Recaps

Great Mage Ferguson offered to make the Xinfei Merchant Guild a Designated Partner Merchant Guild of the Mainland Mages' Guild, with cooperation focused on improving Low-Rank Mages' living conditions. Xu Yi remained cautious as Ferguson planned to inspect the guild before deciding on details, while Xu Yi turned to Marquis Southgate to introduce Akali's Mana Communication Network.

• Xu Yi recalled how the Xinfei Merchant Guild had provided work and practical training for Low-Rank Mages, earning President Allen's support and recruiting over sixty percent of Lampari Kingdom's Level Three to Level Five Mages.
• Great Mage Ferguson praised Xu Yi's contribution to mages' welfare and said the Mainland Mages' Guild wanted to cooperate with the Xinfei Merchant Guild.
• Ferguson revealed that the Mages' Guild Council had proposed naming the Xinfei Merchant Guild a Designated Partner Merchant Guild, and Xu Yi asked what responsibilities the status would entail.
• Ferguson said the guild was considering cooperation to improve Low-Rank Mages' living conditions, but he would first inspect the Xinfei Merchant Guild before setting specific plans.
• Ferguson stayed behind to meet President Allen while Xu Yi and Marquis Southgate prepared to travel to the Stantin Duchy.
• Xu Yi introduced Akali to Marquis Southgate and recommended the Mana Communication Network project she led.

Marquis Southgate and Xu Yi finalized agreements to bring the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s infrastructure and household magic machinery to the Malo Empire. Southgate left determined to build a modern magic industry base on his fief, but remained concerned that the Candel Empire might already have secured a deal for military magic machinery.

• Marquis Southgate signed an agreement for the Xinfei Merchant Guild to install an automatic water supply system on his fief for forty-eight thousand gold coins.
• Marquis Southgate signed a seventy-six-thousand-gold-coin agreement to introduce a magic communication network and postponed road construction while he sought approval for a route to Angelo City.
• Marquis Southgate agreed to build household magic machinery assembly plants with the Xinfei Merchant Guild and jointly develop his mines, while Xu Yi proposed local steelworks and metal smelting factories.
• Marquis Southgate planned to reproduce the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s modern magic industry model on his fief and praised the Malo Empire as a better partner than the Candel Empire.
• Marquis Southgate wanted to investigate the guild’s military magic machinery, but Xu Yi avoided discussing it, leaving him worried that Remito Russell’s earlier visit might have involved a private deal with the Candel Empire.

Xu Yi rejected the Mages' Guild headquarters' proposal to have the Xinfei Merchant Guild support fifty low-rank mages and solve their research problems. He argued that improving mages’ practical skills for magic industry was a better way to help them, though Great Mage Ferguson did not yet understand what those skills involved.

• Great Mage Ferguson arrived with Parmes Allen and fifty low-rank mages, then asked Xu Yi to provide for them and support their magic research.
• Xu Yi refused to take responsibility for the mages’ problems, explaining that the Xinfei Merchant Guild could not support thousands or tens of thousands of people without work.
• Great Mage Ferguson revealed that Great Mage Truchi had already opposed the proposal, and said he had brought it as a preliminary plan from the headquarters' parliament.
• Archmage Camilla joined the discussion, called the plan stupid, and explained that low-rank mages generally lacked the precision required to make magic machinery.
• Xu Yi proposed improving low-rank mages’ skills in magic industry rather than their magical strength, leaving Great Mage Ferguson confused about what those skills meant.

Xu Yi and Great Mage Ferguson developed a proposal to improve low-rank mages’ livelihoods by expanding magic industry and training future workers, then arranged a trial seminar in the Lampari Kingdom. The chapter ends with Xu Yi viewing Ferguson’s visit and the proposal’s reception as major steps toward expanding the Xinfei Merchant Guild across the continent.

• Great Mage Ferguson left the Lampari Kingdom with Xu Yi’s proposal for the Mainland Mages’ Guild Headquarters.
• Xu Yi proposed promoting magic industry and creating training for novice and low-rank mages so they could prepare for work in magic machinery guilds.
• Xu Yi and President Allen agreed to hold a Magic Industry Seminar in Anvilmar City starting in early spring.
• Great Mage Ferguson urged Xu Yi and Allen to make the seminar a success so its results could help persuade the headquarters’ parliament to approve the proposal.
• President Allen warned Xu Yi that the headquarters’ parliament might reject the proposal, but Xu Yi said the Guild’s willingness to take magic industry seriously was already an important step.

Freeman and Bobic struggled to transport precision equipment across the Malo Empire’s rough roads, then joined other merchant guilds stranded at a washed-out bridge. Freeman proposed using the Magic Excavator and their cargo to repair the crossing so they could continue delivering supplies to President Xu.

• Freeman warned Bobic to drive carefully as their Large Cargo Magic Locomotive jolted over the Malo Empire’s poor roads.
• Bobic urged Freeman to buy Air-Suspension Cargo Magic Locomotives, but Freeman postponed the decision until after the delivery.
• Freeman studied the map and redirected their journey toward a nearby town because the road conditions made their planned stop unreachable before dark.
• Freeman and Bobic found eight Large Cargo Magic Locomotives and their crews stranded where floodwater had damaged a bridge.
• Freeman judged that the bridge’s collapsed middle section could be filled in and suggested using a Magic Excavator and the cargo vehicles to repair it.

President Cruz discussed the poor roads around Marquis Southgate’s magic industry base with Franklin Sosgate, who was overseeing the project. Franklin approved Cruz’s plan to use engineering magic machinery to crush nearby hills and improve the roads, leaving Cruz ready to begin work.

• President Cruz supervised the Amli Merchant Guild’s construction work at Marquis Southgate’s fief and reflected on the many guilds Xu Yi had invited to invest there.
• Cruz told Franklin Sosgate that muddy roads were slowing construction and would hinder other guilds moving into the area.
• Cruz proposed using crushed stone from nearby rocky hills to firm up the roads and prepare future highway roadbeds.
• Franklin authorized Cruz to excavate the hills without seeking the marquis’s approval and offered him further support.
• Cruz praised Franklin as an outstanding heir, and Franklin welcomed his guidance.

Xu Yi and Marquis Southgate discussed the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s plans with Duke Macalose, who doubted that its farmland magic machinery could transform the autumn harvest. Xu Yi urged him to judge by the results and warned that the guild’s limited supply might not be available to him later.

• Freeman and his companions worked to repair a broken bridge while President Cruz and Franklin tried to level muddy roads.
• Duke Macalose questioned Xu Yi’s claim that farmland magic machinery could make the harvest several times faster, and Xu Yi said it could be completed in a week or even three days.
• Marquis Southgate said the Cantona Chamber of Commerce would handle his territory’s harvest within half a month, with poor roads slowing the work.
• Marquis Southgate praised the Stantin Duchy’s roads and Xinfei products, while Duke Macalose acknowledged the value of its air conditioner and refrigerator but remained skeptical about its farm machinery.
• Xu Yi told Duke Macalose to judge the machinery after the harvest and warned that the guild might not prioritize him when its limited supply became sought after.

Xu Yi and Marquis Southgate negotiated how factories in the Magic Industrial Base would employ people from Southgate’s fief. Southgate retained authority over the workers and agreed to a hiring fee of thirty gold coins per worker each year, before Xu Yi revealed he initially needed about ten thousand workers.

• Duke Macalose bought seven sets of each type of Household Magic Machinery for 3,600 gold coins.
• Xu Yi asked Marquis Southgate about his people’s income and proposed discussing factory workers and their wages.
• Xu Yi proposed hiring the people as individual employees under the guilds’ authority, but Marquis Southgate refused to give up control over his people.
• Xu Yi and Marquis Southgate agreed that the guilds would hire workers through the marquis for thirty gold coins per worker per year.
• Xu Yi said the factories initially needed about ten thousand workers, stunning Marquis Southgate.

Xu Yi asked Marquis Southgate to provide ten thousand workers for seventeen factories, but Southgate worried that releasing them would cripple farming in his fief. After Xu Yi explained how farmland magic machinery could free up labor, Southgate promised to solve the shortage, while Xu Yi left frustrated by the obstacles to expanding the Xinfei Merchant Guild across the Malo Empire.

• Xu Yi asked Marquis Southgate for ten thousand workers, and Southgate said his fief could not spare them from farming.
• Xu Yi explained how farmland magic machinery and the Cantona Chamber of Commerce could reorganize farming and reduce its labor needs.
• Xu Yi suggested Southgate recruit workers through Duke Macalose and other nobles, offering them an annual commission.
• Marquis Southgate said he would resolve the worker shortage without explaining how.
• Xu Yi left the manor to inspect the magic industry base and reflected on the difficulty of expanding into the Malo Empire.

Billier organized a Mana Racing Car competition in Wimbledon City and reflected on the growing success of his dealership and the sport. Prince Frank attended and suggested paving the roads on his private fief so racers could have a larger venue, leaving Billier astonished at the prince’s interest.

• Billier started an elite race featuring thirteen Mana Racing Cars for the gathered nobles and merchants.
• Billier watched the drivers and judged them amateurish compared with competitors in Xinfei Merchant Guild races.
• Steward Lons brought Billier to meet Prince Frank, who had unexpectedly come to watch the event.
• Prince Frank said he preferred racing on broad roads and asked whether paved roads on his private fief could give racers more room.

After returning from the Malo Empire, Xu Yi prepared to meet rising demand for farmland machinery and addressed the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s shortage of specialized mages. The new Xinfei Magic Industry College attracted thousands of applicants, giving the guild a promising path to recruit trained staff.

• Xu Yi returned to the Stantin Duchy after securing agreements with Malo Empire nobles, including contracts for the Cantona Chamber of Commerce to harvest more than three hundred thousand hectares.
• Cantona asked Xu Yi for priority access to farmland and engineering machinery, and the Drake Duchy agreed to yield part of its order in exchange for help with its farmland renovation project.
• Xu Yi focused on the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s limited production capacity, which was held back chiefly by a shortage of mages trained to configure magic arrays to exact standards.
• Eleven magic industry seminars in the Lampari Kingdom helped low-rank mages understand the field and consider specialized work in the industry.
• More than two thousand low-rank mages enrolled in the Xinfei Magic Industry College within two weeks, and 1,316 agreed to give the guild priority in hiring them.
• Xu Yi hoped the college would supply suitable employees and show mages that the magic industry offered an alternative to pursuing power through magic alone.

At the Mages' Guild Elders' Parliament, Great Mage Ferguson supported Xu Yi's proposal for concrete cooperation between the Guild and the Xinfei Merchant Guild, citing the skill of its mages and Archmage Camilla's enthusiasm for her work there. The elders rejected the idea that the Guild should cooperate on Xu Yi's terms, and President Gascoigne had yet to state his decision.

• Great Mage Ferguson reported that Xinfei Merchant Guild's mages excelled at magic arrays and said he supported concrete cooperation with the Guild.
• President Gascoigne asked Ferguson about Archmage Camilla's position on Xu Yi's proposal.
• Ferguson said Camilla enjoyed working at the Xinfei Merchant Guild and believed the Guild should cooperate properly with Xu Yi.
• Several elders objected, insisting that the Xinfei Merchant Guild should follow the headquarters' arrangements instead of setting terms.
• Ferguson turned to President Gascoigne to decide the Guild's position.

President Gascoigne decided to pursue cooperation with the Xinfei Merchant Guild and sent Great Mage Ferguson back to the Stantin Duchy to negotiate. In Sky City, Ferguson discovered that a shopkeeper had canceled her Large Frost Array installation because her shop was using a magic air conditioner.

• President Gascoigne asked Great Mage Ferguson about the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s revenue and learned that it might exceed ten million gold coins a year.
• Gascoigne said headquarters was willing to cooperate with the Xinfei Merchant Guild and instructed Ferguson to tell Xu Yi that the guild must show its sincerity.
• Ferguson went to Sky City’s shopping street and intervened in an argument between a middle-aged mage and a shopkeeper over a canceled Large Frost Array installation.
• Ferguson ruled that the shopkeeper could cancel the installation but would forfeit her deposit.
• Ferguson guessed that the shopkeeper had replaced the Large Frost Array with a magic air conditioner, and she was startled when he was right.

Xu Yi discussed Leslie’s plans to take control of a southern island and establish a farm near Miss Winniton’s home, then reviewed the Stantin Duchy’s agricultural statistics and an upgrade plan. The duchy had enough food to withstand years of disasters, and Xu Yi began considering how improved agricultural productivity could expand livestock raising.

• Leslie told Xu Yi that the southern island’s crops yielded three or four harvests a year and asked for military magic machinery to help him take control of it.
• Leslie revealed that he had bought a farm near Miss Winniton’s home and asked Xu Yi to provide farmland magic machinery so he could make it the area’s best farm.
• Viscount Constantine reported that the Stantin Duchy produced enough grain to feed its people and endure at least three years of major natural disasters without famine.
• Xu Yi read Constantine’s preliminary plan for upgrading agriculture and considered how farmland machinery and fertilizer could make meat and livestock more accessible.
• Xu Yi recalled that the Lampari Kingdom had repealed a statute concerning draft oxen after farmland machinery reduced dependence on them.

After the repeal of the draft-cattle slaughter ban revealed that farmland magic machinery had replaced animal labor, Xu Yi advanced plans to diversify agriculture and establish livestock farms in the Stantin Duchy. He left the chapter considering Viscount Constantine’s growing authority, while Anise began to suffer sudden pain beside him.

• The Lampari Kingdom’s repeal of the draft-cattle protection law led to widespread slaughter, but the autumn harvest showed that farmland magic machinery had replaced draft cattle for most farm work.
• Xu Yi approved Viscount Constantine’s agricultural upgrade proposal, including an experimental livestock farm, feed crops grown with the elves, and future meat-processing facilities.
• Xu Yi ordered Constantine to require birth registration, learned that more than thirty thousand children had been born in the duchy the previous year, and warned him to prevent anyone from disrupting the duchy’s transition.
• After Constantine left, Xu Yi considered whether to entrust him with greater authority, despite fearing he might become like Angklu.
• Anise told Xu Yi that Elder Elusia wanted them to return to the tribe to address her not becoming pregnant, and Xu Yi suggested inviting both elders to the duchy instead.
• Anise suddenly fell silent and grimaced in pain.

Xu Yi let Elder Lysania take Anise back to the Moon Shadow Tribe, then discussed Stille’s work developing magic illusion entertainment and proposed training more people in the field. He brought Stille to the Magic Research Institute to discuss new requirements for the Mana Illusion Projector, where Akali privately asked whether Stille had finally sensed the crisis.

• Elder Lysania took Anise back to the Moon Shadow Tribe after Elder Elusia agreed that she needed to return for her safety.
• Xu Yi learned that Stille could stay only three or four days because the City Fantasy Entertainment System was at a critical stage.
• Xu Yi proposed creating a Magic Audio-Visual Program at Xinfei Magic Industry College to train magic illusion researchers and instructors, and Stille welcomed the idea.
• Stille told Xu Yi that thirty-seven merchant guilds had contracted to air advertisements, worth thirty thousand gold coins in total.
• Xu Yi took Stille to the Xinfei Merchant Guild Magic Research Institute to meet with Mana Illusion Projector researchers.
• Akali pulled Stille aside and asked whether she had finally sensed the crisis.

After Stille left for the Lampari Kingdom, Xu Yi dealt with delays in expanding the Magic Communication Network across the Stantin Duchy. He ordered Guards Corps support for the construction crews and prioritized completing the network in the duchy before expanding elsewhere.

• Stille left the Stantin Duchy after helping Xu Yi set requirements for the next generation of Mana Illusion Projectors.
• Dago Wampes reported that nobles in the Stantin Duchy were covertly obstructing the installation of Mana Signal Towers.
• Xu Yi instructed Wampes to coordinate with Kennard and Captain Hart, authorizing the Guards Corps to use any means necessary against further interference as long as civilians were not harmed.
• Wampes said construction was progressing more smoothly in the Lampari Kingdom, while work in the Rulson Kingdom awaited approval and support from the Magic Research Institute.
• Xu Yi made completion of the Magic Communication Network in the Stantin Duchy the first priority, followed by the Lampari Kingdom, and warned that he would confront the obstructive nobles.

Riley supervised the rapid construction of the Xinfei Magic Industry College, which relied on new machinery from the Xinfei Merchant Guild and a large crew from the Amli Merchant Guild. After Vito delivered cold drinks and warned Riley not to overwork the workers, he revealed that the college’s construction might not continue, leaving Riley confused.

• Riley considered giving the workers a break after two had suffered heatstroke the previous day.
• Five Large Mana Construction Vehicles arrived at the site, carrying Vito and a shipment of Vanilla Cold Drink for the workers.
• Vito told Riley that President Xu valued the workers’ safety more than rushing the college’s construction.
• Vito privately warned Riley that it was uncertain whether construction of the Xinfei Magic Industry College could continue.
• Riley wondered why the project might stop after President Xu had invested at least six hundred thousand gold coins.

Riley gave the construction workers extra midday rest despite their concerns about reduced wages, then learned why Vito had warned that the Magic Industry College might not be completed. Xu Yi explained that Mages' Guild Headquarters representatives had arrived to review the project, leaving him wary of their unspoken demands.

• Riley gave the workers two additional hours of rest at noon, reducing their monthly wages from twenty-five gold coins to twenty-two despite their objections.
• Xu Yi arrived at the construction site with Vito, Great Mage Ferguson, and a group of mages to tour the college project.
• Great Mage Ferguson challenged Xu Yi for beginning construction without headquarters' approval and warned that the council might reject the proposal.
• Xu Yi told Riley that Mages' Guild Headquarters could obstruct the college by using its influence over mages, even if it would not openly ban them from studying there.
• Xu Yi suggested that Ferguson's representatives had a particular objective, though they had not yet stated it.

Xu Yi explained how he negotiated the Mages' Guild Headquarters into recognizing the Xinfei Merchant Guild while delaying its access to their technologies, and why the guild chose magic air conditioner technology first. He then presented Servini with a proposal for joint investment in the Malo Empire, leaving her to consider how much influence the Lampari Kingdom could exert there.

• Xu Yi told Servini that he had agreed to share one Xinfei technology each year with the Mages' Guild Headquarters, and that it had selected magic air conditioner technology first for its commercial value.
• Xu Yi explained that recognition as the headquarters' partner merchant guild could help him recruit mages beyond Lampari, especially in the Malo Empire.
• Xu Yi handed Servini a proposal for the Lampari Kingdom and the Xinfei Merchant Guild to invest jointly in the Malo Empire.
• Servini questioned whether the Malo Empire would accept Lampari investments, and Xu Yi said Marquis Southgate supported the plan on behalf of a group of imperial nobles.
• Servini acknowledged that the Lampari Kingdom would not dare expel the Xinfei Merchant Guild, illustrating its limited ability to interfere with the proposed investment.

Mentis urged Laien to join him in investing in the Malo Empire, arguing that their component-processing businesses could supply merchant guilds there. As Laien weighed the risk, Kowach, Vice President of the Ireland United Merchant Guild, arrived and asked for him.

• Mentis visited Laien's factory and discussed how the Xinfei Merchant Guild's support had transformed their former blacksmith businesses into successful component factories.
• Mentis asked Laien to invest with him in the Malo Empire, but Laien worried about the risks and their limited resources.
• Mentis argued that their components could fill a supply gap for merchant guilds already operating in the Malo Empire, and Laien began considering the opportunity.
• A Mana Sedan stopped outside, and Kowach of the Ireland United Merchant Guild entered and asked which man was President Laien.

Freeman proposed consolidating the component-processing industry through shared standards and asked Xu Yi to certify the Ireland United Merchant Guild. Xu Yi agreed in principle, pending a strict inspection of the guild.

• Freeman explained that a shipment of Ireland United Merchant Guild screws had been rejected because another guild's machinery used nonstandard specifications.
• Freeman proposed publishing clear component standards and helping other guilds adjust their machines and train workers.
• Freeman asked Xu Yi to grant the Ireland United Merchant Guild special certification for its component-processing standards.
• Xu Yi agreed to consider certification after inspecting the guild, and Freeman said his guild was ready for assessment.

Xu Yi met Russell and representatives from the Candel Empire to discuss cooperation, while wondering why the aloof Chimera Chamber of Commerce had sent a delegate. After lunch, the delegate, Thoer Ottoff, spoke to Xu Yi in private, leaving him stunned.

• Xu Yi reflected on the Xinfei Merchant Guild's restructuring and its record profits across the magic industry and other businesses.
• Twisti informed Xu Yi that Russell and the Candel Empire guests had arrived, and Xu Yi went to meet them.
• Russell introduced Thoer Ottoff as the Pompey City branch manager of the Chimera Chamber of Commerce, surprising Xu Yi.
• Xu Yi held friendly preliminary talks with Candel Empire naval officers and Pompey City merchant guild representatives about household magic machinery, while Ottoff remained silent.
• After lunch, Ottoff met Xu Yi privately with Russell and said something that froze Xu Yi.

Xu Yi rejected the Chimera Chamber of Commerce’s offer to buy the Xinfei Merchant Guild for seventy-six million gold coins. After Ottoff left, Russell discussed the Candel Empire Navy’s Guard Frigates and asked to tour the shipyard, leaving Xu Yi suspicious about the purpose of the visit.

• Ottoff offered to acquire the Xinfei Merchant Guild wholesale for seventy-six million gold coins, but Xu Yi refused to sell it.
• Russell urged Xu Yi to consider the offer, and Ottoff warned that he had one month to change his mind before leaving.
• Xu Yi questioned Russell about his real business, and Russell said the navy wanted to equip its three Guard Frigates with additional military magic machinery.
• Russell offered two hundred thousand gold coins per ship for the equipment, but Xu Yi refused the price, and Russell dropped the argument.
• Russell asked Xu Yi to show him the shipyard, while Xu Yi wondered what the Candel Empire was planning.

Xu Yi agreed to make a limited investment in Pompey Harbor while reflecting on the obstacles the Xinfei Merchant Guild faced in the Candel Empire. Billier then brought Prince Frank’s proposal to organize official racing competitions and establish a magic locomotive factory, leaving Xu Yi to prepare terms for Prince Frank to consider.

• Xu Yi agreed to invest one million gold coins for a ten-percent stake in the development of Pompey Harbor, prioritizing reliable access to the port.
• Xu Yi considered the Candel Empire’s obstructive treatment of the Xinfei Merchant Guild and the Amli Merchant Guild despite his resolve to keep pursuing its market.
• Billier returned from the Candel Empire and told Xu Yi that Prince Frank wanted to bring the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s racing competition into the empire as an official event.
• Billier explained that Prince Frank also wanted the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s magic locomotive technology and researchers to help establish a factory and develop faster mana racing cars.
• Xu Yi asked for a detailed proposal, then offered to draft one for Billier to take back to Prince Frank and warned that he would not cooperate if Prince Frank rejected reasonable concessions.