While it went without saying for the training facility, the Kikkoro Distillery also had an easy time securing workers here, so it wasn’t a bad location. That alone made it worth having fixed the place up.
The job training facility was surrounded by brick walls, and there were a number of buildings inside the compound. The place had just opened and so they were only teaching reading, writing, and arithmetic to the applicants, but the intention was to experiment with all sorts of different ideas in the future, so the number of buildings had increased.
When we went to enter through the front gate, a number of children ran out from it.
“Goodbye, Ms. San!”
“Goodbye!”
They were all around the age of ten, maybe. They weren’t that well dressed or groomed, but they seemed full of energy.
When we looked in through the gate, the former slave who was now Ginger’s secretary, Sandria, was waving to the children. “Goodbye, children. Take care on your way home.”
The slight smile she saw them off with was a gentle one, very different from the ill-tempered demeanor she’d had when we first met.
So, she can make an expression like that, too, huh…
While I was thinking that, Sandria noticed me and gave a respectful bow. “Why, Your Majesty, how good of you to come visit us.”
“Hey, Sandria,” I said. “Is Ginger in?”
“He is in his office. I will show you the way there.”
We followed Sandria into one of the buildings.
It was a simple, boxy design with no frills, but you could tell this building had a lot of rooms even from the outside. It would have looked like a hospital or school to a modern Japanese person.
We were led in front of a room on the first floor of that building with a sign that read “Director’s Office.” When Sandria informed the occupant he had visitors and opened the door, Ginger, who had apparently been doing desk work, hurriedly rose.
“Wh-Why, Your Majesty, it has been a while,” Ginger said, rushing over to us. Unlike Sandria, he did so timidly, and it seemed he still felt tense when talking to me.
“No need to be so stiff,” I said. “I’m the one imposing on you here.”
“N-No… It’s no imposition whatsoever…”
“Your secretary there has her head held high, doesn’t she?” I commented.
“Because my loyalty belongs to Lord Ginger alone,” Sandria said nonchalantly as she moved to Ginger’s side.
It should have been quite the disrespectful statement, but there was something about her demeanor that wouldn’t let me take it that way. She was like Liscia’s maid, Serina, or the public representative for Roroa’s company, Sebastian. Those people who had found the master they meant to serve for the rest of their lives had a unique intensity. It was like they could face down the king himself on their master’s behalf.
“Ginger, let me introduce you,” I said. “This is my fiancée, Liscia.”
“Hello. I am Liscia Elfrieden.” Liscia smiled and bowed, causing Ginger to stand up very straight.
“Th-The princess?! Th-Thank you for coming to visit our humble establishment! I–I’m… Ah, no, I am the one called Ginger Camus. With more support than I deserve from His Majesty, I have been able to become the director of this facility…”
“Hee hee! No need to be so tense. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ginger.”
“Y-Yes, ma’am!” Ginger stiffly took Liscia’s hand and shook it.
“It almost feels like you’re more tense than the first time you met me…” I murmured.
“I’m sure he is,” said Carla. “Until your betrothal to her was announced, master, Liscia was something like what we now call a lorelei to the people of the kingdom. That unreachable flower, the princess who was so high above him that she might as well be above the clouds, is now right in front of his eyes. He cannot be blamed for being tense.”
Carla’s explanation made sense to me. Members of the Royal House, especially a princess or a queen… they were like national idols in a way. I had seen the huge fever that had gripped England when a new princess was born there on the news. Even in Japan, news about the Imperial House and those connected to the imperial family got a lot of attention.
After that, I also introduced Carla and Owen. Then, when I went to introduce Hilde…
“Hilde and I are already acquainted,” said Ginger. “She gives free medical examinations to the children who come here. It’s really been a great help.”
Ginger bowed his head to her, causing Hilde to take on an awkward expression.
“Hmph. The brats are filthy, that’s all. Who knows what diseases they’re carrying around.”
“You say that, but you still come to visit us once or twice a week,” said Sandria. “If the children get injured, you heal them. I think that, for all that you say to the contrary, you really do like children, don’t you?”
“Sandria… If you say too much, I’ll sew your mouth shut, you know that?” Hilde snapped.
“Oh, pardon me,” Sandria apologized nonchalantly while Hilde glared at her.
Yeah… Looking at Hilde just now, it made me remember the old lady at the bakery in the neighborhood where I’d used to live a long time ago. Whenever the children came up to her, she’d say, “Look at the noisy visitors,” taking a sour attitude, but then she’d add, “What hungry little brats you are,” and would often give away leftover sweet buns. Now that I thought back on it, it had been her way of masking her shyness.
Hilde snorted. “I’ll be waiting outside until you’re all done talking.”
“The children have all gone home, just so you know.”
“Shut up, Sandria! Whoever said they wanted to play with the children?” Hilde snapped.
“I didn’t say that much…” Sandra said.
“Hmph!”
When Hilde left, violently slamming the door behind her, we all saw her off with wry smiles.
…Now then. It was time to get back on track.
Liscia, Ginger, Sandria, and I sat down at a conference table. Liscia and I were seated on one side, with Ginger and Sandria sitting across from us. Carla and Owen were standing behind us.
Liscia raised her hand. “Um, I have a lot of questions… What exactly do you two do here?”
“For the moment, we teach applicants how to read, write, and do arithmetic,” Ginger answered with a gentle smile.
“Is that something like a school?”
“Yes. It’s a school where anyone can come learn, regardless of class.”
In this country, there were already proper educational institutions. The uniform Liscia was wearing belonged to the Royal Officers’ Academy, and there was also the Royal Academy, which pumped out researchers in every field, as well as the Mages’ School, which specialized in the study of magic. However, those educational institutions were almost entirely for the children of the knights and nobility. There were no general schools meant to serve the common people. This job training facility was serving as a test case for that sort of general school.
“Also, it’s not only for children,” said Ginger. “Adults can learn here, too.”
“Adults, too?” Liscia asked.
“There are many adults who say they cannot read, write or do arithmetic. The poorer their background, the more likely that is to be the case. We provide those people a place to learn here, too. During the day, children learn, and then at night, adults who have finished working during the day come here to study.”
“Hm, so you’ve got them properly segregated into separate time periods…”