After the first day of the tournament was over, Aldred told his students about some tricks and refined their technique for a few minutes before he told them to go home and rest.
The rest of the audience was going home either. Most of them smiled and congratulated him.
Aldred saw the host walk by and he decided to ask something.
“How can I help you?” the host asked.
“I am a new teacher here so I would like to ask you a question.”
“Haha, that is fine. Ask away.”
“Why did people discriminate the Class F so much? The students here have rich parents, don’t they?”
The host laughed. “I think you should ask the headmaster directly about that.” He tapped Aldred on the shoulder a few times and walked away.
“Why so mysterious?”
“What happened, Aldred?” Kiara asked.
“Nothing. I am just wondering why Class F is so discriminated against. Anyway, I want to know how much profit I got from the food stalls and the betting avenue. Where is Bartrem?”
“He’s over there.”
Aldred walked to Bartrem and asked him about the profit.
“We got a lot today.”
“Don’t do that to me. Tell me the exact number.”
Bartrem smiled. “Mary, would you like to tell him the number?”
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt“Sure.”
“Why are you guys so dramatic?”
Mary chuckled. She took a deep breath and looked Aldred in the eye. “We got 235 billion in total.”
Aldred widened his eyes. “Wow! So much money!”
“We’re rich now!” Mary raised her fist.
Mareona and the other women also cheered. “We’re rich!”
They all cheered and jumped around in excitement except Zafrina. She was calm all the time.
“Are you not happy?” Mareona asked.
“I am happy for you guys.”
“Doesn’t the word 235 billion interest you?”
“I am the daughter of a Count.”
Mareona laughed. “I almost forgot that you’re a noble. Your father must have earned 235 billion per day or something, right?”
“Per day?” Zafrina shook her head. “Per second.”
Their jaws all dropped to the floor at this moment.
“Why are we even gathering money at this point? We can just ask Zafrina for money instead,” Mareona said.
“That’s not good,” Aldred said. “Just because she has a lot of money, doesn’t mean it’s okay for us to ask her.”
“She literally earned more than 200 billion gold coins per second!” Mareona shouted. “Let me repeat that for you: PER SECOND!”
“We cannot do that. Even if she earns that much money per second, we shouldn’t ask even for a single penny.”
“Why?” Mareona asked.
“What would her father think of us if we do that? Instead of asking like a beggar, we should try to match their income and help her father in the future.”
“Aldred is right,” Mira said. “We shouldn’t beg for money.”
“Does your religion have anything to do with money, Mira?” Mareona asked.
“There is some guidance in the bible which said that no one should beg and strive to be self-sufficient instead.”
“But your bible also said to always give the excess, right?” Mary asked.
Mira nodded. “The bible told people to give away their surfeit resources. This applies mostly to the riches.”
“So the riches donate money, and the poor avoid begging?” Aldred asked.
“That is correct. A lot of times, when rich people are very generous, the poor ones stop working and only want to beg on the street. This left a lot of jobs are being vacant, and the nation will stop growing. Ever since the pope added another guidance, the people become more proactive in working, and the money of the riches can be allocated to more useful activities.”
“Like what?”
“Like funding the search and rescue for the victims of war, rebuilding destroyed villages, and feeding thousands of people who lost their homes.”
“Oh… that’s the dark side of war.”
Mira smiled. “I understand the Ceraisian folk has a different perspective about war. You view it as bravery, honor, conquest, and pride, so I can’t really blame the Ceraisian for their culture that shaped you.”
“That is correct,” Mary said. “We do view it as an honor. Soldiers all over the Ceraisian Empire are respected and admired by society no matter what rank they are. For them, whoever is brave enough to risk their lives out on the battlefield, they deserve respect.”
Aldred and the ladies talked about some random things before they decided to leave the school.
“Where are we going now?” Kiara asked as she hugged Aldred’s arm.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm“Why don’t we check out the shipyard?” Aldred asked. “I want to know how much progress Tulban made.”
“Sure. We got nothing else to do anyway,” Mary said.
They all walked through the city and stopped a bunch of times along the way to buy some sweets for Krista.
When they arrived at the shipyard, Krista was pointing at the docked ships while she was hopping on Aldred’s shoulder.
“So big!” Krista stared at the ships with wonder.
Aldred giggled and looked at his ladies. “That’s what you guys always said to me at night.”
The ladies all blushed and hid their faces.
When they arrived at Tulban’s office, he guided them to the dock.
“Your ships are halfway done, and I have stored the extra ships that the nobles and wealthy merchants gave you. You really did it for yourselves. They gave you a lot of ships, did you know that?”
“How many do I have in total?”
“If things go well, you will have 19 cruisers, 22 destroyers, 16 frigates, 15 submarines, 4 cargo ships, and 30 speedboats. That’s 72 main battle vessels with a bunch of auxiliaries.”
“So many ships!”
“For a short time sea-goers like you, it’s a sufficient fleet.”
“How many ships does a nation bring when they go to war?” Aldred asked.
“Hundreds if not thousands. The naval battle is ruthless and gory. If your ship is wrecked in the middle of the ocean, there’s nothing you can do about it except slowly sink and then get eaten by monsters.”
“What about lifeboats?”
“Lifeboats? Are you kidding me? The monsters will eat you before any ships could arrive. The moment you touch water, a monster will detect you and eat you whole.”
“The sea is very violent and wild, huh…”
“It is.”