Chapter 109 Stealing food from the tiger’s mouth
Although Xu Yi wasn’t willing, he had to admit that major MacConley was right since there were things that he had already done. Moreover, the people who should have known already knew, so no matter what kind of attitude he had and no matter how much he wanted to avoid starting things, it was no use.
Moreover, he had to do the things that he had to do.
Major MacConley had specially invited him over, naturally it was not because he needed help solving these technical problems. It was like Xu Yi had said, for these simple technical problems, he just had to spend some specialists over.
Naturally it also wasn’t just to explain or even warn Xu Yi because if it really was for that, it would have been better for the two of them to talk alone.
Other than this, the main thing was to have Xu Yi representing the Frestech Chamber of Commerce reach some kind of agreement with the army headquarters.
First they had to take care of the slaves that Xu Yi had transferred to Seveni. Like this, the workers that were chosen from the slaves would belong to Seveni, which means that the backbone to the factory would be firmly held in Seveni’s hands.
Next was the order the army headquarters had major MacConley make with Xu Yi again.
This order included magic machine production lines for weapons and armours, over a hundred thousand tires, and the logistics department wanted the Frestech Chamber of Commerce to develop certain magic machines with some abilities.
There wasn’t a short delivery time tied with the order for the special magic machines. Strictly speaking, it as just an order for development, hoping that the Frestech Chamber of Commerce could develop the corresponding magic machines that would satisfy the needs of the logistics department.
The Frestech Chamber of Commerce was very experienced in this aspect because there were companies like the Armani Chamber of Commerce, the Falcao Chamber of Commerce, and the Amrit Chamber of Commerce who had made these requests before.
The only difference was that the request of the army headquarters’ logistics department was a bit special.
For example, major MacConley hoped that a Magic Trebuchet could be developed to replace the giant wooden trebuchets that were very unwieldy that the royal army was currently using.
When Xu Yi heard this request, he already thought of several good choices. He just needed to tell Camby and the other dwarves back in the magic machine workshop to research a few things and he would be able to create a product.
So he very quickly signed this agreement with major MacConley.
When major MacConley saw how quick and confident Xu Yi was when it came to signing this, naturally he was very happy.
With the Frestech Chamber of Commerce signing this contract, it would be of great help to the logistics department because although the things the Frestech Chamber of Commerce produced were expensive, compared to how it cost thirty gold coins for a single set of armour from the Jole Family, it was without a doubt cheaper.
The more important thing was that working with the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, it helped the logistics department with their poor financial situation. Not only could they meet the basic equipment requirement for the frontline, they could also increase the quality of the equipment and raise the battle strength of the soldiers.
If it wasn’t for the fact that major MacConley didn’t have enough authority, he would have directly broken the deal from before they had with the Jole Family and would work with the Frestech Chamber of Commerce.
As for the Frestech Chamber of Commerce and Xu Yi, by signing this contract, first they would be able to earn a large amount of profit.
Even though it seems like they were supplying the army headquarters because of Seveni’s support, so Xu Yi had given them a preferential price, just based on the hundred thousand tire order, the Frestech Chamber of Commerce would earn a profit of over two hundred thousand gold coins.
If the other orders were added in, the Frestech Chamber of Commerce would be earning over three hundred thousand from these orders.
Other than the direct money profits, in providing equipment to the army and becoming their supplier, it would help raise the Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s position in the kingdom.
The Jole Family could become one of the top families in the kingdom, other than controlling the iron business, they also relied on this iron business to become the supplier to the army. Like this, it was equal to controlling the lifeline of the kingdom.
Of course, now that the Frestech Chamber of Commerce had inserted their foot, it was like stealing food from the tiger’s mouth and would get a reaction from the Jole Family.
But this was something that Xu Yi already expected.
Talking to the Jole Family was something that Xu Yi had planned before coming to Anvilmar City, so he told Vincent that he would be visiting.
But before this, Xu Yi had another matter that he had to settle.
Night had already fallen when Xu Yi came back to the housing that Count Sean had prepared for Great Magician Camilla, Still, and Xu Yi. Great Magician Camilla who had left early in the morning finally came back not long after Xu Yi had arrived.
When he saw Xu Yi, he immediately asked, “Kid, what level is your magic at right now?”
Xu Yi was stunned, “Your excellency Great Magician, didn’t you ask this a month ago?”
“Nonsense, I naturally remember you telling me that you were close to being a Seventh Grade Magician a month again. I want to ask you that after a month, have you become a Seventh Grade Magician?”
“You really think highly of me…..But your guesses are right, I think that I have become a Seventh Grade Magician.” Xu Yi replied with a smile.
“Good.” Great Magician Camilla gave a nod as he revealed a smile of praise, “Since it’s like this, clear your schedule for the day after tomorrow and prepare to take the Seventh Grade Magician certification exam.”
Xu Yi and Still were both stunned.
Still couldn’t help asking, “Grandfather, don’t you have to go to the City in the Sky for the Seventh Grade certification exam? The City in the Sky is over a thousand kilometers from here, how will Xu Yi rush over there by the day after tomorrow?”
“You think I don’t know that?” Great Magician Camilla glared at Still, “Let me tell you, I just received a notice today that those fellows in the guild have decided to change their ideas. From this year onwards, not only will Fifth Grade Magicians and below be able to take their certification exams at the Magicians Guild in their kingdom, those from the Fifth Grade to the Ninth Grade will also be able to take their certification exams in their kingdom. So, Xu Yi, you have just become a Seventh Grade Magician this year and you are in Anvilmar City right on time to take the certification exam.”
Xu Yi and Still were stunned again.
Still slightly knit her beautiful brows, “Since the Magicians Guild made this decision, why didn’t they give a notice sooner? It’s starting the day after tomorrow, how is it possible to inform all the Sixth Grade to Ninth Grade Magicians in just two days? Even if they receive the notice, how could they get here in time?”
“Who told those fellows at the guild to be such scoundrels.” Great Magician Camilla gave a cold snort before waving his hand to say, “You don’t need to worry about this matter.
“Then grandfather means that there are currently Sixth to Ninth Grade Magicians currently in Anvilmar City?” Still asked.
“Un, I’ve seen quite a few familiar faces in the city over the past few days.” Great Magician Camilla said with a nod, “Then again after the Fifth Grade, it is hard for any magician to raise their grade again in a year. Adding in the fact that there are few Sixth to Ninth Grade Magicians, there are even less people participating in the certification exam, so there aren’t many people who will come after receiving the notice this time.”
“Grandfather, did you forget about Xu Yi? He was only a Fifth Grade Magician last year and he’s already a Seventh Grade Magician this year.” Still looked at Xu Yi with a proud look, like the one who had increased by leaps and bounds was her.
Great Magician Camilla looked at Xu Yi and gave a strong snort, “I’ve already said that this fellow has talent, but it’s a pity that he’s not willing to work hard to study magic. Otherwise in less than ten years, he could become a Great Magician.”
Xu Yi rubbed his nose and said with an awkward smile, “Your excellency Great Magician, we already said that we wouldn’t discuss this topic again. Then again, even if I listened to you and focused on studying magic, my strength won’t increase as fast as it does now since there’s no shortcut to increasing your magic.”
Great Magician Camilla gave another snort and didn’t pursue this topic.
“Kid, it’s up to you if you don’t want to focus on studying magic, but you have to go to this certification exam. This time it’s mainly Sixth to Ninth Grade Magicians of the kingdom at this exam, so when you participate, you can get to know those magicians better. If you can pull in a few people to join our magic research facility, the work in the future will be much easier.” 𝙗𝙚𝒅𝒏𝒐𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝙘𝒐𝒎
Xu Yi nodded to show agreement, while also finding it a bit funny.
Last year, Great Magician Camilla had hated mixing magic with business. The current him had not only changed his mind, he had even joined the magic research facility and even took the initiative to give Xu Yi an idea that would let him bring more magicians in.
This contrast was just too big.
After having this thought, Xu Yi asked, “That’s right, your excellency Great Magician, according to the rules, Fifth Grade and below magicians need a higher grade magician at their certification exam, so wouldn’t Sixth to Ninth Grade certification exams be hard to hold? When has there been so many high level magicians at the Magicians Guild? For a level higher than the Ninth Grade, that would mean a Great Magician.”
“That’s right, so according to the rules, the Sixth to Ninth Grade certification exams will have a Great Magician present. Because they are holding the conference and called us old fellows over and it’s the first year they’re making this change, for this year’s high level magician certification exam, all five Great Magicians of the Lampuri Kingdom will be present.” Great Magician Camilla replied.
Xu Yi’s eyes instantly lit up, “Then that means you’re responsible for the exam? Then your excellency Great Magician, you already know the level of my magic, can you accommodate me and just let me pass?”
Great Magician Camilla coldly looked at Xu Yi, “What do you think?”
Chapter 110 I like taking risks
Because the first day of the certification exam was for Primary Grade Magicians, there would be many people who wanted to become certified magicians, so naturally there were the most people.
So compared to the first day, when it came to the Second Grade exam on the second day, there were much fewer people.
Of course, it wasn’t that much less.
According to the stats of the Lampuri Kingdom Magicians Guild, there were currently close to two thousand Primary Grade Magicians in the kingdom. The ones that felt they were strong enough to become a Second Grade Magician each year was over a thousand people.
Xu Yi and Still arrived at the test site outside the city together and saw that it was a very noisy scene.
With the current ability of the two, of course they wouldn’t participate in this Second Grade Magician exam. They specially came to cheer for the Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s magicians who were currently participating.
The Frestech Chamber of Commerce had recruited close to three hundred magicians and other than the forty six who worked at the magic research facility, the rest were Third Grade or lower magicians who all worked at the factory drawing Magic Arrays.
These magicians that entered as factory workers to do simple work either didn’t have good talent and couldn’t raise their strength by much, or they have poor families and didn’t have the financial resources to support the growth of their magic power. So their power gain within a year wouldn’t be too fast.
But for each magician, even if they knew that their power couldn’t reach the requirement, they still wanted to find a way to participate in the certification exam each year.
Other than having the hope that they could pass by luck, they also could come into contact with more colleagues and experience the atmosphere of large amounts of magicians gathering together.
For many magicians, the certification exam each year was more like a large conference for magicians.
So when Xu Yi gave the researchers their vacation, he also gave the workers of the factory the same seven days off to let them participate in the certification exam.
Although there were too many magicians and even if Xu Yi was generous, he couldn’t afford to let them all stay in the expensive Sheldon Inn. So he gave each person a subsidy of twenty gold coins and provided them a ticket to Anvilmar City and a ticket back to Banta City with the Fersen Carriage Company.
Even like this, it caused many of the magicians to feel gratitude towards Xu Yi.
It had to be known that because their levels were too low, the magicians couldn’t rely on their magic to earn money. This meant that the trip to Anvilmar City each year was quite the expense for them.
Now not only did the Frestech Chamber of Commerce give them vacation pay, they also gave them a subsidy. These really were good work benefits.
So even if Xu Yi didn’t say anything, these magicians would have already mentioned this to the colleagues they already knew and the colleagues they just met. They would all brag about the special treatment they received from working at the Frestech Chamber of Commerce with proud faces.
When Xu Yi and Still appeared at the exam site, the Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s magicians immediately noticed the two of them and in a short amount of time, this news passed through the exam site.
Xu Yi and Still instantly found that almost all the eyes of the magicians on the exam site were focused on them.
The two of them were used to being stared at, so Xu Yi asked Still with a smile, “Still, your charm really is too much. Look, even these magicians who are usually mesmerized with studying can’t help being attracted to you.”
Still shook her head and doubtfully said, “That’s not right, why do I feel like they’re all staring at you?”
“At me? What is there to look at with me?” Xu Yi gave a shrug. His eyes swept over the magicians from the Frestech Chamber of Commerce and when he was about to raise his hand to greet them, he found a familiar figure among them.
After Xu Yi was stunned, he quickly went up and asked with a smile, “Hey, Erwin, I thought that you were participating in tomorrow’s exam. Why are you here today?”
This familiar figure was Xu Yi’s old classmate Erwin from the Senkaiser School.
When Xu Yi came to Anvilmar City for the certification exam, he had bumped into him.
Back then Erwin had participated in the Primary Grade exam with Xu Yi and he was confident in passing the Second Grade exam, but he didn’t pass in the end.
Xu Yi thought that after a year of experience, his magic power should be above a Second Grade Magician’s, even reaching a Third Grade Magician, so he asked this question.
Erwin had a smiling face when seeing Xu Yi, but after hearing this question, he hung his head and waved his hand in a dejected manner, “Don’t mention it, I was thinking that I would become a Third Grade Magician in the end, but who would have thought that I would be taking so many adventures that I didn’t have time to study magic at all. Even now, other than increasing my battle experience, my magic isn’t that much higher compared to last year. It would be good if I could pass the Second Grade exam, how could I even think about passing the Third Grade exam.”
Xu Yi was a bit surprised. Although Erwin’s magical talent wasn’t as good as his, he was still considered quite good back at the Senkaiser School. Based on the general trend, after a year of growth, his strength should have greatly increased, so why did it increase so little?
Erwin cursed before saying with a cold snort, “I was tricked by those adventurer stories! The stories said that as long as you went on many adventures and engaged in real combat, you could quickly increase your understanding of magic and raise your strength! Bull shit! Indeed my understanding of magic has increased, but I haven’t had time to study it at all, so how could my magic quickly increase?”
Hearing this reason, Xu Yi was a bit speechless.
Actually he had the same idea as Erwin before. If he hadn’t invented magic machines and started the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, he would have also picked this route.
“Forget it, let’s not talk about these depressing things. This should be young miss Still, right? The newspapers said that you are Xu Yi’s current girlfriend?” Erwin’s eyes fell onto Still beside Xu Yi and he couldn’t help revealing a look of shock.
Still gave a courteous young woman’s bow to Erwin with a smile, “Yes, I am Still. Hello Erwin, I’ve frequently heard Xu Yi mention his schoolmates from the Senkaiser School and he mentions you the most. I’m very happy to meet you.”
“I’m also very happy to meet you.” Erwin looked over Still before suddenly grabbing Xu Yi’s neck and saying in a low voice, “You bastard! After not seeing each other for a year, you actually got such a beautiful girlfriend! If Roy and the others knew about this, they would definitely go crazy with jealousy!”
Xu Yi laughed and escaped from Erwin’s grip.
“That’s because my luck is good, you guys can’t even compare to me.”
Erwin rolled his eyes at Xu Yi before suddenly giving a sigh, “Being able to get a beautiful girlfriend like young miss Still perhaps is your good luck, but opening the Frestech Chamber of Commerce isn’t your luck, right? You always liked making those strange things when we were back in school, I never thought that you could use those things to create such a large company. Even when I’m out on adventures, I frequently hear the Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s name. Xu Yi, you really have developed well.”
“It’s alright.” Xu Yi gave a modest smile. Looking at the complicated expression on Erwin’s face, his heart was moved as he asked, “Erwin, since you’re suffering this much going on adventures and it isn’t that much help with increasing your magic power, how about you also come to work for our company? Rooney is currently earning over twenty gold coins a month and his magic power hasn’t fallen at all. If you also come, I think it would be much better than going on adventures, right?”
“I know, Rooney already told me when I saw him earlier.” Erwin gave a sigh, “You are right, going to work for your Frestech Chamber of Commerce is indeed a very good choice, but…..I’ve found that although going on adventures isn’t effective and is unsafe, I want to go on adventures. I feel that I’ve already fallen in love with this adventurer’s life and I don’t like an easy and calm life.”
“Are you being serious?” Xu Yi asked.
“Un, I’m serious.” Erwin nodded.
Seeing that Erwin had made his mind, Xu Yi could only helplessly nod and say, “Alright, everyone has their preference, I won’t force you. But Erwin, I will leave a place in our company for you if you ever get tired of the adventurer’s life, you can come find me whenever.”
Erwin patted Xu Yi’s shoulder with a wide smile before turning to Still to say, “Look, young miss Still, Xu Yi is someone who likes to think about others, so we followed him back in school. You are very beautiful and Xu Yi is very lucky to have a girlfriend like you, but I want to tell you that having a fellow like Xu Yi is also your good luck.”
Erwin’s tone wasn’t too polite, but Still didn’t mind. She revealed a sweet smile and said with a nod, “Thank you for your reminder, but I’m already very clear on this.”
“Ha, ha, then that’s good.” Erwin laughed again before turning to look at the surrounding magicians. He suddenly lowered his voice and said to Xu Yi, “Xu Yi, actually if you want to recruit more magicians to your company, it is a very good chance right now. Let me tell you, many people have inquired about the Frestech Chamber of Commerce from the people who work at your company and I saw that many people were very interested. If you do the same as last year, I feel that you’ll definitely find many people who will agree to join your Frestech Chamber of Commerce.”
Xu Yi nodded with a faint smile, “Alright, many thanks for your reminder.”