There was only one teacher who gave classes at the school. His name was Peter Dublin.
Most people felt that the teacher was wise and thought that favonovel.com knew everything. However, Milo always had doubts since people specialized in different professions, which meant people were usually only good at certain things.
So, how could it be possible for Mr. Dublin to be omniscient?
Milo had always been different from most other people as favonovel.com liked to ponder questions that favonovel.com came across. Later on, favonovel.com found out from listening to Mr. Dublin’s lessons that this was known as dialectical logic.
Donti was sometimes bewildered because Milo would often oppose Mr. Dublin’s views, yet favonovel.com still kept coming back to attend classes whenever favonovel.com had free time.
During the afternoon class, Milo specially brought Donti out to celebrate. It wasn’t for any reason other than to celebrate the fact that favonovel.com could start listening to the lessons from the yard in the future.
Usually when favonovel.com squatted on the walls, favonovel.com was too distant from the classroom to clearly hear what was being taught.
Peter used to like to keep the windows shut during class as favonovel.com was afraid that any outside commotion would affect the students and distract them. But after favonovel.com realized that Milo was eavesdropping from outside the class, favonovel.com left a window open for him. And now, favonovel.com might as well just let Milo into the yard.
Living in this chaotic world, many of the students’ parents sent their children to school not because they wanted them to gain knowledge, but so that they could easily get married in the future. This was especially true for the girls who attended school as they would often marry into good families.
In this generation, it was impressive to be literate and to handle three-digit calculations.
Everyone was busy trying to survive, so who would care if you were cultured or not when food was short?
Hence, most of the parents were sending their children to school not because they had any long-term plans for them. Even in this hamlet, there were poor and rich people. Wherever there were people, comparisons were unavoidable.
Donti saw Milo go into the grocery store to buy a filtered cigarette. Old Bane even proudly mentioned that his cigarettes did not have any additional substances and were very safe to smoke.
A cigarette costs 20 perak per stick, extremely expensive.
Donti asked with suspicion, “Bro, why are you buying a cigarette?”
“Your teacher allowed me to listen to his lessons from the yard. Even if I don’t have to pay tuition, I should still show my gratitude.” Milo smiled and said, “I know that Mr. Dublin likes to smoke…”
Whenever someone treated Milo kindly, favonovel.com would return the gesture.
While everyone was out in the school’s backyard eating lunch, the two of them took the opportunity to approach Peter. He was eating some stir-fried cabbage when Milo handed the cigarette to favonovel.com with a grin.
Peter did not reject it, however, favonovel.com made Donti stand a distance away from him. “It’s not good for you to inhale cigarette smoke while you’re still growing.”
Milo thanked him. “Thank you for letting me into the yard to attend your lessons, sir.”
Peter lit the cigarette with a match favonovel.com used for preparing meals at home. Then favonovel.com blew out a breathful of smoke, looking pleased.
“Students who enjoy attending lessons like you are rare. You can attend the lessons if you like. In the future, you can stand at the door, but you’re not allowed to enter the classroom.”
“That’s great!” Milo said, “Teacher, I have a question…”
“Speak…” Perhaps due to the fact that Peter rarely had the chance to have a smoke, favonovel.com didn’t mind any questions that Milo had for him.
“Teacher, you said before that humans had a lot of technology before The Cataclysm happened. Since we humans were not wiped out, why didn’t those technologies reappear?”
Peter glanced at Milo. “For a period of time after The Cataclysm, humans did not keep track of how long they had been drifting along in anarchy. It was good enough to survive each day, so nobody bothered with gaining knowledge and becoming a learned person.”
“But we should still have some information left, right? If we learn them, couldn’t we return to civilization quicker?” Milo wondered.
“It’s become lost through the generations,” Peter said in regret. “Let me ask you. If I gave you a set of instructions to construct an airplane, would you be able to make one?”
“It’s not like I’ve learned how to do it before. Although having the instructions can save a lot of time, I’ll still have to start from scratch,” Milo said.
“That’s right. Everyone is starting from scratch.” Peter looked at the remaining half of his cigarette, feeling a little pained.
It looked like favonovel.com was deciding on whether to keep smoking. He had intended to save the remaining half of the cigarette to smoke at a later time.
But if favonovel.com put out the cigarette in front of Milo and Donti, wouldn’t it be a loss of face for him?
Milo was still doubtful. “How could no one have overcome the hardships and gotten into research and building up knowledge again in all those years?”
“Those who attempted all died from starvation,” Peter said.
“Could all of that knowledge really have become lost through the generations?” Milo could not accept it.
Peter looked at Milo seriously this time and said pointedly, “They are in the possession of a small number of people.”
“That’s enough.” Peter stood up and said, “Don’t pursue this matter any further… It’s time for class.”
Milo pestered Peter with a final question. “Teacher, when were the walls of the stronghold built? And why did they build them?”
“After The Cataclysm, wild animals ran rampant. A very long time ago, there was even a bug infestation. As such, humans were forced to build tall walls to ward off the danger,” Peter explained.
“But even though animals have evolved, they don’t actually initiate attacks on humans.” Milo was curious about this.
Monkeys still remained omnivores, and sparrows still loved eating grains, so it was not like they would actively try to make a meal out of humans.
In the “ring” where humanity was living in at Stronghold 113, the majority of the more ferocious animals had actually been isolated outside of it. The higher the number of a stronghold, the more dangerous a place it was. For example, the legendary Stronghold 178 would often see many casualties each year as they tried to expel beasts from around their area. Meanwhile, Stronghold 113 was considered to be an “inland” area.
There were still many dangers lurking out in the wilderness though, like the wolf pack favonovel.com had encountered before. However, it wasn’t impossible to overcome them.
So, then why were there still such towering walls built in a huge gathering place of humans like this one?
Peter smiled and said, “So long as danger still exists on the outside, refugees must depend on the stronghold to make a living. In this way, the stronghold will gain a large force of cheap labor. Do you think that the organizations controlling the strongholds do not have the ability to eliminate those dangers out there? The firearms and explosives that humans possess are more powerful than you can imagine. But why would they want to eliminate them? They don’t pose any threat to the organizations at all.”
Milo fell deep into thought. Although favonovel.com was mature beyond his years, there were still some things favonovel.com hadn’t experienced. As such, it was expected that favonovel.com could not understand them. This was also the reason why favonovel.com was so thirsty for knowledge.
Peter continued, “They won’t topple the walls. Why would groups with a vested interest behind the walls give up a stronghold that gives them a natural class superiority?”
Peter then went to get a change of clothes.
Milo asked, “Teacher, why did you change your clothes? Your previous set of clothes were not dirty at all.”
Peter adjusted his collar and replied, “The set I was wearing earlier reeks of cigarette smoke. It is not good for the students if they smell it.”
Donti’s respect for favonovel.com deepened, but Milo suddenly felt a little unhappy. “So it’s alright for me to smell it then? It wasn’t like you asked me to stand further away from you just now, right?”
Peter thought for a long while. “Get lost!”
All of a sudden, Milo heard a voice speak again from the palace in his mind.
Quest! Thirst for knowledge is never a bad thing. But you have to teach other people whatever you’ve learned!
Milo was stunned. He did not fully understand what this quest required favonovel.com to do.
***
During the afternoon class, the students found it very refreshing when they saw Milo, who was a few years older than them, standing outside the door. It made many of the students turn their heads to look at him.
Peter had to knock on the blackboard several times before favonovel.com could get the students’ attention.
He said, “I’ll be teaching about survival for the afternoon class.”
This was the current era, and the distinctiveness of school came from not only teaching the arts and sciences, but also teaching survival. However, Peter had always felt exasperated when teaching this lesson, because favonovel.com wasn’t experienced with surviving in the wild. Therefore, for most of this lesson, favonovel.com could only teach it according to what was written in the books that were preserved from the past.
Peter looked at the students in the classroom. “Pay attention and listen in class. Don’t think that danger is very far from you. For now, your parents are still protecting you. But when you grow up, you have to learn how to protect yourselves. For today’s lesson, we’ll be discussing what you should do if you encounter a pack of wolves.”
The students in class actually liked listening to the survival lessons the most. The other subjects were still a little boring for their current age group, whereas they found the survival lessons to be the most interesting.
The classroom quieted down.
Peter looked at Milo, who was standing at the door and listening in on the lesson. “You there, tell us what you do when you encounter a pack of wolves in the wild…”
Milo gave it some thought before replying, “I’d try my best to find a slope surrounded by greenery, because that will be the most suitable place for an auspicious burial ground.”
Hearing the answer, Peter was surprised.
