Recaps

Leslie welcomed Candel Empire naval officer Remito Russell to the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s island base, where Russell offered the fleet autonomy in the area in exchange for help fighting pirates. Leslie agreed to cooperate with the Imperial Navy, while Russell looked over the guild’s ships without revealing his thoughts.

• Leslie learned that a Candel Empire fleet was approaching and prepared the Guard Fleet for its arrival.
• Remito Russell identified himself as the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Candel Empire’s Naval Staff Department and accepted Leslie’s invitation to visit the island.
• Leslie explained the guild’s plans to build a deepwater dock, and Russell showed no objection to the island’s development.
• Russell privately asked Leslie to help the Imperial Navy deal with pirate bands in nearby waters, offering the Guard Fleet autonomy in return.
• Leslie agreed to cooperate in fighting the pirates, and Russell studied the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s silver-hulled escort ships.

Xu Yi defended his proposal to abolish slavery in the Stantin Duchy, arguing that slavery was both cruel and economically inefficient. As the Congress prepared to vote, he framed emancipation as a way to turn unproductive slaves into effective workers.

• Xu Yi’s slavery-abolition proposal reached its final deliberation after months of opposition and an initial vote with no support.
• Xu Yi told reporters that he opposed cruelty to slaves and saw little difference between humans and other races.
• A reporter accused Xu Yi of seeking to eliminate slave-based competition, citing the Sangqi Merchant Guild; Xu Yi replied that the guild’s lamps had failed inspection and that his proposal applied only to the Stantin Duchy.
• Xu Yi argued that slave workers often lacked education and initiative, lowering production efficiency and quality rather than reducing costs.
• Xu Yi said he wanted to turn slaves from liabilities into assets by abolishing slavery.

Xu Yi visited Servini after she gave birth to a prince, and they discussed the burdens their children would inherit. The chapter ended with Servini sharply rejecting Xu Yi’s joking suggestion that the prince be engaged to Freya.

• The Stantin Duchy passed Xu Yi’s slave status conversion proposal, but lords obstructed its implementation and no slaves applied during the first week.
• Servini gave birth to a healthy prince, prompting celebrations throughout the Lampari Kingdom.
• Xu Yi told Servini that Freya would not have to lead the Xinfei Merchant Guild if she lacked the ability or desire, while Servini said she could never abandon the Lampari Kingdom.
• Xu Yi reflected that Servini’s son would inherit the kingdom and its responsibilities, then joked about arranging the prince’s engagement to Freya.
• Servini reacted sharply and rejected the engagement suggestion.

Xu Yi explained to Servini that abolishing slavery would let the Xinfei Merchant Guild train slaves into skilled workers and expand its workforce. He revealed that he had prepared tempting bait to persuade some lords to hand over their slaves, leaving Servini curious about his plan.

• Servini asked Xu Yi how the abolition of slavery was progressing in the Stantin Duchy, and he admitted that opposition from the lords had forced him to put it on hold.
• Xu Yi argued that slaves were people capable of learning and becoming skilled workers, unlike the livestock many lords believed them to be.
• Xu Yi told Servini that the Xinfei Merchant Guild had more than ninety-three thousand employees but needed at least fifty thousand more to support island bases and expansion into the Candel Empire.
• Servini questioned how freeing slaves would help the guild, and Xu Yi recalled training four hundred slaves who later became valuable workers for the Stark Family.
• Xu Yi said he had prepared tempting bait to lure some lords into giving him access to their slaves, and Servini suspected he had devised another crafty plan.

After witnessing the Xinfei Merchant Guild Guards Fleet effortlessly destroy pirates, Remito Russell accepted that the Candel Empire's navy could not match it. He asked about buying the guild's frigates, but Leslie's price left him stunned.

• Remito Russell watched the Xinfei Merchant Guild Guards Fleet rout a thirteenth band of pirates without letting them get within range.
• Russell concluded that the Candel Empire's naval fleet would fare little better than the pirates against the guild's superior speed and Mana Cannons.
• Russell boarded a frigate and learned from Leslie that its displacement was around a thousand tons and its net weight exceeded six hundred tons.
• Russell asked Leslie how the frigates were built, but Leslie said their construction involved guild secrets and specialized knowledge he did not understand.
• Russell asked Leslie to relay the Candel Empire's interest in formal cooperation and the frigates to President Xu.
• Leslie suggested that the Candel Empire buy the frigates directly and quoted a price of two million gold coins each, leaving Russell aghast.

The Xinfei Merchant Guild announced that it would trade steelmaking technologies for slaves, drawing widespread interest and outrage over its steep demands. After acquiring nearly twenty thousand slaves in half a month, the guild sent them from Black Rice Harbor across the Endless Sea, leaving their fate unknown.

• The Xinfei Merchant Guild announced it would make steelmaking technologies available in exchange for slaves meeting specific requirements.
• The guild set high slave prices for each steel type, prompting people to question Xu Yi’s motives and what would happen to the slaves under Stantin Duchy’s abolition of slavery.
• A lord in the Lampari Kingdom’s Northeastern Province exchanged 3,653 slaves for the technologies to produce three steel types.
• The Xinfei Merchant Guild made six more deals over the next half month, acquiring over 15,300 additional slaves.
• The guild sent the slaves into the Black Rice Wasteland, then aboard its cargo mana-powered ships from Black Rice Harbor across the Endless Sea.

Xu Yi shifted the Xinfei Merchant Guild toward overseas joint ventures, projecting rapid growth while planning major investments in research, security, and island bases. He also rejected the Candel Empire navy’s request for a lower price on the guild’s guard frigates.

• The Xinfei Merchant Guild signed agreements with the Falk Kingdom to establish five household magic machinery factories, with plans for more factories, a machine-tool workshop, and steelworks.
• Sebas projected that the guild would earn forty million gold coins the following year after its profits reached thirty-three million this year.
• Xu Yi announced increased spending on the Magic Research Institute, the Guards Corps, and island bases, which would support the guild’s maritime expansion.
• After Russell questioned the two-million-gold-coin price of each guard frigate, Xu Yi replied that the guild would not lower it.

Remito Russell warned Chrysler Isore that the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s Guard Frigates could make the Candel Empire’s navy obsolete, but the navy’s shrinking budget left it unable to afford them. Russell ended by proposing that the navy replace its existing fleet with Guard Frigates and find the money to do so.

• Chrysler Isore questioned Russell’s report about the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s powerful Guard Fleet, but Russell insisted he had witnessed its strength firsthand and urged the navy to acquire its Guard Frigates.
• Russell warned that the Malo Empire could gain a decisive advantage if it obtained the same ships before the Candel Empire did.
• Chrysler told Russell that the navy’s next annual budget would be cut to thirty million gold coins, making Guard Frigates priced at two million each unaffordable.
• Russell concluded that the navy must replace its existing fleet with Guard Frigates and declared that they had to find the money.

After Chief of Staff Isore rejected Russell’s proposal to reduce the Imperial Navy and buy Xinfei Merchant Guild escort ships, Russell remained troubled by the guild’s growing power and unfamiliar magic machinery. He decided to visit a Wimbledon City shop selling its Mana Sedans, leaving to inspect the vehicle before choosing what to buy.

• Russell left the Naval Staff Department after Isore dismissed his proposal to reform the Imperial Navy and acquire Xinfei escort ships.
• Russell recalled the extraordinary Mana-Powered Ships and Guards Fleet he had seen at the Xinfei Merchant Guild and worried that its technology might threaten the Candel Empire.
• Russell asked his driver Martin to take him to a shop selling Xinfei magic machinery in Wimbledon City.
• Martin praised the Mana Sedans and told Russell about a shop opened by Baron Billier, who was related to Prince Frank.
• Russell agreed to buy a Mana Sedan and set off with Martin to inspect the shop.

Billier’s Mana Sedan business boomed, and Russell bought an extended luxury model before asking about other Magic Locomotives that could support the Imperial Navy. As Russell left to reconnect with the Xinfei Merchant Guild, Billier was swept away by young nobles headed to a race.

• Billier’s trading house sold more than a thousand Mana Sedans in three months, earning him about three hundred thousand gold coins.
• Russell bought a four-thousand-gold-coin extended e32o Mana Sedan after learning it was unsuitable for the empire’s mountainous south.
• Russell asked Billier about other Magic Locomotives and considered using Xinfei cargo vehicles to improve the Imperial Navy’s supplies.
• Russell left the shop and assigned Martin to handle the complicated purchase and driving arrangements.
• Three young nobles arrived, bundled Billier into a Mana Sedan, and sped off with him to a race.

Xu Yi received Billier’s report on Mana Sedan races and a road project in the Candel Empire, then discussed the island settlements for former slaves with President Cruz. Xu Yi admitted that freeing the slaves partly eased his conscience, but kept the true reason for his opposition to slavery secret.

• Xu Yi authorized Billier to handle passenger and freight Magic Locomotive orders and promised support for formalizing the popular weekly Mana Sedan races in Wimbledon City.
• Ambassador Hakane secured permission to build a road across the Candel Empire’s Southwestern Province, with the Xinfei and Amli Merchant Guilds covering most of the cost.
• President Cruz complained about the obstruction and hidden expenses facing Amli’s road crews in the Candel Empire, and Xu Yi urged him to finish the province’s first road.
• Xu Yi asked President Cruz to send workers to build proper housing for the slaves settled on islands, and explained that he had already restored their commoner status.
• President Cruz called Xu Yi a hypocrite for wanting the former slaves’ obedience while rejecting slavery, and Xu Yi admitted he acted partly to ease his conscience without revealing his Earth origins.

Xu Yi urged merchant guild presidents to invest in the distant Nozdormu Commercial United Kingdom, but they hesitated because of the risks. As the Xinfei Merchant Guild's Transport Fleet arrived late, Xu Yi sent a mana airship to search and learned that the fleet was under attack.

• Xu Yi gathered allied merchant guild presidents and argued that investing in Nozdormu offered major opportunities despite the distance.
• The presidents remained hesitant, and Xu Yi decided to wait for representatives from Nozdormu before pressing them further.
• When the Transport Fleet failed to arrive as expected, Xu Yi contacted Avita and ordered her to send a mana airship south to search.
• Avita reported that the mana airship had found the Transport Fleet under attack.

Xu Yi ordered the capture of attackers who had targeted the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s Transport Fleet, then learned they belonged to the Krusik pirate alliance and had acted on someone’s orders. He left the welcoming banquet to order stronger coastal defenses and an attack on the Krusik Kingdom.

• Xu Yi directed Avita to pursue the fleeing attackers and capture some ships and prisoners, while sending Akali’s Mana Airship to support the operation.
• Xu Yi introduced the Magic Communication Box to the gathered merchant guild presidents, then welcomed the Nozdormu Commercial United Kingdom delegation after the Transport Fleet returned safely.
• Hart reported that the captured attackers came from the Krusik Kingdom and had been specifically ordered to rob the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s fleet.
• Xu Yi ordered Hart to prepare a comprehensive coastal defense plan and mobilize the Guard Fleet’s Second Fleet and the Marine Corps to attack the Krusik Kingdom.

The Xinfei Merchant Guild arranged trade and factory investments with the Nozdormu Commercial United Kingdom, while Xu Yi struggled to expand because of a labor shortage. The Guild Guard Fleet swiftly conquered the Krusik Kingdom, whose captured king offered to surrender his people as Xu Yi’s slaves in exchange for their lives.

• The Nozdormu delegation secured investment interest from neighboring merchant guilds, and the Xinfei Merchant Guild agreed to build factories and help develop infrastructure in Nozdormu.
• Xu Yi gave up direct control of the Nozdormu market because the Xinfei Merchant Guild lacked workers, and he opened free vocational colleges to train new recruits.
• After the Nozdormu delegation departed, Xu Yi ordered the Xinfei Merchant Guild Guard Corps to attack the Krusik Kingdom.
• Hart’s Second Fleet overwhelmed the Krusik pirates, landed on Krusik Island, captured the royal palace, and took the king alive.
• The captured king said escaped slaves had founded the Krusik Kingdom and offered to place its people under Xu Yi as slaves if he spared their lives.

Aiwei Ruoang and the Sark Kingdom’s General Staff confronted the Xinfei Merchant Guild Guard Fleet’s overwhelming victory over the Krusik Kingdom and recognized the danger its military magic machinery posed. The First Staff Office agreed to prioritize intelligence gathering and revealed that measures based on Ruoang’s earlier suggestions were already beginning to work.

• Aiwei Ruoang reviewed a sparse battle report confirming that the Xinfei Merchant Guild Guard Corps had captured Krusik Island using Magic Repeating Crossbows and Magic Rockets.
• Aiwei Ruoang asked his office to assess the Guard Fleet’s strength, but his subordinates could offer little information about how it fought.
• Aiwei Ruoang urged the First Staff Office to make the Xinfei Merchant Guild a top intelligence priority, warning that the Sark Kingdom could suffer the Krusik Kingdom’s fate.
• Remington and other staff officers cited the vast disparity in forces and losses, noting that the Xinfei Merchant Guild had crushed the Krusik Kingdom with almost no casualties.
• The director of the First Staff Office agreed to raise the matter with the Chief of Staff and revealed that earlier measures suggested by Aiwei Ruoang had begun to bear fruit.

Aiwei Ruoang rode with Shalong Li Nuer to the Military Ordnance Research Institute and reflected on how the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s magic machinery had spread throughout the Sark Kingdom. The chapter left Aiwei facing the kingdom’s dilemma: importing the machinery helped its people and economy but strengthened a potential military rival.

• Shalong Li Nuer picked up Aiwei Ruoang outside the General Staff Headquarters, and Aiwei learned that Shalong had been stripped of his command and was serving as a part-time consultant.
• Aiwei and Shalong headed to the Military Ordnance Research Institute and discussed how the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s destruction of the Krusik Kingdom had forced Sark’s leaders to acknowledge its military machinery.
• Shalong pointed out that Xinfei products were already widespread in Nodunlun City, from Mana Sedans and magic locomotives to household machines.
• Aiwei considered how imported agricultural machinery had increased Sark’s grain output by forty percent, while the Ministry of Agriculture prepared to accept Xinfei’s harsh fertilizer-sale conditions.
• Aiwei recognized that buying Xinfei machinery would strengthen a rival, while refusing it would leave Sark further behind the Lampari Kingdom, and he was relieved he did not have to make the decision as king.

Crabby Morey negotiated with Shandy for the Sark Kingdom to buy fertilizer from the Xinfei Merchant Guild, but the Moon Shadow Tribe required territory in exchange. Morey left the decision to the king, while Shandy warned that delay could make the kingdom miss the spring plowing season.

• The Sark Kingdom increased its grain harvest by adopting Xinfei farmland machinery and Bunta City's farming methods, while imports helped secure enough food for the year.
• Morey sought a large fertilizer purchase from the Xinfei Merchant Guild, which directed him to negotiate with the elves who controlled the fertilizer factory.
• Shandy told Morey that the Moon Shadow Tribe would sell fertilizer only if the Sark Kingdom granted it territory.
• Morey examined the elves' proposal for a remote tract of land adjoining the Black Rice Wasteland and said he needed time to consider it.
• Shandy warned that fertilizer had a limited shelf life and that delay could cost the Sark Kingdom the spring plowing season.

Shandy negotiated with Morey for the Moon Shadow Tribe to receive its own territory in exchange for fertilizer, while Xu Yi discussed the tribe’s production needs and reluctance to hire human workers with Shandy and Elder Lysania. At the Mana Sedan Race, Count Rivell privately confronted Xu Yi and demanded an explanation after showing him a document.

• Morey left the negotiations after Shandy stated the Moon Shadow Tribe’s conditions, then sent the terms to the Sark Kingdom for consideration.
• Xu Yi praised Shandy’s negotiating performance and learned that Elder Lysania wanted territory belonging entirely to the tribe.
• Shandy asked Xu Yi to tell Elder Lysania about the negotiations, and he revealed that new fertilizer-processing equipment was already on its way.
• Xu Yi asked Shandy and Elder Lysania about hiring workers from other races, but both said the Moon Shadow Tribe was not ready to do so.
• At the Mana Sedan Race, Count Rivell took Xu Yi into a private room, showed him a document, and demanded an explanation.

Xu Yi confronted Count Rivell after the count accused the Xinfei Merchant Guild of helping the Sark Kingdom develop military magic machinery. Count Rivell apologized and reassured Xu Yi that the queen had not sent him, while Xu Yi discussed the report and proposed a new factory investment in Bunta City.

• Xu Yi read an intelligence report claiming the Sark Kingdom had Magic Repeating Crossbows and was researching other Military Magic Machinery, and Count Rivell demanded an explanation.
• Xu Yi challenged Count Rivell's authority to question him and said the Xinfei Merchant Guild was not bound to follow the Lampari Kingdom's wishes.
• Count Rivell followed Xu Yi to the spectator seats, apologized, and clarified that his accusations had been his own decision, not the queen's.
• Xu Yi said the Sark Kingdom and other nations were likely researching military magic machinery, but their research did not necessarily mean they had made significant progress.
• Xu Yi assured Count Rivell that the Xinfei Merchant Guild would not provide military magic machinery technology to other nations and proposed a Machine Tool parts factory in Bunta City.
• Count Rivell welcomed the investment, hoping it would lead to a Magic Machine Tool factory and technology transfer, and apologized again.

After the Mana Sedan Race drew attention to its drivers rather than the vehicles, Xu Yi promoted magic locomotives through a new weekly and discussed the risks of revealing technical information. Elder Lysania proposed filming herself in the guild’s new sedan tests to encourage humans and elves to accept living together, and Xu Yi saw a chance to turn the footage into an advertisement.

• The Bunta Daily launched Magic Locomotive Weekly, which explained magic locomotives and reported that the Xinfei Merchant Guild was developing comfortable civilian sedans and faster racing models.
• Magic Locomotive Weekly became a bestseller after reporting that a new mana sedan might reach 150 kilometers per hour.
• Elder Lysania and Archmage Camilla warned Xu Yi that publishing information about magic locomotives and military magic machinery could expose valuable technology, but Xu Yi assured them he was managing the risks.
• Elder Lysania told Xu Yi she wanted to record herself participating in the new-model magic locomotive tests and use the footage to encourage humans and elves to accept living together.
• Xu Yi approved of the publicity idea and imagined using footage of Elder Lysania driving the new Xinfei Mana Sedan as an advertisement.

Russell traveled to the Xinfei Merchant Guild and saw its promotional illusion and the rapidly modernizing city it had built. As he prepared to negotiate on behalf of the Candel Empire, he experienced the guild’s Automatic Mana Elevator for the first time.

• Russell saw a giant Mana Illusion Projector advertisement showcasing Xinfei household magic machinery and asked Ambassador Hakane how it worked.
• Ambassador Hakane explained that the Xinfei Merchant Guild sold Mana Illusion Projectors, though their high price and limited films had kept sales low.
• Russell entered the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s city and marveled at its broad roads, clean streets, busy traffic, and modern buildings.
• Russell reflected that the Candel Empire needed to face reality and change after seeing how far the city surpassed Wimbledon City.
• A receptionist led Russell and Ambassador Hakane into an Automatic Mana Elevator to take them upstairs for Russell’s meeting with Xu Yi.

Xu Yi negotiated with Russell, who represented the Candel Empire’s navy, over a purchase of Xinfei Guard Frigates, but the two clashed over the ships’ price. After seven days of talks, Russell left with a cooperation proposal that could help Xinfei enter the empire while benefiting the navy.

• Xu Yi welcomed Russell and Ambassador Hakane, then discussed business with Russell after Hakane left to order more Household Magic Machinery.
• Russell admitted he had come on behalf of the Candel Empire’s navy to buy Guard Frigates, while Xu Yi noted that the Malo Empire’s navy was another potential customer.
• Russell offered five hundred thousand gold coins per Guard Frigate, and Xu Yi rejected the price, offering only a reduction to one million nine hundred thousand.
• Russell proposed helping Xinfei enter the Candel Empire as an additional concession, and Xu Yi asked him to explain.
• After seven days in the Stantin Duchy, Russell departed with Ambassador Hakane and accepted Xu Yi’s gift of sturdy ship models, convinced the navy would need to cooperate with Xinfei.

Xu Yi explained why the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s new, more energy-efficient Magic Fans and Magic Air Conditioners mattered to households, then revealed that energy conservation was part of his plan to address limited high-concentration magic crystal supplies. He left Stille understanding that the guild needed both greater production and lower consumption to preserve energy standards and keep the market supplied.

• The Xinfei Merchant Guild launched new Magic Fans and Magic Air Conditioners that used less high-concentration magic crystal, and Stille questioned whether the savings mattered to buyers.
• Xu Yi argued that savings across all Household Magic Machinery could substantially reduce ordinary families’ monthly expenses, and Stille recognized his point.
• Stille asked why Xu Yi would promote energy conservation after working to standardize high-concentration magic crystals, which supported the guild’s crystal sales.
• Xu Yi explained that the continent’s magic crystals were finite and that the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s production might fail to meet demand within three years.
• Xu Yi planned to expand crystal research and production while teaching consumers to conserve energy through more efficient Magic Fans and Magic Air Conditioners.

As Stille and Xu Yi watched Elder Lysania and Anise film a Mana Sedan advertisement, they discussed Anise’s lack of a child and Xu Yi’s relationships with Betty and Caro. Stille revealed she was three months pregnant with their second child, and Xu Yi’s joyful laughter drew everyone’s attention.

• Stille watched Elder Lysania drive a new Xinfei Mana Sedan for an advertisement and asked Xu Yi why Anise was included; Xu Yi explained that Elder Lysania wanted to present Anise as an example of elves and humans joining together.
• Stille and Xu Yi discussed Anise’s inability to conceive a child with him despite their efforts and the advice from Elder Elusia and Elder Lysania.
• Stille urged Xu Yi to stop keeping Betty and Caro at a distance, saying his reluctance was causing them pain.
• Xu Yi questioned Stille’s sudden insistence, and Stille admitted that she was pregnant and in her third month.
• Xu Yi realized they would likely have their second child by the end of the year or the beginning of the next, then laughed with joy as the people on the set looked over.

Old John explained Xinfei Household Magic Machinery to visitors from the Falk Kingdom, who were astonished by the guild’s influence. After learning that Loki’s factory job had transformed his family’s finances, the middle-aged visitor approached him to talk.

• Old John’s regulars urged him to replace his old Magic Fans with a Xinfei Magic Air Conditioner, and he considered trading in the fans for a discount.
• A group of well-dressed visitors entered Old John’s tavern, where Loki mocked them for not knowing about Magic Iceboxes and other Household Magic Machinery.
• After the middle-aged visitor tipped him two gold coins, Old John explained the machines and how the Xinfei Merchant Guild had developed them.
• Loki and his fellow workers toasted the Xinfei Merchant Guild, and Old John explained that Loki and his wife now earned good wages at a nearby joint-venture factory.
• The middle-aged visitor filled Loki’s glass and asked if he could speak with him.