2 – To avoid admission to the academy (2)

If there is something inconvenient for humans, it is a being that solves and conquers it no matter what.

Beasts that threatened human survival were driven away by fire, and reservoirs were built to store water to prevent farming from being impossible due to lack of water.

If I didn’t know what was inconvenient, I wouldn’t have tried to find a solution, and I wouldn’t have bothered to light a fire or dig a reservoir.

As with the Gnostic Reformation, you have to know what the Baron is lacking in order to succeed.

Now that I had the opportunity to convince the baron and prove my abilities, I returned to my room and prepared to conduct field research on the estate.

But, if I said I’d go out alone, I’d definitely tell you it’s dangerous… who do you take

While I was packing my things, I heard a knock on the door and a man’s voice.

“Can I come in, Bocchan?”

“Who are you?”

At those words, the owner of the voice beyond the door spoke sadly.

“This is Balt, young master. Why do you treat me so awkwardly… ?”

Balt, you’re obviously the guy who was following Ciel’s escort to the academy at the beginning of the novel, right?

And according to the setting, he and Ciel had known each other for more than 10 years, and came out as an uncle-like person.

So I answered in a comfortable tone, as if I were dealing with my uncle.

“come in.”

Then the door opened, and a tall, muscular man with a shaggy beard came up to me and said friendly.

“I heard everything. I heard you refused to go to the academy.”

“Well, if you go to the academy, you should only learn the etiquette and swordsmanship you need as a knight. I felt that I didn’t have to travel 4 years or far away to learn something like that.”

“Your master’s swordsmanship is already on par with that of a decent knight. You don’t have to go.”

“Yes, but why are you here?”

Balt heard that, nodded, and then spoke.

“His Excellency the Baron has given me an order to escort the young master. And he asked me to tell you this too.”

When I received the pouch Balt gave me and opened it, there were about 20 gold coins the size of 500 won coins inside.

Balt, who saw that, said with a fuss.

“One gold coin can buy a cow, so 20 gold coins… With that money, you can buy a house with a small shop under the castle… Congratulations on getting rich.”

“Thank you, Balt. Now that I have money, I’m going to the market, so please follow me.”

**

A street lined with shabby wooden buildings with paintings such as beer mugs and pots symbolizing inns, hammers and anvils symbolizing blacksmiths, and shirts symbolizing cloth shops.

On the corner of the street there were people who had pitched shabby tents and sold cheap farming tools, vegetables, or grains in them.

After looking around the market like that, an employee from the blacksmith’s shop came out and said while holding out a sword that was sheathed.

“Come on, handsome boy over there. How do you like this knife? Although it’s a bit of a kick for a knight, it’s perfect for carrying around as a reserve on the battlefield. I will serve you for three pieces of silver.”

“No, it’s fine. I just came out to watch for a while.”

“no way… Why don’t you just buy one?”

As the blacksmith’s staff persistently urged me to do so, Balt, who was standing behind me, placed his hand on the sword and said,

“Didn’t you say you didn’t buy it?”

“sorry. Knight… ”

“If you know, go away.”

After saying that, the employee who offered the knife ran away in a hurry.

And I continued to visit the market with Balt, observing and experiencing as many things as possible.

I went to an inn with Balt, ate cheap beer and a mysterious soup that was constantly boiling, and went to a clothes shop to try on shabby clothes that serfs usually buy.

After entering the blacksmith’s shop, he personally touched and wielded weapons such as swords, spears, armor, and shields made by the blacksmith, and then went to a bakery to eat rye bread eaten by the common people.

In the rye bread, I felt the unique taste and savory taste of rye, but at the same time, the stone was chewed from the bread, probably because I used rye flour that was not milled properly.

Like that, Balt and I looked around the market near Kreutel Castle for about two hours, and then went out to the outskirts.

“Why do those Baking Guild guys make human bread like that? If you’re going to use rye flour to make bread, shouldn’t you at least sift the stones?”

“Yeah, it’s bread to sell to poor guys like low-level workers who live nearby. No one says anything about mixing a few stones.”

When I heard that, I remembered something my grandmother had said before.

“In the old days, the rice sold was mixed with stones, so if you wanted to cook rice, you had to use a diaphragm to filter out the stones before eating it.”

It was like that even in those days when the concept of threshing and polishing using machines existed, but is it natural that stones come out of the bread that ordinary people eat in this era…

As I continued to walk down the street, lost in thought, I saw a well in front of me.

At the well, women were huddled together and chatting, pulling the rope tied to the bucket to scoop up water.

“Youngcha, oh… I’m going to die after scooping this one out.”

“This lady, you’re too stubborn.”

“My back hurts because my husband worked a little too hard in bed yesterday.”

“Hey, this woman. My husband can’t use his strength even with bread… Are you kidding me?”

I say that with a smile, but it won’t be easy for women to use buckets to fill their beautiful water jars with water.

And you have to carry it back to your house, and that won’t be a normal effort.

If you solve this a little, wouldn’t it be possible to gain support from the serfs and other citizens?.

I saw this and said to Balt with a smile.

“I had a good idea. Let’s go to the forge.”

**

Next to the door was a furnace and bellows for melting iron ingots, a large hammer and a small hammer for hammering iron, and anvils and chairs for trimming hot iron were placed around them.

Inside, about four blacksmiths were working on heating the iron, polishing the heated iron with hammers, and sharpening the blades.

Also, when I went inside at the same time, I felt a heat that was incomparable to a jjimjilbang.

Balt complained that he couldn’t bear the heat.

“Bocchan, I think I’m going to die of steam at this rate. Why do you bother to come to a place like this?”

I left Balt like that and asked the blacksmith who was hammering near the anvil.

“I came here because I want you to make something urgent. Can you help me?”

“The Master is sharpening his blade from the inside. Let’s ask the Master.”

Following the direction he pointed, I approached what seemed to be the Master and said.

“I am Ciel von Kreuttel, the successor of Baron Creutel. There is something I want to make urgently, can you help me?”

Hearing that, the Master waved the hammer in the air as if it was annoying and said.

“There’s no way someone so good would come all the way here and ask me to make something. Get out of here, otherwise I’ll call the guards.”

Hearing that, I felt unfair for a moment, but since nobles rarely come directly to places like this… It is not unreasonable for the blacksmith guild master to react like that.

So I held out the dagger bearing the crest of Baron Creutel and spoke again.

“I am Ciel von Kreuttel. There is something I want you to make.”

Upon seeing the dagger with the crest engraved on it, Master hurriedly changed his attitude and knelt down in front of me.

“I’m sorry for not recognizing a precious person. ”

“I don’t care about that, but make me what I want ASAP. money is… I’ll give you three gold coins as an advance.”

“Three gold coins?”

“Yes. Then ask for 8 pieces of iron round enough for a thick rope to fit in the middle, and 8 rings for a rope to fit in. I also ask for wooden poles and supports that can withstand the weight of the rope.”

Hearing that, the blacksmith pondered for a while, then nodded and said,

“Yes, I understand. Even if I do it as soon as possible, it should be done the day after tomorrow. Is that okay?”

There are two weeks left, so it would be okay if it took two days.

“Okay, then send the items you made in two days to the Creutel mansion and collect the rest of the money.”

I finally left the smithy and returned to the mansion.

**

When the promised time came, the blacksmith guild delivered the things I ordered.

I directed the installation while explaining to the servants one by one the bucket using a pulley using custom-made parts at the well in the courtyard of the mansion.

Then, I showed them how to write in front of them.

“Listen, now with this, you no longer have to pull the rope as hard as you used to. Just by lightly turning the handle, the bucket comes up.”

As I said, as I started turning the handle, the bucket connected to the pulley began to rise slowly.

The servants saw it and spoke in admiring voices.

“It was very difficult to scoop up water, but now I just have to turn it without applying force?”

“I heard that you are very smart, but to think that you can even create something like this… ”

“I use a pulley when lifting something heavy, but if I use it by attaching it to a bucket, I can get rid of the water faster and easier… Why didn’t I think of that?”

So I pulled up all the buckets and poured water into the water jar placed next to it, and the baron, who had been watching for a while, came up behind me and said,

“Did you make this at the request of the blacksmith guild? It’s certainly easy to use, but I’m not saying I won’t go to the academy after just making something like this.”

“Now it may seem like a more convenient tool than the existing bucket, but if you install it on the riverside of a deep river or a well near a field, it will be of great help in scooping out water.”

“Well, if it becomes easier to scoop up water, it will be easier to use a cart to carry water… Then farming would be a little easier. You did well. You proved that your will was not in vain by creating this.”

Since the words of recognition came out of the mouth of the baron, will you pass on the meaning of going to the academy?

I looked at the baron with such expectations, but the words that came out of the baron’s mouth were different from him.

“However, the ability you showed me is a skill that an engineer should have. It’s not the governing ability that I have to show as the heir after me. Therefore, I cannot listen to your insistence on not going to the academy.”

“but… ”

“Of course, I am proud that my son has built such a great tool in just two days. Therefore, I will support you physically and mentally so that you can learn many things at the academy. Apart from living expenses, I will give you 2 gold coins each month as pocket money. You can also play as much as you like with the 20 gold coins you received before going to the academy.”

It’s nice to be promised 20 gold coins and 2 gold coins every month for pocket money, but it doesn’t change the fact that you have to go to the academy.

And when I go to the academy, I die and this estate is destroyed.

As long as it’s like this…

I got down on one knee once again and bowed my head to the baron.

“Give me another chance, this time I will show you what a ruler must demonstrate.

To my words, the baron replied in an arrogant voice.

“Sometimes, do whatever you want to do. However, if you fail this time, then you must go to the academy without a second thought.”