Xu Yi would probably never understand how Eric felt.
Ever since the Xinfei Merchant Guild was founded, he had enjoyed immense prestige within it. His word was practically law.
And after he obtained this Private Fief from Lord Wellen and officially became a lord of the Stantin Duchy, his standing on this land became equivalent to a king's—though certainly not a king in name only like Eric.
Because of the Stantin Duchy's unusual circumstances, Xu Yi now had this Private Fief and could develop it entirely according to his own wishes, without worrying about anyone suddenly interfering or even trying to drive him out.
At the very least, no lord in the Stantin Duchy was currently foolish enough to provoke him.
In fact, every lord in the Stantin Duchy, including the Grand Duke of Stantin, was now eager to curry favor with Xu Yi, doing everything possible to build good relations with him and the Xinfei Merchant Guild.
Their only reason was to purchase suitable military magic machinery from the Xinfei Merchant Guild.
"?.
After more than four months of fighting, the war between Lord Wellen and Count Fran finally ended in an overwhelming victory for Lord Wellen, who seized all of Count Fran's territory.
In the Stantin Duchy, conflicts between two reasonably powerful lords like Lord Wellen and Count Fran were actually uncommon. Both were regional powers, with comparable territory, populations, and military strength. Even when friction arose, it was generally settled through small-scale clashes. One side was rarely wiped out entirely, as had happened this time.
Originally, all the other lords in the Stantin Duchy had expected the conflict between Lord Wellen and Count Fran to follow that same pattern. They had not expected that, after over two months of fairly ordinary fighting, the combat strength of Count