Daneel"s next stop was the National School of Lanthanor, which would soon become the Alliance Academy.
He thought the name had a nice ring to it, so he had decided on it on the way over.
As soon as he reached, he was greeted by a sight that made him pause in the air.
Around 10,000 students were standing in the large ground that had been allocated to the Academy for recreational activities, and as soon as he flew into the airs.p.a.ce of the school, they greeted him with a single shout that warmed his heart.
"Long live the King!"
"Long live the King!"
"Long live the King!"
Standing there, with two soldiers beside him whom he had only brought along as it was expected of him, the King could only stare at the ma.s.ses of children who all had broad smiles on their faces.
They were wearing the uniform that had been designed by Eloise, herself - it was a cloak made from enchanted materials that could grow in size so that it could fit them throughout their school life, and it had a magnificent Golden Dragon emblazoned on its back which shone brilliantly in the sun.
For a moment, it was as if 10,000 little dragons were all greeting his arrival.
Daneel beamed after taking a moment to firmly fix the image in front of him in his memory.
This hadn"t been in the plan, so it had come as a pleasant surprise.
As he reached the princ.i.p.al who was a kind old man who had apparently been the senior-most instructor for children before he had been appointed in this post, he said, "I apologize, My King, I could not stop them. Someone spread the news that you are coming, and all of the students wanted to show just how appreciative they are that they have this opportunity to study in the school, which was set up because of you."
Daneel smiled at the corner of his mouth as he heard this, and said, "Princ.i.p.al, it"s alright. You are the one who spread it, weren"t you? After all, you are the only one who knew."
The princ.i.p.al looked like he was shocked for a moment, but after that, he raised his hands and said, "You got me there, My Lord! It"s just that they have always been clamoring that they want to show this feeling of theirs, and I decided that there was no better time. I hope you pardon this humble subject"s wish to show you just how much of an impact you have had on these little minds, and the attempt to hide it."
Yes, typically, one did not lie to the King, and get away scot-free.
However, this case was different.
Getting an idea, Daneel put on a very serious question on his face and said, "I"m afraid that is simply not possible, princ.i.p.al. You made a mistake, you dared to lie to my face. You must pay the price."
Shock appeared on the old man"s face, and he immediately began to bow as if to beg for forgiveness.
Deciding that it was enough, Daneel laughed and ran forward to hold the man"s shoulders before saying, "As punishment, you will have to also be the Head of the Academy that will be set up for the children from all three Kingdoms inside the Alliance. I"m afraid that you"ll have a lot of stuff to do, and a lot more little minds to guide. Don"t you agree that it is a fitting price?"
The old man had to take a few moments to understand, but after he did, a smile appeared on his face that was straight from his heart.
His had been a simple life - he had always had an all-encompa.s.sing love for teaching and seeing people from all walks of life, especially children, benefit from the knowledge and go on to live happy lives. Hence, he had dedicated his life to studying various subjects and holding cla.s.ses, both free and paid. He was usually employed by merchants who wanted their children to know more about the world as he had traveled extensively to become capable of being called an instructor, and the pay was always hefty. He took their money, and used it to give the same cla.s.ses for free to orphans and children in the slums, and also to pay for their food and boarding.
His reputation had slowly grown, so when the newly appointed Grand Court Mage had come looking for someone to head this ambitious program of the King"s, he had been the first and only option.
The old man had always been a dreamer, so he had hoped for the best and had gone ahead to take the post, which had resulted in some of the most fulfilling years of his life. Every day, he tended to the vital education of thousands of students, and as the number slowly grew, he blessed the King daily for getting the idea to set this up.
Before, children had been completely neglected until the age of 15, when they could take a test for their potential which would decide their career path. Except for merchants and ministers who had grander plans for their children, everyone else thought that it was just dumb and a waste of resources to teach children when they did not know which direction in life they would be taking.
It was only now that the benefits of finding out more about the world, and about everything that existed outside the Kingdom was dawning on the parents all over the kingdom. They had started to notice that their children were smarter, and that they were growing more quickly and becoming more mature, which was a sight that shocked them.
These parents had begun to talk, and they had thus inspired others also to send their children, which was one of the main reasons why the school had become such a success.
Hence, as the old man heard that he would also be heading the initiative for all of the children in all three kingdoms, tears even came from his eyes as he could never have expected that he would get the opportunity to fulfill his life"s dream of seeing education for children become the norm for most of the continent.
What more could he ask for?
The King had stopped him from bowing and stepped back while still chuckling, but he still went ahead and bowed low anyway, and while his tears fell on the ground, he said the same thing that was still echoing in the halls of the school.
"Long Live the King!"
After he stood up, he saw the gracious smile on the King"s face and felt happy that his original intention had been achieved.
He had wanted the King to know just how incredible of a job he had done, and it was clear now that that had been communicated quite effectively.
Next, they finally went forward to the meeting which was the reason behind the King coming to the school in the first place.
All of the teachers had been gathered, and as they respectfully stood up after he arrived, it was the old man who spoke on their behalf, just like in the case in the Healer"s Academy where the middle-aged woman had represented the healers.
Daneel really was feeling truly and completely joyful after seeing all of the lives that had changed with this simple plan of his. With a smile, he waited to hear about any problems that might be present.
He had heard about the princ.i.p.al and his history, but this was the first time he had actually met the man as he had just been a bit too busy till now. He lived up to his reputation, and Daneel was very happy to see that this very important initiative was in his capable hands.
Unlike with the Healer"s Academy where he had had to put forward stuff for them to accept, he was quite happy with the school, and there were no changes except for a few that would allow the school to integrate with the newly set up job allocation wing of the government so that people would directly be able to enter the field that suited them most. However, that could wait till the expansion of the school was done.
What surprised him, though, was that here, there was a clear problem to be addressed.
s.p.a.ce.
As the princ.i.p.al put it, with the influx of students from all over the kingdom, the limited s.p.a.ce of the school that had been set up in the former National Fighter Academy of the kingdom was not enough. The Academy had originally been built for only 10,000 Fighters, but that number had already been crossed.
There was also a dearth of teachers, but that was expected to be solved with the expansion.
After Daneel heard about this, he decided that he might have to change his original plan of just setting up two more branches in the other two kingdoms.
After a few moments, an idea came to him, and it delighted him so much that he almost got up as he wanted to announce it right away.
Yet, he controlled himself, as this would also be an excellent announcement to make during the gathering for all those watching.
So, he just gave his promise that their problems would be solved, and he thanked them all for their hard work before leaving.
It had been quite a sight to see the chests of all the teachers puff up with pride as they heard this from him.
Next up, just like with the Healer"s Academy, he also decided to check on those who were actually being affected by the school.
Right now, the school accepted all those who were over eight years old and below fifteen years old.
Beginning his questioning from the youngest, he went toward the oldest and was happy to see that there were no problems, except for the typical ones that anyone would expect. For example, there was more of an interest in combat arts and knowledge, as Angaria was a combat and magic-oriented continent, after all, and things like arithmetic were considered a bit boring and difficult by most.
Knowing that this was probably something that he would not be able to solve no matter how much of an advanced system he had, Daneel was just about to leave when he heard something peculiar that stopped him.
Right now, he was in the playground of the school where a specific batch of students were actually playing the game that he had introduced in Angaria for the Olympics - "handball".
He had cast a spell so that he was invisible, and he had been going around using Mind Control to ask random children while making them temporarily invisible, too, so that no one would see the sight of a child talking with dazed eyes with a grown man, that might result in him being labeled a pervert.
The conversation in question was between two instructors who had asked their wards to rest before coming to the side to relax and have a chat for a few moments.
"You remember that Dalia, who is in my cla.s.s?"
"Of course, how could I not? She is a role model for the entire cla.s.s, and even to the school. What amazes me most is how she can be so humble even though her family is now probably richer than all the ministers and merchants in the Kingdom."
"Proper upbringing, I guess. I brought her up, because she had a very interesting question the other day, which I didn"t know how to answer."
"Ooh, what is it? A question even our star teacher can"t answer? I thought that would never be possible!"
Hitting the shoulder of the other teacher who seemed to be a friend of his, the man smiled and said, "I bet it"s one even our princ.i.p.al can"t answer. She asked whether Lanthanor should be called the Alliance Headquarters, as our King is the Alliance Leader."
After a few moments of silence, the other man replied, "I see the problem. There has been no official announcement, yet, and if it does get announced, no one knows whether there will be any dissent from the other Kingdoms. And, after that, a lot of things will change. The price of land will go up. Trade will increase. People might start flocking here, too."
"Right you are. It might cause the development of Lanthanor to speed up more than the other Kingdoms, though, which might not be for the best as this is supposed to be an "Alliance" and not an "Empire". Also…"
Unknown to them, the King had had a flash of realization cross his face as soon as he heard this.
The reason…was that he had gotten one last idea that took the cake in regards to how awe-inspiring it would be, and the effect it would have on the people.
On Earth, the government had always had a hidden function that was neglected by many.
It stood as a visible symbol of order among chaos, and the stronger this image was, the easier it would be to rule a Kingdom.
As a short laugh escaped his lips, the King teleported away to end this very, very fruitful excursion.