A Fan Would Be Nice

"Hot! It's killing me!"

The loud complaint suddenly rang through the room, drawing an immediate chorus of agreement.

"Yeah, why is it so hot? I'm going to die."

"Exactly! I could strip off every stitch!"

"Get lost, Rem, you pervert! There are women here."

"Please, Vena, do you even count as a woman?"

Hearing his colleagues complain, Xu Yi raised his head and wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.

It really was hot.

Before he knew it, he had been working at Camilla's Magic Tower for a month.

It was now early July. Midsummer had arrived, and the weather was naturally sweltering.

That month, he had done little more than run errands and handle odd jobs in one of the Great Mage Camilla's magical research labs. He had barely taken part in the actual research.

Xu Yi wasn't surprised. After years of work experience on Earth, he knew a newcomer like him would have to start with basic tasks before gradually finding his place.

Besides, his magical ability was nothing special in the lab. Word of what had happened at his interview had spread long ago, and nearly everyone there thought he had only gotten in through Miss Stille's connections. More than a few colleagues looked down on him for it.

"Did Miss Stille take a liking to him just because he's good-looking?"

Xu Yi could only smile bitterly. He hadn't seen Stille once since the day of his interview. Apart from learning through his colleagues' chatter that she was the Great Mage Camilla's granddaughter, he knew nothing about her. Who knew how these rumors had started?

Of course, he also knew rumors needed no basis in fact.

So he made no attempt to explain himself. He simply did his job while constantly observing his colleagues' research to improve his own magic.

Xu Yi was actually quite talented. Even though he only watched from the sidelines, his magical ability had improved considerably over the past month.

After all, the Great Mage Camilla's ability far surpassed that of the teachers at Senkohaier Academy. Even the research assignments he handed down were far more advanced than anything Xu Yi had studied there.

"Come to think of it, when the Great Mage summoned me to give a report the day before yesterday, his room was really cool. Why?"

The speaker was Rem, whom Vena had just called a pervert. He was a fifth-rank mage certified by the Mages' Guild, the third strongest among the lab's seventeen members, Xu Yi included. Outgoing by nature, he was the one who kept the atmosphere lively.

"Idiot. The Great Mage's room has a Large Frost Array. Of course it's cool."

The reply came from Vena, the one who had scolded Rem. A fourth-rank mage, she was slightly weaker than him and had a rather stern personality. She often scolded him, but everyone could see she treated him differently. In private, they already considered the two a couple.

"Oh? Then why don't we put a Large Frost Array in our lab?"

"I called you an idiot for a reason! Just setting up a large frost magic array costs thirty gold coins, and keeping it running uses ten high-grade magic crystals every day. That's another five gold coins—one hundred and fifty a month. Tell me, Rem, how much do you earn in a month?" Vena shot back.

"Well... ha ha..." Rem gave a couple of dry laughs and didn't dare answer.

Xu Yi knew perfectly well that Rem's monthly pay was considered high in the lab, yet it was only thirty gold coins. He couldn't even afford to set up the array, let alone keep it running.

In all of Camilla's Magic Tower, only the esteemed Great Mage Camilla's room had a Large Frost Array. No other room did.

"Actually, I was lucky enough to visit Great Mage Eisenka's Magic Tower once. They had a Frost Array in every room, and even kept red wine in each one..." a somewhat timid voice said.

It belonged to Salsa, whose age and magical ability were closest to Xu Yi's among those in the lab. Before Xu Yi arrived, she had ranked last in strength. Coupled with her naturally timid disposition, she always seemed a little nervous.

"Great Mage Eisenka? He's one of the richest great mages in the Lampari Kingdom, isn't he? Of course they have it better than us. But tell me, if they're both great mages, why is Eisenka so rich while our esteemed Great Mage Camilla is too poor to put a Frost Array in here for us?"

Rem heaved a long sigh, then found that no one agreed with him. He looked around in surprise, only to see everyone lowering their heads, clearly unwilling to touch that remark.

Only Vena glared at him and shot him a warning look.

Rem immediately realized he had spoken without thinking. He hurriedly lowered his head and said no more.

Xu Yi, who had watched the whole exchange, couldn't help smiling.

Rem's question reminded him of the graduate advisers he had encountered during his postgraduate studies. Some were more capable and could bring in plenty of research projects, so naturally they earned more. Others were less capable and earned less.

Of course, even the high earners differed. Some paid the graduate students working under them generously too, and everyone was happy.

Others made plenty themselves but were stingy with their students, so naturally they drew complaints.

Which kind was Great Mage Camilla?

Xu Yi hadn't even earned the chance to meet Great Mage Camilla yet. Knowing nothing about her, he couldn't say.

"Still, it would be nice to have a Large Frost Array. At least we wouldn't be roasting like this." Xu Yi shook out his collar, trying to get some air.

He could set up a small Frost Array within his body to cool himself, but maintaining it consumed a great deal of magical power. With his current reserves, he could keep it going for less than half an hour, and recovering would take over three hours of meditation. It simply wasn't worth it.

More importantly, work in the lab could demand magical power at any moment. Even Rem, a relatively strong fifth-rank mage, wouldn't waste his power on something like that.

Out of habit, Xu Yi looked up at the lab wall. It was bare, without an air conditioner in sight.

"This technologically backward world..." Xu Yi shook his head and sighed. "If there's no air conditioner, even an electric fan would do."

At the thought of an electric fan, something suddenly stirred in Xu Yi's mind.

After sitting dazed for a while, Xu Yi slapped his thigh.

"Idiot! If there isn't one, why don't I make one myself?"

The sharp smack startled the others, who were busy with their work. They looked at Xu Yi in surprise. The man who had been so quiet ever since joining the lab suddenly seemed to have found something to celebrate, his face lit with delight.

"Has he gone crazy?"

Xu Yi paid no attention to their stares. He was completely absorbed in the idea that had just sprung to mind.

That was right: he could make an electric fan himself!

Of course, this world had no electricity. But it had something that could take electricity's place: magic!

Xu Yi quickly sorted through his thoughts, pulled over a sheet of paper, and began sketching furiously.

As a professional mechanical engineer, Xu Yi hadn't specialized in light industry. But he had been fascinated by machinery since childhood, so he understood the structure and principles of electric fans well.

Drawing on his professional engineering knowledge, Xu Yi soon reproduced a diagram of an electric fan.

After studying it for a while, Xu Yi quickly settled on his approach.

To make a powered fan work in this world, the first problem was supplying power.

There was no electricity in this world, but a Magic Array could provide the same driving force. As it happened, Xu Yi had studied exactly that throughout his time at Senkohaier Academy.

The model piano he had presented at his interview was one example of the results of that research.

An electric fan's construction was simple for a senior mechanical engineer like him, and designing a Magic Array to replace its electric drive was no great challenge either. In less than an hour, Xu Yi had finished drawing the array.

It was a basic Wind Magic Array that could mimic the effects of the low-level wind spell Wind Vortex.

Next, Xu Yi needed to combine the Magic Array with the fan's structure and make it turn.

Of course, Xu Yi still had many problems to solve.

How fast would the Wind Vortex generated by the Magic Array need to spin to drive the fan blades and serve in place of an electric motor?

How could he fit the Magic Array neatly into the fan so it worked without interfering with the overall structure?

What grade of Magic Crystal would he need to power the Magic Array and ensure it had enough force?

And then there was...

The more problems Xu Yi thought of, the more excited he became.

For a moment, he felt as though he were back on Earth.

Back at the engineering research institute, whenever they encountered a difficult problem, Xu Yi had felt this excited.

He was a research fanatic through and through. Investigating and solving problems gave him more pleasure than any entertainment.

In the blink of an eye, it was time to leave, and his colleagues filed out of the lab.

Xu Yi remained bent over his work. His colleagues had long since grown used to it.

For the past month, Xu Yi had stayed late almost every day.

They admired Xu Yi's dedication.

What they didn't know was that this time, Xu Yi wasn't merely doing Magic Research.