Thrown Into A New World: Let The Punishment Begin!

Chapter 368 - Our Sign Of Gratitude To The King

When the news of the departure of the Opera group headed by Mr. Asher reached the people of the town of Baskin, they felt reluctant but could do nothing else.

Hilda was present as the numerous carriages headed in the direction towards the borders of their town and waved until she could not see them any longer.

Mr. Thomas patted her head as he could understand that she must have gotten attached to the people who stayed with them for a few days.

'She is always disheartened when they leave…' He shook his head and brought her inside once they were out of sight.

The Cozy Inn returned to its usual silence with the departure of this large group of people who had livened up the place until recently.

This was the life of people who ran this inn, to welcome and bid goodbye to people on a frequent basis.

But the young girl was nonetheless gloomy when she found that people left after staying with them for a while.

While Hilda was sulking about losing friends once again, the Town elder had summoned everyone to be present for the meeting that would be held tomorrow evening.

Though this was nothing new, the meetings that the Town elder conducted were only a few times a year for matters which were held in high regard.

This time, the people were curious to know whether their fief lord, Viscount Lumex had some important instructions to give to them.

Everyone in the town was asked to gather which included the women and children too.

Therefore, when the time of the meeting arrived, not one resident of the Town was absent.

The Town elder nodded when he saw that everyone had arrived at the given time and he did not waste time in small talk.

Standing on a higher level which was present at one side of the Town circle, he scanned his surroundings and found that everyone's eyes were on him.

"As I believe that almost everyone had come to watch the show, you must have learned something from it." He began his speech.

He had received an important letter from Viscount Lumex the day that the Opera group had left which was when he sent out the summon for this meeting.

Today's meeting was about what the people had watched and matters related to it.

"The ones who had not watched it should have heard about it from the others." He speculated and saw a few heads nodding among the people.

"This meeting is to announce that everything that the actor playing the physician had said was true." He revealed the reason for this meeting.

Some gasps were heard while most of them had already believed what they had watched last night.

"Everything we learned from the show was what the Royal Medical Association has prescribed." He continued which widened people's eyes.

To get a consultation from this group of highly regarded physicians was something that commoners could only dream about.

Especially if one did not stay close to the Hospitals set up by the King then the chances of meeting them were very low.

Therefore, hearing that they had learned something that was recommended by such brilliant physicians was baffling to them.

"Our Lord, Viscount Lumex has also ordered that these new methods should be adopted by every individual as our sign of gratitude to the King for sharing this play with us all." He disclosed the instructions he had received from their Fief Lord.

The residents of the Town were not affected by this order as they had already decided to follow what they had learned from the play.

The information they heard about the Royal Medical Association's role in these teachings only increased their conviction to follow them.

Now that even their Lord had instructed them to do so, they would surely not let him down.

Therefore, every head in this Town circle was seen nodding in acceptance of the instructions given to them.

The Town elder then adjourned the meeting when the instructions were received without anyone objecting to it.

He would have to report to their Lord in the form of a letter, informing him about the obedient and quick acceptance of the town's people.

Everyone returned to their homes that evening with renewed enthusiasm as they would not be ungrateful towards their King for what he had given to them.

They would cherish the lessons they had learned and strive to lead healthier lives and improve their living conditions.

Hilda and her parents too would do the same to not let anyone down.

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When the Viscount received this letter from the elder that he had appointed as the representative of Baskin, he was pleased with the results as everything was according to what needed to be done.

Looking at his aide, the Viscount who was in his mid-thirties commanded him on what to do.

"Send the crate of soap we had acquired to Baskin as an initiation present from us." He ordered and received an immediate nod from the man standing next to him.

'This way, they won't be hesitant and might get into the habit of following those steps faster.' Viscount pondered as his aide left the room to fulfill his orders.

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The fief of Lumex and the town of Baskin weren't the only ones who were given the 'gift' of the play by their King.

In truth, four such groups had been ordered by King Ophire to spread the word about these steps suggested by the St. Claire girl and the Royal Medical Association.

One for each direction in their Kingdom.

Just like Mr. Asher, each of these groups was given a Town crier who would accompany them and manage them along their journey.

Their purpose for the next few months was to travel the land and make sure that every town was visited and the same play was repeated until everyone was aware of these tips to lead healthy lives.

Under the King's orders, these four groups had set out and Mr. Asher's group was sent to the Southern part of Rosenhyde.

These groups had been doing their duties diligently by teaching the commoner citizens through the means of their play.

In the next few months, the entire Kingdom would learn these methods and be able to ward off common illnesses which would have persisted due to their lack of knowledge.

Though, there would soon be troubles to follow these instructions given by the Royal Medical Association.

The biggest would be the cost of soap which was high due to many reasons.

The main reason would be that it was made in the North and transporting it to the Southern parts was too time-consuming and cost-inefficient.

Therefore, soap was considered a commodity with high cost due to its high demand yet low availability.

The only way for the citizens in other parts of the Kingdom to get their hands on soap was through the traveling caravans that visited them once in a while to do business with them.

Only through these businessmen could the citizens buy small quantities of soap which was already a luxury for them.

This was also a reason why the people usually just dipped their hands in water instead of washing them with soap each time.

They reserved the usage of soap only for their bathing sessions to rinse their body of the dirt that accumulated throughout the day.

Now that they were instructed to use soap to wash their hands frequently for the sake of their health, how would the commoners manage to do so?

The unavailability of soap on a regular basis, the high cost they had to pay for a small quantity of soap sold by the traveling caravans, and the fact that they needed to use these soaps each day would surely pose a problem in the future.

Viscount Lumex had been generous enough to send a crate of soap which would be enough for every family to obtain their first entire bar of soap instead of the small pieces they bought from the caravans.

However, this would only last them a few months based on how they used it and how big the family was.

Something would have to be done when they run out of this soap and have to purchase new ones.

This thought was what troubled the Viscount as he pondered on how to solve the crisis that would arise in the future without fail.

The other fiefs would experience this problem ahead of them as not every fief lord was as generous as Viscount Lumex to give away soap freely to his people.

So a solution needed to be thought of at the earliest so that they might provide soap to their citizens to ensure that everyone could follow the instructions of their King.