victory_road | 67th treasure [text]

[Ash would normally be very much in favor of rat talk (Sharp and Shade are, objectively, superior to every other rat out there), but today he has Thoughts and Questions.]

A shame, that. Buying them directly from the source would be far more efficient than waiting for Bouncy or Stripes to pick them up.

I don't think humans can have the ability itself, not really, but they sure can pay great attention to details and be talented at finding items that are out of place. Or at snatching them from their rightful owners, if that's the case.

I would normally not believe that a human could have the ability of another creature, yet the individual that I am thinking of seems particularly talented at it?

The Professor at my academy found everything from simple wooden buttons, to overcoats, to books, to a simple flower, and they were able to return such things to their owners.

Granted, their process for the returning of items was often to begin taking things out from their pockets and sleeves to show you them one by one, until you saw something familiar.

Teachers are supposed to have eyes in the back of their head, so maybe they also have a pair fixed on the floor?

Are you sure they weren't simply responsible for the lost and found box, and just particularly proactive when it came to the 'found' part? Even if that's just asking for fraudulent claims.

I do not believe the academy had a lost and found box. We merely had an advice box, where the clergy and professors could give you advice if you submitted a small card. I heard it had a varied effect.

[He might have used it, don't worry about it]

From what I understand, things were simply left on the ground or dropped in places, and they just kept a hold of them?</font?

Really? That's interesting. It makes sense that a religious school would care for its students's personal progress beyond their grades, but I didn't expect it to be tailored so directly to each pupil.

[His own high school was nice, but not that nice.]

They just... kept everything until they found an item's rightful owner? For their sake, I hope you guys weren't too absent-minded, or that your world's fashion favors large bags and pockets.

It was also a school where the vast majority of students were from noble houses, or the families of knights and merchants. When it was active, it was meant to be a uniting place for the future of three different countries to mingle and unite with one another.

And yes, I believe that is how they did it. I am not certain how much they kept on their person on any given day, but, from what I understood from the gossip which regularly circled the school about them, they would find around a good dozen items in a single month.

Fortunately, they seemed to be mostly small items such as what I described to you. Necklaces, books, little things like that. The largest items I ever saw them carry, at least that I can recall, were a large overcoat and a bow sheath.

I wish I could say I was more on top of things, but I am afraid I was careless on a couple of occasions as well.

Oh, so it was a fancy, probably expensive religious school, then, with strong family legacies to boot. The sort of place where the administration has much to gain from happy, fulfilled students, and also receives the amount of donations necessary to offer that sort of service. That explains it.

How many students were you? A dozen items a month is a lot more alarming if you were a few dozen than if you were a thousand. Then again, the pocket space remains the same no matter what, so maybe that didn't matter much to your teacher, as long as the necklaces outnumbered the coats.

Aptly described. Of course, it was to their benefit as well if they knew a bit more about what their students were thinking and experiencing. I can only speak for my own country with any true knowledge, but the Church of Seiros was quite intent on having a finger on the pulse of the continent.

Not that it helped them avoid destruction in the end when war broke out, of course.

[If only the church could have been as overbearing to the Empire as they were to the Kingdom.... He's going to get aggravated soon, maybe he should stop thinking about this.]

On average, there would be twenty or thirty students to each house, of which there were three. I never did a proper count, back then, and my memory may be fuzzy due to the passage of time, but I would hazard a guess of around 100 students, perhaps.

Then again, our year was a particularly notable one. Many children from noble, knightly, and merchant families were attending. Depending on the year and activities of the different families, I imagine the number would be much less.

No amount of information and no good intentions are enough to stave off war, when facing a sufficiently determined foe. But if their knowledge and preparations helped keep even one person safe, I'd say they did well.

A relatively small school, then, if a hundred students was a busy year. Then again, it's not like nobles and rich people are the majority of any population. If I kept finding so many lost items so regularly, I'd be tempted to tie or tape them to their owners to avoid further incidents.

No one ever told me I'd have the patience necessary to be a teacher, funnily enough.

[If the knowledge and preparations helped to keep even one person safe... Dimitri can't really disagree with that. There was a lot about the church that Dimitri didn't like, and which gave him pause and plenty of questions, but still. Thanks to the church and the academy, they were able to meet the Professor. They were all able to heighten their skills.]

[With that in mind... It was a good thing, to go there.]

That's right. Honestly, the house that likely kept the Academy going the most would have been the Golden Deer house, where students from the Leicester Alliance often attended. While the Alliance is lead by a group of nobles, in comparison to a king or emperor, merchants and other commoners are more likely to attend the classes.

The only thing that stands in the way is often funds. If that can be managed, then they are welcome like anyone else. I knew of a girl whose entire village helped fund her own attendance.

At any rate, that would not be the worst solution, honestly. I wonder if our Professor ever considered it.

I think they still do that now, actually, since they've arrived here.

[He.... may have been handed some things... listen]

Having a group at the head of a country does imply greater chances of social mobility, even if the effect would still be reduced by the presence of an hereditary class. The fact that a whole village had to pitch in for a single student is a bit worrying, though. In my world, schools would often pay part of the poorer students' fees, if their grades were high enough or their talents particularly prized. Wasn't that an option?

They do? You might want to warn them about Pickup's existence, then. If they catch a Zigzagoon and start looking for the owner of every single pokéball they get, they'll never have time for anything else.

A lot of factors can contribute to the cost - the size of a village, the circumstances in their area, and how far away they were from the academy. You are right that it would have been ideal if the school had paid a part of other students' fees, however, although I suppose it no longer matters. However, if it reassures you, I had heard of students impressing a noble or prosperous merchant, and having that as their backer so that one day they could serve under them.

Everyone's circumstances were different, really. Still, I would like that kind of idea to be implemented some time in the future. It would just require a lot more thinking than to put it down so simply. I imagine a lot of working families didn't bother about it, because they planned on passing down the trade to their children, and so sending them to a school to learn combat and battle tactics was not a high priority.

I heard that even the magic school in my country had similar thoughts directed its way, although to be a scholar or mage could be quite prestigious. But what is prestige to a family that has to worry about how many hands they have on their farm?

Thank you for the advice. I will be certain to warn them of such a thing. They are taking to this lifestyle well, I think.

67th treasure [text]

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