The Twelve Kingdoms: Dreaming of Paradise

the window. "Yeah, I guess."

    Meiken's first thought as well had been to go full bore and make something happen. But the demands of academia were such that he couldn't naively believe that abandoning the simple pleasures of sleeping and eating and recklessly diving into his studies would accomplish the goal.
    It must seem a logical course of action. After all, a student graduating from the Imperial University was guaranteed a job in an Imperial ministry. But in another year, he thought, this rat will discover just how steep that climb would become.
    He turned the stool around and said to Rakushun, "Hey, is it true you never attended secondary school?"
    "It is. Hanjuu aren't allowed past elementary school in Kou."
    "Yeah, I've heard that Kou is pretty tough on hanjuu like that."
    In En, no such restrictions were placed on hanjuu. Any hanjuu like Rakushun could take the entrance exams, and if he passed, could go on to serve in a government position. This was not true in many kingdoms.
    "And in Kou, hanjuu don't have a koseki either?"
    "Well, hanjuu do have a koseki, but all that's recorded is your hanjuu status. And when you turn twenty, you don't legally become an adult."
    "Then even though you've got a koseki, you don't receive an allotment?"
    Rakushun shook his head. "Or a stipend. And you can't legally work."
    "You can't work? You gotta be kidding."
    "I'm not kidding," Rakushun answered with a shrug and a smile.
    Meiken's surprised was not feigned. In En, even refugees and displaced persons without a koseki record could find employment. It tended to be at the lowest wages, often not much better than that of indentured servants, but they weren't barred from working.
    "Anybody hiring a hanjuu would be taxed an amount equivalent to the wages paid. So nobody in his right mind would hire a hanjuu."
    "How do hanjuu in Kou get by then?"
    "They pretty much have to depend on their parents."
    "And when their parents die?"
    "They are sent to orphanages, though as servants."
    "Unbelievable. I never imagined there were kingdoms that did stuff like that."
    Meiken recalled rumors he'd heard about how chancy a place Kou had become, and that the Kou kirin had died. Well, there was no way such a regime could have survived for long.
    "But you at least attended a district academy?"
    "Normally it's not allowed, but I was given permission to sit in corner of the room and audit classes."
    "And after that? Did you attend juku ?"
    "We couldn't afford something like that. Unlike En, Kou doesn't provide any financial aid for education."
    "Not even to a prefectural college?"
    "Nope," said the rat.
    "So how does anybody learn anything?"
    Meiken was truly startled by this information. A student normally advanced to university after graduating from a prefectural college. A letter of recommendation from the headmaster or some other well-regarded dignitary was required. Getting into a prefectural college similarly required a recommendation from a district academy, which meant getting outstanding grades and really standing out in the crowd. From the time a student started attending the district academy, attending a juku was a necessity. Either that or, as in Meiken case, hiring a private tutor.
    "I did take on a teacher for about a month before the exams."
    "There's no way that would cut it."
    The place to prepare for university was not at a public school. Having the skills to a district academy the goal did not equate to having what it took to get into a provincial college. It was up to the student himself to make up the difference through his own effort. In En, at least, the student who set himself apart could get his juku fees covered, and there were publically-funded prep schools as well. Unless he could avail himself of these options, a student who didn't have wealthy parents couldn't attend juku.
    "There are books, you see."
    "Books—"
    Books were expensive. A student who couldn't afford to attend a juku was unlikely to be able to afford books.
    "My father left a lot of books to me. And no matter how trying things got, my mom made every effort never to part with one. So when I get my hands on a book, I read it over and over, make notes, and cram its contents into my head. That way, even if I had to sell it, it wouldn't matter."
    Rakushun grinned. "Yeah, my father was like a teacher. He died when I was a little kid, but left a lot of manuscripts behind."
    He indicated the top of his desk. Meiken got to his feet and took a closer look at the