Time had flown — ten full years had passed.
Today Count Kemis, Baron Feilim, and
What struck Lorist as strange was that he had previously handed over the production processes and material formulas for green glass and oil glass to Dean Levins, instructing him to put them up for auction — a move that had also ignited a glass war between the commercial alliance and the Kingdom of Tulinbo. He remembered reading in the papers that the auction had been a tremendous success, with both formulas and production techniques selling for hefty sums. Dawn Academy should have taken in a considerable fortune. So why did everything before him now look exactly the same as it had ten years ago? Not a single new change…
It was only then that Lorist realized the academy, which he remembered as bustling and vibrant, was now utterly deserted. He could hardly spot any students wearing academy uniforms or bearing academy badges, and the few shadowy figures he occasionally glimpsed hurried past without a word. The sprawling academy grounds looked profoundly desolate and forlorn…
The blue-grey tower had grown weathered with the passing years as well. Though still structurally intact, it gave Lorist the impression that it could topple at any moment.
Dean Levins was visibly surprised by Lorist's visit. The old man, well past seventy, had age spots mottling his face, and his health had clearly deteriorated. It was only July, and the weather was already sweltering — Lorist wore nothing but a single long-sleeved undershirt, yet Dean Levins sat in a reclining chair bundled in a fine wool-woven blanket.
"Young Locke, I never imagined you'd come to see me again…" Dean Levins tugged laboriously at a bell pull beside him. It took a long while before a portly maidservant appeared. The dean instructed her to boil water and then fetch Great Swordmaster Klude.
"No need for formalities, old dean. How did your health decline so suddenly? Just two years ago you still seemed perfectly vigorous…" Lorist said.
"One grows old and becomes useless. I suppose it's nearly time for me to return to Sigwa's heaven." Dean Levins smiled with self-deprecating humor. "Young Locke, you probably never expected this — Dawn Academy is going to be shut down too…"
"What did you say?" Lorist was taken aback. "Dean, what's going on? Is the academy short of money? If that's the reason, I can sponsor the academy to get through the crisis..."
"Short of money... heh heh, Dawn Academy has plenty of money. It's never had so many gold Forde — the underground vaults are practically bursting." The old dean chuckled, his laughter laced with regret and helplessness. "Young Locke, you probably never expected this. Those two glassmaking processes and formulas you gave us let the academy earn nearly two million gold Forde. We even drew up a ten-year development plan, brimming with ambition to turn Dawn Academy into one of the top three schools in the Morant City academy district.
But a glass war, a reform of the knighthood system — they brought consequences that no academy could have foreseen. The Forde Commercial Alliance used to be the link binding dozens of surrounding nations together. We welcomed visitors from every direction with open arms, with freedom and peace. The Morant City academy district was a promised land for countless scholars.
Now a glass war and a knighthood reform have destroyed all of it. It's a regression in history, a violation of the wishes of Grand Duke Forde, the Alliance's founder. It has once again divided the Alliance's people into rigid classes of rank, and once again created a noble class within the Commercial Alliance.
Now the Alliance has surged to become the largest nation on the Galentea Continent by land area, surpassing even the old Krisen Empire. Even the people of Morant City have started puffing up with pride at being citizens of the foremost great nation. But they have no idea what they've lost!
The old Alliance had friends everywhere. Our trade routes reached every nation on the continent, and every country welcomed our merchants with smiling faces, admiring our glorious hundred-year history of resisting the old Krisen Empire. And now? We've become the new Krisen Empire, reaching out with dirty hands toward the very neighbors who once helped us! A world of friends has become a world of enemies. Trade routes are severed, and the allies of yesterday guard against us like mortal foes!
Last month in the Alliance Parliament, some fool was clamoring to massively expand the Alliance's military forces, to crush with our invincible, mighty Alliance army every nation that dares block our trade routes. If gold coins won't work, he said, then we'll speak with our fists! And that fool's speech actually drew applause and cheers from even more fools...
This is what happens when merchants run a country. They're short-sighted, seeing nothing but profit with not a shred of moral restraint. Even if they drape themselves in the fine garments of nobility, their bones still reek of rotting vultures. All they see is the glint of gold coins. They actually believe the Commercial Alliance has become the foremost power of the continent, never stopping to consider that this is a race to the bottom — they simply haven't rotted as fast as the rest yet!
*Ahem, ahem, ahem...* Perhaps from working himself into such a state of agitation, Dean Levins suddenly broke into a violent fit of coughing.
Lorist hurried forward to support him, gently patting the old dean's back.
Lorist thought for a moment and said, "I remember Shrade once told me that the academy had over nine thousand students on its rolls."
"That's right. There were so many students back then, chattering away all day long, enough to give anyone a headache. Those were the beautiful days..." Dean Levins closed his eyes, as if reminiscing about the old times.
After a while, all Lorist heard was the dean's soft, wistful sigh: "Little Locke, did you know? Last year our academy only had a little over fourteen hundred students on the rolls, and the new intake was just seventy-four..."
"What? That's impossible!" Lorist blurted out. Dawn Academy was, no matter how you looked at it, one of the top eight academies on the Galentea Continent. How could it possibly have so few incoming students?
"I forgot to mention one thing — all seventy-four of those new students were citizens of the Commercial Alliance, and more than half of them were from Morant City. Also, the top three academies combined only enrolled three hundred and twenty-five new students last year. Our Dawn Academy actually did relatively well by comparison. Remember Saint Maso Academy? They only had eight incoming students last year..."
"Are you saying...?" Lorist suddenly began to understand.
"Last year, four of the twenty-seven academies in Morant City's academy district shut down. Another eleven closed this May. And by next year, our Dawn Academy will have to close as well... Sigh..." Dean Levins sighed heavily and sat back down.
"The student pool has dried up..." Lorist murmured.
"That's right. No more students. If nobody's coming to study, what's the point of keeping so many academies open? At this year's Academy Friendship Society meeting, there was a proposal to keep only the top three academies and consolidate all students from the other schools into those three. So whether our Dawn Academy has the funds to keep going or not, it will definitely close next year. What's the use of running an academy with no students..." Dean Levins gave a bitter smile.
Lorist understood now. The reason Morant City's academy district was famous across the entire Galentea Continent was its policy of universal education — students from any country could enroll as long as they met the entry requirements. Those who couldn't even afford tuition could work in Morant City for two years to save up before continuing their studies through to graduation. Of the twenty-seven academies, students from the Commercial Alliance made up less than ten percent. The vast majority came from countries across the continent, and while they were mostly young nobles and members of the wealthy class, there was no shortage of ambitious free citizens working their way through school. It was precisely their presence that had built the prosperity of Morant City's academy district and earned it its worldwide reputation as a hallowed ground for learning.
"A glass war, a reform of the baronetcy system — and it made the Commercial Alliance the greatest power on Galentea? Bullshit. All I know is it destroyed the academy district, destroyed twenty-four academies! No one comes to study anymore. Trade routes are severed, credibility is lost, no one is willing to come to Morant City to study anymore. The students we educated from every nation now regard the Commercial Alliance as their enemy.
Do you know, young Lorist, when the Commercial Alliance's armies swept through seven nations and seized their territories, the residents of Morant City paraded through the streets in jubilant celebration of victory, while students from those seven nations wept bitterly — and students from yet other nations were packing their bags, preparing to leave the academies, leave the Commercial Alliance…"
"The war was won, and every participant reaped their dividends. The Commercial Alliance held a grand triumphal ceremony and began lavishly granting baronetcies and fiefdoms. No one realized that in that moment, the Commercial Alliance had already placed itself in opposition to every neighboring country. Not a single nation would ever regard the Alliance as an ally again. They would unite, just as they had once guarded against the Krisen Empire, to guard against the Commercial Alliance.
I refused the baronetcy and the fiefdom in the Christo Hills that the Alliance Parliament offered me. My greatest dream in life was to build Dawn Academy into greatness — to make it one of the most renowned academies on the continent. Now my dream has been destroyed. So what use would a title and land be to me…" Dean Levins muttered to himself.
"Dean, it's my fault. I shouldn't have handed those two letters to you for auction. If I hadn't, the glass war would never have happened, and none of these consequences would have come to pass. I destroyed Dawn Academy…" Lorist felt genuinely guilty now. There was nothing more cruel than destroying the dream an old man had devoted his entire life to, right before his eyes.
At the time, all he'd intended when he handed over those two letters detailing the glass-making process and formula was to stir up friction between the Commercial Alliance and the Trinberg Kingdom — to divert the Alliance's attention away from its fixation on the former Krisen Empire's territories, and incidentally relieve some of the pressure on his own family's domain on the Shirouas Islands. After all, dealing with the Chick Trading Company alone was far easier than dealing with the entire Commercial Alliance.
He never imagined that those two letters about glass production would trigger such an enormous upheaval, ultimately leading to a full-scale glass war between the Commercial Alliance and the Trinberg Kingdom. Though the bulk of the blame lay with Trinberg VII's idiocy — turning a dispute that could have been resolved through negotiation into a devastating war that annihilated seven nations — the consequences had far exceeded even Lorist's most extravagant projections. The current state and fate of Dawn Academy was collateral damage from a plan gone horribly wrong.
"It's not your fault." Old Dean Levins shook his head. "You meant well — you wanted to secure some funding for Dawn Academy so it could grow. But events spiraled beyond anyone's expectations. No one anticipated the Trinberg Kingdom would resort to such extreme measures, pushing the situation beyond our control. And with the Commercial Alliance eager to implement the baronetcy system yet starved for fiefdoms to distribute, certain people pushed things along until this was the result. This isn't your responsibility. You needn't carry this guilt."
Lorist returned to his desk and poured the old dean another cup of Maxis from the kettle of boiling water. He still remembered the old man's preference — plain, with no milk or sugar.
A knock came at the door, and Great Swordmaster Klude pushed it open and stepped inside.
"Oh? Locke, when did you get here?"
"Just a little while ago. I chatted with the Dean for a bit and talked about Dawn Academy's current situation."
"You know about everything?"
Lorist nodded. "Instructor Klude, how many people are still at the academy right now? And what plans do you and Instructor Anfeiya have?"
Instructor Klude let out a deep sigh. "What plans could we have? Neither Anfeiya nor I want to leave Dawn Academy. The old Dean has no children — we have to take good care of him. Even if Dawn Academy shuts down next year, we'll stay right here. Maybe someday in the future, Dawn Academy can open its doors again. Most of the instructors have already left. There are only about ten of us remaining, still teaching two graduating classes. Once they graduate, Dawn Academy won't have a single student left."
Lorist thought for a moment, then looked at Dean Levins. "Dean, have you ever heard this saying: 'Trees die when moved, but people thrive when they relocate'? If Morant City's academy district can't support Dawn Academy's operations, why not find somewhere else? Set up a new Dawn Academy in another country?"
Great Swordmaster Klude laughed. "Locke, it's not that simple. It's not like we haven't thought of this. None of the surrounding countries are willing to let academies from Morant City set up operations in their territories. Saint Maso Academy humbly approached every single neighboring country, and the answer was always a flat refusal. Establishing an academy isn't just talk — it requires land, buildings, funding allocations, and substantial sponsorship fees every year afterward. Those small countries can't afford it, and they have no desire to take on that kind of burden."
"Then would you be willing to go far away to the Northland? Set up the academy in my family's territory. I can relocate Dawn Academy as a whole — the land, the buildings, the funding, none of that would be your responsibility. Our
"Haha, young Locke, this isn't your concern. Don't carry the weight of Dawn Academy's closure or feel you need to compensate us." Dean Levins shook his head with a smile. "The Northland is remote and sparsely populated. How many students could an academy there possibly attract? You'd only be adding a burden to your family. Let's not."
Lorist laughed. "Dean, you underestimate the Northland and the Norton Family. Our family's territory alone has a population of over 1.2 million, and they all live quite well — very comfortably, in fact. We already have a Nico Academy within our territory, founded by the daughter of Dame Nico, the renowned female scholar of the former Krisen Empire. However, the Nico Academy follows the God of Knowledge and Wisdom, Simlaide. They don't take many students and their standards are quite strict, so our territory is still very much in need of a comprehensive academy. If Dawn Academy is willing to relocate there, I'm confident there will be tremendous potential for growth.
As for the funding, there's no need to worry about that either. You should know that last year our family waged a campaign against the Haneabada Kingdom and destroyed that evil slave kingdom. The spoils we took are more than enough to develop our family's territory for over twenty years to come. Setting aside a portion of funds each year to sponsor the academy won't be a problem at all. Perhaps in the first few years there will only be a few hundred students, but I believe that over time, Dawn Academy will surely flourish there.
"Of course, my words alone don't count for much. How about this — when I head back, you can send some people along with me to see the territory for yourselves. The round trip by ship is only a little over two months. What do you think?"
Dean Levins and Great Swordmaster Kurud exchanged a glance, then nodded. "Young Locke, since you put it that way, just let us know when you're heading back. We'll send people to take a look. Thank you."
"Don't mention it, Dean. I've always been a part of Dawn Academy."
……(To be continued.)