Parent-teacher meeting...
Hearing this familiar yet foreign term from Anna's mouth, Leon couldn't help but feel a little dazed.
Over the past period, he had been involved in a series of bizarre events, not only outsmarting and battling various enemies with all kinds of abilities but even landing on an asteroid over seventy thousand kilometers from the ground, solo facing off with the Aquarius Director in front of dozens of branch directors with hierarchies equivalent to the True God.
Not to be too modest, but although his own strength wasn't very strong, he could no longer be considered an ordinary person altogether. Adding in the title of the empty-shell Duke, he now faintly had the ability to influence the world... well, a tiny part of the world.
And now, being this important figure who just a few days ago thwarted the Aquarius Director's scheme and indirectly safeguarded the world, he was about to head to his younger brother and sister's school to attend a community school-organized parent-teacher meeting, and incidentally, as a decision-making parent, discuss the schooling progression of those two little brats at home...
It was quite a peculiar feeling.
After waiting for a while without hearing Leon's response, noticing a somewhat dazed look on his face, Anna couldn't help but gaze at him with concern. She then leaned in and softly asked,
"Is your headache still lingering? If you're not feeling well, you should take a good rest at home for the day. I can go to the parent-teacher meeting myself."
"Hmm... no, my drink has already worn off."
Sensing the worry in his sister's eyes, Leon felt a warmth fill his heart, then shook his head with a smile and said,
"I was just reminiscing about some interesting things, so I got a bit distracted, plus my work has been hectic, it's rare to get a chance to spend time with you guys... The carriage has arrived, let's get on board first!"
Once the public carriage pulled over and came to a steady stop by the roadside, Leon reached out to protect Anna's head, watching her bend down to climb into the carriage. He then followed her in, sitting with her by the window.
As if recalling something, Leon curiously asked,
"I remember Bridge Public School's elementary division lasts six years, right? William and Melanie enrolled more than half a year late, and there are still two months before they reach the second grade. Isn't it kind of early to start discussing future schooling?"
"It's not early at all."
Hearing this, Anna shook her head, expressing her mixed feelings of happiness and worry,
"It's not like the school I attended back then. Bridge Public School ranks among the top schools, with plans for students' future paths laid out early.
Typically, the first year focuses on teaching some basic knowledge while observing which areas show potential. Then, in the second and third years, they try to nurture in corresponding directions and conduct trial-and-error in direction.
If the identified direction shows limited talent, they switch to another. Once a schooling target is more or less decided, the fourth, fifth, and sixth years focus on intensive learning.
Apart from specialized subjects in these three years, they need to frequently communicate with associated high schools, participate in the activities of corresponding schools, build good relations with teachers, aiming to secure exemption from entrance exams or recommendation letters from teachers of the concerned schools..."
Goodness, is it that competitive?
Not having much knowledge in this area, after listening to Anna, Leon couldn't help but click his tongue and exclaim,
"William isn't even seven yet, isn't it a bit early to ponder over these things?"
"It really isn't early anymore."
Anna couldn't help but roll her eyes at Leon, then explained,
"They started school at a little over six, nearing thirteen at graduation time, which is when they should choose their future high school. Over ninety percent of students can only go to ordinary high schools to learn a trade to make a living, graduating at sixteen when they come of age, then immediately go out to work. Even positions like newspaper typesetters or factory materials technicians count as rare good jobs.
Only less than 10% of the students can get into those exceptionally good high schools, striving for three years before trying to get a recommendation letter or exam eligibility to further pursue notable universities. If you don't start early, how can you be competitive?"
Oh right, by the Kingdom's law, sixteen is considered adult, and university is far from universally accessible. Only a small fraction of students with both outstanding family background and talent can consider it, while most people directly enter the workforce post-high school graduation.
So although it feels like "children" to the perception, the significance of the last three years in a community school strikes a strong resemblance to the "three years of high school" in one's understanding, making the early, rigorous competition quite the norm.
As Leon pondered over Anna's words combined with his thoughts, he roughly understood the foundational logic of the school's approach.
Taking into account the Kingdom's advancement method, which does not follow a relatively fair uniform examination system, but instead allows each school to recruit on its own initiative, organizing their own interviews and written tests, there are more paths to "run around."
After all, although the entrance exam for interviews supposedly has no threshold, merely requiring a community school's graduation certificate and passing scores for each basic subject, in theory, as long as you passed both tests, you could enter.
However, against second-grade initiatives like Bridge Public School's "pathway survey", and later years of intensive study aimed at target schools, coupled with occasional participation in corresponding high school activities, developing familiarity with teachers responsible for interviews, and potentially even getting insight into exam scope—coming from a regular family and school background, without explosively strong talent, would almost certainly not get a foot in the door.
So while opportunities appear equally accessible, with everyone seemingly running the same routes and aiming for the same endpoints, practically when you're vigorously training in running, others are already installing cyber limbs and even building teleportation gates towards the endpoint.
Gently shaking his head, Leon looked at Anna beside him, seeing her somewhat anxious expression, and couldn't help but pat her hand, softly reassuring her,
"Don't worry, William and Melanie are just mischievous; they're definitely not unintelligent. They're quite bright, and as long as they keep learning systematically, they will more or less have a promising future. Furthermore, my salary isn't low, and besides... um...
Even if, in the future, they can't attend the best schools, finding a good job for them shouldn't be too hard. If worst comes to worst, supporting them for a few more years also wouldn't be a problem."
"That's exactly what I'm most worried about!"
Hearing Leon's words, Anna couldn't help but express her frustration,
"A few days ago, the school's teacher gave out a survey for the students to fill out their expectations for their future. Do you know what Melanie wrote?"
"Oh, uh... what did she write?"
"She wants to find a handsome and wealthy husband to support and spoil her! To then spend her life casually drinking and eating happily!"
Mentioning Melanie's "daydream" aspiration, Anna clenched her fists continually, then gritted her teeth with anger as she lamented,
"After the teacher saw the survey, they talked to her for half a day, explaining that she shouldn't pin her future hopes on such things, that a husband can't support her for life, asking her to reconsider her plans.
This little brat thought for a long time, eventually removing the bit about finding a husband, changing it to having you support her in her earlier years, and William in her later years, while she plays with dolls, eats snacks, and drinks milk tea happily all her life!"
Coincidentally... the survey entry truly matched my perception of Melanie...
"Well... that's why I say it's a bit too early!"
After being taken aback, Leon, staying silent for a while, tried to placate,
"Asking a child what they want to do in the future, of course, they can't be clear, giving such childish answers is quite normal, so there's no need to get too worked up... Right, how about William? What did he write?"
"His responses... were quite mature."
Drawing a deep breath, Anna looked filled with despair,
"He wants to launch a rebellion, overthrow the royal family and become the King himself, then lead his army west to east, sweeping across The Twelve Kingdoms, and rule over the world."