34: I became the principal

While Cecilia went to research optimizing the formula for the blood of the magic wolf, Renn began his daily routine.

He now spent two-thirds of each day cultivating to improve his strength, meditated to enhance his magic power while sleeping, and dedicated all remaining time to developing his territory.

Time quickly reached the afternoon, and Renn, having recovered his magic power, returned to the school construction site once again.

After eight consecutive days of petrifying the ground, the hardening work for the school project was complete. The school's dormitories, cafeteria, and nursery had been built; the children of the Red River Territory were about to move into their new home.

As for the main buildings like the classrooms, Renn had Johnny leave them for later. Since there were no teaching conditions for the time being, there was no rush to build them.

"Lord, the progress of the project is currently much faster than I previously anticipated. The team building the toilets has already finished and joined the school construction. There are nearly three hundred people working here simultaneously now."

"With you using magic to help petrify the ground, a massive amount of labor has been saved. The children will be able to move into their new home tomorrow."

"The remaining school teaching buildings and all other projects can be completed within ten days."

Johnny reported the project's progress to Renn with visible excitement.

"Very good!"

Renn nodded and said:

"Let the children move in first, and keep up the pace with the follow-up work. I plan to repair the territory's roads next, so prepare in advance."

"Yes, My Lord!"

Receiving the order, Johnny began calculating how to better fulfill Renn's command.

"Fornal, select fifty experienced women to be responsible for the children's meals and daily care at the school. There aren't many children under sixteen in the territory right now; fifty women should be enough to look after them."

"Yes, My Lord!"

"Scholar Ravenk, from now on, you are the Education Officer of the Red River Territory, responsible for the daily management and teaching work of the school."

"I will also assign you several junior scholars and apprentices. I'll be entrusting the children's education to you from now on."

"Although the school doesn't have teaching tools yet, they will be supplemented soon. Your task is to teach these children literacy, arithmetic, and loyalty to me."

Renn stated his requirements to Ravenk.

Standing beside Fornal, Ravenk looked at the nearly finished school without saying a word.

Ever since he learned that Renn was building a school to allow all the children in the territory to study, he had come to the construction site every day to watch this unfamiliar building gradually take shape.

Ravenk was already fifty-seven years old with graying hair. In the North, living past fifty was definitely considered a long life, yet in his fifty-plus years, Ravenk had never encountered anything like this.

"Lord, I still don't understand. Why do you want all the children to learn literacy and knowledge? Are you dissatisfied with us?"

"Or do you believe that we scholars cannot meet your needs?"

"I have served the Derrick Family for thirty years. I taught your father, Baron Bode, your older brother, and you literacy, arithmetic, and other knowledge. Two generations of the Derrick Family were enlightened by me. I have trained dozens of scholars to serve the territory, I..."

Renn directly interrupted Ravenk's non-stop talking.

"I am very clear about your contributions, Teacher Ravenk. I respect you, and I have never denied your contributions, nor those of the other scholars to the territory."

"But in thirty years, you have only trained fewer than a hundred talents who can read and do math. The number is too small. I need more literate people; I need more scholars."

"But what do you need so many scholars for? The Red River Territory is only this big; it doesn't need that many scholars," Ravenk blurted out.

"That is not a question for you to consider, Scholar Ravenk."

Renn looked at Ravenk coldly, and the scene fell into a frigid silence.

After a moment, Renn took a deep breath and forced down the anger in his heart toward this stubborn old man. He tried a different approach.

"Don't you understand yet, Teacher?"

"Do you know what this school means for you?"

"This school will make your name spread throughout the entire kingdom. You will have hundreds or thousands of students. They will carry your name to every corner of this land. You will be the most famous scholar in the kingdom; even the Great Scholars of the Royal Academy in the City of Gold will not have as many students as you."

"History will remember your name! My teacher."

Renn's words exploded in Ravenk's heart. Previously, because he couldn't understand Renn passing on his precious knowledge to low-born, stupid commoners, Ravenk had never thought about other aspects.

"Famous throughout the kingdom? Surpassing the Great Scholars?"

Ravenk's gaze turned toward the tall building beside him once more.

"Yes, yes, yes!"

"How did I not think of that?"

"This school is my own academy of knowledge. I will be remembered by history, and my name will be inscribed on the scrolls of knowledge in the future."

Ravenk's originally questioning heart immediately did a 180-degree turn.

"You are right, My Lord. Knowledge needs more study. Every child in the territory should learn, and I will be their teacher."

"I am the Education Officer of the territory and shall be the Dean of this school."

Renn reminded the enthusiastically high-spirited Ravenk.

"It's Principal!"

"And you are the Vice Principal. I am the Principal, though you will be responsible for the daily operations."

Ravenk didn't care about this at all: "Principal, Dean, it's all the same."

"Since you established the school, My Lord, it's natural for you to be the Principal. I will manage the school as the Vice Principal, you can rest assured."

Ravenk patted his chest in guarantee.

Fornal and Johnny watched from the side, somewhat unable to adapt to the old scholar's radical change in attitude.

Especially Johnny; in his eyes, a scholar was the synonym for wisdom. The contrast today made him doubt his previous perceptions.

However, seeing that Ravenk had agreed to teach the children, Johnny was still very happy.

Having settled Ravenk, Renn began his daily routine: Mud to Stone.

However, all the ground had already been petrified. Today, Renn was reinforcing the already completed dormitory buildings.

The craftsmen Renn had recruited from the Border Defense Army were skilled at building large-scale defensive works. Building the three-story dormitories Renn designed wasn't difficult for them.

However, because the building materials were primarily stone and wood mixed with a special mud, Renn felt the foundations of the buildings were still not stable enough.

Renn was already incredibly proficient with the Mud to Stone spell. Over the past few days, he had also experimented with more ways to use it. Especially after learning the Mage Hand spell, Renn had a new idea.

Now, he used the Mud to Stone spell to petrify the foundations and load-bearing walls of the dormitories, which were built of crushed stone mixed with mud. With the assistance of Mage Hand, he reshaped the structures.

As his magic power was consumed, the load-bearing walls and foundations of the dormitories turned into complete stone structures, their sturdiness increasing significantly.

"Only magic can bring about such a wondrous effect."

The effect achieved by using Mud to Stone along with Mage Hand was even better than expected, and Renn was very satisfied with the result.

"Let's leave it at that for now. I'll leave this place to you and Johnny. Fornal and I are going to the docks to take a look."

"Rest assured, My Lord, leave it to us."

Johnny and Ravenk respectfully watched Renn leave, then returned to their own work.

At this moment, the way Ravenk looked at the school had completely changed.

He transformed into a supervisor, roaming the construction site and constantly reminding Johnny and his workers to perfect every corner of the school, striving to build it flawlessly.

Ravenk even spoke righteously: "This is all for the inheritance of knowledge; there must not be the slightest sloppiness."