Recaps

Nielsen struggled to sell Xinfei Household Magic Machinery to Viscount Wilbur, who favored cheaper competitors and had accepted a bribe from the Longley Merchant Guild. Just as Nielsen considered other ways to reach the Odor Duchy, Wilbur rushed back and asked to resume their discussion elsewhere.

• Nielsen explained the Xinfei Magic Air Conditioner's speed and low mana consumption, but Viscount Wilbur dismissed its advantages as insufficient to justify its higher price.
• Viscount Wilbur brushed Nielsen off, leaving Nielsen convinced that government support for Xinfei Household Magic Machinery in the Odor Duchy was unlikely.
• Mendieta told Nielsen that Naiden of the Longley Merchant Guild had bribed Viscount Wilbur with at least three thousand gold coins, and Nielsen refused to offer a bribe in return.
• Nielsen decided to approach other figures in the duchy rather than abandon the market or violate the President's strategy.
• Viscount Wilbur hurried back to the tavern and asked Nielsen to continue their discussion somewhere more private.

The Nozdormu Commercial United Kingdom destroyed the Kachiton Duchy in three days, alarming its neighbors and prompting the Grand Duke of Odor to seek military magic machinery from the Xinfei Merchant Guild. Meanwhile, the Sark Kingdom proved it could manufacture military magic machinery by routing the Angelia Kingdom, but the Lampari Kingdom’s declaration of war against Sark halted other countries’ plans to approach it.

• The Nozdormu Commercial United Kingdom defeated the Kachiton Duchy in three days and captured the Grand Duke and his family.
• Viscount Wilbur asked Nielsen to arrange a sale of Xinfei military magic machinery to the Odor Duchy, and Nielsen agreed to meet the Grand Duke of Odor.
• The Sark Kingdom declared war on the Angelia Kingdom and its White Bear Legion won seven battles, advancing five hundred kilometers with machinery the Sark Kingdom had manufactured itself.
• Countries across the continent began preparing to seek military magic machinery from the Sark Kingdom after its success against Angelia.
• The Lampari Kingdom formally declared war on the Sark Kingdom, stopping other countries from moving toward it.

The Lampari Kingdom declared war on the Sark Kingdom, setting up a closely watched contest between two armies equipped with military magic machinery. On the fifth day of the war, Captain Aver’s armored vehicle withstood heavy attacks as his squad awaited a report from scouts in the sky.

• The Lampari Kingdom declared war on the Sark Kingdom while Sark forces were fighting the Angelia Kingdom.
• Other nations watched the conflict as a test of Xinfei-made military machinery against Sark-made equipment.
• Captain Aver’s squad took shelter in a mana armored vehicle under a rain of arrows and fireballs.
• Sarkmaran reported that the vehicle’s protective magic array had plenty of energy remaining despite the attacks.
• Pete received a communication and saw blue lights flash across his control panel, announcing that the awaited report had arrived.

Captain Aver and Pete used reconnaissance data to plan a route to the Sark Kingdom’s supply depot, while the veteran crew prepared for their first operation with Mana Armored Vehicles. The special mobile squad set out to raid deep into Sark territory.

• Pete compared the map with the Control Panel’s reconnaissance data and located enemy positions and a supply depot seventy to eighty kilometers away.
• Captain Aver ordered the crew to prepare for a long-range raid, gather intelligence from enemy weapons, and receive Pete’s calculated route.
• Marco identified the recovered shell fragments as thin sheet iron, while Captain Aver found that the enemy arrows varied in construction.
• Pete plotted a route that avoided Sark Kingdom troop positions and sent it to the other vehicles.
• Captain Aver gave the order to move, and dozens of Mana Armored Vehicles sped out of the grove toward the Sark Kingdom’s heartland.

Captain Aver’s Mana Armored Vehicle squad raided the Greedy Wolf Legion’s supply depots and evaded repeated attempts to trap them. The legion consolidated its supplies, and the squad secretly withdrew to Lampari Kingdom territory.

• Captain Aver ordered twenty-five Mana Armored Vehicles to withdraw after destroying a supply depot guarded by a reinforced regiment.
• A cavalry captain found the depot in ruins, discovered tracks leading west, and pursued the raiders to another depot, which was also burning.
• The Greedy Wolf Legion pursued and tried to encircle the raiders, but they repeatedly escaped and destroyed thirteen supply depots and thirty-seven guard posts in one day.
• Unable to spare enough troops from the front, the Greedy Wolf Legion consolidated its supplies at its largest logistics base and reinforced its defenses.
• The mysterious raiding force disappeared, having already left the Sark Kingdom and returned to Lampari Kingdom territory.

Captain Aver reported that his squad had harried the Greedy Wolf Legion with their faster Mana Armored Vehicles, and General Teuton hinted that the Northern Garrison had new tactics to test. Aver returned to the barracks and enjoyed the army’s improved comforts as he rested ahead of another mission.

• Captain Aver avoided the Xinfei Merchant Guild engineers and reported to General Teuton after his squad returned from its mission.
• Aver explained how the Mana Armored Vehicles and reconnaissance airship let his squad evade the Greedy Wolf Legion’s light cavalry and disrupt its rear lines.
• General Teuton praised the squad and told Aver to rest before an even more important mission in two days, hinting that the Northern Garrison would test new tactics.
• Aver bathed, ate well, and returned to the barracks, reflecting on how the Xinfei Merchant Guild and the kingdom’s improved logistics had transformed soldiers’ lives.
• Aver enjoyed the breeze from the Magic Fan and fell asleep.

After the Lampari Kingdom’s Northern Garrison destroyed the Greedy Wolf Legion’s logistics base with Mana Airships, Commander Tade concluded that his forces could not sustain the fight. He ordered a retreat to Norman Pass and requested Great Mage support, leaving the Sark Kingdom facing a worsening military crisis.

• Commander Tade learned that five Mana Airships had destroyed the Greedy Wolf Legion’s logistics base and most of its supplies.
• Commander Tade weighed retreating against holding Entak Peak until reinforcements arrived, but recognized that resupply would take too long.
• Commander Tade ordered the Greedy Wolf Legion to abandon Entak Peak and withdraw to defensive positions at Norman Pass.
• Commander Tade told Upton to emphasize the Mana Airship threat in the report to the Military Department and request Great Mages for the front.
• Commander Tade recalled Xu Yi’s prediction that military magic machinery would transform warfare and recognized how thoroughly the Northern Garrison had surpassed his forces.

The Lampari Kingdom crushed the Sark Kingdom and secured major territorial, financial, and commercial concessions in a ceasefire. When Xinfei Merchant Guild representatives arrived to recruit researchers from the Sark Kingdom’s Military Magic Machinery Research Institute, Great Mage Moyev opposed them but discovered that his subordinates wanted to go.

• The Northern Garrison defeated the Sark Kingdom’s forces and advanced to the gates of Luodunlun City, prompting the Sark Kingdom to seek peace.
• The Lampari Kingdom agreed to talks, and the Sark Kingdom ceded seven cities, promised twenty million gold coins in reparations, and opened its territory to the Lampari Kingdom and the Xinfei Merchant Guild.
• After the ceasefire, the Northern Garrison stationed itself in the ceded cities while a Lampari delegation traveled to Luodunlun City to negotiate a comprehensive agreement.
• Ms. Fivenn led Xinfei Merchant Guild representatives to the Military Magic Machinery Research Institute to receive researchers promised under the ceasefire agreement.
• Great Mage Moyev refused to let the group enter, but Fivenn reminded him that his subordinates could choose for themselves.
• Moyev turned and saw his researchers gathered behind him, looking eager to join the Xinfei Merchant Guild.

Xu Yi explained how the Xinfei Merchant Guild had used Teresa to mislead the Sark Kingdom into researching military magic machinery, then acquired its researchers and materials after the kingdom’s defeat. With Servini’s authority strengthened by the Lampari Kingdom’s victory, they turned to plans for a magic communication network, but Servini unexpectedly asked Xu Yi to hand Teresa over to her.

• Servini teased Xu Yi for taking researchers and research materials from the Sark Kingdom, and Xu Yi explained that they had deliberately fed Teresa information to inspire the kingdom’s military magic machinery research.
• Servini questioned Xu Yi about his feelings for Teresa, and he said he had once sympathized with her but never fell for her after learning she was a spy.
• Xu Yi recounted how the Sark Kingdom used leaked information to develop military magic machinery, attacked the Angelia Kingdom, and then lost to the Lampari Kingdom.
• Xu Yi said the Xinfei Merchant Guild valued the researchers and materials it gained, while Servini had secured territory and reparations for the Lampari Kingdom.
• Servini’s victory raised her prestige and cleared the way for plans such as establishing a magic communication network.
• Servini asked Xu Yi to hand Teresa over to her.

Xu Yi reflected on the economic consequences of the Lampari Kingdom’s victory over the Sark Kingdom and prepared to expand the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s influence northward. At a banquet for foreign ambassadors, he announced that the guild would openly sell military magic machinery to every country on the continent, leaving the room in uproar.

• Xu Yi agreed to let Servini take Teresa, who had been exposed as a spy, and considered the economic advantages of the Sark Kingdom opening its market to the Lampari Kingdom.
• Xu Yi concluded that the war would help the Lampari Kingdom absorb the Sark Kingdom economically and give the Xinfei Merchant Guild a route to expand northward.
• Xu Yi went to the Chanel Restaurant, where ambassadors from countries with diplomatic ties to the Lampari Kingdom had gathered at the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s invitation.
• Xu Yi announced that the Xinfei Merchant Guild would openly sell military magic machinery to every country on the continent.
• The ambassadors erupted in uproar after hearing Xu Yi’s announcement.

Xu Yi demonstrated the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s Mana Cannons to foreign ambassadors and explained their prices, ammunition, and battlefield power. He said the guild wanted to sell Military Magic Machinery abroad but could not meet demand because its production capacity was too limited, leaving the ambassadors waiting to hear his conditions.

• Xu Yi showed the ambassadors an Illusion Film of Mana Cannons in battle between the Lampari Kingdom’s Northern Garrison and the Sark Kingdom’s Greedy Wolf Legion.
• Xu Yi priced the demonstrated Mana Cannon at 2,300 gold coins and explained that magic shells, including mana explosive and mana freezing shells, had to be purchased separately.
• An ambassador questioned whether the Illusion Film was genuine, and Xu Yi replied that anyone who doubted it did not have to buy.
• Xu Yi explained that the Xinfei Merchant Guild could not openly supply every country because its production capacity was severely insufficient.
• The ambassadors waited to hear what prerequisites Xu Yi would set for Military Magic Machinery sales.

Xu Yi explained to the ambassadors that the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s superior military magic machinery depended on advanced materials, precise manufacturing, and a broader industrial system. He offered to help their countries build that foundation and eventually teach them to manufacture military magic machinery themselves.

• Xu Yi compared the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s mana cannon with one captured from the Sark Kingdom and pointed out differences in their appearance and construction.
• Xu Yi explained that the Xinfei cannon used durable C-308 Special Steel and precise manufacturing, while the Sark cannon’s pig-iron barrel was worn and its poorly fitted bearings made it unstable.
• Xu Yi revealed that leaked information had helped the Sark Kingdom develop its own military magic machinery, but its weak industrial foundation had left it producing inferior weapons.
• Xu Yi told the ambassadors that their countries could not make high-quality military magic machinery without first developing a broader industrial system.
• Xu Yi offered for the Xinfei Merchant Guild to help build their countries’ basic magic industries and teach them to manufacture military magic machinery once they had developed sufficiently.

Xu Yi explained to Servini why he planned to share Military Magic Machinery technology with countries that built up their industrial foundations, rather than helping the Lampari Kingdom conquer the continent. He left after telling her that he could not afford to wait for magic industry to spread slowly, while Servini privately revealed that her efforts to strengthen the kingdom were for him and their child.

• Servini challenged Xu Yi for allowing other countries to learn how to manufacture Military Magic Machinery and urged him to support the Lampari Kingdom instead.
• Xu Yi argued that sharing the technology through industrial-development requirements would spread magic industry more effectively than backing one country to conquer the continent.
• Servini pointed out that the Lampari Kingdom could use Military Magic Machinery to defeat its neighbors, but Xu Yi cited the costs of its war with the Sark Kingdom and the difficulty of governing conquered lands.
• Xu Yi told Servini he would choose the Lampari Kingdom if he had to support one country, but he could not wait for it alone to fulfill his dream within his lifetime.
• Servini accepted Xu Yi's decision, watched him leave, and privately said her efforts to strengthen the Lampari Kingdom were for him and their child.

The Xinfei Merchant Guild’s strategic cooperation plan won support from many countries, while the Malo and Candel Empires sought military magic machinery and factory investments on their own terms. The Mages’ Guild Headquarters then publicly accused the guild of deceiving low-rank mages and revoked its partner status, leaving the dispute to be answered by the mages directly involved.

• Thirty-five countries expressed interest in cooperating with the Xinfei Merchant Guild, and the guild proposed a resource and transport development plan for the Venice Duchy.
• The Malo and Candel Empires pursued military magic machinery and technology while offering favorable trade terms, and the Malo Empire invited the guild to build factories.
• The Mages’ Guild Headquarters accused the Xinfei Merchant Guild of misleading low-rank mages, revoked its designated partner status, and urged mages to boycott it.
• Mages’ Guild branches in several countries published the headquarters’ announcement but took no further action, while the Lampari Kingdom branch publicly praised the guild’s support for local low-rank mages.
• The chapter left the conflict awaiting the response of the low-rank mages at the center of the dispute.

The chapter described how low-rank mages formed the backbone of the Xinfei Merchant Guild and showed that the Mages' Guild Headquarters' criticism had not caused them to resign. Sinil visited a tavern in their residential district, where a worker's mention of a wage deduction revealed that he worked for the guild.

• The Xinfei Merchant Guild continued operating normally after the Mages' Guild Headquarters criticized its employment of low-rank mages, with no mass resignations.
• Curious outsiders traveled to the Stantin Duchy and observed the large residential district where the guild's employees lived.
• Low-rank mages gathered at the Rolling Stone Tavern to discuss the newly official Mana Racing Car Championship and their bets on its first race.
• Sinil entered the tavern and admired three paintings, learning that an elf had left them as collateral for an unpaid bill.
• A middle-aged man warned Sinil against drinking all three liquors at once and said he had once lost a day's pay and a gold coin after getting drunk.
• Sinil asked the man whether he was an employee of the Xinfei Merchant Guild.

Sinil questioned Xinfei Merchant Guild mages about claims that the guild exploited Low-Rank Mages and prevented them from learning magic. Their accounts convinced him that they valued the guild’s pay and support more than the Mages’ Guild Headquarters’ authority, and the chapter ended with seven mages throwing down their badges.

• Sinil bought Luther a drink and asked whether the Xinfei Merchant Guild treated Low-Rank Mages badly.
• Luther angrily rejected the headquarters’ accusations, describing the guild’s wages, benefits, and magic instruction.
• Luther introduced Sinil to fellow Xinfei Academy graduates, who mocked the claims and explained how their training helped them earn a living.
• The mages condemned the Mages’ Guild Headquarters for trying to interfere with their work at the guild.
• A Third-Level Mage tore off his badge and declared he would leave the Mages’ Guild, and six others, including Luther, threw their badges onto the table.

After the Mages' Guild Headquarters barred Xinfei Merchant Guild employees from its annual mage qualification examination, 237 mages in the Stantin Duchy withdrew and founded the Mage Association. The new association partnered with Xinfei and attracted more than ten thousand members, leaving the Mages' Guild facing a growing challenge.

• Several regional Mages' Guild branches supported the Xinfei Merchant Guild after the headquarters declared it untrustworthy.
• The Stantin Duchy's branch announced that 237 mages had jointly withdrawn from the Mages' Guild after being barred from qualification examinations because they worked for Xinfei.
• Mais Luther condemned the headquarters for abandoning the guild's founding purpose and prioritizing its elders' interests.
• The 237 former members founded the United Association for Mage Livelihood and Employment Security, or Mage Association, to support mages' livelihoods and employment.
• The Mage Association agreed to cooperate with Xinfei, which offered training, 500 recruitment places, and 3,000 job referrals.
• More than ten thousand mages joined the Mage Association within a month, while observers wondered how the Mages' Guild would respond.

Great Mage Ferguson visited the Xinfei Merchant Guild to deliver the Mages' Guild Headquarters’ final warning, but Akali treated his demands as unimportant and gave him no response. He stormed out, while Akali confirmed that the exchange had been recorded as the president instructed.

• Great Mage Ferguson arrived in Xinfei City and learned that Xu Yi had left Akali to receive him.
• Akali brought Ferguson to the guild office, where she said she had no authority to represent the guild and repeated Xu Yi’s dismissive remarks about the Mages' Guild.
• Ferguson demanded that the Xinfei Merchant Guild dissolve the Magic Machinery Patent Protection Federation and the Mage Federation, warning that the Mages' Guild controlled all magic-related rights.
• Akali showed no concern about the warning, prompting Ferguson to storm out and threaten the guild.
• Akali asked the three employees whether they had recorded the meeting, and one confirmed that they had.

Xu Yi oversaw construction of the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s heavily armed offshore base on Giant Deer Island while General Monroe pressed him to sell Guard Frigates to the Rulson Kingdom. Xu Yi made clear that the kingdom would need to pay or offer access to its mineral resources, and Monroe left to report the proposal to King Trutz.

• Xu Yi attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s military base on Giant Deer Island, which would be defended by fleets, guards, Mana Cannons, and Magic-Powered Stone Throwers.
• General Monroe admired the base’s defenses and worried that the Candel Empire Navy might eventually threaten it, while Xu Yi noted that the guild continued selling Guard Frigates to the empire.
• General Monroe asked Xu Yi to sell Guard Frigates to the Rulson Kingdom, but Xu Yi insisted that the kingdom pay the price or consider other arrangements.
• Xu Yi reflected that the Candel Empire’s blockade had damaged the Rulson Kingdom’s trade and finances, leaving it unable to afford the ships needed to break the blockade at sea.
• General Monroe understood that Xu Yi’s proposed alternative was opening the kingdom’s mineral resources to the Xinfei Merchant Guild, and said he would report the matter to King Trutz.

Xu Yi visited the Candel Empire to discuss trade and cooperation, including a major Guard Frigate contract and investment in Tural Province. He unexpectedly met Duke Windsor, a fierce opponent of the Xinfei Merchant Guild, and the two cautiously opened the door to a partnership.

• Xu Yi watched construction begin on the Xinfei Merchant Guild's Giant Deer Island naval base, then traveled to the Candel Empire.
• The Candel Empire Navy cut its personnel and fleet to save money for a fifteen-million-gold-coin purchase of mana-powered Guard Frigates from the guild.
• Xu Yi went to Tural Province to meet Duke Peresko and discuss bringing the Xinfei Merchant Guild into the province's growing magic industry.
• Duke Peresko introduced Duke Chris Windsor, governor of the Southern Province and a longtime opponent of the guild, at a banquet for Xu Yi.
• Xu Yi offered Duke Windsor a chance at a pleasant partnership, and Duke Windsor shook his hand and told him not to disappoint him.

Xu Yi secured secret cooperation agreements with Tural Province and the Southern Province to expand magic industry, while arranging road construction and cargo locomotives for both. Back at the Xinfei Merchant Guild's base, he assessed the spread of magic industry across the empires and considered the Malo Empire's offer of technical support terms, which he judged insufficient.

• Xu Yi and Duke Peresko and Duke Windsor signed private agreements to establish the Tunan Merchant Guild and develop farmland machinery factories and magic industrial bases in their provinces.
• President Cruz signed an official agreement with the two provinces to build four roads, and each province ordered two hundred Large Cargo Magic Locomotives from the Xinfei Merchant Guild.
• Xu Yi returned to his seaside manor and marked Tural Province red on his map while marking only a few spots in the Southern Province because he remained unsure of Duke Windsor.
• Xu Yi observed that magic industry had spread widely through the Candel Empire and had developed more deeply in parts of the Malo Empire under Marquis Southgate.
• The Malo Empire requested technical support to manufacture farmland magic machinery and offered a five-percent tariff reduction, but Xu Yi considered the offer inadequate.

Xu Yi planned the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s second naval base and learned that Vivian was still grieving over Teresa’s departure. Stille returned with a warning about Xu Yi’s plan to release an Illusion Film exposing the Mages’ Guild, and he took her to seek her grandfather’s judgment.

• Xu Yi marked Giant Deer Island, its naval base’s reach, and a possible site for a second base on the map.
• Stille arrived and told Xu Yi that Vivian had refused to enter the Manor and still had not recovered from Teresa being sent back to the Lampari Kingdom.
• Xu Yi recalled Vivian’s conflict over losing her friend Teresa and promised to find a chance to talk with her.
• Stille questioned Xu Yi about the Illusion Film concerning the Mages’ Guild Headquarters and warned that showing it could provoke the Guild and endanger him.
• Xu Yi suggested they ask Stille’s grandfather to judge the matter, and Stille reluctantly went with him.

The New Moon Merchant Guild introduced its first News Weekly broadcast in Karamay City, replacing the expected serial drama with reports from across the Sains Continent. The program covered the Lampari Kingdom’s new welfare plan and began an international report about the Mages’ Guild Headquarters’ warning to the Xinfei Merchant Guild.

• The New Moon Merchant Guild screened the first News Weekly broadcast for a packed crowd in Karamay City, hosted by Reinapp and Aurelia.
• News Weekly reported that the Lampari Kingdom had taken over Xilan City and six other cities from the Sark Kingdom under the Ceasefire Agreement.
• The broadcast showed Queen Servini announcing the Kingdom Parliament’s approval of a Basic Welfare Plan that would provide support to every subject starting the following year.
• Reinapp introduced international news, and the broadcast began showing a Mages’ Guild Headquarters representative delivering a final warning to the Xinfei Merchant Guild.

Great Mage Ferguson and President Gascoigne struggled to find a way to punish the Xinfei Merchant Guild after its public exposure of the Mages' Guild Headquarters. Ferguson then saw how thoroughly Xinfei products and businesses had spread through Sky City, leaving him questioning the guild’s hostility toward Xu Yi.

• President Gascoigne blamed Ferguson for mishandling the dispute and ordered him to focus on building ties with archmages in the Two Great Empires.
• After leaving the Magic Throne, Ferguson saw Xinfei Mana Sedans, bicycles, and other products throughout Sky City.
• Ferguson entered a fabric shop and learned its owner was closing to join her cousin’s textile processing factory in the Candel Empire.
• The shopkeeper confirmed that her cousin’s factory was connected to the Xinfei Merchant Guild, and Ferguson realized Xinfei had become deeply established in Sky City.
• Ferguson wondered whether the Mages' Guild had any effective way—or any reason—to punish Xu Yi and the Xinfei Merchant Guild.

After the Mages' Guild Headquarters denounced the Xinfei Merchant Guild and the Mage Association, low-rank mages continued to support the association and leave the guild. Xu Yi and Archmage Camilla discussed the benefits his industry brought mages, then realized archmages could attack a merchant guild under the guise of a private vendetta.

• The Mages' Guild Headquarters declared the Xinfei Merchant Guild's broadcast fabricated, called for a boycott, and urged mages to leave the Mage Association.
• Low-rank mages remained firm in their support for the Mage Association, with most continuing to withdraw from the Mages' Guild.
• Xu Yi told Archmage Camilla that the Mages' Guild had forgotten its role as a service organization, while she accused him of deliberately drawing low-rank mages away from it.
• Archmage Camilla acknowledged that Xu Yi's magic industry gave low-rank mages a livelihood and thanked him for helping their prospects.
• Xu Yi asked what retaliation to expect, and Archmage Camilla warned that archmages could attack a merchant guild as a private vendetta even though they could not join wars of aggression.