voice | un: RocketMan

[vrepit_no]

Hi, Camelot: this is Shiro speaking...

Ah, I'm new in the area, and I understand that I'm going to be here a while. Couple of questions I was hoping someone could help me out with.

I heard a rumor that you can get paid for going to school here: true or false?
Is there a certain process, or form I should be filling out to get housing other than the hotel?

And. [The voice hesitates a moment before carrying on at a slightly different pitch.] Is there anyone here who specializes in prosthetics?

I appreciate you listening, and I'd be grateful for any help given.

Thanks.

Shiro out.

Comments

[vrepit_no]

No problem.

[Look! Big, friendly, easygoing smile! No patronizing here!]

Why don't we start with school.

In some cultures people have decided that everyone - especially children - should learn certain things to make life easier for them as they grow up and become a part of society. One or more people who are considered good resources on certain topics are hired to come and teach others about their subjects in a certain place at a certain time. Those individuals are called teachers. The people they are teaching are called students. And the place in which they teach is called a school.

Did that make sense?

[handsome_genius]

It... does... kind of.

[ Ik-soo talked about having adult mentors back at the castle who taught him some things, so this is similar, it sounds like. ]

How do those children get any food if they aren't back at their villages?

[ If kids were old enough to understand a Teacher, they surely were old enough to help in fields and with household tasks. ]

[vrepit_no]

They either bring lunch with them, packed in a little bag or box, usually, or they might buy something from the school - most schools in my world sell hot lunches that the kids can buy. If they're too poor to afford to buy it, and they don't have much food at home, there are special programs they can be a part of to get free food while they're at school.

[handsome_genius]

Sorry but none of that makes any sense to me. Where I'm from, if you're not in a field helping bring in enough crops to trade some with the traveling merchants who happen by, you don't eat.

[ Or you resort to becoming a bandit, like Yoon did - as a child. ]

The people with money at all are nobility. Everyone else trades. No one is going to just give you food for free, or they starve too.

[ Ik-soo was too much of an outlier to be part of this conversation. There weren't Ik-soo's running around every village in the kingdom, or Yona would never have had to go on her journey in the first place. ]

[vrepit_no]

Oh, I see.

[So not an industrialized society, then. Okay, reassess.]

There are places that have a food surplus, or the upper classes donate to the schools to allow for everyone to have an education.

But also, school doesn't take up the whole day. And there are places where school will stop during planting season, or harvest time, so that the children can go back and help their parents at home during the times when they need more hands in the fields. When that season is over, then school starts up again. A few hours a day - two to seven hours, depending on the place.

[handsome_genius]

The upper classes donate? HAH! No way. They'd never do that - not without the threat of an army at their borders or a sword under their chin.

[ Yoon stands firm in his belief on that point, speaking with the weight of years of hating the nobility of his own world. ]

Even if it didn't take the whole day or year or whatever, upper classes aren't charitable the way you're talking about.

[vrepit_no]

[Ah. Well, that's going to make this even more difficult.]

Different countries have different governments and different people. In some countries the upper classes can be like that. In others, school is something the government requires, so there's a small tax to help fund it. Some places will even tax the upper classes more than the lower classes to make sure that schools are available.

But if you really want to see what a school is like, there's one here in town.

[handsome_genius]

...

I guess I could check it out.

...

If it's a place where I can learn more about this place, or medicine and herbs.

[vrepit_no]

There should definitely be a class on the island and its history. Probably classes on magic, too. I'm not sure about medicine or plants, but there's only one way to find out.

I was going to go over there sometime and get a tour. See what they have to offer, and maybe sign up for classes. Would you like to come with me, or go on your own?

[handsome_genius]

Hmm...

Yeah, I can go with you.

[ The temptation of knowledge is eventually enough to overcome his initial protestations. ]

[vrepit_no]

Great! Do you have any plans for tomorrow afternoon?

[handsome_genius]

No, I don't.