I left the book I was reading over Elincia’s desk and spied on the backyard through her window. The colors of autumn invaded the backyard. The trees shed their leaves, covering the backyard with a lovely bronze mantle while the grass of the esplanade was showing the first hints of decay.
Despite the year being well into autumn already, the farm plot was a small haven of green. Elincia’s potions had granted the poisoned plants a new life. In the same fashion, the section of farm plot managed by Zaon and the older kids was growing vigorously despite the weather. After weeks of fighting on several fronts, the orphanage had some semblance of peace.
Tax season had passed without further incident and now we had six months until the Imperial Academy exams. The food situation was somewhat covered in the short term, and the kids had accepted my presence at the orphanage with surprising haste.
Smiling, I leaned over the window frame to get a better view.
By the side of the orchard, Elincia had gathered the orphans for their seasonal haircut. Wolf sat on a chair in the middle of the backyard while Elincia carefully shaved the sides of his head leaving the top untouched. I wondered if that was Wolf’s preferred haircut or if mohawks were an orcish thing in this world too.
In the meantime, the younger orphans took turns brushing each other’s hair. Nokti helped Shu to brush her gold locks while Virdian fought against Ash’s numerous knots. The complaints of the young human child filled the backyard as Virdian pulled the brush without any concern for his victim.
The picture warmed my heart but my brain couldn’t stop nagging me about the hundred different tasks we had to accomplish before winter. The firewood stocks were running dangerously low and we had to find a way to preserve food for the winter if we wanted to eat anything other than bean soup and gruel. We needed money to fix the roof, and even more money to buy seeds for the spring sowing.
Money, money, money.
Our material needs weren’t the only thing that troubled me. I had to get the orphans ready for the Imperial Academy exam but I wasn’t sure what the exam actually comprised. In the meantime, I had been teaching them the basics of various kinds of swords, but I feared a theoretical test. This world’s history and military theory weren’t my principal areas of knowledge.
I made a mental note to inquire with Sir Janus about the exam.
At that point, my memory was already filled to the brim with sticky notes, side notes, footnotes, and obscure doodles that once made sense.
“Firewood, money, food reserves, Imperial Academy exam, alchemical ingredients, prevent Nokti from unearthing potatoes before harvest, arithmetic lessons, find out Elincia’s birthday, figure out the quirks of other species, establish my own city-state and make Elincia the Secretary of Children’s Services.” I recited in a whisper.
The last one wasn’t really viable, but dreaming cost nothing.
As much as my secret plans to establish a commercial hub were an interesting mental exercise in supply and development, I had more pressing tasks to accomplish first. I closed the window and switched my attention to the book in front of me. For the first time since I arrived in this world I had a free afternoon, which led me to my current activity, perusing the manor’s book collection.
[Master of Languages] was a cheat skill. It not only worked with spoken language but with written language too. I just needed to understand the word once for my skill to store the spelling next to the meaning. For that reason, I had wandered around the orphanage during the last few days, chasing Elincia to ask her about words I didn’t yet know.
The book I was trying to read was an old treatise of alchemy but most of the words were too technical to understand without Elincia by my side. But it didn’t matter. I had a whole collection of otherworldly knowledge at my disposal.
And the System knew that rare books rubbed my brain cells in the most correct way.
I rubbed my hands in front of the shelf like a disgusting fly watching rotten fruit, enjoying the anticipation. On the other hand, if my college days taught me something, this was going to be more laborious than funny. Reading hundreds of pages to find a single quotation was really a monk's work.
Leaving my preconceptions behind, I grabbed a book it had caught my eye.
On Classes by Echbert Soother.
“This is a big, fat title, Mister Soother, so it better be good.” I muttered.
Of course the book started with a needlessly long foreword where the author didn’t even mention the themes of the book whatsoever. I just shut down my inner literary critic and continued reading.
Things got very interesting very quickly in the second foreword.
Apparently, Echbert was considered a rogue Scholar for inquiring into the System’s ways and revealing his conclusions to the world. As the lines progressed, Echbert metaphorically shat upon half a dozen other Scholars whose names I haven’t heard of but seemed important to the period. As the pages progressed, the quarrel continued until the last paragraph where Echbert dedicated his work to the gods who had ‘built the System with infinite wisdom and selflessness’.
“This makes sense. If the System was created by the gods, then inquiring about it might be considered a vain effort in the best case and sacrilege in the worst.” I whispered to myself, wondering if there were actual gods in this world. After all, the System seemed completely man-made to me.
I made another mental note to remember not to mention my heretical thoughts in front of a System Zealot.
Here begins the epitome on the study of the System and its Classes, composed and written by my hand and letter, who, guided by the System, had gathered the experience of over a thousand combatants, crafters, and other noble jobs, and had seen with my own two eyes the great archive of Saint Nives abbey and the secret compendium written by its Dark Zealots.
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“Alright, no full stops for me.” I muttered
Blessed be those who embrace the teaching of the gods because they will be rewarded with radiant Classes. Reject the dishonest teaching and the bogus prophet because the way of the System is the way of one’s heart, embrace your given Class and do not envy those of your neighbors because that is the design of the gods. I hereby pronounce the wisdom of Nives the Sage under the sun. The farmer’s son will be king and the King’s son will be farmer by the System’s will.
“Deterministic and sugar-coated.” I growled at the book, knowing that Echbert Soother wasn’t going to hear any of my complaints. If he was right, then Classes were assigned even before birth, it was destiny, fate, the god’s will, and no mortal could fight it.
I nervously drummed the table with my fingers.
Captain Kiln had told me something similar; the System only cared for the contents of the soul. Elincia, on the other hand, had told me she chose to be an Alchemist. That meant the person had some kind of input after all.
I had to ask her exactly what happened before she visited the System Altar, what she was taught during her childhood, what her teachers did, and what happened to the other orphans before they were forced to join the army.
I let [Awareness] feed me with the pictures of my own class bestowment. As much as I wanted to cast fireballs, the System had ignored my pleas and turned me into a Scholar.
I sighed and focused on the book. Maybe Echbert had more wisdom to share.
“Please, don’t go into a fascist tirade about how people with better Classes are more worthy than others with ‘lesser’ Classes.” I sighed again as I turned the page.
My pleas reached deaf ears because, oh boy, Echbert Soother had strong things to say about Farmers and Anglers.
As I continued passing the pages, my patience ran dry.
“Of course the sons and daughters of Swordmasters grow to become Fencers, you fucking maggot! They have the best tutors next to them!” I yelled at the worn-out pages, knowing that that was the case back on Earth and not necessarily here.
Captain Kiln had said people without fighting skills could achieve classes like Knight.
After an hour of fierce fighting against the pages, I put the book aside. Naively I had thought I could learn something while ignoring Echbert’s proto-eugenic ideals, but after he started calling for the eradication of certain classes, I decided it was too much for me.
I could understand people being suspicious of someone holding a Bandit or an Assassin class, but there were a dozen classes related to family entertainment that didn’t deserve such contempt. For some reason Mimes got the worst part in Echbert’s book.
I was swinging in my chair when Elincia opened the door. Her radiant smile on her made me forget every single one of my worries if only for a moment.
“Autumn haircut ready. Some of the younger ones wouldn’t cooperate because a certain man refused to cut his hair like the rest.” Elincia crossed into the room and fell back into her bed while laughing.
My hair was still too short to need a haircut.
“Can you believe Virdian asked me to cut his hair just like yours? The poor thing doesn’t even have hair!” Elincia whispered with a cheerful voice while covering her mouth with a hand.
As funny as it was, it didn’t surprise me. That was the kind of wacky idea that usually came from Virdian’s chattering mouth. Since the snakefolk kids had started talking I was having a hard time keeping my composure in front of the orphans. That morning, I could barely hold the gruel inside my mouth after Virdian had pointed out that pots were clearly called ‘pots’ because of their close relationship with potatoes.
I glanced at Echbert’s book and scratched my incipient beard knowing I wasn’t going to get answers from him. Maybe Elincia could throw some light on the matter.
“I want to know more about you, Elincia.” I suddenly stopped rocking in the chair and glanced at the woman with renewed intensity. There was a world of distance between theory and practice and Echbert’s theory wasn’t necessarily reality no matter how many Saints and abbots he quoted.
“I want to know everything about you, in fact.” I said, full of conviction.
For some reason, my words seemed to have caught her by surprise.
“I-I’m sure a seasoned Scholar who has eaten man-killing pastries like you wouldn't find a nobody like me interesting.” Elincia stuttered as her ears burned a deep crimson hue.
I shook my head.
“Sometimes illumination comes from the most unsuspecting places.” I replied, recalling the tale of a historian who found important documents while messing around in an older section of a library. “I recall you told me you chose to become an Alchemist. You touched the Altar and you entered a state of meditation where you spoke to the System. Can you tell me about that?”
Elincia looked at me with an even more confused face but replied nonetheless.
“Yes, that was what happened. The System offered me the Hunter Class but I knew I could help the orphanage more by being an Alchemist so I just went for it.” Elincia sat up on her bed. She crossed her arms and legs while looking at me with utmost seriousness. “I’m not understanding where this conversation is going.”
This time I was the one looking at her in confusion.
“I’m trying to figure out what I should do to ensure our kids get good Classes. Isn't it obvious?”
Elincia grumbled as she massaged her temples. Any hint of blushing had left her face, instead she showed an annoyed expression.
“Of course you are doing Scholar stuff. Why did I think otherwise?” She sighed.
“Do you think people are destined for the Classes they get?” I asked before she could change the topic of the conversation. This was important for me and the future of the orphans.
“Some people think we are destined to our Classes. When I spoke to the System I felt it looking inside me. If there is a truth out there, it is that the System knows who you truly are.” Elincia glared at me. “I do think the System just draws what is inside you. Being an Alchemist just like Mister Lowel was probably inside me because of my experiences and my desire to help the orphanage.”
I closed my eyes and sorted my thoughts. If Elincia was in the right then Class was a conjunction of desire and personality; what you wanted and what you were. Which was troublesome at a practical level. Teaching arithmetic and fencing was easy compared to molding the content of a child’s character. Back on Earth I tried really hard to guide my students on the path of virtue with little apparent success most of the time.
“Rob, are you listening to me?”
I opened my eyes and found Elincia standing just in front of me.
“Sorry, I was thinking. What were you saying?” I quickly apologized.
Elincia let out the grandmother of all sighs.
“If someone can connect with the kids and unlock their true potential, that’s you, Rob. I do believe you can change their fates for good. I believe it with all my heart.” Elincia’s smile sent a shiver through my body. Not only that was the nicest thing someone had told me in this world or the other, but hearing it from Elincia made it mean even more.
I panicked a little.
“I’m not sure you have the greatest eye for men, I mean, you used to trust Holst.” I tried to joke to lighten the moment but my joke was not well received.
“I swear to the fucking System, I had never wanted to kill someone this much before meeting you, Robert Clarke.” Elincia sharply jabbed at my shoulder and stomped all her way back to her bed. “Just keep doing your thing and the kids will do fine. Now get out of my room. I’m done with you, damned Scholars.”