Chapter Summaries

After President Allen refused to punish Anko Allen, Great Mage Camilla prepared to demand his removal, but Xu Yi promised to handle the matter himself. At the Opu Casino, Urgat reappeared and lent Anko Allen a thousand gold coins, drawing him deeper into gambling.

• Great Mage Camilla returned from meeting President Allen furious because he had refused to punish Anko Allen.
• Xu Yi promised Great Mage Camilla he would ensure Anko Allen was punished within two days without her intervention.
• Anko Allen went to the Opu Casino and lost several gold coins at roulette.
• Urgat arrived at the casino and lost a thousand gold coins on repeated high-stakes bets without showing concern.
• Anko Allen asked Urgat for a loan, and Urgat handed him a Gold Banknote worth a thousand gold coins.

At the royal harvest banquet, Xu Yi became a Kingdom Baron and secured official recognition for the Xinfei Merchant Guild. He approached Marquis Yose to propose cooperation on nonferrous metal mining and began explaining the military contract the Xinfei Merchant Guild had cost the Joseph Family.

• The King promoted Xu Yi to Kingdom Baron and granted the Xinfei Merchant Guild the title of Kingdom Honorary Merchant Guild.
• Xu Yi approached Marquis Yose and asked to discuss the Falkor Merchant Guild's business beyond Bunta City.
• Xu Yi proposed that the Falkor Merchant Guild cooperate with the Xinfei Merchant Guild to mine nonferrous metal deposits, arguing that he alone understood their uses.
• Marquis Yose questioned Xu Yi's proposal and raised the arms factory that had cost the Joseph Family a military order.
• Xu Yi said he had come to give Marquis Yose an explanation for the lost order.

Xu Yi strengthened the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s prospects for cooperation with Marquis Yose, then considered how the Lampari Kingdom’s succession struggle had placed his guild in Princess Royal Servini’s camp. He agreed to visit Stantin Duchy after returning to Bunta City, leaving open the possibility of investing there.

• Xu Yi discussed mining nonferrous metals and jointly establishing a steelworks with Marquis Yose, who expressed a preliminary willingness to cooperate and invited Xu Yi to visit his family.
• Xu Yi noticed Duke Stark but recognized that the Stark Family’s support for Prince Eric made further contact unlikely, while Xu Yi and the Xinfei Merchant Guild were associated with Princess Royal Servini.
• Angklu explained that he had come to the banquet specifically to ask Xu Yi to visit Stantin Duchy and consider investing there.
• Xu Yi agreed to stop by Stantin Duchy during a planned trip to the Black Rice Wasteland after returning to Bunta City.

Xu Yi proposed a special economic zone around Bunta City, and the king gave the idea preliminary approval. After returning to the Outer Residence, Xu Yi and Stille found Bella feeding the recovering Aleri and teased her about her supposed love for Xu Yi.

• The king summoned Xu Yi privately, praised his role in the harvest, and asked for his thoughts on exporting grain.
• Xu Yi warned that the kingdom might underestimate its grain needs and suggested developing one area first through a special economic zone.
• The king considered the advantages and political risks of supporting Bunta City and its neighbors, then gave Xu Yi's proposal preliminary approval.
• As Xu Yi left, the king said he felt reassured to have Xu Yi at Servini's side, leaving Xu Yi wondering what he meant.
• Stille told Xu Yi that Aleri had awakened, and they found Bella feeding him; Xu Yi startled them by teasing Bella about having fallen in love with him.

Xu Yi finalized several business agreements in Anvilmar City and used Anko Allen’s gambling debts to force him to apologize to Aleri. After Anko realized he could neither expose nor challenge Xu Yi without risking his own standing, he asked what Xu Yi wanted from him.

• Xu Yi agreed with Newman that the Xinfei Merchant Guild would deliver the Rulson Kingdom’s farmland magic machinery to the border and cover only transportation within the Lampari Kingdom.
• Xu Yi and Marquis Yose finalized cooperation on a steelworks, nonferrous-metal mining, and mining magic machinery, and Marquis Yose scolded Vincent into apologizing to Xu Yi.
• Anko Allen visited Aleri and formally apologized after Xu Yi stopped the researchers from confronting him.
• Xu Yi privately revealed that he knew Anko had accumulated more than ten thousand gold coins in gambling debts and refused to hand over the IOU in exchange for only an apology.
• Anko considered exposing Xu Yi but realized he lacked evidence and would risk his father learning of his gambling, so he asked Xu Yi what he wanted him to do.

Xu Yi used the Mages' Guild registry to plan targeted recruitment for the Xinfei Merchant Guild, then discussed road construction and cement with Newman and Angklu. He agreed that selling Rulson Kingdom the cement production technology would be convenient and asked Newman how much he was willing to pay.

• Xu Yi acquired a list of the Lampari Kingdom's mages of the sixth rank and above to help recruit specialists for the Magic Research Institute.
• Newman asked Xu Yi to help secure road construction assistance for Rulson Kingdom, explaining that it needed cement for its roads.
• Xu Yi said the Amli Merchant Guild had first claim on Xinfei Merchant Guild's cement and suggested Newman arrange a resale through President Cruz.
• Newman asked Xu Yi to sell Rulson Kingdom the cement production technology, while Angklu proposed that Xinfei build a cement factory in the Stantin Duchy instead.
• Xu Yi agreed that selling the technology would be more convenient and asked Newman how much he would pay.

Xu Yi explained why he sold cement production technology to accelerate development, earning the Xinfei Merchant Guild six million gold coins. He then tested a generator with Canby, whose shock exposed the machine’s power and the shortage of suitable metals, leaving Xu Yi considering a trip to the Black Rice Wasteland.

• Xu Yi told Kennard that selling cement technology would speed road construction and the continent’s development, despite sacrificing future cement profits.
• Kennard announced the technology sale, and eight guilds in the Lampari Kingdom bought it, bringing the Xinfei Merchant Guild six million gold coins including the Rulson Kingdom’s payment.
• Xu Yi stopped Canby from touching a running generator, but Canby ignored him and received a powerful electric shock before Xu Yi shut it down.
• Canby escaped injury but had charred clothes and singed hair, while Xu Yi explained the generator’s voltage and began assessing its performance.
• Xu Yi noted that poor aluminum coils limited the generator’s operation and that further experiments depended on mining the nonferrous metal deposit.
• Xu Yi thought about traveling to the Black Rice Wasteland to mine the deposit and wondered when to leave, with Angklu waiting in Bunta City.

Avita and Stille discussed Stille’s doubts about Xu Yi’s feelings after he showed no reaction to her meeting Vincent and still had not proposed. Avita urged Stille to speak honestly with Xu Yi, while admitting she might want a chance with him herself.

• Avita reflected on her feelings for Xu Yi before Stille arrived to visit her at the Magic Research Institute.
• Stille told Avita that Xu Yi had shown no jealousy when she encountered Vincent in Anvilmar City, making her fear he did not care about her or intend to marry her.
• Avita reassured Stille that Xu Yi might simply be slow to recognize what she needed and urged her to tell him she was ready to commit.
• Avita learned that Stille and Xu Yi had only kissed despite dating for over half a year, and insisted Stille should act rather than keep thinking about it.
• Stille asked whether Avita wanted a turn with Xu Yi, and Avita admitted she was willing as the two stared at each other in silence.

Xu Yi explained to Haines how the Feilson Carriage Company had begun operating regular carriage service between Bunta City and Sankton Manor as the first route in a planned urban public transit system. The service had proved successful, and Xu Yi said the city would expand it to other busy routes, including one to the Orchid Grass Resettlement Community.

• Reporters wondered whether Xu Yi was stepping back from the Xinfei Merchant Guild after he missed recent public events and left them to Kennard.
• Xu Yi told Haines he had delegated the events to Kennard so he could focus on more important work.
• Haines asked Xu Yi about the carriages running between Bunta City and Sankton Manor, and Xu Yi described their hourly schedule and six-carriage service.
• Xu Yi explained that the City Lord's Manor had contracted the Feilson Carriage Company to run the route, with the company keeping the fares and paying an annual fee to operate Bunta City's public transit system.
• Xu Yi said the Sankton Manor route was a successful trial and that the city planned to expand transit to other populated areas, including the Orchid Grass Resettlement Community.

Xu Yi explained Bunta City’s high wages and labor shortage to Haines, then revealed plans to connect the Sandy River and Rum River with a canal. After surveying a possible route, Xu Yi said new heavy machinery could help reduce the canal’s enormous construction cost.

• Xu Yi told Haines that Bunta City residents averaged over ten gold coins in monthly income because work was plentiful and labor scarce.
• Xu Yi revealed that he and Count Samo had decided to widen the Sandy River and dig a canal to the Rum River.
• Smilla Porter described a route of no more than fifty kilometers that could connect the rivers and open Bunta City’s ships to continental trade.
• Count Samo worried about the canal’s cost, and Xu Yi said the Xinfei Merchant Guild had developed a Large Magic Excavator to reduce it.

At the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s year-end gathering, Xu Yi celebrated the guild’s growth and announced plans to improve employee compensation to discourage poaching. He introduced a pension system, leaving Heinz, Kennard, and Sebas puzzled about what it meant.

• Bunta City residents increasingly adopted Xinfei magic machinery, and Xu Yi praised the guild’s expanding success during the year-end banquet at Sankton Manor.
• Xu Yi explained that the gathering was meant to strengthen employee loyalty as rival guilds tried to poach workers and researchers, including Avita.
• Xu Yi announced that the guild would gradually improve compensation and benefits, prompting loud cheers from the workers.
• Heinz and Sebas worried about the guild’s rising payroll, while Kennard noted its growing profits and Sebas reported more than five hundred thousand gold coins in monthly net income.
• Xu Yi said the guild could improve benefits beyond wages and proposed keeping its tiered wage-increase system and introducing pensions.

At Bunta City's year-end banquet, Xu Yi handled the attention he received after becoming a baron and discussed plans with President Cruz to travel to the Stantin Duchy. After learning that Beastmen might disrupt work in the Black Rice Wasteland, Xu Yi decided to establish a guard unit for the Xinfei Merchant Guild.

• Xu Yi attended the City Lord's Manor banquet and was surrounded by noble ladies who now considered him a suitable match because he was a baron.
• President Cruz teased Xu Yi about the ladies, then agreed with him to leave for the Stantin Duchy on the fifth day of the new year.
• Xu Yi explained that he wanted to cooperate with the Stantin Duchy without selling off more of the guild's technology, and said he eventually hoped to invest across the continent.
• President Cruz warned Xu Yi that Beastman tribes might interfere with the factories planned in the Black Rice Wasteland and suggested sending guild guards to protect the workers.
• Xu Yi realized the Xinfei Merchant Guild needed its own guards and decided to establish a unit for the trip to the Black Rice Wasteland.

After the year-end banquet, Xu Yi considered establishing a guards corps for the Xinfei Merchant Guild and ran into his former colleague Luti. Luti persuaded him to come inside late at night so she could explain her troubles and ask him for help, while an unseen watcher observed them.

• Xu Yi escaped the young noblewomen leaving the City Lord's Manor and walked home while considering the need for a Xinfei Merchant Guild guards corps.
• Xu Yi decided the guild could recruit dwarf and elf workers, whose combat skills would give its guards an advantage.
• Luti called to Xu Yi from a small building and told him she had returned to Bunta City after finding life elsewhere uncomfortable.
• Luti said her recent months had gone poorly and asked Xu Yi to come inside so she could talk and seek his help.
• Xu Yi agreed to go upstairs with Luti, and neither noticed someone watching them from across the street.

Xu Yi resisted Luti’s attempt to seduce him and reassured Stille when she confronted him outside. Stille asked Xu Yi to marry her, and after their engagement was announced and celebrated across Bunta City, Xu Yi set off on another journey.

• Luti tried to seduce Xu Yi, but he left her home without giving in.
• Stille revealed she had seen Xu Yi enter Luti’s home, then accepted his explanation and asked him to marry her.
• The Bunta Daily announced Xu Yi and Stille’s engagement, drawing congratulations from residents and merchant guilds.
• President Cruz gave Xu Yi and Stille a manor as an engagement gift, while the king, Princess Royal Servini, Count Samo, and others also sent gifts.
• As the New Year celebrations continued, Xu Yi departed on another journey.

Xu Yi discussed the future of highways and the magic locomotive with President Cruz, then sought dwarves and elves for the guild’s guard force. The dwarven chiefs were unsure their people would risk their lives for humans, but Elder Elusia agreed to let elves serve as guards.

• President Cruz urged Xu Yi to widen the Falling Rain Highway and learned that the guild expected to develop a magic locomotive within two years, prompting him to plan for expanded road construction.
• Xu Yi told President Cruz that the guild needed its own guards because three beastman tribes might target them, and Cruz suggested hiring mercenaries as a last resort.
• At Falling Rain Valley, Chiefs Slubi and Monto said many dwarves might refuse to risk their lives as guards, but promised to discuss the voluntary, higher-paying job with their people.
• Xu Yi asked Elder Elusia to provide elves for the guard force, and she agreed, saying their training and service could give them a new lease on life.

Xu Yi, President Reilsa, and President Cruz led a large caravan carrying mining equipment toward the Worrel Werewolf Tribe, while beastmen increasingly watched their progress. As dusk fell, Fario warned Xu Yi that an attack was likely that night, and Xu Yi told him to protect the elves above all else.

• President Cruz collected his gold coin from President Reilsa after winning their bet that Xu Yi could hire elf guards.
• President Reilsa confirmed that the caravan had arrived with mining equipment and experts supplied by the Falkor Merchant Guild, and the convoy set out for the Worrel Werewolf Tribe.
• Rexton Merchant Guild guards reported growing numbers of beastmen watching the caravan, and President Reilsa said they should defeat any attackers to deter future trouble.
• President Reilsa predicted that the beastmen would raid at night, and Xu Yi agreed to confront them rather than rely on the Kingdom's army for an escort.
• At dusk, Fario told Xu Yi that he had sensed the beastmen and expected them to attack that night, and Xu Yi ordered him to prioritize the elves' safety.

Xu Yi and the caravan fought off a night attack by the Beastman Independent Legion with help from elven archers and Xu Yi’s magic. After the survivors fled, Xu Yi reflected on the brutality of his first battle and resolved to keep pursuing his goal of changing the continent.

• President Reilsa identified the approaching attackers as the Beastman Independent Legion, a group that slaughtered humans in raided caravans.
• Fario’s fifty elven warriors shot down many attackers, while Xu Yi used powerful fireballs to break the beastmen’s charge.
• The caravan’s human guards and the elves fought the remaining beastmen, with the elves proving far more effective in close combat.
• After about half an hour, most attackers had fallen, and the surviving beastmen fled when one of them sounded a retreat.
• President Reilsa stopped his guards from pursuing the survivors, and Xu Yi silently faced the bloody aftermath of his first real battle.
• Xu Yi accepted that changing the continent would be a long, arduous path and resolved not to turn back.

Xu Yi proposed hiring Worrel Werewolf tribesmen for the mine and explained that Labor Permits would let them work and buy goods in human lands on equal terms. Chief Leiming Worrel agreed in principle, asking Xu Yi to negotiate with President Reilsa over fair trade for his tribe.

• Xu Yi and the other merchants reached the Worrel Werewolf Tribe, where Chief Leiming Worrel greeted Xu Yi more warmly than before.
• The three merchant guilds planned housing, supply routes, and a highway to support the nonferrous metal mine, but they struggled to recruit enough human workers.
• Xu Yi asked Chief Leiming Worrel to let his tribesmen work for the merchant guilds and explained how Labor Permits would give them access to human markets.
• Chief Leiming Worrel became interested in the permits because they could help his tribesmen spend their gold without being overcharged by human merchants.
• Xu Yi refused to make a private trade agreement that would bypass President Reilsa, but offered to persuade him to meet the beastmen's needs.
• Chief Leiming Worrel accepted Xu Yi's offer to negotiate and agreed in principle to let his tribesmen work for the guilds.

Xu Yi persuaded President Reilsa that offering beastmen steady work and a better life could reduce their reliance on robbery, while planning safeguards through the Labor Permits. He then set out for the Stantin Duchy with Anise, hoping to build ties with the Moon Shadow Tribe.

• Xu Yi argued that the Worrel Werewolf Tribe's peaceful trade with humans showed beastmen could live peacefully when they had stable supplies and livelihoods.
• President Reilsa worried that improved living conditions would make beastmen stronger, and Xu Yi proposed using Labor Permits to limit the danger.
• Three days later, Xu Yi returned to Samara Town and reunited with Angklu, who was surprised he had come without assistants.
• Xu Yi revealed Anise, and Angklu explained that elves were commonly seen in the Stantin Duchy because the Moon Shadow Tribe had over three thousand members.
• Anise explained that the Night Song Tribe kept out of sight because it was weaker than the humans of the Lampari Kingdom, while the Moon Shadow Tribe could appear openly in the weaker Stantin Duchy.
• Xu Yi, Anise, and Angklu set off for the Stantin Duchy so Xu Yi could pursue ties with the Moon Shadow Tribe.

Xu Yi traveled to the Stantin Duchy to inspect its mines and learned how poverty and poor transportation limited its development. After seeing the duchy’s abundant tropical fruit, he suggested he might be able to ship it elsewhere while keeping it fresh, and Angklu welcomed the prospect of change.

• Xu Yi traveled with Angklu to the Stantin Duchy and learned that Princess Royal Servini’s praise had encouraged Angklu to invite him.
• Xu Yi asked about access to the duchy’s iron and copper mines, and Angklu explained that the copper mine had no road leading to it.
• Angklu revealed that the duchy’s annual fiscal revenue was less than two hundred thousand gold coins, so it could not afford to build highways.
• Xu Yi noticed the duchy’s banana, mango, pineapple, and coconut trees and asked why its valuable resources did not bring in more revenue.
• Angklu explained that the duchy lacked a way to transport the fruit before it spoiled, and Xu Yi asked how he would feel about a method for keeping it fresh during transport.
• Angklu reacted with delight and said that this was the kind of change he believed Xu Yi would bring to the duchy.