Jacob immediately felt a dejected look take over his facial expression, as he felt the cruelty of the world begin to beat him back down.
'Fuck! I still have to go to school even in this backwater world?'
Arthur could see a peculiar look on the face of his son.
'What would Jacob know of school? Unless. . .'
Arthur leaned toward his son as he inquired of him.
"What do you think school is, Jacob?
Before answering, Jake took a second to think about the question.
'Why would. . .oh damnit. I should have no concept of school. What could I say now? Hmm. . .well I guess I can try to play out this knowledge from magical awakening. Gotta make it seem like I don't even know why I know.'
Jake scratched his head while he thought, and began to exaggerate a bit with how much he was actually straining to think. Then he faced his father with a confused look.
"Uhhh. . .well I think they are a place where kids go to get mentally tortured? Like, strict rules caged into a small chair and table, forced to listen to dry and boring lectures of circular logic?"
Then Jacob waited for a second while Arthur watched him, hand on his chin as he listened to his son.
"Ehh, I don't know why I think that, though. It just kind of came out?"
Looking thoroughly confused, he was able to confirm Arthur's suspicions.
"As I thought. It seems like your magical awakening has resulted in accumulating some shared knowledge."
Then Arthur began to chuckle a bit.
"Hahaha, don't worry, son. The memories or knowledge of school you likely have inherited are not false, but they are a few years old. I guess whatever knowledge is shared in the ether must be based on collective knowledge or something, so it will take a while for that to catch up to modern times. . ."
Now, Jacob was just as confused as he looked, but Arthur continued.
"No, the magical school I am talking about has been devised to teach young adults the advanced spellwork needed to become a mage or even, eventually, a wizard. And you would not even be able to enroll until you are 15 years old anyway."
Jacob sighed. 'While this magic school does sound nice, it would suck to be so far away from my new parents and siblings for so long.'
Seeing the look of relief on his son's face, Arthur chuckled a bit more.
"Ah, I can see you would miss your dear old man sincerely, son. While it warms my heart to know I am so loved, I will have to disappoint you with keeping you here on the farm for at least 4 more years and some change?"
Jake thought for a second, then remembered when his birthday was.
"Oh, yeah! I will be eleven soon!"
Jake jumped a bit, emulating how he thought a kid would act.
Arthur smiled at his son, still cute as an eleven-year-old should be. Even if he did talk like an adult now.
Then his smile faltered a little as he thought of the harsh reality of their situation.
He considered not telling his son yet, but it seemed there was no need to hold back since he knew Jake could understand more complex concepts now.
Arthur then had a bit of a troubled look on his face, setting a serious mood which Jake picked up on.
"Anyway, son, I do not think you will be able to attend a magical school, anyway. They are much too expensive for us farmers, and the chances of a peasant getting a sponsor for school is abysmal. Even for those of your talent to awaken magic early, we are unlikely to find someone to pay for your schooling."
Jacob nodded his head, taking on a serious look as well to indicate for his father that he was paying attention and giving the situation serious consideration.
Arthur continued in his extrapolation of their situation.
"I really don't know much about the magical schools either. Not their pricing, nor the actual content of what they teach. It is a state secret, and I am just a farmer. The son of a farmer. What I know is just rumors and gossip. But from what I gather, the price of school there could buy this entire town and all its people several times over."
Jacob just nodded his head along, thinking it made sense. 'This village is held together by sticks and rags. The people are also not very well nourished, hardly worth indentured servitude.'
Arthur noticed his son's acceptance and just sighed, sadly.
"Unfortunately, it is worse than you think. And that is something I can't even get into at this point. But, I assure you, I will do everything I can to see you grow your magic power. If that is what you want, of course."
Jacob was touched by the generosity and sincerity his father was showing. He felt, at that moment, that he was truly loved.
He thought back to all the times his father and mother made sacrifices for their children. The sleep they lost when taking care of the kids when they were sick. The times he knew they didn't eat enough to make sure their kids could eat their fill at dinner.
His little heart swelled with that love that he felt, and he ran to his father and hugged his legs.
With his face buried in his father's trousers, he mumbled.
"Dad, we don't need to worry about all that school mess. I just want to learn how to inscribe magic into our tools and how to make this farm run as good as we can!"
Arthur was a bit shocked at his son's reaction at first, but then he felt a warm smile on his face as he patted his son's head with loving affection.
"Then, I guess we should get started on the basics. It is really simple, once you get the hang of it."