Published: August 15, 2025
The next morning, I gathered Wilfried’s attendants, including Moritz and Oswald, along with Florentia and Richarda, in Wilfried’s room. I showed them the karuta cards, picture books, and playing cards that the high priest had brought, and taught them how to learn through play rather than formal education.
“Did Rosemine make all of this?” Florentia asked as she read through the picture book, comparing it with the karuta cards, letting out a soft breath.
I nodded firmly.
“The workshop made the materials, but I came up with the concept. The orphans read the picture books, played karuta, and used playing cards, so they were able to learn reading, writing, and arithmetic during the winter retreat.”
They also learned the names of the gods, their retainers, what each governs, and what the divine relics are.
“I heard from the Guard Knights that it’s advantageous to know about the gods when studying magic. I think if the noble children play with these teaching materials during winter, the overall standard of the nobility in the territory will improve significantly…”
“… Yes, if they know all this before entering the Noble Academy, their later studies will be much easier. For Wilfried, as the lord’s son, it’s best to guide him to learn ahead of the other nobles,” Florentia said, gazing at the karuta cards with a sigh of admiration.
Indeed, both the karuta and the picture books seemed like they would sell well among the nobles. It might be better to print more copies by the end of winter.
“Let’s do the karuta games during the afternoon lessons when Brother Wilfried returns. First, the teacher will read the reading cards while looking at the picture cards, and Brother will repeat until he memorizes them. Then, he will practice reading, writing, and repeating the initial characters of each part.”
Back in the Reno era, this would be like practicing writing hiragana while saying “A as in duck.” Since he already knows about half of the basic characters used in his own name, we’ll focus on those characters first, connecting the reading cards with the pictures.
Then, we play karuta. He just needs to find the picture cards representing the basic characters he knows and try to grab the cards from the day’s practice.
The karuta opponents are the attendants, who will give handicaps at first. After the reading card is fully read, the attendants will wait 10 seconds before reaching out. Once Wilfried gets used to it, the handicap can be gradually reduced.
“The attendants must also take this seriously. We’ll create a ranking chart. Anyone who finishes last more than 30 times will become a candidate for replacement. It should be easy enough to beat Brother Wilfried at karuta, right?”
The attendants’ faces stiffened. It wouldn’t do if they thought their previous negligence came without any penalties. From now on, they will be filtered out through various stages. The high priest said, “We don’t need incompetent attendants for the next lord. Especially since the lord’s prospects are already slim.”
For playing cards, starting with “Seven Straight” to get familiar with the suits and numbers seems reasonable. The goals are for Wilfried to read numbers and learn patience—to not throw tantrums or refuse to accept defeat after losing games.
Reading picture books aloud before bed, at least once a day, is good. Listening until memorization will help him follow along with the text by ear, sparking some interest in letters.
“This applies to all games: winning all the time or losing all the time won’t help one grow. It’s the back-and-forth that brings seriousness. Please help him win sometimes, and at others, completely crush him to motivate him.”
I added that incorporating education into daily life—like adding and subtracting candies or writing letters with sauce on a plate so he can’t eat it until he reads it—would be beneficial. Richarda smiled confidently.
“Leave it to me, Lady.”
A little after the fourth bell rang, Brother Wilfried and Brother Lamprecht returned looking quite worn out. It seemed they had been threatened badly enough to cause trauma.