Episode-716
Chapter : 1411
He leaned against his desk, crossing his arms. "I'll give you ten minutes. Look at the data. Look at the profiles of the people involved. Find the crack in the wall."
The students scrambled to look at the papers Lloyd had placed on their desks. These were dossiers. Background checks. Trade reports. It was boring paperwork, the kind that usually ended up in the trash. But Lloyd had taught them that trash was sometimes treasure.
Lloyd watched them. He saw them struggling. They were looking for a magical reason. A curse. A monster blocking the road. They weren't looking at the system. They weren't looking at the people.
He looked at Airin. She wasn't looking at the map. She was reading the dossier of the Merchant Guild leader. She was reading it intently, her brow furrowed.
"Interesting," Lloyd thought.
He checked his pocket watch. He remembered his days in the military academy on Earth. Logistics was the class everyone hated, but it was the class that won wars. He was going to turn these misfits into the most dangerous thinkers in the kingdom, even if he had to bore them to death first.
"Time is up," Lloyd announced. "Who has the answer? Why are my soldiers eating their boots?"
The room was quiet. The students looked at their papers, then at the board, then at each other. They were stumped.
"It's the river," a boy said confidently. "The ice is too thick to break, so the water filtration system fails."
"Wrong," Lloyd said. "The fortress has a deep well. Water isn't the issue."
"It's the bandits," a girl suggested. "The report says there are bandits in the woods."
"Bandits don't attack armed convoys carrying grain," Lloyd countered. "They steal gold. Grain is heavy and hard to fence. Bandits are criminals, not idiots."
"It's the weather," another student tried. "An early blizzard?"
"The weather is predictable," Lloyd said. "The report accounts for early snow. The wagons leave two weeks before the first frost."
He sighed. He was disappointed. They were still thinking like mages. They were looking for external forces.
"Does anyone have an answer that doesn't involve bad luck or monsters?" Lloyd asked.
In the middle of the room, a hand went up slowly. It was Airin.
"Scholar Airin," Lloyd said. His voice softened slightly, though he tried to keep it professional. "Enlighten us."
Airin stood up. She looked nervous. She clutched the dossier in her hands. "It... it is the Guild Leader. Master Gorm."
"Go on," Lloyd said.
"The numbers say he has the grain," Airin said, her voice gaining a little strength. "And he has the wagons. But the dossier says his daughter was passed over for admission to the Royal Academy three years ago. The rejection letter was signed by the Commander of the Fortress."
The class blinked. What did that have to do with grain?
"Explain," Lloyd commanded.
"Master Gorm is a proud man," Airin continued. "The report mentions he has a history of petty lawsuits. He holds grudges. If he sends the grain late... just a few days late... he can blame the weather. He can claim a broken wheel. He can make excuses."
She looked at the map. "If he delays the shipment by three days, the convoy hits the early snow at the pass. The wagons get stuck. The fortress doesn't get the food. And he gets his revenge on the Commander without ever breaking the law."
The room was silent. The students looked at the dossier again. The information was there. Buried in a paragraph about family history.
Lloyd smiled. It wasn't a nice smile. It was a sharp, satisfied smile.
"Correct," Lloyd said. "Ten points to Airin."
He walked over to the board and circled the village of Oakhaven.
"You were all looking at the numbers," Lloyd told the class. "You were calculating tonnage and distance. But systems are not run by numbers. They are run by people. And people are petty. People are emotional. People are flawed."
He looked at Airin. "You saw the human element. You understood the logistics of the human heart. That is what destroyed the fortress. Not a dragon. Not a blizzard. But a father's wounded pride."
Airin blushed under the praise. She sat down, looking down at her desk.
Chapter : 1412
"This is your lesson," Lloyd said, his voice serious. "When you build a machine, you check the gears. When you build a plan, you check the people. A perfect plan handled by an imperfect person is a disaster waiting to happen. Never assume competence. Never assume loyalty. Always assume that someone, somewhere, is angry about something stupid."
He erased the board with a wave of his hand.
"For homework," Lloyd said, "I want you to design a supply chain that bypasses Master Gorm. You have the same resources. Figure it out. Class dismissed."
The students stood up, gathering their things. They looked at Lloyd differently now. They weren't just bored anymore. They were thinking.
As the class filed out, Lloyd pretended to organize his papers. He waited until Airin was passing his desk.
"Good work today," Lloyd said quietly.
Airin stopped. She hugged her books to her chest. "Thank you, Professor. It... it just seemed obvious. People do strange things when they are hurt."
"They do," Lloyd agreed. He looked at her. He saw the ghost of Anastasia, but he pushed it away. He saw the student. The intelligent, empathetic young woman who had saved his life in the jungle. "That intuition of yours... it's a weapon. Don't underestimate it. Magic can break walls, but understanding people can open gates."
"I will try to remember that," Airin smiled.
She left the room. Lloyd watched her go. He felt a strange mixture of pride and sadness. She was brilliant. She was kind. And she was in the middle of a war zone, whether she knew it or not.
"Logistics of the human heart," Lloyd muttered to himself. "That's the hardest subject of all."
He packed up his chalk. He had taught them about supply lines. Tomorrow, he would teach them about leverage. He was building an army of thinkers. And judging by today, he might actually succeed.
Lloyd Ferrum walked down the wide, stone corridors of the Royal Academy. He was heading to the cafeteria to get a sandwich. It was a simple mission. Walk. Buy sandwich. Eat sandwich.
But he had a feeling. That prickling sensation on the back of his neck. The feeling you get when a cat is watching you from a high shelf, deciding whether to purr or pounce.
He stopped and turned around quickly. The corridor was empty. Just a few students rushing to class and a suit of armor standing guard.
"I know you're there," Lloyd said to the empty air. "You breathe too loudly."
Nothing happened.
"Fine," Lloyd sighed. "Be creepy. See if I care."
He continued walking. He passed a large potted fern. He paused. He leaned in and whispered to the fern. "Your perfume is very distinct, Princess. It smells like expensive soap and violence."
There was a rustle from behind the fern. But no one stepped out.
Lloyd rolled his eyes. This had been happening for a week. Ever since their "duel" on the cliff, Princess Isabella had become his personal ghost whenever he is in her area. She didn't speak to him. She didn't confront him. She just... hovered.
He entered the cafeteria. It was loud and smelled of cabbage. He got in line. He grabbed a tray. He reached for the last piece of chocolate cake.
Another hand reached for it at the exact same time.
Lloyd looked up. It was a student he didn't recognize. But before the student could grab the cake, a bread roll flew through the air from across the room. It hit the student square in the forehead with impressive accuracy.
"Ow!" the student yelled, dropping his hand.
Lloyd took the cake. He looked in the direction the roll had come from.
Sitting two tables away, partially hidden behind a stack of books, was Isabella. She wasn't looking at him. She was aggressively reading a textbook on military history. But Lloyd saw the corner of her mouth twitch.
"Okay," Lloyd thought. "She is protecting my dessert. That is... useful. Weird, but useful."
He sat down at his table. As he ate, he noticed a folded piece of paper under his napkin. He hadn't put it there.
He unfolded it. It was a report. Handwritten. Elegant, sharp script.
Subject: Lord Walder.
Status: Compromised.
Intel: Walder has been seen meeting with known anti-royalists. He is planning to challenge your budget proposal at the next council meeting. He has a gambling debt he is trying to hide.
Recommendation: Mention the 'Golden Dice' tavern to him. He will fold.