The Strange Chairman Xu Yi

A carriage sped down the road north of Bunta City and soon drew close to the city.

A window suddenly opened, and a young girl with a round face leaned out. She glanced at Bunta City's modest walls in the distance and called, "Look! That's Bunta City. We're almost there!"

Another girl leaned out beside her and looked toward the city, but something else caught her eye.

"Huh? What's that?" the pretty, delicate-featured girl asked, pointing at a tall structure outside Bunta City.

The round-faced girl followed her finger. Not far from the city, a thick pillar rose from the ground, supporting an enormous rectangular sign higher than the city wall.

There seemed to be a picture on the side facing the road. At first, it was too far away to make out, but as the carriage approached, the girls saw an iron device with a round body and a base on the left side.

The center of the strange machine appeared to be spinning so fast that only a blur remained. They couldn't tell what was inside it at all.

"Is that one of those Magic Fans?" the round-faced girl asked, staring wide-eyed at the odd-looking machine.

"Probably. Look, it's clearly blowing air." The other girl turned her gaze to the right side of the picture and suddenly cried out, "Oh! Isn't that Stille?"

"Stille? Where?" The round-faced girl looked over and saw a beautiful young woman with lustrous blond hair pictured on the right side of the huge sign.

Only her profile was visible, but her features were exquisite, the line of her cheek graceful. With her white dress swaying slightly, she was impossible to look away from.

"It really is Stille!" the round-faced girl exclaimed as soon as she recognized her. "Why is her picture up there? You can't miss it!"

"It must have something to do with the Magic Fan," the other girl said thoughtfully. "Look, there's writing on the sign too. It seems to say..."

"'Xinfei Magic Fans bring you a touch of coolness in summer.' What does that mean?" the round-faced girl read aloud before the other girl could finish, still thoroughly confused.

"I don't know. But last time, Stille said she'd become a spokesperson for the Xinfei Merchant Guild. Could this be what she meant?"

The round-faced girl tilted her head and thought for a moment, then shook it. "I don't get it. Never mind. We'll see her soon enough, so we can ask her then."

"I suppose so." The delicate-featured girl nodded and called to the coachman, "Sir, could you take us straight to the Xinfei Merchant Guild?"

The coachman was a man in his forties. "The Xinfei Merchant Guild? They have two places. There's their shop in the city and their factory outside it. Which one do you want?"

"There are two?" The girls exchanged startled looks. After a moment's thought, the delicate-featured girl asked, "Do you know where their chairman usually is?"

"I wouldn't know. But I've heard there's usually just one young fellow selling things in their shop, with hardly anyone else around. I'd guess the chairman spends most of his time at the factory."

"All right. Could you take us straight to the factory?"

"I can, but they've been repairing the road near it lately. I can only take you close. You'll have to walk the rest of the way."

"That's fine."

With her agreement, the coachman flicked his whip. The carriage turned right, circling around Bunta City toward the west.

The smaller roads outside the city were naturally not as smooth as the main road. The carriage jolted for a while, leaving both girls inside a little dizzy.

It didn't last long. The carriage gave a gentle jolt, then rolled so smoothly that they could barely feel a bump.

Unable to contain her curiosity, the round-faced girl leaned out again and looked down. The road beneath them was remarkably flat, without a single pothole in sight. It was in far better condition than the main road they had taken earlier.

Astonished, she asked the coachman, "Sir, why is this road so smooth? I wish the road we took earlier had been this easy to travel on."

The coachman laughed. "The Xinfei Merchant Guild had this road rebuilt. It was awful before. I hear they spent quite a bit of money on it."

"Oh? The guild repairs roads too? Isn't that the city lord's responsibility?"

"Normally, sure. But the Xinfei Merchant Guild's chairman—what was his name? Right, Xu Yi—wasn't happy with this road. If he wanted to pay to repair it himself, the city lord wasn't going to stop him, was he? So the road you're seeing now is the rebuilt one."

"Why wasn't Chairman Xu Yi happy with it? Was it impassable?" the round-faced girl asked.

"Of course not. This is one of the main roads outside Bunta City. People could travel on it just fine. It wasn't as smooth as it is now, but I thought it was decent enough. No need to rebuild it at all. But Chairman Xu wasn't satisfied, and there was nothing anyone could do about that. I've heard he's not entirely happy with it even now. He says that once he can, he'll build a... a... right, a cement road. I don't know what a cement road is, but if it would satisfy Chairman Xu, it must be even better than this one."

"Even better than this? How smooth would it have to be?" the round-faced girl marveled. "Chairman Xu Yi isn't just boasting, is he? Can a road really be that flat?"

The coachman chuckled. "That, I couldn't tell you. What goes through the heads of important people like him is beyond a little coachman like me."

The round-faced girl muttered something, ducked back inside, and frowned at her companion. "Hey, Avita, you don't think Chairman Xu Yi will have us researching how to build roads, do you?"

Avita burst out laughing and tapped the round-faced girl's forehead. "Akali, you do say the strangest things! We're both mages. Even if we agree to work for Chairman Xu Yi, we'd be researching Magic Arrays. What would road construction have to do with us?"

Akali shook her head glumly. "I don't know. I just have a feeling Chairman Xu Yi is an odd man. He wasn't satisfied with a road this smooth, so he had it rebuilt. Does he have too much money?"

Avita shook her head helplessly. Akali was always making wild guesses. Avita wondered when she would break the habit.

Still, although Avita didn't make guesses the way Akali did, she was just as curious about Chairman Xu Yi.

Why did he care so much about this road? Its condition should have had nothing to do with him.

Could it be related to the things his guild made? That didn't make sense either.

Or were Chairman Xu Yi's standards simply so strict that he wouldn't tolerate any problems with the road near his factory?

If that was the case, he might be difficult to get along with. She would have to be careful when they met.

While both girls' thoughts wandered, the carriage traveled on for a while, then gradually slowed to a stop.

"Ladies, the road ahead is being rebuilt. They aren't letting carriages through except the Xinfei Merchant Guild's delivery wagons, so I'm afraid you'll have to walk from here," the coachman called.

Avita and Akali exchanged a glance and lifted the carriage curtain. Akali jumped straight down, while Avita held the carriage shaft and stepped carefully to the ground.

Looking up, they saw that the entire road ahead was under construction, with only a narrow passage less than three meters wide left open.

Judging by the work underway, the road would be more than ten meters wide once finished—an astonishing width.

After all, even the two principal roads running through the Lampari Kingdom were only a little over ten meters wide.

Farther on, a broad river flowed past. On a large stretch of open land beside it stood several enormous buildings, with people going in and out from time to time.

Both the buildings and the roadworks bustled with activity, as if the scorching heat had no effect on anyone there.

It was the first time the girls had seen such a hive of activity. They watched for a while before remembering why they had come.

Akali looked around, then approached the road workers. She was about to tap one man on the shoulder, but when she saw that he was covered in dust from head to toe, she lowered her hand and called out instead, "Hello! Excuse me, is this the Xinfei Merchant Guild?"

The man turned around, startling Akali.

His entire face was caked with dust, with streaks carved through it by sweat. It gave him a rather fearsome look.

But when he saw the young woman before him, he smiled, and the fearsome impression vanished at once.

"That's right, this is the Xinfei Merchant Guild. Are you looking for someone?"

His smile was warm and his voice clear and friendly, immediately easing Akali's nervousness.

"Yes, we're here to see Chairman Xu Yi. Sorry for the trouble, but could you let him know? Tell him Stille sent us," Akali said loudly.

The man paused. He studied Akali, then glanced at Avita nearby. "You're Stille's classmates?"

Now it was Akali and Avita's turn to be surprised. Akali couldn't help asking, "How did you know we're Stille's classmates? Are you close to Chairman Xu Yi? Did he tell you?"

The man grinned, showing a set of gleaming white teeth.

"Yes, I know Xu Yi very well. In fact, I can guarantee no one in the world knows him better than I do. Because... I'm Xu Yi."