章 21: Teacher for one day, father for ever

When Max went out into the yard, he could see the little children sitting on the grass playing with some rocks and sticks.

A melancholy look was made by Max, so he clapped his hands to attract the attention of the little children.

"Children, I want you to know that from today on, a new period in your life will begin.

Let me introduce you to Kassia; she is… "

Kassia was surprised by Max's silence, but it was only momentary as she was surprised to see him smile.

"She is an important person to me and will also be her teacher."

The little ones looked with smiles at Kassia, who seemed to be pleased with Max's words.

At that moment, Max pointed to the two monks and the nun who were looking at him with rather fear.

"Do not be afraid of me; I am not a murderer; although now I control your life, I am not interested in treating you as slaves.

I have more important uses for you; now, which of the three of you can tell me if you can speak Nordic or if you can teach Latin. "

The two monks looked at each other for a few seconds, and they both shook their heads while the nun fearfully raised her hand.

"I can teach Latin, and I know a little Nordic, sir."

Max formed a smile on his face and walked towards the nun, who seemed to see him with almost irrational fear; the nun closed her eyes, expecting the worst when Max was in front of her.

Max's hand patted the nun on the shoulder. "I don't understand where your fear comes from, but I want you to know something.

As you may believe, we are not barbarians; the only thing that happens is that our living conditions make us tough people.

They are more barbarous. "

Max said, pointing to the two monks.

The two monks were angered by the young redhead's comment but did not have the courage to complain as they still remembered the incident with the Drakkar.

The nun relaxed a bit at the young man's comment but still kept a particular guard against him.

Max, when looking at the nun, still defensively only shook his head. "By the way, nun, how should I call you."

The nun lowered her head and, with a choppy voice, said, "My, my name is Aila, sir."

Max couldn't hold back his laughter a bit and patted Aila on the shoulder. "Don't tell me, sir, just tell me Einar.

Now, Aila, I would like to ask you to help me with the little ones to speak and write in Latin.

You can ask the two monks for help. "

Max's gaze went, "But I want you to remember that I'm asking you to teach them Latin, not to tell them about your God or show them the bible.

I will respect your religion but do not teach it to these little children, as I plan to teach them the word of Odin.

If you can fulfill my request, I promise to write you the Gospel according to Judas Iscariot and reveal the Holy Grail's secret.

Believe me, I know many things that you just ignore, but you should believe me that your church has nothing to do with Jesus's teaching. "

The nun only trembled at Einar's words, while one of the monks sneered at Einar as he said.

"Einar, why you know so much about our church? I don't think you are a herald of Odin.

You should be a demon controlled man. "

Max turned his face and looked at the brave but stupid monk. "Monk, you are not the best person to tell me that I am a demon."

The monk gulped as he saw Einar walk slowly where he was; Max stood in front of the monk and stared into his eyes.

"Tell me how many people you have killed or tortured because they are heathens or heretics."

Max smiled sarcastically at the monk's silence, "You think you have a higher moral value just because you hide behind the cross."

The frightened monk began to pray while holding his wooden crucifix; Max frowned and shook his head as he looked at the monk sadly.

"It's a shame that you prefer to escape from reality by praying, but if that makes you feel better and justifies your actions, do it.

Aila, join me. I'll show you what you're going to teach when Kassia isn't there. "

Aila, with some fear, walked, ignoring the two monks who were on their knees praying.

Once Ali stood in front of the children, Max picked up a few stones from the ground.

"Excellent children, today I will teach you the numbers; these numbers will help you in the future.

Remember, whatever you do carries numbers directly or indirectly; if you want to be warriors and want to throw a javelin, you will need to use numbers to know how to throw it to kill the enemy.

If they are cooking, they will need to know the amounts of ingredients, and for that, they need the numbers."

All the children nodded and watched as Max raised a hand that had a stone. "Repeat after my One."

The children shouted in unison, "One."

At that moment, Max, with his hand, raised two stones, "Two."

The children yelled, "Two" in unison.

In just a few minutes, Max counted to the number ten and showed the number zero.

"Very well children, you will have to learn to count from 0 to 10.

Remember to use stones or the fingers of your hand to count, and if you have any questions, you can ask Kassia or Aila. "

Seeing the little children use their hands or some stones to count, Max remembered Erika, so a feeling of sadness invaded him.

Max then walked near the little children and patted the head of a girl counting some stones. "Children, I also want you to know that as a teacher, I must take care of you.

As long as I live, I will take care of all of you as if you are my children, so never be afraid to ask something, or if you ever need to talk to someone, just tell me.

You are the future of our tribe; always remember that. "

The little girl did not understand why the herald of Odin stroked her head or why he said those words, but she knew that perhaps in her future, she would not experience any lack.

After saying those words, Max walked to Aila, "Aila, take care of the children please; I have to show Seren how to make cement.

Also, ask the monks to help you and tell them that if they don't want to take care of the children, there are always places available for forced labor where they possibly know God. "

Aila fearfully nodded and walked towards the monks so that they will stop praying and help her take care of the little children.

For his part, Max surprisingly took Kassia and Helmi by the waist as he walked to the place where Seren was with the materials prepared.

Helmi and Kassia were not bothered by Max's action, so they walked next to him; while they walked, Helmi was thinking about Einar's behavior with the children.

She had never seen him melancholy with the children, so she wondered if Einar wanted to be a father; if he wanted to be a father, she would not refuse.

For a moment, Helmi was lost in the thought of her with Einar carrying a few children, only regaining her consciousness when she heard Einar speak.

Max, who was already giving instructions to Seren, did not bother Helmi's head on his shoulder, so he avoided making many movements with his hand to avoid disturbing her.

For her part, Seren was following the steps indicated by Einar; the first thing she did was put vinegar on one of the white stones.

To his surprise, when the vinegar touched the stone, it began to release some bubbles, so Einar allowed him to place the white stones on the fire.

While the limestone was heating on the fire, a craftsman used a mortar to grind the volcanic ash as best he could.

After this, Seren took out the red-hot limestone stones from the fire using tweezers, which she placed in an iron pot where she put water on them.

To everyone's surprise, the stones dissolved with the water, but following Einar's instructions, they only put enough water so that a white paste would form.

When the pasta was ready, Einar calculated the amount of pasta in the iron pot using a wooden container.

Following the measurements of the wooden container for each container of pasta, Einar put two containers of volcanic ash and a container of pumice stone broken into small pieces.

Once everything was together, it was mixed to form a kind of gray plasticine, which was placed in a wooden mold that was half-filled.

Once half of the mold was filled, Einar gave a few blows to the mold so that the Roman cement would settle; after this, he filled the mold with cement and repeated the process of giving them a few blows to accommodate the material.

When they finished, Max cleaned his hands with water as he explained the final steps "Once the brick is dry and feels like a rock, they are going to place it in seawater for at least a full day.

This in order for the minerals in the seawater to seal the brick; ideally, the bricks should be underwater for at least half a year or, failing that, 3 months.

But because we need these bricks for the wall and the sewer system, just one day is enough. "

Seren nodded and began giving orders for the slaves and some craftsmen to bring material in large quantities.

Max, who was curious, asked how they brought the material. Seren showed Max that the slaves used baskets on their shoulders with which they walked until they reached their destination.

Seren's answer made Max dissatisfied, so he asked for a papyrus and a pen to draw a small tool that would help the craftsmen a lot.

Once Max had a pen, he drew a kind of container supported by a wheel and had two handles.

"I present to you the wheelbarrow; this little tool will allow the slaves to carry more weight and will increase the speed of travel.

Although it can only work on roads other than mud, otherwise, it could end up stuck. "

Seren nodded and, with a smile, handed the blueprint to the craftsmen so they could start creating some wheelbarrows.

For his part, Max looked at Kassia with a smile. "I'm hungry; how about we eat a little and then go to the center of town so I can show you the slaves and villagers.

Where should they start digging for the sewer construction to begin? "

Kassia nodded and hugged Max's arm; at that moment, the three walked towards the great hall.