On the surface, Xu Yi had come to the Candel Empire on behalf of the Xinfei Merchant Guild at Prince Frank's invitation to build a magic locomotive factory on his private fief in the empire's Southwestern Province. He would also build a motor racing track and bring Xinfei motor racing competitions to the Candel Empire, satisfying Prince Frank's passion for racing.
In reality, however, both Xu Yi and Prince Frank knew perfectly well that this represented an attempt by the Candel Empire to sound out the Xinfei Merchant Guild.
The crushing defeats suffered in both invasions of the Rulson Kingdom had made the Candel Empire keenly aware of the tremendous power military magic machinery could unleash on the battlefield. They had also prompted the empire to take a serious look at the Xinfei Merchant Guild, an obscure little merchant guild from a small southwestern country, for the first time.
But the Xinfei Merchant Guild openly supported the Rulson Kingdom, which the Candel Empire had designated an enemy state. That made it difficult for the empire to openly seek cooperation with the guild. Having Prince Frank approach it was therefore a natural choice, since he had already been in contact with the guild and was himself an imperial prince.
For Xu Yi, supporting the Rulson Kingdom in repelling the Candel Empire's invasion served not only to establish a buffer in front of the Stantin Duchy, but also to advertise the Xinfei Merchant Guild and force the empire to notice it.
The results proved that this advertisement had been very successful.
The Candel Empire had not merely noticed the Xinfei Merchant Guild; it had begun taking it seriously.
When it came to cooperation between the two sides, however, differences inevitably arose.
The Candel Empire's primary objective was naturally the military magic machinery