Our Family Has Fallen

”I’ll give it a try, but it will take time to see the results.”

”If it doesn’t work out, we can keep them for breeding. It might be easier to train the next generation from birth.”

Lance found steel cages to separate the five wild wolves and then handed them off to William, squeezing some of his spare time.

You must squeeze your employees hard; otherwise, where would the police dogs come from?

Once Mary’s family had been registered as residents, their mother was reassigned work in the town, and Lance brought the two children to the school to handle their enrollment.

”We’ll start the two of them in the lower grades learning to read, and see if they can catch up with the progress and move up…”

The school had already implemented a standardized system, no longer as chaotic as before.

Previously, children of different ages were mixed together. To ensure the quality of education under these circumstances, Lance made a bold decision: he started unified literacy classes, focusing primarily on teaching reading.

Then he opened up the library, where all teaching books were placed, and set up study rooms.

Furthermore, grade divisions were no longer based on age but on the progress of the teaching content, with results speaking for themselves.

As long as students were smart and diligent enough, they could learn in one year what took others three, jump directly from the lower grades to the higher ones, or even graduate early.

This special structure allowed for the rapid filtering of students, leading to gradual stabilization. Students were sorted into grades matching their proficiency. If they couldn’t complete the curriculum within three years, they were directly dismissed.

Once students completed the basic foundation of a thousand characters and were capable of reading and learning independently, the school’s main curriculum would gradually progress from literacy to more advanced topics.

The core of the curriculum was still mathematics, supplemented by general social knowledge such as human anatomy, history, geography, agriculture, flora and fauna, as well as basic physical training, and arts like music and painting.

At a higher level, subjects included swordsmanship, firearms, medical treatment, Herbology, business, law, mechanical structures, and more.

This was all very basic knowledge that Lance could gather or that was contributed by various skilled individuals from the town and verified by him.

In reality, however, only a portion of this curriculum could be implemented. Most of it remained a mere framework, and the children weren’t truly learning according to these plans.

For instance, Lance had newly written many courses. Since many teachers didn’t understand this new material, it was common to see both teachers and students copying and studying from books in Hamlet’s library.

Arts courses were also empty promises—much like the proverbial ”senior year P.E. class.” While planned, their implementation was uncertain given Hamlet’s poor conditions.

Even in ordinary small cities, such programs were lacking, available only in big cities. Of course, some Nobility would hire special tutors for their children.

For now, one could say the future looked promising, but Hamlet would need to continue developing to achieve it.

”Study hard. I’ve given you this very precious opportunity, but how far you can go depends only on yourself.”

Lance had given them an opportunity, yet it was uncertain if they would seize it.

”I will not disappoint you, sir!” Tom nodded firmly.

”Mary will work hard too!”

Mary followed with her own pledge, her determined little eyes amusing Lance.

He was always the one offering enticing prospects to others; did these two little ones actually think they could do the same for him?

”Then I’ll leave the two of them to Mrs. Rosa,” Lance indicated to the principal standing beside him with a slight nod.

”Rest assured, sir.” Mrs. Rosa had developed a certain air of authority in her time as principal, appearing more imposing.

Lance wasn’t worried with Mrs. Rosa in charge. However, Joan had recently killed a heretic, and Lance, concerned she might be under stress, still offered some words of comfort.

”Joan did well. The heretic she killed was a scoundrel who deserved it.”

At first, I thought she might have been emotionally affected, but once she spoke out, I realized I had been overthinking.

”When she stood up to protect others in the face of those heretics, I knew her choice was correct.”

As the school principal, Mrs. Rosa had been with the students at that time. When the crazed heretics burst in, an uncontrollable fear arose in her heart.

It was at this moment that Joan was able to stand up and, alongside others, kill the heretics to protect everyone—the emotions were very complex, like watching one’s daughter suddenly grow up.

Although it was tough to let go, it was time to do so.

Lance also picked up on something from her words.

Previously, he had vouched for Joan to convince Mrs. Rosa to let her get involved in these matters, but he could still feel her reluctance.

But now it was clear she had come to terms with it.

Indeed, reality is the best teacher...

「Hamlet, Sanatorium, Underground Dissection Room.」

”I hope to hear some good news.”

Paracelsus lifted her head slightly. Surprisingly, she was not wearing the Beak Mask but a surgical mask instead.

After speaking, she turned back and continued to direct the dissection knife toward the body on the table.

Lance hadn’t noticed during his last visit, but now he saw that, aside from a few more bodies, the dissection room was also adorned with several sachets exuding a scent of fresh herbs, which neutralized the foul stench.

Such trinkets, along with the mask Paracelsus wore, could only be made by Grendel in all of Hamlet.

”Good news!” Lance said with a smile as he approached. ”I plan to restart the research on the Ascension Potion.”

When Lance said this, Paracelsus’s hand holding the knife paused noticeably.

”Didn’t you say before that it wasn’t needed? Why restart it now?” She turned, eyeing Lance with some confusion. ”Don’t we still have some bottles? Take those and use them; I’m busy these days.”

”Hey, hey!” Noticing her peculiar gaze, Lance hurriedly spoke up to clarify, ”I need to correct you a bit—it’s not that I need it, but Hamlet does.”

Paracelsus turned back to her work, the coldness in her eyes showing that she simply did not care about Lance’s explanation.

Lance was usually very casual with her, and some things didn’t matter, but this was one issue he had to stand his ground on, no matter what.

It was not to prove how great he was but to show others that he didn’t need these things!

”Initially, we didn’t have enough herbs or enough equipment, and we weren’t equipped for mass production. But now, our fields are planted with herbs, and we can improve our preparation techniques.

Moreover, Hamlet’s development needs Gold Coins to continue operating, and there’s nothing more popular with the wealthy than this. It can relieve the pressure Hamlet is facing.”

”Since when did you improve the preparation techniques?” Paracelsus didn’t care much for his reasons, but she sensed something noteworthy and couldn’t help but ask.

”The formula for this Potion originally flowed from the witches to the Ascension Sect. Because it was refined in the Barbarian Tribes’ manner, it was potent. However, we lacked an important piece of equipment: the witches’ cauldron. Now that the cauldron is in our hands, we just need to refine the process to produce it in large quantities.”

Paracelsus wasn’t foolish; she knew that cauldron was upstairs. They called it a Superordinary Item, but only Grendel had the ability to unleash its miraculous power.

”I know you’re busy, so I plan to have Miss Dai’er help with the concoction. You two can just verify it later,” Lance said. He couldn’t just bluntly ask Paracelsus for her previous research data, not when he was effectively handing the main production task to someone else.

A project represented her initial investment, even if it had been shelved partway. Transferring it to someone else without her input would undoubtedly upset her.

Not to mention Paracelsus herself didn’t quite get along with Grendel.

Therefore, Lance still had to emphasize that the project always involved her and Grendel was only responsible for mass production, trying his best to lessen her hostility.

Lance, of course, could leverage his control over resources to directly alter the Ascension Potion project. Whether Paracelsus agreed or not wouldn’t affect the outcome.

But when it came to talent, especially those who had contributed, Lance believed it essential to treat them with sufficient respect. Some matters couldn’t be dictated by power alone; knowledge is also a form of power.