Lord of Mysteries: Return of the Stars!

"Your humility and virtue are truly admirable."

Lecturer Fron and Dean Darn continued to chat casually, while Hastur listened quietly, speculating about Professor Wayne's intentions.

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Professor Wayne was clearly preoccupied today; otherwise, he wouldn't have said those things earlier or asked him to cooperate.

He vaguely guessed some of Professor Wayne's thoughts from this behavior.

Almshouses, in name, are charitable institutions that shelter and provide relief to the poor.

It was only after the introduction of the "George III Alms Law" that almshouses were established across various regions under the watchful eyes of the gods.

Aside from the kingdoms themselves, each of the seven major churches would also build a almshouse near their respective churches to aid the poor and preach the benevolence of the gods.

The intention behind this was, of course, good and worthy of affirmation. But human greed would lead people to covet even such charitable institutions.

When charity becomes a weapon aimed at the poor, that is the ultimate irony.

Hastur believes in human kindness, but also in human ugliness.

From what he has seen so far, and based on some of Professor Wayne's words, he can sense that there is definitely something wrong with this almshouse.

Professor Wayne insisted on dining in the same cafeteria as the children, likely in hopes of uncovering what was amiss about this almshouse.

No matter how well the surface is polished, if something is truly wrong, there will inevitably be traces left behind.

And children are often unable to keep secrets.

Soon, a staff member came and said that the tables on the first floor were already set, and it was time for the children to have lunch.

"Our place is rather simple. Some of the food might not be very refined and may not suit your tastes," Dean Darn said with a smile that seemed to hold deeper meaning.

Professor Wayne calmly replied, "I too came from a poor family, every bite of food deserves respect."

"I'm just worried that we might not be good hosts." Dean Darn said no more and led Hastur and the others downstairs.

On the way, Hastur carefully observed the surroundings.

It was already noon, and many people were coming out of nearby houses to eat here. Most of the children were between the ages of eight and twelve; very few were fifteen or sixteen.

According to the Alms Law enacted during the reign of George III, anyone with a sound body who could make a living outside was not allowed to continue using the resources of the almshouse, nor were they allowed to stay overnight.

To show mercy and care for different groups, adults could receive one meal per day from the almshouse, and children not residing in the almshouse could come twice a day for food.

The so-called almshouse food was adjusted based on the economic conditions of each institution.

Most almshouses could provide dairy products and bread; those in better condition sometimes had meat, and very well-off ones even offered unlimited meat and occasional beer.

Such living conditions were better than some working-class families.

Of course, such well-off almshouses were rare.

Most almshouses barely allowed people to feel full. In some poorly funded ones, only soup or similar was available, not enough to satisfy hunger, and sometimes there was only one meal a day, with hunger in between.

At those places, children didn't even need to wash their bowls after eating, because they had licked them clean.

Once every table in the dining hall was packed and the food was served, a staff member rang a bell and shouted, "No talking during meals! No horseplay! No behavior that disturbs others while eating!"

After the meal rules were read out once, the children began to eat quietly.

Today's lunch consisted mainly of a generous portion of white bread and a cup of milk, along with a large bowl of slowly simmered sweet soup.

Although there was no meat, compared to black bread, having white bread as the staple food was already quite good. The provision of milk also met the children's nutritional needs.

At least on the surface, from this lunch, there was little to criticize.

"What a touching scene," Lecturer Fron sighed. In his view, it was already admirable for a almshouse to feed impoverished children.

"Yes, may all children grow up healthy," Professor Wayne added with feeling.

Hastur did not comment on the scene before him. His gaze was fixed on the children's clothing.

Their attire looked similar to the children in the docklands, worn grey or black coats, loose knee-length bloomers, and some wore round-brimmed felt hats. This was normal in a almshouse.

What puzzled Hastur was that their clothes seemed overly loose and messy, as if they had been hastily thrown on.

Another thing, these children were far too calm.

Logically, children of this age love to play and are curious about new things. Even if they didn't show interest openly, they would at least sneak glances, right?

But from the moment they entered the gate, every child they encountered behaved very calmly, very obediently. Not a single one talked loudly or played around.

This was abnormal.

"Let's eat lunch too," Dean Darn offered, and a staff member brought over their meals.

Their lunch was similar to what the children had, with the addition of a small piece of steak.

Lecturer Fron hesitated and said, "Isn't this... inappropriate?"

The children were eating white bread, while they had fragrant steak, it seemed a bit excessive.

Dean Darn looked apologetic and said, "I didn't think this through."

As he spoke, he instructed the nearby administrators to distribute all the steaks prepared for lunch to the children.

"Dean Darn, you truly are a kind person," Fron was very pleased with Dean Darn's decision.

Professor Wayne and Hastur simply watched silently without commenting.

Upholding the dining etiquette of not speaking during meals, Hastur and the others also remained quiet. It wasn't until they finished lunch that Dean Darn had someone lead them on a tour of the almshouse.

The entire almshouse could generally be divided into five areas: the living area, residential area, educational area, work area, and confinement area.

The living area referred to the space where free activities and play were allowed. After classes, children and adults who had finished their work could freely spend a certain amount of time in the living area.

The residential area was divided into three parts. The first was for children under the age of fourteen. The second was for staff of the almshouse, such as administrators, cooks, and workers.

The third was for those aged fourteen and above who had jobs within the almshouse.

The children's quarters were located at the innermost part of the left building, administrators resided in the middle, and other workers lived on the outer side.

Iron gates separated each section, and aside from patrol guards, ordinary people did not have keys to enter or exit.

If someone was caught crossing zones without permission, the punishment would be severe, this was to best protect the children from harm.

The educational area was where the children attended classes to learn basic knowledge. The education here was very fundamental, being able to learn and use Loen script and perform addition and subtraction within one hundred was considered graduation.

Additionally, there was another type of education, which involved learning some job skills that could help them find work outside, such as sewing clothes, assembling matchboxes, doing laundry, and other basic survival skills.

The work area was for those over the age of fourteen. The almshouse would accept simple jobs from outside, allowing them to work, first, to help them develop work skills; second, to earn some money to subsidize the almshouse's finances; and third, to keep them occupied and prevent larger troubles.

Taking this particular almshouse as an example, it was built halfway up a mountain, making it convenient to mine stone. Many workers' daily task was quarrying stone from the mountain.

Slightly weaker or smaller women were responsible for processing the transported stones.

The confinement area was for detaining those who made mistakes, whether unruly children or workers involved in fights.

This area was mainly located in the basement to avoid disrupting normal life aboveground.

After touring the entire place, an hour and a half passed. Professor Wayne informed the administrators that he would be staying there tonight.

Upon receiving the news, Dean Darn cheerfully agreed and said they could stay in the almshouse as long as they wished.

Around three in the afternoon, Professor Wayne led Hastur, Lecturer Fron, and two administrators from the almshouse to the dock area.

This time, Professor Wayne came to the dock area not only to rest at the Sunrise almshouse for the night, but also to use the daytime to educate the workers there, who had been treated unfairly, about legal knowledge, and also to offer some free legal aid.

Professor Wayne told Hastur that recently the Loen Kingdom had amended its laws multiple times concerning workers and the economy, attempting to improve workers' treatment.

These updates were incredibly valuable to the workers in the dock area.

Without understanding certain legal knowledge, they wouldn't know how to fight for their rightful interests, which would leave them constantly exploited, the harder they worked, the more difficult life would become.

Was Professor Wayne an idealistic lawyer?

With deeper interaction, Hastur increasingly sensed his compassion for the poor.

From the very first encounter, he had felt that Professor Wayne was somewhat different.

Generally speaking, many teachers would treat noble children like himself half-heartedly, since no one expected a noble to seriously become a lawyer.

After all, the legal profession couldn't compare to noble titles.

But Professor Wayne still taught earnestly and deliberately explained the many injustices currently existing in the legal system.

Telling a noble student that the laws protecting nobles were problematic, this was truly bold and fearless.

As the group chatted while walking, they arrived at the area where dock workers lived.

Two administrators from the almshouse were in charge of notifying available local residents to come and attend the free lesson.

Hastur and Lecturer Fron moved two tables and more than ten long benches.

Professor Wayne found a blank wooden board and a piece of burnt charcoal.

About twenty minutes later, people began to trickle in out of curiosity, wondering what these outsiders were up to.

When the number of onlookers surpassed twenty, Professor Wayne began his small legal education session.