Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 27: Banshees and Flesh Magic

After coming out of the chemistry laboratory, Hughes found his chief clerk.

"Sir, the construction of the factory is going smoothly. You know, we even have some finished olive oil products."

"But as for the school, are you planning to rebuild some buildings, or..."

"Let's find some empty houses first."

The focus of the school is still on the teachers. Hughes originally wanted to let the clerks under Alexei to teach, but after thinking about it, he gave up the idea.

He did not have enough influence on the clerks, and the civil servants trained by the empire might not be willing to teach the common people.

Most of them are illegitimate children of lower-level nobles who cannot inherit family property, children of merchants, and the upper class closest to the common people.

In Hughes' experience, this class of people is the most hostile to civilians.

If they are not careful, they will fall down the social ladder, or the difference between them and the common people will be just a name. Therefore, compared with the upper nobles, they try harder to make themselves "different" from the common people.

Just like the original owner of this body before he came to this world, the illegitimate son Zeus, he was desperately trying to maintain the so-called "aristocratic demeanor", including the complicated etiquette every day, and even when he came to this small island, he insisted on having afternoon tea and reading.

The less a person has, the more he cares about things.

Therefore, if these low-level civil servants were to teach civilians, the results would probably be quite bad.

Hughes's current plan is to choose from among his servants.

Most of his servants were of commoner origin. Only the great nobles could have their servants of noble status. In the final analysis, Zeus was just an illegitimate child.

Since his servants followed him, many of them were literate, which basically met his requirements.

Yes, the only basic teaching requirement for schools is literacy.

Being able to read means being able to understand basic signs and having the most basic worker qualities.

Whether it is to train engineers or scholars, he plans to include it as advanced courses.

He plans to teach the advanced courses himself.

Yes, he is the only teacher in the whole school.

There was nothing he could do about it. Although he planned to teach the most basic physics knowledge, there was probably no one else in the world who possessed a complete knowledge system except him.

Well, unless there are other time travelers.

He plans to teach some basic science and engineering knowledge from the shallow end to the deep end. For more advanced knowledge, he will only provide books and let students study on their own.

You wouldn’t believe it, but what’s harder than learning advanced mathematics is learning it by yourself.

But that is a long time in the future. What we need to do now is general education.

"You just need to find a good house and then inform the islanders about the policy of free schooling."

"Well, literacy classes are free for all employees and their relatives, and advanced courses only require a small fee. We also only charge a symbolic fee for other islanders who are not our employees."

"We need to tell everyone about this from door to door and make sure everyone on the island knows about it!" After sending the chief clerk away, Zeus thought for a moment and decided to go and see the current status of the banshees.

"I'm going to the study. From today on, I will work in the study. No one is allowed to enter the study without my permission." Xius ordered the butler at the door.

He didn't plan to make the Banshee matter public for the time being.

Connor nodded in agreement.

Zeus walked up the stairs to the study. He pretended to direct the servants to place various island documents and account books from previous years on the table, and told no one else to enter. Then he closed the door himself and gently locked the bolt.

The study was not large. Hughes walked around it, drew all the curtains tightly, then lit a lantern and walked to the fireplace.

There is a secret passage in the fireplace here that leads directly to the sea. He went to meet Ash through here during his last night tour.

She was still a bloat monster then.

Zeus smiled and shook his head, pushed open the secret door with the long-handled axe hanging on the wall, and walked in quietly.

Going all the way down to the bottom, looking at the sea in front of him, Zeus closed his eyes and gently activated the symbiotic contract in his heart.

There was an almost immediate response. A shadow gradually appeared on the sea surface, and then with a "whoosh", the shadow broke through the waves.

Ash looked down at Hughes, who was standing on the rocks. "My lord, you are calling me."

The sea water fell from her long silver hair and slid into the sea on her snake tail covered with fine scales.

The body seems to be cast from silver and has been carefully polished, with an indescribable sense of harmonious beauty.

The scales and skin with a slightly metallic texture reminded Zeus of polished plate armor. Under the dim lantern light, it was covered with a halo, cold, hard and holy.

Zeus was stunned for a few seconds unconsciously. It was the first time he saw Ash on land. Her tall figure was like a statue of a god, and her streamlined and soft body lines made her look less inhuman.

The Banshee, only standing in front of her can you feel the sense of oppression, if she holds a weapon in each of her six hands and rushes towards you from the enemy
The name is really appropriate. Their appearance is like a death knell, telling the enemy on the battlefield that their death is imminent, and then they use their huge bodies to crush the ants that block their way.

The banshee, the angel of death, such warriors are willing to fight for him. Thinking of those scenes, Zeus felt his blood boiling for a moment.

But he quickly calmed down, lowered his head and thought for a moment, then asked: "Ash, can't you leave here?"

Ash's eyes wandered, and she lowered her head. "My Lord, once you sign a symbiotic contract, you can't leave too far. Through my contract with you, I gained the ability to survive on land. Unless you stay with me, I can't return to the Abyss."

She hesitated to say something to express her will, but was interrupted by Hughes with a wave of his hand.

"What happens if you go too far? I remember you trying to cross the Abyss yourself when I was unconscious."

"You will continue to lose vitality. The further you go away and the longer it takes, the greater the loss."

So that's how it is. Zeus nodded. No wonder she didn't just go to the bottom of the Abyss to relieve the swelling. Wait, that's not right!?
"Then why didn't you come up this time?" Xius made a puffy gesture. "I saw you were like this the whole time."

"That's flesh magic, my lord," Ash said softly, his tone heavy.

"Flesh magic is one of our innate abilities. It allows us to remain active even in dire circumstances or when seriously injured. We use it to resist the water pressure, which allows us to barely survive. However, we cannot stop using it for even a moment. Without a contractor, the moment the flesh magic stops, death will come."

(End of this chapter)