After picking up the group led by Dean Senius, Lupher took them to visit the student apartnt building as the first stop.
As originally promised, the first phase of this new university was to include four buildings: the teaching building, the library, the square, and the student apartnts.
However, so far, the library is only half-built, the square is only one-third complete, and the teaching building, although finally constructed, is still undergoing interior decoration.
In the end, all they could tour were these few student apartnt buildings.
Passing through the shaded path along the river, Lupher brought them by carriage from the inn by Clock Square to this campus area.
The new campus is not built on the south bank of the Parra River but on level wasteland separated from the research area by a ruin.
This location is not optimal, as it's quite a walk to the wooden bridge across the river, and in the future, one of the two new bridges connecting north and south will be right at the entrance gate of the campus.
The so-called student apartnt buildings are essentially still in the form of Insula Apartnts; only the wooden floors have been replaced with wooden board sandwiched with mortar floors.
The first floor contains the toilets, showers, and common activity spaces, while the second and third floors are student dormitories, and the fourth floor has a low ceiling, usually used for storing miscellaneous items.
Dean Senius, Leonardo, and Silvanic led ten or so students into the courtyard in the middle of the Insula Apartnt.
In the center of the courtyard is a narrow well with a hand-pumped water pump installed above it. Leonardo walked up, curiously pumped a few tis, and watched with sparkling eyes as water trickled intermittently from the brass pipe.
"Can I take this apart and have a look?" he asked Lupher eagerly.
Lupher looked puzzled: "Why would you want to take it apart?"
Instead, the guide laughed: "You don't need to take it apart; the engineering blueprints for this thing are available at City Hall. If you join the new university here, you can access them as a scholar."
"Hey, don't talk nonsense, it's not settled yet." Silvanic quickly interrupted.
He didn't want to hold classes in this remote place, and if the Leia people invaded, it might implicate them.
The university students looked up at the bright blue sky, stepping on solid and neat stone and mortar ground, and saw there were indeed toilets, showers, and clotheslines around.
This was much better than staying in the attic of a farr's house, but they still wondered how much the rent would cost.
Following the guide to the second floor, Dean Senius randomly opened a room and walked in.
"This is much bigger than I imagined." He looked around the room for quite a while before turning to Lupher and sighing, "Does every student have a room like this?"
"Of course." Lupher confird with the guide before nodding, "If you want, you can move in tonight."
Following behind Dean Senius, Leonardo was the second to enter the room, standing at the door, taking a look inside and out.
The apartnt room wasn't big, about 40 square ters, with two wooden louver windows, and shutters to block the wind.
Facing the windows were four wooden four-poster single beds, while against the window were four standard desks pushed together.
On the side of the room was a vanity-sized embedded fireplace stove, with a bowl-sized hole in the center, fitted with a small iron gate that could open and close. A tin kettle was placed over the hole.
Seeing Leonardo's puzzled expression, Lupher explained with a smile: "This is an embedded coal stove, burning peat. In winter, each room will be provided with three pieces of briquettes for free every day.
If you use them sparingly, they can last through the night, but I still recomnd heating water and putting it in a leather water bag at night for warmth.
If these peat burn without proper ventilation, the smoke could be poisonous. Not long ago, there was a tragic incident."
"You provide heating for free?!"
The students following behind Dean Senius poured into the room like a tide and imdiately heard this great news.
"Of course, these 100 briquettes cost less than 1 Dinar. Isn't it easy to keep warm in winter?" Lupher said with pride.
The accompanying university students wandered through the brand new room, touching everything up and down.
Especially those few soft single beds, which surely wouldn't make any creaky sounds when slept on.
"And what about the rent for these houses?" A student nervously asked the question that others wanted to ask but dared not.
Though the promise was for cheap accommodation, cheap is relative, and clearly, this accommodation isn't cheap.
"You don't have to pay rent, but there is a maintenance fee, at most thirty Dinars per year." The guide patted the newly crafted single beds, "But you will have to pay for any damaged furniture."
Thirty Dinars a year? The eyes of several civilian university students flashed a strange green light.
You see, when they rented the cheapest small room on Academy Street at River Island Royal University, which was relatively lower priced, annual rent for a room was 5 gold pounds, and two floors with four compartnts had to accommodate more than a dozen people.
The students quickly did ntal arithtic and were amazed to find that they could almost afford to finish college without going into debt!
"Professor Senius, I think this place is pretty good."
"Yeah, Professor Senius, why don't we settle down here, and you'll get to be the principal too."
"Fellows, don't let money defeat you." Watching the increasingly enthusiastic students, Silvanic said bitterly, "Rember, there's still the Leia people..."
Realizing his slip of the tongue, Silvanic quickly shut his mouth.
"Although there's board and lodging included here, the prices seem quite expensive," Leonardo hurriedly changed the subject.
That was indeed a big issue; they had quietly checked the prices when they went out to eat and stroll around town yesterday.
According to so scholars, prices in ry Court Barracks were 40 to 50 percent higher than outside, and in so cases even double.
This quickly dampened the students' previous excitent, but they looked at Lupher as if asking for help.
"In addition to accommodation, we've also signed an agreent with the restaurant owner across the street." The guide seized the opportunity, "Before the student cafeteria by the square is completed, you can get a free lunch every day, but you can't choose the dishes."
"And although the prices are high, there are many job opportunities here, and they pay well, especially since you are literate." Lupher looked disapprovingly at Silvanic "As temporary scribes, you'll earn 2 Dinars a day. Can't you teach elentary school with the students' knowledge?
There are adult literacy classes here, two sessions a week, each paying 6 Dinars, totaling 12 Dinars a week. If you teach well and many students pass the adult literacy exam, there's even extra bonuses.
Or, you can submit plays to theaters like , and a diocre cody can sell for 2 gold pounds!
Don't so of you enjoy fighting? The Half Moon Theater holds gladiator competitions weekly, with rewards and odds and ends totaling four or five gold pounds per match, so why not give it a try if you're confident?
Even if you're dedicated to academics, each quarter the school holds exams, and top perforrs can receive a full scholarship of 2 gold pounds."
After listening to Lupher, the students quickly recalculated in their minds once again.
"Saint Master!" A civilian student exclaid in disbelief, "Not only can we stay out of debt, we can even make a small profit!"
They hadn't even toured the teaching building and library yet, but these civilian university students had already determined that this was their school, dearer than their own mothers.
The letter for Huaqiu New Bridge University had better not be sent, lest the new alma mater take offense.
Neither their parents nor their mothers had ever covered the various annual tuition fees, which were at least 4 pounds, sotis forcing them to take odd jobs or even resort to robbery to barely make ends et.
"Dean Senius..." a few scholars hesitated to speak.
In the eager eyes of the students, Senius helplessly waved, gathering a few accompanying scholars together and whispering among themselves.
After discussing for four or five minutes, Silvanic stood up, grinning with a forced smile: "Sorry, we can't decide for the mont. Can you give us a few more days?"
"Of course, but..."
"But what?" Senius quickly caught the unfinished hint and embarrassnt in Lupher's words.
Before the echo of Senius's words faded, a burst of neurotic laughter ca from outside the room.
"Oh, it's really nice, living in the city is really nice!... Who are you? What are you doing in our dormitory?"
Hearing this familiar voice, Senius slowly turned his head, and upon eting Bachelor Kerben's eyes, both simultaneously pointed at each other in surprise and exclaid.
"Arthropod!"
"Baldhead!"
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