Chapter 58 Registration

After finishing breakfast, Ivan originally planned to go to the worksite with Ken, but a sudden commotion outside caught his attention.

"The school opened by the Lord is starting classes! Anyone who wants to go can sign up today!"

Ivan went outside to inquire, and upon returning indoors, he called his children to his side.

"We can register for the school today. Let's go take a look together."

Seeing the two about to say something, Ivan waved a hand to interrupt them: "We are just going to find out about it first. Who knows what this free school teaches, or if it will even last long? We'll make a decision after we find out more."

Ken and Gaia exchanged glances and finally nodded.

The three of them hurriedly tidied up. Gaia changed into her best dress, the one her mother had made for her. Although it looked a bit small on her now, at least it had no patches.

Ken and Ivan went down to the river to wash up. They were honest, simple fishermen with no concept of a school; they only knew that going to school meant learning to read, but that did not diminish the awe they felt in their hearts.

Every time the tax collector casually scribbled a few marks with a charcoal pencil, he could rattle off the exact taxes they owed. Ken had envied this for a long time, as he still had to count on his fingers for a long time just to sell a fish.

He just wondered if the school would teach bookkeeping.

Probably not, though. Old Ivan had once gone to ask around, and a tutor who taught bookkeeping charged fifty rios for a single lesson, and they were unwilling to teach muddy-legged folk like them. Only wealthy merchants could afford to hire people to teach such things.

All three of them changed into their most respectable clothes, carefully combed their hair, and then set out for the school.

Though called a school, it was actually just a few larger houses. Ivan peered inside to see only ordinary tables and chairs, and for some reason, the wall at the front was painted black.

It looked... seemingly nothing special either.

The three of them rounded the corner to the front entrance of the school and found a table set up there, with several people sitting behind it.

"It's the Lord!" Gaia gasped softly. It was when she had gone to the harbor to see the strange fish and heard those words spoken by the Lord that the notion of wanting to study had first sprouted in her mind.

Old Ivan squinted hard to get a look. Aside from the Lord, there was his steward, and Ivan didn't recognize the rest of the people.

Many villagers had gathered here, but not a single person stood in front of the table. People held a natural fear of the Lord and merely lingered around the perimeter, not daring to step forward.

Hux was not in a rush either, sitting before the table and thumbing through a few booklets.

Standing beside the table was a peculiar square box with a dial on top. Several needle-like objects were slowly drawing circles there, while the lid at the bottom of the box was open, revealing a great heap of complex mechanisms moving slowly inside.

A long rod swung rhythmically at the bottom, possessing an inexplicable kind of beauty.

"What is this? Why is it moving on its own?" Gaia blurted out involuntarily.

"A table clock, used for telling time. The time of each swing of its pendulum is fixed, transmitted to the dial through mechanical structures," Hux said, flipping through the booklet without lifting his head. "Care to take a look?"

Gaia was startled; she hadn't expected the Lord to answer her. She hurriedly shrank back behind Old Ivan, poking only her head out to look this way.

Hux did not pay her any more mind, nor did he scold her, which emboldened Gaia quite a bit. Her gaze slowly drifted back toward the table clock, and after a moment, she couldn't help asking again:

"Why does it move by itself?"

"Strictly speaking, it doesn't move by itself. It can move now because I wound it."

"A mainspring—a kind of power-storage structure—stores the force I gave it. Therefore, practically speaking, it is actually I who am pushing it to move."

Gaia nodded, half-understanding.

Hux stood up and raised his voice to the surrounding crowd: "This table clock was produced in Rhine. It is a purely mechanical structure, and it is also one of the advanced courses I will be teaching."

The Lord went on to explain many more things afterwards, but Gaia did not remember them. She was simply gazing intently at the table clock, watching the gears turn with precision and order inside.

How truly beautiful.

By the time she snapped out of her trance, she was already standing in front of the table clock, bending over with her face right up close to it.

Gaia stood up in a panic, looked left and right, and realized that most of the people had dispersed.

"This table clock will be kept here in the school from now on. You can come look at it whenever you like if you fancy it."

Gaia blushed slightly. She had no idea why she had become so mesmerized; they were clearly just lifeless gears, yet when combined, they were so exquisite and wonderful.

"I will come to the school to teach a course on mechanical principles, so remember to come and listen... though you will probably have to follow this young lady, Zoe, to learn literacy classes first."

"Hello, my name is Zoe," a girl in a long dress nearby greeted her.

"H-hello," Gaia instinctively shrank back a little, entirely lacking her usual demeanor of climbing trees to raid bird nests. She greeted her timidly, the slightly undersized dress making her unable to lift her head high.

Just as she prepared to hide behind her father once more, a question suddenly popped into her mind. A battle between shame and curiosity raged for a split second before the latter won out. She raised her head and asked with burning eyes, "My Lord, is the class on mechanical principles going to teach us how to make a ta... table clock?"

Hux was somewhat surprised. He saw a familiar stubbornness in the eyes of this young girl, and a gentle smile spread across his lips.

"A table clock is merely an intricate toy."

"What I am going to teach you are the true principles of mechanics."

Hux gently tapped the table clock.

"Gears can drive pointers, and they can likewise drive steel forging hammers. A mainspring can provide power, and so can a steam engine."

"Mechanics can indicate time, and they can also change the world."

He glanced down at the registration roster.

"Gaia, if you love mechanics, then try using your own hands to change this decaying and conservative world."

...

Gaia did not remember how she had made it back home.

Even at the dinner table, she was still sitting there in a daze with a silly grin, wondering what on earth she was thinking about.

Old Ivan sighed as he looked at her, then turned his gaze to Ken on the other side.

Ken also looked somewhat absent-minded; Old Ivan knew he was probably still pondering the "chemistry class" he had heard about during the day.

That Lord was just like a wizard in stories, capturing people's hearts with just a few words.

However, the school's arrangements still exceeded Old Ivan's expectations. He had originally thought that attending classes would make it impossible to go to the worksite, but the Lord had actually opened a night school.

People could go to classes after finishing work in the evening, without delaying the daytime labor.

They were also recruiting a special patrol team, and guards would accompany students to and from classes at night.

Old Ivan immediately signed up for the patrol team on the spot. Although there wasn't much pay, keeping a personal eye on his two children brought him some peace of mind.

Well, perhaps he could tag along to listen to some lectures while he was at it.

Old Ivan glanced at his two smiling, foolish children, let out a cold snort, pulled the plate closer to himself, and dug into his meal with large mouthfuls.