Chapter 161 Apple Table Meeting

Take the crafted crystal chandelier with him.

Back at Tulip Castle, Liszt ordered the servants to install the crystal chandelier in his study. The chandelier made of white crystal emitted a gentle white light, much like natural light, though not as intense as sunlight. Just one crystal chandelier was brighter than ten candles.

"Probably about 50 watts in brightness, but it's still not strong enough. It would be best to install two more."

Installing three crystal chandeliers in a room is the most suitable brightness. More would be too glaring, and fewer would make it too dim. These crystal chandeliers could stay lit for years continuously. They could also be designed to switch on and off at will, but that required high-level craftsmanship, which wasn't cost-effective.

The value of crystal is indeed high, but the price isn't unacceptably high.

Tulip Castle had hundreds of crystal chandeliers, shining day and night, making it a castle of light that never fell into darkness. Many nobles liked to carve crystal into tableware. After receiving his fief, Liszt also received a set of exquisite crystal tableware, even though its magic had been depleted. Using it to entertain distinguished guests still highlighted its elegance.

"The bedroom should also have crystal chandeliers installed, along with lampshades. This way, I can close the lampshades instead of turning off the lights," he said. He was accustomed to sleeping in the dark and couldn't sleep with the lights on.

He directed the servants to adjust the position of the crystal chandeliers.

Calculating silently, with Glanny's speed, it would take another three to five days to craft ten crystal chandeliers. Ten chandeliers could barely maintain the lighting for five rooms, but he didn't plan to add more. Taking out so many crystals at once might seem unusual, so it was better to keep a low profile.

Besides, three chandeliers in the study, two in the living room, two in the dining room, two in the bedroom, and one in the bathroom were sufficient for his needs.

"Sir, Mr. Marcus is here, waiting for you in the living room," Carter approached.

"Did Teacher Marcus mention anything specific?"

"He came to report on the knight training of the serfs' children."

Liszt thought for a moment and said, "Have someone notify Karl Ironhammer and Rom Barrel to come over. Also, gather my twelve attendant knights. I need to hold a meeting."

Descending the stairs, he met Marcus.

"My lord, Marcus greets you."

"Good day." As Thomas adjusted his cravat, Liszt continued, "Teacher Marcus, let's talk under the apple tree. I've invited others to join us for a discussion on knight training."

The apple tree was a wild fruit tree near the castle entrance. There were stone benches and a wooden table under it. Liszt often read or pondered problems there. Unfortunately, this season, the apples had already fallen. So he couldn't emulate Newton, being hit by an apple and contemplating the law of universal gravitation.

Next year, when the tree bore apples again, he definitely planned to think deeply about astronomy, physics, magic, and martial arts under it.

"Apples are good things; three apples can change the world," Liszt said, smiling and pointing at the apple tree.

Marcus was puzzled: "Apples are delicious, but how do they change the world?"

"Do you know how humans came to be?"

"We are the rulers of nature, born alongside this continent, my lord."

Well, seeing Marcus's earnest response, Liszt suddenly felt it wasn't worth trying to be humorous with this earth knight. So he got straight to the point: "There's a legend that the first two people ate an apple and created humanity."

Marcus asked: "Then why do you say three apples changed the world?"

Eating the forbidden fruit, the law of universal gravitation, Apple smartphones... Liszt regretted starting this topic and had to improvise: "Later, someone ate an apple and cultivated martial arts, while someone else created magic. Of course, these are just legends from knight novels. Those novel authors have quite the imagination."

"Those mages? They can't change the world; the world belongs to knights!"

"..."

After some idle chatter,

Karl and Rom arrived, and the attendant knights gathered around the apple tree.

Seeing Marcus, Karl, and Rom sitting formally, and the attendant knights standing straight, Liszt suddenly thought of King Arthur and his Round Table meetings. This fictional ancient British king enjoyed discussing matters with his knights around a round table. Many stories have been written about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.

Even Japan has produced many anime series about King Arthur.

"If someday I become a king, will the table under this apple tree be called the Apple Table, and the meetings held here be known as Apple Table meetings? Will Marcus, Karl, and Rom be called the Apple Table Knights, or simply Apple Knights?"

His thoughts quickly faded.

He said seriously, "Teacher Marcus, has the grouping of the serfs' children been completed?"

"Yes, my lord. Out of three hundred and fifty-four children, twenty-six who were deformed or unable to train were excluded, leaving three hundred and twenty-eight. There are one hundred and sixty-nine boys and one hundred and fifty-nine girls. Following your instructions, I separated the girls into their own group and divided the boys into passing and failing groups."

"The girls' group will be trained by Rom," Liszt decided. "The purpose is to strengthen their bodies for future work assignments. If any show exceptional talent and can cultivate martial arts, we'll make other arrangements."

Rom stood up and bowed: "As you wish, Rom will rigorously train these girls!"

Training women in martial arts wasn't mainstream, as most lords preferred boys for knighthood. However, it wasn't fixed, and there were lords who trained female knights... His sister Lvera trained a group of girls to form a female knight squad, although she also trained more boys.

Liszt's intention in training girls wasn't to form a female knight squad.

Instead, he hoped that women could gain strength to handle heavy labor, or perhaps take over farming entirely, freeing up male labor for workshops, road construction, bridge building, and shipbuilding.

More importantly, stronger women would reduce childbirth difficulties and increase infant survival rates.

Additionally, if a few exceptionally talented female knights emerged, they could be included as attendant knights. If they were beautiful, they could serve as personal guards, which would be delightful.

"The failing group will be trained by Karl."

Putting aside his thoughts, Liszt continued: "The training for the failing group, like the girls, aims to strengthen their bodies, ideally cultivating martial arts. In the future, those who develop martial arts can join the patrol team or the pest control team, while those without martial arts can work on road and bridge construction."

Karl stood up and accepted the task: "As you wish!"

"Finally, the passing group will be trained by Teacher Marcus. They are candidates for the future territorial guard knights. Philip and Xavier, you attendant knights will rotate to assist Teacher Marcus in training the passing group... I think we should further divide the passing group based on age levels for separate training."

Marcus nodded: "We can divide them into groups: six years old and below, focusing on etiquette and basic skills; six to eight years old, focusing on cultivating martial arts and loyalty; and eight years and above, focusing on courage and riding and charging."