Ch.204Public Education (2)

In truth, at this point, one might wonder.

Why would someone like Lord Corin Lanster—essentially the equivalent of a modern-day secretary to the confirmed heir of a conglomerate—be so passionately involved in teaching mere commoner children?

While it’s undeniable that he possesses a noble character of high and exceptional virtue, no matter how pure and noble his personality might be, he is fundamentally still a “knight.”

Nowadays, knights may be romanticized through chivalric literature, and they’ve become somewhat tamed through the long discipline of the pantheon, but…

No matter how much they try to project an image of courteous gentlemen, at their core, they are regional powers who once ruled the world through force.

The “honor” and “justice” they claim to uphold are essentially meant to enhance their own authority and reputation—no matter how well-packaged, they ultimately stem from extremely selfish desires.

Of course, I don’t particularly want to adopt the narrow-minded view that all selfish desires are bad, but common sense would suggest that knights who live by their honor wouldn’t display such “unseemly” behavior, and yet…

In fact, the knight known as Corin Lanster is, in many ways, different from ordinary knights.

He is both the head of the Lanster family and a unique individual born and destined to live as a guard knight, who spent most of his life serving his superiors rather than enjoying the privileges of nobility.

So much so that he possessed a purity of heart rarely found elsewhere—the kind that would worry about what might happen to the village if bandits attacked. For him, no task was beneath his dignity.

However, apart from Lord Lanster’s unique purity(?) of heart—which, though somewhat weathered by reality, still maintained its pristine whiteness—there was another reason why he gladly accepted this task.

It stemmed from… the emotions that Knight Corin Lanster had been harboring deep inside.

Until just a few months ago, before the unusually high number of intermediate-level individuals appeared in the village, Corin Lanster had been quite busy with his duties as an intermediate.

He would guard the village when Lord Alzar was away, escort people leaving the village on business to other places.

And occasionally, when incidents occurred, he would step forward like a true knight to resolve them, finding modest joy in the applause from villagers who witnessed his actions.

It wasn’t for nothing that Baron Alzar had assigned Corin Lanster to his son as a role model—he was born with such a noble character that he could work hard and be motivated by mere encouragement.

However, as he spent his days busy yet fulfilled…

For some reason, as the unprecedented situation of the village’s intermediate-level individuals gradually increasing occurred, Sir Corin Lanster began to lose his place… his role and position.

Most threats approaching the village were repelled by passing half-blood werewolves. Lord Alzar had Droop or Hannah as sparring partners.

He himself hadn’t mastered any special techniques or skills.

Moreover, Lord Alzar had grown at a literally insane pace over the past year, reaching a realm that couldn’t be matched at the intermediate level, so there wasn’t even anything to teach him.

When the village was smaller, he could personally handle various tasks, but as the village grew too quickly, numerous substitutes for Corin emerged.

Even worse, as Pierre, the attendant, took over most of Lord Alzar’s assistance, he was eventually pushed out of his “servant” duties as well, completely losing any special responsibilities in the village.

In short, he began to feel somewhat useless.

Of course, it wasn’t that he wasn’t in charge of anything in particular; he was still effectively an important and trusted knight of the village.

The fact that he was trusted enough to occasionally serve as the lord’s proxy remained unchanged.

However, this inner feeling that he had somehow become useless gradually grew, and especially because he didn’t express these emotions outwardly, they festered inside him.

This desire—inherent within him without his own awareness—to perform admirably and achieve some irreplaceable accomplishment was truly unavoidable.

If he could just enjoy each day without overthinking, like Hannah, he might be happy enough, but perhaps it was a fundamental flaw that, being intelligent, he tended to think too much.

And as Corin’s inner turmoil worsened day by day without anyone noticing, Lord Camille de Alzar offered him the position of teacher for the children.

In reality, it was just a casual suggestion, but from the perspective of the one receiving it, it felt different.

A job that could prove his usefulness. For Corin, who genuinely didn’t care about the prestige of occupations, education seemed like an entrusting of an extremely important hundred-year plan.

In any case, his festering heart completely healed through this opportunity.

Originally, Sir Corin Lanster had not been aware of his own obsessive thinking and inherent desires, and thus, by willingly accepting the position of teacher, he was liberated from the mental prison he had created for himself.

The experience of feeling useless in one’s own group—something that would be more traumatic than anything else for someone as diligent as him—was impressively resolved by himself.

Perhaps, in this process, a potential seed of disaster that could have shaken the domain was eliminated.

※ ※ ※

For reasons I’m not exactly sure of, after Corin took charge of the education project…

Corin truly showed more dedication than I had initially expected, giving it his all.

First, he renovated one of the village’s empty houses I provided, transforming it into something resembling an educational facility, while simultaneously demonstrating a systematic curriculum he had developed.

Particularly regarding this educational curriculum—though I lack experience in child education and can’t fully grasp its intended meaning—even to the eyes of a layman like me, isn’t it a remarkably well-structured and excellent curriculum?

‘…Did he really get this curriculum from somewhere?’

So I made such a conjecture based on reasonable inference, but well. As long as it achieves its original purpose, honestly, getting a curriculum from someone else is nothing.

No, perhaps obtaining a curriculum from someone else could also be considered a skill in itself.

Anyway, once the curriculum was secured, everything proceeded smoothly.

After all, what needs to be taught is merely letters and numbers, and a bit further, reading comprehension, composition, and basic arithmetic.

Beyond this, not only is it impossible to teach with the current infrastructure, but since what I want isn’t some specialized elementary education, the discussion ends there.

Of course, if some unprecedented genius emerges, things might change from what we’ve assumed so far, but at least until then, we plan to stick with the existing plan.

In fact, what’s more important is how to bring children from the labor field to the educational field.

In a historical context where even a child’s minor labor is considered an extremely important resource, there are many who would question why a mere farmer needs arithmetic or reading skills.

Fortunately, my reputation in the village is quite substantial, so there was almost no resistance.

When I propose something, people tend to give it a try based on my name value, so the first step of bringing children to school was achieved long ago.

However, leading a village solely based on reputation and goodwill is extremely difficult, and I couldn’t deny that such improvised leadership has its limits in getting people to follow.

Therefore, I pulled out a few clichéd but very useful options.

First, providing free meals. If I use my accumulated private funds to give children bread for lunch, farmers will likely not miss this good opportunity to save on food costs.

Additionally… incorporating “practical subjects” like farming into the curriculum could also be a method.

Especially since the farmers currently managing my agricultural land are, despite appearances, elites among elites who have even studied abroad at agricultural colleges.

In the future, I could use this to promote the expansion of the four-course rotation system I’m planning, and furthermore, provide motivation for people to continue attending school, even without free meals.

…Well, I can’t deny that easier conscription in the future might also be a factor.