Chapter Summaries

After most merchant guilds abandoned magical machinery research, Servini brought Xu Yi news of approved labor permits and a huge new order for Farmland Magic Machinery. The Kingdom planned to pay for the order with mines transferred directly to the Xinfei Merchant Guild, while Servini hinted that the Joseph Family would no longer be able to interfere.

• Xu Yi’s explanation of the theory behind magical machinery convinced twenty-three of the twenty-eight attending guilds to stop producing Magic Fans and leave the industry.
• Servini visited Xu Yi and told him that the assembly had approved a Labor Bureau, which would let the Xinfei Merchant Guild apply for permits for its dwarf workers.
• Servini said the Kingdom’s existing Farmland Magic Machinery had sold out and that the Agriculture Bureau estimated it needed at least seventy thousand additional machines.
• Xu Yi learned that the King wanted the Xinfei Merchant Guild to produce another fifty thousand machines, worth more than three million gold coins.
• Servini explained that the Kingdom would transfer mines directly to Xu Yi at market value rather than hold a public auction, and she said the Joseph Family would not protest again.

Xu Yi launched the lighter, redesigned Xinfei magic fan with a trade-in program, then announced the Small Merchant Guild Support Plan to help small guilds enter magic machinery production. Freeman described how the Ireland United Merchant Guild grew from a group of farmers into a major screw supplier for Xinfei.

• Servini delivered armor and weapons to Xu Yi, who assigned them to Canby and the dwarves to study.
• Xu Yi unveiled the new Xinfei magic fan, featuring a lightweight plastic casing and silverleaf steel, and offered trade-in credit for old fans.
• Xu Yi announced the Small Merchant Guild Support Plan and introduced Freeman of the Ireland United Merchant Guild as its first participant.
• Freeman explained how he and companions from Ireland Village founded their guild after he joined the Farmer Support Plan and began producing screws.
• Xu Yi revealed that the Ireland United Merchant Guild supplied nearly all the screws used by Xinfei and earned the guild more than five thousand gold coins each month.

At the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s launch, Freeman’s success promoting the Small Merchant Guild Support Plan drew public interest, and Xu Yi outlined how it would work. Afterward, Naxi told Xu Yi that Rem had met a man who then left Bonta for Sartan City, leading Xu Yi to focus on uncovering the people behind him.

• Freeman told the audience that the Ireland United Merchant Guild had earned over five hundred gold coins the previous month with six members.
• Xu Yi took the podium and explained how the Xinfei Merchant Guild would review applicants for its Small Merchant Guild Support Plan.
• After the launch, Xu Yi directed the crowd to watch for plan details in the Bunta Daily, at the Product Service Center, and in Civic Square.
• Naxi told Xu Yi that Rem had visited a man that morning and that the man had left Bonta for Sartan City.
• Xu Yi dismissed Naxi’s suggestion to seize and interrogate the man, saying the people behind him mattered more.

After a rush of applications, Xu Yi explained to Heinz why the Xinfei Merchant Guild was supporting small guilds to produce components. The chapter ended with Heinz realizing Xu Yi welcomed the possibility that those guilds might someday become strong competitors.

• After news of the Small Merchant Guild Support Plan spread, more than a thousand merchant guilds applied, but only eighty-seven remained eligible and willing to participate.
• Heinz returned to Bunta City and confronted Xu Yi, fearing that small guilds would take over the Domestic Magic Machinery Production Workshop’s work.
• Xu Yi explained that component production had bottlenecked the workshop and that outsourcing it would free up the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s workers and space for assembly.
• Xu Yi told Heinz that the Ireland United Merchant Guild made No. 3 screws for less than the Xinfei Merchant Guild could, while earning a profit and producing better-quality screws.
• When Heinz asked whether small guilds might eventually steal the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s business, Xu Yi said he would welcome their success, and Heinz called him a madman.

Xu Yi reflected on the industrial growth around Sankton Manor and discussed with Moon Cruz how privately funded roads could become profitable. Meanwhile, Xinfei magic fans sold well in Bunta City and the guild expanded its reach, but Servini firmly rejected Xu Yi’s plan to open a factory near Anvilmar City.

• Sixty-three small merchant guilds signed five-year agreements to manufacture components for the Xinfei Merchant Guild, turning the area around Sankton Manor into an industrial district.
• Xu Yi regretted that the delayed road to Falling Rain Valley had cost Sankton Manor its quiet surroundings, and Moon Cruz defended the Amli Merchant Guild’s careful construction pace.
• Cruz said the Feilson Carriage Company was considering building a road, but the road’s high cost made private investment seem impractical.
• Xu Yi suggested that road building could earn a profit and hinted that the king would soon ask Cruz’s guild to build roads.
• Xinfei sold 6,472 new-generation magic fans in Bunta City in June, including more than three thousand through its trade-in promotion, and continued pursuing expansion into other cities.
• Xu Yi considered opening a Xinfei factory near Anvilmar City, but Servini firmly rejected the idea.

Xu Yi persuaded Servini that private guilds should fund the kingdom’s roads and collect tolls, then showed her how the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s magic-powered machinery could mass-produce armor. Servini recognized that industry was transforming Bunta City and could strengthen and transform the Lampari Kingdom.

• Xu Yi explained to Servini that tolls would repay merchant guilds for building roads the kingdom could not afford, and proposed letting the guilds take responsibility for public opposition.
• Servini questioned whether Xu Yi had planned for the Xinfei Merchant Guild to bear the blame, and he said its long-term gains would outweigh the cost to its reputation.
• Canby and the other dwarves demonstrated machines that produced a suit of armor in about forty minutes, astonishing Servini with their speed and low production costs.
• Servini reflected that industrial production could equip the kingdom’s army and help protect the Lampari Kingdom.
• Servini connected the machinery to the changes she had seen in Bunta City and imagined industry transforming cities and the entire kingdom.

Xu Yi and Stille spent the day shopping in Bunta City, where a shopkeeper praised Xinfei’s Magic Air Conditioners and learned about the improved model coming soon. Stille refused a free dress and asked the shopkeeper not to publicize her visit because she had signed an endorsement contract with the Armani Merchant Guild, leaving Xu Yi to realize he was dating a major celebrity.

• Xu Yi accompanied Stille around Bunta City and waited while she tried on clothes.
• The shopkeeper asked Xu Yi about the rust on her Xinfei Magic Air Conditioner, and he revealed that a new, rustproof model with adjustable temperature controls would be released soon.
• Stille tried on an aqua-green dress, and Xu Yi agreed to buy it for her.
• The shopkeeper offered Stille the dress for free and proposed using her fame as the Goddess of Bunta to attract customers.
• Stille declined the gift and asked the shopkeeper not to publicize her visit because she had contracted to endorse the Armani Merchant Guild’s clothing.
• Xu Yi recalled that President Vincent had hired Stille as a spokesperson and realized she was a major celebrity.

Xu Yi and Stille visited the Baron Rector Magic Academy on graduation day to celebrate Vivian’s first year and recruit thirteen scholarship recipients for the Xinfei Merchant Guild. When Xu Yi welcomed the graduates, another student named Drex asked to join, and other students showed interest as well.

• Stille told Xu Yi that celebrity life made ordinary activities difficult, and she was unsure whether she wanted to return to an ordinary life.
• Xu Yi and Stille went to the Baron Rector Magic Academy to celebrate Vivian’s successful first year and meet the Magic Department graduates who had received Xinfei scholarships.
• Xu Yi welcomed the thirteen scholarship recipients into the Xinfei Merchant Guild and prepared contracts for them to sign.
• A student named Drex asked Xu Yi whether he could join the guild, and Xu Yi agreed that other graduates were welcome to apply.
• Drex said he was a newly graduated third-level mage, while other students eagerly moved forward, leaving Xu Yi hopeful that he could recruit more people than expected.

Xu Yi expanded the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s recruitment and helped establish a Magic Machinery Faculty at Baron Rector Magic Academy, while its researchers developed new magic technologies. After the Falling Rain Highway opened, Mark Pombelly proposed that his company fund another highway, from Bunta City to Sartan City.

• Xu Yi recruited thirteen scholarship students and arranged assessments for twenty-four graduates who wanted to join the Xinfei Merchant Guild.
• Xu Yi and Baron Rector Magic Academy agreed to establish a Magic Machinery Faculty, funded by the guild with ten thousand gold coins each year.
• Xu Yi explained to Stille how gradual magic input power could enable adjustable air conditioning and said remote magic transmission could eventually transform daily life.
• After the twenty-four graduates passed their assessments, President Cruz told Xu Yi that the Falling Rain Highway was complete.
• Xu Yi and President Cruz held a highway completion ceremony attended by Count Samo, and visitors marveled at the smooth road and faster carriage travel.
• Mark Pombelly asked Count Samo to approve the Feilson Carriage Company’s plan to fund a highway from Bunta City to Sartan City.

President Pombelli invested in a highway from Bunta City to Sartan City after recognizing the business potential of smooth roads and tolls. As Xu Yi and President Cruz discussed highway expansion, Cruz revealed that rising demand for workers was making road construction difficult.

• President Pombelli decided to build a highway from Bunta City to Sartan City, expecting tolls and better roads to benefit the Feilson Carriage Company.
• President Cruz told Xu Yi that Pombelli did not realize Xu Yi had planned the highway strategy from the start, and both praised the comfort of the Falling Rain Highway.
• Xu Yi predicted that other merchant guilds would soon seek help building highways, while Cruz said the Amli Merchant Guild could not handle more projects without additional resources.
• President Cruz complained that laborers in Bunta City now demanded seven gold coins a month, and Xu Yi explained that rising wages reflected growing labor demand and that rival guilds were offering up to twenty gold coins to poach workers.
• President Cruz asked Xu Yi to introduce dwarves for road work, and Xu Yi pointed out that Cruz could recruit the many dwarves living in Falling Rain Valley himself.

Xu Yi showed President Cruz the expanding factories and new steelmaking equipment in Falling Rain Valley, explaining how greater steel production would support the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s ambitions. He also explained why the guild reclaimed old appliances through trade-ins, leaving Cruz with a new understanding of brand value.

• Xu Yi filled Falling Rain Valley with dwarf workers and planned it as the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s production base, including a vast heavy industry area.
• Xu Yi showed President Cruz a new converter furnace designed with the dwarves and said it could greatly increase the steelworks’ output.
• Xu Yi explained that Great Mage Camilla’s Explosive Flame Spell Array smelted ore faster than coal-fired furnaces and required Magic Crystals instead of coal.
• President Cruz questioned why the guild collected old appliances through trade-ins, and Xu Yi said reclaiming them provided scrap metal and protected the guild’s reputation by replacing inferior products.
• Xu Yi used a comparison between Xinfei Magic Fans and cheaper rival fans to explain brand value, and President Cruz understood his point.

Xu Yi and President Cruz inspected Falling Rain Valley’s plans, while Cruz learned that the dwarves trusted Xu Yi rather than the Amli Merchant Guild. Xu Yi arranged new alloy-steel and cement production, revealing that rising costs had left him out of money.

• Xu Yi and President Cruz reviewed the revised town plans with Supervisor Riley, who told Cruz that the dwarves trusted only Xu Yi and their fellow tribesmen.
• President Cruz realized Xu Yi had gained the dwarves’ trust first and cursed him after Supervisor Riley mentioned the Elf Race.
• Chief Slubi showed Xu Yi no. 29 and no. 37 alloy-steel samples and confirmed their test results.
• Xu Yi ordered Chief Slubi to produce alloy steel for the Kingdom Military Department’s order of fifty thousand suits of armor.
• Chief Slubi said some newer dwarves suspected Xu Yi had ulterior motives, and Xu Yi asked him to arrange another cement factory while keeping the formula secret.
• Xu Yi admitted he needed more cement production because he had run out of money.

Xu Yi explained the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s cash-flow shortage to Anise and discussed her gradual adjustment to human ways with Elder Elusia. He then confronted Elder Elusia about serious defects in the Night Song Tribe’s latest batch of Magic Fan casings, leaving her to answer why more than thirty percent failed inspection.

• Anise offered Xu Yi her gold coins after misunderstanding his remark that the Xinfei Merchant Guild had no money, and Xu Yi explained the guild’s temporary cash-flow shortage.
• Elder Elusia said Anise had learned to judge what was appropriate by waiting until she entered Falling Rain Forest to offer help.
• Xu Yi showed Elder Elusia a Magic Fan casing with an unapproved flower design and explained that inconsistent products were treated as defective.
• Elder Elusia accepted Xu Yi’s explanation that casings had to meet the guild’s specifications, despite initially believing elven craftsmanship could not produce defects.
• Xu Yi revealed that more than thirty percent of the twenty thousand casings from the latest batch were defective and asked Elder Elusia what had happened.

Xu Yi told Elder Elusia that the Night Song Tribe’s defective Magic Fan casings had damaged its credibility and exposed the elves’ lack of discipline. After seeing the tribe’s casual production methods, Elder Elusia asked him how to change them, and Xu Yi proposed intensive training.

• Xu Yi explained that the Night Song Tribe owed compensation and risked losing future work because more than thirty percent of its casings were defective.
• Elder Elusia reflected on Xu Yi’s criticism and admitted that elves had never understood or practiced discipline.
• Elder Elusia took Xu Yi to observe the elves producing plastic casings in a clearing in the Falling Rain Forest.
• Xu Yi saw elves wander, add excessive ingredients, and decorate casings before they had set, while Elder Elusia watched with a furrowed brow.
• Elder Elusia asked Xu Yi how to change her people, and he proposed intensive training.

The Xinfei Merchant Guild unveiled the Magic Icebox, which could freeze water and keep food fresh, and demonstrated that it could make a sweet frozen treat called ice cream. Ankato introduced the product at Sankton Manor while Xu Yi watched, leaving the crowd eager to learn more about the new invention.

• Crowds gathered at Sankton Manor for the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s latest product launch, and Xu Yi promised a Canberra Sun reporter an exclusive interview.
• Xu Yi introduced Ankato, manager of the Domestic Magic Machinery Production Workshop, to present the new product.
• Ankato revealed the Magic Icebox and showed that it could freeze a cup of water into ice.
• Ankato demonstrated that the Magic Icebox could preserve beef by showing a piece he had stored overnight without it spoiling.
• Ankato prepared a pink frozen dessert from the Magic Icebox, and a young woman tasted it and learned that it was called ice cream.

At the Xinfei Merchant Guild product launch, Ankato demonstrated the Magic Icebox and Xu Yi revealed that the guild had hired one hundred elves from the Night Song Tribe. The crowd watched the elves arrive onstage, while Xu Yi urged people to treat them normally and left the guild’s reasons for hiring them unclear.

• Ankato demonstrated the Magic Icebox, and reporters and spectators praised its ice cream and affordable eighteen-gold-coin price.
• Xu Yi resumed the presentation and announced that the Xinfei Merchant Guild had recruited one hundred workers, revealing that they were all elves.
• At Rhine’s question, Xu Yi confirmed the elves were at Sankton Manor and beckoned them onto the platform.
• Xu Yi introduced the workers as members of the Night Song Tribe and asked the crowd not to harass them.
• Xu Yi urged humans to treat elves and dwarves as ordinary people, but did not explain why the guild had hired them.

Xu Yi agreed to help the Lampari Kingdom establish a military factory, gaining new mining rights, a noble title, and a military advisory post. As the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s summer sales surged, Count Samo asked Xu Yi for a donation.

• Servini warned Xu Yi that hiring elves could attract hostility, then told him the military wanted to replace part of its armor-production arrangement with a plan for a kingdom-controlled factory.
• Xu Yi agreed to help establish the military factory, and the cooperation brought the guild two more Magic Crystal Mines while Xu Yi received a noble title and a military adviser position.
• The Xinfei Merchant Guild’s Magic Fans, Magic Air Conditioners, and Magic Iceboxes sold rapidly and generated hundreds of thousands of gold coins in profit.
• Count Samo praised Xu Yi’s contribution to Bunta City and placed a document before him, saying he wanted to ask for a donation.

Xu Yi and Count Samo agreed to have the Xinfei Merchant Guild help finance and develop roads and industrial districts around Bunta City. Xu Yi left the City Lord’s Manor reflecting on the city’s rapid growth, then noticed carriages bearing the Salank Merchant Guild’s emblem.

• Count Samo showed Xu Yi a Development Plan proposing roads to connect Bunta City with its surrounding villages and asked the Xinfei Merchant Guild to fund construction.
• Xu Yi and Count Samo agreed to begin with a highway network within ten kilometers of Bunta City, expanding outward over time.
• Xu Yi offered to handle the planned outskirts development, and Count Samo entrusted the work to the Xinfei Merchant Guild and the Amli Merchant Guild.
• Xu Yi left the City Lord’s Manor and reflected on Bunta City’s growing population, busy streets, and rising demand for workers.
• Xu Yi spotted several carriages bearing the Salank Merchant Guild’s emblem and walked toward them.

Xu Yi discussed the growing Magic Fan market and the importance of better roads with Riff, then visited President Pombelli to talk about the highway and the Feilson Carriage Company's labor shortage. He left Pombelli considering how to cut the journey from Bunta City to Anvilmar City from two days to one.

• Riff told Xu Yi that the Salank Merchant Guild had sold all its Magic Fans and that demand remained strong beyond Bunta City.
• Xu Yi confirmed that the Xinfei Merchant Guild would keep its Magic Fans in Bunta and nearby cities for the rest of the year, and urged Riff to tell President Lanke not to delay investing in highways.
• Riff described how rough roads had made the trip to Sevran City slow and damaging to the carriages, and agreed that better highways would help merchants.
• Xu Yi visited President Pombelli and learned that the Feilson Carriage Company's highway was expected to be completed in a little over three months, despite a shortage of workers.
• Xu Yi rejected forced relocation as a solution to Bunta City's labor shortage and suggested that the Feilson Carriage Company improve its own operations.
• Xu Yi asked Pombelli what would happen if the company could reduce its journey from Bunta City to Anvilmar City from two days to one.

Xu Yi proposed supplying the Feilson Carriage Company with affordable iron wheels and axles fitted with tires. At home, he endured Anise’s disastrous cooking as she tried to thank him, leaving him insisting that it tasted good.

• Xu Yi explained to President Pombelli that durable carriage wheels and axles could be made cheaply by Xinfei Merchant Guild, and offered to add tires.
• Xu Yi returned home to find Anise had cooked dinner to repay him for his help.
• Anise worried that people still stared at her, and Xu Yi reassured her that humans would grow used to the elves.
• Anise served Xu Yi a meal of charred, unrecognizable dishes, and he forced himself to say it tasted good.