With the power to protect myself now secured, I felt a newfound radiance, finally rid of that oppressive feeling from before. A change in fortune brings a change in spirit; upon my return, I discovered the school was nearing completion. I quickly instructed the girls to hand over their current tasks, requiring them to finish all handovers within a week so they could begin their studies.
I also began preparing for the school’s opening. These would be my future disciples and soldiers, my own reserve force, and I had to keep them firmly under my control. Such an important opening ceremony had to be grand. I even gave the slaves a day off to come and sightsee. I called upon Dian Wei and Zhang Fei to bring 10,000 men to stage a military exercise. All my confidants were notified, though I didn't care about those who had already left. As for the "chirping" lot, they could come learn if they wanted; if not, that was fine too.
I spent a long time pondering the name of the school. I considered calling it "Emperor Academy," hoping the children taught there would eventually soar like dragons, but that wouldn’t do—it was too high-profile. I thought about "Military Academy," but that seemed a bit too plain. It reminded me of a War Academy from an anime in my past life; since I was training students to fight wars, the name fit perfectly. With a wave of my hand, I had the characters "War Academy" written out.
Chapter 50