Chapter Summaries

Xu Yi considered the political obstacles to developing the Xinfei Merchant Guild in the Lampari Kingdom, then visited the warriors training in Falling Rain Valley to discuss providing them with equipment. He promised an inexhaustible supply of weapons and equipment, but Fario rejected the idea as impossible.

• Newman left Falling Rain Valley with three thousand Farmland Magic Machinery machines and planned to present Xu Yi's investment proposal to King Willy.
• Xu Yi reflected on Earl Stark's opposition to the Xinfei Merchant Guild and on the protection his private fief gave his plans.
• Xu Yi visited the Grand Training Ground and assessed the differing strengths and training methods of the human, dwarf, and elf warriors.
• Hart requested standard armor and weapons, while Oma asked for heavy weapons and Fario said the elves could make their own equipment.
• Xu Yi challenged Fario with the prospect of an inexhaustible supply of weapons and arrows, and Fario declared it impossible.

Xu Yi discussed the Night Song Tribe’s plastic arrows with Elder Elusia and explained how they could cut the Military Department’s costs while supplying its Magic Repeating Crossbows. Elder Elusia agreed to pursue the military order and have Delier learn to do business in Bunta City, while keeping the tribe’s manufacturing technology under her control.

• Elder Elusia and Xu Yi discussed plastic arrow production and the Military Department’s new order for five hundred Magic Repeating Crossbows.
• Xu Yi explained that plastic arrows could replace costly steel arrows, and that Major Maikongli had indicated the Military Department might order at least five hundred thousand.
• Elder Elusia said she did not want the Night Song Tribe involved in human wars, but agreed to sell the arrows as ordinary goods.
• Xu Yi offered to introduce Delier to Bunta City’s merchant guild presidents and let her promote the Plastic Processing Factory herself.
• Elder Elusia agreed and told Xu Yi that Delier should learn from him how to become a competent human merchant.

Xu Yi returned to Bunta City to unveil the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s New Concept Modern Magic House, presenting it as a new way of living powered by magic. He demonstrated a remotely controlled entrance lamp and began introducing the house’s other conveniences.

• Bunta City residents gathered at the former site of Great Mage Camilla’s Tower for the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s evening event.
• The curtains were pulled aside to reveal an ordinary-looking two-story house, and Xu Yi appeared before the crowd.
• Xu Yi told the audience that the event introduced a new concept of living rather than a new product.
• Xu Yi demonstrated how switches beside the gate and inside the living room controlled the entrance magic lamp.
• Xu Yi began explaining that the house contained more features designed for convenient, comfortable, and efficient living.

Xu Yi introduced visitors to the Magic House’s household appliances and opened it for tours, leaving Quirick to guide the first group. He then brought Delier, who was nervous about running the Night Song Tribe’s Plastic Processing Factory, to a clothing shop and asked her to find products the elves could make.

• Xu Yi described how the Magic House’s appliances could simplify cooking, bathing, and other household tasks, and the crowd eagerly gathered to tour it.
• Xu Yi left Quirick to guide the visitors and departed with Delier for the City Lord’s Manor.
• Xu Yi reassured Delier that she could learn the basics of selling plastic products through experience, but she said she did not know what the factory could offer.
• Xu Yi stopped at Saisara’s clothing shop and asked Delier to look for items the elves could make.

Delier secured her first order by persuading Saisara to buy plastic hangers from the Night Song Plastic Processing Factory, then developed the idea of plastic mannequins with Xu Yi. They arrived at Bunta City's City Lord's Manor for a banquet, where Xu Yi explained that merchants should put profit ahead of personal grudges.

• Delier introduced herself to Saisara as the Night Song Plastic Processing Factory's sales manager and offered cheaper, smoother plastic hangers.
• Xu Yi explained the factory's ties to the Night Song Tribe and vouched for its manufacturing ability, and Saisara ordered a hundred hangers to test.
• After leaving the shop, Xu Yi congratulated Delier on her first deal and prompted her to think of other ways to display clothes.
• Delier proposed making body-shaped models to show off garments, and she and Xu Yi discussed plastic hangers and mannequins on the ride to the City Lord's Manor.
• Delier questioned why Xu Yi had accepted the city lord's banquet invitation, and Xu Yi told her that a merchant should make decisions based on profit rather than personal grudges.

Xu Yi attended Earl Stark’s banquet and discussed the Amli Merchant Guild’s expansion with President Cruz. He offered to create a new source of profit for Amli if it completed a regional road network within five years, then revealed that the business would be building houses.

• Earl Stark warmly welcomed Xu Yi to the banquet, while greeting Delier coolly.
• Xu Yi told President Cruz that Newman hoped Amli would hire more local workers in the Rulson Kingdom, and urged Cruz to trade access to technology for a broader market.
• Cruz resisted accelerating Amli’s road-building plans because he wanted the guild to preserve its long-term profits.
• Xu Yi offered Amli a new source of profit if it completed a road network across the Lampari Kingdom, the Rulson Kingdom, the Stantin Duchy, and the Black Rice Wasteland within five years.
• Xu Yi explained that the new business was building houses.

Xu Yi encouraged Delier to seek business with Bunta City's merchant guilds, then persuaded President Vincent that investing in the Black Rice Wasteland could create a vast market while reducing factory costs. Vincent was struck by the opportunity and began considering the investment.

• Xu Yi explained to Delier that cooperating with the Amli Merchant Guild would benefit both guilds, then introduced her to Bunta City's merchant presidents.
• Delier overcame her initial nervousness, and several guild presidents offered to order plastic products from the Night Song Plastic Processing Factory.
• President Vincent told Xu Yi that beastmen in the Black Rice Wasteland needed clothing but were too poor to buy it.
• Xu Yi argued that factories and steady wages could help create demand, and explained that beastmen workers already protected jobs at the mine and factory because their wages improved their lives.
• Xu Yi urged President Vincent to invest in knitting and cotton textile factories in the Black Rice Wasteland, citing lower transport and labor costs.
• President Vincent calculated the potential savings from paying beastman workers lower wages and was astonished by the opportunity.

Xu Yi met Princess Caroline and Minister Anduin of the Drake Duchy, who sought broad commercial cooperation with the Xinfei Merchant Guild. Anduin invited Xu Yi to invest in factories across the duchy, but Xu Yi said the proposal was impractical.

• Earl Stark introduced Xu Yi to Caroline and Anduin, then denied that his policies had been intended to suppress the Xinfei Merchant Guild.
• Earl Stark revealed that Caroline was Grand Duke Drake’s youngest daughter and Anduin was the Drake Duchy’s Minister of Commerce.
• Caroline explained her longstanding fascination with magic machinery and her desire to meet Xu Yi.
• Anduin asked whether Xu Yi would consider extensive cooperation with the Drake Duchy, beyond selling farmland magic machinery.
• Anduin invited the Xinfei Merchant Guild to build factories producing all its kinds of magic machinery in the duchy, and Xu Yi said the plan was unrealistic in practice.

Xu Yi cautiously agreed to begin limited cooperation with the Drake Duchy while Princess Caroline and Anduin arranged to inspect the Xinfei Merchant Guild. After they left, Earl Stark imposed urgent harvest-related demands on the guild, but agreed that the City Lord's Manor would pay for the additional machinery.

• Xu Yi explained that the Drake Duchy's distance and its neighbor, the Sark Kingdom, made comprehensive investment too risky for now, then proposed building cooperation gradually.
• Anduin accepted Xu Yi's proposal and arranged for him to prepare for Princess Caroline and Anduin to inspect Falling Rain Valley the next day.
• After Princess Caroline and Anduin left, Earl Stark required the Xinfei Merchant Guild to inspect and repair or replace all farmland magic machinery in Bunta City within fifteen days.
• Xu Yi accepted the inspection requirement but asked who would cover its extra costs.
• Earl Stark demanded that the guild deliver three thousand additional units of farmland magic machinery within fifteen days, and Xu Yi pointed out that the City Lord's Manor would need to pay for them.

Xu Yi brought Princess Caroline of the Drake Duchy to Falling Star Manor after she asked to stay the night and discuss cooperation with the Xinfei Merchant Guild. Vivian and Anise wondered whether Caroline was Xu Yi’s lover, and Xu Yi went to the study with Anise while Caroline bathed.

• Vivian and Anise welcomed Xu Yi and Princess Caroline to Falling Star Manor, where Xu Yi introduced Caroline as a representative of the Drake Duchy.
• Xu Yi introduced Anise and Vivian as designers for the Xinfei Merchant Guild, and Caroline praised their work on the guild’s magic machines.
• Xu Yi and Caroline shared dinner with the household, and Caroline asked Vivian about her designs to liven up the conversation.
• Vivian asked Xu Yi whether Caroline was his lover, and Xu Yi explained that he had agreed to her request to stay overnight and discuss cooperation.
• Xu Yi told Vivian to treat Caroline as an ordinary guest, then went to the study with Anise to speak with her.

Xu Yi appointed Anise director of the Design Institute and considered a gradual expansion toward the Drake Duchy. He then reflected on Bunta City’s debts and Earl Stark’s dwindling finances after driving merchants away.

• Xu Yi asked Anise to recruit more elven designers, appointed her director of the Design Institute, and left the recruitment drive in her hands.
• Xu Yi studied a map and considered building the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s presence step by step toward the strategically important Drake Duchy.
• Xu Yi wished Servini could inherit the throne, which he believed would help the magic industry develop across the Lampari Kingdom.
• Xu Yi recalled that Bunta City owed merchant guilds at least a million and a half gold coins after Count Samo’s infrastructure spending.
• Xu Yi agreed to supply Earl Stark with three thousand units of farmland magic machinery, knowing Bunta City could scarcely afford the cost.
• Two knocks sounded at Xu Yi’s study door.

Xu Yi rejected Princess Caroline’s attempt to seduce him, insisting that he loved Stille, and redirected their conversation toward business. Princess Caroline proposed establishing a Xinfei production base in Sewell City and trading Drake Duchy iron ore, leaving Xu Yi interested in the plan but unmoved by her personal offer.

• Princess Caroline visited Xu Yi in his study and asked whether the Xinfei Merchant Guild planned to invest in the Drake Duchy, but Xu Yi said it was not currently included in his plans.
• Princess Caroline asked about Xu Yi’s marriage and openly offered to use her body to advance cooperation, but Xu Yi refused because he loved Stille.
• Xu Yi told Princess Caroline he saw no current benefit in working with the Drake Duchy, prompting her to suggest building a production base in Sewell City near the duchy’s border.
• Princess Caroline said the Drake Duchy could supply iron ore for the Xinfei Merchant Guild in exchange for goods that would improve life there, and Xu Yi said the iron mines interested him more than her charms.

Xu Yi reviewed the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s finances with Kennard and planned investments to preserve the guild’s technological and resource advantages. He proposed developing Sewell City in the Drake Duchy into another Bunta City, despite its vulnerability to the nearby Sark Kingdom.

• Kennard gave Xu Yi the guild’s financial report, and they discussed profits, research budgets, and the need to invest more in technology.
• Xu Yi reviewed the guild’s earnings and discussed continued investment in Falling Rain Valley and the Black Rice Wasteland with Kennard.
• Kennard questioned why the guild bought iron ore despite owning a mine, and Xu Yi explained that he expected prices to rise as magic machinery spread.
• Xu Yi identified the Drake Duchy as a target for expansion and proposed winning Count Samo’s support to develop Sewell City into another Bunta City.
• Kennard warned that Sewell City was close to the Sark Kingdom, and Xu Yi said they would ensure the kingdom had no designs on it.

Princess Caroline left Falling Rain Valley without obtaining the technologies the Sark Kingdom wanted, but her visit convinced her that Xu Yi could help the Drake Duchy become stronger. She told Anduin she wanted to pursue genuine cooperation with him.

• Princess Caroline asked Xu Yi about buying streetlight and farmland magic machinery technology, but he explained why the Xinfei Merchant Guild would not sell the streetlight technology and why skilled workers were essential to producing the machinery.
• After their tour, Princess Caroline announced she was returning to the Drake Duchy and teased Xu Yi, who insisted he would not betray his wife.
• Once her carriage left Falling Rain Valley, Princess Caroline dropped her playful act and told Anduin she opposed the Grand Duke's agreement to help the Sark Kingdom gather intelligence.
• Princess Caroline connected the Lampari Kingdom's victory over the Sark Kingdom to its improved equipment and said she believed Xu Yi's ambitions extended beyond serving the Lampari Kingdom.
• Princess Caroline admitted she liked Xu Yi but said strengthening the Drake Duchy mattered more, and she told Anduin she wanted to cooperate with Xu Yi in earnest.

The Xinfei Merchant Guild announced an ambitious Five-Year Plan to expand production across the Lampari Kingdom and beyond, despite concerns about its limited manpower. Kennard defended the plan at a press conference and ended by announcing a road bicycle race in Bunta City.

• Earl Stark resumed Bunta City's municipal redevelopment project but made the City Lord's Manor its lead contractor and treated the Xinfei Merchant Guild as an ordinary partner.
• The Xinfei Merchant Guild announced major construction investments in the Black Rice Wasteland and the Stantin Duchy, then unveiled a Five-Year Plan for expanding across the Lampari Kingdom.
• Kennard told reporters that the guild could fund its expansion through strong profits, though manpower remained a major problem.
• Kennard explained that President Xu wanted the plan to push the guild to address its problems while moving forward.
• Kennard announced that the Xinfei Merchant Guild would hold the Bunta City Xinfei Road Bicycle Race outside Bunta City in one month.

Xu Yi, Stille, and Great Mage Camilla joined the Xinfei Road Bicycle Race, drawing cheers before setting off with the first group. Xu Yi and Stille rode leisurely as they discussed Earl Stark’s efforts to improve the autumn harvest, and Xu Yi predicted that the city lord would find a way to raise grain output.

• The Xinfei Merchant Guild began its road bicycle race from Bunta City to Falling Rain Valley, with ten thousand riders divided into five groups and prizes offered to the top finishers.
• Xu Yi, Stille, and Great Mage Camilla appeared at the starting line and delighted the crowd; Camilla said she was nearing the threshold of becoming a level-five Great Mage.
• Camilla insisted on riding the full sixty kilometers, and she led the first group away from the starting line.
• Xu Yi and Stille slowed down and rode near the back of the field, enjoying the autumn countryside.
• Stille questioned whether Earl Stark could increase the city’s grain production, and Xu Yi said he was sure the city lord would find a way.

Bunta City's record grain harvest strengthened Earl Stark's position, but his order to replace Korol Village's fruit orchards with grain threatened residents' livelihoods. Cantona revealed that Xu Yi's response was to send them to farm in the Stantin Duchy.

• Bunta City's autumn grain harvest reached 760,000 tonnes, earning Earl Stark praise and securing his position as city lord.
• Old Man Sakeqi and Yashali questioned the reported harvest figures and worried Earl Stark's success would let him continue his Commerce-Suppression and Agriculture-Promotion Policy.
• Cantona reassured the group that his chamber's farming work aligned with the city's policy, then said Earl Stark had ordered Korol Village to uproot its fruit trees and plant grain.
• Korol Village residents protested that the order would destroy their orchard income and their families' jobs at the Fruit Canning Factory.
• Cantona said Xu Yi had made arrangements and revealed his plan was for the villagers to farm in the Stantin Duchy.

Xu Yi discussed the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s plans in the Stantin Duchy and encouraged Elder Elusia to expand the Night Song Tribe’s plastic business there. Elder Elusia celebrated the success of the tribe’s factory as Xu Yi prepared to depart with several merchant guild presidents.

• Xu Yi told Elder Elusia that he would keep the Korol Village Fruit Canning Factory open despite suspending its operations, and explained why the guild had leased farmland in the Stantin Duchy.
• Xu Yi proposed that the Night Song Tribe establish a Plastic Processing Factory in the Stantin Duchy and investigate its rubber trees and connections with the Moon Shadow Tribe; Elder Elusia agreed.
• Elder Elusia visited the Night Song Plastic Processing Factory and saw how its inexpensive plastic clothes hangers had sold more than forty thousand units in Bunta City.
• The factory attracted further orders and inquiries for plastic products, leaving Delier and the elves busy with business.
• Xu Yi waved to Presidents Cruz, Reilsa, and Vincent and set off with their convoy.

Xu Yi led a convoy of four merchant guilds into the Black Rice Wasteland to establish a joint base and factories with nearby beastman tribes. As the convoy approached its destination, the guild presidents discussed the threat of a possible beastman attack and the strength of their guards.

• Xu Yi reviewed how the Xinfei Merchant Guild had built cooperation with the Worrel Werewolf Tribe and four neighboring beastman tribes by offering jobs and labor permits.
• The four merchant guilds prepared to establish a base and factories deeper in the wasteland, with Xu Yi hoping the settlement would become humanity’s first foothold there.
• Xu Yi checked the route for signs of activity, while President Cruz worried that the Beastman Independent Legion or other tribes might attack the convoy.
• President Reilsa argued that the guilds’ well-equipped guards could handle the beastmen, and Xu Yi noted that the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s armor and weapons had been made by his guild.
• President Reilsa asked why Xu Yi had not formally recruited the elves into the guards corps, and Xu Yi said their loyalty depended on the benefits he offered.
• President Reilsa suggested that Xu Yi recruit more human guards, but Xu Yi reflected that his elite guards had been difficult to obtain from the retired Lampari Kingdom army.

Xu Yi and the merchant guilds’ forces prepared to crush a large Beastman Independent Legion attack, using Magic-Powered Stone Throwers to devastate the charging beastmen. The weapons impressed the guild presidents, while Xu Yi explained their high cost and revealed that the Kingdom Military Department could not afford to buy them.

• Xu Yi and President Reilsa discussed beastman resistance as their convoy reached its destination and made a makeshift camp for the night.
• Thousands of beastmen appeared in the darkness, and Xu Yi ordered Hart, Oma, and Fario to follow their plan and break the attackers’ fighting spirit.
• The four merchant guilds deployed their guards as Hart commanded four Magic-Powered Stone Throwers to fire into the charging beastmen.
• The stone throwers’ volleys killed and wounded many beastmen, astonishing Presidents Reilsa and Cruz with their destructive power.
• Xu Yi described the weapons’ limits and their price, then said the Kingdom Military Department had been unable to afford even five thousand gold coins for the four machines.