The winter's first rainfall finally arrived, lasting for two days.
Roland leaned against his working desk and looked out at the hazy town in rain through the window. The wind brought a shower of rain against the window, causing bursts of ripples. The town's silhouetted outline became distorted through the ripples. The houses and the extensions of the streets seemed bent and deformed, in contrast with their tidy look in the past. Due to the lack of effective drainage measures, the crisscrossed flagstone pavement became overflowing with accumulated water. From afar, the water on the road looked like many little crystalline brooks.
The distant mountains and forests were covered with mist, looming and changing like a lost world on earth.
If in modern times, such a landscape would certainly be a tourist attraction, but what Roland wished to see was a jungle made of concrete and steel. Because of the rain, the city wall construction also had to stop. This fact affected his mood and made his previous delight in successfully "discouraging" the stronghold messenger the day before yesterday fade away.
"You just said the air around us is made up of lots of different gases, is that true?"
Anna's clear voice interrupted Roland's thoughts, while she looked at him curiously, blinking her beautiful blue eyes.
"Ahem, Miss Anna, you should address His Highness with honorifics," warned the chief knight next to her.
"Don't make a fuss about it." Roland turned around, "She's now my student." Since it was raining and they had not much business, he called Carter and the two witches to attend his class—yes, he had decided to give a small lecture on natural science. He was inspired by Stonemason Karl's college. If a mason could open a school, then a mechanical engineer like himself could open one too. Why did discrimination exist? Was not it because of ignorance? During any period of history, universal education was the most effective way to promote the development of civilization.
He originally wanted the assistant minister to attend the class too, but the latter was too busy with other administrative tasks and politely declined his offer. Roland did not know why, but since the beginning of the winter, Barov seemed to be overzealous and took charge of all the daily management of Border Town all alone.
At the prospect of gaining new knowledge, Anna's eyes immediately sparkled with curiosity. Nana also became happy for she did not need to treat any wounded animals. As for Carter, since he had nothing special to do, he attended the class to see what new nonsense the prince had thought of.
But not long after the class had begun, the knight's eyes became drowsy. Nana also had a bewildered look, her eyes staring at the words "Natural Science". It seemed that Anna had only grasped the general idea trying hard to remember everything she had heard. Roland could not help but stop the lecture for a moment, letting the three of them contemplate on his lecture.
As for Anna's question, he smiled and nodded. "Of course, even though they look alike."
"Your Highness, I don't understand, since they all look the same, how can you tell that they're different gases?" Carter expressed his doubts.
"I can prove it to you"
Roland knew that using only words, most of the people would be confounded by listening to these theories. He decided to make them interested by showing them the example of a simple experiment.
A candle, a glass, a wooden basin, a bowl of clear limewater—he had prepared these things in advance. Although at this time they only had pale brown glass, which was far less transparent than normal glass, it could still serve the purpose of the experiment. After all, there was no need to observe the modification process during this simple experiment.
Roland had done the experiment beforehand, and the results showed that although magic existed in this world, the rules of nature were still the same as on earth. He let Anna light the candle and put it in the basin.
"The process of burning requires a specific gas. This gas is also related to all life. If we stop breathing it, we'll be like this candle. Take a look." Roland put the glass on the candle, and after the flame shook a few times, it soon went out.
"It exhausted the air, Your Highness, this is not surprising," the chief knight said disapprovingly, "Of course we'll die without air, for example, if we fall into the water."
Nana nodded repeatedly.
"So, do you think that there's nothing in the glass anymore?" Roland asked and then poured the limewater into the basin. The waterline rose quickly and stopped rising when half of the glass was filled.
This was a classic experiment, often used by most elementary school teachers to arouse children's interest in natural science. Until today, Roland still remembered the shock he felt when his teacher had demonstrated it. It was at that moment that he embarked on the road of science and engineering without looking back.
He gently lifted a corner of the glass, and instantly bubbles of air could be seen rising out of the limewater.
Then, the clear limewater appeared to be a little bit cloudy, and some white particles slowly spread within the glass.
"If there was nothing in the glass, we wouldn't see any bubbles or changes on the water surface. This proves that the air contains at least two different kinds of gases. In reality, burning a candle consumes only a part of the air, while the other part doesn't take part in the burning process. ''Though they are both colorless and odorless, their nature is the complete opposite.''
"Well… That seems to be the case." Carter thought for a long time before figuring out the relationship between the two. "But what's the use for knowing this?"
"If we can obtain the former gas, then we can let the flame burn longer, and if we obtain the other gas, we can quickly extinguish the flame!" Anna suddenly said.
"What a genius!" Roland praised her silently. Even though she made a small error, she had shown herself to be a genius by suggesting separation and purification of gases before use. She had not received any systematic modern education, but yet she could quickly think of this point. This showed that her logical skills were far beyond those of normal people—at least far better than those of his chief knight.
"Correct, since the time humans learned to use fire, they were separated from the animals. Perhaps it all started as a coincidence, a lightning that hit a tree and lit it up, or a spark generated between two rocks. But if no one had noticed it and tried using it, we would still be the same as animals," Roland replied patiently, "The goal of this experiment is to show you that curiosity and thinking are the driving forces for human progress. There are many similar forces hidden in nature, waiting for us to discover and use them."
After he finished, Carter still had a doubtful look while Nana was staring at Roland with open eyes, amazed but unable to comprehend what he meant. Only Anna gazed down as if she was thinking about something.
Well, Roland sighed that, indeed, teaching advanced theories would not bring enlightenment, and it would only make people confused. Their intellectual level determined that they would not be able to understand the significance of these forces unless they saw it with their own eyes. Only then they would understand how amazing the hidden forces in nature were.
At this moment, the kettle hanging from the mantel gave off a clanging sound—the sound of the steam hitting against the lid.
"Ah, the water is boiled." The knight walked over to remove the kettle with a fork, and soon the sound stopped. He wrapped a piece of cloth around the handle, and then filled everyone's cups with water.
[Take this for example.] Roland reached out for the cup and felt the temperature of the handle. [From the discovery of fire, the principle of boiling water became a reality. Numerous people had witnessed "Boiling water" and used it, but no one thought that the gently curling and rising water vapor could also contain such a tremendous amount of energy.]
[In a few hundred years, it would become the driving force behind humankind's development, and it would quickly change the history of mankind. Although the principle was simple, due to limited technology, it would not be the first choice when it came to farming. But this world was different,] he thought, [there are witches here. Using magic to fight wars was the way of barbarians… Instead, applying magic to create and to replace some of the key technologies to make civilization develop faster was the correct way to use magic.
They chatted until the sunset, and after having dinner together, Roland went to his bedroom.
There was no nightlife in that era, and most people went to bed early if they did not make love. He had previously considered taking advantage of his position as a prince and calling a maid to do some physical activities. But in the end, he was too embarrassed to do it.
Right after he lit the candle in his room, he heard the sound of applause behind him, and then someone spoke, "It was a spectacular lecture. I didn't expect Your Highness was actually a learned man."
It was the voice of an unknown woman. Roland instantly felt cold sweat on his forehead. If she could and would suddenly appear like this in his room without giving him notice, what else could she be if not an assassin?! He immediately ran towards the door, but before he could reach the doorknob, he felt a cold wind blowing next to his ear. When he was back to his senses, he found a silver dagger firmly logged into the door, with only a finger's width to his cheek.
