*** Snowkeep - Outer Districts ***

The snow had not yet melted, but the streets of Snowkeep were no longer silent.

Children ran between workshops, apprentices shouted over the hammering of iron, and the faint sound of recitation echoed from the old guild halls that had been converted into schools.

All those who could read or write were immediately given the job of education, the previous census being the basis for the recruitment of new educators.

The scent of ink, charcoal, and bread blended with the winter air.

At the center of it all, Justinian stood beside Darius, watching as a group of commoners sat around a crude wooden table. Each one had a parchment in hand, their expressions caught somewhere between awe and confusion.

A young scribe read aloud from the first copied volume of the Old World Compendium.

Given instructions to read from the new compendium, but also specified to simplify it, making it understandable to the commoner's perspectives, a task that Justinian had to train the scribes themselves.

"…Rotation of crops prevents soil exhaustion, increasing yield throughout most of the season," he recited. The others nodded slowly, not quite understanding all the words, but listening anyway.

"I kind of feel bad for him," Darius murmured, half in disbelief. "Teaching something that he had just likely learnt himself..."

"It's still the first day, it's fine if it's a little botched," Justinian replied, his arms folded behind him. "The more sessions are held throughout the months, eventually, the better everything gets."

"I'm not naive enough to think that this reform will immediately change the capital in a day."

He turned his gaze toward the nearby square, where laborers were constructing and modifying a few abandoned buildings that would one day serve as the duchy's first civic academy. Children watched from the sidelines as stonecutters measured the foundation, each line guided by Justinian's sketches.

Sketches that helped outline a simple and efficient building, one that could be mass-produced without much problem. It was fairly ugly, but usable.

'Knowledge must always come safely,' he thought. 'If they have a roof to learn under, it'll only motivate more to participate.'

Darius was still scanning the busy street, noting the dozens of scribes walking about with satchels full of copied pages. "The copies are being made faster than expected..."

"Of course, most of the scribes he hired also came from simple backgrounds," Justinian said, tone dry but pleased. "With all my benefits, they have all the motivation in the world to work as hard as needed."

'Once a simple man gains a job that pays well, he'll do his best to retain it as much as possible.'

Justinian chuckled slightly, words that he could fully relate to in the past.

He walked forward, stopping near a group of laborers that was taking a break, now halfway done with their building modification.

"I trust it has been busy for you all?" he said. "I hope the business I brought has been enough for me to repay you all for all the trouble I caused."

He scratched the back of his head, laughing, "Tell Feryll I said hello."

The men immediately bowed their heads, scrambling to return to work; his words softening them up a bit, they were already grateful for helping them with the ore shipment, yet the duke still personally apologized to them. He was a saint in their eyes.

He rose, brushing his gloves clean. "Darius, after this section is complete, immediately occupy it, and assign some of the palace cooks to station within."

"You really are going all out with this plan, huh?"

"Of course, why? Think I'm being too rash?" Justinian replied jokingly. "I assure you, I'm taking things as slow as possible."

"My duke."

Lucan's voice rang out from behind, his face filled with irritation. He was in his usual uniform, his full steel plate shining and turning him into a bastion of defense.

"The church wants a council."

"What is it about?"

"Apparently, you're breaking church procedure, according to them, the compendium should go through them first before being distributed to the masses."

Lucan crossed his arms, clearly bearing the brunt of their complaints.

"Aren't you supposed to be a devoted worshipper? I'm surprised to see you get so annoyed by priests."

"There's a difference between worship and compliance."

Lucan laughed, smiling slightly as he heard Justinian's remark.

"Those damn priests aren't deserving of my respect; those bastards had been slowly getting more annoying when Rhyne's rebellion was still at large."

"Compared to the capital, these old men here are just wasting air."

Lucan's words were confusing at first.

But in the novel, it also made complete sense. While the world itself is governed and watched over by real gods, it doesn't mean every single priest and sermon was exactly their bidding.

The gods were still constrained by the rules of the physical world.

They were allowed to act using vessels or through mortals who were naturally attuned to their magic.

But that also had limitations, limitations that were enforced through divine karma, a way to keep the gods in check.

A factor that would come into play later in the novel was information that still wasn't widely known, something that only Marcellus himself knew.

And now that includes Justinian as well.

"Escort me to the council room, Marshal."

"As you wish, my duke."

Lucan and Justinian departed the outer districts immediately, leaving Darius to oversee the situation himself, something that barely even posed a challenge to the young man.

'Just when I thought I finally made a court that allowed me to create reforms without a fuss, that's when the church thought it was a good time to show their hand...'

Justinian pinched the bridge of his nose. 'Is this what Charlemagne felt during his rule?'

*** Snowkeep Palace - Council Room ***

"The duke is moving too fast..."

Father Verdant spoke, his arms resting on the table, discussing the current situation of Snowkeep under Justinian's sudden new rule.

They had stayed neutral the entire time when Justinian had appeared, but now that he had spread news of his 'Arcanist' nature, and even started to develop some cults.

The power they had worked so hard to obtain, a balance between faith and royalty, had now completely shattered.

"It would have been better if we had publicly supported him from the start."

Father Regulus frowned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I told you all that we should have held a ceremony for him the moment he won the battle at Herdin!"

"We didn't have enough information at the time!"

Father Verdant spoke back, but Regulus immediately shut it down with his own.

"That hesitation is the same reason why we're losing authority!"

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