Chapter 373: Chapter 370: Don’t Call Me Principal
"My condition remains the same: secrecy. Utter secrecy. If anyone outside this room learns of your involvement, not only does our cooperation end, but so does your life. Mr. Martin, I’ve never forced you into anything, have I?"
Martin put on the necklace. "That’s right, Rorschach Mage. You are a fair man. I know that power always comes at a price."
Rorschach waved his hand dismissively. "Don’t say it like that. It makes it sound like I’m conducting some evil experiment. This is purely academic research, and you are a volunteer, understand? Showing you the failed examples was an act of transparency, hoping to make you realize the dangers. I promise you, I will absolutely not let you take any personal risks until I find a safe method for transplanting the microorganisms."
Mr. Martin, that local with a Stockholm-syndrome spirit, was deeply moved. He grasped Rorschach’s hand. "You are my role model! My guiding star!" ’The guiding star... that’s probably what my past life would have called an idol, though maybe with more religious overtones.’
’I’d rather be a popular entrepreneur than some idol or cult leader. Their pedestals always collapse, you know!’ Rorschach shook Martin’s hand off and officially assigned him his work.
"Being a volunteer is just one of your roles. As an intern, you still have to do actual work! I’ll be blunt—your resume is full of fluff."
Martin was extremely ashamed. He felt he had let down this great benefactor. "Mr. Rorschach, I admit it... Miss Hanna Vogel just taught me how to do the books on the fly."
"It’s fine. I have other arrangements for you. Are you familiar with being a newspaper editor? In the future, the trading company is going to establish a press, which will have two newspapers under its banner: the *Kempson Steel Worker’s Newspaper* and the *Bayern Gossip Paper*. We’re in need of a... wordsmith like you. Since we’re just starting out, you’ll have to be an editor, a reporter, and a writer all at once."
"No problem! It’s wonderful that you’re still willing to give me a chance!" Martin seemed to have forgotten that during his internship, he would only be provided with room and board, not a salary. But that didn’t stop him from being deeply grateful.
The reason Rorschach had singled him out was that he’d seen Martin’s doggerel, and it was sufficiently... terrible! Terrible was good. It meant he didn’t have a pretentious artistic streak, or at least, if he did, it wasn’t a severe case. "Regarding the content, I have one special requirement—you must read your news articles, or any other writing, to an old woman who has never learned to read. Only if she understands what’s going on can it be published."
It was indeed a strange requirement, but what right did an intern have to complain? Martin happily agreed and, after another round of disinfection, went out to find Hanna.
...
The testing for Magic Talent was carried out alongside the new school’s student recruitment and intern hiring. They even began screening small groups of factory employees, creating a file for every single person.
This kept Andre incredibly busy, as it was best for as few people as possible to handle the related work. For new students and their parents, there was only one explanation: they were testing the children’s intelligence.
Didn’t understand? It meant testing if your kid was stupid or just dumb!
In any case, only three possible results were publicly announced, and they were given out randomly: smart, very smart, and exceptionally smart. In the future, if a child’s grades were poor, the teacher could console the parents: "Your child is actually quite smart, they just aren’t applying themselves..." If the parents actually believed it, Teacher Rorschach would add: "Your child’s great intelligence must be inherited from you!"
But he wasn’t a teacher anymore. Now, he was the principal!
The old technical school of the Metallurgy Association was upgraded and ceremoniously inaugurated as the "Bayern Southern Institute of Technology." It also had an affiliated foundational education academy, a sort of hybrid elementary and middle school, but without such a long period of compulsory education. They would teach for three years, then screen out the "truly gifted" via an exam. The remainder would study for another two years, after which the top-performing students could directly enter the Institute of Technology, or they could ask the principal to write a letter of recommendation to see if other universities were willing to accept them.
Indeed, there was no "college entrance exam" yet, of course. However, a letter of proposal for a "Large-Scale Fair Competitive Assessment and Unified Admissions Method for Higher Education Institutions within Bayern" was already on its way to the Royal Palace.
"Principal!" The ever-perceptive Andre, having noticed Rorschach’s fixation on the school, had already adopted the new title, using it the first time he entered the office.
But this time, he’d guessed wrong. Not wanting to be exiled to a small island, Rorschach disliked this title. "Just call me Rorschach from now on. There isn’t a big age gap between us."
"Yes, Teacher Rorschach. Here are all the test results. The statistical chart you requested is also ready."
Rorschach glanced at it. Among the more than four hundred new students of elementary and middle school age, there was one child with outstanding Magic Talent, enough to directly enter the Tower of Secret Techniques as an Apprentice. There was another who was talented but weaker, about on par with Andre.
Among the interns from the three enterprises and the Balderom Trading Company, the ratio was 2 out of 312. The two were Hanna and the second son of a minor noble. They had never received any Magic-related education, so an Apprentice of the same age would be at a higher level, but with Rorschach’s assistance, their Casting ability was already sufficient.
Finally, in the three randomly sampled work groups from the Steel Factory, there was not a single one.
Although the sample size was still small, Rorschach roughly estimated that the ratio among children was basically in line with the "three per thousand" proposed by Master Kano. The rate among those who had received a university education was slightly higher. ’Is it because their brains are more developed? Or their understanding of the world is more profound?’
As for the laborers, there were none. ’Perhaps the more products they produce, the more numb and hollow they become.’
"Good work. For now, use the teaching materials I’ve provided. We can adjust them later based on the actual situation." The materials Rorschach mentioned were very familiar to Andre, as they were the old materials from Valuva High Master. They might not be a perfect fit for the local environment and might not suit every child, but the school had just opened, so they could only adjust as they went. Fortunately, they still had the teachers and lesson plans from the old Guild schools and charity schools.
However, the most suitable person to teach them was still Andre. Rorschach was only familiar with the *Alchemy Fundamentals* textbook he had written himself.
"Should I learn the Clone Technique?" Andre joked.
"You’re right, it’s very necessary. But for the time being, I’ll have to ask you to look after the school for me."
Rorschach’s words stunned Andre. "What about Lansite... and the new factory? Don’t they need me?"
"I’ll handle that work. Currently, Magic is being overused in our industrial processes. If every factory requires a large-scale converter and needs Secret Silver Alloy Wire, the construction costs will be extremely high, and the model won’t be replicable. Besides, compared to ordinary technical workers, where are we going to find so many Mages and Magic Apprentices to maintain the Alchemy Equipment for us? Not right now, at least."
"So, we need to optimize step-by-step. We’ll keep the important and still-irreplaceable Magic Arrays, while gradually finding substitutes for the other things, like Protection Arrays and heat sources. We’ll use better steel and pressure-bearing designs to replace magical Protection, train more master workers, and reduce the current burden on the Tower Spirit."
"Only when the students from this school have matured, allowing people who have no Magic Talent but can understand Magic to join the factories, can we roll out more magical processes for use in production."
"You’re right."
Rorschach stood up and gathered his things. "Before I leave Kempson, I’ll sit in on a few classes."
