Volume 10: Our Journey Chapter 323 Study Abroad Group (Part 1)
The monsoon on the grassland is not as exaggerated as that on the western continent, but because the terrain is flat and there is no shelter or obstruction, when people who have lived in cities for a long time come to the grassland, the most intuitive feeling they have is still "the wind is really strong."
The eldest princess of Saint Bridge, Rose, got off the boat at the Elf Port and took a canal boat all the way to Fire City. When she met Xiao Yun, she had already tied up her thick golden hair tightly and hid it in her hat... otherwise she would have done nothing but lift her hair.
"Mr. Ayun!"
"Long time no see, Princess Rose." Xiao Yun walked forward with a smile and gently hugged the beautiful girl who had transformed from a young girl into a mature woman.
"It's been seven years, no, eight years!" Rose hugged Xiao Yun excitedly and refused to let go. "You clearly said you would come to see us, but you haven't come since then. I was so sad. I thought you hated St. Bridget's because of me!"
"How could that be..." Xiao Yun was a little embarrassed. Rose had a nice figure after she matured. He didn't know where to put his hands...
The six southern countries' study abroad group members who came with Princess Saint Bridget almost popped their eyes out when they saw that the first assistant of King Carlisle, Princess Rose, who was known for her iron-fisted approach and praised by everyone, was actually acting like a little girl and coquettishly attached to the young man of a foreign race...
When she was a teenager, shy and introverted Rose Ferdinand almost fell into the love trap carefully laid by Archduchess de Witt and ruined her life. It was Xiao Yun who visited St. Brigid's at that time and unveiled the so-called veil of love for this dreamy girl, and indirectly influenced Carlisle to make the decision to let royal women get out of the dilemma of being tools for marriage and participate in political affairs and guide the royal family with their own abilities.
At that time, Rose could not understand the meaning of everything she had gained. As she grew older, participated more in the domestic affairs of St. Bridget, saw more dark sides and understood life more clearly, she gradually realized that the foreign sage who had briefly appeared in the palace was the one who truly changed her life. If it were not for the influence of this teacher of the prince, she would never have been active in the political arena of St. Bridget at the age when she should be a wife... unless she was willing to marry a short-lived and high-ranking husband and patiently outlast him.
She must rely on her husband's status and position to gain social recognition. If Rose, who is now radiant, were to accept such a life, she would probably prefer to die quickly and be reborn...
The study-abroad group is led by royal family members of the six countries, half of whom are elite children of the top families in each country, half of whom are young talents loyal to the royal families of the six countries, and a few are playboys who come to gild their reputation... There is nothing that can be done about it. The words power and profit are intertwined no matter where in the world and in which corner, and they refuse to break up.
Of course, the study abroad exchange activities promoted and organized by the newly appointed King of St. Bridge, Carlisle Harvey Ferdinand, are still very formal. Even if the gilded dandies who make up the numbers are unavoidable, the royal members selected by each country to lead the team must at least be acceptable to King Carlisle. Except for Rose, the eldest princess who is already famous in St. Bridge, the other five royal family members all have good resumes: either they graduated from (attended) some well-known colleges and universities in the southern continent, or have teachers who are national sages, or have decent achievements in certain fields.
Moreover, they all have relatively high succession rights to the royal throne...that is, they can at least be granted the title of earl, not be poor little people who are ignored by everyone (such as Prince Maurice of Kronen before he stood up to compete).
Just looking at this list of royal family members, it clearly conveys two meanings: one is that the six southern countries are very serious about exchanging and learning with the grassland kingdom, and deepening all-round sustainable economic cooperation; the second is to formally declare the close relationship between the six southern countries and the grassland kingdom. The Kingdom of Flame is a friendly ally of the six southern countries to whom they can safely deliver important royal members. Our relationship is very close!
Xiao Yun was very satisfied with the attitude that his disciple had clearly expressed through his actions. The master and the disciple had rarely seen each other for several years. It was nonsense to say that the friendship between the master and the disciple was deep and touching. The best way to maintain a relationship was always to bind interests! A pure relationship of interest could not be tainted by any dirty feelings~!
Huoyan City held the most formal welcoming ceremony to welcome the guests from the south into the city. Floats cleared the way and people lined the streets to welcome them. In order to create such a grand ceremony, the workers were given half a day off... ahem.
There is no way. Compared with human cities with hundreds of thousands of people, the Fire City with a permanent population of tens of thousands is really a bit inferior. If we don't do some "formalism", the overseas study groups coming from afar will probably only see a deserted city when they arrive. After all, except for the factory area and school, the living area of Fire City is almost deserted before meal time or after get off work...
In order to accommodate this group of hundreds of students studying abroad, A Yue's engineering company temporarily transferred back two road construction teams and quickly built a manor-style hotel on the newly developed site of the original swamp - it was built right next to the artificial lake, two kilometers away from the central urban area, with great views and a quiet environment.
The little prince of the Kingdom of Holmes, Hein Valentine, is the youngest member of the royal family in this study abroad group and he will be sixteen years old this year.
Although he is young, Prince is the one with the highest succession order among the royal family members of the overseas study group... He is second in the order of succession to the throne of the Kingdom of Holmes. The reason is that one of his brothers committed suicide, and his father, King Valentine, now has only two princes left...
The young Prince Hain is a ninth grade student at the Royal Academy of Elliot Palace. Before coming to the Kingdom of Fire, he was an international student studying abroad. Of course, Elliot Palace is very close to Holmes, and Prince Hain can go back home once a week. Unlike Fire City, which is so far away, it takes a month to take a one-way boat.
"It's so quiet here. This is the first time I've seen such a quiet city."
Sitting in the guest room of the Lakeside Hotel, gazing out the window at the vast orchard and the vague buildings at the end of the orchard, Prince Hein exclaimed in surprise and innocence, with only the sound of birds singing in his ears.
Due to the tight construction schedule, the manor-style hotel is not very large. It only has eight rows of townhouses in the shape of a U, with a total of 40 guest rooms. Naturally, it is impossible to provide single-room treatment. Most of the students live in a room with two or three people, and the royal family is no exception.
Living with Prince Hain is the son of a knight ... This arrangement is to allow the son of the knight to take care of the little prince of Holmes, because they are not allowed to bring servants and housekeepers with them when they come to study abroad. Anyway, food and accommodation are provided uniformly, and Huoyan City has also arranged cleaning staff, so there is no need to worry about any problems happening to these guys who can't take care of themselves.
Well, the main reason is that Xiao Yun had finally established a new atmosphere of equality on the grassland, and he was not happy that someone would follow him and lead the grassland people astray. New China has been civilized on the modern earth for many years, and the brainless young people still yearn for the aristocratic master-servant, young master and young lady. We have to keep a close eye on them.
Prince Hain's roommate, the eldest son of the kingdom's knights, was a twenty-year-old dark-skinned young man with a smile as bright as the sun. While Prince Hain was sitting on the viewing balcony drinking tea leisurely, he was busy packing their luggage... His father's status was more impressive than that of an ordinary small noble, and he was also a spoiled young master. However, before he came, he already knew that he had to serve as Prince Hain's "personal butler", and he did not feel disgusted with doing the work that should have been done by a butler or a housekeeper.
"I heard that the number of orcs in the entire grassland combined is not as large as that in Elliot Palace. It's no wonder it's so quiet." The Knight's Son said with a smile.
"That's right. When we came here, there was no sound of people in other streets except the street we walked on." Although Prince Haien is young, he will not be easily fooled by Xiao Yun's "face project". "There are not many people in such a big city. It seems that the orcs are not as populous as us humans."
The Knight's Son did not stop his movements, and pricked up his ears to listen to the little prince's next sigh. However, Prince Haien only said this and then drank his afternoon tea leisurely...
No matter how young he is, he is still a member of the royal family who has received elite royal education. Prince Hain certainly would not make inappropriate remarks or make statements that would cause people to misunderstand.
The Knight's Son felt a little regretful. Only the royal families of various countries knew about this grassland power that had only risen in recent years. Others had only heard rumors or made various interpretations through the public texts in the "Travels of the Continent". His father asked him to try his best to observe the grassland kingdom and find ways to get information, but seeing the special arrangements made by the grassland people for their group when they entered the city, and letting them stay in the lakeside hotel outside the city, plus he had to serve as Prince Hain's personal valet, there was really not much room for him to operate.
Just when they had almost finished packing their luggage, the staff arranged by the hotel came knocking on the door.
"Hain Valentine and Vic Gladstone, right?" The staff member holding the list of students was a young gray dwarf who was only a little over one meter tall. After checking the names of the two students, he nodded seriously and raised his hand to point to the wall clock on the wall of the guest room. "Please meet in the lobby in the middle of the hotel before four o'clock. The clerks from each department will come to select the students."
Vic closed the door and said to the little prince, "The gray dwarves are really as rude as the rumors say. They don't even know how to use honorifics when talking to people of status."
Prince Haien was indeed somewhat dissatisfied with the attitude of the gray dwarf staff, but he was obviously more concerned about the meaning of the words they brought. He frowned and said, "Aren't we students here to study with the sage Ayun? How could it be that the 'clerks of various departments' are the ones who choose people?"
Vic was also a little puzzled and guessed: "Perhaps... Sage Ayun does not directly face foreigners like us, but their officials serve as professors?"
Well, in this world professor is not yet a professional title, but a title lower than (private) teacher and higher than (family or public) teacher.
...There is no reason for the clerks to "select" these students. Prince Haien did not say this, and held up the teacup to hide his dissatisfaction.
Clerks are employees who receive a meager salary and can be fired and replaced at any time. Prince Hein did not get angry on the spot when he, a member of the Valentine royal family, was allowed to be "selected" by such people. This was all thanks to his good upbringing.
"Let's first see how Rose of Ferdinand's family is treated. She is the most valued sister of King Carlisle. If the grassland people treat her so disrespectfully, then even if Sage Ayun is King Carlisle's teacher, he needs to give an explanation to the royal family of Ferdinand." Prince Hein, who suppressed his anger, thought so in his heart.
Of course, if the Prairie Kingdom finally sends officials of sufficient weight to guide them, Prince Hein will still choose to "endure humiliation and bear heavy burdens" - especially the two important figures, Bank President Dahe and Finance Director Xuehua. According to the internal information revealed by King Carlisle to the Valentine royal family, these two are heavyweights who control huge amounts of liquid funds in the Kingdom of Fire. There is no better professor than these two to learn how the Prairie Kingdom makes money.
No one knows better than Prince Hain, who was born into the royal family and has a higher line of succession, what does it mean to hold the country's financial resources? King Carlisle is a living example of a man who holds financial power and rises to power!
Before four o'clock, Prince Hein arrived at the central lobby of the Lakeside Hotel in time with Vic Gladstone, the son of a knight who was nominally his roommate but actually a valet.
The central building of this hotel is designed after the style of a human royal palace. It has two floors, with the second floor being the restaurant and the first floor being the banquet hall. It covers a considerable area and has more than 20 load-bearing columns. The walls are covered with tiles in geometric patterns, and the floor is made of marble with similar patterns. Although it is not luxurious enough, it is barely worthy of the attention of royal members from various countries.
Hmm… If these royal family members knew that this seemingly stylish central hall was actually built in just one week with prefabricated cement panels and cast reinforced concrete columns, and that the “natural” patterns on the “marble floor” were painted and then fired, and that the chandelier on the roof was even a handmade homework handed in by the cubs in the school, I wonder if they would show an indescribable expression…
The other students had all arrived, including Princess Rose, who had become the center of the crowd and was being adored by the students from the six nations. Only the royal family members from the five nations had the same idea as Prince Hain. Because of the impolite (not flattering) attitude of the staff, they all entered the room on time, using this action to hint at their dissatisfaction...
"Hain, come here." Rose seemed not to notice that Prince Hain, who came in on time, was in a bad mood. She greeted him warmly and politely asked the people around her to give up their seats.
"Your Highness Rose." Prince Hein smiled brightly to give her face and strode over.
King Carlisle highly respects Rose Ferdinand, so the royal families of the five countries are naturally willing to give face to the princess. Of course, at this moment they are more concerned about how the grassland kingdom, which has just escaped from barbarism and imitated humans to move towards civilization, will treat the princess... After Hain sat down in the seat next to Princess Rose, the prince of the Principality of Yagalan gave Hain a meaningful look on the sofa opposite.
Prince Hain nodded imperceptibly and exchanged glances with the royal members of the other three countries.
Without any verbal communication, the princes of the five countries reached a consensus in an instant... If the Prairie Kingdom treated Princess Rose differently from them, they would never swallow their anger!
At exactly four o'clock, 106 students from the six-country study exchange group gathered in the hall.
At 4:01, a clerical team consisting of three cats, a human woman, and two snow wolves appeared in the hall.
The six of them were all wearing standardized uniforms, with mid-length white cotton shirts, slim and easy-to-use vests, leather belts of the same style, and wear-resistant and crisp suncloth trousers. They all looked energetic and capable, but when they appeared in a row, it still made people feel awkward...
The reason for the awkwardness mainly comes from the Snow Wolf Clan...
The cat tribe is similar in size to humans, and looks okay, but the snow wolf tribe... as long as they are adults, no matter if they are male or female, they all look like super brothers with arms that can run horses. They wear the same clerk uniforms in all countries, which gives the human tribes of the six countries the same feeling as the Chinese seeing Li Kui in the consultation department wearing a white coat and holding a stethoscope - are you here to save my life or to take my life? !
