Recaps

Xu Yi faced the Level Eight Mage examination while Bukales repeatedly disparaged him and the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s magic machinery. After Great Mage Truchi restored order, the examination began, and Xu Yi stepped forward to demonstrate his eighth-level spells.

• Bukales challenged Xu Yi’s place in the examination, and Great Mage Truchi and the other mages rebuked him.
• Xu Yi introduced himself as president of the Xinfei Merchant Guild and explained that he valued magic machinery and business more than studying magic.
• Bukales criticized the magic in Xinfei machinery, provoking the Lampari Kingdom mages into an argument that Great Mage Truchi stopped with a blast of cold wind.
• Great Mage Truchi began the examinations, and Xu Yi drew everyone’s attention as a potential Level Eight Mage at age thirty.
• Great Mage Truchi required Xu Yi to cast at least three eighth-level spells, and Xu Yi raised his hand as lightning flickered above his palm.

Xu Yi persuaded Bukales to remain for the Level Eight Mage examination, then invited him to join the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s Magic Research Institute. He revealed that the Milando Duchy possessed a valuable resource: rare earth.

• Xu Yi demonstrated advanced lightning spells, proving his strength as a Level Eight Mage and leaving Bukales disheartened.
• Xu Yi stopped Bukales from leaving and hinted that cooperation with the Milando Duchy could benefit its people.
• Great Mage Truchi passed Bukales after judging his spells barely adequate, and Bukales later apologized to Xu Yi for underestimating him and the Xinfei Merchant Guild.
• Xu Yi told Bukales that samples from the Milando Duchy’s resources had revealed something valuable and invited him to work at the Magic Research Institute for a salary that could reach fifty gold coins a month.
• Xu Yi concluded that Bukales was tempted by the offer and identified the duchy’s scarce resource as rare earth.

Xu Yi and Canby traveled with a convoy over Laimart City's badly damaged highway, prompting Xu Yi to propose researching a magic-powered shock absorption system for locomotives. As the convoy stopped near the city, a Xinfei employee reported that the road ahead was blocked.

• Xu Yi and Canby complained about the highway's potholes, and Xu Yi noticed that its cement surface was thin and poorly maintained.
• Xu Yi asked Canby to record the need to develop a shock absorption system using wind magic, and Canby and the researchers discussed possible designs.
• Xu Yi studied a map showing that Laimart City and other Prince Eric strongholds remained untouched by the magic industry, then wondered why the king had stayed silent about Eric's planned counteroffensive.
• The convoy stopped after an argument broke out ahead, and a Xinfei employee told Xu Yi that the road was blocked.

Xu Yi’s convoy was blocked from entering Laimart City’s highway, prompting him to consider how cities could restrict the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s transport. He decided to examine building a national highway linking Bunta City and Sewell City.

• Xu Yi learned that Laimart City’s City Guard was stopping Magic Locomotives from using the highway under the City Lord’s orders, despite letting other traffic pass.
• Xu Yi offered the junior officer two purses of gold but failed to persuade him to let the convoy through.
• Xu Yi ordered the convoy to turn back and take an unpaved road, then discussed the blockade with Canby and the others.
• Xu Yi worried that two other cities along the route might also restrict the Xinfei Merchant Guild because they supported Prince Eric.
• Xu Yi considered replacing the Kingdom’s fragmented, city-controlled highways with a national network and studied the feasibility of a direct highway between Bunta City and Sewell City.

After Kota stopped a Xinfei Merchant Guild convoy at Laimart City, Count Will and Count Michelle discussed backing Prince Eric and pressuring the guild, while Count Longley questioned their hostility. Though he agreed to supply Prince Eric with what Bateru City could afford, Longley resolved to follow the Xinfei convoy and reconsider bringing the guild to his city.

• Kota accepted gold from Xu Yi for stopping the Xinfei Merchant Guild convoy, paid his men, and reported the convoy to Count Will.
• Count Will and Count Michelle discussed targeting the Xinfei Merchant Guild and agreed to supply Prince Eric's army with goods worth three hundred thousand gold coins each.
• Count Longley objected to making an enemy of the guild, but agreed that Bateru City would contribute supplies worth up to one hundred thousand gold coins.
• After leaving Laimart City, Count Longley recalled how impressed he had been by Bunta City's development and resolved to seek the Xinfei Merchant Guild's convoy.

After Laimart City barred the Xinfei Merchant Guild convoy, Xu Yi camped in the wilderness and considered whether Prince Eric’s faction was turning against the guild. As he weighed staying neutral against openly supporting Princess Royal Servini, a tremor and an agonized scream interrupted the night.

• Xu Yi ordered the convoy to camp outside Laimart City, where the staff set up tents and prepared food and drink.
• Canby shared the dwarven distillery’s first successful liquor batch with Xu Yi, who praised it and advised him to use better packaging for sales.
• Xu Yi told Hart to strengthen the camp’s defenses and discussed dwarven divisions and magic locomotive suspensions with Canby.
• Unable to sleep, Xu Yi considered whether Laimart City had acted independently or on Prince Eric’s orders and recognized that the guild might have to choose sides.
• Xu Yi’s thoughts began to tip toward Princess Royal Servini when the ground trembled and an agonized scream sounded in the wilderness.

Xu Yi’s caravan came under attack from a disciplined force of cavalry protected by an Advanced Mage’s Azure Guardian. He ordered the guards to use costly Flame Magic Arrows to batter the barrier, treating the attack as an opportunity to demonstrate the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s power.

• Xu Yi learned that more than two hundred mounted attackers were approaching and that three patrolling guards had not returned.
• Hart’s guards opened fire with Magic Repeating Crossbows, inflicting heavy casualties before the enemy mage raised Azure Guardian.
• Xu Yi ordered the guards to replace their bolts with Flame Magic Arrows and fire at the barrier.
• The explosive arrows weakened Azure Guardian, but the mage reinforced it and kept the cavalry protected.
• Hart questioned the expense and suggested Xu Yi fight the mage himself, but Xu Yi said he preferred to solve problems with money and wanted the attack to warn others of the guild’s strength.

Xu Yi’s convoy repelled a night attack by cavalry and learned that the attackers belonged to the Sark Kingdom’s Greedy Wolf Legion. The ambush made Xu Yi reconsider his assumptions about the dangers facing the Xinfei Merchant Guild, and he sent Hart to deliver the prisoners and evidence to Princess Royal Servini.

• Xu Yi’s guards used Flame Magic Arrows and a lightning spell to break the mage’s Azure Guardian barrier, defeat the cavalry, and capture three prisoners.
• Xu Yi learned that three guards had been killed and reflected that the convoy had survived only because its attackers had underestimated its weapons and defenses.
• Hart and Isos reported that the attackers were from the Sark Kingdom’s Greedy Wolf Legion and had crossed into the territory without encountering obstacles.
• Xu Yi ordered Hart to take the prisoners and interrogation report to Bunta City and hand them to Princess Royal Servini.

Count Michelle reassessed the Xinfei Merchant Guild after a failed raid revealed the strength of its magic weapons and guards, then wrote to Prince Eric with a new proposal. Xu Yi’s convoy left the attack site and reached Basaru City’s territory, where he learned its new count might hold a different political stance from his late father.

• Count Michelle admitted that her intelligence about the Xinfei Merchant Guild had been wrong after Everton and Mage Deral described how its magic arrows and guards defeated the Greedy Wolf Legion’s raid.
• Count Michelle concluded that the guild was stronger than she had believed and began writing to Prince Eric with a new proposal about it.
• Xu Yi’s convoy left the attack site, while Hart escorted three sleeping prisoners back toward Bunta City to report to Princess Royal Servini.
• Xu Yi’s convoy reached the end of a cement road and learned from a researcher that Basaru City had not built one under its former city lord, Count Longley.
• Xu Yi learned that the younger Count Longley had inherited the city and wondered whether he might differ from his late father, who had supported Prince Eric.

Xu Yi’s convoy reached impoverished Bateru City, where its narrow streets forced the guild to camp outside the gates. The city’s young ruler, Count Rivell Longley, arrived in haste and greeted Xu Yi with unusual excitement, leaving Xu Yi wondering whether Longley’s political views differed from his father’s.

• Xu Yi was shocked by how small and dilapidated Bateru City was and wondered whether its late ruler, Old Count Longley, had sincerely cared for the commoners.
• A gate officer told Ankato that the convoy’s magic locomotives could not fit through the city’s cramped streets, so Xu Yi decided the convoy would camp outside.
• Xu Yi persuaded the officer to let the convoy camp nearby by offering him a purse of gold, but the officer returned it when an approaching carriage appeared.
• Count Rivell Longley hurried from the carriage, introduced himself as Bateru City’s City Lord, and eagerly asked for Xu Yi’s support.
• Xu Yi was astonished by Rivell’s warm reception and wondered whether the young count held different political views from his father.

Xu Yi accepted Count Longley's invitation to remain in Bateru City for another day after discussing the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s losses and planned investment in Sewell City. In Laimart City, Count Will blamed Count Michelle and possibly the prince for the convoy attack, then gave Lewan instructions that threatened a rupture with Dulakton City.

• Count Longley privately questioned Xu Yi about the convoy attack, and Xu Yi said the guild had lost three guards.
• Count Longley inferred that elite cavalry had ambushed the convoy and praised the Xinfei Merchant Guild Guards Corps.
• Xu Yi told Count Longley that the guild planned an initial investment of one million gold coins in Sewell City, with a total investment potentially reaching five million.
• Count Longley asked Xu Yi and his subordinates to stay in Bateru City another day, and Xu Yi agreed.
• Count Will smashed a jade vase and accused Count Michelle of arranging the attack, while Lewan suspected the prince might have ordered the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s elimination.
• Count Will gave Lewan secret instructions that could break relations between Laimart City and Dulakton City.

Xu Yi accompanied Count Longley to a village, where he saw the villagers’ warm relationship with the city lord and their harsh living conditions. At a natural hot spring, Count Longley finally raised the villagers’ poverty with Xu Yi, leaving him poised to hear the count’s real purpose.

• Count Longley showed Xu Yi the Banao River, which never froze in winter, and brought him to a village outside Bateru City.
• Villagers greeted Count Longley like an old friend, and he took Xu Yi to Old Hal’s home.
• Xu Yi shared a meal of venison and wine with Count Longley, Old Hal, his wife, and their children.
• Count Longley led Xu Yi to a natural hot spring on the mountainside, where they bathed and talked.
• Count Longley pointed out that Old Hal and the villagers lived beside a natural pleasure but struggled to get enough to eat, then asked Xu Yi what he thought.

As the Xinfei Merchant Guild convoy traveled toward Sewell City, Xu Yi weighed Count Longley's invitation to invest in impoverished Bateru City, knowing it could be seen as a political betrayal and provoke conflict between Prince Eric's and Princess Royal Servini's factions. He left the decision unresolved, planning to consult Princess Royal Servini, while wondering whether Lampari the Thirteenth had deliberately allowed the succession struggle to continue.

• Two days after leaving Bateru City, Xu Yi rode with Canby and the researchers toward Sewell City while brooding over Count Longley's proposal.
• Canby guessed that Count Longley had invited the Xinfei Merchant Guild to invest in Bateru City, and Xu Yi confirmed it.
• Xu Yi recalled Count Longley's resolve to improve his people's lives despite the risk that Prince Eric's faction would condemn him as a traitor.
• Xu Yi considered how the investment could help Bateru City's impoverished people but might provoke Prince Eric's faction and destroy the fragile political balance.
• Xu Yi decided he could not accept Count Longley's invitation without discussing it with Princess Royal Servini.
• Xu Yi wondered whether Lampari the Thirteenth had deliberately let the kingdom's factions struggle over the throne.

Lampari the Thirteenth issued three royal orders to strengthen the kingdom’s northern defenses, grant Eric, Servini, and Durant full crown-heir rights, and expand foreign trade. He left Derma questioning the risks while explaining that he meant to help Servini and the Xinfei Merchant Guild grow stronger.

• Lampari the Thirteenth asked Derma about Servini and said she needed time and protection to grow stronger, then took a red pill to suppress his illness.
• Lampari the Thirteenth ordered the Kingdom Garrison Corps Third Army to Sewell City, placing it under local authority and making the city pay for its equipment.
• Lampari the Thirteenth proposed formally granting Eric, Servini, and Durant crown-heir status, including the right to recruit private guards of up to five thousand.
• Derma realized the crown-heir order would most benefit Servini, but worried it would pit her against Eric; Lampari the Thirteenth offered no explanation.
• Lampari the Thirteenth ordered the Commerce Office to assess trade with neighboring countries and said he wanted to help Xu Yi and the Xinfei Merchant Guild expand abroad.

Xu Yi arrived in Sewell City and proposed using reinforced concrete to build cheaper, sturdier city walls. Princess Caroline and Count Samo became interested, and Xu Yi said the Xinfei Merchant Guild would build a cement factory and steelworks in the city.

• Xu Yi arrived in Sewell City, where Princess Caroline greeted him and Count Samo said they would discuss work the next day.
• As they entered the city, Xu Yi examined Sewell City's thick walls and discussed the city's defenses with Count Samo and Princess Caroline.
• Xu Yi proposed using reinforced concrete to construct city walls strong enough to withstand attacks short of an Archmage's intervention.
• Count Samo estimated that Sewell City's existing walls had cost about six million gold coins, and Xu Yi said reinforced concrete walls could cost under ten thousand gold coins per hundred meters.
• Princess Caroline asked whether the Drake Duchy would need to buy the materials from the Xinfei Merchant Guild, and Xu Yi said the guild would build a cement factory and steelworks in Sewell City.

At a reception welcoming the Xinfei Merchant Guild to Sewell City, Xu Yi discussed local production with Princess Caroline and agreed to let her observe the guild’s new production base. Count Samo then arranged City Guard cooperation in exchange for weapons and armor, before revealing plans for an arms factory that alarmed Xu Yi.

• Count Samo held a grand reception for the Xinfei Merchant Guild convoy, and Xu Yi spent the evening meeting Sewell City’s prominent residents.
• Princess Caroline flirted with Xu Yi, then asked about producing reinforcing steel and cement locally; he warned that the Drake Duchy lacked the technology to make safe reinforcing steel.
• Princess Caroline asked to observe the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s production base in Sewell City, and Xu Yi agreed as long as she stayed away from confidential matters.
• Princess Caroline kissed Xu Yi on the cheek before leaving, and Count Samo introduced him to City Guard commander Malal.
• Malal requested armor and weapons for the City Guard, and Xu Yi agreed to sell ten thousand sets at cost.
• Count Samo told Xu Yi he wanted to establish an arms factory in Sewell City, prompting Xu Yi to ask whether he was planning a rebellion.

Xu Yi arranged for the Xinfei Merchant Guild to supply magic machine tools for Count Samo’s planned arms factory in Sewell City, while worrying about the factory’s vulnerability near the Sark Kingdom. Back at his residence, Linda declared her desire for him, and Xu Yi finally gave in to her advances.

• Count Samo explained that Sewell City had royal approval to build an arms factory and ordered the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s magic machine tools for it.
• Xu Yi learned that the Kingdom Garrison Corps Third Army had been transferred to Sewell City and warned that the factory could attract the Sark Kingdom’s attention.
• Xu Yi reviewed plans for the guild’s cement factory and steelworks and considered how to protect production and confidential documents if Sewell City were attacked.
• Princess Caroline invited Xu Yi to visit her room, but he declined and returned to his quarters to plan the production base.
• Linda told Xu Yi she willingly wanted to give herself to him, and he carried her to the bed.

While Xu Yi was away, Stille reflected on her relationship with him and encouraged Liss to pursue his affection. In Xu Yi’s study, Stille discovered signs that someone had secretly entered it, leaving her wondering who had broken in.

• Stille and Liss discussed the baby, and Stille said she hoped to have a daughter despite tradition favoring sons as heirs.
• Liss admitted she envied Linda for staying with Xu Yi, and Stille promised to give Liss a chance to spend time alone with him when he returned.
• Stille entered Xu Yi’s study and noticed something unusual about the desk, then searched its surface, drawers, and the space beneath it.
• Stille tested a bookcase compartment’s magic array and watched its protective light flicker out.
• Stille realized someone had secretly entered the study and wondered who it could have been.

Xu Yi inspected the site Count Samo had reserved for the Xinfei Merchant Guild in Sewell City and discovered that its abundant soft clay magic crystals might have useful properties. The chapter left Xu Yi planning experiments while he considered the political risks of cooperating with Bateru City.

• Count Samo described the power of Archmages and Grand Archmages as he and Xu Yi examined the proposed factory site beside the frozen Sera River.
• Canby brought Xu Yi a warm, soft red crystal, and Count Samo identified it as a fire-type soft clay magic crystal.
• Xu Yi poured mana into the crystal, causing it to erupt in flames before it crumbled into powder, and he decided to collect different varieties for experiments.
• Count Samo hoped the crystals might become a source of income for Sewell City, and he and Xu Yi discussed Count Longley's efforts to develop Bateru City.
• Count Samo warned Xu Yi to discuss cooperation with Bateru City thoroughly with the Princess Royal because of the political risks involving Prince Eric.

Xu Yi met with Sewell City's merchant guild leaders, who asked to enter the magic machinery business, and offered them a list of household machinery technologies for transfer. In private, Radis Sampson proposed paying at least one million gold coins for Xinfei's steelmaking technology, leaving Xu Yi to consider the offer.

• Count Samo left Xu Yi to attend a banquet hosted by Sewell City's Commercial Association.
• Radis Sampson and other merchant guild representatives asked Xu Yi to help them enter the magic machinery industry.
• Xu Yi gave Sampson a booklet listing technologies Xinfei was willing to transfer, mostly related to household magic machinery.
• Sampson privately asked Xu Yi about other technologies, especially steelmaking.
• Sampson offered at least one million gold coins for the transfer of a steelmaking technology.

Xu Yi refused to transfer the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s steelmaking technology, explaining that steel was too important to the magic industry, but proposed that Count Samo invest in a new steelworks in Sewell City. After caring for Linda, Xu Yi encountered Princess Caroline, who came to speak with him about something important.

• Count Samo was shocked to learn how much profit the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s two steelworks could generate, and Xu Yi said he would not sell their steelmaking technology even for more money.
• Xu Yi told Count Samo that steelmaking was essential to the magic industry and proposed that he take a stake in a new steelworks in Sewell City.
• Xu Yi found Linda doing laundry despite her weakened condition, stopped her, and promised to arrange servants to help her rest.
• Princess Caroline teased Xu Yi about Linda and offered to lend him her maids, then sent them away and said she had come to discuss something important.

Xu Yi rebuffed Princess Caroline’s flirtation and turned their conversation toward business. The Drake Duchy had approved the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s investment proposal and wanted to acquire engineering magic machinery technology, leaving Xu Yi to consider Caroline’s determined request.

• Princess Caroline teased Xu Yi about spending the night with Linda and declared that she intended to win him over.
• Xu Yi told Princess Caroline to respect herself and keep personal matters from interfering with their business partnership.
• Princess Caroline said the Duchy Council had unanimously approved the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s investment proposal.
• Princess Caroline asked Xu Yi to transfer engineering magic machinery technology so the Drake Duchy could adapt it to its difficult terrain.
• Xu Yi questioned whether developing the technology independently would be economical and compared Princess Caroline’s resolve to Princess Royal Sewell’s.

Servini reviewed Bunta City's soaring tax revenue and costly reconstruction and welfare programs before taking a break to see the prosperous city for herself. Outside, she overheard residents discussing the newly launched medical security system and its enrollment deadline.

• Servini reviewed Bunta City's annual finances, noting that tax revenue could exceed six million gold coins while reconstruction and welfare spending would leave the city with little money.
• Servini changed into casual clothes and left the City Lord's Manor for a walk through Bunta City's crowded, prosperous streets.
• Servini observed the city's rising population, high incomes, and expanding luxury-goods trade as she walked to a bus stop.
• Shack told Ronnie that Bunta City residents could pay five gold coins a year for medical coverage that waived seventy percent of hospital fees.
• Ronnie considered whether to enroll in the medical security system after Shack reminded him that the application deadline was the end of the year.

Servini secretly rode a bus and listened as passengers discussed her policies, giving her a clearer sense of their support and criticism. Their praise strengthened her resolve to become Queen so she could help Xu Yi improve the kingdom, but a passenger suddenly insulted her.

• Servini listened as Shack persuaded Ronnie to consider enrolling his family in the medical security system, and the men boarded a subsidized bus to Falling Rain Valley.
• Passengers joined Shack and Ronnie in discussing the City Lord’s policies, praising Servini while also raising complaints about construction and her support for agriculture.
• Servini recalled that the Cantona Chamber of Commerce had paid 230,000 gold coins in taxes, largely because Green Source Juice had boosted fruit sales and farmers’ incomes.
• Servini considered Xu Yi’s trust in her to distribute limited fertilizer supplies and realized she needed to become Queen to give him greater support and transform the kingdom.
• A passenger suddenly condemned Princess Servini as the bus passengers praised her.

Servini investigated a protest against the Amli Merchant Guild and learned that villagers displaced by the Sanglang Canal Project had lost the jobs promised as compensation. She recognized the larger shortage of skilled workers and told President Cruz she intended to build a Vocational Skills Training School outside the city.

• A middle-aged man insulted Servini and Xu Yi on a bus, prompting passengers to defend them and praise Bunta City's development.
• Servini followed the man to the Dawn High-End Villa Residential Complex, where he displayed a banner accusing the Amli Merchant Guild and Servini of destroying homes and colluding with merchants.
• The man threatened to stab himself, and a group of villagers arriving by bus gathered around him and held knives to their own necks.
• Servini asked President Cruz why the villagers blamed the Amli Merchant Guild, and he explained that canal construction had taken their farmland and that they had lost the jobs arranged as compensation.
• President Cruz said the villagers had been unable to meet the skill requirements of their employers and had been fired.
• Servini discussed the shortage of qualified workers with President Cruz and announced plans for a Vocational Skills Training School outside the city.