Volume 2 Chapter 114 - You know high grade magic? (1/2)

After Still was finished with the Sarank Chamber of Commerce’s banquet and came back to the residence, she found that Xu Yi was piled on a table, seriously examining a map.

“What are you doing?” Still asked in a curious voice.

“Ah? You’re back?” Xu Yi looked up to reply before pointing at the map and saying, “I’m currently studying the terrain of the Stantine Duchy.”

“Stantine Duchy?” Still tilted her head to think. She remembered when she had learned continental politics as an elective back at school and she had learned a bit about the duchy near the Lampuri Kingdom, “Oh, it’s that duchy in that crevie. Why are you suddenly studying their terrain?”

“Because in a while, I might have to take a trip there, so I’m studying first to prepare myself.” Xu Yi replied.

“You’re going to the Stantine Duchy?” Still was even more surprised, “Why?”

Xu Yi roughly explained what happened at his lunch meeting. Still thought for a bit after hearing this and the first thing she talked about surprised Xu Yi.

“Un, the Stantine Duchy’s people are really pitiful. I heard the teacher in continental politics mention that the average lifespan of people in the Stantine Duchy is only forty years, it’s much worse than our Lampuri Kingdom. Now they’re even selling their copper mines, it seems like Duke Stantine really can’t hold on.”

Xu Yi’s expression became a bit strange, “I say, Still, why does it sound like I’m a shameless person coming in to take advantage of them?”

Still pursed her lips into a smile, “If it was another merchant, they would be taking advantage of someone. But you Xu Yi as a good person wouldn’t do this, am I right?”

“Don’t give me a good guy card……” Xu Yi couldn’t help muttering as he rubbed his nose. He then said with a serious face, “You’re right that I wouldn’t take advantage of others. Actually, according to what Anklo said, the Stantine Duchy is always in danger, so I’ll be taking advantage of them whenever I go. But this time they came to find me, so I can’t be considered shameless. It can only be considered…..everyone taking what they need.”

“Then what does the Stantine Duchy plan on taking from you?” Still asked in a curious voice.

“I haven’t discussed this with Anklo yet, but Anklo said that they aren’t in need of gold coins, so it should be something that is difficult to buy with gold coins. I’m guessing it’s some kind of technology.” Xu Yi said.

“Technology?” Still said in a surprised voice, “What technology do they need from you? They can’t use the magic machine technology even if you give it to them, right? I feel that they might as well do the same as the Rudson Kingdom. They should first buy some agricultural magic machines back to let their people eat their fill.”

“No, they can’t use the agricultural magic machines right now.” Xu Yi shook his head and pointed at the Stantine Duchy on the map, “Look, the Stantine Duchy’s terrain is different from the other countries of the continent. Over half their territory is by the ocean, so it is frequently hit with hurricanes and tsunamis and half of the kingdom’s grain yield is very unstable. It could make their entire year’s worth of crops disappear into thin air because of a random hurricane or tsunami.”

Still looked at the map for a while before giving a slight nod and a look of sympathy.

“The people of this duchy really are pitiful, they can’t even grow crops. It’s a good thing that they can depend on the sea for fish, otherwise I really don’t know how they could keep living.”

Xu Yi revealed a faint smile, “Actually although they encounter frequent hurricanes and tsunamis from half their territory being by the sea, this also gives them a natural advantage, but they haven’t found how to use it yet.”

“Natural advantage?” Still looked at the map in a confused manner for a bit, but she couldn’t find anything, “What is this advantage?”

“The long coastline is their natural advantage.” Xu Yi replied, “Of course, not mentioning the Stantine Duchy, there isn’t a single country on the Sines Continent that understands how important this is.”

“What advantage does the coastline give?” Still was even more confused.

“It’s too early to talk about this now, but as long as we develop the engines, we can make full use of this advantage.”

Seeing the mysterious smile on Xu Yi’s face, Still couldn’t help rolling her eyes at him.

According to her understanding of Xu Yi, Xu Yi was someone with long term plans. Because he didn’t have confidence in them right now, no matter how she asked him, Xu Yi wouldn’t give a clear response.

Still didn’t keep asking him about this like a normal girl. After being with Xu Yi for this long, when she met this kind of situation, if she kept asking about it each time, it would make Xu Yi rather unhappy.

Still was a smart girl, she wouldn’t do something dumb like that.

After the two went on to talk about the Rudson Kingdom, Great Magician Camilla had come back from the lunch banquet at the Magicians Guild.

Seeing that Xu Yi was here, Great Magician Camilla asked him without any politeness, “Hey, kid, you’ll be participating in the certification exam tomorrow, have you prepared yourself?”

Xu Yi gave a shrug and replied with a relaxed expression, “What is there to prepare for, I just need to demonstrate my abilities.”

When Great Magician Camilla looked over, Xu Yi’s smile disappeared and he asked in a mysterious voice, “Your excellency Great Magician, you are responsible for the exam tomorrow, can you tell me about the topics ahead of time?”

Great Magician Camilla knew that Xu Yi was joking, but he couldn’t help glaring at him as he snappily waved his hand, “Scram!” After pausing for a bit, he added, “The exam of a high grade magician is the same as the exam of a low grade magician, but they just added a high grade magic test. There isn’t much of a difference, you don’t need to worry.”

“High grade magic?” Xu Yi couldn’t help knitting his brows.