Translator: Cinder Translations
...
"Thank you, sir."
Kevin expressed his gratitude to the man dressed as a merchant in front of him, pulling out a handful of copper coins from his pocket. "It's been a long journey; please accept this small token."
"It's no trouble at all! I'm merely delivering a letter along the way; how could I take your money? We're all from the Northwest Bay, and we should help each other in a foreign land."
The merchant dressed man repeatedly declined, but ultimately couldn't refuse Kevin, accepting the coins.
After the man took his leave, Kevin watched his retreating figure and sarcastically thought; Maybe he truly looks down on these copper coins.
From previous introductions, Kevin learned that this man had come to the capital of Gabella to sell porcelain.
That was an extremely profitable trade!
Porcelain from Kevin's hometown—the Kingdom of Aldor's Northwest Bay—had recently become a sensation among the upper class in Gabella.
Nobles and wealthy individuals adored this exquisite novelty, rushing to purchase it to adorn their homes.
Initially, porcelain was brought to Gabella by merchants from the Horns Bay through re-export trade, but as overseas trade from the Northwest Bay flourished and shipbuilding industries thrived, many Aldor merchants began to bring their porcelain directly to Gabella.
Besides traveling south by sea and then heading east around the Horns Bay to reach Gabella, some merchants took the inland corridor through northeastern Aldor, driving camels across the vast desert to do business in northern Gabella. However, due to the convenience of maritime transport, the majority still preferred the sea route.
The letter Kevin received today was brought by one of these Aldor, sea merchants.
Of course, the merchants carried more than just porcelain; they also brought many other goods, such as beautifully printed books, bundles of lightweight paper, inexpensive iron tools, and unbelievably cheap fabrics, all of which were very popular.
Kevin's lord must have made a fortune from this trade, given that these new commodities were all related to him, especially the method of making porcelain, which was unique to him in the world. Even after the patent laws were enacted, he had never disclosed the process publicly.
In Kevin's mind, he pictured Paul Grayman bathing in gold coins like a nouveau riche.
Although a considerable amount of time had passed since the Salt Village uprising and he had received a pardon from Paul, Kevin still harbored some resentment towards his lord.
Carefully holding the letter from home, Paul returned to his room, treating it like a precious treasure as he opened the envelope.
It truly was valuable; the journey from the Northwest Bay to Gabella could take several months by sea, during which anything could happen.
Upon opening it, he found two sheets of letter paper. Oh, it seems my parents have a lot to say.
However, he quickly realized that they were written by two different people.
From the signature and writing style, it was easy to identify that the neat handwriting came from a child of Kevin's neighbor, while the scrawled one was from his father.
To promote the cultural and educational endeavors of the entire territory, Lord Grayman began to advocate for the advanced educational experiences being implemented in Alden Town to other places. Schools were being established in various locations under the control of the Government Affairs Council.
The educational initiatives aimed at both children and adults. To avoid disrupting production, classes for adults were primarily scheduled at night and referred to as "night school." Although the night schools only taught literacy and simple arithmetic, Kevin felt that it already greatly benefited the locals. For example, the letter he was holding was evidence of that.
A year ago, his parents could barely read a few characters, and each time they wrote to him, they had to trouble the neighbor's child—who was also the author of the other letter in the envelope—because that child was receiving a more formal education at the school established by the lord. Now, his father could actually pick up a pen to write to him, albeit with crooked letters and many spelling errors.
This was one aspect of Lord Grayman that Kevin admired. Unlike other lords in the Northwest Bay or even in the entire Kingdom of Aldor, who believed their subjects were inherently stupid—or even better off being so—he educated and enlightened them, even going so far as to encourage them to abandon ignorance.
With excitement, Kevin unfolded the letter from his father, and predictably, it was filled with the family's longing for him. Despite the rough writing style and the straightforward language, it still brought tears to Kevin's eyes.
After reading his parents' letter several times, Kevin finally opened the letter from the neighbor's child.
The writer was a little fellow named Hicks... Oh, perhaps "little fellow" was no longer an appropriate term for him since he was only two years younger than Kevin and had always followed him around as a child.
While receiving guidance from Mond, Kevin had always shared what he learned with Hicks, which helped reinforce his own understanding while satisfying his desire to share knowledge.
This laid a solid foundation for Hicks, and he consistently ranked among the top students at the school established by the lord, so Hicks was grateful to Kevin. Whenever he wrote on behalf of Kevin's parents, he would include long passages of his own thoughts.
Now that Kevin's parents could write their own letters, Hicks still took the initiative to write a letter to include with the envelope.
After a warm greeting in the opening paragraph, the latter half of the letter piqued Kevin's interest.
"Dear Brother Kevin, just as you requested, I can't wait to share with you the developments in our hometown during this time."
...
"As I mentioned in my last letter, the Government Affairs Council continues to implement a series of measures to develop the territory's economy and enhance the construction of town facilities and roads: renovating mills, improving water supply, and increasing mineral and metal production. In addition to the earl's inventions, the yields of traditional products, such as red wine, flax, and cotton, are also rapidly increasing."
"The various changes have attracted a large influx of outsiders to settle under the earl's rule, including many who have migrated from Horns Bay. Among them are numerous scholars, including engineers, naturalists, alchemists… Oh, I should now refer to them as chemists, and there are even medical dissidents who are clamoring to perform dissections on corpses..."
"The earl has spent a large sum of money to recruit and accommodate these individuals, and in recent years, he seems particularly interested in chemistry (alchemy). He has organized his chemists to compile numerous textbooks and established related courses in various schools."
"People in the schools take every step of the chemistry experiments seriously, diligently observing the various liquids, planting, sourcing materials, mixing solvents, and trying out different substances. To provide enough experimental equipment, even a specialized industry has emerged, seemingly involving all the men and women in the territory."
"Under the earl's leadership, researchers agree that nature is specific, which is reflected in experiments and observations, rather than abstract knowledge."
Upon reaching this point, Kevin felt a jolt in his heart.
"Connections have developed between various disciplines, such as between chemistry and medicine. The medical reformer Wells from Horns Bay has garnered a large number of followers, which has directly facilitated the flourishing of pharmaceutical chemistry. They have begun to seek guidance from butchers, fishmongers, spice merchants, jewelers, or dyers, learning their respective skills and even incorporating burned ochre clay into medicines."
"The process of making medicine requires hands-on involvement and engages all the human senses. The materials include various natural substances, and at times, personal elements like urine can be added at one's discretion. The entire process of making medicine necessitates personal participation, attempting to add a wide variety of natural substances, and some formulas may even be derived from humans, like the previously mentioned urine."
(End of the Chapter)
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