Cthulhu Gonfalon

In the meeting room and only building of the Holy Kingdom of the Gods of Desolation, Sui Xiong sat with his God friends to discuss the issue of education.

“It took only three years to educate a group of intellectuals. Buddy, your church has trained its talents very fast indeed!” the God of Justice praised. “It deserves to have the “Great Educator” God take charge!”

The God of Knowledge, Wall, suddenly blushed. He was ashamed to say that he had done nothing: the textbooks, school system, teachers, and even buildings had been made by His Majesty.

“Then what have you done, God of Knowledge?” the God of Justice asked curiously.

Wall was a bit upset and turned his head down. “Actually, I am principal of the school and take charge of the daily work…”

“That’s why he is called an educator,” Sui Xiong laughed and said. “I was only responsible for making suggestions and preparations in the early stages. He did all the work later. Don’t listen to the bullsh*t, because he makes it sound like he has done nothing. In fact, he is the reason why the school has such good results and trains such a large number of students!”

All the other Gods couldn’t help but smile after hearing that. It was normal to see two Gods shirking their responsibilities to each other, or the main God receiving all the compliments. But was rare to see two Gods attributing achievements to each other and emphasizing that they contributed less than the other party.

“Your church’s atmosphere is wonderful!” Javier said. “In such an atmosphere, everyone must be enthusiastic and confident. That’s why you have made such achievements.”

Sui Xiong was quiet at first and then smiled.

“Let’s get down to business. In your opinion, how should I arrange the graduates in the future?” he asked. “It’s certainly impossible for them to go back to farm or work at a factory. That will seriously damage their enthusiasm and frustrate their long-standing expectations. But if I send them to do paperwork, there won’t be enough positions.”

“That is indeed a problem!” Morani nodded and murmured. “Well, how about recruiting a group of students among our followers? To tell you the truth, our church is quite short of such intellectuals. If you could help us cultivate some of them, it would be a great favor!”

Sui Xiong willingly patted his chest and agreed, but the problem remained unsolved.

The God of Desolation and the God of Joy’s, their churches were not large enough to accept all the students. If they didn’t reduce the education level of the main school of the Church of Void Mask, there would soon be a surplus of talent among the graduating students.

Sui Xiong felt that since he had provided education to those people and allowed them to spend three years studying, it was time for them to get a job that deserved the three years’ effort.

“To be honest, I’m not very optimistic about this kind of education,” Yorgaardman thought for a moment and said. “Your education is too high-end. The average civilian needs to have a complete command of reading and writing the common language, as well as the usual addition and subtraction calculations… it’s a bit redundant. By contrast, your two subordinates have done a good job. It’s enough for a civilian to know a hundred words, write his own name, read notices, and do some simple arithmetic.”

“Isn’t it good to be more literate than that?”

“It’s not that bad, but it’s unnecessary,” Yorgaardman said. “Take me, for example. When I was a normal person, I couldn’t write my name until I became an adventurer later and learned from a priest.”

“My story is pretty much the same,” Morani said. “When I joined the army, I just put my thumb print with ink. I remember that in our team the captain was the only one who knew how to write his own name.”

“Damn it. Your educational experiences are tragic!” Sui Xiong muttered and looked at Javier. “I remember you were born a prince. Your education must be better than theirs, right?”

“You can’t take me as a reference. My acquaintances and I are all nobles,” Javier said with a smile. “Even my bodyguards are from aristocratic families. They are just too young and less likely to inherit the family. But they received good educations from childhood, and many of them even write poetry.”

Yorgaardman rolled his eyes, picked up the wine bottle provided by Ink beside him, and poured Morani a glass of wine. “Cheers to the illiterate rude man!”

Javier burst into laughter and poured himself a drink. “Drinking has nothing to do with whether you are literate or not.”

Sui Xiong frowned for a moment and asked, “So is my education level too high after all?”

“Yes, only noble people need to learn so much.” Javier laid down his empty glass and said, “Do you intend to cultivate them into aristocrats? If it’s like that, you’ll have to prepare lots of territories.”

Sui Xiong sighed. Where could he find territory?

Wall immediately supported his own boss and said, “Your Majesty, I think you have done the right thing. What’s wrong with reading more? There aren’t suitable jobs for them currently. But at least when there are opportunities in the future, it will be easier for them to grasp than other people!

“I remember that your Majesty once said, ‘Every drop of sweat will not be wasted’. The time and effort they have devoted to learning will not be wasted!”

Sui Xiong nodded slightly, but he was still worried.

That was true, but if they couldn’t provide intellectuals with suitable jobs, it would be meaningless to promote education.

The fundamental reason he wanted to promote education was that he hoped to enhance the wisdom and insight of people in this world, to change lives and destinies with the power of knowledge. Only by enriching people’s minds could they pursue social progress more actively and promote the development of the world in a better direction.

He had never talked about these ideas with others because he preferred to make achievements first. But now it seemed that would not be so easy.

At that time the Silent Knight Ink, who had been drinking silently, suddenly opened his mouth and proposed an idea. “Why not change it to a combat school? Teach people some fighting skills, basic words, and arithmetic, so that they can grow up to be good adventurers.”

Sui Xiong was surprised at that and thought about it carefully.

As Ink said, the reason school graduates couldn’t find suitable jobs was that they were just scholars. People always said that scholars and literacy were useless.

But if they combined knowledge with martial arts, they could become high-quality adventurers who perhaps were more able to promote progress in the world.

“It does make sense-”

“No!” Yorgaardman interrupted. “The cost of training adventurers is too high. Firstly, soldiers need more and better food than ordinary people. Secondly, they need a lot of weapons and resources. That will lead to a sharp increase in school costs.”

“Money is not a problem. I have money,” Sui Xiong said with a smile.

“Money is a big problem!” Yorgaardman said. “If a school can only be sustained by the support of the church or even a God, it should only cultivate its followers and its soldiers. You are not cultivating a regiment of knights that are loyal to you. When you make the enrollment, you never asked about their faith. And I remember there were no theological courses in your school. As the God of Justice. I can’t agree to pay for others. This is indeed kind, but it is unjust!”

Sui Xiong was speechless, went silent for a while, and sighed.

“For the time being, let me pay for them. We can at least make it happen.”

“It’s not right!” Yorgaardman advised. “After being at your school for three years or more, a man acquires skills and then just leaves. I admit, he will be thankful to you in his heart, and may even become your follower, but as long as he doesn’t confirm his faith, you will be the only party that is offering money and support. Bro, even the God of Mercy and the God of Relief only rescue people who are in danger. It’s wrong for you to do something that hurts your own interest and benefits others.”

“What’s wrong with the strong ones making a contribution to society?” Sui Xiong asked back.

“Of course, there is nothing wrong with that. But people should not take others’ contributions for granted,” Yorgaardman emphasized.

Watching them argue, Morani advised, “It’s better to educate the Regiment of Knights of the church, since the Church of Void Mask needs a strong military force anyway.”

Sui Xiong shook his head. “It has nothing to do with the Knights. I set up schools for people to learn, not to let them pay me with their lives. Of course, I need my loyal Knights, but that should be based on ideas and faith. It should not be built to threaten and brainwash!”

For a while, the atmosphere of discussion was somewhat stiff.

Javier made a compromise. “How about training chefs? They can learn how to cook while learning how to read. After graduation, they can work at restaurants or become the home chefs of aristocratic families in different cities.”

Sui Xiong was quite impressed by that. It struck like lightning in his mind.

Memories of previous generations came to his mind, such as the advertisement “The best school to learn how to drive an excavator: Shandong Lanxiang Senior Technical School” or “Want to be a chef? Come to the New East Cuisine School.” These ideas flashed through his head like a lantern.

“Come on! Why didn’t I think of that earlier!” he could not help but laugh. “I have an idea!”

“What is it?” Everyone asked curiously.

“I’m going to set up a technical school,” Sui Xiong laughed proudly. “After learning technology, I will assign them to different positions. I’m going to build the world’s largest training center for technical talents!”