Yize's Move

Xie Yu enjoyed conquering items, and not just for the rewards it brought him.

What he liked even more was having them act according to his will.

Even those he couldn't conquer, the things that didn't display text to speak with him, those vast, complex things like the kingdom and the world-Xie Yu didn't want to let them go either.

How could he let them do as they pleased?

He wanted to control them, and he believed everything could be made better.

Xie Yu believed everyone had this desire, but for various reasons they suppressed it or let it fade. Some felt too insignificant, some doubted the correctness of their own decisions, and some had their energy worn away by trivial matters.

Just as he had overcome the pampered exam paper's willfulness and broken 3-0771's greed and arrogance, he wanted to make the bad disappear and help the good flourish.

Even if this time, no one might give him an award.

In this kingdom, everyone from top to bottom knew what a better kingdom looked like. All of them, nobles and commoners alike, knew what was better. Otherwise, how could those nobles destroy that beauty so precisely?

Xie Yu looked at Yize, Fry, and the others.

"Before the results were announced, I believe the Education Bureau needed an excuse for the Northern Plains Province's poor performance on the great exam, but one that wouldn't actually implicate the capital. Is that right?"

That was obvious. If the Education Bureau dared take potshots at the capital and the examination institute at will, the Northern Morning News's front page wouldn't currently read "Xie Yu, the Only Candidate in North Province With a Perfect Score." It would read "A Look at Which Surnames in the Capital Easily Scored Full Marks" and "Has the Kingdom Lost Control of the Nobles?"

Xie Yu continued:

"As for those cheaters-since it hasn't been proven, I'll call them suspected cheaters for now-they aren't powerful enough to do whatever they please yet. Once they actually pull this off, the Capital Examination Institute won't be willing to publicly admit that they succeeded in cheating. They're like a diseased growth in a person's body. People can't bear to cut away their own flesh, and that's what gives the growth a chance to gloat. They know they're wrong; they just think they won't die."

When the kingdom's policies ran counter to their interests, they chose to distort them, working within the great exam's grading framework to show the kingdom how much damage they could do. The kingdom would naturally want to investigate itself, not be judged. In that respect, the Education Bureau was a microcosm of the kingdom, and the suspected cheaters understood that perfectly well.

"Mr. Yize, if I raise a banner and charge at the Browns, will you follow? Will the pressure from the capital find an outlet through this?"

Xie Yu briefly explained his thinking.

Yize and the others had all been tempered in public office, and they were intelligent people. He probably didn't need to spell everything out for them... Besides, Xie Yu currently knew very little about the capital. If he really went into more detail, he didn't think he could know more than Yize and the others.

He defined himself as someone who would lead the charge.

He might be weak himself, but if an army followed behind him, if more and more power poured in, then his charge could bring destruction.

Yize closed his eyes.

He recalled that in previous years, the Education Bureau had also used high-scoring candidates to promote education. Those youngsters had sometimes been less than willing, but he hadn't expected one to "open his mouth of his own accord" this year.

And he had opened it so wide he seemed ready to swallow the entire education system of North Plains Province.

He knew perfectly well that Xie Yu was almost entirely right.

The Education Bureau really did need an excuse, and the turmoil in the capital was even harder to fathom.

In fact, Yize could see it more clearly than Xie Yu. If they really smeared the Brown Family so thoroughly, the other nobles would even laugh and welcome it. Some would see it as the kingdom venting its anger, while others would look forward to devouring the businesses the Brown Family controlled. They wouldn't help the Browns.

The Brown Family would be shocked and caught in a dilemma.

If they swallowed this smear, they might die. If they didn't, they would have to expose their arrangements in North Plains Province's education departments. But they might not make the right assessment immediately, and could instead laugh at the Education Bureau for looking in the wrong direction.

Everything Xie Yu had said would come true.

He hadn't used divination, and this was clearly something that couldn't be divined. It was a natural disaster that had come sweeping across the path of fate, not something a mere Magister like him could see clearly in advance.

But even without divination, all his thoughts and experience told him it would come true.

As long as he reported the matter, Yize could already picture his superior sitting behind his desk with a frown, taking out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his forehead, carefully weighing the risks, and finally nodding.

"This is a gamble. It's a crime. You're crazy... And I can't see what good doing this would do you."

He looked at Xie Yu as he spoke.

For an instant, Yize actually hoped Xie Yu would abandon the idea. It would cause enormous trouble, more than he could handle. The raging torrent of fate's storm would sweep him along and bring him endless work.

But once that instant passed, Yize grew afraid that Xie Yu really would give up, afraid that his persuasion would calm the storm and keep it from coming.

He feared that Xie Yu would truly hesitate, become rational, and doubt himself, letting the young man's heart grow cold.

He realized that he was actually hoping Xie Yu would stand firm and persuade him.

The feeling was terrifying, yet fascinating.

Xie Yu smiled and said:

"I killed Wig Brown and took his sealed artifact. By rights, that should have been the end of my resentment."

"But I realized none of this was over. They're everywhere, and they bother me. As for the benefit, the nobles' actions make me angry. I don't think things should be this way. That's enough."

That was enough. That was enough.

Yize remained silent, afraid to speak, afraid to say no, and even more afraid to say yes.

He couldn't make the call. He couldn't make the decision. Even though he wouldn't really have to bear the consequences, even though he wouldn't have to give up much, he simply didn't dare.

He was already the head of the Education Bureau's Inspection Department, already a Magister, yet there were still things Xie Yu could do that he couldn't.

It was as if he had returned to the night before, opening the door to find Xie Yu waiting for him.

Xie Yu hadn't needed to consult him before killing Wig Brown.

He had never seen this young man's madness in anyone else. Even the most arrogant, pampered geniuses of previous years had felt fear and self-pity. Anyone clever enough to score full marks wouldn't be foolish enough to think a perfect score meant they could do whatever they wanted.

"If you don't object, I'll take that as agreement," Xie Yu said.

"..." Yize remained silent.

Fry and the others around them were silent as well.

Fry was doing all right. The previous night, he had already gotten a rough glimpse of Xie Yu's true character and had seen him "snatch" Sealed Artifact 3-0771 with his own eyes. He knew Xie Yu was bold.

Duoha and Xiuno had only learned of Xie Yu's actions indirectly. They suspected Fry and Yize had concealed many details. After all, from their descriptions alone, Xie Yu sounded insane. It was possible that Director Yize and Secretary-General Fry had made things up or hidden something to push matters along.

Now that they had met him and heard him speak, they understood that Fry and Yize's descriptions had been conservative.

In the end, Yize couldn't avoid speaking:

"In principle, I won't support this kind of behavior. But I won't stop you either. I'll apply for some protection for you afterward."

Now, in Yize's eyes, neither the Pine Nut Chamber of Commerce nor Roman Brown needed any special attention.

Xie Yu took Sealed Artifact 3-0771 from his pocket and flicked it with his finger.

"I can wear you today, openly and without hiding."

Before long, three letters written by Magister Yize arrived in Mirror Lake City.

On the desk of Mr. Bolun, the Education Bureau's director, a letter opener cut through a discreet wax seal, revealing the title "A Statement of the Facts Concerning the Brown Family's Persecution of Candidate Xie Yu."

Mr. Bolun frowned. It seemed somewhat different from what Yize had told him the night before.

On the desk in the director's office of the Sealed Artifact Magic Research Institute in Mirror Lake City lay a letter presented openly, without an envelope. Its title was "Statement Concerning the Temporary Transfer of Sealed Artifact 3-2152, the Chapter of Teleportation, and an Application for the Temporary Transfer of Further Sealed Artifacts."

In the innermost room of the Mirror Lake City Public Security Bureau, there were no tables, chairs, or people. Only a perfectly framed legal document hung on the wall. A complex array was drawn on the floor, a strange one that seemed to contain a map of the entire Northern Plains Administrative Province.

A knock sounded at the door. A public security inspector opened it, bowed, and said:

"Lord Mirror Lake City Administrative Public Security Law, there is a special protection application from the Education Bureau's inspection department."

No one answered. Only a faint force lifted the envelope and opened it in midair.

The public security inspector slowly closed the door and left.

The letter was titled "Application for Special Protection for Xie Yu, a Black Pine City Candidate in the Kingdom's Great Exam."

"The application has been approved."

A voice sounded naturally in the empty room.

The inconspicuous number [1-073] was engraved on the side of the wooden frame surrounding the legal document.