Chapter 364 — The First Newspaper
Blade of Dawn · Page 1 of 3
These commoners' children were learning things like this at the academy?!
Godwin listened dumbstruck as Santis, from the lectern, recounted the most important chapter in the history of magic, weaving in classic spell-array models as the history unfolded—runes and mana lines arranging themselves on the blackboard into one profound pattern after another—and those commoner children, the sons and daughters of farmers, fishermen, blacksmiths, and laundry maids, were all listening earnestly, taking notes earnestly!
Godwin Orlando swore to the heavens that back in the royal capital, not even a wealthy merchant's child could necessarily follow any of this.
Because this was knowledge of the transcendent realm, pure and simple!
The children's lessons exceeded Godwin's imagination; what exceeded it even more was these children's mastery of magical runes.
In a few simple questions, he realized these children were no novices newly introduced to runes, nor dullards who had merely memorized book knowledge. They not only knew the shape and manner of writing of every rune—they even knew how to alter their positions within a spell array!
This was a subversive lesson—at least, for Godwin Orlando, it was a subversive lesson.
When the class ended, the children ran out joyfully, calling to their friends as they headed for the playground to play. Some lingered in the classroom to keep reading or to chat and make a racket. Santis walked outside and called out loudly, reminding the children not to roughhouse in the corridors, then came over to Godwin's side.
"Mr. Orlando," said the second-rank arcanist with a gentle smile, "what do you make of it?"
"I never expected... that this is what they teach here..." Godwin's eyes were dazed. "These children... are they all magically gifted? Are they all apprentice mages you selected?"
Santis shook his head and said unhurriedly, "First, not every class teaches runes and magical theory—only the children's class and some of the special adult classes offer such courses. Second, these children are not my apprentices. They are simply the most ordinary commoner children on the territory. Only one among them possesses a faint magical gift; the rest will be ordinary people all their lives."
Godwin blinked. "Then..."
Santis, most unusually, cut someone off mid-sentence. "You are wondering—wondering why they can follow these lessons, why they can come into contact with this transcendent knowledge. Is that it?"
Godwin nodded slightly, wordlessly.
But Santis answered with a question of his own: "Why shouldn't they be able to follow it? Why shouldn't they come into contact with it?"
Godwin froze for a moment, and was about to trot out a whole set of reasons—that commoners could not learn complex knowledge, that they lacked the intelligence necessary to grasp transcendent mysteries, and so on—but the words that rose on instinct were swallowed back before they could leave his mouth. He knew that if he actually said such things aloud, he would likely be the stupidest man here today.
"They can follow it, and they can learn it. At least in the children's class, I have met quite a few clever children—Kelsang and Pea, for instance, who are exceptionally gifted at drawing," Santis said, the smile lingering at the corner of his mouth as he spoke and walked toward the classroom door, gesturing for Godwin to follow. "And now that the lord has implemented a series of nutritional meals for children, these children will grow up stronger and cleverer than their parents. Apart from birth, there is not the slightest difference between them and us—between them and the transcendent, and the nobility, and any so-called upper class."