Great Mage Ferguson faltered, his expression turning slightly awkward.
The middle-aged mage was right. Both the term "magic patent" and the entire concept of patents had been proposed several years earlier by Xu Yi, president of the Xinfei Merchant Guild. He had submitted an application to the Mages' Guild Headquarters through the Lampari Kingdom Mages' Guild, and it had ultimately received approval from headquarters.
Since the concept had come entirely from Xu Yi, he naturally had the greatest authority to speak on the subject.
Now headquarters claimed that neither Xu Yi nor the Xinfei Merchant Guild had any authority in this matter. It was no wonder they refused to accept that.
After a brief silence, Great Mage Ferguson cleared his throat and said solemnly, "It is true that President Xu first proposed this concept. But since it involves magic and mages, it falls within the jurisdiction of our Mages' Guild. Moreover, when President Xu originally proposed it, his intention was to use the Mages' Guild's influence to gain recognition and protection for his concept of patents. Am I right, President Xu?"
Xu Yi nodded slightly. "That's right. The reason I hoped the Mages' Guild would recognize the concept of patents was to use its capabilities to establish patent protection, giving research into magic machinery more room to develop."
"Exactly." Seeing Xu Yi openly acknowledge this, Great Mage Ferguson breathed a sigh of relief. "Since President Xu himself recognized our Mages' Guild's authority at the time, and voluntarily entrusted headquarters with the right to exercise that authority, why are you now setting up a Magic Machinery Patent Protection Federation of your own?"
"Great Mage Ferguson, you seem to have misunderstood something," Xu Yi said with a smile.
"Oh? What have I misunderstood?"
"When I proposed the concept of patents to the