On the last day of year 3783 of the continental new calendar, the Bunta Daily published a news item in a fairly prominent spot on its second page.
"The Xinfei Merchant Guild has signed a long-term trilateral cooperation agreement with the Milando Duchy and the Rulson Duchy. Under this agreement, the Xinfei Merchant Guild will provide a range of technical support to the Milando Duchy and the Rulson Kingdom, establishing several joint-venture household magic machinery factories in each country. In return, the Milando Duchy and the Rulson Kingdom will open their domestic mineral resources to the Xinfei Merchant Guild..."
Although many readers of the Bunta Daily noticed the news, it caused little stir in Bunta City overall.
After all, the Magic Industry Administration's ban had prevented the Xinfei Merchant Guild from manufacturing magic machinery in the Lampari Kingdom for over half a year. New regulations from the Commerce Office had also forced it to drastically reduce the amount of magic machinery it sold within the Lampari Kingdom.
To the people of the Lampari Kingdom, and even those of Bunta City, the Xinfei Merchant Guild had all but vanished from their world for more than six months.
Although the Product Service Centers the Xinfei Merchant Guild had established in cities throughout the kingdom were still operating, and it retained some research facilities and a canned-fruit factory in Bunta City, for most people, all that remained of the guild in their daily lives was probably the household magic machinery they had previously bought.
People were forgetful. After more than half a year, most people in the Lampari Kingdom had gradually forgotten the merchant guild that had led countless trends throughout the kingdom.
Perhaps only in Bunta City did many people still occasionally think of it and feel a trace of nostalgia for