Black Heart Chapter Five

There was no remark on Malicia having missed meals, but she couldn't say as to whether that was because it had approval from the elder Ravensworths to begin with or if it was simply because such things were beneath their notice and of no particular consequence. It hardly mattered which. Even if it turned out that the butler did not have direct permission, there was no chance that they would countermand actions and damage his authority in the long term over a small matter like Malicia's training.

Time passed. Frustrating as it was to know that if a monster happened to disengage from Adrian's training and make a break for her, she was not supposed to act in her own defense... such a repeat offense would be a great failure on the part of the guards as well, or so it seemed. With them having no intention of allowing another monster to reach Malicia, she shouldn't have to concern herself with making sure to run instead of fighting, after all.

Much more troubling was the fact that Adrian had found the duel with Malicia far more exciting than fighting against monsters that had often been drugged or poisoned in advance to make sure that they fought poorly.

The fact that she had actually won in the end was the biggest point in her favor on that front. That wasn't really a surprise. While the monsters were training materials specifically because they could be a threat, every effort had been made to ensure that they weren't threatening. Thus, the outcome had never been in doubt. Rather than risking anything... it was closer to spearing fish in a prepared basin. Still potentially challenging, but clearly for practice rather than for a practical result and there was no chance of the fish slipping away into deeper waters.

With that in mind, how couldn't he be happier about the training duel where he had actually lost, against everyone's expectations?

It was a problem for Malicia, since the butler had made it quite clear just what results actually participating in combat training instead of healing would bring her, even without verbally forbidding it. Fortunately, that meant that he was just as invested in redirecting the younger son's attention, as it didn't seem like he was shameless enough to blame Malicia for the results of a situation that he had set up to attempt to bully her.

Adrian's training progressed ahead of schedule from killing weak monsters to matches against older and more experienced guardsmen and militia members.

Was that an unusual flow of training? No, not really, once Malicia thought about it. The sort of monsters that got brought in were generally weak enough that it was to be expected that a single individual with half-decent training or some modest advantages should win in a one on one match. The only thing that put it in doubt and required the effort put in to make certain of it was Adrian's age. If an adult swordsman wasn't able to come out victorious after coming in fresh to engagements against singular E-rank monsters like this, it would be a mark of deep shame.

But with that being said, Malicia still naturally stuck in his mind as the one who first demonstrated that the world wouldn't always naturally result in his victory. It seemed like he wouldn't be able to rest easily until he had a chance to challenge that opponent again... which would be fine by Malicia if only the opponent in question wasn't Malicia herself. Or rather, if actually having a practice match with the younger boy wouldn't lead to trouble for her. If the butler wasn't going to cause issues afterward, then she'd gladly play with Adrian... but she and the butler didn't get along well enough for Malicia to eve propose scheming to have her undergo and orchestrated loss in order to have his interest naturally move on, never mind him overlooking actual and legitimate practice matches.

Was it because the younger son's amusement wasn't worth the risk that Malicia might enjoy the bout as well, or was it just a genuine focus on keeping Malicia aimed towards developing her healing skills and those alone? She still couldn't say for sure. Everything had been just barely ambiguous enough that Malicia couldn't feel confident about which was the true aim of that butler...

Fortunately, there were other things that Malicia was expected to learn, 'as a noble', and those lessons came during tutoring alongside the elder son Edward. Though she started off years behind him, she was able to catch up... to some degree.

"The Sage Elocutoria wrote several dissertations during the reign of Emperor Caius the third, father to our current Emperor, Richard the Bold. In her dissertation 'On Society', she declared one specific declaration during Emperor Caius' early reign as being the most pivotal action of importance throughout its entirety. Provided you have read the dissertation in question, or at the least a clear and succinct summary thereof, you should be familiar with this statement. Would you care to elaborate on the declaration in question, Miss Malicia?" the tutor droned, his very voice sounding dusty and decrepit.

That one was...

"The referenced declaration was the abolishment of the Serf caste, setting a plan in motion to convert the established Serf population of the Empire into commoners over the course of a decade." Malicia responded firmly.

There were quite a lot of opinions about that, as she recalled. The tutor nodded, confirming that she had recalled correctly.

"Indeed. This was a highly divisive declaration at the time, of course. Many noble houses were in favor of the reclassification movement, while many others were heavily against it. Even when it came to the Serfs themselves, there were a number who objected to the reclassification... even to this day, there are some people around who recall the time that they were Serfs, and of those, some resent it even now." the tutor lectured, stroking a long and wispy beard. "However, Emperor Caius did not budge on the position, and rather than being forced to delay the reclassification, managed to push the completion through multiple years ahead of schedule. Though it can be assumed that he planned the time-frame with generous leeway in case of unforeseen events, of course."

He took a moment to cough into his hand and then sip some water.

"Now, to demonstrate a full understanding of the declaration in question, its aims and results and the finer details, the two of you will debate it as though the results of your argument would determine whether the declaration would be made at all. Picture yourselves as advisors to the Emperor Caius." the tutor instructed. "Miss Malicia, you will be arguing from a position of desiring the retention of the Serf social class. Young master Edward, you shall be arguing for its abolishment, and introducing the members into society as commoners. Take a few moments to mentally compose your arguments."

Ah. How kind of the man, to assign to Malicia the role of arguing for the side of things that historically lost. Well, which stopped fighting at least. A lot of nobility, particularly in the North, were far from pleased to no longer have Serfs.

That was, in truth, because a Serf could essentially be considered a loose equivalent of a slave. Oh, they could not be bought and sold as chattel, no, but... a Serf's rights were few enough in number that it was comparable. A Serf could not move from one village to another as they willed, could not choose their work, would only be allowed a percentage of the fruits of their labor sufficient to survive off of, all the rest of which was the rightful proceeds of their liege-lord...

About the only benefit to being a Serf was that in truly lean times, the Lord would have to make arrangements to feed their Serfs enough for them to live, while commoners were allowed to starve in the streets with not a finger lifted. Also, the taxes were usually higher per-head for commoners, given that they were calculated in currency rather than the goods produced directly.

If she were to argue the case... ah. The tutor was tired of waiting and was waving for them to go ahead. With a glance at Edward... he conceded the opening to her, leaving her with less time to formulate her position. Typical. Well, if she was taking the historical losing argument...

"Agriculture is the backbone of the Empire." Malicia opened. "No matter the kingdom, we all rely on having strong local food production. In the areas where that core production is more difficult to ensure, such as the North, Serfs become all the more important. Tell me, just who do you imagine will be willing to undergo back-breaking labor to till the frozen earth only for a meager harvest? Without their Serfs the North will starve and wither away."

"Elevating the Serfdom to Commoners does grant them the right to choose their preferred method of seeking wealth." Edward replied, feigning agreement with the point but wasting no time in pushing the 'freedom of choice' rhetoric that the Emperor Caius had refused to back down on back when he made the declaration to begin with. "It is because of that ability to choose their labors that the North can become wealthier in coin and trade goods and use these increased revenues to purchase food from kingdoms where it is more plentiful. The South, for example."

"While the North's food production is low, the Serfs ensure that it is stable and consistent." Malicia shot back. "Reliance on the goodwill of a distant market for the vital purchase of food items is inherently unstable! That says nothing of the concerns of travel time and spoilage, when the simple fact of distance between the North and South is taken into consideration. Whatever by-weight agreement might be made to purchase food in the South will by the nature of perishable goods have inflated significantly by the time those shipments arrive in the North."

"I would not wish it said that I do not appreciate your concerns. Let us return to the issue of local food production, then." Edward pivoted. "It is your opinion that local workers will be unwilling to farm in the North without Serfdom making it compulsory as a mandate from their lords. What is required, then, is to make the farming itself a more enticing option for commoner laborers. As to the difficulty and inherent reward of Northern agriculture, there is little that can be done about that and as such the enticement must come of other angles. Subsidies to ensure that local crops are purchased at a more generous price than imported goods, or perhaps a formal agreement regarding the reduction of taxes..."

"And how many Northerners are you willing to watch starve as such agreements are brokered and shipments are purchased?" Malicia quickly responded.

... If she were to speak frankly, the days lesson was something of a mess and Malicia suspected that the tutor was putting in less than the regular effort into things.

It was still decent, admittedly. It was important for a noble to recognize politically divisive issues such as this and be able to echo the statements made by their own leadership, but... in this case, echoing was all this debate was. This was an argument that had already taken place hundreds of times early on into the previous Emperor's reign, trotted out and repeated over and over again until the people arguing for the reinstatement of Serfdom gave up and sat back to simply grumble about how this wasn't how it had been done before and how they just knew that it would turn out terribly, just you wait.

It wasn't formulating and defending new ideas. This was just a demonstration that, yes, the both of them had done the required reading and could repeat the arguments that had been made long ago if pushed.

... Ah. At a closer look, there was a redness in the tutor's eyes that wasn't mistakable when taken in concert with the man's lack of focus.

So he'd been drinking the night before and came to lecture while still hung-over, then. Well, that made sense enough. Malicia didn't think that she or Edward were going to complain about an easy going-through-the-motions lesson now and again.