The Hestanar knights have all left the castle after their morning training. They all went to fulfil the posts. Some knights went to complete their city patrol duty. Others went towards the high city wall to act as lookouts. While the rest went towards specific locations in the city to act as an upholder of law and justice.
Kent was satisfied with the knight's enthusiasm. But right now, he has another matter to take care of. Sebastian approached Kent when all the knights dispersed from the great hall.
But with each step he took, the butler had self-doubts. Perhaps questioning whether the master he was serving was the one he knew all along. To see this phenomenal change, was too much for him to accept.
To see his master thundering the knights and commanding their dearest respect. The way Kent behaved went against everything he knew. Was he still the same person?
Finally, the old butler arrived by Kent's side. "Milord, the men that are to carry out your… task have already left."
Kent nodded. It was excellent that his fertilizer project is underway immediately. The Upper Plain would bear crops before long. Kent also wanted to check out the progress. "Deryk, would you mind joining me?"
"Yes, Lord." The commander replied in his low tone.
Lord Kent and Commander Deryk made their way to the Upper Plain. Upon arriving the two men witnessed much more citizens working on the field since last time. Kent walked closer to observe the people working.
A group of men were diligently working on the field, going from one row to the other in an orderly fashion. About 100 men were working in an organised fashion. Around half of them were busy collecting and mixing materials such as dead grass, branches, food scraps, and animal feces in buckets. The other half was busy ploughing the fields with pitchforks and axes for the organic materials to be applied.
"Lord, why are they doing that to the farms!?" Deryk asked curiously.
Kent couldn't fault him for not understanding the basic theory behind composting. He briefly explained to Deryk, "The materials that are poured into the soil is full of nutrients that feed the soil. It's because the soil hasn't eaten anything that it couldn't produce any food."
"The soil needs to eat?" Deryk looked at the madman next to him.
"Well, that's just a simple way to explain it. I could teach you the exact science, but right now, it would be too hard to understand." Kent explained patiently.
With the knowledge, he understood from his past life. Composting is just something ordinary. Anyone from modern-day Earth understood the theory. It was a pity this world hasn't understood this yet.
"My knowledge is incomparable to you, milord. I have been a fighter all my life so I wouldn't know, but would you teach me? I am willing to learn." Deryk asked determinedly.
Kent was slightly taken aback by his commander's desire to learn. All the knights that served under Deryk knew their commander is extremely aloof and often difficult to have small talks with.
"Then Deryk. You say fighting has been all your life, is that the same for the other knights?" Kent asked.
"Most knights are just farmers that are lucky enough to be hired as a knight. I was a farmer too. Learning is a privilege." Deryk revealed.
"Hm, that certainly is a concern." Kent contemplated, staring off at the vast peaceful fields.
In Kent's mind, he would sooner or later slowly bring modern knowledge and impart it to the people here. Farmers, craftsmen, knights would need to be knowledgeable in their specialized fields. Kent even wanted the farmers to drop farming completely in the future to do industrial jobs.
But imparting this much knowledge to everyone in Hestanar couldn't be done overnight. Bringing up the city's education level could only be done gradually.
Starting with the young children would be a great place to begin. Of course, if adults wanted to learn from Kent, he would welcome them with open arms. There was no shame in learning no matter how old people were.
"What if I opened a school?" Kent asked for Deryk's opinion.
"Milord, is what you say true? You would really allow people like us to learn?!" Deryk gasped at this news.
Kent nodded. "It is necessary for everyone to learn how to read, write and speak. Restricting knowledge to only a selected few is ridiculous. I hope that in my city, even the lowliest of slaves can read."
"Even slaves…" Deryk could only open his mouth and imagine what would a future like that be like. A city where even the most worthless is literate. That was unheard of for a knight like him. He only has unending admiration for his Lord's bold vision.
The lord and the knight took a stroll on the farm path to look over the farmers' work
As they progress, Kent paid special attention to the farmers that worked on the land. He was happy with the efforts made to revitalise the soil in the Upper Plain. Sebastian has done an excellent job in organising the project in a short amount of time.
However, what drew Kent's attention was the workers' shabby clothes and poor farming tools. He was worried about it as the workers' poor equipment clearly hindered their ability to do their job.
Kent made sure to take note of that. In the future, he would also ensure the quality of the scythes, pitchforks, shovels, and pickaxes were of good quality to improve the workers' efficiency.
But from that point, Kent realised that to improve the worker's equipment. The production processes, techniques, and materials must be improved. But for that to improve, better machinery and tools must be invented to aid the craftsman in their creation. And to invent these types of machinery, the inventor's knowledge must improve to create these machineries for craftsmen to use.
Progressing society is a roundabout process; everything hangs on a simple condition on whether the people are educated and specialized in specific fields. It hangs on the human brain's ingenuity to innovate in their selected fields. That is what propelled human beings to the top of the food chain.
"Innovation is the pillar of human evolution." – SaltyPineapple