21 – School
＜Chapter 21 – School＞
Originally, 1,400 people were assigned to the Seori River, with a focus on adults,
And 600 people, consisting of some women and children, were assigned to the existing Dongri River cultivation area.
However,
The women didn’t have the luxury of cultivating the land while taking care of the children.
As a result, they gradually moved to Dongri River, and before they knew it, the number reached 200.
The problem is that they continue to demand additional personnel after that.
I started to assess the situation.
The result was as expected.
The problem was that childcare required more labor than anticipated.
Dongri River.
Residence of slaves.
A massive building is under construction there.
Not just one.
But a total of three.
“Grandfather, how much longer will it take?”
“The basic structure is complete. The rest won’t take long either. But have you decided on a name?”
Naming was not an easy task.
Not because I couldn’t think of one, but because too many came to mind.
Kindergarten. Nursery. Daycare. Academy, and so on.
“I’ve decided. The name will be ‘School’.”
The primary reason for building a school was to reduce labor.
It would require much less labor to raise children collectively in a school than in individual households.
But the idea didn’t stop there.
Should we just gather the children and provide care?
Or should we also provide education?
It was an opportunity that couldn’t be missed in a situation where talent was needed.
.
.
After the school was completed,
The children began attending.
The school here is different from the typical schools in Korea.
Preschool for children aged 1 to 5.
Elementary school for children aged 6 to 10.
Advanced school for children aged 11 to 15.
Preschool is essentially like a daycare.
Here, nurturing takes precedence over education.
Therefore, specific teachers are not assigned.
The administration here is entrusted to slave women with ample nurturing experience.
Education takes place from elementary school onwards.
Here, nurturing slave women and teachers handle the education.
Even during this period, specialized education does not take place.
Subjects like farming, hunting, swordsmanship, magic, etc., are only taught at a basic level.
Specialized education happens at the advanced school.
From Noble mtl dot com
Talents are selected from intermediate school, and in the advanced school, tailored education is provided for each individual.
First day of school.
The children came to school.
Everything was chaotic.
I was the only one who knew about the school system.
From the women nurturing the children to the teachers, it was everyone’s first time.
It took a week for the school to take some form.
A week had passed before the children found their classes and understood the lesson and break times.
I slowly explored the school grounds.
The elementary school was busy taking care of the babies.
“We need to assign more teachers here.”
Then I headed to the intermediate school.
The intermediate school had two main periods: the teaching hours for each subject and the playtime for the children to run around.
The playtime was managed by the slave women, while the teaching hours were handled by those with specialized knowledge.
Finding the farming teacher wasn’t difficult.
All I had to do was select experienced individuals among the slaves.
They taught the children by demonstrating directly in the vegetable garden near the school, rather than relying on words.
Finding the hunting teacher wasn’t difficult either.
This place was Monster Island, and most people here knew how to fight monsters.
I selected them based on Grandfather’s recommendation.
Since they were given a generous teacher’s salary, no one had any complaints.
“Now, if only we can get swordsmanship and magic teachers…”
“Lady So Youngju, the teachers sent by Alencia have arrived.”
“They’ve finally come.”
I immediately met the teachers.
There were five swordsmanship teachers and two magic teachers.
“Welcome, everyone.”
“Thank you for the warm welcome, Lord Elwin.”
I introduced the school facilities, including the dormitory where the teachers would stay.
Not only that, but I also explained the school system.
Fortunately, perhaps due to my experience in teaching, I found it easier to understand than the average person.
“The most urgent task is to identify talented children.”
In order to conduct specialized education, the advanced school needed to divide classes according to each student’s talent.
Currently, they were not even able to do that.
“First, select children with talent in swordsmanship and magic.”
Priority is given to those with talents in swordsmanship and magic. They are the first to be chosen.
Next is hunting.
The plan was to train hunters to actively defeat monsters.
Finally, the remaining students would be taught farming.
During periods when labor was needed, they would actually help with cultivation, and during leisure times, they would receive farming education at the school.
As I finished explaining, the magic teacher raised their hand.
“I don’t know what level of wizard you have in mind, but we can only provide very basic training.”
“Magic teachers, please focus on selecting the children. Practical education… will be entrusted to the Gray Tower.”
If there were students with talent in magic, I had planned to act as a guardian and support the tower’s expenses.
“If that’s the case, we can manage with just the two of us.”
After the magic teacher’s question ended, it was the swordsmanship teacher’s turn to raise their hand.
“If Lord Elwin desires Sword Expert proficiency or above, relying solely on us may prove insufficient.”
The swordsmanship grades are broadly divided into three levels:
Sword User – Sword Expert – Sword Master
To become a knight, one must attain at least Sword Expert level.
Of course, this is the minimum standard.
In reality, to enter the royal knights, a higher level of Sword Expertise is required.
For the knight order of a sizable lord, surpassing the intermediate level is necessary.
At the lower level, only barons and viscounts can be knights.
“For now, please educate them in that manner. We will consider additional measures.”
After all conversations concluded, the teachers rose from their seats.
“Uh… may I ask one more thing?”
The departing teachers paused in their tracks.
“Feel free to ask anything, Lord Elwin.”
“How much time would it take for the school kids to become knights or wizards?”
The swordsmanship instructor spoke first.
“Assuming they have talent… at the earliest, it would take ten years.”
10 years.
It was a too long period.
“Becoming a wizard is difficult to pinpoint. However… it will take more time than becoming a knight.”
“I see.”
The teachers all went outside.
I was left alone in the office.
“Even if it’s fast, it’s still 10 years…”
I thought it would take a long time, but it was too long.
I have two years left.
Until Gibson’s coming-of-age ceremony.
“I don’t have the luxury to wait for 10 years. In that case…”
First, I had to make the most of the available resources.
“For now, should I strengthen the slave soldiers…”
**
I left the school in my grandfather’s care and went to the Seriver.
My grandfather agreed to take on the role of a hunting instructor.
In the past, he was one of the top hunters in Monster Island.
And he even formed a team and made a big impact.
While I was at it, I also made my grandfather the principal.
When I moved to Seriver, the first person I visited was Hans.
“Hans, we need to strengthen the slave soldiers.”
“Are you saying that here?”
Thanks to Hans’s consistent training, the slave soldiers had reached a certain level.
They knew how to form formations, and
I thought I knew how to fight accordingly.
“Yeah, that’s right. It’s not easy to deal with Black Orcs at our current level, is it?”
For now, we only have to deal with Black Goblins, but if we expand our territory, we will inevitably have to fight Black Orcs as well.
“Depending on the numbers, we can win. However, there will be casualties.”
“So, we need to reinforce ourselves.”
“That’s not easy. They cultivate the fields during the day. The only time for training is in the evening after work. With that limited time…”
I drew a picture on the ground.
I gathered people tightly together and handed them long spears and shields.
“What is this?”
“Palanx.”
Hans looked puzzled.
“The length of the spear is 4 meters. We hold the spears densely like a hedgehog.”
“The orcs won’t be able to approach easily.”
“That’s right. If we deploy the Palanx unit in the front, even Black Orcs won’t be able to break through.”
Place the Palanx unit in the front and the crossbow unit in the rear.
Then, even Black Orcs can be dealt with without any casualties.
“This should be enough. However… there are clearly weaknesses.”
Of course, the Palanx formation has many weaknesses.
If it didn’t have those weaknesses, it wouldn’t have been defeated by Roman soldiers.
And since then, the Palanx formation has continued to be used.
Especially in this world, there was an even greater vulnerability.
It was the point of being densely packed with high-level monsters.
If even a bit of magic fell in the middle…
It could be annihilated in an instant, depending on the destructive power.
“It’s okay. Black orcs don’t use magic.”
Monsters in Ireland have ‘black’ attached to their names.
This means monsters that have been corroded by magic for a long time.
In reality, they even had a black tint compared to ordinary monsters.
Their bodies became much stronger under the influence of magic.
However, intelligence degraded.
Originally, there were orc sorcerers among the orcs.
If it were an ordinary orc, the densely packed high-level of Palangks might actually be harmful.
“Indeed, in limited situations, it would be effective.”
“Do you think so too? Alright. I’ll get ready. Train them as they are.”
“Yes, Lady Soyoung.”
**
Everything went smoothly.
Grandfather and the teachers ran the school well.
With the burden of raising reduced, the cultivation of the village riverbank became more efficient.
The plan for the Frost River is also progressing as intended.
Three land reclamation projects that started simultaneously are almost complete.
Thanks to the diligent training in the spare time, I have become quite familiar with the Phalanx formation.
And today, once again, I kneeled down and prayed in the farmland.
To be precise, I used the Ground Recovery skill.
“It has definitely become faster.”
Ground Recovery, the first skill I learned.
I’ve been using it consistently, and the skill level has increased a lot.
“With this level, I can cultivate a larger piece of land…”
The land can be taken from monsters.
I obtained the current farmland from the Server of Frost.
I also have spare skills to remove contamination from that land.
“The problem is the slaves, I guess.”
