The emergence of the Xinfei Merchant Guild had sparked a craze for magic machinery among the countries around the southwestern corner of the Sains Continent, profoundly influencing several neighboring nations.
But aside from the effects of magic machinery itself, the greatest change the Xinfei Merchant Guild had brought to these countries was improved transportation.
When the first highway, an entirely new kind of road, appeared in Bunta City, it had attracted little attention.
Yet as highways were built throughout the Lampari Kingdom, gradually connecting all its cities, people quickly discovered the tremendous convenience they offered.
Together with the magic locomotives developed by the Xinfei Merchant Guild, they formed an entirely new road network within the Lampari Kingdom.
Compared with the old horse-drawn carriages jolting along muddy, rocky dirt roads, the various magic locomotives traveling on broad, level highways offered such dramatic improvements in both speed and comfort that people instantly forgot all about the old carriages.
After witnessing the convenience highways brought, the countries neighboring the Lampari Kingdom followed suit, taking the initiative to invite the Amli Merchant Guild to build highways within their borders.
By now, the total length of highways in the Lampari Kingdom had exceeded twenty thousand kilometers. Not only was every city connected, but almost every town had been linked by highways as well.
Second place, however, belonged not to the Rulson Kingdom, whose territory was somewhat larger than the Lampari Kingdom's, but to the Stantin Duchy.
The Rulson Kingdom's total highway length had only just passed ten thousand kilometers at the beginning of this year. The Stantin Duchy's, however, had already exceeded fifteen thousand kilometers by the middle of last year.
Seen from high above, the highways within the Stantin Duchy resembled a spiderweb, densely replacing almost every road that could be replaced. Highways had