Chapter 112: Talent and Population

Heddy and Rebecca were summoned to Gawain’s command tent, and as expected, they were both taken aback when they heard his plan.

“Education? Teaching every commoner and even serf?” Heddy’s eyes widened so much she nearly lost her composure. “And you want to make it law across the entire domain? Everyone must receive education just like paying taxes?!”

“That’s right. From now on, literacy won’t just be a right—it will be an obligation,” Gawain said with a smile. Seeing the usually composed and mature Heddy so startled was oddly satisfying. “Every person in the domain must be able to read and write. Anyone who comes to this land in the future must meet this standard, or they simply won’t survive under the new order I’m establishing.”

Heddy looked thoughtful. “A new order…”

Rebecca, ever the pragmatist, immediately voiced the practical difficulties. “Ancestor, turning an illiterate commoner into a knowledgeable, well-mannered person isn’t easy. You’d need literature teachers, math teachers, history and geography instructors, plus swordsmanship and horsemanship trainers, and one or two scholars of lore. Even after covering the basics, there are arts, etiquette, heraldry—those are incredibly difficult subjects that take over a decade to master!”

Gawain was dumbfounded, about to explain, when Heddy covered her forehead and interrupted, “Rebecca… not everyone needs to spend over ten years learning etiquette, arts, and heraldry. Besides, you still haven’t mastered them yourself…”

Rebecca blinked in surprise. “Really? I thought my etiquette teacher said I was already proficient…”

Heddy gave her a look of exasperation. “That’s because he couldn’t beat you!”

Rebecca was speechless.

Amber, standing behind Gawain, burst out laughing, filling the tent with a lighthearted atmosphere.

Gawain quickly cut off the increasingly off-topic banter. “Stop, stop. You’ve misunderstood my meaning. The education I’m talking about isn’t like the noble family training heirs or apprentice clerics. I’m not trying to produce aristocrats or trainee priests. I want to cultivate a large number of people with basic literacy and numeracy skills.”

He shook his head. “The old way—hiring a bunch of prestigious tutors to teach a few young nobles from dawn till dusk for over a decade—won’t work here. My education plan is simple: working adults will receive two hours of basic general education after their labor each day, focusing on reading and arithmetic. Children who aren’t yet working will get half a day of schooling, and the other half will be spent helping their parents at home.”

This “basic” and “cheap” approach to education was unheard of. Heddy frowned. “So the minimum standard is just literacy and numeracy, and teachers only need to meet that level… What good will such basic education do?”

She hesitated, almost voicing the unspoken question: Why do commoners and serfs need to be literate?

In the past, she might have blurted it out without thinking. But now, having seen another side of the common folk and serfs, and having heard Gawain’s earlier hints about universal literacy, she held back—though she hadn’t expected her ancestor to be so serious, and so quick to act.

“Reading and writing allows people to understand reason, take on more complex tasks, grasp the ideas we convey, live more consciously, and become more useful talents,” Gawain said with a smile, looking at Heddy. “Some people are born without the potential to be mages, knights, or clerics, or to awaken extraordinary gifts. But the vast majority can learn knowledge through education. In this respect, fate is somewhat fairer.”

At first, Heddy didn’t quite catch his meaning, but soon she thought of someone—a silver-haired girl from the capital they had just met today.

Her expression turned to shock. “Ancestor, you don’t mean… you want to include rune theory in the general curriculum, do you?”

“That’s an intermediate to advanced course, but why not?” Gawain smiled, feeling unusually excited and pleased. “Think carefully, Heddy. In that notebook with all the formulas and theorems… was there a single one related to magical talent?”

Heddy opened her mouth, then finally said, “No, none. They were all pure calculations!”

“Exactly. That notebook confirmed a theory I’ve had for some time: the gap between supernatural power and ordinary people isn’t as wide as we thought. Maybe this power favors those with special gifts, but since it’s a natural phenomenon, it makes no sense that over ninety percent of ordinary people are completely cut off just because of a single talent factor,” Gawain said with a sigh. “Runes and magic follow rules, and summarizing rules requires wisdom, not power.”

Yes, ordinary people can access the supernatural realm. Even if they can never cast a single spell themselves, they can use mathematics and logic as a “lever” to establish indirect contact with supernatural forces. And once that contact exists, the overwhelming number of ordinary people could easily overturn the old order—Gawain was firmly convinced of this.

Heddy pondered in astonishment, then hesitantly asked, “Do most people really have that kind of wisdom?”

“Your hesitation already tells me you know the answer,” Gawain said with a knowing smile. “After all these days, aren’t you convinced they’re just like you and me?”

“I understand,” Heddy took a deep breath. “I’ll prepare. First, I’ll select those among the hundred people from the capital who can read and write to serve as basic teachers. Then I’ll gather the overseers to arrange labor and study schedules.”

“Remember, basic literacy only,” Gawain nodded approvingly and emphasized, “And we can’t delay the domain’s development. Neither teachers nor students can quit their work at this stage—teachers must also participate in labor after classes.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll handle it.”

Rebecca glanced between Heddy and Gawain, scratching her head in confusion. “What was that last part about? Rune theory? I don’t understand…”

“That’s normal, since you didn’t come with us this morning,” Gawain leaned back in his chair, smiling at the fiery-headed girl. “Rebecca, I found you a friend who’s skilled in the same field as you…”

Before Gawain could finish, Rebecca’s eyes lit up. “She can cast triple fireballs too?!”

Gawain: “Uh… no, I didn’t mean fireball casting.”

Rebecca’s eyes rolled around as she wanted to ask if this friend could climb trees, raid bird nests, or roast grasshoppers, but fearing a scolding, she kept quiet. Gawain, seeing her expression, realized that no matter how talented she was, her impulsive nature (and the fact her head had been caught in a door) wouldn’t change. So he explained directly: “This friend isn’t here to fool around with you, but to study alongside you. Her name is Jenny Perrot, a member of the Hundred-Person Aid Group, a level-four runesmith. She has the same high talent in mathematical calculation as you, and her approach to magic research complements yours in many ways…”

To prevent Rebecca’s mind from running wild again, Gawain quickly laid out all of Jenny Perrot’s background.

Rebecca listened, blinking in surprise, then suddenly clapped her hands. “You mean she developed a technique to design rune blueprints through calculation instead of spells?”

Though the process was complicated, Gawain didn’t elaborate much. “More or less.”

“Wow! I want to meet her!” Rebecca’s face lit up with excitement. “She sounds amazing!”

Gawain was glad to see Rebecca so interested but warned before she got carried away: “Don’t neglect the research on the mana engine and ‘cement.’”

“Don’t worry! I know!”

“Alright, that’s enough discussion for now,” Gawain nodded with satisfaction, then looked at Amber. “Amber, go fetch Knight Byron.”

Amber looked reluctant but soon faded from sight. “Ah, such a busy life.”

Soon, Knight Byron, resting in the barracks, was brought to the tent. The middle-aged mercenary knight saluted Gawain. “Duke, you called for me?”

“Are you familiar with the slave market and the vagrant population?”

Byron hesitated, then nodded. “I know slaves well. I once helped Miss Rebecca’s father buy slaves from other noble domains. As for vagrants… I can’t say I’m familiar. They’re like wild people, drifting around. Mostly near the old mines and abandoned Gorin mills north of Tansan Town…”

Gawain interrupted, “I’m not looking for those who’ve turned to banditry, but those who are still ‘clean’ for now.”

“There are no truly ‘clean’ vagrants, but I think I understand. You want those still lingering around towns and villages, who haven’t given up trying to make a living in civilized society?”

Byron’s mercenary experience dealing with all kinds of poor people and navigating the gray areas made him grasp Gawain’s intent immediately. He then offered a suggestion: “My lord, if you’re really planning to recruit vagrants, I have an idea. Why not post mercenary contracts in Tansan Town, saying you want to buy a large number of slaves—at less than thirty percent of market price? This won’t cost more than sending heralds or negotiating with local lords, and it’ll be much more efficient.”

(End of chapter)