PS. Everyone can join the group to chat casually, I'm also often interacting in the group, the group number is in the description.
This old lady is teaching these children arithmetic.
Laine squinted his eyes, feeling surprised at the actions of this old lady. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ novel⦿fire.net
This world is not ancient Celestial Dynasty. In ancient Celestial Dynasty, due to the imperial examination system, there were many private schools and public schools, enabling even commoners to have the opportunity to study. This was because the imperial examination was the only pathway offered by the feudal Monarch for social mobility, prompting commoners to grasp this opportunity to the fullest.
However, the medieval background is different. In a world of lords and nobility, knowledge is considered invaluable wealth, and commoners generally have no chance to access such wealth.
As a lower-ranked noble, Laine knows very well that of course the nobility studies, but they always study behind closed doors by themselves. It's almost impossible for commoners to study in the academy like the nobility; even the entourage of nobility rarely gets the chance.
Aside from this, there are two paths for studying.
The first path is the Church. The priests of the Church teach children to read, but during study with the Church, most of what children learn is theological knowledge. Depending on specific conditions and the cultural level of the Church priests, the level of children taught varies. Similarly, if a child is discovered to have Magic Talent, they may be taken by organizations like the Jialan Council or the Imperial Royal Wizard Academy, thereby having the chance to study.
Regardless of the type, it requires a hefty tuition, which is typically unaffordable for ordinary farming families.
The second path is more complex, briefly put, it's apprenticeship (Godfather).
Thus, most commoners, even if they live their entire life, at most recognize a few characters. If a commoner can nearly read and write a few hundred words, and can perform simple addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, then they can already be a leader among these commoners, and become a revered elder in old age.
But this also has benefits. With their thoughts so simple, commoners find it difficult to be corrupted by Chaos.
"Ignorant minds are more easily filled with loyalty and faith."
— Brittania Knight King "Tiger" Dinua Jean Richard
Yet, this old lady is actually teaching this large group of children arithmetic? Even created her own method using small wooden sticks to aid teaching? This could hardly avoid catching Laine's goodwill and attention; achieving this suggests the old lady has quite a background.
A short little class ended, with the children eagerly asking questions, and the old lady generously answering them. Seeing the children's happy faces, the wrinkles on the old lady's face couldn't help but turn into a smile. Her gray hair fluttered freely in the morning sea breeze, as if something had made her happy.
Looking at the eager, knowledge-seeking faces of the children, Laine didn't know quite what to say. As someone from the Celestial Dynasty, he once hated studying, hated learning, didn't want to attend school, and viewed schools as beasts of flood.
Only after arriving in this world did he deeply realize how precious the opportunity to learn is, while most commoners spend their lives in ignorance and blind conformity.
That is truly frightening.
At the same time, Laine felt like there was a heavy stone blocking his heart, very uncomfortable. He carried too many burdens, knew too much, but had no one to confide in. How he wished to have a brother of his own with whom he could have a good talk.
It was impossible; his brothers were either missing, dead, or had joined Chaos. He had no one for conversation.
As for his father... Laine shook his head painfully, every time receiving a dream from the father, he felt only pain.
Because communicating with his father is inherently difficult and painful, they might possibly have no familial love; what exists is merely use and being used. His father has high expectations for him, and sometimes he isn't sure how to face them. While his father may not completely see him as simply a weapon, Laine knows he has to have the awareness of becoming a weapon, because he is currently too weak.
He is yet unqualified to become a chess player.
While Laine was lost in thought, Teresa gently patted his shoulder: "Laine?"
"Sorry, I was just a bit distracted." Laine quickly regained himself. Seeing the concern in the female sorcerer's eyes, Laine smiled: "What's wrong? Don't want to stand with me here? Then you can go somewhere else for a walk first."
"Not at all, I'm your partner, I may not follow your command, but I won't abandon my partner and leave alone." In the short few minutes, Teresa seemed to suddenly undergo an astonishing transformation. She smiled maturely before Laine and pushed her glasses with her index finger: "So, has our White Wolf Knight learned anything from the children's arithmetic class?"
After saying this, she actively extended her right hand to hold Laine's left hand: "Promise me, Laine, that we will face everything together in the future, okay?"
"Not going to throw your temper as a young lady anymore?" Laine chuckled softly.
"I was never qualified to throw a tantrum at you; it's me who saw myself too high." The female sorcerer lightly shook her head, her dazzling black hair swaying in front of Laine's vision: "Until I prove myself worthy of being your partner, I won't throw a tantrum at you again."
"Then after you prove yourself, you would still get mad at me?" Unexpectedly, Laine didn't buy this at all, the White Wolf Knight's tone was cold: "Have you considered me as your partner? Or simply as a protector you can summon or dismiss, or as a bodyguard hired at a fee?"