Recaps

The Clarkson Family entered the booming steel futures market after pressure from its members and quickly profited from selling some contracts. Encouraged by the gains, the family expanded its investments and publicized plans for steel-consuming factories, while its head wondered whether the favorable news driving the boom was genuine.

• Clarkson Family members urged their hesitant patriarch to buy steel futures, arguing that demand and prices would keep rising.
• The family invested one million Dragon Gold Coins but found few existing futures contracts available, so it also signed a steel-delivery contract with Foster Mining Company.
• After selling a portion of its futures contracts for a sixty-thousand-coin profit, the patriarch and other family leaders grew confident and decided to invest more.
• Clarkson Family branches entered the market, and the family released favorable news about planned factories and steel use.
• The patriarch questioned whether the Magic Net’s optimistic reports were genuine or merely publicity like the family’s own announcements.

Viscount Rost anticipated a collapse in steel futures and planned to keep the Ultra-High-Speed Rail Transit System’s steel demand secret until prices fell, then buy steel cheaply. He reassured Nidhogg that the Great Dragon Bank could use the speculators’ mortgaged assets to support Credit Currency, and offered to take the assets if necessary.

• Viscount Rost learned that speculators had mortgaged valuable property to the Great Dragon Bank and borrowed heavily to buy Steel Futures.
• Viscount Rost predicted the steel bubble would collapse when buyers ran out and planned to purchase the resulting cheap steel for Superfast Rail Transit.
• Viscount Rost decided to keep the rail system’s steel consumption and potential performance secret until after prices crashed.
• Nidhogg worried that borrowers would be unable to repay the Great Dragon Bank.
• Viscount Rost explained that the bank could claim the mortgaged assets and use them to support Credit Currency, offering to take the assets and pay for them over time.

Viscount Rost explained to Destruction Black Dragon Nidhogg how Dragon Bank gold reserves, financial infrastructure, and nobles’ growing investments could support the introduction of Credit Currency. They agreed that the plan had manageable risks, though traditional nobles might resist and slaves might be slow to accept paper money.

• Viscount Rost said the Great Dragon Bank, financial markets, and Magic Net provided the infrastructure and credit mechanisms needed for Credit Currency.
• Viscount Rost explained that high-yield crops and futures trading had pushed landed nobles to invest their wealth beyond agriculture and deposit some of it in the Great Dragon Bank.
• Viscount Rost argued that the Dragons’ reputation for possessing abundant gold would reassure people that Dragon Banknotes could be exchanged for precious metals if necessary.
• Destruction Black Dragon Nidhogg understood that Dragon gold reserves could serve as the final backing for issuing Credit Currency and said they could begin once the nobles defaulted.
• Viscount Rost warned that traditional nobles might resist surrendering mortgaged assets and that slaves might distrust paper money, but he said these risks would not prevent the currency’s gradual spread.
• Viscount Rost and Destruction Black Dragon Nidhogg discussed how to implement Roger’s plan, including using financial means to take landed nobles’ core assets.

Viscount Rost saw Steel Futures and mining investments grow increasingly frenzied as Enron Mining rose on claims of enormous output and applied to go public. He told Nidhogg to let the fraudulent company list, then planned to tighten Stock Exchange rules and later use Enron Mining’s exposure to introduce Credit Currency.

• Steel prices and Futures trading surged as investors rushed in, while Viscount Rost watched the market’s growing frenzy.
• Enron Mining became the world’s second-largest mining company by accepting contracts that exceeded its current output, then applied to go public on the Dragon Stock Exchange.
• Nidhogg questioned whether Enron Mining should be allowed to list, and Viscount Rost said it was an empty shell that should go public so its eventual fraud could help introduce Credit Currency.
• Viscount Rost gave Nidhogg prepared rules to curb misconduct in the Stock Exchange and explained that tighter regulation would push disreputable investors toward the Futures Market.
• Viscount Rost told Nidhogg to let Enron Mining list before the new rules took effect, so it could expand while the first inspections focused on investor violations.

Viscount Rost and Nidhogg moved to address the chaos in the Futures Market, while the Clarkson Family Head struggled to decide whether to sell his steel futures as prices surged again. The Stock Exchange’s announcement exposed how nobles had manipulated the market, leaving ordinary investors to realize they had been caught in the scheme.

• Viscount Rost and Nidhogg finished their discussion, and Nidhogg convened Dragons and professionals to begin measures to rectify the market chaos the next day.
• The Clarkson Family Head reflected on his family’s 1.2 million gold coin profit and hesitated over whether to sell its steel futures.
• Steel futures suddenly surged by fifty percent in one or two hours, raising the Clarkson Family’s profit to 2.3 million gold coins.
• The Clarkson Family Head abandoned his doubts and decided to hold the steel contracts until prices stabilized.
• People discussing the soaring futures prices saw the Stock Exchange’s announcement and realized that nobles had manipulated the market and trapped them.

As powerful investors shifted their money into Steel Futures after new stock-trading restrictions, the market soared and the Clarkson Family rushed to catch up. Viscount Rost then instructed Newsbird Megan to warn people that Steel Futures were dangerously overvalued while promoting safer investments, especially the Southlands Development Company.

• Ordinary people and futures traders realized that stricter rules were limiting powerful figures' stock-market schemes and driving them toward Steel Futures.
• The head of the Clarkson Family ordered aggressive futures purchases, including off-market deals, and other latecomers also rushed to invest.
• Nidhogg admired Viscount Rost for triggering the market shift with a seemingly unrelated move.
• Newsbird Megan told Viscount Rost that new media outlets were promoting Steel Futures and asked whether the World Economic News Agency should respond.
• Viscount Rost told Newsbird Megan to publish an article condemning the promotions, warning that steel futures were overvalued, and recommending land, stocks, established industries, and the Southlands Development Company.

Viscount Rost had Newsbird Megan publish his warning that Steel Futures were overpriced and advise readers to diversify into stocks, bonds, and land. The backlash drove more nobles toward Steel Futures, while Johnny the Actuary used the controversy to promote his media outlet and its bullish message.

• Viscount Rost told Newsbird Megan to publish his warning about Steel Futures and recommend diversified investments, including land, while keeping cash on hand.
• Megan published the article after Rost approved it, and readers widely accused him of trying to lower steel prices for his own benefit.
• Rost told Destruction Black Dragon Nidhogg that the backlash could encourage even more people to buy Steel Futures while distancing him from the coming crash.
• Nobles interpreted Rost's warning as evidence that steel was scarce and decided prices should rise further.
• Johnny the Actuary celebrated the attention for Futures Trading Gazette and planned to build its influence by promoting Steel Futures and attacking Rost.

Johnny the Actuary used his Magic Net influence and investments in Steel Futures to attack Viscount Rost, turning public opinion against Rost. Rost responded with another article, hoping to save those who would listen and use the quarrel to draw others into the futures market.

• Johnny the Actuary profited by promoting Steel Futures and decided to write an article condemning Viscount Rost.
• Johnny postponed a meeting with the nobles' Investors' Alliance to finish his article.
• Johnny published a fierce attack on Rost, and nobles and Magic Net users began blaming Rost for their losses and doubting his advice.
• Viscount Rost published a response and said the public feud could attract people to the market and persuade them to gamble.

Viscount Rost continued disputing the value of steel while nobles invested heavily in Steel Futures, but he had expected them to dismiss his warnings. He then invited guests and reporters to see the first batch of Agriculture Goddess-modified Changbai Pigs reach market age after 160 days, leaving their weight and meat yield to be measured.

• Viscount Rost challenged claims that steel demand and prices were sustainable, while Johnny the Actuary and nobles countered that many nobles could invest in factories and construction.
• Nobles circulated fake construction-site photos, and Viscount Rost left the public argument to Newsbird Megan’s articles.
• Viscount Rost visited a breeding farm with the Southlands agricultural archbishop, reporters, and other guests to inspect the first market-ready Changbai Pigs.
• Viscount Rost explained that the pigs had been raised according to the Agriculture Goddess’s methods for 160 days and that their weight and meat yield would show whether they could be adopted on a large scale.
• The guests learned that ordinary black-haired pigs took 300 to 360 days to reach market age, making the Changbai Pigs’ shorter breeding period striking.

Viscount Rost showed nobles that Changbai Pigs could reach slaughter weight in 160 days, grow far larger than ordinary pigs, and yield an extraordinary amount of meat. The nobles began to see large-scale pig breeding as a major opportunity.

• A noble questioned whether Changbai Pigs could truly be ready for slaughter in 160 days, and Viscount Rost confirmed they could.
• Viscount Rost led the nobles through a breeding farm and explained that Automatic Cleaning Magitech Devices kept it free of foul smells.
• The nobles saw a huge, white Changbai Pig and learned that it weighed about two hundred pounds after around 160 days.
• Viscount Rost explained that the pig needed 560 pounds of feed to reach two hundred pounds, while growing it to five hundred pounds required nearly 3,000 pounds of feed.
• Viscount Rost revealed that a two-hundred-pound Changbai Pig yielded at least 140 pounds of meat, astonishing the nobles further.

Viscount Rost showed nobles how his farm raised and mechanically slaughtered Changbai Pigs, convincing them that the system could transform meat production. He offered to provide piglets and farm plans, then invited them to taste the pork.

• Viscount Rost explained that his farm raised 45,000 Changbai Pigs in small pens and invited the nobles to choose one for slaughter.
• The nobles realized the farm’s scale could produce enormous quantities of pork and considered the opportunities for selling fresh meat locally.
• Viscount Rost led the nobles through a Magitech Device that scanned them for safety before staff moved their chosen pig into the slaughtering corridor.
• Magitech Machinery stunned, slaughtered, and disassembled the pig automatically, impressing the nobles with the farm’s efficient process.
• A noble asked how to obtain Changbai Pig piglets, and Viscount Rost offered piglets and farm plans before inviting everyone to share the pork.

Viscount Rost served nobles pork raised and cooked using methods provided by the Agriculture Goddess and the Technology God. The nobles were astonished by its flavor and asked how to obtain Changbai Pig piglets so they could raise them in their own territories.

• Viscount Rost brought the hesitant nobles to the livestock farm cafeteria and served them dishes made with novel recipes.
• Viscount Rost encouraged the nobles to try the food, explaining that the cooking methods came from the Technology God.
• The nobles cautiously tasted the pork and were stunned by its rich flavor and lack of gamey odor.
• A noble questioned whether the meat was really pork, and Viscount Rost explained how improved breeding and cooking had transformed it.
• The nobles praised the demonstration, expressed interest in raising pigs at scale, and asked how to obtain Changbai Pig piglets.

Viscount Rost finalized plans to build Changbai Pig farms, and news of the fast-growing pigs excited people across the Magic Net. Johnny the Actuary redirected that excitement toward a looming steel shortage, leaving readers anxious about whether the farms could spread.

• Viscount Rost presented farm plans and Magitech Machinery prices, and the project was finalized and reported by the World Economic News Agency.
• People across the Magic Net reacted excitedly to the Divine Changbai Pig and discussed buying piglets and building farms.
• Johnny the Actuary praised the pigs but focused his article on how farms would require vast amounts of steel.
• Johnny argued that farm buildings, Magitech Devices, and transportation would drive steel demand beyond current production, making readers worry that farms and pork could not spread widely.

Steel Futures trading surged, and the Dragons’ bank drew in nobles eager to borrow money for more steel. The Duke of the Westlands sought a 10-million-gold-coin loan, which Destruction Black Dragon Nidhogg agreed to process in separate batches.

• Steel-related news drove Steel Futures prices higher and increased attention to Johnny the Actuary's futures trading bulletin.
• The Dragons lent nobles 30% to 50% of their collateral’s value, while Great Dragon Bank stopped issuing loans below 100 gold coins.
• The Duke of the Westlands offered land deeds and grain stores as collateral and asked Great Dragon Bank for 10 million gold coins.
• Destruction Black Dragon Nidhogg warned the Duke about the collateral requirements and 10% interest, but the Duke said his clan understood the terms.
• Nidhogg agreed to assess the collateral and release the loan in batches.

The Duke of the Westlands borrowed heavily from the Great Dragon Bank and poured the money into Steel Futures, along with many other nobles. Viscount Rost realized the borrowing could fuel another major price surge, delaying his plan to crash the market, and turned his attention back to developing the Southlands.

• The Duke of the Westlands explained that his Steel Futures holdings were worth twenty million gold coins and sought a Great Dragon Bank loan to buy more.
• The Great Dragon Bank issued the Duke of the Westlands one million gold coins every few days, and he invested it all in Steel Futures and future orders.
• Viscount Rost and Destruction Black Dragon Nidhogg learned that nobles had borrowed seven hundred million gold coins despite falling land prices.
• Viscount Rost expected the borrowed money to drive Steel Futures higher and delayed his plan to crash the market until the coldest part of Biting Month.
• Viscount Rost set the matter aside and focused on developing the Southlands, especially the Magitech Vehicle Factory and Ultra-High-Speed Rail Transit System.

Steel Futures prices surged as nobles borrowed heavily to buy and hoard steel, while Roger explained to the Magic Goddess how Viscount Rost and Johnny the Actuary helped fuel the frenzy. Roger expected the bubble to end once the nobles ran out of funds, leaving their mortgaged land available for the Technology God Church and a reshaped world.

• Noble investors poured borrowed money into Steel Futures, drove prices higher, and paid Foster Mining Company to store the steel they refused to sell.
• The Duke of the Dawn Westlands borrowed fifteen million gold coins in total, mortgaging nearly all his land and facing 1.5 million gold coins in annual interest.
• Roger told the Magic Goddess that prices could double again in twenty or thirty days, by which time the nobles would have nearly exhausted their funds.
• Roger explained that Viscount Rost and Johnny the Actuary had convinced investors that Steel Futures would keep rising, with their public dispute strengthening that belief.
• Roger said the nobles' losses would help the Technology God Church reshape the world and argued that workers and managers deserved wealth more than exploitative landowners.

Roger and the Magic Goddess reflected on how the world’s entrenched landowners had blocked change, while the people had been ready for it. Meanwhile, the Rost Territory convoy reached the City-State Alliance after crossing the Graycastle Empire, whose roads impressed the convoy leader, livestream viewers, and emperor.

• The Magic Goddess understood that the world had changed so quickly because it had long yearned for change, and Roger said they had merely followed its tide.
• The Rost Territory convoy crossed the Graycastle Empire and arrived at the City-State Alliance.
• The convoy leader praised the empire’s mage-reinforced roads and imagined Magitech Trucks carrying goods along them.
• Livestream viewers agreed that the roads showed the Graycastle Empire’s strength, while the emperor watched with satisfaction at the impression his efforts had made.

Graycastle’s emperor secured a Magitech Vehicle Factory deal with nobles who had invested in Steel Futures, while Odd Coin kept only his market profits in play. The convoy revealed that it would stop in Epic City before continuing to Golden City, where its arrival would mark the start of Magitech Vehicle sales.

• Graycastle’s emperor arranged for nobles and the imperial house to fund a Magitech Vehicle Factory near the capital, with shares divided among the investors, Rost Territory, Wild Mages, and the imperial house.
• The nobles’ factory investment drove Steel Futures higher, while Odd Coin kept his original capital withdrawn and left only his profits in the market.
• Graycastle’s emperor watched the convoy’s livestream and worried that the trip to the City-State Alliance would determine whether his decision had been right.
• The convoy leader announced that the convoy would first visit Epic City, where writers from Magic Net Books would join its journey to Golden City.
• The convoy leader said that reaching Golden City would mark the start of a new era and the official beginning of Magitech Vehicle sales.

The convoy’s announcement that Magitech Vehicles would soon go on sale sparked intense excitement and speculation about their prices. After traveling through several city-states, the convoy reached the Golden City, where its lord welcomed the representative and confirmed the exhibition area and stage were ready.

• The convoy leader announced that Magitech Vehicles would be released for sale, prompting widespread online excitement and discussion of their cost and demand.
• The convoy traveled through Epic City and several other city-states before arriving at the Golden City.
• The convoy leader saw steel frameworks at the New-Style Housing construction site and discussed the project with the livestream audience.
• The Golden City's lord personally welcomed the convoy and said the requested exhibition area and stage had been prepared.

Viscount Rost scheduled the Magitech Vehicle launch event and assigned it to the convoy leader while preparing to crush Steel Futures. The announced prices stunned buyers and fueled speculation that steel prices would rise, as the Clarkson Family remained heavily invested in steel futures.

• The convoy leader pressed Viscount Rost to set a date for the launch and start sales.
• Viscount Rost set the launch event for seven days later, planned to announce prices the next day, and put the convoy leader in charge.
• The launch event proceeded smoothly, with Magitech Vehicles priced from 888 to 2,888 gold coins.
• People on the Magic Net reacted to the low prices and speculated that vehicle sales would increase steel demand.
• A Clarkson Family elder urged the patriarch to buy more Steel Futures, and the patriarch revealed that the family had less than 400 gold coins in liquid funds.

The Clarkson Family patriarch decided to sell a small portion of the family's Steel Futures to buy a Magitech Vehicle, but the market filled with sell orders that nobody would buy. As Steel Futures prices began falling, he and other investors tried to convince themselves the drop was temporary, leaving their fortunes at risk.

• The Clarkson Family patriarch agreed to sell 1,500 gold coins' worth of Steel Futures to buy a Magitech Vehicle, despite the family holding over 32.5 million gold coins' worth.
• The Clarkson Family patriarch noticed a growing number of Steel Futures sell orders and listed his own at the standard price, expecting buyers to appear.
• Steel Futures sell orders continued to accumulate without buyers, and people on Magic Space debated whether Magitech Vehicle purchases or a price bubble explained the change.
• A Magic Space user reported that Steel Futures prices had started falling, and sellers kept lowering their asking prices without making sales.
• The Clarkson Family patriarch blamed the falling prices on a planned liquidity squeeze, though he feared what would happen to his fortune if Steel Futures collapsed.

Viscount Rost accelerated the Steel Futures crash by repeatedly placing large orders at lower prices, triggering panic among nobles and merchants who had mortgaged their fortunes to invest. As desperate investors blamed Foster Mining Company, Rost defended the company and condemned their speculation on the Magic Net.

• Viscount Rost sold roughly ten thousand gold coins' worth of Steel Futures below the current price, then lowered the price again to break investors' confidence.
• The price fell about 25% in half an hour, and investors began panicking and trying to sell their holdings.
• The head and elders of the Clarkson Family realized their heavily mortgaged assets were at risk, while the Duke of the Dawn Westlands and other nobles faced similar losses.
• Desperate investors questioned how much steel Foster Mining Company produced and accused it of selling without regard for Steel Futures prices.
• Viscount Rost posted on the Magic Net that investors had driven prices up through speculation and had no right to blame Foster Mining Company.
• Foster Mining Company issued an announcement supporting Viscount Rost's response.

Foster Iron Mine offered to buy back Steel Futures at their original price, prompting enraged nobles to blame the company and then Johnny the Actuary. Viscount Rost’s effort to divert their anger from himself and Foster Mining Company unfolded as the nobles sought private buyers for their contracts while market prices kept falling.

• Foster Iron Mine announced it would repurchase Steel Futures at their original prices after fulfilling existing orders and then stop producing.
• Nobles on the Magic Net condemned the offer as an insult, though some recognized Foster Mining Company had set its prices from the start.
• Viscount Rost expected the nobles to direct their anger at Foster Iron Mine or Johnny the Actuary rather than him, since he had warned against overpriced futures and had the Technology God Church’s backing.
• The nobles blamed the Futures Trading Gazette and Johnny the Actuary for encouraging their confidence in rising steel prices.
• As Steel Futures plunged, the nobles began negotiating privately to sell their contracts to other families below the Futures Market price.

Johnny the Actuary fled the Graycastle Empire with his family after the Steel Futures collapse, accepting help from Viscount Rost’s organization to reach the Tulip Kingdom under an assumed name. Meanwhile, the Duke of the Westlands learned that the marquises he hoped would rescue his duchy had also borrowed heavily to invest in Steel Futures.

• Johnny the Actuary feared nobles would blame him for the Steel Futures collapse and decided to flee with his remaining gold.
• A carriage driver told Johnny the Actuary that his wife and children were waiting and offered to take them to the Tiele Chiefdom or elsewhere.
• Johnny the Actuary recognized the rescue as Viscount Rost’s arrangement and chose to travel to the Tulip Kingdom under an assumed name.
• The Duke of the Westlands asked whether nobles under his family would buy or support the duchy’s Steel Futures.
• The Duke of the Westlands learned that his marquises had also taken out loans and invested everything in Steel Futures.

The Clarkson Family head tried to sell the family’s Steel Futures after prices collapsed, but Foster Mining Company refused because its buyback offer had expired. As nobles faced ruin, they blamed Johnny the Actuary rather than themselves.

• Steel Futures prices plunged as desperate investors found no buyers, leaving the Clarkson Family head stunned by the market’s collapse.
• The Clarkson Family head ordered his family to sell all its Steel Futures to Foster Mining Company at the original price.
• Foster Mining Company told him that its offer had applied only to the previous day and that the collapse could no longer be stopped.
• The Clarkson Family head realized that Viscount Rost and Foster Mining Company had repeatedly warned investors about the risks.
• The Clarkson Family head and other nobles decided that Johnny the Actuary was responsible for their disastrous investments.