Chapter 604

Debut Party (13)
I decided to take the conversation a little deeper — about the potential problems my school might be causing.

“Your school causing problems?”

“Yes. At my school, to make it easier for children from struggling families to attend, we’ve partnered with the Trade Guild. If a household’s annual income is below a certain level, tuition is completely free.”

“Wh–What? Truly?”

“Yes. Also, orphans are accepted free of charge as well. For everyone else, the tuition isn’t particularly expensive either — it’s about the same as the cost of lunch for one month.”

All of that is true.
We’ve created an environment that makes it as easy as possible for children to attend.
There are some whose tuition we waive entirely.
Those are precisely the ones who need the chance to study most.
If you grow up in poverty, you can’t get a proper education, and you end up unable to find decent work — a vicious cycle.
My school’s policy of free education for children from poor families was designed to break that chain.

Now then, how about that!

“Hm… that’s quite different from the rumors I’ve heard about your school, Lady Lily. I was told the tuition was rather expensive.”

“Oh, that must be the High School. That one does charge more.”

“High School? It’s different from the regular one?”

“At the regular school, we teach basic knowledge and bookkeeping. At the High School, we offer more practical lessons. Because of that, tuition is higher — it’s aimed at wealthier families.”

“Hm… more practical, you say…”

Ah — Marquis Titanus suddenly fell silent.
Is he thinking something over?

“Alright. Lady Lily, I’ll assist you with securing teachers and facilities. Could you expand your school into my faction’s lands as soon as possible?”

“What!?”

“You’re making a move ahead of us, Marquis Titanus!?”

“You all just said you didn’t want to host her schools, didn’t you? I’ve decided to. That way, mine will be established before any of yours.”

“Well, that certainly helps, but… are you sure about this? Building one of my schools means that a few Kiblinki Saltas will be assigned as guards.”

“Kiblinki Saltas? Ah, those spider monsters. They startled me when one dropped from the ceiling earlier, but I assume they don’t usually do that?”

“Usually they just walk around on the ground. They can communicate through telepathy, are very friendly, and absolutely adore farming and children.”

“I see… so those are the spiders you tried to distribute to the Royalist faction, and only some accepted them.”

“That’s right. But it worked out fine in the end — we were able to redistribute them elsewhere.”

The ones who came back are now managing Parfe Ranch for me.
They’ve been a huge help.

“Lady Lily. Could my faction borrow some of those spider monsters?”

“Eh?”

“You’re taking things too far, Marquis Titanus!”

Of course the other marquises weren’t going to let that slide.
Accepting Kiblinki Saltas would, in a way, mean joining my sphere of influence.
Sure, it would increase food production — but the surplus would end up being distributed wherever I decided to send it.
Would they really be fine with that?

“Silence! This is between Lady Lily and me! Lady Lily, I’d like your spiders to start with city patrols to get people used to them, and then move on to helping in the farming villages to show results. How much would the rental fee be?”

A rental fee, huh…
I haven’t really thought about that.
Actually, I don’t even have any to spare right now.

“I’m sorry. We don’t have enough to lend at the moment. On top of that, the Darshe Principality and the Isles of the Eight Gods have both requested some recently.”

“Hmm… it would be difficult to compete with international demands, I suppose. But remember this — my faction is willing to accept them enthusiastically.”

“Understood. Still, a verbal promise alone isn’t enough, so let’s have a written agreement drawn up at the Trade Guild tomorrow. Also, there’s one more favor I’d like to ask.”

“What is it? I’ll listen, though whether I grant it depends — I don’t trust you as much as Marquis Vardmoi does.”

“It seems that Marquis Vardmoi’s second daughter, Young Lady Bern, is being harassed at the Noble Academy. Normally, if it were just among students, they could handle it themselves. But it seems the teachers are involved as well — and from what I hear, they’re affiliated with a certain faction. Do you happen to know which faction that might be?”

Alright, I said it!
Now, how will they react!?

What do you think about this chapter?