Class was going well.
Not only was the presence of Shizu dissuasive enough to keep the most troublesome of the young blades at bay, but the prince was also surprisingly cooperative.
Our first interaction had left me with a sour aftertaste. Let's be honest here, I didn't like that he was prejudiced against Gelcaria and Melodi. He even belittled my alphabet, that fool. Yet he must have been smart enough in some way, not only did he accept to attend my teachings but in class he behaved well, and since he is a role model for the others they fell in line too.
This made it easier for the kid that I am to teach a bunch of rowdy teenagers, where most of said teenagers are also warriors and magicians trained to kill.
After two months, around 80% of them were able to read and write using my alphabet. The 20% remaining were a group of five that were just too dumb. I doubt they could even write their own names in ideograms.
I don't know how they ended up attending my class, their parents must have had quite the influence but sometimes, talent skips a generation.
If they have enough brawns they'll still be able to make good blades nevertheless. Their goal was to kill monsters, not read books.
After I got the old lord's permission to end their teaching and have this class “graduate”, I was surprised by two visitors.
The first was the second prince. The handsome teen was wearing a serious face, worthy of an heir on some official business. He had even dressed more formally, his garb was less fancy than usual and he had toned it down with the jewellery, making him look like a proper heir to the throne. “I think I owe you some thanks, “ he started.
This wasn't as good as an apology but I shouldn't be picky. I doubt the boy ever apologized to a commoner in his whole life and this was the best I could ever hope for.
I let him go on. “Grandfather told me about your blessing.” No one was around, his followers and his cute maid were standing far enough that they couldn't hear us, except if they had some enhanced senses. “I can't help but accept the gods' teachings.” He waved at the blackboard I was so proud of, where my alphabet was still written on. “Our family has always been and will always be the shield that protects the gods' chosen ones. Let's get along well,” he concluded.
I'd rather not antagonize him, I'm convinced it isn't a sincere offer. The old lord must be the one who pushed him to “apologize” and I'll accept it. “I've never doubted the commitment of the Shield's family to the pantheon. I can't blame you if you weren't aware of my personal situation.” I was trying to sound conciliate here, “but I think you should reconsider the way you look at my friends. Not only were they approved of by the elder lord, but they were also the ones who saved my life during the monster tide.” If protecting the blessed ones was so important in his eyes, this wasn't something he could easily dismiss.
He clenched his perfect square jaw in uneasiness. “It shames me to admit it but you speak like grandfather: you shouldn't judge a book on its title, he often says. Now I understand a bit more what he meant.” His ember eyes were burning their way through mine, “I'll give your friends the benefit of the doubt if a blessed one vouch for them. This, I can do,” he finally conceded me. It wasn't much but it diverted a powerful foe from my friends, so it was a great victory.
The rest of our conversation was more business like. We talked a lot about his sister. She was right to say he cared about her, damn siscon. He looked genuinely happy that she was finally getting in touch with studying.
I must admit he was quite knowledgeable and a good student. He had been groomed to be the heir and future shield of the Shieldom. The Shield's tutors did a good job with him. What's more, he was a magician and a talented one, if I was to believe his sister's praises.
Other than his sister he led the discussion towards his other siblings. He held his older sister, the first princess, in even higher regard than his little sister. Not only was she smart and a beauty, but she was also a powerful magician, even by Shield's standards.
She was sent to the Empire's capital to study at their Imperial magic Academy, the local Hogwarts. From what I understood, studying magic was very hard. Devising new spells was even harder. Most families were secretive about their spells and didn't want to share what they were able to with others.
The academy was an exception. To attend class, a tribute in magical knowledge was to be paid. In return, the student would get access to the many spells donated by others. It was a way to spread magic, incite to develop new spells, and have the imperial city gather as much magical knowledge as possible. It was also a good way to scout the best magicians and rising stars and grab them in the imperial army early on.
The Shield also had two other children. A fourth prince and a fifth princess. Both were too young to be seen around and I was still to meet them.
Our discussion slowly drifted to my relatives and my friends. He then ha me talk about my life as an acolyte.
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It must have felt strange for him to have to discuss with a kid, what's more, a commoner. I could tell he was probing at my relationship with the Temple, the hall of whispers, cardinal Fortmo, and even house Duarch. It was done with tact, Nutusi would praise his oratory talents.
I had nothing much to hide from him. As the prince and heir, he should have access to the same intel his father and grandfather did, if not today then tomorrow. It was no secret that I was an acolyte at the temple and still in touch with Nutusi.
Our conversation then drifted on my writing system. He was trying to understand what my end goal was here and what I was envisioning for the future.
I tried to explain the need for the spread of knowledge and how he, as a Shieldlord, could later take advantage of it. More people that could read and write meant more informations, more people that could become officials, thus giving him more freedom to pick the best candidates, but also more smart people rising everywhere in the city, bringing innovations and progress. Sure, it would take time and resources to school so many people but the tree of patience always bore sweet fruits.
Feeling he was somewhat interested in my vision I also told him about the egg farm at the docks. Agricultural development was one of the first things I wanted our lord to care about. Having felt hunger for quite some time, I didn't forget what it was and knew the servs were having it even worse.
Growing more food would always be one of my main goals. Not only would it ease the lives of everyone in the city but it would also bring stability, growth and more people to work on other tasks in the city.
Our discussion was interrupted when his beautiful “maid” came to grab his hand and whisper in his ear to remind him that he was to attend some meeting somewhere else.
“It was quite enlightening. I will read the report that the Charavtkeh's priest made on this fish farm. Tupu knows we need all the food we can after such a year,” he said with a worried face not befitting of a teen. Was he caring about his subjects? He then flashed me a princy smile “Let us meet again later to discuss about it.”
I was hoping for a handshake but none came. Instead, he was awaiting for me to bow to him. I decided to nod politely, he was still my student and not my master, nor the current Shield. If his maid frowned at me, he didn't show any reaction, he also had his own “prince's mask”.
* * * * *
My second visitor was the heir of house Duarch, Khinra.
After our first discussion he was a quiet student, not even daring to cross eyes with me, but a diligent one. His writing was especially beautiful, his letters had nice curves and elegant lines. More than mine would ever be. This was quite rare here, this world's ideograms were more about strokes and brisk lines.
If our relation wasn't that complicated and his birth not that high, I would have found a way to have him study more under me, he was smart and a fast learner. I'm a Shinpilo's blessed one and I felt it was a shame to have him become some simple fighter.
He was wearing a simple martial robe and had his sword at his waist. He might be from one of the richest families around but he wasn't one to flaunt it around. Other than the first rate quality of the fabric his robe was made out from, there were few hints as to his origins, not even the crest of his family.
He came to offer me blood money for my grandmother.
For a second I hesitated to accept it. It felt like accepting a bribe or hush money. Copper coins wouldn't bring her back and accepting the money was like forgiving them.
But I also knew my family could make good use of the sum. Now that my grandmother wasn't around to help us, my mother would have to hire a wet-nurse for my youngest sister if she wanted to go back to Ms Tarina's workshop, or my older sister would have to stop her job. In both cases it meant less money coming in and our house could always use more money.
In the end, I took the bag without opening it. It was heavy enough to infer quite the hefty sum. To blades, this much money was nothing more than spare coins but for my family, it would make the difference between having one of us die or survive a disease.
“I hope that with this, some of your grievances are alleviated.” wished the young blade.
“I will not keep feud with you or your family but be aware that I still hold your father responsible for my loss.” I decided to blow cold and hot at the same time. Keeping him on his toes would also be a valuable lesson for the future leader he would become: his actions will have dire consequences and money can't solve everything, although it can do plenty.
After that, we had a nicer conversation. Mostly about how my writing system could be used. He was honest enough to ask for my permission to pass it on to his younger siblings. It wasn't like I could say no: I would never have the power to stop him from doing so, even the Temple or the old lord would have a hard time doing so. Secretly, I was even approving of him, the more the alphabet was spread around, the better.
Our conversation then drifted to paper. His family was part of the trade business dealing with exclusive goods. His kins that weren't fit to become mages or warriors would end up in the branch family that was tasked with money making. This gave me some insight into the paper trade.
It would be unwise of me to develop a paper industry without the consent of the emperor himself. Too many powerful families were dabbling in the prebend for me to come disrupt it. When everyone has a finger in the jam's jar, everyone has sticky hands and will protest if the jar is taken away.
Paper could be one of the hard limits to the expansion of writing. People will need paper to write on. The other alternatives were just inferior. Parchment needed valued leather and writing directly on stone or wood was cumbersome and time consuming. Fabric could be an alternative if I found a way to mass produce some linen but it should still be costlier than paper.
The best way to provide the city with enough paper was to increase the value of goods produced in the city so that we could buy more paper from the Beastkin empire and later cut a deal with them or the emperor to have our own paper industry.
Long term dreams.
I was feeling like some powerful lordling, having so many high-ranking guests for tea.
Yet some part of me reminded me that I shouldn't let it go to my head.
On the one hand, I knew this was more a show of respect towards the old lord and the Temple. Many knew I was affiliated with both and being on good terms with me was building good relations with my patrons too.
And on the other hand, it meant I was exposing myself. More and more people were aware of my blessing. I believe it was used to convince the blades to have their children study under a commoner. This also meant that I was becoming a target for heretics.
I wasn't that worried about it right now. I doubt there were that many heretics among the blades and I knew both the Temple and the lord were having me under watch.
On multiples occasions, Melodi had spotted a few shadows following us on our way back home and when I reported the matter to the old lord, Shizu acknowledged that they were her men patrolling around us.
I wasn't going to get mugged again anytime soon. Even if it was to happen, if my three friends were around they would be able to take care of it. Especially the girls, Melodi and Gelcaria weren't sitting idly while Balout and I were teaching and working as scribes.
They were training, learning to handle weapons and honing their skills. They had great stamina and balance before this training and now they were getting sharper.
They were still little girls but they had some muscle to show, their abs were getting defined and under the child's fat on their arms and thighs, I could already see the bulge of their muscles slithering with their every movement.
I wouldn't dare compete with them in arm-wrestling or take one of Gel's punches straight on. At least not until I awake my Chi to even the odds a bit.