Chapter 204 All Around Improvements
After the kids shared what Lucia was doing, word quickly spread throughout the campgrounds that someone would be offering educational classes. Most of the older kids supported Lucia's idea and encouraged the younger children to participate in her classes. Given the hard work and knowledge she displayed in front of the crowd, the older kids believed there to be few drawbacks to the program.
Over the next few days, Lucia crafted various pieces of furniture from the spare wood she had. She also replaced and repaired some of the old, rotting wood around the camp house. While working on these tasks, she periodically checked on the sick affected by the curse, contemplating ways to help them in their unresponsive state. Lucia replenished the water supply around the house. With the help of the older kids, she filled several buckets with clean drinking water for the camp. She also took time to heal and care for those who had sustained either minor or major injuries.
Later in the day, Lucia and the kids, who seemed to have a basic understanding of math, reading, and writing, began planning a curriculum to educate the camp's younger children. The initial ideas and suggestions were relatively basic, but Lucia worked on them while also teaching her collaborators. After refining the details over several days and making repairs to the camp's interior, Lucia felt she had made significant progress. However, she recognized the need for further improvements. When Lucia attempted to enhance the camp's exterior, the inhabitants opposed the idea. They were concerned that improving their appearances might lead others to believe they were better off, which could result in receiving less funding. This situation also made them more vulnerable to being targeted by other camps. Given their precarious situation and urgent need for aid, this was particularly worrisome.
Realizing that the idea was not well-received, Lucia left, returning to the classroom with a new focus. Remembering what the children had available for writing, she couldn't think of those items as writing implements. Inspired by a faint memory in the back of her mind, she set out to create physical manifestations of mana in the form of boards and crystals shaped like styluses for the kids—and for herself—to use in their education.
Understanding that not everything would work perfectly on the first attempt, Lucia enlisted the help of the kids who already knew how to read and write. She encouraged them to try writing on the magical boards. At first, they were hesitant, concerned about how fragile and expensive the boards and crystal styluses seemed. However, after a moment of hesitation, they began to write, taking great care not to break any of the tools.