiting at the door.

He and Gelan were responsible for teaching language and literacy, but since Gelan was usually very busy, the task fell almost entirely to Kro.

Sometimes he would also share stories about the wider world. Leech didn’t see any harm in his people learning about the outside, though there was no need to praise it excessively. Porcupine Territory was the main theme. The goal was to increase the students’ sense of belonging to their home, not make them blindly believe the outside world was better. After all, you couldn’t get a full meal out there.

Kro Camel entered. ”Yarrn, Lord.”

”Yarrn, Sir Kro,” Leech nodded.

One couldn’t be as casual when greeting a noble as when greeting a subordinate.

Kro wrote a sentence on his paper: ”The Lord has brought us a good life. May the four gods bless the Lord.”

Leech: ”...”

’Well played, Kro. You’ve got some skills!’

The flattery was a bit heavy-handed, but since it was for the sake of a lesson, Leech couldn’t object, let alone stand up and deny his own merits.

The students recited along, learning one word at a time.

The grammatical logic of the Lu Leiyi common tongue was unusual.

The subject was placed at the very end of a sentence, so you couldn’t understand the full meaning until you heard the final word.

Of course, this was only in the written form; in actual conversation, people simplified things by omitting the subject.

The most difficult part to learn was the use of particles. They were attached to the end of other words to express their relationship to the rest of the sentence, but sometimes they were simply used to convey a special nuance.

For those who already spoke the common tongue, they only needed to learn how to read and write it. They had been speaking Lu Leiyi their entire lives and didn’t need to start from scratch.

Leech noticed that the students, who had been staring blankly, took out their charcoal sticks when Kro held up the paper. They copied the sentence, then put their sticks away and went back to listening passively.

”You don’t practice writing more?” Leech asked a blond-haired boy beside him who had just finished.

The boy shook his head. ”Paper’s too expensive. We practice with sticks in the dirt when we get back home. We can just wipe it away when we’re done so nothing is wasted.”

With the Lord chatting to a student, the teacher, Kro, didn’t dare say a word and could only pretend he hadn’t noticed.

’Porcupine Territory is still so poor,’ Leech lamented internally.

After solving Porcupine Territory’s food and warmth problem, he had felt he was already an excellent Lord. After all, no other lord could guarantee their people would never go hungry.

But in this moment, he felt the weight of responsibility on his shoulders as a Lord.

Food and warmth were just the most basic needs. There was so much more development awaiting him.

’Of course, even if people can’t afford paper, I will absolutely not distribute it for free,’ Leech resolved. ’If knowledge doesn’t have a cost, no one will treasure it.’

’It would also likely create a group of people who just show up for the free paper.’

’Rather than resorting to the whip later, I’d rather establish clear rules from the very beginning. People will slowly learn what is and isn’t acceptable.’

’Then, when the time comes to brandish the whip against those who cross the line, it will be far more effective.’

After Kro’s class ended, Toma the scholar arrived.

The classes weren’t long. The goal was to teach a little bit of new information each day. Education couldn’t be rushed, and everyone had their own work to do during the day, leaving little time to review their lessons.

As it stood, Porcupine Territory couldn’t even manage a basic literacy campaign.

When it was time for Toma the scholar’s class, the atmosphere was a world apart from the liveliness of Kro’s.

It was calm. Silent.

Even the sound of breathing was faint.

Even Leech started to feel a bit dizzy listening to him.

Toma the scholar was far too fond of tangents in his lectures. Not only did he stray from the topic, but he also dove far too deep. The average student had yet to even grasp what Spiritual Power was, but Toma was already explaining the techniques for constructing arcane arts with it.

He even went on to discuss advanced application techniques for these arts.

Just look at Arkke and Pitz. As the only two Talented Casters in the castle, their eyes were already spinning.