Chapter 481

The group was escorted to the royal palace and after a short detour to clean up they all met with the royal family as well as members from House Manashaper, House Goldmancer and House Steelblade. Xavier was preening as he shared the details of his new boon, it was easy to see the interest in it from House Manashaper and Steelblade especially. 

“This is to be kept quiet, at least for now.” The crown prince said, as of late he had started taking the lead in such decisions, a clear show that the king was getting ready to step down. “We need the noble houses focused on best adapting to the changes in the commoners and their young scions, not backstabbing each other for a chance at getting their people a boon a few months earlier.” 

With that said the rest of the team was sent out leaving only Ajax, his friends and their families to talk about what was going to happen next. “I don’t think it’ll be long before news spreads.” Ajax said with a wry smile as even his social skills picked up that some were going to leak the news within a week. 

“That doesn’t matter.” The crown prince said. “Because I made it known that I wanted it kept quiet, nobody will act on the information for a while just so they don’t put their own allies in a bad spot since them knowing so quickly will reveal who told them.” 

“Thank you for setting up the bidding war.” Lexi said as she saw through the crown prince’s actions better than Ajax. “Is there anything in particular the royal family is looking for?” 

Now that Lexi was Ajax’s fiance she felt much more comfortable taking the lead in these unstated negotiations for House Hearthbound, she and Anna had helped Ajax before but it was always more reserved.

It was a given that the first people Ajax would help with unlocking any boons would come from his own House, followed by House Manashaper, the royal family as well as Goldmancer and Steelblade. They were the Houses Ajax had a clear connection to, by having the information kept silent the prince was basically telling the noble house to start looking in their vaults for things to pay for a position instead of taking out others at the knees to lower competition.

“I believe my son could use a helping hand in setting up our budding fortress tree in your duchy.” the crown prince said with a nod towards Xavier. “We know he is very much invested in the process, he’ll be happy to join the small procession you have heading towards your duchy in the morning.” 

“What procession?” Ajax asked, a little surprised. 

“You do make for a rather large group heading towards Lessis.” Archduke Goldmancer nodded. “Besides yourself, Lexi and House Manashaper’s retainers there is Knight Bonehammer and his family. The Healing Union is sending out a very large presence along with their Guild Master to help set up their research branch as well. That isn’t to mention all the merchants who are currently in a frenzy to try and travel with you as you head back.” 

“There is time for that later.” Duke Manashaper said as he looked towards Lexi. “The boon is something mo…” The duke’s words trailed off as the crown prince frowned.

“The boon can wait.” The crown prince said while sending a glare towards his brother who was about to join the Duke’s cause. “Anna and Benedict are both staying in the capital a while longer and I am sure they’ll be thankful for all the help you are willing to offer them in exploring their new boon.” 

Sensing that this was a lost cause Duke Mashaper did what he did best, instead of trying to push his agenda in front of overwhelming odds he left his son to handle and further political implications for their family while slowly motioning Benedict,Xavier and Anna to join him in a different room, something the eldest prince was very much in support of as he also headed for the door. Much to Duke Manashaper’s disappointment Anna chose to stay but Benedict and Xavier both nodded and left the room. 

“I’m sorry to say but there is a lot for us to discuss.” the crown prince said as he invited everyone remaining to take a seat. “It is customary for any landed noble to make changes to their new land but the extent of the changes about to take place in your duchy is troubling.” 

Ajax opened his mouth but the king stopped him with a raised hand. “We are not looking to stop you. But considering your inexperience with ruling as well as the amount of changes happening all at once it is not something we can overlook, we would like to hear your basis for these changes as well as the expected outcomes. While those may be your lands now you are still ruling over our people.”

Now that he thought about it a bit more Ajax realized that he was indeed making a lot of changes in his duchy. The biggest of all was the school system he planned on implementing but that was only the beginning. The research branch of the Healing Union, a whole new Village dedicated to essentially creating a large quarry in the mountains as well as the start of his road creation project was a lot. That wasn’t to mention the port he planned on creating and the crafting apprenticeships he planned to sponsor. 

A big reason why Ajax’s new school system was drawing a lot of eyes was that his House just unbalanced the capital crafting market. They had hired a lot of journeymen crafters to move to their new duchy for the specific purpose of teaching the masses. The sudden lack of journeymen in all professions caused a backup of orders that were too difficult for apprentices to tackle but not worth a master’s time.

Ajax’s eyes flashed with excitement as he began explaining his vision for the future of the duchy. How by raising the knowledge base for each of the people there he was hoping to increase the quality of life as well as the number of skilled craftsmen. 

“I don’t see how the number of craftsmen would increase so dramatically.” the crown prince said after listening to the  explanation. “Even with the increased opportunity.” 

“You’re not taking something into account.” Ajax mentioned. “People who wouldn’t have otherwise had the chance to even try something, they’ll all be given a chance to find if there is something they are good at.” 

“How’s that?” The king also looked interested.

“There are two main reasons, at least when it comes to commoners, why someone talented in a craft wouldn’t even try in the first place.” Ajax explained. “The first is their dislike for it. There are almost no commoners who want to be an alchemist when they are young. By having them all try they will not only find out if they like the craft and not just their perception of it.” 

“Most nobles also have their children try as many crafting professions as they can afford.” Lexi said from beside him. “The first few lessons happen even if their child shows extreme dislike towards the profession.” 

“You have to let go of those leatherworking lessons.” Anna muttered as she looked towards Lexi. 

“The second reason is social standing.” Ajax continued. 

The entire royal family seemed a little surprised at this, they were talking about commoners after all they all had the same social standing.

“Just as there are bad perceptions towards certain professions the are others that have a positive perception.” Ajax explained. “Hunting for example is one of the most popular professions but no issues are caused because it’s easy for the hunters of a village to take on many apprentices each year. Other professions are not so accommodating.” 

“I still don’t see how social standing would cause issues.” the king said. 

“It would be for something like a blacksmith.” Ajax said. “I would know, my dad was the blacksmith in our little village. There were a lot of kids who would have wanted to try their hand at blacksmithing, but so did the son of the village headman. There wasn’t enough work needed for multiple apprentices so once the position was filled everyone else had to look for something else.” 

That example was the key. It showed how in small villages like that their isolation played a part in restricting access for commoners to even try things they were not only interested in but could afford. The issue scaled back the bigger the village became and was much lower in cities but it still existed, schools wouldn’t remove the problem completely but it would be a lot better.

“Not to mention that once school’s are accepted it’ll be the perfect place for us to start pushing the population towards better adapting to their increased lifespan.” Lexi pointed out. “As such hopefully making it easier to slow down the population rapid increase.” 

“You do realize that even if this all succeeds other nobles wouldn’t hesitate to poach some of your best talents that you have invested so much into growing.” Archduke Goldmancer pointed out. 

“I’m actually counting on it.” Ajax said with a smile. “Most people tend to look favorably upon people who help them in their early days. Even if they are recruited by other nobles it’ll mean as they spread out more and more Houses would look favorably upon my house simply because their highly skilled retainers do.”