I stood and watched the withering plants with an aching heart. The bugs were decimating the farm, and there wasn't much I could do about it. We had no pesticides, so we were stuck with watching it crumble. Thankfully, I was quick enough to seal most of the grains in jars.

We should have seen it coming. The refugees reported more bugs than usual, but I didn't think it would be that bad. Perhaps it has been accumulating all these bugs, and it's only gotten this bad just now?

At least the hunting has been going splendidly, with the explosion of animals to hunt. So we were able to shift more of our workforce towards hunting. Our diets would have to consist mainly of meat until the bugs swept past, and then we could try planting again. The plague would hit right around that time as well, but hopefully, we could get some plants to adapt.

I turned around and walked away towards the pen. It was going quite well. With the explosion of animals, we were able to herd quite a few into the pen. It went so well that we had to build more so that we could get other species of animals.

"How's the progress going?" I asked Shan as we approached the fenced-off areas.

"We have been making quick progress ever since we decided to give farming a break and focus on the animals and building. We have already finished the second pen and are working on the third."

That was good since I was planning on using the oxen to help with the farming. We need other animals for different purposes, like eating, for example.

"Do you remember which animal to round into the second area?" I quizzed my assistant.

Without missing a beat, he replied, "Boars. They burrow into the ground, looking for roots and vegetables. They also have tusks, and we are aware that they are dangerous."

"Good. I know this warning is repetitive, but be wary of the boars, as they can do a lot of damage if not careful." I headed towards the main hall, where I would have the final lesson of the day.

While walking, I was lost in thought about the boars. Breeding them to become pigs would be difficult, as it was less obvious how to do so than breeding for submissiveness like we were trying to do with the ox. Maybe I would have to do both? Breed for the submissiveness and start with getting rid of tusks?

I opened the door to the Priest's room and was surprised to see two people instead of one—the Priest and his daughter.

"Am I disturbing something? I can come back in a bit if you need time." I said while looking between the two.

"No need. I just wanted to talk to you about teaching a potential pupil the language as well," he said, pointing at the seat opposite him.

I hesitated but decided not to pretend to be busy and discuss it with him.

I sat down and spoke up, "I'm not sure if I have the time to teach others the language, and you should have the proficiency to teach others."

He smirked, "What are you so busy with? Isn't farming done until the bugs leave us?"

I grimaced at that, but he continued, "I am not asking you for free; I will offer you more guards for your protection."

That interested me a little. With the increase of refugees, I felt unsafe with two guards walking with me, and I could only increase it to three to keep the rotation going. But the guards weren't necessary. I could just as quickly grab a few farm hands that now had plenty of time on their hands and train them up. Sure, they wouldn't be as powerful as those who have been acting as a guard for a dozen or so years, but it would get the job done. I'd rather spend time working on the animal project.

Seeing my hesitancy, the Priest continued, "I could also give you my full support in the council instead of the non-aggression pact we have."

I looked at the Priest in surprise. Why would he promise me such a thing? That is one hell of a thing to promise. I'm sure if I advocated for something crazy, he wouldn't back me. But the promise was still a powerful one.

I looked over at the daughter while she was looking around the room. "Who am I to teach the alphabet to?"

The Priest's smile stretched even wider. "My daughter, of course. She is the future of the temple and needs to know this."

* * *

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The door closed behind the Priest, and I and the daughter stared at each other awkwardly as I tried to figure out what to say.

Surprisingly, she broke the Ice first. "I am Xuan Lian, the daughter of Priest Xuan Shan. I am next in line to inherit the teachings of the goddess. It is nice to officially meet you, Sage Jie Mins."

I raised my eyebrow at the talkative attitude. "It is nice to meet you, Lian."

I grabbed the board that I had used to carve the alphabet for the Priest and decided to jump straight into it by pointing at the letters. "Has your father introduced you to any of the letters?"

"He has not. I have overlooked some of his works, but he was too busy learning and transcribing to give me the time of day to teach me anything," she said while pouting. "I asked if he could teach me. He said that he didn't have the time to do so but have someone teach it to me instead. Who knew it would be the Great Sage himself? It is my honor to be taught by you."

"It brings me joy that someone found interest in the art of writing. What caught your attention?" If she understood the practicality from just a glimpse, that would be crazy.

She answered enthusiastically, "I just thought it looked cool, using lines to symbolize things instead of drawings."

"Oh." That's a reason enough, I guess. That's relatively carefree of her, I wonder if she's the only child? "Why don't we get started?"

She nodded eagerly as her eyes sparkled with interest. I pointed at the first letter, "This is A, and it sounds like 'ah.'"

I then started to carve the letters on a clear board. "It doesn't really matter where you start when you write A, but you can start from the bottom left and end with the strike through the middle."

I've improved at carving since I started teaching, but it still took me longer than I would like. Once I was done carving A, I handed her the board, "Here, you give it a try. Go ahead and pronounce the letter as you are carving them."

Lian leaned into the board and quickly carved out the letter A, showing her familiarity with carving. "This is interesting. I've never seen someone carve words in straight lines. Even my father, who keeps records for the city, has probably never seen something like this."

I nodded, "It is completely different. Instead of using a picture to represent one word, making it so that you need hundreds of pictures. You only need twenty-six symbols, and you can mix and match based on how you sound out the word."

We continued our lesson, and she grew more enthused as it went on, unlike the Priest, who was very cut and dry when it came to learning. "Wait, so in order to spell the color of a tree bark, would you write 'croun'?"

I chuckled, "Close but not quite. You need to combine the O with the W to create the 'OW' sound so that the word would end up being 'crown.'"

She nodded, and we continued practicing. She seemed to be lost in her thoughts as she made some mistakes I found to be obvious. Eventually, she turned to me with a curious look. "Did you come up with this yourself?"

I paused, trying to think of something. Seeing I wasn't responding, she quickly chickened out and tried to backtrack, "I'm sorry, Sage. I didn't mean to overstep."

I shook my head, "There's no need; I was just thinking about how to answer that question."

Sitting there in silence, I thought about how I ended up here—waking up all by myself in a world not of my own. I thought about whether to answer with the truth. How would she react to the news that I wasn't from this world? Would she spread the news? How would everyone react to it? I didn't know much about the myth of the Sages, as I was too afraid that if I looked deeper, I would be suspected.

She sat there in silence, shifting nervously as I was lost in my thoughts. Eventually, I settled on being a coward. "This knowledge… is closer to a memory. You could say it was with me the moment I was born into this world. But be wary. My knowledge isn't infallible. As it is closer to a memory, I can forget them."

She nodded thoughtfully, most of the enthusiasm gone after the tense silence.

"How about we get back to the lesson?" I asked, trying to remove the tension that had formed in the air due to my indecision.

She nodded, and we got back to work. She continued to think, and I myself was lost in thought, wondering if that was the right choice. We both simply went through the motions before she spoke up again. "Sage… You mentioned perhaps your knowledge isn't perfect. Can I… challenge you on something?"

I nodded, happy to break the atmosphere one way or another. "The language is unique, and it seems easier to show deeper meaning, but it takes too much room on the board. It is better to write using the language my father taught me."

I looked at the sentences I was carving and the tablet the Priest had left out. I couldn't read all of it, but I could understand the gist of it. What took up all of my tablets was only roughly half the hieroglyphic tablet.

She continued, "And all the time saved by writing in straight lines is eaten by the number of words I have to write with the alphabet you showed me."

She had a point. I can't believe I didn't think of that or that the Priest didn't point it out.

I asked, "Why didn't the Priest tell me this himself? This is the first time I've heard about it."

She hesitated, "I think that my father didn't bring it up due to the past you guys had. He was probably afraid of starting another argument."

But that was silly. Why would he think that would start an argument? Wait… Thinking back to when I first got to the city, we got into an argument because he challenged my authority as a Sage. Perhaps he thought that if he challenged my writing idea, I would see it as attacking my status as a Sage. But then, why did he learn the language? I was so confused.

"Thank you, Lian, for sharing your insight into both the writing and the revelation with your father. It means a lot to me."

Seeing how well I received her opinion, she beamed at me. "Of course, Great Sage. Even the Sages need to be guided sometimes!"

I laughed at that. The gall to call a Sage a person to be guided was incredible, but I appreciated the casualness she brought to the room. Maybe teaching won't be as insufferable as I thought?