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Around the middle of October,
when the harvest festival was over and the farmers began to plow the fields for
the winter-sown wheat, I was thinking about the next plan after the success of
distillation and the completion of the soap.
In a farming village like ours,
people have less and less work come winter.
The sowing of winter wheat is
finished in November, and the main work during the winter is all about taking
care of livestock, repairing farm tools, and making small daily necessities.
Compared to the busy farming
season, the workload is smaller, and naturally, there is less work for the
children.
I was wondering if I could use
this time to educate the children.
Fortunately, there was Liddy, a
person with a lot of time for leisure was perfect for the teacher. In addition,
Kate, Nicholas’s wife, one of the very few educated people in the village, and
Jean, her daughter, are also candidates.
The village’s accounting
department might be slowed down because of the manpower required, but I think I
can help with that.
I’m not an expert bookkeeper,
but I don’t think I will do any complicated accounting. If just simple balance
calculation, I would only need the four arithmetic operations, and if it is
just the scale of this village, there would be no difficulty. I can also make
simple tables and graphs for future projections, which they probably don’t do,
so it would be better for the village if I did it myself.
Before talking to my father
about it, I went to check on the willingness of Liddy, the number one teacher
candidate.
Liddy’s day has quite a bit of
extra time.
Perhaps it is a characteristic
of the long-lived species, but she has no desire to make the most of her time.
If she has nothing to do, she is either reading a book, watching us train, or
chatting with my mother and the others.
I asked her bluntly, “Are
you willing to teach the village children?”.
She looked at me curiously and
said, “Village children? What do you wish of me to teach them?”
“Simple reading, writing,
arithmetic, and if you have time, teach them something about the history of
this world.” (Zack)
I tell her this, and she shows
a slightly anxious expression on her face.
“I don’t mind if it’s
just kids… but I don’t really like it when adults are around…” (Liddy)
It seems that she is still
uncomfortable with the way adults look at her, especially from the way adult
men are looking at her.
“What about a child up to
around 10 years old, like my brother? They also don’t allow adults in the
teaching area.” (Zack)
She was still mumbling, but
she said with a little slightly more enthusiasm, “Yes, I’ll think about
it.”
I will organize the necessary
matters for her to be able to teach.
I’m thinking of doing it in
the form of a tour of each district. When we visited Gordon’s house before, he
told us that the children are placed in the care of one of the families, so it
would be better to teach them at that house. If that is the case, we would be
dealing with a small group of about ten children at a time.
(I would like to build a
school in the future, however, even children are a valuable labor source during
the busy farming season, making matters difficult. The rest of the work is on how
to deal with children over 10 years old who are expected to be included in the
labor force other than small children, and the adults who might wish to study.)
(Zack)
For that, I’m thinking of
creating age-specific classes and having Kate or Jean be the teacher. Nicholas
could be a good choice, but I feel that a woman would be less intimidating from
the perspective of those being taught.
Next, as for teaching
materials, a simple booklet could be made by hand for reading and writing.
Since only about 10 students can be taught in one class, it should be enough
for that number of students.
For arithmetic, instead of
using textbooks, it would be better to start with the basics of addition and
subtraction and have the students memorize the multiplication table.
History will be discussed
later, but for now, teaching reading, writing, and arithmetic should be the
first priority.
I drew up a simple plan and
headed for my father’s office.
In his office, my father was
conferring with Nicholas and Enos about this year’s harvest and the amount of
grain included in the stockpile.
When I approached him, he
said, “You’ve come at the right time,” and invited me to join the
discussion.
When I asked him for an
overview, he said that this year’s wheat and barley harvests were both so good
that stockpiles were likely to be too large, but since they are a rotational
farm, they were considering how much land area they should use for planting next
year.
The past few years have seen
good harvests, and the problem seems to be how much pastureland to cultivate
into wheat fields.
(Because it is difficult to
turn pastures into farmlands. It certainly would be difficult to cultivate it by
hand. However, if a poor harvest happens, it will be a problem, and conversely,
even if a good harvest comes, they will need to be stockpiled. There is nothing
left to do. Wheat can be made into beer like Weizenbier… Well. Maybe it’s
Bertram’s influence but lately, I’ve been connecting everything to alcohol.)
(Zack)
“Before I go any further,
I have a question: would you ever consider selling your wheat to other lands?”
(Zack)
My father shakes his head at
the question.
“It would cost too much
to transport. Even if we took it to Kilnarc, a town of 3,000 people near the
village of Rathmore, it wouldn’t be worth much.” (Matt)
“I have something I want
to make with wheat at least once. Once I have it, it will be worth more as a
commodity, and I think it will bring in some cash.” (Zack)
My father and Nicholas leaned
forward a little and asked in unison, “What is it?” Immediately after
that, there was a quick pause, and the place erupted in laughter. After a round
of laughter,
“I’m going to make noddles
by kneading finely ground wheat with water and salt, and then stretching it
into a thin, thread-like consistency. If I dry them, I can make a staple food
that can be eaten just by boiling.” (Zack)
No one knew what noodles were,
so I explained that they were a long, thin food made from ground grain flour.
The three of them were still tilting their heads, but I guess they would have
to try the real thing to understand.
By the way, all the wheat
produced in this village is used to make bread. The flour used for bread is
strong flour, which must be the same as that used for dried pasta. I vaguely
remember that fresh pasta is light flour and udon is medium-strength flour. I
remember that dried pasta was made with something different from both. Well, I
didn’t have the heart to make it myself, so my memory may be faulty.
With dried pasta, there’s a
better chance of making a profit, even with transportation costs, because of the
added value. Plus, it would take up less storage space than wheat and would
have a longer shelf life, making it a good stockpile. I don’t know the shelf
life of wheat, so I don’t know if this is true or not.
The problem is that I have
never made dried pasta.
I think I can do it easily if
I ask Bertram to do it because the pasta machine is not that complicated, but I
need to try to make pasta before that.
As for drying, I am thinking
of using magic, if only to test it.
I have tried once to see if it
is possible to dry with magic, using fire magic and wind magic alternately. It
used a lot of magic power because it was chantless, but I was able to dry a wet
cloth, so it should work with noodles, too.
I will try making noodles at a
later date, but as far as the plan on the farmland is concerned, the biggest
obstacle is the difficulty in cultivating pastures.
For this, I was thinking of
improving farming tools.
In this village, cattle and
horses are not used for farming. Cattle are raised for meat and milk, and
horses are raised for pulling carts and for selling as riding horses.
“In this village, we do
not use horses or cattle for farming. If we could use horses, I think the labor
required to cultivate the land would be much better.” (Zack)
My father asked, “Even if
we use horses, how would we use them?” He seems to be having a hard time
imagining how.
Strangely enough, there is no
culture in this village or anywhere else in the world I know of that considers
horses as draft animals.
I don’t know why, but it seems
that people are stuck in the stereotype that “horses are for transportation”.
I have a hypothesis about
this.
The area famous for horses is
the steppe region in the center of the Caelum Empire, where there is a tribe of
people who are horsemen. And along with the equestrian tribes, there were the
demihuman centaurs, which were a powerful force that supported the expansion of
the Caelum Empire. Therefore, the image of the horse as a powerful weapon of
war or a tool used for transportation has taken root, and the use of horses for
agriculture may not have been considered or allowed.
Furthermore, not only the
Caelum Empire, but all countries have an image of cavalry as elite, and horses
may have been stereotyped as a means of transportation.
“Simply put, all they have
to do is to pull a plow behind the wagon.” (Zack)
I draw a picture of a wagon on
a piece of paper and add a harrow behind it.
“You don’t need the wagon’s
carriage, so if you remove that and line up the moldboard and plow’s teeth
here, you can plow deeper through the soil deeper with this.” (Zack)
I write down on a piece of
paper the improvements for the wagon, such as thicker wheels, lowering the plow,
and more.
Nicholas was impressed, “
Surely with this, the earth can be dug up using horse power.”
My father nodded enthusiastically
and asked if I could draw a more detailed picture.
“I want to show it to the
craftsmen Craig and Bertram. So, can you draw a more detailed picture?”
(Matt)
“I can, but you might
want to ask the farmer about the harrow. I don’t know how deep we need to dig
or how big we need to break up the soil.” (Zack)
We decided to finish the drawing
at a later date, and I started talking about, my education policy, and the reason
that came here.
“I want to help the
villagers learn to read, write, and calculate…” (Zack)
I explain my idea to my father,
Nicholas, and Enos.
Nicholas nods and listens
while my father and Enos nod their heads a little.
“Would it even be a problem
if they can’t read or write? It necessary for people to calculate anything in
this village, regardless of the country?” (Matt)
My father doesn’t seem to see the
purpose of education.
“Well… If the farmers
could read and write, they could record how they succeeded during a good
harvest, how they minimized damage during a bad harvest, and so on. If we can
keep track of what happened when we try new methods, such as shifting the
timing of sowing wheat a bit or changing the way we plow the soil, we can share
that with everyone.” (Zack)
“That’s true, but wouldn’t
it be enough to just say it?” (Matt)
“For short periods of
time it might be enough, but after five, ten, or twenty years, there will be fewer
people who will remember it, however, if you can read and write, you can keep a
record of what you have done, so you can pass on that experience.” (Zack)
My father nodded, but he
wasn’t completely convinced, “That’s true.”
“For example, in this
village, we change what we plant on the farmlands every year. Then it comes
full circle after four years, and if it was just four years ago, people will remember
it. However, after another cycle, that’s eight years, people might remember, but
there will be uncertainties.” (Zack)
My father nods, “Um, right.”
“If the climate is stable
every year, there is no problem, but the hours of daylight and temperatures
change every year. Even under the same conditions, different farmers will do
things differently, so if we keep a record of that, then the next time we have
similar conditions, we can plan for more efficient harvests by taking the
method that produces the best results, don’t you think? Well, the success of
this depends on how well we record it.” (Zack)
“I realize the necessity
of reading and writing. Also with learning how to calculate. Especially since
it would be necessary to calculate how much harvest was in which field and how
much the difference between them was.” (Matt)
It seems that my father
finally understood.
“That’s right. If they need
to purchase something, they can calculate how much they would need, so we don’t
waste any money. Moreover, just learning simple calculation is useful
enough.” (Zack)
My father understood the need
for education, but he was skeptical about how to work on implementing it.
“It is good if we can do
it. The problem is how to do it. We can order the people, but we can’t force
them to do it. Do you understand why?” (Matt)
“Yes. If it interferes
with their work, but autumn is almost over.” (Zack)
And then I explain while
having a teacher, Liddy, that teaches children under the age of 10, in the meantime.
It will be a moving class that goes around each district for about an hour
during winter. Moreover, if children and adults over the age of 10 wish to participate,
we will have Kate and Jean join as their teachers.
“I understand Lydia being
one. Now, Nicholas, Enos make sure you check with Kate and Jean. Of course,
tell them to prioritize their work schedule at home.” (Matt)
The two nodded, “I
understand.”
“As always, we can’t
spend a lot of money. Based on what we’ve talked about, parchment for the teaching
materials and then there is sand for practicing letters?” (Matt)
“Yes. I’m thinking of
increasing things little by little, but I don’t think the cost will add up to a
lot. However, there are two things I want to make…” (Zack)
I was thinking of making a
blackboard and chalk.
For the blackboard, I thought
I could just polish the surface of a wooden board and paint it with black
paint, and as for the chalk, I saw some limestone nearby that I could crush
into a powder and bake into a hardened block.
“That should do it.
Nicholas, I’m always sorry, but you’ll have to help him out again.” (Matt)
Nicholas smiled and nodded.
“I’m all for this plan
myself. The reason I am able to work as I do now is that I was allowed to study
in Doctus. I am sure there are some talented people among the people of the
village. I think it is very good for the prosperity of this Lockhart territory.”
(Nicholas)
Nicholas understood exactly
what I intended.
(He really is an excellent
person. Nicholas understands the need for a school. I’ll ask him to come up
with a plan to have a school built in this village.)
Thus, education in Rathmore Village
began.
In December, the traveling
classroom began.
As a four-year-old boy, I was
unable to keep up with them, but I knew the general outline from what Liddy had
told me.
She said that during the first
class, everyone was so unusually curious about the sandbox in front of them
that they could hardly focus to learn anything.
Little kids as young as me
started playing with the sandbox, and the kids who got sucked up started making
a ruckus. But Liddy didn’t get angry and let them do what they wanted.
When I asked why,
“Because it’s fun to see
something unusual. It’s just what little kids do.” (Liddy)
“Then they can’t study, right?”
(Zack)
“That’s alright. If I tell
them an interesting story or mix in some game like you did, everyone will
listen.” (Liddy)
It seems that she is using a
variation of the game I used to teach Mel and the others to learn their
letters, a game in which they had to throw stones into a circle with the
letters of the alphabet written on it. It has been about ten days since the
classes started.
About ten days after the class
started, she seems to have come up with new teaching materials, making block-like
objects out of wood or writing pictures and letters on wooden planks.
I’m a little disappointed that
she is spending less time with me because of this, but I’m happy seeing Liddy
so full of life and not looking bored, I’m glad I asked her to become a teacher.
(Classes going well so far,
but I hope she keeps on teaching.) (Liddy)
I’m happy that things are
going well, but I remembered that things hadn’t gone well for me before and I
began wondering if there were any problems down the road.
A/N: All metal projects are given to the dwarf Bertram.
The reason for using horses for
farming is quite unreasonable. They have a lot of horses and they have feed
available… However, maybe there was no demand because their soil is soft like
in Southern Europe.
I look forward to your comments
and feedback.
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