Xie Yu Had to Be a Genius, Whether He Was One or Not

Pinewood Inn, ninth-floor common area.

Magister Yize looked up from his official work, sensing something slightly unusual.

Someone seemed to be using detection magic on this floor. The feeling of someone's gaze sweeping past him was quite obvious to a diviner like him.

"Xie Yu?" Yize looked toward Xie Yu's room.

Without even divining, he had already guessed that the source of that power was the room where Xie Yu was staying.

"He seems very unpracticed in using magic formulas... but his mind and soul are naturally powerful," he assessed, savoring the faint sensation from moments ago.

A small question in his mind had been answered.

A powerful mind and soul meant a strong memory and keen perception. In that case, being good at exams and learning magic, and earning a perfect score in a small town, no longer seemed so strange.

That was good news.

"But I still don't know how he got a perfect score."

Yize set down the "Northern Plains Administrative Province 1739 Spring Education Inspection Tour Plan" in his hands.

He recalled his divination concerning Xie Yu.

Earlier, the conclusion that Xie Yu had not cheated had come from a divination personally conducted by Yize, the head of the Education Bureau's Inspection Department.

No possibility of leaked exam questions had been found. No communication between the examinee and anyone outside the exam room during the exam had been found. No evidence that the exam paper had been unsealed during transport before grading had been found. No oversight in the inspection and acceptance of the exam room had been found. No oversight in the management and deployment of the proctors had been found.

Every divination conducted in accordance with the examination procedures pointed to a single result.

The examinee Xie Yu had not cheated.

Those divination results would not change no matter which other diviner performed them. At least according to the law and the rules, Xie Yu had indeed not cheated.

But... Yize closed his eyes and recalled the "course of the exam" described by the proctor of exam room 17401.

He didn't care about the vast majority of it. Xie Yu talking to himself, looking troubled, pounding the desk in anger, and suddenly finishing the paper-none of that mattered.

Only three [facts] baffled Yize.

First, Xie Yu had not brought any spiritual ink into the exam room.

Second, when Xie Yu submitted his paper, he had filled in the written answer to advanced question 3, but had not completed the magic array in the diagram.

Third, when the teachers in Black Pine City graded the paper, the magic array in the diagram for advanced question 3 had already been completed.

The first two facts had been stated by the proctor and confirmed by Yize's divination.

The third had been stated by a grader and confirmed by Yize with his own eyes.

How could that make sense?

As a Magister, Yize had spent all of last night thinking it over and examining the paper dozens of times, turning it back and forth. In the end, he had reached a conclusion that even he found utterly absurd:

"During transport, movement, friction, and defects in the printing caused some paper fibers and ink particles from the magic array printed on the preceding exam paper to flake off and stick to Xie Yu's paper. They happened to complete the magic array diagram on his paper and happened to match the correct answer."

"Therefore, we conclude that Xie Yu was a lucky examinee, but did not cheat. According to the usual grading rules, this should be treated as the examinee having guessed correctly, and he should be awarded the points."

At that thought, Yize tilted his head back.

What would happen if he actually wrote this result truthfully in the "Public Announcement of the Results of the Review of the Perfect-Score Examinee's Paper"?

The entrance to the Education Bureau would probably be packed with people, and the newspaper reports would be unimaginable.

Everyone from ordinary commoners to Saints and Sages would probably point at his head and demand an explanation.

They would ask whether he was insulting everyone's intelligence.

They would ask whether the examination was far too murky and demand a thorough investigation.

"But Xie Yu is too clean-so clean it's... a little frightening." Yize sighed.

A small-town resident, born a commoner, with no magical background whatsoever. He was so clean there was nothing to get hold of. Whoever investigated Xie Yu would probably have no place to start.

Having spent many years in the inspection department, he had seen enough cases. The people who used crude or ingenious methods to cheat on the examination were all middling magicians. Investigations could start directly with the magicians involved, and they caught the right person every time.

Those truly powerful people in high positions didn't need such methods to get their children admitted, while true commoners who wanted to cheat couldn't even get past the proctors.

He had also suspected that perhaps Xie Yu had an unimaginably formidable team behind him.

Sage-level anti-divination methods concealed everything and fashioned a seemingly normal fate; a magic materials forger capable of countering the kingdom-level precision array engravings opened the magic-suppressing sealed bag, altered the paper, and perfectly restored it; and a master of mental manipulation, at least Saint-level, maintained the memories of multiple proctors, making them think nothing had happened.

But if Xie Yu had that team behind him, never mind taking the examination-if he wanted to become a high-ranking official, become the dean of any academy, or set up a top magic research institute for himself to study at, that would be enough.

Why go to all that trouble?

In the end, Yize decided simply to fulfill his own duties, handle everything according to the Education Bureau's rules, and perform the divinations he was supposed to.

He couldn't explain this suspicious point, so he wouldn't put it in writing in the report.

He only informed the head of the Education Bureau privately, through a covert connection in the domain of fate.

"If Xie Yu is a genuine genius and his score is merely an adornment to his brilliance, then there's no problem at all. If he isn't, those who question the fairness of the examination, those who oppose the kingdom's policies, and those who stir up trouble will all start dancing, one after another..."

Yize closed his eyes, unable to tell whether the future would be good or bad.

For now, all he could do was keep Xie Yu's presence as low as possible and try not to let the perfect-score examinee become known to everyone. That would leave them a little more room to maneuver, however things developed afterward.

But... those above him might not see it that way.

In recent years, fewer and fewer commoner geniuses had entered top schools through the examination. Ideas like "Being a genius is no match for having a Sage for a father" and "Is magical knowledge passed down through blood and sex? Why is everyone in a magician's family a magician?" had begun spreading among young people in major cities, with a tendency to spread downward.

In this era, if Xie Yu were exposed, Yize could hardly imagine which section of the newspapers he would end up in.

He thought again of meeting Xie Yu earlier, and how the young man had known nothing of his own future fate.

Without a care in the world. How enviable.

At midday.

Fry hurried back, carrying a box of books rather inelegantly.

"Black Pine City Library didn't have them at all. I only found the books that kid wanted in Weile's collection of old books. Luckily, we're both Forest Magic Academy alumni, and we just had a drink together."

Fry set down the enormous wooden box in his hands, making the inn's floor resound with a loud bang.

He didn't go looking for Xie Yu first. Instead, he looked at Magister Yize.

He lifted the lid of the box and showed Yize the fruits of his hard work:

"One hundred and thirty-two books. The kid said he wanted the full set. I doubt even he knew the full set was this big, but I really did get them all for him."

"Thanks for the hard work." Yize nodded approvingly.

"Oh, right, a flying letter from the General Affairs Department just arrived. I'm not authorized to open it; it's addressed to you." Fry set down the books, took a large envelope bearing three secret seals across its seam from his pocket, and handed it to Yize.

"The grading is all finished, so I don't know what it's about."

Yize accepted it without any change in expression.

Even without opening it, he already knew what was inside.

He had used a covert private method to contact the highest levels of the Education Bureau about the suspicious point in Xie Yu's paper.

If the reply he received was also private, that would clearly mean the handling would be "unconventional" and "untraceable." Xie Yu's score would most likely be invalidated on some pretext or other. It wouldn't comply with proper procedures, but no one would be able to say anything.

If he received an official reply through the official process, it meant everything could "withstand scrutiny," every action would proceed normally, and all the suspicious points Yize had submitted privately would be treated as "nonexistent."

Thus, without opening it or using divination, Yize had already guessed its contents.

He smiled at Fry.

"It's about Xie Yu. It's fine, you don't need to leave to avoid suspicion. It shouldn't be a secret."

The hidden magical patterns on the wax seals were uncovered, and the letter read as follows:

[The results of the review of perfect-score examinee Xie Yu's score are valid, and the perfect score is valid. To safeguard examinee Xie Yu's personal safety, studies, and growth following the unified examination, Yize, head of the Black Pine City Exam Grading and Proctoring Team, may use this letter to allocate the following throughout the province:]

[Magic teachers from various fields, with no restrictions on academy, title, rank, years of service, or number.]

[Various resources associated with magic academies within the province, including but not limited to magic materials, potions, sealed objects, and books.]

[Personnel from the Education Bureau and its subordinate institutions, with no restriction on number.]

"Is this kid Xie Yu really getting treatment on this scale? Some of this isn't even for our Education Bureau to decide, is it?" Fry glanced at the letter, feeling somewhat shocked.

Yize's tone was even as he said calmly:

"He's a genius."

Even if he wasn't, he had to be.

"All right, I'll go carry the genius's books."

Fry didn't catch what Yize meant. He picked up the wooden box, went to the door of Xie Yu's room, and knocked awkwardly.