Chapter 67: 27

Volume 1: Chapter 027: Tooru does some Fieldwork

A long month stretches out before me.

 

After the actual setting up of the Karted school, Delia Fields is suddenly requested to support their canteen-related operations.

Karted has been around for a long time and is now a lively port city that is very different from the idyllic Delia Fields. There are a lot more people for one thing, and with goods coming and going all the time, lives move pretty quickly here.

It is a town where everything seems to be on the go all the time.

The lord of this place is Count Gamet. He’s a man with a rather toadyish looking face.

“Welcome, welcome Count Odille. Here, here, come this way, please. Oh my, if it isn’t little Tooru! You’re a fully grown man now, eh? You certainly look different from back when you were our star chimney sweeper, eh? Hahaha!”

“… Thanks”

Count Gamet had that overly dressed-up look of a nouveau riche, but he is not that bad a person. Too bad about his face, though.

“You invested a lot into this new school, haven’t you?”

“Gahaha, Karted’s greatest resource is our human capital after all! The work of selling, buying, negotiating and trading is what connects us and earns us the trust of people. Thanks to Ruskia’s policy of accepting immigrants, we have a lot of youngsters around but the enrollment rate for the school is still unexpectedly low.”

 

We’re at Lord Gamet’s mansion, [2] built on a small hill overlooking the port city of Karted.

Apparently, the big school has already been built on the east side of Karted. The aim of the school appears to be for raising young boys and girls from the age of 10 to become knowledgeable future merchants.

In short, it is a school created for the future of Karted.

It looks like the school is open to receive all children within this town, regardless of their origin.

“A-also, I plan to make the school cafeteria something like a tourist attraction.”

“… meaning…?”

“We plan to prepare a lot of dishes using Delia Fields ingredients. There will be a dining room space for students and a separate one for the public. The food will be affordable and anyone could dine at the public canteen. [1] The student canteen will be free for the students, of course.”

“…. Ho hou…”

My master and I have the same reactions. As expected, Gamet has the mind of a proper merchant. [1] Master’s eyes are sparkling, he looks very interested in the idea.

Whenever Master thinks something is interesting, he is willing to cross dangerous bridges just to take a look at it. [1] Fortunately, whether it is through sheer luck or skill, each risk he took always strikes it rich.

This is why I am not at all worried about us investing in this idea.

“I would love to be of any help, Count Gamet. We will also provide some services for this cafeteria idea.”

“Gahaha, with Delia Fields backing this project, I have nothing to fear. Let us build a good school together.”

After shaking hands with each other, the cafeteria project of Karted’s Municipal Merchant School began.

 

For the next few days, discussions of menu ideas and food trading commence. [2] I only give my opinion now and then as I see fit, but my actual job is to find out how to best encourage the children to enrol on the school.

Thus far, the adults’ best idea of attracting children is to bribe them with sweets, which I personally think is stupid.

I believe the best thing to do is to encourage children who are working as chimney sweeps and other little odd jobs workers to go to school. Naturally, their parents should be convinced too.

 

“That sounds like a lot of hard work, I look forward to seeing the results, Tooru!”

 

With that final careless remark, I am sent out to complete this mission.

I am pretty familiar with this town. Back when I was a refugee from the Eastern Continent, I had done my best to ingrate myself with the locals [1]. Later, when I left Karted to work for the Lord, it made me something of an ‘upstart’ in the eyes of the poor locals here. Which cannot have endeared me to them.

“… great, that frog face gave me the crappiest job.”

Today, I set out with Yodel into Karted. We made a stupid duo, with Yodel carrying a basket of sweets as we visit people’s houses.

“Can I eat some of this candy?” Yodel is being his stupid self as usual.

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“No,”

Yodel is at the age where he should be more aware of his actions. However, he is exactly the same as when I first met him. Still rather footloose and fancy-free.

“Tooru-kun, you’re unexpectedly strict, aren’t you?”

“And you are too careless.”

Looking at his slack face kind of annoys me. It is like he ends every sentence with a ‘lol’. Knowing that he means no harm did not make him any less annoying. [1] Somehow, knowing that he means no harm somehow is the most annoying thing since I could not properly hate him.

 

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“Haahh? Send my kid to school? We don’t have that kind of money.”

“… If you lack money, there’s a scholarship system…”

“So I could end up in debt? No way, it’s better for my child to work right away. I don’t care what you say, I won’t be tricked into this scam.”

Well, I had half expected this reaction.

The people from my former neighbourhood have no money to send their children to school and many thought that making money for food is better than spending money on education.

[1] The benefits of schooling their children are too obscure for them to even consider.

Regardless, I still give out candy to families who would take the time to speak to me.

I try going to a few different homes and got some positive answers from merchant families who owned stores in the shopping districts. Schools for nobles and the really rich are beyond their means but they are more than happy to send their children to a public school

I have already expected this. I have also expected the big ‘NO’ from the fishermen and immigrants.

Most of the fishermen thought that since they make their livelihood from the sea, there is no need to go to school. That time would be better spent learning seacraft instead. Which, I guess, could be right [1] if their child wants to be a fisherman in the future.

However, the biggest resistance comes from immigrant families and the local poor. When I knock on their doors, I am welcomed as an old acquaintance. However, when I bring up the matter of enrolling their children on school, they would inevitably shake their heads.

“… Haa. I wonder if this new school will be alright. The target people are the most unresponsive.”

“I’m sure it will be fine. Tooru will think of something. Ah, want some candy?”

“… …”

[1] I look down at the map in my hands. From the bank onwards, the sea glittered a nostalgic blue. There are a lot of ‘X’ marks on my survey form.

Count Gamet must have known about this situation and had thrown the problem at me with a ‘do something about it’.

Also, I have to admire Yodel’s absolute lack of awareness. He has started eating the leftover candy he had been charged to carry around. Whatever, I refuse to comment on it.

“… …”

As I stare out into the sea, I think about why I am even doing this.

This morning, Makia threw an acorn bomb at me from her window. My right hand is still tingling and the bruising pattern looked quite weird.

Just who the heck am I?

I’m the Demon King, you know?

Do you know? Does anyone know?

Looking at the miserable me, not a single person would believe that I was ever the Black Demon King.

 

[Gumihou: Lol, the poor guy]

 

[1] Filling in the ‘Unspoken’. Often, when it comes to Japanese novels, the translation might feel a bit lacking since the author deliberately chooses to use fewer words and let the reader fill in the blanks through a preset cultural understanding.

If the missing info looks too sparse, Gumi will fill in some of the blanks. This is not to imply that the writer’s craft is lacking, but we do have a cultural gap. Gumi will try to fill in these gaps unobtrusively.

[2] Adjust paragraphs, for aesthetic purposes. Also, considering the style of writing, author would inevitably repeat information. Gumi will at least adjust the delivery of the information so that it’s not verbatim to what had appeared before.

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