Insurance, Minting, and the Knowledge Factory (4K)

As the grandfather and grandson walked away, the wooden cabin heard that they were plotting against Xie Yu and grew furious. Unfortunately, it was only a wooden cabin. It couldn't drop a window on their heads, nor could it jump up and crush them both to death.

It could only commit everything they had said to memory, serving as a hidden recorder as it waited for a chance to meet Xie Yu.

Meanwhile, Xie Yu's interview was drawing to a close.

"...That's how Mr. Kaiming and I met. I just didn't expect the magical world I was so eager to see to look like this. Perhaps the Browns are still laughing at me for delivering myself to their doorstep like a fool."

He always made a point of mentioning the Browns, and his aim was clear. He didn't dwell on broad topics like nobles or fairness in the kingdom, focusing instead on the Browns in particular.

Ms. Fengye, the interviewer sitting across from him, understood. All she saw was an angry young man seeking revenge, and she found Xie Yu's hatred of the Browns perfectly understandable.

And at last, Ms. Fengye breathed a sigh of relief.

When the interview began, she had been worried that it might not be publishable. If Xie Yu had attacked nobles as a whole and gone on to express dissatisfaction with the kingdom, the report would likely have died in her hands, unable to be published through normal channels.

Even with the Education Bureau's support, even though Xie Yu was the only person in North Province to earn a perfect score, she might ultimately have been able to release only a few statements of fact, presenting them to the province's residents as a brief item in a small sidebar.

Over her years in the profession, she had handled many similar interviews: disputes over nobles seizing an entire village's land, conflicts between noble lineages and ordinary city residents... Those involved were either too angry and cast their curses too widely, or too weak and wanted only to settle matters quietly. In the end, the reports all required difficult editing and became bland and inoffensive.

Xie Yu's interview, on the other hand, was rather good.

If it had a flaw, it was that her presence as the interviewer was too weak. She hadn't needed to guide him at all; Xie Yu had already thought everything through and explained it all clearly himself.

"Thank you for sharing your story. I will present your account faithfully. I believe time will provide all the answers. I wish you success in your studies and boundless achievements."

Seeing that Xie Yu had said everything he wanted to say, she confirmed it with a glance and brought the interview to an end.

"We may put out an extra edition today and aim to publish this interview before the evening paper." She took the interview transcript from the recorder and briefly checked it with Xie Yu and Yize.

"Please give it one final look and confirm whether it matches what you said."

[A meticulous interview transcript (Affection 30):]

[Not a single word is wrong. Rest assured.]

"I trust your paper's standards." Xie Yu smiled and didn't check it word by word for errors.

"Thank you for your trust. However, I must mention in advance that the published content may be trimmed. For example... every earlier mention of 'nobles' may be changed to 'the Browns.' That would be more appropriate," Fengye hinted tactfully.

She couldn't say outright that two of the newspaper's shareholders were gentlemen with surnames.

Fortunately, neither of those gentlemen was named Brown, and the Brown Family's business interests didn't include publishing or newspapers.

"That's fine. I understand completely." Xie Yu nodded.

"All right."

Ms. Fengye breathed a sigh of relief and considered the interview once more. If she set her profession aside and looked at it from the perspective of an ordinary resident of the kingdom... the Brown Family was likely in for considerable trouble this time.

"The contents of this exclusive interview are very valuable. I'll make sure as much of it is published as possible."

Fengye and her colleagues shook hands with Xie Yu and said goodbye.

As soon as they stepped out of the king suite, she urged the recorder:

"Contact the boss and ask what our shareholders think of the Brown surname. Have their families intermarried? Do they have any longstanding feuds?"

The recorder, who had only recently joined, was taken aback.

"Miss, is that important?"

Fengye glared at him, clearly dissatisfied with the young man's grasp of his job.

"Of course it's important! Do you think they'll publish just anything you put in a report? If you go too far, local distributors won't even buy the paper, and the printer might not be willing to run it. You need to understand how these relationships work. Are you stupid? The newspaper is part of the world, not something separate from everything else..."

She had been gentle and refined during the interview, but now she was somewhat ferocious, and her presence was oppressive.

"Miss, I understand."

The recorder nodded with a wry smile, doing his best to remember the details of what she had said.

"Is there a second interview?" Xie Yu took a sip of water and looked at Fry and Yize.

"We need to wait for this report to be published first and see how people react."

Magister Yize also breathed a sigh of relief. Although he could invite a newspaper whose connections and position were relatively "suitable," there was no guarantee he could get everything done, even if he applied pressure in the Education Bureau's name.

The good news was that, between the exclusive interview with the only candidate to earn a perfect score and Xie Yu's bombshell revelations, the interviewer seemed highly motivated rather than frightened into avoidance and dragging her feet.

Fry was even happier.

He seemed to foresee considerable room to mitigate his own mistake, and hope that the entire Education Bureau could extricate itself from the Brown Family's troubles.

"Testing the waters... I see. By the way, Mr. Yize, Sealed Artifact 3-0771 told me that a very powerful Magister specializing in the mind and soul approached just now. He stood on the hotel's first floor and swept a glance over the king suite."

Xie Yu brought up Miuan Brown's arrival in Black Pine City.

The hotel building had told him about it, but Yize and the others might have found a talking hotel building hard to understand. To make the matter easier to communicate, he gave 3-0771 the credit.

[Sealed Artifact 3-0771 asked in confusion:]

[Huh?]

[Sealed Artifact 3-2152 (Faith 40) looked in surprise at the little talisman doll on your chest:]

[I didn't know you were so impressive. You can even detect a Magister observing us? How did you do it? I've already called Xie Yu master. Can you teach me?]

[Sealed Artifact 3-0771 didn't know what to say and didn't dare contradict you. It stammered:]

[I... I just used magic... did this, and then, then did that, and that was all.]

"A very powerful Magister specializing in the mind and soul..." Yize frowned warily. "I'll ask at the front desk. You two stay here."

Although the king suite wasn't designed specifically for security and was essentially still a luxury, the layers of magic arrays and gold coins made it much safer than outside, at least.

Once Yize left, Mr. Fry finally showed his true colors. Looking exhausted but relieved, he slumped into his chair.

"I have a feeling I can keep my position, all thanks to you, kid."

Fry seemed to have forgotten that Xie Yu was also the reason he had nearly lost his position.

After all that, he hadn't gained anything, but he had become grateful to Xie Yu.

"Yours was only an unintentional mistake to begin with, and it caused no actual harm. Mr. Yize clearly wanted to help you keep your position. I merely did what I should have done," Xie Yu said modestly.

"The Browns are in big trouble this time. Did you see the interviewer's expression when she left? She was excited, like a warrior who'd rested for years and could finally take up a blade and go to battle... I reckon her newspaper's boss doesn't have much of a relationship with the Brown Family."

Fry grew more talkative, expressing his feelings:

"You're pretty shrewd yourself, kid. Most of the time, when you mentioned Wig Brown, you used 'the Browns' instead, and Sealed Artifact 3-0771 helped you too. It's just a pity. You could have been a genius, but now you've become a victim who stirs up trouble. Some narrow-minded academies might be prejudiced against you because of that."

"Really? That happens?"

After being interviewed by Fengye for so long, Xie Yu found that he had picked up a bit of her habit of answering with questions.

"Of course it's bad for an academy if a student causes too much trouble. Today you successfully accused the Browns; what if you accuse the academy's dean tomorrow? It means you're already acquainted with a newspaper and know how to navigate those connections, but those abilities can only cause trouble for the academy. You can't bring it benefits like other people with connections... Ahem, I've said too much. With your learning and talent, you probably don't need to worry about these things."

Partway through, Fry gestured for Xie Yu not to worry.

He had merely put himself in Xie Yu's place. With Fry's own talent, he would be someone an academy could take or leave, so naturally there would be trouble. Xie Yu was entirely different.

"Your words have taught me a great deal. They've made me think of things I never considered and illuminated my murky thoughts," Xie Yu said with a nod.

Though Xie Yu was being polite, he was also sincere. What Fry had said clearly distilled Mr. Fry's life experience, and it was useful, offering a perspective Xie Yu would have found difficult to see from his own position.

"You've got a way with words, kid. You really ought to try being a government official... but that would be a bit of a waste of your magical talent. How can anyone be as well-rounded as you?"

Fry too occasionally felt that life was a little unfair.

Soon, Yize returned. After closing the door, he said:

"He didn't hide his identity. I checked with the front desk. It was Miuan Brown."

Fry, who had been chatting happily with Xie Yu, immediately sat up straight.

"A Magister from the Brown Family? What is he doing here?"

He had come all the way from Mirror Lake City. Could he be here to... Fry looked worriedly at Xie Yu.

"Perhaps it has nothing to do with Xie Yu. He made no attempt to hide his identity and didn't force his way in. He only seemed to be booking a king suite to stay in. He may have come to Black Pine City to take care of some matters," Yize continued.

"But he's already here. Once that report is published, he might go on a rampage in Black Pine City." Fry was no less worried.

Mirror Lake City might be able to withstand the destruction an enraged Magister could cause, with quite a few people capable of keeping one in check.

But in Black Pine City, there were too few people who could stop Miuan Brown.

"There's no need to worry too much about Xie Yu. I've notified my superiors and taken protective precautions. If it's only Miuan Brown, it shouldn't be a major problem. But some noble families are closely connected. I used the front desk's description to perform a divination, and the surname of the other person accompanying Miuan Brown is Ilia."

To think that the person Yize was worried about wasn't the Brown Family's Magister.

The surname was unfamiliar to Fry. Although his position gave him plenty of opportunities to deal with nobles, he clearly knew little about surnames from outside North Province.

After frowning and searching his memory for a while, he finally realized:

"The Ilia from the capital's mint?"

Seeing the bewildered look on Xie Yu's face, Yize added:

"Insurance, minting, and the knowledge factory-Ilia."

"It's a very troublesome surname. The family intermarried with the Browns years ago, which was one of my earlier concerns. Nobles always have connections with one another. Even if a marriage between families doesn't mean they're particularly close, it's hard for outsiders to see just how deep their ties run."

The Brown Family didn't exist in isolation. Its tendrils reached elsewhere, intertwining with others.

"I understand insurance and minting, but what's a knowledge factory?" Xie Yu asked.

As the one charging ahead, he understood that once an arrow was loosed, there was no turning back. If he ran into trouble, he would deal with it.

From Yize's expression, he could already tell that this surname he had never heard before was no simple matter.

There were ranks among nobles too.

When speaking of the Browns, Mr. Yize had only felt troubled and dissatisfied with their reach into the education system, showing vigilance and caution. Against the Browns, Yize could fight back and take countermeasures. But when mentioning Ilia, even Yize seemed somewhat at a loss. That was enough to show the difference between the two.

"The Ilia Family's Abnormal State Bloodline can transfer knowledge from one person's brain to another's. If you have enough gold coins, you can purchase a certain amount of [knowledge and memories]. Likewise, if you're short of gold, you can sell [knowledge and memories]. It's a business found only in the capital, and the kingdom cannot define it as either illegal or legal. If you attend a top academy in the capital, you're almost certain to encounter a knowledge buyer from their family."

That was what Yize said.

Knowledge and memories could actually be bought and sold?

It was the first time Xie Yu had heard of it.

The knowledge magic described in books was generally used to strengthen one's own ability to absorb and process knowledge, or to strengthen someone else's. It didn't involve directly transferring knowledge between two people.

This went beyond the scope of knowledge magic.

Fry's reaction was much like Xie Yu's. He had never heard of it either.

"An Abnormal State Bloodline can actually do something like that." Xie Yu could already roughly see what made this family troublesome.

Quite a few people in the capital were probably customers of the Ilia Family. In the field of magic, knowledge and memories were nearly equivalent to one's level of spellcasting.

Although the Brown Family was also in business, selling potions among other things, once payment and goods changed hands, their other business partners might not feel particularly grateful to them.

Ilia's business was clearly monopolistic, relationship-building, and dark.

Business conducted in the shadows was always more effective at winning people over than business conducted in the open.

What Yize said next confirmed Xie Yu's suspicions entirely.

"I've dealt with matters involving the Ilia Family before. Pressure comes from every direction. Even within the kingdom's government, there will be reactions."

Yize chose his words carefully, not daring to express himself forcefully. Without mentioning any specific examples, he said vaguely:

"Many people have received help from that family."