Once September arrived, this year's autumn harvest drew ever closer.
The people of Bunta City were surprised to discover that, although the City Lord's Manor had made no outward changes to its firmly enforced policy of suppressing commerce and promoting agriculture, its implementation had clearly shifted. It no longer obstructed commercial activity throughout the city as it once had. Instead, it quietly issued a series of seemingly inconspicuous policies that actually encouraged Bunta City's commercial development.
For example, just a week earlier, the city lord had issued a new policy announcing that Bunta City's municipal redevelopment plan would continue. Following the plans drawn up during Count Samo's tenure as city lord, Bunta City would undergo a comprehensive transformation into a beautiful new city.
Everyone in Bunta City knew that the Xinfei Merchant Guild had been the principal contractor for this municipal redevelopment project. After Earl Stark took over as city lord, however, he had made his intention to target the Xinfei Merchant Guild plain by directly ordering the plan's suspension.
Now Earl Stark had suddenly changed his mind and decided to continue the plan. As far as everyone was concerned,
he was practically slapping himself in the face.
Yet after seeing the measures subsequently issued by the City Lord's Manor, everyone realized that Earl Stark still cared a great deal about saving face.
Under the City Lord's Manor's regulations, although the municipal redevelopment plan would continue, the Xinfei Merchant Guild would no longer serve as its principal contractor. Instead, the City Lord's Manor would take the lead, while the Xinfei Merchant Guild would merely be one of the many merchant guilds it needed to cooperate with on the project.
In other words, Earl Stark had no intention of giving the Xinfei Merchant Guild special treatment as Count Samo had. Instead,