Recaps

Earl Stark challenged Xu Yi for remaining a merchant despite being a noble, and Xu Yi defended the value of trade and nobles’ obligations. Stark revealed that the Kingdom Noble Council was considering whether Xu Yi could keep both identities, leaving him facing a choice between them.

• Earl Stark arrived in Bunta City and disparaged Xu Yi for continuing to work as a merchant after receiving a noble title.
• Xu Yi told Earl Stark that he valued his identity as a merchant and rejected the claim that it demeaned him.
• Xu Yi argued that nobles who enjoyed greater rights had to shoulder greater obligations, and that anyone who shirked their responsibilities was a parasite.
• Earl Stark acknowledged Xu Yi’s general point but accused him of criticizing nobles who failed to fulfill their obligations.
• Earl Stark revealed that the Kingdom Noble Council was deliberating whether Xu Yi could hold both noble and merchant identities and asked which one he would choose if forced.

At a Commercial Association meeting, Xu Yi decided to withdraw the Xinfei Merchant Guild rather than let Earl Stark’s hostility toward him endanger Bunta City’s other merchants. President Cruz and more than a dozen other guild leaders followed, leaving the association existing in name only.

• President Lanke and other merchants warned Xu Yi that confronting Earl Stark could make business difficult, but Xu Yi said the new City Lord had already decided to target him.
• President Lawrence suggested removing the Xinfei Merchant Guild from the association to protect the other merchants, and President Cruz angrily condemned him for forgetting Xu Yi’s past help.
• Xu Yi announced that the Xinfei Merchant Guild would withdraw from the Commercial Association, and President Lanke approved the request.
• President Cruz and more than a dozen other guild leaders also requested to withdraw, leaving President Lanke to acknowledge that the association existed in name only.

Earl Stark targeted the Xinfei Merchant Guild by ordering Xu Yi to stop using Sankton Manor as a factory, while Xu Yi revealed that he had prepared for the move and had allowed Stark to seize on the issue deliberately. Xu Yi and President Cruz agreed to keep working together as Stark’s restrictions threatened both guilds, and Xu Yi ended confident that Stark was following a plan he had already written.

• Earl Stark’s City Lord’s Manor ordered Xu Yi to relocate the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s factory from Sankton Manor, citing kingdom land-use regulations.
• President Cruz accused Earl Stark of targeting Xu Yi, but Xu Yi said he had anticipated the attack and deliberately let the manor issue arise because the guild would eventually move its facilities to Falling Rain Valley.
• Xu Yi asked President Cruz about the Amli Merchant Guild, whose construction projects Earl Stark had halted during his inspection.
• President Cruz said he might move the Amli Merchant Guild out of Bunta City because Earl Stark seemed to be targeting him as well.
• Xu Yi and President Cruz reaffirmed their partnership, and Xu Yi declared that Earl Stark was unknowingly following a script he had prepared.

Freeman struggled with the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s departure and the decline in business under Earl Stark, then decided the Ireland United Merchant Guild should move from Bunta City to Falling Rain Valley. Kowach agreed that leaving might be their only option, though he lamented what their departure would mean for Bunta City.

• Freeman reprimanded Riley for accepting a component that was less than a millimeter out of specification and reflected on how Xu Yi had helped build the Ireland United Merchant Guild.
• Freeman cursed Earl Stark for driving the Xinfei Merchant Guild out of Sankton Manor.
• Kowach reported that halted construction projects had reduced orders for the Ireland United Merchant Guild and worried that Bunta City was stagnating.
• Freeman proposed moving the guild to Falling Rain Valley near the Xinfei Merchant Guild, and Kowach agreed that leaving Bunta City seemed necessary.
• Kowach lamented that the departure of small guilds would damage Bunta City, while Freeman said the city’s decline was Earl Stark’s problem.

The Xinfei Merchant Guild settled into Falling Rain Valley with little disruption after leaving Sankton Manor, and Xu Yi discussed human-elf relations with Elder Elusia and Anise. He explained that an elven merchant guild could not be established under Bunta City's new lord for now, but proposed affiliation as a temporary alternative.

• The Xinfei Merchant Guild's production had shifted to Falling Rain Valley, leaving Sankton Manor primarily as its Mechanical Research Center, so relocating caused little disruption.
• Elder Elusia watched elves and human workers become friends and told Xu Yi that humans were more accepting than she had expected.
• Xu Yi recalled that Anise had once told him, “Human, I don't trust you,” and teased her about seeming aloof when they first met.
• Xu Yi told Elder Elusia that his promise to help establish an elven merchant guild could not proceed as planned because Bunta City had a new city lord with whom he had a poor relationship.
• Elder Elusia recognized that Xu Yi had another option, and he proposed affiliation as a temporary alternative to directly establishing the guild.

Xu Yi discussed the political struggle over Bunta City’s future with Servini, who explained why Earl Stark would remain mayor through the harvest and year-end accounting. She then revealed that Xu Yi had been promoted to viscount and granted a private fief, though its location was not yet disclosed.

• Xu Yi explained that the Night Song Tribe’s Plastic Processing Factory operated under the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s name while a private contract reserved its rights and control for the elves.
• Servini told Xu Yi that the kingdom had not resolved whether agriculture or commerce should take priority, and that Earl Stark’s appointment made Bunta City a test case.
• Xu Yi criticized the decision to let Earl Stark’s policies damage Bunta City, but Servini said the experiment would continue through the autumn harvest and year-end accounting.
• Servini announced that the Kingdom Noble Council had promoted Xu Yi from baron to viscount.
• Servini told Xu Yi that viscounts could hold private fiefs and revealed that the king and Nobles’ Council had approved granting him one.

Servini granted Xu Yi and the Xinfei Merchant Guild a twenty-square-kilometer private domain in Falling Rain Valley in exchange for developing military magic machinery to aid the Lampari Kingdom. Xu Yi accepted the responsibility and vowed that the guild’s industrial spark would spread across the Sains Continent.

• Xu Yi eagerly asked Servini for a private domain near Bunta City, and she revealed that the Nobles' Council had granted him all of Falling Rain Valley, expanded to twenty square kilometers.
• Xu Yi joyfully hugged Servini, then apologized when he realized he had acted too familiarly; their conversation turned awkward after he made a suggestive remark.
• Servini explained that the king and she expected Xu Yi and the Xinfei Merchant Guild to develop more military magic machinery to help defeat the Sark Kingdom.
• Xu Yi argued that the kingdom could not afford expensive military equipment without stronger economic growth, and Servini said the king was promoting industrial development to transform the kingdom.
• Servini called Xu Yi and the guild the spark of the magic industry, and Xu Yi declared that their industry would spread throughout the Lampari Kingdom and the Sains Continent.

The Lampari Kingdom's Northern Garrison reversed the Sark Kingdom's early victory in the Murto mountain range after receiving superior armor, weapons, abundant arrows, and three powerful siege machines. The Greedy Wolf Legion lost its mountain positions, and Shalong Li Nuer was left wondering how the Lampari Kingdom had suddenly become so wealthy.

• The Sark Kingdom's Greedy Wolf Legion seized the Murto mountain range in a surprise assault, driving out the Lampari Kingdom's Northern Garrison.
• After winter, the Northern Garrison counterattacked with new armor and weapons, forcing the Greedy Wolf Legion to surrender two peaks before withdrawing.
• Half a month later, the Northern Garrison used three giant machines to bombard the Greedy Wolf Legion's mountain positions while its archers blocked counterattacks.
• The Northern Garrison pressed its advance and drove the Greedy Wolf Legion out of the entire Murto range after just over a month of fighting.
• Shalong Li Nuer and the Greedy Wolf Legion were bewildered by the Northern Garrison's sudden wealth and military advantage.

Shalong Li Nuer and Aiwei Ruoang learned that the Lampari Kingdom’s Northern Garrison owed its powerful equipment to the Xinfei Merchant Guild, while Sark Kingdom officials considered how to respond. On the mountain front, Leslie Stark tested a Magic-Powered Repeating Crossbow and saw its fifty arrows tear down a tree.

• Shalong Li Nuer considered counterattacking the Northern Garrison, but Aiwei Ruoang persuaded him to wait until they understood its strength.
• A Military Department envoy arrived with orders for the Greedy Wolf Legion to avoid a counterattack and an intelligence report identifying the Xinfei Merchant Guild as the source of the Northern Garrison’s equipment.
• Shalong Li Nuer and Aiwei Ruoang worried that the Northern Garrison could invade Sark Kingdom if it continued receiving weapons from the guild, and discussed the General Staff Office’s possible response.
• Leslie Stark tested a Magic-Powered Repeating Crossbow and fired all fifty arrows into a tree, breaking its trunk and leaving him impressed by Xu Yi’s invention.

Earl Stark’s efforts to increase Bunta City’s agricultural output backfired when he tried to revoke the Cantona Chamber of Commerce’s farmland leases. His order provoked businesses and farmers alike, leaving him bewildered by the opposition.

• Earl Stark discovered that all arable land in Bunta City was already cultivated, preventing him from increasing grain output by expanding farmland.
• Earl Stark ordered the Cantona Chamber of Commerce to return the fields it had leased from 746 farming households, claiming its agreements with Count Samo were void.
• The Cantona Chamber of Commerce publicized Earl Stark’s order, and chambers of commerce across Bunta City and nearby cities challenged their agreements with the City Lord’s Manor.
• Earl Stark learned that 73 chambers of commerce had agreements with the manor and realized that canceling them could bring Bunta City to a standstill.
• Farmers rejected the manor’s notices that they would regain their fields, and Earl Stark was left wondering whether they no longer wanted farmland.

Administrative Officer Moya surveyed farmers in Mexilan Village about the city lord’s effort to suppress commerce and promote agriculture, but Sakeqi condemned the policy and refused to return to farming. Moya realized the farmers’ opposition was unanimous and, seeing three more farmers approach, hurried over to continue the survey.

• Sakeqi told Moya that farming could barely feed his family, while other work offered far better wages.
• Sakeqi blamed the City Lord’s Manor’s policy for driving merchant guilds away and costing his son a well-paid job.
• Sakeqi argued that Bunta City had already brought nearly all its farmland into cultivation and depended on Xinfei Merchant Guild machinery to produce its grain.
• Sakeqi left for a meeting in Korol Village, and the other Mexilan Village farmers scattered when Moya tried to question them.
• Moya concluded that the farmers he had surveyed opposed Earl Stark’s policy, then hurried to meet three approaching farmers.

Cantona proposed returning the farmland to Korol Village farmers in name while continuing to cultivate it under their old agreement, allowing them to comply with the City Lord’s Manor’s order without giving up their current work. Sakeqi agreed and left to tell his unemployed son Quirick about a possible Xinfei Merchant Guild job in Falling Rain Valley.

• Sakeqi arrived at the Cantona Chamber of Commerce office carrying a shovel, and the farmers discussed their opposition to returning to fieldwork.
• Cantona explained that the City Lord’s Manor had ordered his chamber to return the subleased farmland, and the gathered farmers unanimously objected.
• Cantona proposed returning the land to the farmers on paper while continuing to cultivate it under their previous agreement, and the farmers supported the plan.
• Sakeqi asked Cantona to help his son Quirick find work at the Xinfei Merchant Guild, but Cantona suggested Quirick seek a product promoter job in Falling Rain Valley.
• Sakeqi hurried home to send Quirick to Falling Rain Valley and told Cantona to fill in his name on the contract.

Quirick returned to Falling Rain Valley and saw how the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s growth had brought factories and shops there while Bunta City declined under its new city lord’s policies. He went to seek work with Xu Yi and unexpectedly spotted the president approaching with a group of people.

• Quirick saw the Sandir Merchant Guild and many other businesses operating outside Falling Rain Valley after relocating from Bunta City.
• Quirick observed the valley’s expanding factories, improved roads, and streetlamps, then reflected on how the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s departure had left parts of Bunta City dark and declining.
• Quirick asked a Xinfei Merchant Guild worker where he could apply to become a Product Promoter for a planned facility in Bunta City.
• The worker directed Quirick to the guild’s office and mentioned that the guild might develop a Magic Locomotive to shorten the trip between the valley and Bunta City.
• Quirick and the worker saw Xu Yi emerge from a nearby road with a group of people.

Xu Yi discussed investing in factories in the Rulson Kingdom with Newman, who hoped to secure Xinfei Merchant Guild technology and reduce the cost of importing machinery. Their conversation was interrupted by Quirick applying for an unadvertised job, and Xu Yi agreed to discuss local hiring with President Cruz.

• Newman praised Xu Yi’s Industrial Base and urged him to bring Xinfei factories and production technology to the Rulson Kingdom, while Xu Yi offered to prioritize factory investment there without promising technology transfers.
• Newman reflected on how local production could cut transport costs, drawing on the Rulson Kingdom’s savings and road-building progress after acquiring cement production technology.
• Quirick rushed up to Xu Yi and applied for a job after Cantona told him about the opening, so Xu Yi sent him to the Guild Office Center for further discussion.
• Newman asked Xu Yi to persuade President Cruz to hire workers locally in the Rulson Kingdom, and Xu Yi agreed to find a chance to speak with him.

Newman tried to lure Xu Yi and the Xinfei Merchant Guild to the Rulson Kingdom, then negotiated ways to expand their business cooperation. Xu Yi rejected relocation and technology transfer for now but proposed starting with a household magic machinery factory, leaving open the possibility of a future joint venture for farmland machinery.

• Newman invited Xu Yi to move the Xinfei Merchant Guild to the Rulson Kingdom, but Xu Yi rejected the offer and said he hoped circumstances would never force him to leave Lampari Kingdom.
• Newman discussed a new order for fifty thousand farmland magic machines and suggested building a production factory in the Rulson Kingdom or transferring the manufacturing technology.
• Xu Yi rejected a technology transfer and cautioned that a farmland machinery factory would require skilled workers, many of whom were dwarves, prompting Newman to consult King Willy about the issue.
• Xu Yi proposed first building a household magic machinery factory to produce magic fans and rice cookers with the Rulson Merchant Guild, and Newman approved the plan.
• Xu Yi suggested that successful cooperation could lead to a joint venture producing farmland magic machinery, leaving Newman wondering whether the technology might eventually be shared.

Xu Yi considered the political obstacles to developing the Xinfei Merchant Guild in the Lampari Kingdom, then visited the warriors training in Falling Rain Valley to discuss providing them with equipment. He promised an inexhaustible supply of weapons and equipment, but Fario rejected the idea as impossible.

• Newman left Falling Rain Valley with three thousand Farmland Magic Machinery machines and planned to present Xu Yi's investment proposal to King Willy.
• Xu Yi reflected on Earl Stark's opposition to the Xinfei Merchant Guild and on the protection his private fief gave his plans.
• Xu Yi visited the Grand Training Ground and assessed the differing strengths and training methods of the human, dwarf, and elf warriors.
• Hart requested standard armor and weapons, while Oma asked for heavy weapons and Fario said the elves could make their own equipment.
• Xu Yi challenged Fario with the prospect of an inexhaustible supply of weapons and arrows, and Fario declared it impossible.

Xu Yi discussed the Night Song Tribe’s plastic arrows with Elder Elusia and explained how they could cut the Military Department’s costs while supplying its Magic Repeating Crossbows. Elder Elusia agreed to pursue the military order and have Delier learn to do business in Bunta City, while keeping the tribe’s manufacturing technology under her control.

• Elder Elusia and Xu Yi discussed plastic arrow production and the Military Department’s new order for five hundred Magic Repeating Crossbows.
• Xu Yi explained that plastic arrows could replace costly steel arrows, and that Major Maikongli had indicated the Military Department might order at least five hundred thousand.
• Elder Elusia said she did not want the Night Song Tribe involved in human wars, but agreed to sell the arrows as ordinary goods.
• Xu Yi offered to introduce Delier to Bunta City’s merchant guild presidents and let her promote the Plastic Processing Factory herself.
• Elder Elusia agreed and told Xu Yi that Delier should learn from him how to become a competent human merchant.

Xu Yi returned to Bunta City to unveil the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s New Concept Modern Magic House, presenting it as a new way of living powered by magic. He demonstrated a remotely controlled entrance lamp and began introducing the house’s other conveniences.

• Bunta City residents gathered at the former site of Great Mage Camilla’s Tower for the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s evening event.
• The curtains were pulled aside to reveal an ordinary-looking two-story house, and Xu Yi appeared before the crowd.
• Xu Yi told the audience that the event introduced a new concept of living rather than a new product.
• Xu Yi demonstrated how switches beside the gate and inside the living room controlled the entrance magic lamp.
• Xu Yi began explaining that the house contained more features designed for convenient, comfortable, and efficient living.

Xu Yi introduced visitors to the Magic House’s household appliances and opened it for tours, leaving Quirick to guide the first group. He then brought Delier, who was nervous about running the Night Song Tribe’s Plastic Processing Factory, to a clothing shop and asked her to find products the elves could make.

• Xu Yi described how the Magic House’s appliances could simplify cooking, bathing, and other household tasks, and the crowd eagerly gathered to tour it.
• Xu Yi left Quirick to guide the visitors and departed with Delier for the City Lord’s Manor.
• Xu Yi reassured Delier that she could learn the basics of selling plastic products through experience, but she said she did not know what the factory could offer.
• Xu Yi stopped at Saisara’s clothing shop and asked Delier to look for items the elves could make.

Delier secured her first order by persuading Saisara to buy plastic hangers from the Night Song Plastic Processing Factory, then developed the idea of plastic mannequins with Xu Yi. They arrived at Bunta City's City Lord's Manor for a banquet, where Xu Yi explained that merchants should put profit ahead of personal grudges.

• Delier introduced herself to Saisara as the Night Song Plastic Processing Factory's sales manager and offered cheaper, smoother plastic hangers.
• Xu Yi explained the factory's ties to the Night Song Tribe and vouched for its manufacturing ability, and Saisara ordered a hundred hangers to test.
• After leaving the shop, Xu Yi congratulated Delier on her first deal and prompted her to think of other ways to display clothes.
• Delier proposed making body-shaped models to show off garments, and she and Xu Yi discussed plastic hangers and mannequins on the ride to the City Lord's Manor.
• Delier questioned why Xu Yi had accepted the city lord's banquet invitation, and Xu Yi told her that a merchant should make decisions based on profit rather than personal grudges.

Xu Yi attended Earl Stark’s banquet and discussed the Amli Merchant Guild’s expansion with President Cruz. He offered to create a new source of profit for Amli if it completed a regional road network within five years, then revealed that the business would be building houses.

• Earl Stark warmly welcomed Xu Yi to the banquet, while greeting Delier coolly.
• Xu Yi told President Cruz that Newman hoped Amli would hire more local workers in the Rulson Kingdom, and urged Cruz to trade access to technology for a broader market.
• Cruz resisted accelerating Amli’s road-building plans because he wanted the guild to preserve its long-term profits.
• Xu Yi offered Amli a new source of profit if it completed a road network across the Lampari Kingdom, the Rulson Kingdom, the Stantin Duchy, and the Black Rice Wasteland within five years.
• Xu Yi explained that the new business was building houses.

Xu Yi encouraged Delier to seek business with Bunta City's merchant guilds, then persuaded President Vincent that investing in the Black Rice Wasteland could create a vast market while reducing factory costs. Vincent was struck by the opportunity and began considering the investment.

• Xu Yi explained to Delier that cooperating with the Amli Merchant Guild would benefit both guilds, then introduced her to Bunta City's merchant presidents.
• Delier overcame her initial nervousness, and several guild presidents offered to order plastic products from the Night Song Plastic Processing Factory.
• President Vincent told Xu Yi that beastmen in the Black Rice Wasteland needed clothing but were too poor to buy it.
• Xu Yi argued that factories and steady wages could help create demand, and explained that beastmen workers already protected jobs at the mine and factory because their wages improved their lives.
• Xu Yi urged President Vincent to invest in knitting and cotton textile factories in the Black Rice Wasteland, citing lower transport and labor costs.
• President Vincent calculated the potential savings from paying beastman workers lower wages and was astonished by the opportunity.

Xu Yi met Princess Caroline and Minister Anduin of the Drake Duchy, who sought broad commercial cooperation with the Xinfei Merchant Guild. Anduin invited Xu Yi to invest in factories across the duchy, but Xu Yi said the proposal was impractical.

• Earl Stark introduced Xu Yi to Caroline and Anduin, then denied that his policies had been intended to suppress the Xinfei Merchant Guild.
• Earl Stark revealed that Caroline was Grand Duke Drake’s youngest daughter and Anduin was the Drake Duchy’s Minister of Commerce.
• Caroline explained her longstanding fascination with magic machinery and her desire to meet Xu Yi.
• Anduin asked whether Xu Yi would consider extensive cooperation with the Drake Duchy, beyond selling farmland magic machinery.
• Anduin invited the Xinfei Merchant Guild to build factories producing all its kinds of magic machinery in the duchy, and Xu Yi said the plan was unrealistic in practice.

Xu Yi cautiously agreed to begin limited cooperation with the Drake Duchy while Princess Caroline and Anduin arranged to inspect the Xinfei Merchant Guild. After they left, Earl Stark imposed urgent harvest-related demands on the guild, but agreed that the City Lord's Manor would pay for the additional machinery.

• Xu Yi explained that the Drake Duchy's distance and its neighbor, the Sark Kingdom, made comprehensive investment too risky for now, then proposed building cooperation gradually.
• Anduin accepted Xu Yi's proposal and arranged for him to prepare for Princess Caroline and Anduin to inspect Falling Rain Valley the next day.
• After Princess Caroline and Anduin left, Earl Stark required the Xinfei Merchant Guild to inspect and repair or replace all farmland magic machinery in Bunta City within fifteen days.
• Xu Yi accepted the inspection requirement but asked who would cover its extra costs.
• Earl Stark demanded that the guild deliver three thousand additional units of farmland magic machinery within fifteen days, and Xu Yi pointed out that the City Lord's Manor would need to pay for them.

Xu Yi brought Princess Caroline of the Drake Duchy to Falling Star Manor after she asked to stay the night and discuss cooperation with the Xinfei Merchant Guild. Vivian and Anise wondered whether Caroline was Xu Yi’s lover, and Xu Yi went to the study with Anise while Caroline bathed.

• Vivian and Anise welcomed Xu Yi and Princess Caroline to Falling Star Manor, where Xu Yi introduced Caroline as a representative of the Drake Duchy.
• Xu Yi introduced Anise and Vivian as designers for the Xinfei Merchant Guild, and Caroline praised their work on the guild’s magic machines.
• Xu Yi and Caroline shared dinner with the household, and Caroline asked Vivian about her designs to liven up the conversation.
• Vivian asked Xu Yi whether Caroline was his lover, and Xu Yi explained that he had agreed to her request to stay overnight and discuss cooperation.
• Xu Yi told Vivian to treat Caroline as an ordinary guest, then went to the study with Anise to speak with her.