Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord

Old Ivan had been troubled again lately.

Yesterday, Chief Scribe had once again sent people to knock on doors, notifying every household.

It was still about school. Apparently, they were introducing several new courses called ”advanced” something.

There were many names, but he hadn’t remembered them all. The only thing he recalled was that these courses had to be attended during the day.

The night school only offered literacy and general knowledge classes. If one wanted to advance, they had to attend school during the day as well.

There was no doubt that Gaia wanted to take these courses. She excelled in literacy class, and even Miss Zoe had praised her for learning quickly.

But if she took the advanced courses, she would have to attend school all day and still go to night school for general knowledge and literacy.

That meant she would have no time to work.

Moreover, the advanced courses required a fee.

Although he had heard the fee wasn’t high, they weren’t free either. Ivan was just a fisherman, and the thought of spending money made him instinctively resistant.Besides, he had a son, Ken.

Ken never mentioned it, but Ivan knew he was quite interested in these courses.

However, since Gaia was even more passionate about them, he pretended not to care as much.

Gaia was one thing, but if Ken also attended the advanced courses…

Ivan sighed again. He could still work at the factory.

He currently worked at the olive oil factory and occasionally got jobs harvesting olives, those jobs paid extra, and many people competed for them.

At best, he could earn three Lios a day, which was barely enough to feed the family.

One Lio could buy about six pounds of bread, which seemed decent.

But this was a low-productivity medieval society. Boiling water for soup required expensive firewood, even though there was a forest on the island, cutting trees, carrying them out, and transporting them to the distant residential areas was so difficult that most islanders couldn’t afford to make fires.

Fetching water also required time and labor. Gaia used to be occupied with endless chores at home.

What, just eat the bread without cooking?

Look at the black bread in your hands. It’s hard to say whether chewing it or gnawing on wood is easier, they even taste similar because there’s actually sawdust in the bread.

This bread had to be soaked to be edible.

And eating only black bread could kill a person. Not just from the taste, it could cause malnutrition and eventual death.

Ivan was still too optimistic. Spending two or three Lios a day would only make them grow thinner, eventually falling ill and dying.

This worry stayed with him into the night as he held his torch and spear, carefully scanning the roadsides before returning his gaze to the night school students.

He was a member of the night school’s security team.

The nights had been unsafe lately, just a few days ago, they had caught several wild wolves. He had to stay vigilant.

Gaia was chatting and laughing with her classmates on their way to night school, while Ken silently followed beside her, occasionally interjecting.

Every time Ivan saw such a scene, he wavered. He remembered how, before school, he and Ken would sit at the dinner table every night, telling Gaia interesting stories.

She used to spend her days cleaning, cooking, fetching water, and drying food, only occasionally going out for a short walk after finishing all her chores.

Ivan knew Gaia’s nature,  she loved the stories he and Ken told, always listening with curiosity and longing.

She was still a child. No matter how much she tried to hide it, Ken could sense the sadness in her morning waves and the excitement when they returned at night.

She truly wanted to see everything they talked about with her own eyes.

Ivan knew, but there was nothing he could do. The poor knew everything yet could change nothing.

So he could only rack his brain for stories to make Gaia happy.

But everything changed when she started school.

Gaia made more friends, learned to read, and even found Miss Zoe’s lessons entertaining.

Even though she still worked hard during the day, she would excitedly run to school at night.

Gaia smiled more often.

Ivan forced a smile as well. Things were better than before, that was enough, wasn’t it?

After night school ended, Ken and Gaia packed their things, preparing to go home.

They had learned many new words and were happily discussing them.

”Please wait a moment!”

Zoe called out to them, then turned to Ivan, who was peeking in through the back door. ”Come along too. I’ll let the patrol team know so you can return home with us a bit later.”

The three exchanged glances and, feeling uneasy, followed Zoe into a nearby office.

”The advanced courses start tomorrow. You’ve received the notice, right?”

Ivan’s heart sank. Did he have to decide now? He hadn’t made up his mind yet.

”We received it,” Gaia answered honestly, nervously gripping her clothes and lowering her head.

”Here’s the course list. Take a look and choose which subjects you want to take.”

Zoe handed them a sheet of paper. Gaia instinctively reached out, then hesitated and looked uncertainly at her father and brother.

”Ken, you’re very meticulous. I recommend you take mechanical principles, caution and precision are essential for engineers. As for Gaia, I know you love exploration, but I must warn you that chemistry is a dangerous subject. A small mistake in an experiment can lead to irreversible consequences. If you want to study it, you must overcome your weaknesses.”

Zoe finished speaking and looked at Ivan.

Ivan quickly forced a smile and cautiously asked, ”Miss Zoe, how much do these courses cost?”

”You’re all Castel subjects, and you’re a worker under the lord. Your tuition falls under the lowest bracket, mechanical principles cost two Lios per week. Chemistry requires many reagents, so it’s more expensive, four Lios per week. All teaching materials, including textbooks, are provided by the school. I’ll go get a course schedule; wait here.”

Zoe quickly left the office.

Two Lios plus four Lios—a total of six Lios. That was enough to buy two pounds of butter, and it was just for one week’s tuition.

Ivan’s heart was filled with bitterness.

Honestly, the price wasn’t high. In this era, paper was expensive, and books carrying knowledge were unimaginably costly.

That didn’t even include teachers’ salaries, these courses were taught by the lord himself. Where else could one hire a Count as a teacher for two pounds of butter?

But… but…

Ivan was just a fisherman. Ken and Gaia were fisherman’s children.

Education was never meant for them. Ken should have taken up his father’s fishing nets one day, and Gaia would have married another poor young man, starting a family with a meager dowry.

This was a great opportunity. Ivan had good judgment—he knew he might never see such a chance again.

But he truly had no way to afford six Lios a week. Even if he spent all his savings and borrowed from neighbors, it wouldn’t last long.

He could only watch as this opportunity to change their fate slipped away.

No, maybe there was another way. If only one child attended school, they could afford it.

But was it really worth it? And if they had to choose, who would it be?

Ken and Gaia realized this too. They exchanged glances and turned to look at Ivan.