Chapter Summaries

Xu Yi recognized Olin Zetaman’s talent after the young noble developed an improvement to the Wind Spiral Array for the Xinfei Magic Fan. He announced that Olin would receive a ten-gold-coin Research Award.

• Xu Yi reflected on Heinz’s capable handling of daily factory operations and his need for a stronger manager to oversee the bigger picture.
• Olin asked Xu Yi to install a Large Frost Array because the factory was too hot, and Xu Yi refused while mentioning his idea for a Magic Air Conditioner.
• Olin showed Xu Yi a Wind Spiral Array modification he had developed on his own.
• Xu Yi judged that Olin’s change would slightly reduce the Magic Fan’s power consumption and praised its value to the company.
• Xu Yi gathered the workers and announced a ten-gold-coin Research Award for Olin’s proposal.

Xu Yi rewarded Olin for improving the Magic Fan and encouraged the students to keep developing the product without neglecting their work. Butler Wenlai invited Xu Yi to Viscount Leslie’s estate, where Leslie questioned the workshop’s production and learned that demand extended beyond Bunta City, including a thousand-fan order from Karma City.

• Xu Yi gave Olin ten Gold Coins for his Magic Fan improvement and announced that other students could earn the same reward for useful ideas.
• Xu Yi told Heinz that group ingenuity could improve the product and said the rewards might eventually cover the entire production process.
• Butler Wenlai delivered Viscount Leslie’s invitation, and Xu Yi went to the estate for lunch.
• Viscount Leslie asked Xu Yi about the workshop’s output, and Xu Yi said it produced 150 Magic Fans a day.
• Xu Yi explained that Bunta City’s market was nearly saturated but that the workshop had over 5,000 orders from outside the city, including a recent order for 1,000 fans from Karma City.

Xu Yi explained to Viscount Leslie why the Xinfei Merchant Guild was limiting Magic Fan sales until it could increase production, and revealed that a new design was coming. Leslie offered better land terms in exchange for investing in the guild, and the chapter ended with them agreeing to become partners.

• Xu Yi told Viscount Leslie that expanding Magic Fan sales too soon could hurt the guild's production and reputation because Xu Yi still handled essential assembly and testing.
• Xu Yi said the students would gradually learn his work and revealed that a new generation of Magic Fans with a different design and production process was coming.
• Viscount Leslie presented Xu Yi with a five-year land lease that halved the rent and granted the guild broad rights to use the land.
• Xu Yi said he would consider Leslie's investment only if Leslie acted as an ordinary merchant, held a minority stake, and did not control the guild's decisions.
• Leslie offered a private investment agreement giving him a thirty percent stake while leaving Xu Yi in charge, and the two shook hands on their partnership.

Xu Yi returned to the Magic Tower, where Qimiro criticized his magical ability and Luti warned him that Rem might be jealous of his conversations with Vena. He later showed Great Mage Camilla his modified Frost Chill Array and revealed that he planned to use it to make a Magic Air Conditioner.

• Xu Yi reflected on the Xinfei Magic Fans' success and returned to the Magic Tower with treats for his colleagues.
• Qimiro mocked Xu Yi for pursuing Magic Fans instead of magic and questioned whether he could pass the upcoming Qualification Certification Examination.
• Xu Yi learned that Rem and Vena were out together, and Luti warned him that Rem might be jealous when he spoke with Vena alone.
• Xu Yi thanked Great Mage Camilla for recommending him for the Qualification Certification Examination and showed her his modified Frost Chill Array.
• Xu Yi told Great Mage Camilla that he intended to use the array to make a Magic Air Conditioner.

Xu Yi tested an experimental cooling device in the Magic Fan workshop and asked the students to record how it performed. He then prepared to visit Master Ranu’s Dwarf Tribe to recruit craftsmen, leaving Heinz in charge while he was away.

• Olin and the other students complained to Heinz about the workshop’s heat, and Heinz promised to ask Xu Yi for a Large Frost Array.
• Xu Yi installed an experimental iron-box device that blew cool air, then asked the students to test it and record any problems for three days.
• Xu Yi told Heinz he planned to visit Master Ranu’s Dwarf Tribe to recruit Dwarf Craftsmen and asked him to request two extra days off from Great Mage Camilla.
• Xu Yi explained that uniform parts and strict production standards were essential for his planned assembly-line production, then set off for the Dwarf Tribe.

Xu Yi visited Master Ranu’s Dwarf tribe and persuaded Chief Shluka to consider letting its craftspeople work for him by offering to build a research facility and fund the tribe. Shluka agreed in principle, though they still needed to settle the details.

• Xu Yi arrived at the Dwarf tribe, was welcomed with a feast, and woke the next morning after drinking heavily with the Dwarves.
• Canby told Xu Yi that Master Ranu was meeting Chief Shluka, then led Xu Yi to the chief after he ate.
• Xu Yi learned the tribe had just over five hundred members and asked Shluka to let him hire its craftspeople.
• Shluka raised concerns about the tribe’s welfare and whether its members would be treated fairly in Bunta City.
• Xu Yi proposed setting up a local research facility and paying the tribe five hundred gold coins a month, with extra rewards for results.
• Shluka agreed in principle to Xu Yi’s proposal and recruitment plans, while leaving the details for later discussion.

Xu Yi learned why Chief Shluka accepted his offer to hire Dwarven workers, then found Stille waiting outside his house in distress after her trip to Anvilmar City. Stille called herself a foolish child for falling in love with a scumbag.

• Master Ranu explained that poverty and a shrinking population had left the Dwarven tribe with little choice but to accept Xu Yi's offer.
• Xu Yi promised Master Ranu he would treat the Dwarven workers fairly, and Master Ranu demanded to know where their houses would be built.
• After returning to Bunta City, Xu Yi found a pale, exhausted Stille sitting outside his house and brought her inside.
• Stille asked Xu Yi whether he thought she was a child, then cursed herself for falling for a scumbag.

Stille told Xu Yi how a former classmate she admired had deceived her despite being engaged, and Xu Yi helped her regain her composure. After destroying the Piano Model she had made for him, Stille decided to stay at Xu Yi’s house for the night.

• Xu Yi asked Stille what had upset her, and she made him promise not to tell her grandfather before explaining what happened.
• Stille recounted how she had traveled to Anvilmar City to give her admired classmate a Piano Model, learned he was engaged, and then secretly met him after he claimed to like her.
• Stille told Xu Yi that the man had pressured her to sleep with him and that she later learned he had deceived other female classmates as well.
• Xu Yi congratulated Stille for recognizing the man’s character and standing her ground, and she destroyed the Piano Model with a fire spell.
• Stille announced that she would stay at Xu Yi’s house, and Vivian brought her clothes to borrow before she went to bathe.

Xu Yi planned to expand Magic Fan production but lacked workers and machinery, so he asked Viscount Leslie to sell him a hundred slaves. Leslie challenged Xu Yi to explain how he would put them to better use.

• Xu Yi took Vivian shopping and to lunch, then reviewed the factory’s production limits and the need for standardized parts and heavy industry.
• Xu Yi planned housing and two workshops for the hundred Dwarves expected to arrive in three days, but worried there would not be enough workers to build them.
• Xu Yi visited Viscount Leslie and asked to buy a hundred slaves to expand factory production.
• Xu Yi defended Vivian when Leslie referred to her as a slave and argued that slaves could be productive workers if given the chance.
• Viscount Leslie asked Xu Yi how he would use the slaves if he handed them over.

Xu Yi put Viscount Leslie’s hundred borrowed slaves to work at the factory and appointed Heinz and Alex as factory manager and assistant factory manager. After arranging housing for the slaves and incoming dwarf craftsmen, he considered how to find a stable workforce and simplify the Magic Arrays needed for future products, then decided to discuss the air conditioner’s test results with Great Mage Camilla.

• Butler Wenlai delivered a hundred slaves on loan from Viscount Leslie and reminded Xu Yi to honor his promise.
• Xu Yi appointed Heinz factory manager at thirty gold coins a month and Alex assistant factory manager at ten gold coins a month.
• Xu Yi told Heinz to settle the slaves and arrange more houses for the dwarf craftsmen expected to arrive in a few days.
• Xu Yi reflected on the factory’s worker shortage and considered recruiting more mages or reducing the skill needed to draw Magic Arrays.
• Xu Yi noticed the Magic Air Conditioner Prototype was still running and decided to speak with Great Mage Camilla about its performance tests.

Xu Yi angered Great Mage Camilla by offering to pay her for research, then learned Stille's reasons for her grandmother's hostility toward business. As Xu Yi explained his plans for product endorsements, Stille offered to become his merchant association's spokesperson.

• Xu Yi left Great Mage Camilla's research room after she angrily rejected his offer to pay her for research advice.
• Stille explained that Great Mage Camilla resented merchant associations because two promising apprentices had abandoned Magic Research for lucrative guard jobs.
• Xu Yi told Stille he had hoped to make Great Mage Camilla Chief Researcher and have her endorse the association's products, offering a thousand Gold Coins a year.
• Stille asked Xu Yi for work, and he offered her a place researching Magic Arrays for the association's new research room.
• Stille proposed that Xu Yi make her the merchant association's spokesperson.

Xu Yi trained Viscount Leslie’s slaves to operate Magic Machinery and assemble Second-Edition Variable-Speed Magic Fans. Realizing Magic Crystals gave the Sains Continent a clean, efficient energy advantage, he ordered Heinz to buy as many Magic Crystal Mines as they could afford and keep the purchases quiet.

• Xu Yi taught the slaves to operate machines that made fan components, warning them to follow safety procedures.
• Xu Yi divided the slaves into assembly groups, and the workshop began producing Magic Fans along an assembly line.
• Xu Yi reflected that Magic Crystals powered Magic Machinery efficiently and without pollution, and that they were plentiful near Bunta City.
• Xu Yi told Heinz to buy as many Magic Crystal Mines as they could afford and to act quickly and discreetly.

Xu Yi defended the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s heavy research spending to Sebas, arguing that investment beyond Magic Fans was necessary despite its cost. As he explained the fans’ success and the limits of protecting their design, he revealed that a rival factory was already selling copies in Sartan City.

• Sebas reported that the guild had only 361 Gold Coins available and warned Xu Yi that research consumed too much income to manage finances responsibly.
• Xu Yi said he considered the research budget too small and had no intention of cutting investment in research unrelated to Magic Fans.
• Sebas explained that Magic Fans succeeded because they were affordable, inexpensive to operate, and suited to families who could not afford a Large Frost Array.
• Xu Yi described how branding and exclusive retail had suppressed imitations in Bunta City, but admitted the guild had no patent protection.
• Xu Yi noted that a factory in Sartan City had begun making and selling Magic Fan copies.

Xu Yi prepared an advertisement for the Second-Generation Variable-Speed Magic Fan and discussed recruiting Stille’s classmates to the Magic Research Institute. The chapter left him noticing someone at the restaurant entrance as he and Stille discussed the researchers’ terms.

• Xu Yi told Sebas that research beyond Magic Fans could lead to new products and help the Xinfei Merchant Guild expand into other cities.
• Stille posed beside the Second-Generation Variable-Speed Magic Fan while Master Anlisos completed a painting for its advertisement.
• Xu Yi praised Master Anlisos’s painting and told Stille he expected the advertisement to make her famous.
• Xu Yi and Stille went to lunch, where Stille said three of her classmates wanted to join the Magic Research Institute.
• Xu Yi offered to cover the classmates’ travel expenses and proposed a one-month trial at ten Gold Coins, followed by fifteen Gold Coins monthly if they were hired.
• Xu Yi noticed someone entering the restaurant and drew his brows together.

Xu Yi met Guildmaster Fasak, who ignored Qimiro’s attempts to impress him and invited Xu Yi to discuss a partnership. Fasak proposed building a Xinfei Magic Fan factory in Sartan City, and Xu Yi questioned how it would compete with the local producer.

• Xu Yi and Stille encountered Qimiro, Reno, Vena, and Guildmaster Fasak at a restaurant, where Qimiro tried to belittle Xu Yi.
• Stille defended Xu Yi, but Fasak recognized him as the Guildmaster of the Xinfei Merchant Guild and invited him to talk about a partnership.
• Xu Yi left with Fasak, while Stille, Reno, and Vena departed separately and Qimiro was left alone.
• Fasak proposed establishing a factory in Sartan City to produce Xinfei Magic Fans rather than transporting them from Bunta City.
• Xu Yi questioned whether the factory could compete with Sartan City’s existing Magic Fan producer, and Fasak said Xinfei’s new-generation fans would stand apart.

Xu Yi showed President Fasak the Xinfei workshop and offered to sell him machinery and teach his workers to make Second-Generation Variable-Speed Magic Fans. After Fasak left, Xu Yi explained to Heinz that the Xinfei Merchant Guild aimed to lead by setting industry standards.

• Heinz worried that President Fasak would learn the Xinfei Guild’s production secrets, but Xu Yi said he did not intend to hide them.
• President Fasak operated the Magic Thread-Rolling Machine and admired the workshop’s efficient production of Magic Fans.
• Xu Yi offered to sell Fasak machinery, train his workers, and teach them the assembly process for Second-Generation Variable-Speed Magic Fans.
• Two days later, President Fasak left Bunta City after concluding the deal with Xu Yi.
• Heinz questioned whether the deal gave up too much of the Sartan City market, and Xu Yi explained his goals of building a brand and setting standards.

Xu Yi showed Viscount Leslie his new Magic Air Conditioner and explained that he planned to position it as a mid-to-high-end product for wealthy buyers. Leslie approved of its price and low operating cost, and Xu Yi asked him to help promote its sales.

• Xu Yi reflected on how selling Magic Machinery could help establish heavy industry across the Sains Continent while he continued developing new products.
• Xu Yi visited Viscount Leslie and installed a Magic Air Conditioner in the cabin by the pond.
• Xu Yi demonstrated the device, and Leslie recognized that it produced cool air unlike a Magic Fan.
• Xu Yi priced the Magic Air Conditioner at twenty Gold Coins and explained that a full day of use cost thirteen to fifteen Silver Coins in Magic Crystals.
• Leslie judged the Magic Air Conditioner likely to sell well, and Xu Yi began asking for his help.

At Viscount Leslie’s banquet, Xu Yi revealed that the cool reception hall was being served by the newly developed Magic Air Conditioners and began using the gathering to promote them. He left Viscount Zetaman curious about the product and ready to hear more.

• Xu Yi and Stille attended Viscount Leslie’s banquet, where Xu Yi explained that he had arranged to showcase the Magic Air Conditioner.
• Xu Yi approached Viscount Zetaman and reminded him that his son Olin worked at the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s factory.
• Viscount Zetaman and his wife praised Olin’s work and thanked Xu Yi for giving him a job he enjoyed.
• Xu Yi credited Olin with contributing to the Magic Fans and Magic Air Conditioners, prompting Viscount Zetaman to ask about the new product.
• Xu Yi began explaining that Magic Air Conditioners were installed in the reception hall.

After promoting the Magic Air Conditioner at Viscount Leslie’s banquet, Xu Yi discussed developing Agricultural Machinery to replace oxen and improve farming. He left determined to pursue the idea with help from the Dwarves.

• Viscount Leslie saw that the banquet had sparked wealthy guests’ interest in the Magic Air Conditioner, and Xu Yi revealed plans to sell it in Sartan City through the Fasak Merchant Guild.
• Xu Yi asked Viscount Leslie how much he would pay for a machine that could replace an ox, and the viscount offered fifty gold coins per machine.
• Viscount Leslie said such machines could help cultivate his fallow land and would attract buyers across the continent, while Xu Yi admitted he had only an idea so far.
• Xu Yi recalled that losing an ox had nearly gotten Vivian beaten to death and resolved to develop Agricultural Machinery with help from the hundred Dwarves.
• Xu Yi reflected on the continent’s low food production and past famine, and renewed his determination to improve people’s lives through machinery.

Akali and Avita traveled to the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s factory to meet Chairman Xu Yi, learning about the guild’s advertising and roadwork along the way. When they asked a dust-covered worker to tell Xu Yi that Stille had sent them, he revealed that he was Xu Yi himself.

• Akali and Avita spotted a sign advertising Xinfei Magic Fans with Stille’s picture as their carriage approached Bunta City.
• The coachman told the girls that Xu Yi had paid to rebuild the road near the guild’s factory and hoped to make it even smoother with cement.
• Akali and Avita left their carriage where road construction blocked the way and walked toward the busy factory grounds.
• Akali asked a dust-covered worker to tell Chairman Xu Yi that Stille had sent them.
• The worker recognized the girls as Stille’s classmates and revealed that he was Xu Yi.