Chapter 4.1 - Unintended Consequences

Springtime. Serin believed it would be known as the Spring of Chaos.

Not that there were enemies, there were none. Winter had been a quiet one, and other than a bit of hunting of some migratory wolves that had wandered close to the Town, there was not a single threat to the town.

There also wasn't a need for food. Allister's farming and agroecology methods were a resounding success. Serin had ensured there was sufficient stockpiles of food, but due to the year round growing methods of his indoor farms, there were also no shortages of food. In fact, there was plenty of food to be had, so much so that the excess food was able to be used as a trade good.

Serin knew that his nation was doing quite well, as when he checked the [Kingdom Management] Screen, it showed that in every respective category he was exceeding well past the minimum standards of success. Security was 'overprepared'. Food was 'overabundant'. Income for the citizenry was above normal and was starting to teeter on 'well-off'. Even happiness was still extremely high.

Trade was also not lacking. The trade caravans tipped off by Narissa came every two weeks. Serin and Peter, as well as most of the crafters of his city, were making extremely large amounts of money on the sale of their goods to the caravans. From the reaction of the traders during each deal, Serin was sure these traders were still getting the better end of the trade. Serin traded both on behalf of his own house, as well as the nation, and ensured that their city was not lacking in any of their raw materials for manufacturing, as well as creating purchase orders for ammunition wholesale from the caravans. Serin had made a bit of money with his trade goods.

The infrastructure of the city was not lacking either, in fact it had grown to accommodate not only every family that had come through the gates, but also every new family that had wed over the winter, and those that had chosen not to. Serin had ensured to grow out the infrastructure so that follow-on growth would be accounted for. By springtime, Lord Koni and Allister had built enough facilities to house almost 2000 people in their city.

It was the Spring of Chaos, because over a three week period, 191 children were born. The entire population of the town consisted of 588 people. Over 30% of his population was newborns. And it had taken an immediate toll on the mental health of his town.

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It had taken the effort of the entire council to come to an agreement and create a plan to deal with the catastrophe known as 'the great baby boom'. And it was not an agreement Serin was looking forward to. Other than the orphans in his town being raised by the woodsman, and the children he had seen in Ston, Serin had not seen many examples of group childcare. He knew it was no longer feasible for every single family to devote all of their time towards childcare. He also knew stripping children from their parents would lead to riots. So the solution was made not as a grand sweeping decision, but a set of incremental changes, both to their nation's infrastructure and society, that was decided on.

The schoolhouse for younglings had received an overhaul. The previous model of having all younglings in the same group no longer worked as within a few years there would be an influx of new students. Since the age pace of changelings, demis, and humans were slightly different, the future classes were divided instead based on ability. Serin decided that human children would form the baseline for the races.

With that, classes were split into three main groups, generally speaking, from the youngest and weakest, to the oldest and strongest. As for instructors, general instructors were assigned from every race. The older class instructors did not change, they would remain Lady Ericka and Lady Eris. Bilol offered his assistance with the middle tier school. He had handed off his duties at the changeling's military barracks to Edel, the leader of the Rowdy Bunch. Dana and Ohna also offered their services. The recorded history of the Demis and the oral history of the Changelings had been copied into text for all to review. Copies of the histories were added to the teaching materials in the academy. Serin and the instructors noted that this method should reduce class size a bit, and the immediate effect was splitting the current class from one into two.

However, the biggest issue was the 191 newborn. This is where the counsel had developed their most ingenious plan. After weaning, the Demis term for when a child needed to be with its mother full time for developmental needs, the counsel set aside the ability for parents to immediately enroll their children in school. Child Care assistance was made available to all who needed additional assistance. And for those who could afford it, live-in childcare was available, as there were many qualified Planetouched that had chosen not to actively pursue a life of adventure. In an effort to ensure everyone continued to self develop, and using the questbank from the adventurer's guild as a work around, parents would be able to pay for the assistance through mana.

Serin was not without his own stress. On one of the last nights of winter, his first son was born.

Serin had been out overseeing the construction of the newest government buildings, specifically the Office of Aid Assistance and Office of Citizen Inquiries, when he had been told that Olma was going to be giving birth. Changelings' and Humans' process was a bit different, because even though he had Dashed home, by the time he made it to Olma's side he found her sitting in a chair, holding the newborn child. Rufala was present and had already healed any damage from the process. Olma, although looking wearied, with a smile on her face and tears in her eyes, held their son, and looked at Serin.

"You have cared for and guided me. You have always watched over me. You gave me a second chance at life. You gave me purpose. You gave me hope. You gave me a home. You have given me everything. And now you have given me a son, my little Nok."

Serin was awestruck. He had spent the day with Olma. And the three of them spent their day just resting in each other's arms, Nok holding onto Olma's tunic.

But that was months ago. Now Nok could walk. And talk. Serin remembered that humans developed much slower, and he realized that changeling children must grow much faster. With their commitments to the country, Serin and Olma knew they could not give Nok the attention he deserved without assistance, so Serin had hired a permanent caretaker.

The council's discussion on integration of children into school was well thought out, and in the end it would foster closer ties between the races. And with the expansion of the dormitory and early childcare system, it ensured adequate employment. It had two outstanding issues. The first was that it didn't help as much with children too young to enroll in a classroom setting.

The second issue was that it was extremely expensive. Childcare limited the growth of a person, since skills rarely developed in the process of teaching and raising children. It was also time consuming, meaning if someone dedicated themselves to being a teacher, they did not have the time to devote towards a trade or craft to increase their net worth, merit, or better provide for a family. So a decision was made, and that was that the childcare system would be paid for by the parents who used it based on what the requirements were. Sitting down at a council meeting of the teachers, caregivers, and assisting staff, they had determined the cost to every person based on the need of care. When split between all of the parents, it was a not a miniscule amount. However for those unable to financially pay for it, the workaround of using Mana for payment was available. With this there was not a single family that had lack of coverage. The only surprise bill was the additional costs that were levied to all parents who used the academy to pay the added costs of caring for the students enrolled who did not have parents. There were many students who had come through the gate without parents. Serin knew that leaving these children to fend for themselves would ensure a terrible future for them. So a scholarship was setup to ensure that they all received adequate education.

In all, the national education system was well set up. Personally, Serin was thankful that he could find a full time caretaker for Nok that accepted a mix of credits and mana as payment. The young girl he had hired, a Skygge girl by the name of Luna, had just plated shortly before winter's end. She had heard stories of the protectorate, and knew that even at Level 1 they were stronger than those of their race who chose not to fight. She also knew that some of them had stopped aging. This was a known but rare phenomena where Luna came from, so she had approached Serin directly with a contract. She knew as the most powerful person in the valley, Serin could easily ensure she would develop more in the few years it took to raise Nok than she could on her own. Serin had asked if she had also wished to join the protectorate, and she had nodded.

"I want to make a safe place for the family I wish to raise one day."

So an agreement was struck. She would be a fulltime live-in caregiver for Nok until he had gotten old enough to enter the Academy, and in return Serin would pay 100 credits a week, provide room and board, and immediately boost all of Luna's stats to 50.

And with that, Luna was made a protectorate, but also had a job, and had been given a boost in stats to rival the grand dukes from her old home.

Serin knew she was qualified because prior to coming through the gate, Luna had raised her brothers and sisters after their parents had died in the war. She had ensured that they had all made it through the gate during their exodus. Serin applauded such determination. Since the children were considered orphans, their enrollment in the academy was free, so Luna was able to focus on her new job. And after spending the last few years caring for her younger siblings, it was just picking up old habits.

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