Abnormally Biased Knowledge

I turned to Lucien and decided to apologize for the sudden change of plans.

"Lucien, since that's how things turned out, I can't go to the research club today. Sorry... I'll probably be back late, too, so could you go home ahead of me?"

"What are you talking about? Of course I'm coming too."

"Huh? Is that okay?"

"There's no way I'm letting Leon go alone."

"I see... Actually, I was worried I wouldn't be able to handle this well on my own. Thanks."

Having Lucien come along was incredibly reassuring. First, I would ask about Artur-sama's knowledge of commoners in the carriage, correct his misconceptions, and then show him the reality of their lives. I hoped something would change within Artur-sama as a result of what happened today.

"Leon, of course I'm going too."

"So am I."

"Huh? Stefan and Martine are coming too!?"

"Of course we're coming."

"You don't have to force yourselves, you know...?"

"It sounds interesting."

"Yes, there's no way I could miss something this interesting."

They seemed really excited, but also kind of sinister...? Well, if they wanted to come along that badly, I had no reason to refuse.

"Then shall we all go together?"

"All right. Then I'll go arrange a carriage."

"Yeah! Come to think of it, how do we borrow one?"

"You can borrow one from the staff room."

"Really? Then I'll go borrow one!"

"No, I'll go with you. It will be smoother that way."

Indeed, with Stefan there, things almost always went smoothly.

"In that case, please do. Shall we go?"

"Yes. Martine and Lucien, wait here."

"Understood, Brother."

"We'll wait."

Stefan and I hurried to the staff room and borrowed a carriage. I was really glad I had taken him with me.

The moment Stefan entered, one staff member rushed over. Once we explained what we needed, the others sprang into action, and before I knew it, we had a carriage.

Stefan had only said, "We'd like to borrow a carriage"! As expected of royalty.

After that, we asked the carriage to take us to the front of the training grounds and walked back there ourselves.

By the time we arrived, a carriage was already at the training grounds. Martine, Lucien, and Artur-sama seemed to have already boarded it.

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

"No, thank you for arranging the carriage."

Lucien answered Stefan. I see... Since Artur-sama was here, he couldn't speak casually.

It was a little tiresome, but it couldn't be helped.

"First, could you tell us what you know about commoners, Artur-sama?"

We decided to have the carriage take us to the plaza at the entrance to the central district. Along the way, I would ask Artur-sama various questions.

"Yes, though I hardly know anything. I don't have much contact with commoners. I know that commoners are lowly, that nobles are chosen beings, and that commoners are vulgar creatures unlike nobles. Commoners defile the sacred domain of nobles and try to destroy the country. Nobles can guide commoners in the right direction by ordering them around and assigning them roles. That's about it."

Wow... It was nothing but awful information. Was that really all he knew? Commoners worked at the estate and were useful, though...

"Don't commoners work at your estate? What contact have you had with them there?"

"There aren't many commoners at the estate, are there?"

What did he mean, there weren't any? There were lots of servants, weren't there?

"Surely there are people to clean and help you get dressed, Artur-sama...? And I believe the people who prepare your meals are commoners as well..."

"Cleaning means making the estate clean, right? Wouldn't such menial workers be kept out of their master's sight?"

Was that how it was? The servants at the Townsend ducal residence greeted me normally, though... I didn't know which was considered correct.

Thinking that, I looked at Lucien. He seemed to understand what I meant by my gaze and answered me.

"These days, many nobles believe it's preferable for servants to remain as far out of their master's sight as possible. In the past, most households were like ours, though."

"I see."

That, too, must have been due to Apostle-sama's waning influence. From the perspective of commoners, it certainly wasn't a good change.

Besides, in that environment, Artur-sama might truly never have had any contact with commoners.

"There are people who help you get dressed, right?"

"Yes, but they aren't commoners."

I see. Attendants serving high-ranking nobles could be lower-ranking nobles themselves. When I thought about it that way, he really had no contact with commoners at all.

But the person who prepared the food was a commoner, right? Surely he had met the head chef, then?

"Have you ever met the person who prepares your meals?"

"...To begin with, is food something one makes? Isn't it something one buys?"

"You buy the ingredients, but a commoner cook prepares them..."

"What do you mean?"

Huh? That's what I should be asking you... Did he not even know that food was cooked?

I hadn't thought it was that bad. Artur-sama's knowledge was far too biased... Were they intentionally avoiding teaching him anything involving commoners?

Why did they hate commoners so intensely?

Besides, if they went this far, Artur-sama wouldn't be able to do anything on his own in the future. Knowledge of commoners' work was necessary even when formulating policies for the territory, wasn't it?

Wait, could that be the goal...?

Nobles had to hand over the headship of the household once their child turned fifteen. Was Artur-sama's father trying to raise him as a puppet noble...?

If that was true, his father was terrifying, and Artur-sama was pitiful. And yet, although he didn't know that food was cooked, he could handle etiquette and dancing.

Maybe he was being taught only the knowledge necessary to appear normal when he went out in public as a noble...? That was terrifying!

But it wasn't just his father; he had a mother, too, right? Were his parents in cahoots? This was awful. I could only imagine frightening possibilities.

I hoped I was wrong about them seeing their child as nothing more than a tool...

In any case, I had to teach Artur-sama as much as I could for now!

"Have you ever eaten bread?"

"Of course I have."

"Then do you know how bread is made?"

"Bread is something you buy, isn't it?"

"You do buy bread, but you can only buy it because someone makes it. It doesn't just suddenly appear while you sit around waiting."

"That..."

"Bread is made by combining several ingredients, such as flour and eggs, and cooking them."

"Flour...?"

He didn't know what flour was either!?

"Do you not know what flour is? What about eggs?"

"I know eggs. Boiled eggs, right?"

"Boiled eggs are made by boiling eggs in hot water and peeling off their shells."

"So that's how they're made... And I don't know what flour is, either."

"Flour is a white powder made by finely grinding wheat grains. Bread is made from flour."

"Bread is a plant!?"

That was what surprised him? I had no idea what Artur-sama considered surprising.

"Bread itself isn't a plant, but it's made from plants."

"I see."

"Um... You've eaten plenty of other plants, too, I assume. Don't you know about them?"

Surely he knew that vegetables were plants.

"How could I not? I eat plenty of vegetables."

At least he knew that. Thank goodness.

"Then do you know how vegetables are grown?"

"Vegetables are grown...? I've never thought about it."

"But you do know they're plants, right?"

"Yes. So does that mean you pick them from wherever they happen to be growing?"

"No. People properly prepare fields, plant seeds in them, pull weeds, and carefully cultivate the crops until they're mature enough to eat, then harvest them. They don't simply pick whatever grows on its own."

"I see..."

The adults around Artur-sama were the absolute worst. They gave him only biased knowledge and didn't teach him even the most basic things. If a child was taught nothing and hardly ever left the estate, would they really end up knowing this little...?

But he knew enough to pass the entrance exam for this school, so his knowledge really was incredibly biased.

At this point, it would be faster to show him than to keep explaining.

"Artur-sama, I think it would be faster if you saw the real thing. Shall we go to the market, and then to a restaurant or bakery to watch them actually prepare the food?"

"Yes, I'd like to see."

Artur-sama spoke with a determined look in his eyes. He was probably intelligent by nature, straightforward, and a good kid. The adults around him were simply the ones who had failed him.

"Stefan-sama, would that plan be all right?"

"Yes. At the market, you'll only be able to look around from the carriage, but is that all right? If there's anything you'd like to buy, the coachman can probably get it for you if you ask him."

"Yes, that's fine."

"Then let's go to the market first. After that, it was a restaurant or bakery, correct?"

"If possible, I'd like to visit both... Do you think they'd let us see the kitchens?"

"I'll have someone negotiate for us, so don't worry."

Stefan said that, took a sheet of paper from his bag, and deftly wrote something with a pen and ink. Then he handed it to the coachman.

Let's see... Is the coachman a royal guard or something? Was that paper going to be given to someone to negotiate for us?

So did that mean Stefan and the others had guards around them? I hadn't noticed at all... As expected of royalty.

There were probably guards discreetly positioned at the Royal Academy, too. Well, they weren't people who meant me any harm, so I would try not to worry about it.

"Then, we'll start with the market."