Chapter Summaries

Old Anduin decided to plant fruit trees on his land rather than lease it to the Cantona Chamber of Commerce, then agreed to guide Xinfei Merchant Guild representatives to a nearby Magic Crystal Mine. The group headed toward the mine after Avita discussed the village road with Supervisor Dusa.

• Old Anduin and Aunt Vera discussed whether to plant wheat, lease their fields, or grow fruit trees, and Aunt Vera supported his decision to plant trees himself.
• Old Anduin set out for Bunta City to ask about saplings but encountered a hired Medium Mana Bus arriving in Plana Village.
• Avita introduced herself as a Xinfei Merchant Guild surveyor and asked Old Anduin to guide her group to the nearby Magic Crystal Mine.
• Old Anduin identified the mine as the site where the Falkor Merchant Guild had once worked and agreed to lead the survey team there.
• Avita criticized the rough road near the village because it would hinder transporting magic crystals, while Supervisor Dusa said the road could be extended if Xinfei funded it.
• Old Anduin informed Aunt Vera where he was going, and the group followed him toward the mountain southwest of the village.

Avita inspected the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s first Magic Crystal Mine with Tibbers and discussed employment and worker conditions with Old Anduin and Supervisor Dusa. She recommended facilities for construction workers and explained that the guild would soon assess workers’ skills and set wages accordingly.

• Avita reassured Tibbers that she had joined the mine inspection to ensure its Magic Crystals were assessed accurately and its operations met strict standards.
• Old Anduin learned that Avita directed the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s Magic Research Institute and asked whether his second son could work for the guild.
• Avita welcomed Old Anduin’s son to apply but advised him to wait until the guild completed its upcoming worker skill assessment.
• Old Anduin said his son wanted to join the Xinfei Merchant Guild partly for the prestige, prompting Supervisor Dusa to offer him a job at the Amli Merchant Guild instead.
• Avita suggested that Supervisor Dusa provide bathing facilities with the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s Magic Water Heaters and Magic-Powered Water Pumps at construction sites.
• Avita told Supervisor Dusa that the president had devised the worker skill assessment and wage system.

Avita inspected the Magic Crystal Mine and discovered its crystals were unstable, requiring a costly protective array to preserve them for refining. Back at the Magic Research Institute, Tibbers tried to ask about her feelings for the president, but the laboratory door suddenly burst open.

• Old Anduin led Avita, Tibbers, Kelik, and the others to the Magic Crystal Mine, where Kelik noted its difficult working conditions and the dwarves began collecting samples.
• Avita refined a Magic Crystal and found that the mine's crystals lost quality after being removed, then modified the refining array to produce crystals that met the laboratory's standards.
• After testing samples from across the mine, Avita concluded that the crystals were unstable and estimated that protecting the whole mine with a magic array would cost at least twenty thousand gold coins.
• Avita advised Old Anduin to have his son wait for the guild's new skill-level assessments before seeking work, then returned to Falling Rain Valley with the group.
• Avita went straight to studying the samples at the Magic Research Institute, and Tibbers began asking about her feelings for the president before someone suddenly opened the laboratory door.

Avita and Akali discussed Tibbers's feelings for Avita, Akali's remote-control research, and plans to visit Stille. As Avita returned to her experiment, Teresa arrived at the laboratory door.

• Akali teased Tibbers about preferring Avita and sent him to lunch, leaving Avita and Akali alone in the laboratory.
• Akali told Avita that Tibbers appeared to like her, and Avita admitted she had no romantic feelings for him.
• Akali explained that her team needed standardized magic crystals to complete the Unified Household Remote Control System, and Avita said her research was nearly finished.
• Avita and Akali agreed to arrange a group visit to Stille with Claire and their other classmates after reaching a stopping point in their research.
• As Avita prepared to resume her experiment, Teresa appeared outside the laboratory door.

Teresa asked Avita to let her consult archived magic-array technology for a new magic lamp, and Avita agreed to provide the documents. Meanwhile, Sophia announced that she intended to settle in Bunta City and join the Xinfei Merchant Guild, leaving Xu Yi to insist she pass its recruitment assessment.

• Teresa asked Avita for access to the Magic Array Intermittent Mana Supply Technology, but Avita explained that junior researchers could not enter the archives.
• Teresa said she wanted to develop a new magic lamp to repay Xu Yi, so Avita offered to bring her the relevant technical documents.
• Sophia told Xu Yi she planned to stay in Bunta City and find work, while Kennard and Hank Wilson confirmed that her family supported her decision.
• Sophia insisted on working for the Xinfei Merchant Guild, and Xu Yi said she would have to pass the same recruitment assessment as everyone else.
• Sophia vowed to pester Xu Yi if she joined the guild, while Xu Yi privately thought its demanding work would keep her too busy to do so.

Xu Yi negotiated a revised sales agreement with Hank Wilson and learned that the Walmart Merchant Guild wanted to buy magic locomotives to build foreign freight routes. The guild also proposed partnering abroad to sell Xinfei products and establish factories, leaving Xu Yi to weigh the opportunity against the risk of Walmart taking the lead.

• Hank Wilson offered a new cooperation agreement with better terms, including Walmart coverage of some transportation costs, but Xu Yi said the Feilson Carriage Company had exclusive responsibility for Xinfei shipments.
• Wilson revealed that President Lundes had sent him to buy magic locomotives, and Xu Yi learned Walmart planned an initial fleet of five hundred medium freight locomotives for routes to neighboring countries.
• Xu Yi agreed that Xinfei might supply the five hundred locomotives, but said he had to discuss the request with the Feilson Carriage Company before confirming.
• Xu Yi read Walmart's proposal to sell Xinfei products abroad and potentially establish local factories together, then considered how Walmart's stronger presence could make it the leading partner.

Xu Yi declined to sign Wilson’s proposed contract but agreed to sell the Walmart Merchant Guild five hundred Cargo Magic Locomotives, leaving Kennard to manage the production challenge. In Bunta City, Servini defended the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s expansion beyond the city to Nori, then learned that her elder brother was reorganizing the Northern Garrison to seek glory on the battlefield.

• Xu Yi told Kennard he would not let the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s development depend on others, while remaining open to expanding cooperation with the Walmart Merchant Guild.
• Xu Yi assigned Kennard the task of supplying the Walmart Merchant Guild with five hundred Cargo Magic Locomotives and asked him to look after Sophia.
• Servini explained to Nori that Bunta City’s tax revenue had surged and that the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s international trade and investments elsewhere were contributing to the kingdom’s wider development.
• Nori urged Servini to restrict the Xinfei Merchant Guild from moving factories out of Bunta City, but Servini said she supported Xu Yi’s broader goals for the Lampari Kingdom.
• Nori told Servini that her elder brother was reorganizing the Northern Garrison because he wanted to prove himself on the battlefield.

Viscount Leslie prepared to leave the Northern Garrison for a post at the Military Department’s General Staff Headquarters, troubled by the corruption and hardship he had seen there. At a lavish banquet, Prince Eric discussed a counteroffensive against the Sark Kingdom and assumed the Stark Family would fund it, while Leslie concealed his true reaction behind a toast.

• Leslie learned from Muller that padded coats cost far less than the Northern Garrison’s official purchase price, and Muller asked him to help the soldiers if he could.
• Leslie confirmed his transfer to General Staff Headquarters, said farewell to Muller, and left with Butler Wenlai to meet Prince Eric.
• Prince Eric welcomed Leslie with an extravagant banquet, while Leslie reflected on the contrast between the meal and the Northern Garrison’s soldiers’ conditions.
• Leslie questioned the cost of Prince Eric’s planned counteroffensive against the Sark Kingdom, and Prince Eric expected the Stark Family to provide full support.
• Leslie raised a toast to victory while hiding a cold smile behind his wineglass.

Mick took the Xinfei Merchant Guild's professional skills assessment at Falling Rain Valley, completing practical tests on a magic-powered lathe before heading to the theory exam. Avita encouraged him that passing the elementary assessment would qualify him to work for the guild, while the results remained unknown.

• Mick waited in the crowded assessment site, reviewing his theory book and worrying about the tests.
• Ankato announced the assessment rules and began the exams, and Mick entered the venue when his turn came.
• A dwarf examiner tested Mick's lathe skills; Mick earned scores of 85 and 80 on two machining tasks.
• The dwarf sent Mick to the theory examination room, where he met Avita and admitted he doubted he could qualify as a senior technician.
• Avita told Mick that passing the elementary assessment would qualify him to work for the Xinfei Merchant Guild, and he hurried off to take the theory test.
• Avita watched the crowd, then boarded a Feilson Carriage Company public-service magic locomotive bound for Bunta City.

Avita and Akali tested Akali’s Home Central Remote-Control System at Miss Sophia’s house, finding that inconsistent magic-array standards reduced its effectiveness. President Cruz then offered Akali the option of buying a home through installment payments, an idea he had learned from President Xu.

• Avita arrived at the Amli Merchant Guild’s residential development and found Akali working with her assistants at Miss Sophia’s house.
• Akali estimated that installing the Home Central Remote-Control System would take a week, and Avita suggested using standardized Xinfei household machines to simplify the work.
• Akali tested the system and discovered that differences in magic-array setup standards weakened its performance in the house.
• Avita and Akali agreed to select household machines with compatible frequencies for Miss Sophia and to study the remaining problems later.
• President Cruz stopped Avita and Akali on their way out and offered Akali installment payments for a house.

Akali and Avita discussed buying homes in Bunta City, and Xu Yi agreed to lend Akali money while Avita declined. After learning the Magic Research Institute lacked enough staff, Xu Yi realized that better housing could attract more mages and hurried off to see his grandfather.

• Stille offered to lend Akali and Avita money for a house, but Avita declined while Akali eagerly accepted.
• Xu Yi approved Stille's loan and reassured Akali that he would also lend her money.
• Xu Yi learned that the Magic Research Institute had 359 researchers and that Akali and Avita lacked enough staff for their workloads.
• Avita explained that mages were reluctant to move to an unfamiliar city, and Xu Yi concluded that the guild should address their housing and living arrangements.
• Xu Yi left in a hurry to see his grandfather, while Akali teased Avita about her feelings for him.

Xu Yi visited Great Mage Camilla and saw her demonstrate two strong magic-based methods for welding steel plates. He then offered to raise her annual salary to ten thousand gold coins to attract other mages to the Xinfei Merchant Guild.

• Xu Yi watched Great Mage Camilla fuse steel plates by melting the plates themselves, producing a nearly seamless and exceptionally strong joint.
• Great Mage Camilla demonstrated a second method that used miniature melting arrays along the plate edges, allowing the plates to be joined quickly while keeping their surfaces smooth.
• Xu Yi praised Camilla's research and said the guild needed more mages to work on magic machinery.
• Xu Yi revealed that he had come to raise Camilla's annual salary from over three thousand gold coins to ten thousand to publicize the guild and attract other Great Mages.

Xu Yi persuaded Great Mage Camilla to join the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s recruitment campaign and planned to take the mage Qualification Certification Examination in Anvilmar City. After the guild released the vocational examination results, Mick’s two certifications prompted President Remit to offer him a raise and promotion, keeping him from immediately joining Xinfei.

• Great Mage Camilla agreed to help Xu Yi advertise for more Great Mages, and Xu Yi said he would take the mage Qualification Certification Examination when he visited Anvilmar City.
• The Xinfei Merchant Guild announced that 3,914 workers had passed its vocational skills examination, including 1,739 lathe operators and 716 milling operators.
• Mick collected junior certifications in lathe operation and milling operation, then went to tell President Remit he wanted to join the Xinfei Merchant Guild.
• President Remit offered Mick a raise from fifteen to twenty-five gold coins per month and promoted him to production technical team leader.
• After Mick left, President Remit credited President Xu with warning him about skilled workers who might leave and considered which technologies to choose from another Xinfei document.

Xu Yi attended Anvilmar City's monthly grand auction to acquire specific items and bought Archmage Thorne's notes after a brief bidding contest. The auction then prepared to unveil its final showcase item, drawing the crowd's eager attention.

• Xu Yi attended the grand auction and listened as the early lots sold for increasingly high prices.
• Xu Yi bid on Archmage Thorne's notes, competing with bidder number forty-seven until he won them for 5,700 gold coins.
• Xu Yi waited through the later auction lots for the next item he wanted.
• A staff member brought in a small red box with unusual care, and the crowd anticipated the auction's highlight.

At an auction in Anvilmar City, Xu Yi competed for the Deep Blue Sea necklace and faced Young Master Fulaiduo’s challenge to prove he could pay. Xu Yi drove the price to 350,000 gold coins, forcing Fulaiduo to concede and leaving the audience wondering who Xu Yi was and how he had so much money.

• The auctioneer introduced the Deep Blue Sea necklace, made from azure coral stone and crafted by Grand Archmage Lifao with a rumored Forbidden Spell array, and opened bidding at 100,000 gold coins.
• After the bidding passed 200,000 gold coins, Xu Yi offered 250,000 gold coins, prompting Young Master Fulaiduo to question whether he could pay.
• Xu Yi challenged Fulaiduo to prove he could pay his own bid, and Fulaiduo raised the price to 280,000 gold coins.
• Xu Yi immediately bid 300,000 gold coins, then raised Fulaiduo’s next offer of 320,000 to 350,000 gold coins.
• Fulaiduo hesitated and conceded, while the audience wondered about Xu Yi’s wealth and identity.

Xu Yi used the auction and his connections to arrange a meeting with the Lifao family’s heir, then negotiated an advertising deal with Haines for the Xinfei Merchant Guild. The agreement would shield the guild from negative reports for one year while it expanded the magic industry across the Lampari Kingdom.

• Xu Yi explained that Archmage Thorne’s notebook could help the Xinfei Merchant Guild earn millions, while the 350,000-gold-coin necklace was a public relations expense intended to curry favor with the Lifao family.
• Haines told Xu Yi that he had arranged a meeting with the Lifao family head’s only son for the following evening, since Xu Yi could not yet meet the family head directly.
• Haines reported that the Anvilmar Daily’s leaders wanted 10,000 gold coins to accept the guild’s advertisements, and Xu Yi offered 100,000 in exchange for exclusive advertising that month and a one-year agreement.
• Xu Yi asked the Anvilmar Daily and the Lampari Weekly to publish no negative reports about the Xinfei Merchant Guild for one year so it could expand the magic industry throughout the Kingdom.
• Haines agreed to the one-year conditions but warned Xu Yi that he would expose any wrongdoing after the term ended.

Xu Yi confronted Alex about his drunken behavior and Heinz’s proposal to transfer him back to Bunta City, giving him time to reconsider. Meanwhile, the Mages’ Guild certification exams drew unusually many advanced mages, and locals learned that Xinfei’s hiring requirements and generous salaries had brought its mages to Anvilmar City.

• Xu Yi considered buying a residence in Anvilmar City and reviewed Archmage Thorne’s notes on magic flying devices for Avita’s airship research.
• Xu Yi questioned Alex about a supposed refrigerator deal after noticing his drunken state and expensive clothes and jewelry.
• Xu Yi told Alex that Heinz wanted him transferred to Bunta City and urged him to decide whether to return, while Alex insisted he would not go back.
• The Mages’ Guild held its qualification examinations on schedule, attracting more advanced mages than usual because Xinfei required recent certification from applicants.
• Tavern patrons discussed Xinfei’s high salaries and its mages staying at the Shelton Hotel as a procession of box-shaped vehicles arrived outside.

The Xinfei Merchant Guild researchers arrived in Anvilmar City for the Mages' Guild assessment, while Avita and Akali prepared to address a matter involving Vice President Heinz. Xu Yi met Murna Lifao to negotiate for the late Lifao Grand Archmage's research materials, and Murna hinted that he wanted something other than gold coins in payment.

• Akali, Claire, and Bella teased each other after arriving in Anvilmar City, until Avita reminded the researchers to keep technical discussions private and stay with their teams.
• Alex welcomed the researchers to the Shelton Hotel and offered a banquet, which Avita accepted while telling Akali they needed to act early for the president and Vice President Heinz's sake.
• Xu Yi met Murna Lifao at the Shady Cottage and asked whether his family would sell the late Lifao Grand Archmage's research materials.
• Murna said the family had preserved the materials and provisionally agreed to sell them on his father's behalf.
• When Xu Yi offered to pay in gold coins, Murna replied that he had never said the materials had to be paid for with gold.

Xu Yi discussed Murna Lifao’s partnership with the Xinfei Merchant Guild and his upcoming Mage qualification exam with Haines. Meanwhile, Alex tried to end his secret sales of the guild’s research, but a handler’s offer of ten thousand gold coins left him wavering.

• Xu Yi praised Murna Lifao for choosing a long-term partnership that could fund the Lifao Family’s research and Murna’s magical development.
• Haines asked whether Xu Yi would attempt the Level Nine Mage examination, and Xu Yi said he would reveal the result in a few days.
• Alex met a middle-aged man in a secluded house and demanded a higher price, saying Xu Yi had warned him and that this would be their last deal.
• The middle-aged man threatened to expose Alex’s sales, but Alex insisted Xu Yi would spare him for his uncle’s sake and handed over a notebook of research materials.
• The man paid Alex three thousand gold coins for the notebook, then offered him another assignment worth ten thousand gold coins, and Alex reacted with excitement.

The Mages' Guild's record-breaking certification examination brought in enough magic patent protection fees to leave the guild with money to spare. Great Mage Truchi, impressed by the success of magic machinery, asked Great Mage Camilla whether he could open a factory, but she doubted he could manage it.

• President Allen extended the examination period to half a month and offered staff a special daily allowance to handle the increased workload.
• President Allen credited Xu Yi's magic patent proposal for the guild's surplus funds and said more than thirteen thousand patents had been registered.
• Great Mage Torres explained that many mages applied for patents partly to gain prestige, while Great Mage Eisenka revealed he had paid three thousand gold coins in protection fees.
• President Allen said one of the Xinfei Merchant Guild's patents had cost ten thousand gold coins to protect and would be worth far more to acquire.
• Great Mage Truchi asked Great Mage Camilla whether he could open a magic machinery factory, and she said she doubted his temperament was suited to managing one.