Xie Yu's Many Faces

"The way Faith increases seems different from Affection."

Xie Yu studied Sealed Artifact 3-0771, probing its personality according to the patterns he had found in his previous strategies. He talked about magic, the realm of the mind and soul, and how detestable Wig Brown was.

It was interested in all those topics. In particular, when they talked about how hateful Wig Brown was, its tone made the former owner sound like its enemy. Xie Yu did not know whether it was trying to please him or genuinely thought Wig was detestable.

They had a pleasant conversation, and he learned a great deal, but its Faith did not increase.

He recalled when its Faith had first appeared. The Sealed Artifact had believed its ability to cast spells was a gift from Xie Yu, and that was how it had gained Faith.

Did the Sealed Artifact have to worship him as a god for its Faith to increase? Xie Yu thought he was probably on the right track, but that first "miracle" had resulted from the workings of his own ability and seemed difficult to reproduce.

As he pondered, Sealed Artifact 3-0771 alerted him:

[The blond is here, carrying a big box. There are books inside.]

The blond? Fry?

Xie Yu looked back at the door. The next moment, sure enough, someone knocked.

"I found them all for you. No need to thank me."

Facing Xie Yu, Fry did not take credit or describe how much trouble he had gone to. Nor did he ask why Xie Yu wanted so many books or whether he could finish them all.

He set the big box down against the wall and opened it as though showing off, displaying the tightly packed spines inside.

Fry reached in, pulled out a book, and opened it to the title page to show him the publisher and publication date.

"These should be exactly what you wanted. They match your requirements."

"Your efficiency is astonishing," Xie Yu said, praising him sincerely and breaking into a delighted, childlike smile. "Thank you. This is exactly what I need."

He had wanted to add a few more polite remarks, such as "This exceeded my expectations," "I didn't expect there to be so many," and "Thank you for the effort." But after considering them one by one, Xie Yu felt that Fry might not like hearing them.

As secretary-general, Fry was enjoying handling this matter, using the professional attitude and methods of official business to deal with something that was neither for his superiors nor official business. Fry enjoyed the process of getting things done, and he enjoyed Xie Yu's surprise. That was what Xie Yu felt.

Any remark that involved "evaluation" might make Fry feel as though he were handling official business again and take some of the smile off his face. He would rather draw on Xie Yu's emotions than listen to words.

"Do you need me to help put them on the table? There doesn't seem to be a bookshelf in this room. I'll have the inn sort that out in a bit..." Fry asked.

Xie Yu thought it would be fine to leave the books in the box and take them out one at a time when he wanted to read them. That would be more convenient. But leaving "the fruits of Fry's labor" piled by the door would make it look as though he did not value them, and people always wanted to feel valued, Fry included. That was also the difference between piling them by the door and putting them on the table.

"Good thing the table in this inn is wide enough. There's enough room to stand them upright without piling them into a mountain."

Xie Yu bent down and picked up a stack of books, accepting Fry's help.

After they finished, Xie Yu brought up the funeral and the meeting with Kaiming.

"Lord Yize's advice persuaded me. I think I'll need to trouble you to attend tomorrow's meeting with Kaiming and return the pendant for me," Xie Yu said.

Even if Yize had already mentioned it to Fry, asking for his help himself was still a necessary courtesy. It made Fry feel that he was helping Xie Yu as an individual, rather than carrying out a task for the Education Bureau.

Xie Yu already had a plan. Sealed Artifact 3-0771's Affection was full, so he did not need to be there in person to oversee it killing Wig.

There was also no longer any risk of the Fate-Substitution Talisman Doll switching sides again and returning to Wig.

"No problem. While I'm there, I can see what that funeral is all about."

Fry remembered Yize's earlier prediction, or perhaps found the funeral rather interesting, and laughed.

He still overlooked the fact that the pendant was Sealed Artifact 3-0771. His attention immediately shifted away from the pendant Xie Yu had mentioned.

Back in the corridor, Fry was in a good mood. Seeing that Yize was still busy while he himself had more or less finished his work, he felt even better. Staying in Black Pine City was practically a vacation for him.

"You rarely smile when you're doing things for me."

Yize looked up and glanced at Fry as he passed.

How could that be the same?

"When I work for you, I have to maintain a serious and professional attitude," Fry said.

Yize pulled a document from his desk. It was the file Xiuno, deputy director of the Education Bureau's General Affairs Department, had delivered while Fry was carrying the books earlier.

He turned to business.

"This is the table the province just compiled, showing the number of candidates at each score. In the entire Northern Plains Province, only one candidate got a perfect score this year, and there were fewer high scores than in previous years."

"Huh?" Fry took the confidential file from Yize and looked through it, his expression gradually darkening.

"Our province's candidates lost points on advanced questions one and two."

Yize found a blank sample paper among the somewhat untidy stacks of documents on his desk and pointed to the two questions.

"I checked. Sealed Artifact 2-079 in advanced question one is from the southwest."

"Advanced question two describes a village on the western frontier, beside a river in a valley. That question is also from the southwest."

Fry immediately understood the problem.

"Both questions came from the Southwest Gorge Administrative Province. That's a bit biased."

Before the kingdom distributed the exam papers to examination sites across the land and the papers were unsealed, even the provincial Education Bureau could not know the questions. The advanced questions were selected from the question banks of the kingdom's seven provinces and the capital, and, for the sake of fairness, their regional origins were usually balanced.

Magic always had to be applied in the real world, so it was quite common for questions to contain regional elements.

"If it were just the questions, that would be one thing. But almost all the points awarded in the marking scheme are concentrated on regional peculiarities," Yize continued.

"The scores hadn't been compiled yesterday, so none of this was very obvious. Now we can probably conclude that the questions' bias affected the results."

"Damn that Examination Institute. Doesn't anyone check on them?" Fry frowned.

Yize waved a hand, signaling that complaining would do no good.

"It might not be the Examination Institute's fault... The higher up you go, well, you know how much more complicated everything gets. I could feel it when I went to Pinecone Town yesterday. Small towns are always so peaceful. Things are more complicated in Black Pine City, but they're still easier and more pleasant than the troubles we run into in Mirror Lake City. And the capital... Forget it. Let's not talk about it."

"Now Xie Yu is the Northern Plains Province's only hope."

[Do we really have to read? Why is this book nothing but words?]

Listening to the Sealed Artifact's complaint, Xie Yu patiently coaxed it.

"Don't you want to learn magic? Just imagine: once you master it, you'll be strong for sure, even stronger than Wig."

[I'm already stronger than it. What's the use of being strong anyway? Can I eat more people? That would be nice.]

Xie Yu squeezed it hard. "I don't want you thinking that way."

[Sealed Artifact 3-0771 (Faith: 20) thinks you are very old-fashioned and a prude, but it doesn't dare say so. It has a more pressing concern:]

[You'll take me with you after we kill the old bastard, right?]

"You're strong, but what's the use of being strong?"

Xie Yu asked in return, "You act solely for your own pleasure. Think about your previous owner and the one before that. Is carrying you with me really a good idea?"

[Sealed Artifact 3-0771 (Faith: 20) is panicking:]

[If you won't take me with you, I won't help you kill Wig. You'll definitely regret it.]

Xie Yu narrowed his eyes and smiled.

"Threatening me over this is a very bad sign. If it works once, I imagine you'll threaten me over everything from then on. Do you really think I can't deal with Wig without you?"

The fact that Affection would not decrease meant he could greatly expand his conquest methods and try things he had never tried before.

[No, I'm not threatening you. I'm just... making a deal with you. You take me with you, and I'll kill Wig. Those are my terms.]

"I don't accept those terms."

[Then name your terms. Go on.]

"Do you know what my condition for taking you with me is?" Xie Yu asked in the talisman doll's ear.

[Just say it! I can even help you kill Wig. I'm not afraid of more conditions.]

"My only condition..." Xie Yu paused briefly, gauging the Sealed Artifact's state of mind as he tried something entirely new.

He spoke in all seriousness.

"You obey every one of my orders unconditionally."

[Sealed Artifact 3-0771 is silent and trembling, unsure how to answer. (Faith increased to 40)]

It actually worked. Faith can even be raised this way?

Xie Yu considered it, then pressed the point.

"Now get lost and read. Learn magic."

"After you kill him tomorrow, find your own way to fly back using magic. Don't expect me to come get you."

[Sealed Artifact 3-0771 bites its lip (Faith: 40) and mumbles weakly:]

[O-okay.]