Chapter 454
"A glorious day, a glorious day. Well, today is perfect for welcoming people, isn't it?"
"Yeah. Rain would dampen the mood, so a clear day like this is better for a new beginning."
Gato-san and I are at the city gate now.
There's a Garden Guard station nearby, and they're doing gatekeeper duty.
Gato-san and I are sitting side by side on a bench outside that station, looking up at the sky.
One might wonder if the city's leader should be idling here, but this is actually important work.
Today is the day the orphan children immigrating to Freihait arrive. Gato-san and I are waiting eagerly for the children to come.
"Speaking of which, I saw the student teachers. They seem to have settled into the city quite well. When they first arrived, they were as quiet as church mice."
Thanks to the Entertainers' reconnaissance, we know the orphans will be here soon, and the watchtower has reported sighting the lead carriage.
We'll only have a short time to chat leisurely like this.
Our conversation to pass the time naturally turns to the teachers Gato has been training, who recently immigrated and are now sitting beside me, also looking up at the sky.
The reactions of the first group of teachers recruited were about as expected.
Shock, then bewilderment.
A comfortable space, stable food and housing, and clear guidelines on what to do.
The memory is still fresh of them feeling out of place in such a well-equipped location, even worrying if they were really supposed to work here.
"Ah, they say 'home is where you make it,' but in this case, it truly is a capital. It's like being told they're expected to perform. As long as they guard against arrogance, they'll grow well. They're all good students."
"I saw them. It seems teacher training is going well for you, Gato-san."
"There's a lot I have to teach, but training teachers is a first for me, so it's trial and error. The reason I can teach at all is because they all have prior experience in teaching; they absorb what I say quickly, which is a big help."
"Is that so?"
When I mentioned the God of Contracts' contract, they were wary, but all of them could read and write, and after being informed of the contract terms in advance, most accepted and became residents of Freihait.
For the few who refused, I'm sorry to say, we paid them travel expenses and a nuisance fee for coming this far and sent them back.
The school building is massive, and the dormitories are well-equipped.
Entertainment facilities currently consist only of a tavern frequented by Don's crew, public baths, and occasional puppet shows, but we plan to expand those as well.
Food quality and nutritional value are uncompromising, so the residents of this city are all healthy.
That includes the student teachers who have lived in the city for just two weeks.
"For now, reading, writing, and arithmetic should be teachable. For specialized fields like woodworking, construction, smithing, crafting, cooking, sewing, and magical tool creation, residents with expertise can teach them immediately. However, fields like agriculture, animal husbandry, medicine, governance, management, pharmacy, and alchemy will likely take more time to develop teachers."
"That's a bias toward fields where we have people from the shopping district, Percy's workshop, and Don's dwarves. We don't have any pure farmers, and we haven't been able to recruit doctors. Same with alchemists. The bias is unavoidable."
With good nutrition, people start to have more energy.
The most noticeable change is in the skin and hair, becoming healthier.
If people get enough sleep and nutrition, they become healthy.
Furthermore, the peaceful environment, protected from monsters and bandits by the walls, seems to give residents a sense of security. Every street in the city is lit with lamps, making the night roads bright.
With few residents and everyone knowing each other, theft and assault don't happen.
Everyone was surprised to hear spirits patrol the area.
"For now, the priority is to teach the children reading, writing, and arithmetic. Physical education... well, let's start by getting them moving. After they're well-nourished and their bodies have developed, when they're able to wield weapons, we can send escort personnel to have them grind in the mochi dungeons."
"As levels rise, the body naturally becomes stronger. Even at my age, I'm keenly aware of that."
"We want you to stay healthy for a long time, Gato-san."
As we talk, my enhanced ears catch the sound of carriages stopping beyond the gate.
"Oh, it's time."
"Yes. Shall we go welcome the children with futures ahead of them?"
We rise from the bench, and looking back at the station, the Garden Guards emerge in a steady stream.
"My lord! The temple party has arrived!!"
"Understood! Open the gate!"
"Yes, sir! Open the gate! Open the gate!"
From atop the wall, the arrivals are announced, and the gate, designed to open and close with magical tools, swings open.
It opens slowly, gradually revealing the procession.
The pure white armor of the temple knights.
Behind them, a carriage train escorted by cavalry.
A woman in priest robes descends from the lead carriage and, along with the temple knight who dismounted from the lead horse, walks toward us.
"Captain Fluge, Second Battalion, Fifth Division, Temple Knights."
"I am Priestess Anemone."
As I lead the Garden Guards through the now-fully open gate toward them, the knight who identified himself as Fluge removes his helmet, revealing his gray crew cut, and bows, introducing himself. Following suit, Anemone, a middle-aged female priest, also bows.
"I'm Liberta, head of Academy City Freihait. We've been eagerly awaiting your arrival."
"We are truly grateful to hear you're accepting the orphans."
Fluge, the battalion commander, is apparently the leader of this group.
He steps forward to speak.
"The children are in the carriages behind?"
"Yes, they are."
"Understood. I'd like to say they must be tired from the long journey and should rest first, but I apologize. Would it be alright to conduct an inspection before allowing passage through the gate?"
"Of course. Priestess Anemone, the registry, please."
"Yes. Lord Liberta, here are the rosters of the knights, priests, and orphans who came here."
There's no hostility, of course. The conversation proceeds smoothly. Priestess Anemone opens the bag she carried at her side and presents a bundle of documents.
One Garden Guard steps forward, takes them, checks for any danger, and then presents them for my view.
With a higher position comes formality. After such stiff procedural steps, I receive the bundle of papers from the bag.
They're tied with string, but not bound like a book.
The names are listed in neat rows.
The information includes name, gender, age, place of origin, and race.
Even in this world, this is important information, and something requiring careful management is now in my hands. Multiple copies have been made for verification.
For three hundred immigrant children, plus the accompanying priests and a battalion of guards numbering in the hundreds, the amount of paper is substantial, and its weight is considerable.
"Understood. Now, Priestess Anemone, our inspectors are unfortunately rather rough-looking men, and there's a high chance they might frighten the children. I apologize, but I'd like to request that you or others the children trust be present during the inspection."
"Certainly."
I keep a portion, hand the rest to the Garden Guards, and the inspection begins using them as reference.
I don't expect any problems, but to be safe, we take precautions.
"Well then, my lord, we'll begin."
"Yes, proceed."
Priestess Anemone turns and walks toward the carriages. She approaches the nearest one, calls inside, and children begin to descend with the help of other priests.
"..."
Seeing them, I recall myself when I reincarnated into this world.
No, they're not that emaciated, nor are their clothes shabby.
Still, for growing children, they're thin, and their clothes are worn.
Children around my age are holding the hands of younger ones, trying to line them up.
Some children are so tense in this unfamiliar place they look ready to cry.
The atmosphere doesn't seem to be one of anticipation for a new beginning.
"...We try to help as much as we can, but the temple doesn't have unlimited funds. It's still frustrating when there are those we cannot reach."
"Indeed. I've had similar experiences, so I understand that feeling."
It's not like a heavy weight has settled on my back.
But considering I'll be carrying these children's futures from now on, the conversation between Fluge and Gato feels heavy.
The Garden Guards, trying to smile and approach without helmets on, only make the smaller children hide behind the older ones, their wariness evident.
They split into teams: one team works with the priests, calling names from the registry to verify each child, while another team works with the temple knights to check belongings.
I can't just stand there watching.
This will take considerable time.
But I can't leave to talk elsewhere.
"Captain Fluge, are any of the children unwell?"
"We have priests who can use healing magic accompanying us, so no children are ill."
"Have they eaten sufficiently?"
"This morning, they had soup and bread before departing the encampment."
In that case, it's more productive to ask the adults and plan the next steps.
"It's a long way to the dormitories, so how about we have a meal here at the gate first? We'll prepare something."
"Is that alright?"
"Yes, there's a welcome party tonight, but it will be a simple meal."
"That would be very helpful."
Having unfamiliar adults call their names and make notes only heightens the children's tension.
Having a meal here might help ease that tension a bit.
"Sorry, could you ask the station's cooking staff to prepare some food?"
"Yes, sir!"
I ask a nearby Garden Guard to request the cooks dispatched from Central to prepare meals for several hundred people on short notice.
"Is that okay? We can help too."
"It's fine."
Fluge offers to help upon hearing the scale of the meal, but I gently decline.
"Our cooks are excellent."
I imagine them now, using their leveled-up bodies and cooking skills to chop vegetables at blurring speed, using multiple stoves to make soup and bake bread simultaneously.
"Is... that so."
One of the Garden Guards enters the station, and shortly after, smoke begins rising from the station kitchen window.
Seeing their skeptical looks, I smile and nod, and Fluge reluctantly accepts, turning his attention back to the inspection.
Thinking this will take some time, I decide to browse the roster to pass the time.
Carefully turning the pages, being mindful not to tear the low-quality paper compared to what we use in Freihait, I check the names.
Confirming each name, committing them to memory, when—
"Hmm?"
My eyes catch on a particular name.
"Is something wrong?"
Fluge, noticing my reaction, looks at me.