Recaps

Lucian’s token from the mysterious girl secured him a special recommendation to the Xinfei Merchant Guild, but he chose to take the preliminary examination anyway and passed near the top. He entered the final examination still unsure of his chances, then saw an unexpected person among the applicants.

• Director Holly recognized Lucian’s token, confirmed the mysterious girl had recommended him, and arranged for him to receive a special recommendation.
• Lucian asked to take the preliminary examination despite being able to proceed directly to the final, and the staff member agreed.
• Lucian passed the preliminary examination near the top and Director Holly congratulated him, but refused to reveal the mysterious girl’s identity.
• Lucian learned that more than two hundred applicants were competing for three Mana Communications positions and entered the final examination.
• Lucian saw someone he had not expected among the other final examination applicants.

Lucian took Master Akali’s special assessment for research assistants and passed both the written and practical stages. He arrived at the Xinfei Merchant Guild Magic Research Institute for an interview and was astonished to see someone unexpected there.

• Master Akali announced that she was personally recruiting research assistants and gave the applicants a separate assessment.
• Akali called Lucian by name, wished him luck, and left him wondering how she knew him.
• Lucian found the written questions manageable thanks to his experience installing Magic Communication Networks, then passed the practical assessment with about twenty others.
• A Xinfei Merchant Guild staff member took the successful applicants by Large Passenger Magic Locomotive to the guild’s headquarters and Magic Research Institute.
• Lucian entered a conference room for Akali’s interviews and was astonished to see another unexpected person there.

Lucian met Freya again at Master Akali’s recruitment meeting, where the candidates learned that the research assistant job required long postings far from home. After Freya praised Lucian and Akali encouraged him to consider the position, Lucian left and suddenly realized who Freya might be.

• Akali told the successful candidates they would work abroad for six months to a year and offered them a monthly salary of thirty gold coins, plus meals and accommodation.
• Two candidates withdrew because of family responsibilities, while another reconsidered after hearing the compensation.
• Akali gave the candidates documents about the job and asked them to decide within a few days whether they could accept the assignment.
• Akali asked Lucian to stay, and he apologized to Freya and thanked her for recommending that he apply to the Xinfei Merchant Guild.
• Freya warned Lucian that Akali was strict, and Akali praised his skills before asking him to consider the job.
• As Lucian left, he suddenly stopped and realized that Freya was connected to someone he recognized.

Freya discussed whether she would accept her father’s wish for her to inherit the Xinfei Merchant Guild, while Akali urged her to consider the responsibilities carefully. After Akali left, Freya changed her Illusion Skin disguise and departed the conference room.

• Akali teased Freya about liking someone, then asked whether she had decided to take over the Xinfei Merchant Guild.
• Freya admitted she found guild work interesting but was unsure about choosing her future so early, and Akali explained that her decision affected the guild’s nearly million people.
• Freya promised to think carefully and either explain her refusal to her father or accept the role and shoulder its responsibilities.
• Akali reminded Freya that her father would not appoint one of her younger siblings as successor, then left to arrange matters for the Overseas Base.
• Freya inspected her Illusion Skin in a water mirror, transformed into a beautiful young woman, and decided to give Elder Lysania feedback about its limited facial expressions.

Freya reunited with her parents after Stille returned, and defended her decision to secretly infiltrate a dangerous situation last month. Xu Yi’s sudden seriousness left Freya wondering whether something major had happened.

• Freya left the Mana Communications Research Institute with Linoya, who told her that Stille had returned and summoned her.
• Freya drove to Xu Yi’s Manor and greeted Stille, then playfully tested her magic against Xu Yi’s Magic Shields.
• Freya apologized for using Stille’s absence to avoid punishment but insisted that her infiltration had been necessary and had helped protect the students.
• Xu Yi agreed with Freya’s reasoning but criticized how she spoke to Stille, while Stille warned that Freya’s risk-taking could have ended badly.
• Xu Yi’s expression turned serious, making Freya suspect that something major had happened.

Xu Yi reprimanded Freya for failing to follow through on the kidnapping victims’ rescue, then told her to handle a cooperation meeting with a Candel Empire delegation. Linoya pressed Xu Yi to marry her on behalf of the Aila Tribe, leaving Xu Yi worried that elven tribes would keep using marriage to secure ties with the Xinfei Merchant Guild.

• Xu Yi told Freya that she had to take responsibility for the consequences of the rescue, and Stille assigned her a week of Space Magic study as punishment for endangering herself.
• Xu Yi revealed that a delegation from the Candel Empire wanted to discuss cooperation with Freya, so she would have to handle the matter herself.
• Linoya asked Xu Yi again to marry her, but he refused and said he already had many wives.
• Freya said she supported Linoya marrying Xu Yi, while Stille said she would not object if he chose to do so.
• Xu Yi and Stille discussed how the Aila Tribe hoped marriage to him would improve its prospects for cooperation with the Xinfei Merchant Guild, and Xu Yi worried other elven tribes might follow suit.
• Stille warned Xu Yi that Linoya might truly fall in love with him if he delayed refusing her.

Freya met with the Candel Diplomatic Delegation to discuss the empire’s request for technical information about the magic communication network. After realizing Xu Yi had left the decision to her, she asked Marquis Mufala to show sincerity before negotiations began.

• Freya greeted Marquis Mufala and clarified that she had only observed the Xinfei Merchant Guild Guards Corps’ operation against human traffickers.
• Marquis Mufala said the Candel Empire’s Special Operations Team had performed poorly and asked the guild for help improving coordination.
• Freya explained that nationwide magic communication coverage required the empire to invest sufficient funding.
• Marquis Mufala revealed that the empire wanted to buy the network’s technical information so it could manage and maintain the system itself.
• Freya learned Xu Yi had given her full authority to decide and asked Marquis Mufala to show the empire’s sincerity before discussing the request.

Freya analyzed the Candel Empire’s request to take over parts of its magic communication network, and Xu Yi granted her full authority to negotiate and manage the matter. She accepted, warning him that she might make a mess of things.

• Freya reported that the magic communication network covered more than eighty-three percent of the Candel Empire, while difficult terrain and local resistance blocked construction elsewhere.
• Xu Yi explained that rumors about mind control had fueled opposition to mana signal towers, and Freya suspected someone might be manipulating the people.
• Freya proposed handing the remaining network installation to the Candel Empire while keeping the guild involved in operating the network.
• Freya argued that the empire could promote the network itself because it had developed the necessary magic industry and stood to gain from operating profits.
• Xu Yi praised Freya’s analysis and gave her full authority to handle the Candel Empire’s request and all related work.
• Freya suspected Xu Yi was trying to tie her down, then accepted the responsibility and said he could not scold her if she made a mess of things.

Xu Yi reflected on the rapid growth of magical communications and other technologies across the Sains Continent during the Golden Decade, including a controversial medical breakthrough he planned to acquire. He then contacted Servini, facing an important problem whose details remained unresolved.

• Xu Yi considered Freya's new responsibility managing the magic communication network industry and trusted the guild's veterans to help her.
• The Xinfei Merchant Guild's Magic Communication Box passed one million sales, while its network technology advanced to support more than a hundred thousand simultaneous signals and long-distance video calls.
• A merchant guild in the Malo Empire developed a medical screening technology using the dark magic spell Extreme Allure, but public concerns about ethics forced it to suspend the technology and apologize.
• Xu Yi began negotiations to acquire the medical technology and recruit its research team for the Xinfei Merchant Guild.
• Xu Yi reflected on the Golden Decade that began with his Bonta Declaration, then used the Private Line to contact Servini at the Royal Palace in Anvilmar City.

Xu Yi warned Prince Raymond that Queen Servini’s recent focus on military magic machinery could cross his bottom line and threaten the long-standing peace, then announced he would recall two teams of Xinfei Merchant Guild experts from the Lampari Kingdom. The conversation ended with Xu Yi questioning Raymond about his future duties as heir, leaving the rift with Servini unresolved.

• Raymond took Servini’s place on the Magic Communication Device and explained that she was occupied with ministers, confirming Xu Yi’s suspicion that she was avoiding him.
• Xu Yi asked Raymond to warn Servini to stop before crossing his bottom line and to consider his position and the continent’s peace.
• Raymond asked what would happen if Servini refused to change course, and Xu Yi implied that the Lampari Kingdom could not safely oppose the Xinfei Merchant Guild.
• Xu Yi announced that he planned to recall the two teams of experts working in the Lampari Kingdom, and Raymond questioned whether this was already a punishment.
• Before ending the call, Xu Yi asked Raymond whether he was prepared to inherit the throne; Raymond affirmed his duty, and Xu Yi wished him well.

Servini explained to Raymond that the Lampari Kingdom needed its own military power and admitted that it was secretly researching military magic machinery. Xu Yi then visited Akali at the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s research institute and warned her that rival countries were sending fleets into the Endless Sea near her project site.

• Servini asked Raymond whether he was ready to serve the kingdom and taught him that a country needed power to protect itself.
• Raymond realized Servini was secretly overseeing military magic machinery research, which violated the Continental Peace Convention, and learned that Xu Yi knew about it.
• Xu Yi visited Akali’s Mana Communications Research Department, where she was training newly hired assistants for an upcoming project.
• Akali joked with Xu Yi about their rumored relationship, then followed him into an office to discuss the project.
• Xu Yi warned Akali that several countries, including the Two Great Empires, planned to send fleets into the Endless Sea near the waters she had selected.

Xu Yi warned Akali that eastern nations might challenge the Xinfei Merchant Guild, then sent her to establish a secret mana signal relay station in the Endless Sea. He traveled to the impoverished Kuranyi Kingdom to begin his ambitious Eastern Development plan, where the delegation immediately faced an unexpected show of force.

• Xu Yi told Akali that the eastern nations were growing stronger and might cause trouble, but he would avoid conflict unless they went too far.
• Xu Yi arranged for Schuster to protect Akali's research team and told her he might be away on a long trip.
• Six days later, Akali led twenty-six mana vessels toward islands between the Demoncloud and Sains continents to build a secret hyperspace mana signal relay station.
• Xu Yi arrived in the Kuranyi Kingdom with investors, foreign delegations, and merchant guild representatives to launch the Eastern Development plan.
• The Kuranyi Kingdom gave Xu Yi and the delegation an unexpected show of force upon their arrival.

Xu Yi arrived in the Kuranyi Kingdom to find its capital engulfed in chaos and discovered that General Lefalu had started a rebellion and killed King Simpson. After Lefalu offered the Xinfei Merchant Guild favorable terms, Xu Yi rejected him and considered taking control of the kingdom himself.

• Xu Yi sent Mana Airships to investigate the chaos, then descended into the capital while the visiting representatives waited above.
• Xu Yi killed several men attacking a woman, ordered the Guards Corps to restore order, and saw that the Royal Palace was burning.
• Xu Yi learned from a captured soldier that General Lefalu had killed King Simpson and seized control of the capital.
• Xu Yi confronted Lefalu in the council hall and demanded compensation for the disruption to the Xinfei Merchant Guild's investment plans.
• Lefalu offered Xu Yi better terms in exchange for supporting his rule, but Xu Yi refused and suggested that the guild take control of the Kuranyi Kingdom itself.

After General Lefalu’s rebellion was crushed, Xu Yi installed a young king and brought the Kuranyi Kingdom under the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s control, accelerating development and desert reclamation. A report on Xu Yi’s drastic actions unsettled the Candel emperor, who wondered whether Xu Yi’s ambitions had changed.

• Xu Yi captured General Lefalu, helped the former king’s twelve-year-old son inherit the throne, and had Lefalu and other rebels executed.
• The Xinfei Merchant Guild and its partners began rapidly building roads, magic communication networks, mana stations, and other infrastructure across the Kuranyi Kingdom.
• The Moon Goddess Environmental Protection Guild began reclaiming the kingdom’s deserts in exchange for land, while Xu Yi treated the work as the foundation of his broader Eastern Development plan.
• Emperor Alfonso Candel read a report on the Kuranyi Kingdom twice and asked Grand Duke Galbutte why Xu Yi had used such force.
• Grand Duke Galbutte suggested Xu Yi might intend to annex the kingdom, but Alfonso doubted it and worried that Xu Yi’s drastic methods signaled a change in his ambitions.

The Candel emperor and Grand Duke Galbutte discussed Xu Yi’s recent actions, with Galbutte arguing that Xu Yi’s decade of peaceful cooperation proved he had no ambitions for power. The emperor acknowledged Xu Yi’s contributions to the Candel Empire but remained uneasy about whether Xu Yi had the ability to act, regardless of his intentions.

• Grand Duke Galbutte told the Candel emperor that Xu Yi’s recent aggression did not mean his thinking had changed.
• Galbutte cited Xu Yi’s rejection of power ten years earlier and his continued efforts to develop the continent’s magic industry peacefully.
• The Candel emperor reflected on how the Xinfei Merchant Guild had improved food production, disaster response, communications, transportation, and the empire’s technological capacity.
• The emperor told Grand Duke Galbutte that his concern was not whether Xu Yi wanted to act, but whether he could.
• Grand Duke Galbutte understood the emperor’s concern and answered with a bitter chuckle.

The Candel Emperor worried that Xu Yi’s power could threaten the empire, but accepted that he could not currently control the Xinfei Merchant Guild and turned his attention to imperial affairs. Grand Duke Galbutte then considered Wimbledon’s worsening congestion and pushed for a new city, though the project remained stalled by funding and planning disputes.

• The Candel Emperor discussed Xu Yi’s military strength with Grand Duke Galbutte, then ordered him to meet Lampari Kingdom representatives in Troll Valley and discuss increased funding for the valley.
• Grand Duke Galbutte left the palace for the eighth anniversary celebration at Wimbledon’s First Steelworks, where its cumulative steel output had reached ten million tonnes.
• Traffic delayed Grand Duke Galbutte’s Mana Sedan, reminding him that Wimbledon City’s growing population and widespread use of Mana Sedans had overwhelmed its streets.
• Grand Duke Galbutte favored building a new city rather than renovating Wimbledon, citing the examples of Bunta City and Xinfei City and the offers of support from the Xinfei and Amli Merchant Guilds.
• Grand Duke Galbutte recognized that negotiations and planning had stalled, while relocating the imperial palace was impossible because of its long history and symbolic importance.

Grand Duke Galbutte attended the First Steelworks’ commemorative event and discussed the magic communication network with Freya. Freya said she had not decided whether to succeed Xu Yi as head of the Xinfei Merchant Guild, leaving the guests to conclude that she would probably take over.

• Grand Duke Galbutte arrived late at Wimbledon's First Steelworks, where Marquis Askend and the other guests greeted him.
• Grand Duke Galbutte invited Freya to speak, but Freya said she had already spoken for the Xinfei Merchant Guild and joked that she was hungry.
• Grand Duke Galbutte delivered a lengthy speech about the Candel Empire’s steel industry, and the guests then moved to the luncheon.
• Grand Duke Galbutte asked Freya about transferring magic communication network technology, and she said the Xinfei Merchant Guild was willing to negotiate terms.
• Grand Duke Galbutte asked whether Freya would succeed Xu Yi when she turned twenty-five, and Freya said she had not decided.
• Marquis Askend suggested Freya’s increasing involvement in guild affairs meant she was preparing to take over, but Freya said Xu Yi had pushed the technology-transfer matter onto her.

Freya negotiated with Grand Duke Galbutte and Marquis Askend over the Candel Empire's acquisition and control of the magic communication network. She challenged their concerns about the guild's involvement by revealing evidence that the empire was secretly developing military magic machinery, then asked how Teresa was.

• Freya attended the banquet as the Xinfei Merchant Guild's representative and met with Grand Duke Galbutte afterward.
• Grand Duke Galbutte and Marquis Askend insisted that the Candel Empire needed control of its magic communication network, while Freya argued the guild could remain involved without compromising the empire's secrets.
• Freya explained that the guild wanted the empire to expand the network and integrate it into the continental system, with the option for the empire's network to disconnect when necessary.
• Grand Duke Galbutte declared that the network had to be under the empire's control and promised the guild compensation.
• Freya questioned why the empire feared sharing control of the network while claiming it could develop military magic machinery without the guild's help.
• Freya showed Grand Duke Galbutte and Marquis Askend pictures of a young woman and a valley, then asked them how Teresa had been.

Xu Yi watched the Amli Merchant Guild blast a passage through the Kuranyi Kingdom’s mountains and reflected on how scientific study had turned the Sains Continent’s accumulated magical knowledge into powerful technology. He left the construction site emphasizing the highway’s importance to the Eastern Development plan, while recognizing that connecting the continent would take years.

• Xu Yi watched modified fire and earth magic demolish part of a mountain so the Amli Merchant Guild could build a highway through the Kuranyi Kingdom.
• Xu Yi considered how magic research had made construction faster and cheaper than Earth methods, despite criticism that the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s technologies increased instability.
• Xu Yi concluded that the Sains Continent’s rapid magical advances drew on more than ten thousand years of accumulated research, redirected by his scientific approach.
• Deyokov assured Xu Yi that the road project was progressing smoothly, and Xu Yi urged him to give the strategically important highway the attention it required.
• Xu Yi looked toward the route that would connect the Kuranyi Kingdom with central and western regions, knowing the proposed continental highway would take years to complete.

Xu Yi oversaw the Kuranyi Kingdom’s rapid development before preparing to leave and discussing the Amli Merchant Guild’s interest in acquiring Engineering Magic Machinery technology. He planned to attend a Magic Research Conference in Sossrui City, and Freya decided to meet him there.

• Xu Yi reviewed the roads, factories, and other investments transforming the Kuranyi Kingdom and prepared to leave after the mountain excavation work.
• Deyokov asked whether the Xinfei Merchant Guild would transfer Engineering Magic Machinery technology to the Amli Merchant Guild, and Xu Yi told him President Cruz should discuss it with him directly.
• Xu Yi received a call from Freya, who said her work was nearly finished and asked whether they could meet at home.
• Xu Yi told Freya he was going to Sossrui City for a Magic Research Conference rather than heading home.
• Freya said she would travel to Sossrui City to speak with Xu Yi, and he agreed.

Xu Yi attended a Magic Research Conference in the Mana Magical Kingdom, where Archmage Gascoigne proposed restoring mage rank assessments. Xu Yi remained calm about the proposal and argued that becoming an archmage was only a title, while insisting that mage rank assessments still had considerable significance.

• Xu Yi arrived at an estate outside Sossrui City and was welcomed by Great Mage Furuis and other researchers from the Magic Science Research Institute.
• Great Mage Furuis told Xu Yi that Archmage Gascoigne had proposed restoring mage rank assessments as the conference's main topic.
• Xu Yi said he would not oppose the proposal if most of the continent's mages supported it, surprising Furuis and the other mages.
• Archmage Gascoigne greeted Xu Yi and praised his magical research, prompting Xu Yi to distinguish magical science from pursuing the title of archmage.
• Xu Yi said research aimed at becoming an archmage had little significance, then clarified that mage rank assessments still mattered.

Xu Yi attended a major gathering of the continent’s mages and considered how to draw more archmages into magic industry research. He told the gathered archmages that he had come to discuss the current state of mages, leaving Archmage Gascoigne suspicious of his real intentions.

• Xu Yi told Archmage Gascoigne that mage rankings could give mages goals, but postponed discussing how to assess them until the conference began.
• Xu Yi entered the Manor, where more than ten archmages and over four hundred great mages had gathered, and received widespread attention as President Xu.
• Xu Yi reflected that most archmages still resisted magic industry research, while ordinary mages had become the sector’s backbone.
• Archmage Hilbert asked whether Xu Yi planned to present new ideas, and Xu Yi said he had come to discuss the current state of the continent’s mages.
• Archmage Gascoigne grew suspicious that Xu Yi’s purpose for attending was more complicated than he claimed.

Xu Yi inspected the Mana Magical Kingdom’s stalled Heavy Magic Machinery project and confronted Van Horne over the kingdom’s lack of progress. The visit ended with mages joining an attack on the workers, leaving Xu Yi questioning whether the kingdom was deliberately driving him away.

• Van Horne told Xu Yi that the factory site beside the Maya River had been selected, but the king and Parliament had yet to finalize the project’s future.
• Xu Yi explained that he valued cooperation with the Mana Magical Kingdom despite its resentment over the Mage Peace Pact and said he would seek an audience with the king.
• Xu Yi arrived at the undeveloped construction site and angrily challenged Van Horne over the project’s sluggish progress.
• A group of people, including several mages, rushed into the site and beat and abused the workers while Van Horne refused to intervene.
• Xu Yi watched the attack and wondered why the Mana Magical Kingdom seemed intent on driving him away.

Xu Yi confronted former Mana Magical Kingdom army mages who blamed him for their dismissal, then left after warning Van Horne that their behavior could damage cooperation. He reunited with Freya and explained that he planned to let the kingdom resolve its own problems, while also refusing to pursue the Candel Empire’s secret military magic research.

• A crowd of dismissed mages confronted Xu Yi and accused him of causing their unemployment through the Mage Peace Pact.
• Xu Yi challenged the crowd to attack, then warned Van Horne that the incident would affect his confidence in cooperating with the Mana Magical Kingdom.
• Xu Yi flew away by Mana Airship and reunited with Freya near a town southeast of Sossrui City.
• Freya said Xu Yi had let anger cloud his judgment, but Xu Yi explained that he was stepping back because the kingdom could not resolve its internal problems.
• Freya told Xu Yi that Grand Duke Galbutte had invited him to the Candel Empire, but Xu Yi declined and said he would not interfere with its secret military magic research.

The Seventh Continental Mage Research Conference concluded successfully, with Xu Yi sharing the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s research findings and declining to oppose the restoration of mage rank assessments. Meanwhile, protests and rumors against the guild spread through the Mana Magical Kingdom, and the guild announced it was withdrawing completely from the country.

• Xu Yi offered little input on restoring mage rank assessments but shared the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s research findings at the conference.
• The Mana Magical Kingdom apologized to Xu Yi and invited him to talks, but the Xinfei Merchant Guild demanded a complete cooperation plan by year’s end.
• More than thirty thousand protesters in Sossrui City chanted for the Xinfei Merchant Guild to leave the Mana Magical Kingdom.
• Protests spread to at least seventeen other cities as boycotts and damaging rumors about the guild swept across the kingdom and reached other countries.
• The Xinfei Merchant Guild announced that it was withdrawing completely from the Mana Magical Kingdom.