Chapter 111 — One Small Step

The domain's grain was not yet self-sufficient; at present, whether grain or meat or other foodstuffs, it all came from purchases in Tansang Town, paid for out of the old hoard in the mountain treasury. But to those common folk who only hoped to eat their fill, there was no difference in any of it.

And according to Norris, once the Frost Month arrived, the first batch of fast-growing crops could be ripened swiftly under druidic magic and harvested—and then food in the domain would no longer be a problem.

To keep everyone fed—in this age, that alone was enough to earn loyalty.

Betty did not hear Gaoyang's answer, but she did not mind, because she had already lowered her head again and begun practicing her writing. Looking at the utterly absorbed girl, Gaoyang suddenly asked with great seriousness: "Betty, do you want to go to school?"

The little maid did not react at once: "School? To learn what?"

"Reading and writing, arithmetic, history, and perhaps even... runes and magic circles," Gaoyang said slowly. "Runes and magic that ordinary people can learn too. Trust me—they will exist."

Betty thought it over carefully, then lowered her head: "I can't learn it. They say I'm stupid."

"But do you want to learn?"

"...I do. But then who's going to cook?"

"You can study in your spare time—say, the two hours before bed each night," Gaoyang said, sitting up straighter. "If you truly want to learn, there will always be time."

This time, Hetty could only nod.

But the two of them did not continue on that subject, for it was soon time to prepare supper. As the cook, Hetty heard the copper bell chiming outside, and she rose at once, put away her little twig, bowed to Gaoyang, and ran out swiftly.

Only after Hetty's figure had vanished beyond the tent's door flap did Gaoyang tilt his head slightly toward the seemingly empty tent pole and say, "Come out. How long do you plan to stay there?"

The air there rippled faintly, and Amber's figure emerged from nothingness. She leaned against the tent pole, her face full of astonishment. "How did you find me? How long have you known I was there?"

"I saw you the moment you leaned against the pole and started making faces at me behind my back," Gaoyang said, rolling his eyes at the half-elf. "I know you're confident in your stealth, but standing less than three meters from me in broad daylight without even a shadow veil is a bit of an insult to my intelligence, all right? Do you think a knight's senses are that poor?"

"Tch, and here I thought you were completely focused on teaching that girl to write and wouldn't notice a thing over here." Amber pursed her lips and muttered, then with a flicker of movement she was seated on the desk beside Gaoyang. She sat there without a word, staring straight at him, and before long she had him covered in goosebumps.

"What are you looking at?" Gaoyang could not help asking. "Is there something on my face?"

"You really are a strange... noble," Amber blurted out, seemingly from nowhere.

"Huh?"

"Nothing," the half-elf lady said with a wave of her hand. "I'm just curious. When you said earlier that you wanted to make everyone able to read and count... you weren't joking after all?"

"Why would I joke about it?" Gaoyang said, sitting up straighter. "Not only am I not joking, but I want you to fetch Hetty and Rebecca right now. I need to talk to them about this."