Meanwhile, in Alterra, the citizens were still unaware of a new enemy coming in. Instead, the atmosphere was jovial and exciting. After all, the first day of school had finally begun!
The school was a lovely manual construction surrounded by large open space for plants and playgrounds. It had several classrooms and provisions for every class found in Terran (of course, adjusted according to local conditions).
Other than this, there were naturally new classes like fighting classes, monster class, and Xenoan Flora and Fauna class.
The school was a four-story building with an open plan to allow for natural ventilation to go throughout. Like every other building, it was designed to be naturally cool and refreshing, but with easy maneuverable walls and features to handle harsh winters.
All around it, trees with wide canopies served as shade for the students and the teachers. There was plenty of ivy crawling on certain walls, the gardens were dotted with various flowers, and these added a sense of beauty and tranquility to the campus.
It was a wonderful campus that encouraged growth, camaraderie, and loyalty to the territory, and in time it would be one of Alterra's many sources of pride.
When they get more of those Blu stuff, a school building would be one of the next special buildings they'd do. If she were to choose, it would either be the school laboratory or the school library. After all, a school was not just to a place to listen and learn, but also a place to learn through action, experiment, and mistakes.
This was what was going on in Althea's mind as they watched the students enter the low gates of the school by groups or by pairs.
The people watched with warm hearts—whether or not they had children in there—as they saw children off to do something they had taken for granted all their lives.
"Bye, everyone~!" Little Maya said, hugging all the adults in her family. Horus also waved at them, but otherwise still very shy. Maya then grabbed his hand to drag him to the gate and meet their friends.
Near them was Oslo and his nephew, Honda. Oslo leaned down and patted the boy's head. "Remember, learn as much as you can, but also enjoy your time here," he said. Honda looked at him with those large amber eyes, exuding trust.
"Yes uncle," he said, though he didn't move immediately, a little intimidated by a new school.
Then he heard his friends' voice calling for him and all the tension disappeared. With a smile, he turned and ran to join them.
Nearby, there was also an odd family saying goodbye to their children. It was Bruce, Tom, and their new brother Rebi and the three girls Lily, Fiona, and Lina.
"Be good, girls," they said. "Always help each other, okay?"
"Okay Dads!" they said and the three girls held each others' hands and went together to find their friends (and their classroom, of course).
They joined Mimi, who was waving her little hands to her parents nearby. It was notable that Alterra's top lawyer was a little teary at this time.
And then, while most Terrans adjusted fast enough considering it wasn't anything new to them, there was a good portion of the students who were huddled together, appearing a bit nervous and lost.
They were all from Mauin Village, for whom the concept of school itself was something alien and therefore a little scary. For instance, there was Maumi and his best friends Pongo and Gururu.
"Do I really have to go?" Maumi asked quietly as he held on his mother's hand. His father patted his head, "Don't you want to be with your friends?"
They had been here for many days, and the children had already played freely in the parks. They had met with the other children, and befriended them somehow.
However, the concept of school was extremely new to them. What if they failed? What if they embarrassed themselves in front of their new friends?
Mauru patted his son's head. He understood how confused the boy was. Even he, an adult of several decades had only heard of schools and academies. They were exclusive to nobles and were very expensive.
But here, the tuition was very affordable, could be paid in contribution points, or could be 'loaned' in the bank as well as long as they secured a good source of income.
Speaking of Mauru, he and his family were adjusting well. For one, he was already a captain after his contributions in the war, while his wife had applied to be one of the cleaner-gardeners of the school, primarily to be close to their child.
"Go," he said. "Otherwise, your friends will leave you behind. Do you want that?"
Little Maumi shook his head and soon a renewed determination was seen on his cute face. After a bit, the trio began to brave steps towards the gates, not sure exactly what the expect.
But then their friends waved at them and they ran to them, forgetting the tension.
The former Mauin villagers watched as the children joined in the locals and their shoulders slumped in relief. "They're all so welcoming…"
They had a bit of an inferiority complex coming here. After all, everyone was so… cultured. There were so many elementalists, too. They were all smart and had novel ideas. It was hard not to feel a bit inferior.
However, despite all that, they were never made to feel that way. In contrast, they were welcomed as brethren almost as soon as they arrived.
"Even a half-orc could integrate, why can't we?"
"And it'll only get better," Mauru said, looking at his wife with a smile. "Has our loan application been approved?"
The woman nodded. "We'll be able to receive it within the next few days."
Mauru brightened even more at this. "That's great!" With this, they'd be able to raise their standard of living even more.
In fact, they had been confused by the concept for a very long time, but after observing other people, they came to realize how magical the benefit was.
Of course, they had to be temporary residents first and swear payment under oath, but that was understandable. Fortunately, the temporary residency here was affordable, especially with the contribution points Mauru saved up, making his savings enough for their entire family.
Anyway, the adults watched the children and teenager enter the gates and disappear from their sights with various emotions in their hearts.
However, Althea and her team felt a bit bittersweet seeing the number of students.
This was because counting the little ones who entered, they could see that while the the number of children increased, it was still not much overall.
In the entire territory, not including her twins, there was now a grand total of… 100 kids, a lot of which were from the newly arrived Mauin villagers. Out of these 100 kids, only a portion were small children less than 10 years old.
"It's a bit sad," Ansel said, shaking his head.
Thousands of people, yet less than a hundred youngins.
"We don't have enough children, it's fortunate people's lifespan had lengthened, otherwise Alterra would be in trouble after a few decades," Althea mumbled, noting to go to Mathilda later to discuss policies to encourage birth.
She looked at the educational edifice with deep eyes, uttering with a serious expression:
"It's time to make more children."