Chapter 100: Chapter 100: The Sword of the King
"10 of Hearts!"
"2 of Hearts!"
"Four Kings!"
"Pass..."
"I won... haha, I won again! Come on, come on, bring your faces here quickly!"
Asher laughed heartily, leaping towards the upside-down pot, wiped his hand on the pitch-black bottom of the pot, and then triumphantly waved it in front of his three cardmates. Kaelen, Susan, and Cecil helplessly presented their faces for Asher to smear soot on.
Previously, Kaelen had spent half a day perfecting the deck of cards and half a day teaching the other three how to play, yet in just two short days, the number of times he won could be counted on one hand. He didn’t know whether to blame Asher for being too good at playing cards or Kaelen’s own luck for being too bad.
In short, his face right now looked no different from having just crawled out of the Quang Ninh coal mine.
Susan pouted, saying unhappily: "You’ve been winning the whole time today, it’s not interesting at all!"
Cecil, on the other hand, became more fired up the more he lost: "Again, I don’t believe I can’t win even once!"
Kaelen: "...Alright, the lunch break is almost over, hurry up and go wash your faces. Do you plan on not working anymore?"
"So fast? Playing this is really addictive."
"Any game is like that, it should only be played in moderation, play for fun, don’t get too engrossed. Especially, do not use it for gambling. This violates the rules set by the Beast God; a light offense will result in a fine of food, a heavy offense will lead to exile."
Kaelen once again reminded everyone about the rules (which he compiled himself). In the modern world, as long as any game involved gambling for money, it was classified as a violation of the law. Kaelen did not want the games he introduced for everyone’s entertainment to become a foundation for future crimes.
The other three hastily raised their hands to the sky and swore that they would absolutely not violate any rules. Kaelen nodded, saying:
"You can teach others, however, remember to instruct them very carefully about the rules I mentioned, otherwise the consequences will be very serious."
"Understood!"
After everyone left, Kaelen finally washed his hands, feet, and face clean. Fortunately, coal ash was not too difficult to wash off; just applying a little diluted soap cleaned it right away. The tribe’s work had gotten on track, completely not needing him to worry too much. During this time, the task Kaelen did the most was probably compiling rules exclusively for the Crimson tribe and compiling a unified set of textbooks.
In his past life, after finishing the elementary education program, he was taken to the Magic City. Here, the middle school and university education programs from the surface were no longer suitable for him; he had to study things related to magic, spiritual plants, and techniques for cultivating spiritual plants exclusively for Plant Masters.
However, due to the eagerness to learn ignited since his time at the orphanage, Kaelen bought teaching materials meant for mortal students himself, watched instructional videos on YouTube himself, and also tried taking the university entrance exam of a key university himself. Although his self-graded test also reached the passing score of that university, ultimately, he had no chance to attend school.
He did not know too much about the university curriculum, but he knew the curriculum from elementary to middle school by heart; using it to train a group of primitive people who considered knowledge as a Divine object was more than enough.
The reason he wanted to introduce this compulsory education program was to balance natural and magical development. When Science and Technology developed, humans could create high-tech products, and the value of ability users would not be elevated too high. Only then could a balance between normal people and people with abilities be ensured.
For many things, just talking was not enough; they needed to prove practical value.
The textbooks were almost finished, and they wouldn’t be put into use immediately anyway, so Kaelen was not in a hurry to write more. He planned to compile stories to tell at the end of classes first, and also planned to plant some details about the high-level curriculum into the stories.
The other day when Asher asked about the meanings of the cards, Kaelen planned to compile the stories of the cards into a separate textbook. Today he started with the Four Kings, giving this textbook a very poetic name: [The Sword of the King].
First was the K of Hearts card, also known as the king’s suicide card (a sword stabbing straight into the head). It is believed that it is a stylized image of King Charlemagne, Charles the Great.
Next was the K of Diamonds card, symbolizing Gaius Julius Caesar - a military and political leader of Rome.
The image in the K of Clubs card was Alexander the Great.
The image in the K of Spades card was King David.
Four cards, four kings, each person a story.
Kaelen bit the end of his pen, thinking about how to adjust these stories appropriately. If he just brought over the concepts of ’Europe’, ’Rome’, or ’Kingdom of Macedonia’ exactly as they were, the tribesmen would definitely listen like ducks listening to thunder, or ask endless questions. He decided to change the setting, turning these four historical figures into four legendary ancient beastman Kings led by the Beast God.
The K of Hearts represented Unification and building a prosperous civilization.
The K of Diamonds represented Power, and at the same time, it was a profound cautionary lesson about betrayal and bottomless greed.
The K of Clubs represented outstanding Military Strength, an unyielding desire to expand territory.
The K of Spades represented Spiritual Life, to remind that a kingdom cannot solely consist of killing while neglecting culture and art.
All four stories carried core lessons on the art of leadership.
Kaelen meticulously wrote the final concluding line of the book Chapter: "The Sword of the King is not only born to pierce through enemies, but also to draw a safe boundary, protecting the softest things of the kingdom."
Finishing the last stroke of the pen, Kaelen smiled, unconsciously reaching out to gently rub his protruding belly. Having finished writing the story of the four Kings, he unconsciously realized that his mate converged all the finest qualities of all those four kings.
Sane possessed the strength of an invincible warrior, the ambition to protect Crimson’s survival, but also enough trust and gentleness to listen to him.
Just as he put the pen down, a deep, resonant horn blast suddenly echoed from the observation deck outside the valley gate.
Kaelen was startled, his heartbeat unconsciously skipping a beat.
That was the sound welcoming tribesmen back. Who was it? Was it Walter and Draven returning, or was it...
Before he could stand up, the decorative stone curtain outside the living room was lifted by a large hand. Amidst the pleasant clinking sound, the tall beastman, carrying a bit of travel dust, stood there, using his ash-gray eyes to look intently at him. Looking at the familiar silhouette, the corners of Kaelen’s mouth gradually curled into a bright smile. Look, his King had returned.
"Welcome home, my great Chief~"
Sane smiled, dropping the stone curtain, and quickly walked to the large table in the middle of the living room to embrace his mate. He smiled very brightly, looking deeply at Kaelen. This smile made Kaelen feel his hair stand on end.
Sane slowly opened his mouth, using a murmuring voice like an endearment to utter a classic line:
"My Little Priest, you skipped a meal again."
Kaelen: "..."
Fuck that!
King my foot! He was just a primitive beastman who specialized in killing romance!
