Chapter Summaries

Wool Ryan and the Shepherd Pope sold all their Wool Guild shares during the market frenzy, then planned to drive the price down so they could buy back cheaply. After news of their sell-off sparked outrage and debate across the Magic Net, Viscount Rost ordered Megan to intensify the pressure on the guild.

• Wool Ryan persuaded the Shepherd Pope to sell their 1.24 million Wool Guild shares while the price was high.
• The Shepherd Pope and Wool Ryan sold their shares for between 8.6 and 9.3 gold coins each, earning more than six million gold coins.
• Wool Ryan planned to publicize the Shepherd Pope’s belief that the guild’s shares were overpriced, push the price down, and buy shares back at a lower price.
• The World Economic News Agency reported that the Shepherd Pope had sold all his shares, prompting heated reactions across the Magic Net.
• Viscount Rost told Megan to expose damaging news to make the Wool Guild’s stock fall further.

Newsbird Megan’s campaign sent Wool Guild stock and much of the wider market crashing, while the Graycastle popes struggled over whether to sell or buy more shares. As panicked investors turned toward bonds, Viscount Rost watched Dawn Southlands Development Company’s bonds begin to sell and anticipated Credit Currency replacing precious metals.

• At Viscount Rost’s command, Newsbird Megan launched a campaign that drove Wool Guild stock down to six gold coins and continued to fuel its decline.
• The Graycastle popes discovered that their Wool Guild holdings had lost millions of gold coins and argued over whether to sell, hold, or buy more.
• The wider market plunged, and investors across the Magic Net lamented their losses and questioned the risks of stock trading.
• The World Economic News Agency guided investors toward bonds, and people began comparing their risks and returns with stocks and bank deposits.
• Dawn Southlands Development Company’s bonds began selling, and Viscount Rost said the financial groundwork for industrial development was nearly complete.

The Dragon Bond Market opened in Golden City, where a clerk explained how bond interest reflected risk and presented the Graycastle Empire’s railway borrowing plans. After hearing that the empire intended to raise over two hundred million gold coins for a nationwide Rail Transit network, a merchant abandoned his investment plans and headed to Graycastle to seek business opportunities.

• A crowd visited the newly opened Dragon Bond Market, where customers learned about bonds and issuers discussed borrowing.
• A small merchant questioned the low returns and minimum purchase requirements, and a clerk explained bond risks, collateral, and interest rates.
• The clerk showed the merchant Graycastle Imperial Treasury’s approved Rail Transit Bonds and explained why the railway project had been judged low-risk.
• The merchant left the market, packed his belongings, and set off for the Graycastle Empire to pursue opportunities created by its railway plans.

Viscount Rost explained how the Stock Exchange, Bond Market, and Great Dragon Bank were drawing people’s wealth into a financial system, and advised Nidhogg to limit speculative loans. He then revealed that New-Style Housing would create another major source of financing for Magitech Industry.

• Nidhogg reported that paper currency use was dwindling and many people were borrowing to speculate, and Rost told him to raise collateral requirements while letting the financial markets develop gradually.
• Rost explained that most stock traders were destined to lose money, exciting Nidhogg with the prospect of profiting from the market’s destruction.
• Nidhogg asked whether the stock market would hinder Magitech Industrialization, and Rost said its benefits would outweigh its drawbacks.
• Rost told Nidhogg that New-Style Housing near industrial zones would create a reservoir of financing and help support large-scale currency issuance.
• Rost explained that homebuyers’ long-term debt contracts would funnel funds into loans for constructing industrial zones and developing Magitech Industry.

Viscount Rost persuaded the Destruction Black Dragon Nidhogg to accept the risks of expanding the money supply to fund Magitech Industrialization, arguing that rapid growth in production would stabilize prices and improve lives. Nidhogg then asked why Rost had been visiting the Tulip Kingdom, a god's dream that outsiders could not enter, and mentioned that the Lava General had gone there too.

• Viscount Rost explained that dragons could profit from controlled investments while factories and agricultural reforms expanded goods and markets.
• Viscount Rost urged Nidhogg not to fear bad debts, arguing that fast industrialization could make present-day debts manageable and raise living standards.
• Nidhogg asked about Rost's frequent trips to the Tulip Kingdom and noted that the Lava General had also gone there.

Viscount Rost explained the Tulip Kingdom’s preparations for a coming conflict with another world, and Nidhogg agreed that the Dragons would join the war. In the Divine Kingdom, Roger and the Magic Goddess decided to prepare further before exploring beyond the gate and discussed setting a concrete readiness goal.

• Viscount Rost told Nidhogg that the gods had ordered the Tulip Kingdom to guard the gate and prepare to counterattack, explaining why Rost Territory was mass-producing weapons.
• Nidhogg suggested involving the Dragons, Elves, Dwarves, and Orcs, but Viscount Rost said the other races should focus on Magitech Industrialization for now.
• Nidhogg volunteered the Dragons for the future war and asked Viscount Rost to make customized magitech equipment for them.
• Roger and the Magic Goddess confirmed that their new Mechanical Life and Magic Life had Legendary-level combat strength.
• Roger hesitated to send them through the fortress before learning more about the other world and the Pain Mother, so the Magic Goddess suggested further preparation.
• Roger proposed setting a goal for when they would launch an exploration mission and said the other gods should also be informed.

Roger presented the Council of Gods with a five-year plan to strengthen mortals and expand faith through Magitech Industrialization, infrastructure, and agricultural reform. The gods agreed to support the projects and took responsibility for work their churches could carry out.

• The Council of Gods agreed to cooperate with Roger to strengthen mortals, increase faith, and prepare to resist the Pain Mother.
• Roger presented plans for 120 major projects, 800 medium and large projects, and 3,000 small projects, including roads, railways, power networks, and heavy machinery.
• Roger proposed expanding agriculture, reclaiming the Northlands swamp, developing new seeds, and gradually freeing slaves and serfs to increase food production and faith.
• The Agriculture Goddess endorsed the plan, offered her church's help, and proposed opening free schools across the regions.
• The gods volunteered to build roads, bridges, schools, and hospitals through their churches.

Churches across the mortal world sought bonds from the Dragon Bond Market to fund projects such as roads, bridges, schools, and hospitals. Nidhogg suspected the unusual borrowing spree was connected to the Technology God Church or the Technology God, but he did not know why the churches were cooperating.

• Churches across the mortal world began hiring workers and applying to the Dragon Bond Market for funds.
• A senior priest of the Church of the Light God applied to borrow twenty million gold coins to establish free classrooms in Light Church Chapels.
• The bond market's person in charge agreed to assess the Church of the Light God's application under normal procedures and contacted Nidhogg about the churches' unusual projects.
• Nidhogg told the person in charge not to refuse the applications and suspected the projects were connected to the Technology God Church or the Technology God.

After Nidhogg approved the Great Dragon Bond Market, churches issued bonds to fund public projects, prompting widespread surprise as they began building free schools and other facilities. The Graycastle Emperor learned that the churches had acted on simultaneous divine orders, then contacted Viscount Rost to investigate what might be behind the changes.

• Nidhogg approved the Great Dragon Bond Market, and churches quickly issued bonds to fund projects such as schools, hospitals, and roads.
• People debated why the churches were borrowing money for projects that appeared to benefit everyone, while rumors linked Viscount Rost to talks with the Graycastle Emperor about transportation.
• The Church of Light and other major churches completed their bond subscriptions and began building free schools, with priests and Order of Punishment Knights overseeing the work.
• People confirmed that the churches were teaching children for free and rewarding strong students, while using some scripture in lessons.
• Shadow told the Graycastle Emperor that priests across the churches had received nearly simultaneous orders from their gods to undertake public projects and borrow from the Great Dragon Bond Market if needed.
• The Graycastle Emperor considered what could have prompted the gods to act together and contacted Viscount Rost through the Magic Net.

Viscount Rost explained to the Gray Fortress Emperor how churches might benefit from investing in schools, hospitals, roads, and bridges, then described how roads and Magitech Vehicles complemented Ultra-High-Speed Hover Trains. The emperor reconsidered his transportation plans and wondered whether his empire needed a broader network and more capacity.

• Viscount Rost suggested that churches were building schools, hospitals, roads, and bridges to gain followers and prepare for the Magitech Industrial Age.
• The Gray Fortress Emperor asked whether the Technology God Church had received a Divine Oracle, and Viscount Rost said it had not.
• Viscount Rost promoted Rost Territory's Magitech Vehicles and explained the Southlands Development Company's plans for factories, roads, and grain transport.
• The Gray Fortress Emperor questioned why Magitech Vehicle routes were needed alongside Ultra-High-Speed Hover Trains, and Viscount Rost explained that roads and vehicles could connect places the trains did not reach.
• The Gray Fortress Emperor realized that new industries and increased travel required more transportation capacity, and considered expanding train service or combining transportation methods.

Graycastle Empire financed a nationwide road network with toll revenue, prompting Viscount Rost to devise a Magic Net-based vehicle registration and toll system. The Agricultural Archbishop then offered Rost Territory a massive agricultural machinery contract, including custom equipment for mountainous regions.

• Graycastle Empire borrowed fifty million gold coins to build roads and planned standardized tolls, which the dragons considered profitable and useful.
• Viscount Rost returned to the Southlands and studied Graycastle Empire’s toll system, then developed a plan to register vehicles and track their routes through the Magic Net Database.
• The Agricultural Archbishop visited Viscount Rost and announced that the Agriculture Church would order several times the agricultural machinery currently used by Southlands Development Company.
• The Agricultural Archbishop also requested customized small and medium Agricultural Magitech Machinery for hilly areas such as the Hill Country Community.

Viscount Rost questioned whether the Agriculture Church could persuade lords to adopt agricultural magitech machines, given how difficult it had been to mechanize farms elsewhere. The Agriculture Archbishop revealed that the church planned to buy the machines and rent them out, and Rost agreed to help the project succeed.

• Viscount Rost explained that only his territory and the Southlands Development Company had fully mechanized agriculture, and that Southlands had been transformed under forceful control.
• Viscount Rost asked whether the Agriculture Church could promote large numbers of agricultural magitech machines in other territories.
• The Agriculture Archbishop explained that the church would buy the machines, place them at its cathedrals, and rent them to whoever needed them.
• Viscount Rost recognized that renting would let lords try the machines without bearing the cost and risk of buying them.
• Viscount Rost decided to help the Agricultural Divine Society make the project succeed, seeing benefits for the Technology God Church as well.

Viscount Rost discussed how the Agriculture Church could combine local agricultural machinery rentals with mobile harvesting teams to meet seasonal demand across the continent. The Agriculture Archbishop considered purchasing machinery and cargo trucks as Rost described plans for new factories and large vehicle orders.

• Viscount Rost explained that merchant teams could move harvesters from south to north, but warned that long routes across territories and nations carried risks and costs.
• The Agriculture Archbishop proposed combining mobile teams with machinery rentals coordinated by local agricultural churches to handle harvest-season demand.
• Viscount Rost realized the combined approach could sell more machines and asked when the Agriculture Church would place its first order.
• Viscount Rost said Rost Territory Group Company and Southlands Development Company planned new factories in the Southlands, mainly to produce Magitech Vehicles and cargo trucks.
• Viscount Rost revealed that Great Dragon Express and the Golden Merchants' Guild had ordered 5,000 Magitech Cargo Trucks, and the Agriculture Archbishop said the church might buy some smaller and medium models.

The Agriculture Church found new ways to raise funds and placed a massive order for Agricultural Magitech Machinery, prompting Rost Territory to ramp up production. As heavy rain threatened the Hill Country Community’s ripe wheat, harvesters arrived to begin the harvest.

• The Agriculture Archbishop in the Graycastle Empire’s capital suggested exchanging equity or dividend rights with nobles and merchants to raise funds beyond the Stock Market and Bond Market.
• The Agriculture Archbishops agreed to buy Agricultural Magitech Machinery in bulk, and Viscount Rost received an initial order worth around two million gold coins.
• Viscount Rost expanded factory production while overseeing Southlands farming projects, livestock farms, branch factories, and the Ultra-High-Speed Hover Train.
• As rain threatened the Hill Country Community’s ripe wheat, an elderly Agriculture Church priest ordered drivers to begin harvesting with machines from Viscount Rost’s territory.
• A middle-aged noble watched the harvesters with doubt but recognized they were his only hope of saving the wheat before the rain arrived.

An agricultural priest demonstrated Agricultural Magitech Machinery to a skeptical noble, and the harvesters cleared his vast wheat estate before the forecast rain. The astonished local lords rushed to order harvesting services, while videos of the machines spread across the Magic Net.

• A middle-aged nobleman worried that his serfs and hired workers could not harvest his territory’s wheat before the rain, and offered the Agriculture Church an extra thousand gold coins if its machines finished in time.
• The agricultural priest defended mechanized farming and prepared to film the harvest on his Magic Net.
• The drivers sent the harvesters through the wheat fields, where the machines collected the grain and bundled the stalks.
• The harvesters finished the Hill Country Community’s largest arable estate before dusk, completing work that would have taken countless slaves about five days.
• Nearby lords rushed to place orders for harvesting services, and footage of the machines’ speed spread across Magic Net Videos.

Agricultural Magitech Machinery saved crops in the Hill Country Community from an approaching rainstorm, sending Rost Territory Group Company's stock soaring. Viscount Rost planned to expand steel production and launch Magitech Vehicles, while playwright Louis Auguste prepared to film his drama's final scene in Rost Territory.

• An Agricultural Church priest harvested wheat near a valley in the Hill Country Community before the rain, convincing local landowners of the machinery's value.
• Rost Territory Group Company's stock surged after people shared the machinery's success online, and Viscount Rost learned its shares were nearing thirty gold coins each.
• Viscount Rost discussed rising steel production with his aide and planned to begin large-scale Magitech Vehicle production in fifteen days.
• Viscount Rost credited the god for his success and headed to inspect the factories.
• Louis Auguste announced that his drama's final scene would be filmed in Rost Territory the next day.

Viscount Rost watched Auguste’s New-Style Theater about ordinary people whose lives improved through Magitech Industrialization and approved it for release on the Magic Net. He offered to promote it and promised to fund replicas of its iconic props if it reached specific popularity targets.

• Viscount Rost watched Auguste’s sample drama, which followed an apprentice, a former aspiring priest, and a street thug as they advanced in the new era.
• Viscount Rost praised the simple, relatable stories and told Auguste he could upload the video to Magic Net Videos, promising to recommend it.
• Viscount Rost offered to produce ten thousand copies of the film’s iconic props if it surpassed ten million views and one hundred thousand likes.
• Auguste thanked Viscount Rost and realized the prop replicas could provide a way to profit from New-Style Theater.

Auguste uploaded his drama, Every Ordinary Person Is Extraordinary, to the Magic Net, and Viscount Rost promoted it. Viewers connected with its story of ordinary people advancing through Magitech Industrialization, and Auguste realized his work had made him a successful Magic Net playwright.

• Auguste agreed to pay Rost for the drama props, while Rost offered to supply ten thousand pieces and discussed future sponsorship and product placements.
• Auguste renamed the drama Every Ordinary Person Is Extraordinary and uploaded it to the Magic Net.
• Viscount Rost promoted the hour-long drama, prompting nobles and freemen to discuss it and begin watching.
• Freemen saw people like themselves improve their lives through hard work and study, and many wondered whether they could do the same.
• Auguste watched the view and praise counts climb and concluded that he had succeeded as a playwright on the Magic Net.

Auguste’s New-Style Theater went viral after Newsbird Megan and the World Economic News Agency promoted it, inspiring workers across regions undergoing Magitech Industrialization. Roger named the format Magic Shadow and, with the Magic Goddess, watched it projected as they waited to see how Auguste would develop it.

• Auguste repeatedly checked the video’s growing numbers and celebrated the success of his New-Style Theater.
• Newsbird Megan watched the video, then directed the World Economic News Agency’s editors to promote it across the Magic Net.
• The New-Style Theater’s views and likes surged, and viewers praised its immersive story and said it inspired them to learn and work harder.
• Roger and the Magic Goddess observed that the play was motivating workers, while Roger warned Auguste would need to keep improving the format to hold audiences’ interest.
• Roger proposed calling the format Magic Shadow, and the Magic Goddess darkened their surroundings and projected it for them to watch.

Audrey Roland and Newsbird Megan discovered that watching a Magic Shadow through a Magitech Projector created a different, more immersive experience than watching it on Magic Net Videos. They gathered Auguste, Viscount Rost, and the projector’s inventor to discuss how to develop the idea, and the inventor proposed improved projectors and dedicated screening halls.

• Audrey Roland and Newsbird Megan watched Auguste’s film in a dark meditation room using a Magitech Projector, and Megan decided to write about the experience.
• Audrey told Megan that Auguste had invited her to appear in his second film and suggested telling him how projection changed the viewing experience.
• Audrey and Megan invited Auguste, the projector’s inventor, and Viscount Rost to discuss the difference between projected films and Magic Net Videos.
• The group watched Auguste’s Magic Shadow in the dark, and Auguste realized the meeting concerned the projector rather than his film.
• The projector’s inventor proposed building clearer, brighter projectors and theaters designed for screenings.