Tyranny of Steel

With Adela's departure, Berengar quickly found himself thrust into his work once more. He had to find an instructor to replace her as the teacher for Kufstein's children with her absence. Unfortunately, implementing his public education system was proving to be a slower endeavor than initially estimated. Because of this, he was currently interviewing a prospective candidate for the position Adela had left behind.

The young man in front of him was one of the Children of the late Marshal. Despite being responsible for the assassination of Marshal Friedhelm von Thiersee, Berengar had successfully shifted the blame for the man's death onto his little brother. Thus gaining the von Thiersee family as a valuable ally. Currently, the second son of the family was sitting before Berengar. At the same time, the young regent conducted a thorough interview on whether or not the man could instruct the region's children in basic education.

The first matter of importance was determining whether or not the man understood the basic material. Over this past hour, Berengar had given the young man a basic arithmetic and language test, which the man passed with flying colors. Afterward, Berengar gave him the booklets that contained the learning materials that had been distributed to the students to see if he could thoroughly understand its content.

The young man went by the name of Frederick, and he was relatively average-looking in all aspects. He was a studious and quiet man who perfectly exemplified the ideal of the noble scholar. Frederick shared the same dirty blonde hair and emerald eyes as his elder brother. The young man looked at Berengar with a passionate smile as he repeated a part of the Social Studies that contained Berengar's propaganda.

"The German people are a distinct ethnic group among the Germanic Peoples who reside within the German-speaking regions of Central Europe. It should be the aim of every German to unify under a single cohesive Empire free from foreign influence. Only by uniting with each other can the German people pursue their destiny of Global Hegemony."

It was quite honestly a propaganda piece taken from the teachings of a certain regime from Berengar's previous life, yet if he was going to build an Empire, the Fatherland should be united as the core of it. Berengar had distributed a map for visual reference, which contained the regions he wished to incorporate into his future Empire. This map was essentially an exact copy of the idea of a Greater Germany from a certain Austrian Art student, with the addition of the Adriatic Littoral and the Alpine foothills.

After confirming that Frederick could teach the Children, Berengar approached the man with a smile on his face and shook his hand.

"It seems you are more than qualified to teach the children; you start tomorrow. I promise you will be paid a fair wage."

The young man nodded his head in agreement and spoke his inner thoughts."

"I'm just glad to be of service to the realm, My Lord."

Hearing such words, Berengar decided to celebrate and pulled out a flagon of beer while pouring it into two mugs he offered to the young man in front of him.

"If you know anyone else who would be a good fit for the position, let me know. I want to expand public education across the entirety of the Barony and need qualified instructors."

Frederick smiled at Berengar and took out a list of names he had come prepared with for this very topic and handed it over to the young Lord. Berengar was perplexed by this action, but he took a sip from his mug of beer while reading over the list of names. Most of the names written on the sheet of paper were from the younger generation of nobility, many of whom he had met at his engagement ceremony.

Frederick smiled as he shared his thoughts with Berengar

"Many of the children of the nobility within the realm are fully educated and are inspired by your actions. They want to support you in any way they can, and since they are idling about in their homes wasting their lives away, I figured I could convince a few of them to take up teaching as a way to stem their boredom and be productive."

Berengar's smile grew wider as he clasped Frederick on the shoulder and thanked the man for making such a list.

"You have no idea how important this list is to me; I have had a challenging time trying to convince people to take up the position of a teacher. With this list and your aid, I can greatly expedite the process!"

Frederick grinned as he reveled in the compliments from the young Lord. Now that Lambert was removed, those previously aligned against Berengar were either living in fear of his retribution or trying to suck up to him. Being from the family of one of Berengar's supporters, Frederick had received substantial benefits due to his elder brother's service. For starters, he was given priority in the field in which he desired to work. As a studious young man, Frederick was more than willing to teach his knowledge to the children and further his own studies from the materials in which Berengar provided.

The two men continued to drink and chat for some time about Berengar's plans for the education of the realm. However, Berengar left out his imperial aspirations; it was evident by the map he had drawn and the propaganda in his social studies curriculum that he desired to be Emperor. Knowing about all of the revolutionary innovations Berengar had invented and his benevolent character, Frederick could not help but support the Young Regent on his quest for power.

Frederick had no way of knowing it at the moment. Still, one day he would become the Minister of Education for Berengar's grand Empire, and it was at this moment that Berengar had gained another loyal and competent supporter. Together the two men would accomplish great things on the path to power. Berengar spent the remainder of his allotted time chatting with Frederick and building a valuable friendship, however it would not be long before his duty called and he was forced to get back to work. For a Tyrant there is never a moment of respite in his busy life.