When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

Chapter 1023 Sleeping in the rough
As sunlight streamed through the tent and fell on Silvanik's face, he slowly opened his eyes, which were etched with fine crow's feet.

Summer dew condensed on the tent, and verdant grass blades peeked out from under the canvas.

Outside the tent, the crackling of the flames, the screeching of the ladle scraping the bottom of the iron pot, and the increasingly clear voices of young people could be heard.

Silvanik sighed, put on his scholar's robe, lifted the curtain, and went out.

Standing at the tent entrance, Silvanik took a deep breath of the fresh, grassy scent that carried the aroma of fried eggs in the early morning.

Before him was a roughly constructed fence surrounding a camp for carriages and horses.

Dozens of tents were scattered across the earthen mound campsite, and merchants and travelers gathered around campfires, cooking their breakfast in copper pots or tin pans.

The spilled manure buckets, the yellow mud left by last night's light rain, mixed with horse manure, pig manure, and sheep manure, completely covered the grassy area, creating a yellow, grimy road.

"Good morning, Professor Silvanik." Several students passed by the tent and bowed to Silvanik.

"Good morning," Silvanik nodded.

"Professor Silvanik, is the injury on your face serious?" Two students who were close to each other approached.

"It's okay, I was careless and didn't dodge."

One of the students couldn't help but speak up angrily: "Those priests are too arrogant. Not only did they kick us out of the hotel, they even tried to beat us up."

"I've already noted down their family crest. When I get back, I'll definitely check which family it belongs to."

Silvanik staggered slightly: "No need to investigate. He's a priest sponsored by the Angan family, a vulture from Storm's Cape."

The two students' insults caught in their throats. The Vulture Family of Storm's Cape was a notorious black-handed family.

Although the family only had one respectable earl and one court baron, they were prominent in the region.

In addition to being called an earl, they were also known as the Dukes of the Emerald Sea.

This shows how powerful the forces behind this merchant, or rather, this pirate family, were.

Although Silvanik was nominally allowed to use the church's facilities for this meeting, the number of attendees naturally increased as he got closer to Springspring Castle.

For a nobleman like Silvanik, born in Leia, the priority of staying in hotels and churches was naturally far behind.

Last night, they were first driven from the monastery to the hotel, and then driven out of the hotel.

Ultimately, they were reduced to sleeping in the countryside at the campsites of small merchants.

After all, the people of Leia have already bowed down to the people of Fran, so how is a minor nobleman of Leia any different from a commoner?

In universities, people don't usually go too far, but in civilian and outdoor settings, such incidents are commonplace.

If there were any other options, Silvanik would never have attended this Grand Council.

Unfortunately, if he doesn't participate, several of his students might not be able to graduate because they fail the exams.

After several wars, the wealth of the Leia nobles generally shrank by 50% to 60%.

For the young noble students in Silvanik, their families no longer had the extra money to cover the high exam fees.

Attending this major conference, if you're quick-witted and fast-handed, you can at least produce a decent cutting-edge paper.

What troubled Silvanik was that even after they graduated, where would they find a job?

At New Bridge University, general courses are taken together, but specialized courses are taught on a mentorship basis, with tutors providing one-on-one instruction.

After graduation, they often became bureaucrats or even courtiers of high-ranking nobles in the Kingdom of France.

In this way, senior students recommend junior students, forming a huge network of connections.

In fact, many small political parties in the Kingdom of France are united by this network of connections.

Silvanik's teaching level is not very high, his qualifications are also relatively low, and his academic achievements, as Senius said, are only above average.

At the University of Flora-no-Neubridge, where scholars are as numerous as clouds and nobles are as common as dogs, other scholars always have more resources than Silvanic.

Therefore, several of his aristocratic students switched to other professors shortly after arriving at Newbridge University.

The rest were minor nobles or second sons of poor nobles who had no resources or connections. They didn't have much to begin with and were hoping that university would help them get a better education.

Now things are even worse. Not only can I not graduate, but my family can't afford to support me because of the war, and even if I do graduate, I won't be able to find a job.

The Grand Conference presents an opportunity: firstly, it provides material for paper production, and secondly, it can help students find jobs.

Even if Silvanik didn't want to come, he had to. Sitting on a half-rotten log, Silvanik covered his knees with a blanket and ate his breakfast in small bites.

At this time, all seven of his remaining students were present, the oldest of whom was already thirty years old.

They sat around the campfire, but their spirits were low.

Because they moved several times last night, they probably only slept for three or four hours.

He put down the tin tray in his hand and wiped his mouth with a handkerchief: "If nothing valuable has been stolen, let's set off."

"Okay, I'll go pack my luggage now."

"Wait, let's rent a carriage first." Silvanik took out a cloth bag from his pocket, counted out a few dinars, and handed it to the middle-aged student Guslit who was standing next to him.

Guslit was an impatient man, but now that he had received the money, he hesitated: "We're quite close to Springspring Castle now, right? Do we need to rent a carriage?"

"We've been stuck all day, and we probably won't be able to walk during the day. Besides, if we don't leave early, we probably won't be able to find a hotel for the night."

I got punched last night and had to sleep in the countryside, but the good thing is that I saved some money, which I can use to rent a carriage.

"Okay." Guslit grinned, revealing his big yellow teeth, at the prospect of riding in a carriage, and turned to leave.

"Remember to examine the horse's hooves and teeth carefully, so you don't choose a bad horse."

"I know you said that choice is more important than effort."

Guslitt left in a hurry, leaving Silvanik standing there in a daze.

"Choice is more important than effort" is a phrase Silvanik often tells his students.

Some scholars become famous not because they are more hardworking or intelligent than others, but because they seize opportunities and make the right choices.

When Silvanik said those words, he was simply encouraging students to think carefully about their research directions and seize opportunities.

Just six months later, those words bounced back and hit him on the head.

Because several of his aristocratic students echoed the same sentiments to Silvanik himself, and then resolutely turned to other mentors.

"Choice is more important than effort; you can't stop me from striving for something better, can you?"

The student who had followed Silvanik for three years left Silvanik.

For some reason, Senius, who had said goodbye to him at the Sanctuary, flashed through his mind.

"Ugh--"

With a long sigh, Silvanik put all these thoughts behind him and boarded the carriage bound for Springspring Castle.

Chunquan Fort is located within the territory of Hongyeqiu, in the lower reaches of the Nannaoan River, and is only sixty miles from the border of the Holy Alliance.

In the past, this was just an obscure little town, but now it is a gathering place for a huge number of people.

Even though Silvanik and his party traveled by carriage and rushed to the town near Springspring Castle a month in advance, they were still told that all the rooms were full.

"What do you mean full? It's not full at all, okay? I clearly heard you say there were empty rooms."

"That's not an empty room; it's a room we reserved for them in advance."

"If they don't come to stay, can I still reserve this room?"

"No, what if they come over halfway through your stay?"

"Damn it, you're being unreasonable!"

Looking at Guslit, who was arguing with the shopkeeper with a flushed face, Silvanik could only manage a wry smile.

He stepped forward and patted Guslit on the shoulder: "Let's go, let's see if we can find some lodging in the nearby villages..."

"What's going on? Aren't you all supposed to be quiet? How come you're making so much noise... Guslit!"

Hearing someone call his name, Guslit looked up and saw a boy dressed in strange but neat and simple clothes looking at him.

"you are?"

“I am Varas, Varas Dallas of Eagle Foot Bay!” Before Guslitt could answer, Varas strode upstairs. “Dean Senius, come down quickly, I’ve run into Master Silvanik and Guslitt!”

(End of this chapter)