Chapter 187 - 187 – The Council Meeting II

After they finished discussing AK’s food prospects, Marlen made a gentle nod towards the nervous newcomer. Moira hesitated for a moment but managed to push through the embarrassment and fear. The Minister of Education had been invited to the meeting to participate in the report’s round, and though she was required to take a secrecy oath, the Council was welcoming enough to let her hear the other Ministers’ reports. Of course, any military and security matters would be left for the councilors-only meeting.

“The… The Ministry of Education doesn’t have enough teachers… In fact, we’re only holding on because the classes aren’t popular amongst the adults. Thankfully, the children are facing their studies with much more excitement. In the beginning, they complained and resisted, but after we started the tutoring project things changed. I think they gave a chance to the studies because they wanted the part-time job, and now it looks like they’re really enjoying it…”

The woman stuttered a little at first but soon picked up the pace. She remembered how Marlen and Kanin made suggestions and decided to do it too.

“I think… No, I propose we do something to encourage more adults to study too. Most think they don’t need to, but I’m sure it would help them somehow. Councilman Karl said something about helping them use magic tools. But, we shouldn’t start the incentives before increasing the number of teachers…”

Not only literacy, but all basic studies are crucial for the development of AK. The Council had already decided that their growth would depend on highly competent and skilled citizens. After all, if the Democracy could stand up the Kingdom with cunning and knowledge, they would do it too. Even with Alchemy on their side, they would need to master a basic level of education, especially with Alchemy. Karl himself had stated that people would need to be schooled in AK’s basic subjects to fully use the future magic tools.

Although the other councilors thought he was being a little dramatic, Karl’s statement was actually very reasonable. For now, they had only scratched the surface with spiritual-activated and communication tools, and the need for education was already clear. Literacy was an obligation for operators or anyone who wanted to use a communicator, and though pushing their spiritual signature into a tool, like in the lock or the oath, didn’t require much knowledge, more complicated concept-driven tools would appear.

The new magic forge was a good example. If Arnold didn’t know his way past the basic zero to ten numbers, he wouldn’t be able to control the temperature in the tool. In truth, even knowing how to count to a hundred didn’t save him from spending a month to master the temperature through spiritual concepts. So, what would take for tools with more than one parameter or that required a more complex concept? The future Karl envisioned for AK would require knowledgeable citizens, trained in basic subjects and capable of logical thinking.

Unfortunately, the matter of increasing the number of teachers fell into the same lack of human resources pit. In the end, they would need to ask for all who are literate and knowledgeable to find some time to work as part-time teachers. The Council would lead by example in this matter, but they didn’t expect great results from it. They were already overworked as it is, so people could find little to no time for taking one more job, even if they offered rewards. Still, the Council couldn’t neglect education since it was a long-term effort that needed to be done as soon as possible.

As for encouraging adults to seek education, they would spread the information that it would be required to use the new magic tools. This should be enough incentive to push the more eager and visionary citizens. After all, they couldn’t push demand too much without more full-time teachers. They also decided to create future incentives, like additional payment and promotion requirements, for those who studied. However, that would only be done once they had the proper teaching resources.

The education unsolved dilemma left a bad aftertaste in the room, but they had to move forward regardless. Next to report was Minister Alfeur.

“The Ministry of Construction is struggling with the same problem, the lack of manpower. Even so, we move forward like any construction, focused and steady. After two years of hard work, we finally finished the initial 82 houses, but we already have orders for new houses pilling up. Most were initially afraid of paying so much for a house or taking on the responsibility of paying for too long. However, after saving a lot of crystals and experiencing stability, almost everyone is eager to leave the earth huts. We predicted as much, but we already have 73 requests for new homes, and I imagine many more are looking for a house to rent.”

Though the number didn’t look too high and the construction teams were now outfitted with magic tools and the experience in using them, they also had many more projects. Like the Tunnel remodeling, the new path to the mine, and expanding the road between their cities. At those trying times when they needed to do more work without increasing the workers, everybody would look for Karl. Sadly, the Alchemists didn’t have anywhere to turn to when they didn’t have enough hands to keep up with demand.

Actually, Karl could think of a dozen improvements to the construction tools. However, the gains in productivity would hardly be worth the time of the Alchemists to redraw and test the arrays. So, he was waiting for a major breakthrough before modifying the tools. Apparently, they would need to think of something fast. Unfortunately, the construction sector wasn’t the only one in need of a boost of efficiency, practically all Ministries did.

Alfeur realized that neither Karl nor Reiner would propose something to help at this time, so he could only continue.

“People are eager to get a house, but we can only keep going as we had, delivering five to six houses a month. Now, the Tunnel is another problem entirely. The place looks better than some parts that a saw of Wind Castle, but nobody likes to live in caves. The Ministry of Defense keeps sending soldiers’ requests for houses. Some families are threatening to come back because of the difference in living conditions. We’re trying to build the living districts fast but… The truth is that we didn’t even finish renovating the Tunnel, almost five kilometers need work…”

The Minister didn’t bother shortening his complaints about the remodeling plan. Apparently, the pressure was getting under his nerves. Once again, AK’s main challenge became clear. They wanted to grow too fast and too large. First, it was resources, but now they hit a workforce limitation.

When Alfeur grew tired of pouring down complaints, the Council started to discuss a solution for the problem, even if it was a temporary fix. So, after a lot of deliberation, they decided to give some benefits for the Tunnel residents to placate them and gain more time. Increasing the soldier’s wages was out of the question, the Ministry of Defense’s budget was already a problem, so they had to go with access benefits. They would promise to insert any magic tools, food, and living improvements first in the Tunnel. Hopefully, this would be enough to calm the soldiers and their families.

The idea wasn’t the best or most effective, it might not even work, but was the best they could come up with for now. Next, Said started the Ministry of Living’s report. Unexpectedly, the Ministry wasn’t facing limitations due to the lack of workers. However, the report was mostly about their citizens’ problems caused by overwork.

The purpose of this Ministry was to protect the welfare of all AK citizens. Earlier, the problem was already evident, but hearing about a trend of increasing unsatisfaction and exhaustion placed some severity and urgency on it. Fortunately, everybody knew the importance of contributing to their infant Kingdom, and their previous suffering was still fresh on their minds. However, there was only so much one could take willingly. Nobody could tell how far they could push before breaking.

Aside from the dreadful forecasting, the report also brought some significant information about the job distribution in their country. One of the tasks carried by the Ministry was the registration, which was finally complete. The 2070 wooden tablets even earned an exclusive room inside their building. Each tablet only had a written name and an Alchemy mark, hardly worthy one year of work. However, those marks could store a lot more information than any scroll.

One by one, all AK citizens were properly registered, and any relevant information was stored. They never had such an accurate record before. Age, home location, remarkable features, relatives, job, and the unique spiritual signature which could differentiate anyone, everything was recorded. Even babies who couldn’t willingly provide their spiritual signature, had an unsigned tablet waiting for when they were old enough.