Volume 1 Chapter 87 Pained Wella
Xu Yi hesitated a bit before following them in.
The familiar man and woman had just been shown to a table by a waiter and were prepared to order their meal when Xu Yi appeared in front of them.
“Hey, Rem, Wella, why aren’t you two in Saltan City anymore?” Xu Yi raised his hand to wave at them.
Rem and Wella looked at Xu Yi who had suddenly appeared in a daze and after being frozen for a bit, Wella suddenly said with a sigh, “Banta City really is a small place, you can meet past acquaintances at any time. But Xu Yi, the person we don’t want to see the most right now is you.”
Rem’s expression was also quite awkward. His eyes kept avoiding Xu Yi like he didn’t dare look at Xu Yi.
“Oh? Why don’t you want to see me?” Xu Yi sat down in a nearby chair without any hesitation and curiously asked Wella, “I haven’t done anything wrong to you, right, Wella?”
“No, it’s the opposite. It’s us who have wronged you.” After a few months, Wella seemed to have lost that sharp aura from back in the Great Magician Camilla’s Magic Tower and she had become much more depressed. But her words were still quite straightforward, not dodging anything at all.
Xu Yi thought about it for a bit before saying with a faint smile, “I’ve heard that you and Rem were studying magic machines for Saltan City’s Leo Chamber of Commerce, so is it related to how you’ve wronged me?”
Wella gave a slight nod. When she wanted to speak, Rem reached out his hand to stop her.
“Wella, stop speaking. Could it be that you think we haven’t been embarrassed enough?” Rem’s expression was a bit pained.
Well looked at him and calmly said, “It is because it is embarrassing that we have to talk about it. Since we’ve bumped into Xu Yi, then it is better to just tell this matter to him. If we can’t obtain his forgiveness and help, we’ll shoulder our guilt for the rest of our lives. Are you willing to live like that?”
Rem’s raised hand became stiff and his expression kept changing before he finally let out a long sigh. His hand came down and he leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes without saying anything else.
Xu Yi felt this was strange. Based on the news he had heard, Rem and Wella had been treated very importantly after they followed Cimirot to the Leo Chamber of Commerce, why did the two of them suddenly show up back in Banta City looking like they were lost?
“Xu Yi, since you know we went to the Leo Chamber of Commerce, you should also know what we were doing at the Leo Chamber of Commerce, right?” Wella asked.
Xu Yi nodded, “I know the general situation. The Leo Chamber of Commerce should have had you study magic machines, right? I’ve looked at the Magic Fans the Leo Chamber of Commerce produced and it is the closest to the Frestech Brand Magic Fan that we produced. Moreover, there was even the second generation Variable Speed Magic Fan, it really surprised me. I thought that without the support of our Frestech Chamber of Commerce, it would be impossible for any other companies to make the second generation Magic Fan.”
Ren suddenly gave a soft sort, “That isn’t anything special, why can’t it be made?”
Xu Yi smiled, but he didn’t say anything. Wella furiously glared at Rem and said in a dark voice, “Rem, shut up! You think it isn’t embarrassing enough?”
The corners of Rem’s lips twitched before he tightly shut his mouth, preparing not to say anything else this time.
Wella looked back at Xu Yi and after pausing for a second, she continued, “We thought at first that the new Magic Fan wasn’t anything that hard and we even made the production magic machines, so making this Magic Fan was not a problem. Actually with our efforts, we helped the Leo Chamber of Commerce make the same Variable Speed Magic Fan and the Leo Chamber of Commerce rewarded me and Rem one hundred gold coins each, but……”
Before this, the situation had been very calm and Wella had no expression at all, but there was a deep look of pain that appeared on her face after saying this.
“Xu Yi, do you know about Saltan City’s Magic Fan and……Magic Rice Cooker incidents?”
Xu Yi gave a slight nod. This matter had been reported on in the «Banta Times», so it could be seen that it had a large influence.
Wella’s look of pain became even deeper as she said with a self deprecating smile, “If it wasn’t for us not knowing the depths of heaven and earth, researching the Magic Fan and the Magic Rice Cooker, those matters wouldn’t have happened at all. Xu Yi, do you know, every night, the people who have been injured or died in Saltan City because of this matter appears in my dreams, it makes it very hard for me to sleep. They should be sleeping soundly in Saltan City, but because of the magic machines that I researched, they met this kind of accident. I……I’ve wronged them.”
Xu Yi saw Wella’s face filled with pain and saw the same expression on Rem’s face, understanding what had happened.
It seemed like these two felt the responsibility for this matter laid on them, making them shoulder a profound sense of guilt.
But the strange thing was that Wella said that she had also wronged Xu Yi, what was that about?
“Xu Yi, do you know what the production magic machines of the Leo Chamber of Commerce is about?” Wella asked.
Xu Yi knit his brows and thought about it before saying, “The production magic machines is more complicated than the Magic Fan and the Magic Rice Cooker and the Leo Chamber of Commerce didn’t buy them from our company, so they should have developed them themselves. But there are quality problems with the Magic Fans and Magic Rice Cooker you developed, so the production magic machines the Leo Chamber of Commerce has shouldn’t be that good. Moreover, I never heard of any problems with the Leo Chamber of Commerce’s production magic machines, which proves that the technology for the production magic machines was not researched all on your own. That means…..” Xu Yi’s gaze looking at Wella and Rem suddenly turned sharp, “Wella, the technology for the production magic machines, you should have stolen them from our Frestech Chamber of Commerce, right?”
“Isn’t saying steal too ugly to hear?” Rem who had been silent for a while finally couldn’t keep silent anymore, “Xu Yi, I admit that we took some information on the production magic machines from your Frestech Chamber of Commerce, but the production magic machines of the Leo Chamber of Commerce has our knowledge in it. You can’t say that it is a complete copy of your Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s production magic machines.”
Xu Yi looked at Rem before shaking his head, not planning to discuss this matter with him.
On the Sines Continent, there was no intellectual property and there were no patents. So strictly speaking, even if Rem and Wella really stole the production magic machine technology from the Frestech Chamber of Commerce, there was no problem in terms of the law.
But while there’s no problem in terms of the law, one couldn’t say there was no problem from a moral standpoint.
The Sines Continent treated people’s research as secrets and they were very important to that person. If a person without that person’s agreement stole that person’s technology for their own use, they would be looked down on by others.
Wella feeling like she had wronged Xu Yi, the reason came from this.
Just like Xu Yi’s analysis, the Leo Chamber of Commerce could make their own production magic machines was clearly because Wella and Rem had stolen the technology from the Frestech Chamber of Commerce.
Otherwise, for the Leo Chamber of Commerce who had no foundations on magic machines at all, it was impossible for them to make these more complicated and precise production magic machines.
“Let me think……Wella, I remember that before you left Banta City, you said that you wanted to view our company’s factory. You stole the information on the production magic machines then, right?”
“Yes.” Wella nodded, “Xu Yi, I was actually just curious back then and wanted to see what magic machines more complex than Magic Fans looked like, I never wanted to steal the technology. Only afterwards……There was a lot of pressure from the Leo Chamber of Commerce, so I gave them what I knew.”
Wella suddenly stood up and gave a deep bow to Xu Yi.
“Xu Yi, I’m sorry.”
Seeing Wella’s action, Rem wanted to stop her, but he seemed to have thought of something when he reached out his hand, so he stopped.
Xu Yi saw Wella’s bowing and he felt a bit depressed.
Back in Great Magician Camilla’s Magic Tower, because of her magic power and talent, Wella was very arrogant and never would have lowered her head to anyone.
Now she was actually bowing and apologizing to the person with the weakest magic power, this really was surprising.
After looking at Wella for a bit, Xu Yi waved his hand, “No need, I don’t like being apologized to by others, there is no meaning in this. You should still tell me why you came back to Banta City.”
Wella was not a roundabout person, so hearing what Xu Yi said, she sat down and hesitantly replied, “It’s nothing. Since those incidents happened, there should be someone who takes responsibility. We were the main researchers for those production magic machines, so naturally we would take responsibility. A week ago, we were fired from the Leo Chamber of Commerce.”
Xu Yi nodded, not being surprised at all.
The Leo Chamber of Commerce’s thoughts were very much like the companies on earth.
“This means that you two are both unemployed now?” Xu Yi asked.
Wella looked at Rem before saying with a soft sigh, “We couldn’t stay in Saltan City anymore and we only came back to Banta City because we came from Banta City to begin with. But since we left Great Magician Camilla back then, we definitely can’t go back now. Rem and I have discussed it and in a few days, when we’ve calmed down, we’ll leave this place and look for work in a further city.”
“I understand why you don’t want to return to Great Magician Camilla’s Magic Tower, but why are you leaving Banta City?” Xu Yi said, “In Banta City, with your power and your knowledge, you can also find a job suitable to you.”
Wella shook her head, “Impossible. There is only magic research under Great Magician Camilla in Banta City and it is impossible for us to continue researching magic machines, so there is no meaning in staying in Banta City.”
“Of course it isn’t meaningless.” Xu Yi said with a faint smile, “As long as you’re willing, I can represent the Frestech Chamber of Commerce to welcome you. How about it? Do you want to come?”
Wella and Rem looked at Xu Yi in a daze.