Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Too much food in the mouth actually makes it difficult to chew; the workers sighed in relief when their coarse throats finally swallowed it down, taking a sip of soup for comfort.

But as they lowered their heads to sip the soup, the workers, made especially sensitive to the taste of meat by their poverty, noticed something was amiss.

The mushroom soup wasn't just mushroom soup, or rather, it wasn't purely mushroom soup. More accurately, it should be called mushroom and minced meat soup.

Everyone was startled.

The geographical location of Lansville was not ideal, situated near the beast-infested Sunset Mountains. If not for the beasts' fear of the Endless Plains and the city's sparse population, Dayak City, lacking a multitude of extraordinary beings, would have been overrun by beasts long ago.

Despite the "protection" of the Endless Plains, the threat of beasts remained ever-present.

Therefore, Dayak City does not allow the rearing of too many poultry.

Civilians were strictly forbidden; discovery meant confiscation, and even the civilians themselves could be taken away.

Eggs can also be collected from the forests outside the city, and although most creatures there are magical beasts, there are also ordinary animals.

However, obtaining meat was a challenge, as the common animals that survived in the wild were spirit beasts, difficult to catch whether by trap or hand.

Therefore, the price of meat in Lansville was exorbitantly high, rightfully considered a luxury.

"Everyone has worked hard these days. Just persevere today, and the project will be ready for inspection tomorrow!"

These words came from the foreman of the construction crew, a role far removed from the comfortable position of merely cracking a whip as in the past.

Even as an extraordinary being, a foreman had to meet KPIs. Poor performance, excessive complaints, or being caught using violence could mean losing the job and becoming a common slave reliant on physical labor.

And the vacant position of a foreman slave would naturally be filled by those who excelled among the slaves.

Having often bullied the slaves before, the foreman dreaded the day their roles might be reversed, fearing terrible retribution. So, some foremen, to motivate their subordinates, even paid out of their own pockets to improve the food standards.

Today's mushroom and minced meat soup was bought by him out of his own pocket.

The standard meal allowance for each member of the road construction crew is 10 copper coins per day, with an extra five coins for outstanding employees.

The road projects on Bright Avenue, Dawn Avenue, and Eternal Avenue outside the school are to be completed today, with anonymous grading of the foremen following an inspection tomorrow.

Although one phase's scoring couldn't determine his fate, he was too afraid; for a crew of 200 people, he gritted his teeth and added 10 copper coins to the food budget from his own pocket.

To make the expenditure visibly worthwhile, he also had someone buy a chicken.

An eight-pound wild chicken, once plucked and deboned, doesn’t amount to much.

Offal was also meat and wouldn't be discarded, but even if the bones were crushed and a chicken divided among 200 people, each person only received a tiny amount of minced meat.

"Hurrull..."

A slave was the first to snap back to reality, taking a big sip of the mushroom and minced meat soup; the foreman's words were subtle, but anything about "meat" immediately sparked everyone's interest.

Kaz had endured many whippings; slaves being whipped was a common occurrence, and he had long lost count of how many times he’d been whipped or by how many foremen.

Thus, he held no grudge against the foremen, for this was nothing out of the ordinary.

"Hey Kaz, how many points will you give on tomorrow's grading form?" a coworker whispered in his ear. Kaz had been an outstanding employee for consecutive days, and if the foreman stepped down, he had a good chance of moving up.

"Ten points," Kaz said. "He has money, slaves don’t. If he’s replaced, next time we won’t get to eat meat."

Though it was just a meat soup made from heavily scented innards, blood, and bone, it was still meat! Kaz licked his plate thoroughly, shining it enough to reflect light, then poured water into it, swished it around, and drank it all.

The slave who asked Kaz also brightened up, thinking of meat in the next project, and immediately said with a smile, "Then I'll give 10 points too!"

There was more than one foreman doing this, but Philos did not intervene; the grading only accounted for 10%, with the main focus being on the quality of the work.

Philos demanded speed, but safety and quality were always the top priorities.

The city hall's finances were currently in good shape; the gold and supplies obtained from "confiscations" weren't stashed by Philos in his personal space bag. As a qualified lord, his basic principle was to distinguish clearly between public and private matters.

The money robbed from bandits, apart from what was promised to the workers, went entirely into his space backpack, but the materials obtained from the confiscations belonged to the city.

The food was temporarily stored at the Chitty family's residence, a large and spacious mansion glittering with gold, perfect for storing grain.

Unfortunately, the Chitty faction's management and city guards, having prepared to leave early, had already sold most of the hard-to-move "cheap items" like grain for gold coins.

The 200 families that were confiscated had over 30,000 slaves, now scattered and distributed among various construction teams by Philos.

Over 30,000, a staggering number.

Their numbers were several times greater than the city's entire civilian population, making it clear how many people they leached off and exploited.

The Chitty faction had long planned to squeeze these slaves dry, providing them with poor and scarce food, turning them into a group even more fragile than skeletons.

Philos dispersed them across construction sites, assigning them light tasks, with the same meals as other workers, as a form of recuperation.

Normally, neither the civilians nor slaves of this city could do physical labor and needed time to recuperate, but such is the strength of the healing power of light magic!

A group healing spell could restore their dangerously low health bars; normal eating and drinking, coupled with some exercise, would gradually help them recover.

Accustomed to labor and oppression, the slaves prone to idle thoughts were put to work tirelessly by Philos, who abhorred idleness and where there was no risk of death.

"Master, the report has been completely organized."

With an appallingly high illiteracy rate, Ransville had few talents to utilize, making the short General Albat, shrewd, brave, and most knowledgeable, Louis, his secretary.

After the confiscation, the city's power dynamics were reshuffled, scaring the previously haughty nobles with a public trial as a warning, who then scrambled to pull strings to seek connections with Blaze for help.

But Blaze, not daring to make decisions for Philos, promptly refused and reported to Philos in fright.

Philos told Blaze to cold-shoulder them for three days, only today signaling him to accept the "sincerity" of those few noble families.

Thus, the last piece of the puzzle fell into place.

Philos glanced at the census report, particularly dissatisfied with the page on population numbers.

As of 12:00 PM, the population of Lansville City was only 50,000.

Registered residents of Ransville: 2,500 people.

Wanderers: 3,000.

Adventurers and bounty hunters: 3,500 people.

Slaves: 41,000.

Among them, high-level and above extraordinary beings: 1 person – Philos.

Mid-level: 30 body temperers, 5 spellcasters.

Junior-level: 150 body temperers, 20 spellcasters.

Apprentices: 320 body temperers, 25 spellcasters. Additionally, there are 2,000 unpolished “jade” – essentially, those who are clueless.

Undead: 625x2.

"Thud, thud, thud..." Philos, holding the report, unconsciously tapped his fingers on the table, the light sound jarringly loud in the silent study.

"Gulp..." Louis had always thought he was brave, but it wasn’t until meeting Philos that he truly realized how small his courage actually was.

"What's the progress on Workshop No. 1?"

Philos’s sudden question made Louis so tense that every follicle on his body stiffened.

"It’s, it’s in the final stages now."

It must be said, with the aid of magic, building a house is as simple as stacking blocks.

Bricks continuously fired from the brick factory, cement ceaselessly burnt in the cement factory, and a few strong undead hauling sand from the beach – with key tasks made easier by the undead, both dormitories and workshops sprung up!

Despite Tantali being a realm of swords and magic, building houses is generally a lengthy process.

The poor, lacking money and materials, often need generations to construct a single house, and if they become slaves due to unpaid taxes, even half-built homes are wasted.

The houses of the upper class are meticulous, concerned with materials, magic circles, inscriptions... It’s said that just the “prototype” of the current palace in the Unalia Empire took 200 years to build, starting 500 years ago, and is still not complete!

The same dormitory with two thousand rooms, capable of accommodating thousands, took the construction team only three days from receiving the blueprints to passing inspection – truly a miracle!

That was like the Toniel bandits' stronghold, which took fifteen years to build.

When Philos announced the completion of the dormitory building, everyone present, including the worldly-wise Louis, exclaimed in awe, calling it a "miracle."

This left Philos speechless; such concrete buildings, devoid of any magical runes, inscriptions, or space expansion, weren’t built “in the blink of an eye,” which was already quite a downplay of expectations!

Sigh…

It only took Philos two minutes to mentally map out the steps of constructing a building using magical means.

Step one: Find a suitable location.

Step two: Cast spells like Arcane·Large Dormitory, Arcane·Large Classroom, Arcane·Large Playground, Arcane·Large Cafeteria, Arcane·Large Library, Arcane·Large Gymnasium...

Step three: Complete the inspection and install road signs and school maps.

As all of Philos’ spells could be cast instantly, the most time-consuming part was the first step – finding the right location.

To add inscriptions and magical circles, just leave space for materials from the start, and subsequent construction in different areas for the second phase is feasible.

These spells aren’t particularly challenging; anyone with the knowledge reserve of a high-level arcane mage could easily accomplish them – and even a mid-level mage could manage, with some reduction in detail and size.

If it wasn’t for the need to provide jobs and pay wages to workers, the school would have opened long ago!

Philos never understood why a task that a simple cleaning inscription could handle required 150 servants working 18-hour shifts, 365 days a year.

Why don’t the nobles use magic to finish most of their tasks in one go?

Toniel, though not an arcane mage but a spellcaster, blushed with excitement: “How can a noble caster stoop to such tasks?!”

Philos replied indifferently, “Noble caster, have you finished cleaning the toilet?”

Toniel, dragging a broom taller than himself, ran away crying.

Louis, not a spellcaster but once a high-level extraordinary being, answered with tears in his eyes, “Nobles and commoners are different.” His words were diplomatic, but the implication was clear – how else to demonstrate “heritage” and wealth?

Philos nonchalantly planted the “Dormitory Area” distribution map sign into the soil.

Though it was a normal reaction, Louis's heart quivered violently, feeling as if it had been harshly pierced.

“Mas… Master…”

Phelos simply said, "Check again, have all the textbooks needed for tomorrow's school opening been accounted for?"

Even Louis, who had turned to banditry, found himself speechless with fear when this topic was broached.

So bold! Phelos dared to open a 'school' for commoners, and even admitted slaves.

Despite the sign reading "Pre-Employment Training Base," anyone extraordinary attending a class would immediately realize it’s a school masquerading as a training facility!

"We'll be killed! Even our souls will be tortured and obliterated!"

What? You say the master is the [strongest]? Oh, then... there's nothing to worry about...

*

On the first day of 'school'—no, the first day of pre-employment training—Vivian nervously entered the facility's gates. The factory, capable of accommodating tens of thousands of employees, looked magnificent from afar and even more so up close.

Right inside the entrance was a magic map, two meters long and one meter wide, roughly depicting the entire training base with color blocks and text.

But this was just for show to outsiders.

"Employees, please divide by gender: girls to the pink area, boys to the blue area, and intersex individuals to the purple area. Queue orderly for entry, no crowding, pushing, or line-cutting, and enter in a civilized and courteous manner."

Vivian and her sister Linda had to part with their brother, and as they walked to the pink area, another announcement sounded: "Children aged 4-12 to the orange area, 13-18 to the yellow area for queuing."

Now, Linda too had to separate from her.

Vivian, following the announcement, found a spot at the end of a line, and soon many children had queued behind her.

Vivian nervously fiddled with her fingers and the hem of her dress, anxiously awaiting her fate.

There were many children in line. Despite the simple division into six areas, the number of commoner and slave children combined reached a staggering 3600!

The orange area for girls aged 4-12 was the most crowded, with 1200 children alone. Although there were 24 windows open, each queue was still quite long.

"Vivian!"

A familiar voice made Vivian instinctively turn her head, and seeing that surprised little face, Vivian too smiled: "Shirley!"

Children of commoners and slaves had no real 'childhood' to speak of; starting work at four to earn their keep. Although only eight, Vivian was already a seasoned worker of four years.

Shirley was her workmate, sharing 15-hour workdays, spending more time together than with their neighbors.

Seeing a familiar face, Vivian’s tension and unease eased significantly, her face showing a relaxed and hopeful smile: "I just heard we're going to receive our work supplies, what do you think they will be?"

"Clothes!" A childish voice interrupted, startling Vivian, who looked up in awe at the girl before her.

Alice, Vivian recognized her, was a maid of the lord, responsible for distributing honey buns and red bean cakes.

Though a maid was still a slave, there was a vast difference among slaves!

Someone like Alice, who worked directly for the lord, was considered above both commoners and slaves, a person of higher status.

"Alice the Great—"

Just as Vivian was about to bow, she was frantically stopped by Alice: "Don't do that, it would anger the lord!"

Vivian: "!!!"

This phrase worked like magic, and Vivian immediately straightened up.

Alice said, "Just call me Alice. If we're lucky, we'll be workmates for many years!"

Shirley, more familiar with Alice, eagerly asked without much reserve: "Clothes? Are you talking about the kind of clothes I'm thinking of?"

The keyword "clothes" caused everyone around to perk up their ears, unable to divert their attention from the conversation.

Alice puffed out her chest proudly: "The lord said we are his workers, representing his image. So, for this training, everyone will receive two sets of uniforms. We must wear them while working."

"They're made of fabric!"

"Wow!!!"

Alice's statement immediately provoked a chorus of amazed exclamations, the children's voices merging like waves, yet no one found it noisy.

"Two sets?!"

"Yes! The lord said, if one gets dirty, you have another to change into. We must keep ourselves clean and not disgrace him!"

Children who had never owned a new set of clothes immediately burst out: "I'm very clean! I'll wash my clothes every day to keep them spotless!"

The city of Lansville was so poor that even merchant caravans stopped visiting, as there was little profit to be made. The commoners had very limited means to acquire clothing. Animal fur was too precious, and fabric too expensive. Their clothes were either handed down through generations or made from leaves and vines they found themselves.

Vivian's own clothes were made from Ji Ji grass. Its fine leaves had tiny fuzz that needed to be sun-dried and then repeatedly beaten to remove most of the fuzz. She had to wrap her palms with leaves and pull off the fuzz from each blade.

But leaves wore out quickly, tearing after just a dozen strokes, and carelessness resulted in many tiny cuts on her hands.

The fuzz was fine and the cuts small, but only noticed when sweat stung the dozens, sometimes hundreds of wounds – a minor pain that, accumulated, was quite unbearable!

Moreover, Ji Ji grass provided no warmth, necessitating many layers during winter.

Once winter passed, the rainy spring would ruin the clothes. However, Vivian liked this season as she could sometimes find mushrooms growing on her clothes in the morning, providing enough for breakfast if they were plentiful.

Damp Ji Ji grass couldn't be used for clothing, so enough had to be made during the dry autumn for both winter and spring. Throughout autumn, Vivian's hands were in constant pain.

Her brother told her it would get better by age 10, when the increasing scars would turn into thick calluses, making the process painless.

Vivian started stripping Ji Ji grass at age two, being the "most idle" member of the family.

Before her, it was her brother, and before him, her sister. Once they were old enough to work for their keep and younger siblings were born, the task of stripping grass was passed down.

Like other children her age, Vivian began shouldering the family's Ji Ji grass burden as soon as she could walk.

She spent her days cutting Ji Ji grass, drying, beating it, and then painstakingly removing the dense fuzz by hand.

Initially, she wasn’t thorough, and her older siblings had to re-strip the grass in the dark after returning from work.

Though tiny, the little fluffs were prickly! Carelessness could result in a body covered with tiny wounds, turning work into a form of torture when sweating.

Vivian had never worn fabric clothes, but she had seen them!

Alice, working at the castle, wore clothes made of fabric!

Even though they were just black and white, they were far prettier than the dull yellow of Ji Ji grass clothes.

Every time she went to collect food, seeing the servants’ soft, billowing clothes stirred deep envy in her.

Secretly, Vivian dreamt of becoming a lord's maid, to wear such soft and beautiful clothes.

"My goodness..." Vivian covered her mouth in amazement, her words tumbling out in excitement, "Can I, I, I also wear such clothes?!"

Alice's reaction to receiving her maid outfit for the first time was even more exaggerated than Vivian's. She too started stripping Ji Ji grass at two, enduring sleepless nights from the painful hands. So, she profoundly understood Vivian’s excitement.

Alice's face flushed with excitement as she joyfully said, "Even prettier than a maid's uniform! It's blue! Have you seen the color of the sky? It's that beautiful blue!"

"Wow!!!"

Wave after wave of exclamations, like unending ripples, washed away the children's anxiety and nervousness. They fixed their eyes on the window about to open, faces full of anticipation.

Finally, after all the children had reported and lined up, the window, which had been tightly shut, opened amid the eager anticipation of the crowd.

A doll, no bigger than an adult's palm, peeked out: "Jane, the six-year-old redhead." Since commoners and slaves had no surnames, and literacy was low, names were often repeated, necessitating additional descriptors to differentiate the many "Janes."

The little girl at the front, hearing her name, nervously exclaimed, "Yes, yes, sir!"

Although it had been only a few days, being addressed respectfully, a rarity, softened the usually stern face of the bandit Nick, who, following training protocol, added a bit more warmth to his forced smile: "Good child, these are your work items. Take good care of them."

As he spoke, a package flew from behind, landing steadily in front of redhead Jane.

The package was black, highly dirt-resistant, but Jane, having heard from Alice about the "clothes" inside, was too nervous to know what to do.

She rubbed her hands on her dress repeatedly, but without soap or soapnuts, and only washing with water, some stains could never be fully cleaned, leaving her hands far from "pristine."

Impatience flickered across Nick's face, though he quickly recalled his "training" and forced back a "gentle smile," but sharp-eyed Jane caught the fleeting expression.

Jane, no longer mindful of her dirty hands, immediately hugged the package, saying, "Yes, yes, sir!"

"Next, Anna, the 9-year-old living by the river with black hair."

Though the queue was randomly arranged, such conveniences are typical in a magical world.

"Here, here, sir!"

Anna, not daring to delay, immediately embraced the package flying towards her and then followed the arrows on the ground to the next station.

Vivian, Shirley, and Alice, though not in the same queue, were not far apart. So, after receiving their packages at the next queuing point, they ended up together.

"Kelly, Anna..."

In front of her was another palm-sized doll; Vivian wasn't clear about its origin, but like everyone in the domain, she guessed it was controlled by the Lord.

Executed Gis, whose body tirelessly worked for the city's cleanliness and order as an undead, had his soul stuffed into this doll.

The dolls all looked similar, belonging to the same batch of stolen goods. Although they were somewhat problematic due to the passage of time, considering the psychological acceptance of the children, Fairos had the maids clean them up and change them into bright new yellow school uniforms. Although still only a change from 19 to 59 points, at least they wouldn't scare the children into crying.

After being uniformly dressed, the dolls looked very similar; the biggest difference was their voices.

Vivian held a glimmer of hope, seemingly longing to hear Gis's voice—to find him, become stronger, and seek revenge.

"…Vivian, Shelly, Alice, Helen."

Vivian, whose name was called, snapped back to reality and immediately shouted, "Here!"

Six names made up a group. Once called, a pink key flew in front of them.

"3033, go to that building's third floor, put your things away, and then gather."

The children looked at each other, somewhat bewildered. They still thought they were here to work, but cleaning tools like brooms hadn't been given to them yet!

"Let's go, it's the staff dormitory."

Alice, who worked at the lord's mansion, heard more news than others.

Slaves and wanderers had no homes, and a large portion of the civilians didn't have their own houses either, so the "training base" adopted a boarding system.

"Dormitory?" The concept of "employee benefits" was unheard of in the original Dayak City, and this was the first time they had heard of something called "employee dormitories."

As they wondered, a towering building appeared before them, seemingly out of nowhere.

It wasn't exactly "suddenly appearing"; to be precise, it had always been there, but they just hadn't noticed it for some reason.

After being "guided", they belatedly realized its presence.

The children were first startled, then awestruck by the majestic and spectacular complex of buildings.

"Wow!!!"

The first thing that appeared before their eyes was a large iron gate dominated by black and purple hues, with pale pink spiky roses twining around it. The fresh, dewy petals contrasted sharply with the cold iron bars. Looking through the gaps between the leaves and flowers, numerous buildings, both beautiful and majestic, came into view. Rather than "dormitories," they were more like a cluster of castles.

A winding, clear stream divided the area into three sections. The boys' dormitory, covered in vines and greenery, was located both underwater and atop high mountains, comprising fifteen buildings of various sizes with a total of over a thousand rooms.

The sound of flowing water, numerous bridges shrouded in mist in the bisexual area, no tall buildings, but each house reflected the aesthetics and customs of different races, from treehouses to cloud cities.

The number of dual-gender "employees" was small, but for future considerations, Fairos had still designated a specific area for them.

The girls' dormitory, adorned with various dazzling flowers and swings, featured buildings each with a different floral theme - pink, red, purple, yellow, white… Some were enveloped in a flurry of pink petals with the wind, while others stood serenely elegant, detached from the world.

All dormitories were fully equipped with single, double, quadruple, sextuple, and octuple rooms.

Currently, only the octuple, sextuple, and quadruple rooms were open. Children aged 4-6 were housed in octuple rooms for mutual care, and those aged 7-12 in sextuple rooms to avoid overcrowding.

Children over 13 had more private space and were accommodated in quadruple rooms.

As for the double and single rooms, they were not open for now and reserved as rewards for "outstanding employees."

Vivian and her group received keys to sextuple rooms, and the girls of similar age in the same dormitory felt a sense of trust and reliance in each other's presence amidst the magnificent architecture.

"Kids, this is where you'll study, work, eat, and rest from now on. The boys' dormitory is the one with the spire; the girls' dormitory is here, and the middle one is for the intersex."

A group of dolls, only slightly larger than an adult's palm, stood at the dormitory entrance to "welcome" the young staff.

Becoming an extraordinary being depended on talent, but for some reason, women, seen as a resource themselves, had a higher attrition rate, making it much harder for them compared to men.

There were no female extraordinaries in the civil service or the city defense forces, whereas the bandits had 15 female extraordinaries.

The dormitory supervisors and cleaners for the girls' dormitory could only be women, even if the doll-shaped souls lacked such functions!

"Follow me," a cold, indifferent female voice emanated from the doll, but the girls, accustomed to such harshness, quietly and orderly followed her.

"My name is Soma, the cleaning squad leader responsible for the Rose Zone. You can ask me anything you don't understand while staying here."

All of them were reformed bandits, and being a squad leader among the cleaners was already quite an achievement. Naturally, roles like "dormitory supervisor" were out of her reach.

Upon hearing the title "squad leader," Vivian's expression became even more quietly obedient.

Alice was no exception.

In the castle, aside from the talented few chosen to become extraordinaries, "lucky ones," the other servants were selected for their youth, beauty, and handsomeness. With heavy workloads and short rest periods, servants aged quickly and were replaced by younger, more attractive ones after reaching the "shelf life" of 30 years.

Alice was originally very anxious, appearing thin and small, not even a meter tall, but she was already an eight-year-old child! An eight-year-old couldn't do much work and also hadn't fully grown in facial features, leaving little chance to continue working in the castle.

But working in the fields, her lack of talent made living to 13 a challenge, requiring good looks, which was too difficult!

She was always fearful and uneasy, dreading the work in the fields.

Before Fairos arrived, the concept of a "dormitory" was nonexistent for the servants at the lord's mansion.

Being able to sleep under eaves and corridors, in a place that could barely shelter from wind and rain, was already far better than what most slaves had!

Although eaves and corridors couldn't shield them from all the weather and snowflakes, the slaves working in the fields had nothing at all. Compared to them, those working in the castle were indeed very fortunate!

Therefore, they worked desperately, hoping not to be sent back to the fields after turning 30.

——The illusion of never being sent back to the fields was too unrealistic, so their ultimate goal was just to make it to the brink of 30.

For Alice, under the previous lord, she was just a disposable laborer toiling in the fields, an orphaned young female slave at the very bottom of the food chain.

Even just for a few days, she almost didn't make it!

The fields had nothing, but with the arrival of Master Fairos, even the lord's mansion got "employee dormitories."

The day after the lord moved into the castle, he ordered the cleaning of dozens of rooms. Although they were remote, they were spotlessly clean, thanks to over a hundred male and female servants tirelessly cleaning day and night.

Rolls and rolls of curtain cloth were moved out of the storerooms to serve as temporary mattresses and blankets.

Then she planned to have the carpenters make bunk beds, slowly perfecting the "male servant dormitory" and "female servant dormitory."

Not just Alice, even the servants who had been working in the castle for a long time were surprised.

The servants working at the lord's mansion thought their treatment was already good, but with their limited imaginations, they couldn't envision someone would provide them with a room to shelter from the weather, a bed, and a blanket…

But along with the surprise, a stronger and more intense desire to survive emerged.

She didn't want to die; she wanted to continue working for the lord!

However, in the end, Alice couldn't stay in the castle.

Because Fairos said, "I want you to do more profitable work for me, work well."

Alice, along with the other young slaves, was sent here.

Upon hearing the command, Alice neither cried nor pleaded. The ingrained 'obedience' of the slave system made her compliantly follow the orders to this place.

She just hadn't expected this place to be so beautiful! Even more splendid than the lord's mansion!

She was dizzy, her steps as unsteady as if struck by luck.

"Keep an eye on the keys you're holding. Find the room with the matching symbol on your key; that's where you'll be spending the next few years."

A group of girls were left behind, then the doll led the other children upstairs.

Uneasily watching a bunch of little girls being led to the fourth floor, the remaining children hesitated in their gazes, but none cried out.

"Let's go, first we'll check out our workplace," Alice instinctively felt that this castle would be their area of responsibility from now on.

"I clean windows really well! Even the Lord has praised me for it!"

Alice's words drew envious glances from the other five girls, gradually easing their nervous and anxious emotions.

Although these children were only seven or eight years old, they spent much more time working than playing or sleeping – a fact that was somehow more comforting.

The girls of Unit 3033, hand in hand, carefully matched their keys to the numbers on the doors.

Words hold power; mystical texts are not things whose meanings can be arbitrarily established.

While each nation and race on this continent had its own language and script, they all inherently embodied power.

The script of the Unalia Empire was complex, with over thirty strokes in the number 3033, a pattern too intricate for them to immediately memorize.

"This should be it..." Despite many checks, they were still not entirely sure.

"Try the key."

Alice, deemed the bravest for having spoken to the Lord, steeled herself and inserted the key.

As she turned her wrist, the lock clicked crisply, emitting a "click."

The six children simultaneously exhaled a sigh of relief.

The door opened to reveal a room with two storage cabinets, three bunk beds, three benches, and six stools.

The room was small, a 20-square-meter space divided into resting, studying, and washing areas, with a low threshold separating the washing area. Each dormitory was equipped with a washbasin, shower, and toilet, all visible at a glance.

But even under such conditions, in the eyes of the children, it still seemed like "a place befitting nobility"! There was absolutely no sense of "this is my dormitory."

The six of them exchanged looks, wondering what there was to clean in such a neat and tidy room.

Just then, the sound of the broadcast echoed: "All employees, please hurry to change into your work attire, grab your tool bags, and assemble at the front playground of the dormitory building before 8 o'clock."

"I repeat, all staff..."

The children: "!!!"

Every dormitory window was open, allowing a clear view of the large clock outside.

The clock, enchanted with magic, allowed one to know the exact time instantly, even without knowing how to read time.

"Oh no, it's already 7:30!"

They weren't sure how much time was left until 8 o'clock, but the short hand on the clock was very close to the "8," prompting everyone to speed up.

Vivian opened her package, but to her surprise, there were no clothes inside. She froze in shock, thinking she had accidentally dropped them, but then a card fell out.

Although still confused, she instinctively bent down to pick it up.

"Huh—"

In the brief moment of bending and standing back up, the "new dress" she had put on to impress the lord had still "disappeared."

The coarse sensation of the Jijicao grass, occasionally prickling the skin, was gone, replaced by a comfortable, snug, and warm softness.

"Vivian, you—"

When Sherry saw Vivian's clothes, her eyes widened in surprise, but Vivian, following the sound, was equally stunned by Sherry's attire.

"Sherry, your clothes—"

All six children in the dormitory noticed the changes in their companions' appearances.

"Is this... is this magic?" Vivian stiffened, cautiously extending her limbs, fearing her rough skin might spoil or soil the comfortable and beautiful clothes.

In the dormitory, there were mirrors only at the washstands, but they couldn't reflect the whole body, so they could only imagine how they looked by observing the clothes on others.

The work uniform, or rather the school uniform, wasn't designed like baggy sportswear by Phelos, but considering practicality and functionality, the style of a suit skirt was also passed over.

Ultimately, Phelos chose a design that was a simplified and optimized version of the Mage Set [Twilight's End (Mythical)] and the Assassin Set 【Dark Raven (Mythical)].

Regardless of gender, the main color of the uniform was black, embellished with other colors for distinction: red for ages 4-6, silver for 7-12, and purple for 13-18.

Phelos also prepared gold trim and edging for the "top student", but selecting the "top student" was a matter for the next semester.

Shirts, vests, belts, trousers, robes, socks, boots - this whole set left 99% of the students clueless about where to start with the pile of fabric.

Phelos simply used magic to turn the entire school uniform into an "one-click outfit".

Once you've worn it once, you could generally manage to put it back on after taking it off; after class, just try it on a few times to get the hang of it.

"Oh no, the time!"

There were many more astonishing aspects of this room, but not daring to waste even a second, they hurriedly took out their "tool bags", tidied up the rest of their things in a corner behind the door, and rushed to the assembly point.

The sight of thousands of students in identical uniforms rushing out of the dorms was undeniably striking. Phelos, standing atop the school's tallest bell tower, watched the bustling scene like a drill exercise, motionless for a long time.

Louis's heart skipped a beat, knowing Phelos disliked noise and fearing he'd become a scapegoat. Just as he was about to quiet them down, he was shocked to see a rare, tolerant smile on the usually indifferent face of Phelos.

This, this must be some kind of extreme anger!

Philos ignored Louis's frenzy, easily forgiving him in his good mood.

Children, they are the future.

This lifeless city, at last, was welcoming vitality.