Although the Xinfei Merchant Guild and the Mages' Guild Headquarters had all but fallen out, leaving no possibility of further cooperation and even sparking some disputes over recruiting low-rank mages, everyone believed those conflicts had largely remained a war of words, with little concrete action.
Ultimately, the Xinfei Merchant Guild could be considered the most prominent merchant guild on the Sains Continent at present. Even the powerful Candel Empire and Malo Empire sought cooperation with it. Although the Mages' Guild was likewise one of the continent's most powerful organizations, it still had reason to exercise restraint and was unlikely to enter into an actual conflict with the Xinfei Merchant Guild.
Yet no one had expected the Xinfei Merchant Guild to be so bold.
It was fortunate enough that the Mages' Guild had not come looking for trouble with the Xinfei Merchant Guild, yet the Xinfei Merchant Guild actually dared to take the initiative and pick a fight with the Mages' Guild Headquarters!
It was simply unbelievable!
After publicly announcing the repeated attacks on its transport fleet, the Xinfei Merchant Guild immediately raised questions and requested answers from the Mana Magical Kingdom through highly formal channels.
The outcome, however, was exactly what everyone had expected. The Mana Magical Kingdom declared that it knew nothing about the matter and had no idea why Great Mage Glofin and the twenty-three advanced mages under his command had attacked the Xinfei Merchant Guild's transport fleet. In short, it denied all involvement.
The Xinfei Merchant Guild, in turn, stated that it had obtained sufficient evidence to prove that Great Mage Glofin and the advanced mages he led had acted on instructions from the Mana Magical Kingdom, specifically targeting the Xinfei Merchant Guild's fleets for plunder with the ultimate intention of destroying its maritime fleets.
That statement