Chapter 1082: Chapter 1023: Sleeping Outdoors

As the sunlight penetrated the tent and shone on Silvanic’s face, he slowly opened his eyes, which were lined with fine crow’s feet.

The summer dew condensed on the tent, and the green blades of grass poked out from beneath the canvas.

Outside the tent, the crackling of the fire, the harsh scraping of a ladle against the bottom of an iron pot, and the increasingly clear voices of young people talking could all be heard.

Silvanic sighed, put on his scholar’s robe, and lifted the tent flap to step outside.

Standing at the tent’s entrance, Silvanic took a deep breath of the morning air, filled with the scent of fried eggs and the grass.

In front of him was a campsite for carriages and horses, enclosed by a crude fence.

Dozens of tents were scattered on the hilly campsite, with merchants and travelers gathered around various campfires, cooking breakfast in copper pots or tin pans.

The spillage from dung buckets and yellow mud from last night’s light rain, mixed with horse, pig, and sheep manure, formed a yellow-stained path across the grassy field.

"Good morning, Master Silvanic." A few students passed by the tent and bowed to Silvanic in greeting.

"Good morning." Silvanic nodded.

"Master Silvanic, is the injury on your face okay?" Two students, who were closer to him, stepped forward.

"It’s nothing. I was careless and didn’t dodge in time."

One of the students couldn’t help but speak angrily, "Those priests are too arrogant! Driving us out of the inn wasn’t enough; they even wanted to hit us."

"I’ve remembered their family emblem. When we get back, I’ll definitely find out which family they’re from."

Silvanic stumbled slightly, "No need to investigate. They’re priests sponsored by the Ongan family, the vultures of Storm Cape."

The two students were suddenly silenced by this revelation. The Vulture family of Storm Cape was a notorious mafia family.

Though the family only had one count who was somewhat respectable and a baron of the court, they were quite prominent locally.

Besides being known as counts, they were also called the Dukes of the Jade Sea.

This indicated how strong the power of this family of sea merchants, or rather pirates, truly was.

Despite attending the meeting, Silvanic was nominally allowed to use church facilities, but as he got closer to Spring Castle, the number of attendees naturally increased.

Silvanic, being a noble of Leia origin, naturally had a much lower priority for accommodation at inns and churches.

Last night, they were first kicked out of the monastery to the inn, and then driven out of the inn again.

In the end, they had no choice but to camp out at a small vendor’s campsite on the outskirts.

After all, the Leia people had already bowed down to the Falan’s feet. A minor Leia noble is no different from a commoner.

At the university, people wouldn’t go overboard, but such incidents were common among the populace and in wild places.

If he didn’t have to, Silvanic would never have attended this Grand Duke’s meeting.

Yet, if he didn’t attend, several of his students might not graduate due to failing their exams.

Post-war, Leia nobles generally saw their wealth shrink by fifty to sixty percent.

For Silvanic’s minor noble students, their families no longer had the extra money to pay for expensive exam fees.

Attending this Grand Duke’s meeting could at least yield a good academic paper by seizing the opportunity.

The only problem that troubled Silvanic was that even if they graduated, where could they find a job?

At New Bridge University, general courses were taken together, but specialized courses were taught in a mentor-apprentice system, with one-on-one guidance from mentors.

After graduation, they often became bureaucrats in the Falan Kingdom or even courtiers of great nobles.

Thus, by relying on seniors helping juniors, a large network of connections was formed.

In fact, several small factions in the Falan Kingdom were connected through this network.

Silvanic’s teaching level wasn’t very high, his experience was shallow, and as Senius said, his academic achievements were only mid-to-high level.

At Huaqiu New Bridge University, where scholars were as numerous as clouds and nobles as common as dogs, other scholars always had more resources than Silvanic.

So several of his noble students changed their allegiance to other mentors shortly after arriving at New Bridge University.

The ones who stayed were those without resources or connections, minor nobles or second sons of impoverished nobles, desperately hoping to advance their standing through the university.

Now, not only couldn’t they graduate, but their families also couldn’t support them due to the war, and they couldn’t find jobs after graduating either.

And now the Grand Duke’s meeting was an opportunity, offering both materials for a paper and a chance to find jobs for the students.

No matter how reluctant Silvanic was to attend, he had to come.

Sitting on a half-rotten log, Silvanic covered his knees with a blanket and slowly ate his breakfast.

All seven of his remaining students were present, the oldest being thirty years old.

Gathered around the campfire, they were all in low spirits.

Having moved several times last night, they probably only slept three or four hours.

Putting down the tin plate in his hand, he wiped his mouth with a handkerchief, "If nothing valuable was stolen, let’s set off."

"Alright, I’ll start packing."

"Wait, let’s rent a carriage first." Silvanic took out a cloth pouch from his chest, counted a few dinars, and handed them to the middle-aged student Guslit.

Guslit, being quick-tempered, hesitated upon receiving the money, "We’re quite close to Spring Castle, do we need to rent a carriage?"

"We’ve been struggling all day, and I doubt we can walk much during the day. Besides, if we don’t leave early, we might not find an inn tonight."

Though they got punched last night and had to camp outside, the benefit was saving money for renting a carriage.

"Alright." With the prospect of riding a carriage, Guslit grinned, revealing his large yellow teeth, and promptly left.

"Remember to check the horse’s hooves and teeth. Don’t choose a bad horse."

"I know. Like you said, choice is greater than effort."

Guslit rushed away, leaving Silvanic standing there dazed.

"Choice is greater than effort" was something Silvanic often told his students.

Some scholars became famous not because of effort or intelligence but because they seized opportunities and made the right choices.

When Silvanic said these words, it was merely to encourage students to think twice about their research direction and seize opportunities.

Yet, six months later, this statement boomeranged back at him.

Because several of his noble students used the same words to leave Silvanic and switch to other mentors.

"Choice is greater than effort, you can’t stop me from pursuing something better, can you?"

At that time, a student who had followed Silvanic for three years left him just like that.

For some reason, the image of Senius flashed in his mind, from their farewell at the Ry Court Barracks.

"Ah—"

With a deep sigh, Silvanic put these thoughts aside and got on the carriage heading to Spring Castle.

Spring Castle was located in the Red Leaf Hill area, downstream of the South Nao’an River, just sixty miles from the Holy Alliance’s border.

In the past, it was a little-known town, but now it was teeming with people.

Even though Silvanic and his entourage hurried in their carriage and arrived at a small town near Spring Castle a month early, they were informed that all guest rooms were full.

"What do you mean full? They’re not full at all! I clearly heard you say there were empty rooms."

"Those aren’t empty rooms; they’re rooms reserved in advance for others."

"If they don’t show up, can I book the room?"

"No, if you’re already staying there and they come, then what?"

"Damn it, you’re being unreasonable!"

Watching Guslit argue red-faced with the shopkeeper, Silvanic could only smile bitterly.

He stepped forward, patted Guslit on the shoulder, "Let’s go, see if we can find somewhere to stay in a nearby village..."

"What’s going on? Aren’t you known for being quiet? Why’s it so noisy... Guslit!"

Upon hearing someone call his name, Guslit looked up to see a young man in peculiar yet clean and straightforward attire staring at him.

"Who are you?"

"I’m Varas, Varas Dallas from Eagle’s Claw Bay!" Without waiting for Guslit to respond, Varas dashed upstairs, "Dean Senius, come down quickly! I’ve met Master Silvanic and Guslit!"