A four-wheeled carriage left Sartan City and raced toward Bunta City at the other end of the road.
Four people sat facing one another inside the carriage.
Apart from Baron Haines, there was a young man who looked a few years older than him, a pretty girl who was younger than him and probably not yet twenty, and a slightly balding, somewhat plump middle-aged man who was clearly at least forty.
After the carriage had traveled along the dirt road outside Sartan City for a while, the young man suddenly patted the seat beneath him and exclaimed admiringly, "This carriage really is so much better now that it has these things called tires. If someone had invented them sooner, our backsides would have suffered a lot less over the years."
Baron Haines laughed. "Kennard, now do you believe what I told you? Even setting everything else aside, tires alone have changed our lives so much, never mind all those other novel pieces of magic machinery."
The young man called Kennard smiled. "I never said I didn't believe you. When I saw those machines, I already felt that their appearance might change the entire continent. If I didn't think so, why would I want to go to Bunta City and see for myself?"
Baron Haines was about to speak when the young girl beside him gave a soft snort. "I don't believe this Xu Yi is all that amazing. Brother, Haines, you both make him and the Xinfei Merchant Guild sound so impressive. But why don't I feel any change in my life? It's exactly the same as before. You keep saying Xu Yi and the Xinfei Merchant Guild might change the whole continent. I don't think so."
Baron Haines and Kennard exchanged glances and both laughed.
"My dear Sophia, do