It’s an Academic Fact That Rankers Are Model Students – Chapter 173

Chapter 173: The Peddler No Longer Wanders (2)

Kyung-joon said.

“The fact that society was able to change and change again back then, it absolutely wasn’t just because it happened that way.”

When society changes, there is always a catalyst.

Of course, cases where that catalyst is virtuous or ethical are rare.

For example, just like how the abolition of slavery wasn’t truly out of pity for slaves, but because its efficiency and effectiveness had disappeared.

However, even if there is a catalyst, society doesn’t change immediately.

In reality, although slavery was abolished during Lincoln’s time, discrimination against black people didn’t disappear.

The countless social movements that arose afterward.

It was only then that society truly changed.

“There were those who resisted injustice and those who sought to make things better.”

Without their struggles and sacrifices, society certainly wouldn’t have changed.

Even if it had changed, it would have been only superficial.

So, if the world continues to impose unreasonable silence.

Those who feel it must rise up themselves.

“Mr. Ceram. I believe I have prepared everything necessary and possible. I’ve proven that there is absolutely no difference, not even 1%, between black skin and green skin, and in fact, you just freely wielded the magic of the forest despite having black skin. Perhaps the majority of silvas with green skin are actually capable of wielding earth magic as well. And among them, there will also be some who are vaguely realizing that the whole ‘demon’s spawn’ thing is utter nonsense. There will surely be those who pretend not to know, even though they do.”

There’s no way they don’t exist.

It’s just that they’ve remained silent because the situation until now didn’t allow them to voice their thoughts.

“However, the situation is different now. Now, I believe everyone will think differently. They won’t be able to help but think differently. They’ve witnessed the arlivs becoming corrupted, and they’ve learned what the true demon’s curse is. They’ve all witnessed with their own two eyes, without exception, the silva with black skin, whom they’ve ostracized ultimately becoming their savior. Now they know. They can no longer do anything without you, the black-skinned silva who can purify the arlivs without earth magic. And I’ve set everything up so that even after all the arlivs are purified, they’ll be forced to need and accept you, a black-skinned silva.”

The stage is already set.

The 『Position Appointment Ticket (Unique) – Manager of Whale Forest Tail』 that Kyung-joon handed over, but Ceram hasn’t yet accepted.

Once Ceram accepts this position, he’ll likely take charge of a large project himself.

From a wandering peddler with nowhere to go, he becomes the guardian of the forest, bound to remain here.

This is fate.

A destiny he was born with.

An appointment that Kyung-joon, borrowing the power of the heavens – God of the World – dares to bestow, and one that cannot be refused.

“According to the letter Ceram wrote just now, you said you owe me a debt you can never repay?”

Kyung-joon pressed down on Ceram’s shoulders, straightening his posture.

He then unfolded the appointment letter he had handed over and held it out in front of him so that he could read it, and said softly,

“I will give you a chance to repay that debt.”

Since he had already taken the necessary steps.

“So read it.”

All Ceram had to do was read the appointment letter.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

[Ceram’s existence rank has been upgraded from Rare grade 『Black-skinned silva』 to Unique grade 『Manager of Whale Forest Tail』.]

[Ceram’s overall stats will be adjusted to match his rank.]

[New skills will be generated for Ceram to match his rank.]

[Ceram will be given a new title.]

[Epic Quest 『Ceram, the Black-Skinned Silva』 has been successfully completed.]

．

．

．

Now, the Manager of Whale Forest Tail, commonly known as the Black Manager, Ceram.

The first thing he did was to teach the silvas.

“In fact, there’s no difference, not even 1%, between forest mana and earth mana. The fact that I can freely wield forest mana like this is proof of that.”

Wooong.

Ceram freely manipulated the green forest mana in one hand and the earthen brown earth mana in the other.

“Ohhh…!”

The other silvas couldn’t take their eyes off Ceram, who was freely manipulating the two attributes they thought were completely different, marveling at the sight.

Of course, it wasn’t that wizards who handled dual attributes were rare, but to the silvas who hadn’t received any formal magical education and lived in the wild, it was a truly amazing sight.

It was as if they were seeing their own kind for the first time.

Among such silvas, Ceram smirked.

A smirk that said, ‘Even I didn’t know it would turn out like this back then.’

Ceram continued speaking.

“You can all do this too, even without being taught separately. All you need to do is think about drawing the mana from the earth instead of thinking about drawing it from the trees.”

Silvas are a fairy race whose magic is second nature to them.

Even though they’re considered wild fairies who haven’t been significantly civilized, they are still fairies with an innate talent for magic.

However, there was one catch.

“Um…… Black Manager. Are you sure it’s okay to think about the earth……? Isn’t it dangerous?”

“I heard that if you cast magic while thinking about the earth, the will of the Demon King and his minions, who were buried in the past, will mix with the mana.”

“As we all know, magic should always be drawn by imagining trees and forests……”

The misconceptions that had been instilled in them over the years weren’t easily corrected.

This was like the electric fan situation.

Just like in the past in South Korea, where the utterly absurd claim that sleeping with a fan on could kill you was accepted as truth, the current state of the silvas was similar.

But it was okay.

Misconceptions could always be corrected.

“If you think about it, imagining the forest and trees is just as dangerous. Because, after all, don’t all those trees grow by embracing this very earth?”

“Isn’t it actually like this……? I was under the impression that the trees and the forest purify the corrupted will remaining in the earth……”

“Uh…… Well, that’s……”

Ceram was momentarily speechless.

There were many things to point out, and it was a completely unfounded statement, but it somehow sounded plausible, so he couldn’t quite grasp where to begin correcting them.

At that moment.

“Then try thinking of it this way.”

A man’s voice from behind answered on behalf of Ceram.

“Imagine that you’re drawing the earth’s energy through the tree, purifying it once. So, the tree acts as a purifier, filtering out all the Demon King’s will, corruption, or whatever, and only extracting and providing the pure energy of the earth.”

“Ohhh…! I understand!”

Wooong.

The silvas immediately tried it out as the man instructed.

And as they did, two types of mana were drawn into their hands simultaneously.

The green forest mana they were accustomed to using, along with the earthy brown earth mana.

“Wow! It’s really coming out!”

“So earth mana and forest mana really are the same thing!”

“The brown mana that sometimes mixed in when I used magic before…… It wasn’t because of the demon’s curse……”

“Phew…… Thank goodness……”

The silvas hadn’t completely broken free from the misconception of the demon’s curse yet, but it seemed like they had found some common ground within themselves.

In reality, no one dared to call Ceram demon’s spawn to his face anymore.

The man who suddenly jumped into the conversation and taught the silvas on behalf of Ceram.

“You’re working hard teaching them.”

“Ah, Kyung-joon-nim!”

Ceram welcomed Kyung-joon’s appearance and bowed his head as if he were meeting a king.

“My lord, I, Ceram, greet you.”

It was an overly courteous greeting, but since he now served him as his master, Ceram insisted on maintaining this level of formality, believing it was only natural.

“Your teaching just now was truly the epitome of wisdom. I was momentarily at a loss as to where to even begin correcting them.”

Still, he was relieved that their conversation felt similar to before.

“It’s nothing special. Change, while dramatic, should actually happen gradually.”

Even if he were to launch into a complicated explanation about forest mana and earth mana right now, he couldn’t just erase the common sense that the silvas had learned and internalized over hundreds of years.

Going back to the electric fan example.

While there are hardly any adults these days who believe that sleeping with a fan on can kill you, there are still quite a few who think it’s not good to sleep with the fan blowing directly on your face.

But even if it’s only the latter, it’s still a significant change.

For now, it was enough if they could get to that point.

The explanation Kyung-joon provided was precisely at that level.

Just like there was no need to bring up general relativity and other specialized knowledge to explain what GPS is to the average person.

“Hehe, I learn something new every day.”

Ceram engraved Kyung-joon’s wise advice in his heart.

“By the way, thanks to Kyung-joon-nim, a lot has changed. It’s truly been dramatic to witness. Starting with the fact that I’m standing here among these silvas without any problems.”

As Kyung-joon had said, the change was truly dramatic.

The silvas, who had discriminated against and ostracized Ceram, had finally accepted him as one of their own, and they had decided not to kill any more black-skinned children born from now on.

Moreover, not only Ceram, but other green silvas were also beginning to use earth magic one by one.

They had finally accepted earth magic, which they had never tolerated before.

A silva society that now embraced both the forest and earth attributes.

It was a symbol of the silva society that had come to accept black skin.

“So, how is the business going?”

Of course, there was a practical reason why Kyung-joon had created such a society.

“Some of the silvas have already succeeded in making arliv-specific fertilizer. So we’ve already sent them out on purification duty.”

“Oh? Really? As expected of fairies.”

The task of purifying the corrupted arlivs couldn’t be completed overnight.

Like treating a patient with a chronic illness, it was a long process that required continuous application of purification fertilizer and a supply of fresh forest mana.

That was the only way to ensure a complete cure and prevent recurrence.

However, there were over a thousand arlivs.

It was impossible for Kyung-joon and Ceram to produce the massive amount of purification fertilizer needed for all of them on their own.

Even if they could, their bodies and mana wouldn’t be able to handle it.

That’s why they were utilizing the roughly one thousand or so silvas.

They were educating them and having them purify the arlivs.

The silva society that Kyung-joon had transformed made this possible.

“It seems like the training is going well.”

There were two things that Kyung-joon had instructed Ceram to do.

One, as mentioned earlier, was 『Please train the silvas well so they can make arliv purification fertilizer.』

“Once the purification fertilizer production is stable, start researching fertilizers specifically for the herbs.”

The other was 『Once the training is complete, try starting a farming project to mass-produce the Four-Color Herbal Tea.』

“Understood. I’ll make sure you can enjoy the herbal tea as soon as possible.”

The precious Four-Color Herbs that only grew in harsh and specific environments like Sky Cliff.

If they could succeed in cultivating and mass-producing it, Kyung-joon’s studies would progress much faster.

The power of the herbal tea had already been proven during the recent midterm exams of the second semester.

To be able to study while constantly immersed in the effects of the herbal tea, his brain was already buzzing with anticipation.

“Then I’ll get back to training the silvas……”

Just as Ceram was about to return to his duties as the Black Manager.

“Ah……!”

He suddenly stopped in his tracks as if something had come to mind.

“Kyung-joon-nim. There’s something I’m worried about.”

It was a fundamental and crucial issue when it came to business.

One that might even force them to scrap the entire project……

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