Chapter Summaries

Great Mage Truchi sought a steady income, and Great Mage Camilla offered to arrange a meeting with Xu Yi about work at the Xinfei Merchant Guild. Meanwhile, Lampari the Thirteenth worried over Eric’s plans for war with the Sark Kingdom and concealed a serious medical episode, while Xu Yi prepared Akali and Avita for a magic machinery conference.

• Great Mage Camilla told Great Mage Truchi that she earned ten thousand gold coins a year at the Xinfei Merchant Guild, and Great Mage Truchi asked her to arrange a meeting with Xu Yi.
• Lampari the Thirteenth criticized Eric’s plan to reorganize the Northern Garrison and counterattack the Sark Kingdom, warning that the kingdom could not afford another war.
• Lampari the Thirteenth coughed blood in the rear garden, ordered Derma to conceal it, and wondered why he had not been given a few more years.
• Akali announced that she had passed the Level Five Magic Mage assessment, and Avita said she had passed it too.
• Xu Yi encouraged Akali and Avita and led them toward the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s first technical exchange conference on magic machinery products in Anvilmar City.

At the Solaga Art Exhibition Hall, Xu Yi announced that the Xinfei Merchant Guild would transfer technology for household magic machinery under stricter standards and rules than before. He left the technical questions to Akali and Avita as the reporters prepared to learn more.

• Anlisol argued with a reporter that household magic machinery could be art and pointed to its craftsmanship and design.
• Xu Yi confirmed that the Xinfei Merchant Guild planned to transfer some of its Magic Machinery manufacturing technology.
• Xu Yi said the transfers would focus on household magic machinery and that other technology might be transferred in the future.
• Xu Yi announced that recipient guilds would have to follow Xinfei’s manufacturing standards, explaining that standards saved resources without preventing innovation.
• Xu Yi sent Akali and Avita to answer the reporters’ technical questions.

After the Xinfei Merchant Guild earned agreements worth more than fifteen million gold coins from its technology exchange, Xu Yi explained why sharing its technologies served his long-term plans. Back at Count Samo’s residence, he met Great Mages Camilla and Truchi, and Truchi asked whether his salary could be higher than ten thousand gold coins.

• Seventy-six merchant guilds signed 127 technology transfer agreements, and Xu Yi explained to Avita and Akali that transferring the technologies meant sacrificing greater future profits to build a magic industry system.
• Xu Yi left the exchange and learned that Great Mages Camilla and Truchi, merchant representatives, Sihak Kingdom envoys, and a visitor bearing half a jade pendant were waiting for him.
• Xu Yi recognized the pendant and asked its bearer to wait separately, then went to meet Camilla and Truchi.
• Great Mage Truchi asked whether joining the Xinfei Merchant Guild as a Senior Researcher would earn him the same ten-thousand-gold-coin salary as Camilla.
• After Xu Yi promised Truchi the same salary and benefits, Truchi hesitantly asked whether the salary could be higher.

Great Mage Truchi revealed that he was born on Karasga Island and had been supporting its nearly five thousand residents, hoping to end their poverty and piracy. Xu Yi argued that sending money would not solve the island’s problems and hinted that he had a better plan.

• Great Mage Truchi admitted that he needed forty or fifty thousand gold coins a year and that Xinfei Merchant Guild’s salary offer could not cover his expenses.
• Great Mage Truchi explained that he wanted the guild to invest in Karasga Island, where he had been born and where many residents turned to piracy to survive.
• Great Mage Truchi told Xu Yi and Great Mage Camilla that he had long supported the islanders and hoped to make their lives stable enough to seek relocation to Lampari Kingdom.
• Xu Yi warned that even substantial financial support would not stop the islanders from becoming pirates or change their circumstances.
• Xu Yi called Great Mage Truchi’s approach inefficient and said he had a better way to address Karasga Island’s problems.

Xu Yi negotiated with Great Mage Truchi over improving life on Karasga Island and considered recruiting him for the Xinfei Merchant Guild. He also agreed to discuss technology transfers and an embassy banquet, then offered Angklu weapons while refusing to provide military magic machinery for now.

• Xu Yi rejected Great Mage Truchi’s proposal to send large sums of money to Karasga Island and promised to visit the island to consider ways to improve conditions there.
• Great Mage Camilla questioned the value of recruiting Truchi, and Xu Yi explained that another Great Mage would strengthen the guild’s research and attract other mages.
• Xu Yi agreed to let two Anvilmar merchant guilds jointly purchase technology and accepted an invitation to a banquet hosted by the Sihak Kingdom’s ambassador.
• An envoy from the Stantin Duchy told Xu Yi that Angklu was ready to act and wanted weapons, equipment, and military magic machinery; Xu Yi agreed to supply weapons but refused the machinery.
• Xu Yi agreed to visit the Stantin Duchy after the New Year and warned Angklu through the envoy not to hesitate now that he had made his decision.

Xu Yi told Major Maikongli that he had refused to sell military magic machinery to the Stantin Duchy, then learned that the Sark Kingdom had captured a Magic-Powered Stone Thrower of its own. After inspecting it, Xu Yi denied that the Xinfei Merchant Guild had supplied the Sark Kingdom and faced the urgent question of whether the enemy had copied the machine independently or stolen the guild’s designs.

• Xu Yi met Major Maikongli and explained that he had refused Angklu's envoy’s request to sell military magic machinery to the Stantin Duchy.
• Major Maikongli told Xu Yi that Prince Eric was preparing a counteroffensive against the Sark Kingdom but was reluctant to equip the Northern Garrison with the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s machinery because of Xu Yi’s ties to Princess Royal Servini.
• Major Maikongli showed Xu Yi a Magic-Powered Stone Thrower captured by the Northern Garrison during a battle in the Murto Mountain Ranges, confirming that the Sark Kingdom had made it.
• Xu Yi inspected the inferior machine and explained how difficult it was to manufacture, prompting Major Maikongli to question whether the Xinfei Merchant Guild had leaked its designs.
• Xu Yi denied that the guild had helped the Sark Kingdom, and Major Maikongli said the Military Department would investigate if Xu Yi could not explain how the enemy had produced the machine.

Xu Yi received the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s convoy and welcomed the New Moon Song and Dance Troupe, along with Linda, who Stille had sent to keep an eye on him during his trip to Sewell City. He introduced the troupe to Anvilmar City, where Avir’s singing captivated a crowd and began their public debut.

• Xu Yi arranged for engineers to inspect the Magic-Powered Stone Thrower and confirmed he would leave for Sewell City after his examination the next day.
• Kennard arrived with the convoy, including the New Moon Song and Dance Troupe, and told Xu Yi that Stille had sent Linda to attend to him.
• Xu Yi agreed to have Linda and the troupe stay with him at Count Samo’s Outer Residence while Kennard handled the supplies and other preparations.
• At the residence, reporter Rekdo asked Xu Yi about the orc girls, and Xu Yi explained that they belonged to the New Moon Merchant Guild’s song and dance troupe.
• Xu Yi invited Avir to sing, and her performance captivated the gathered crowd.

Xu Yi attended Ambassador Parames’s banquet and discussed investing in the Sihak Kingdom, where corruption seemed widespread but officials could get things done. After warning President Lanke against investing in the Stantin Duchy, Xu Yi heard Lanke raise the possibility of doing business in the Sark Kingdom.

• Xu Yi learned from President Lanke that the Sihak Kingdom offered a stable, prosperous market, though its officials had grown extravagant and corrupt.
• Xu Yi met Ambassador Parames, who knew little about the Xinfei Merchant Guild until Xu Yi proposed investing one million gold coins in the Sihak Kingdom.
• Ambassador Parames eagerly led Xu Yi aside to discuss the proposed investment, and they reached a preliminary understanding.
• Xu Yi told President Lanke that he hoped merchants from Bunta City would avoid investing in the Stantin Duchy because it would only bring trouble.
• President Lanke asked Xu Yi whether he was still interested in doing business in the Sark Kingdom, and Xu Yi wondered what Lanke had in mind.

Xu Yi questioned President Lanke’s proposal to trade magic machinery with the Sark Kingdom while suspecting the kingdom had copied the Magic-Powered Stone Thrower using information from within the Lampari military. After the New Moon Song and Dance Troupe’s performance upset Anvilmar nobles who treated the beastman girls as slaves, Xu Yi devised a charity-focused publicity plan with Haines and asked him to keep Xu Yi’s role secret from Stille.

• Xu Yi told President Lanke he would consider trading with the Sark Kingdom after returning from Sewell City, and Lanke suggested discussing the trade with Count Samo.
• Xu Yi returned to the Outer Residence and learned that nobles at Haines’s banquet had mistaken the New Moon Song and Dance Troupe for slaves and groped the performers.
• Haines confronted the offending nobles, causing the banquet to end badly.
• Xu Yi proposed using Haines’s newspapers and charity performances to introduce the beastman girls to the public instead of pursuing an upscale strategy.
• Xu Yi asked Haines to claim credit for the plan so Stille would not lose confidence in her work.

Xu Yi recruited hundreds of mages for the Xinfei Merchant Guild and entered the Level Eight Mage examination, hoping to attract more Advanced Mages to its research teams. As the examination began, an unidentified mage challenged his right to be there.

• The Xinfei Merchant Guild recruited more than five hundred mages after tours of Falling Rain Valley, including twenty-four approved for the Magic Research Institute.
• Akali and Avita stayed in Anvilmar City to hear Xu Yi’s examination results, and Akali playfully encouraged him before he entered the hall.
• Xu Yi noticed President Allen and recalled suspicions that Allen’s son’s guild was producing unusually high-quality Magic Fans through its partnership with Xinfei.
• Xu Yi went to Great Mage Truchi to take the Level Eight Mage examination, where other candidates greeted him warmly because of his reputation and the high salaries Xinfei paid its mages.
• An unidentified mage coldly questioned why Xu Yi was taking the examination, claiming he did not look like a mage.

Xu Yi faced the Level Eight Mage examination while Bukales repeatedly disparaged him and the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s magic machinery. After Great Mage Truchi restored order, the examination began, and Xu Yi stepped forward to demonstrate his eighth-level spells.

• Bukales challenged Xu Yi’s place in the examination, and Great Mage Truchi and the other mages rebuked him.
• Xu Yi introduced himself as president of the Xinfei Merchant Guild and explained that he valued magic machinery and business more than studying magic.
• Bukales criticized the magic in Xinfei machinery, provoking the Lampari Kingdom mages into an argument that Great Mage Truchi stopped with a blast of cold wind.
• Great Mage Truchi began the examinations, and Xu Yi drew everyone’s attention as a potential Level Eight Mage at age thirty.
• Great Mage Truchi required Xu Yi to cast at least three eighth-level spells, and Xu Yi raised his hand as lightning flickered above his palm.

Xu Yi persuaded Bukales to remain for the Level Eight Mage examination, then invited him to join the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s Magic Research Institute. He revealed that the Milando Duchy possessed a valuable resource: rare earth.

• Xu Yi demonstrated advanced lightning spells, proving his strength as a Level Eight Mage and leaving Bukales disheartened.
• Xu Yi stopped Bukales from leaving and hinted that cooperation with the Milando Duchy could benefit its people.
• Great Mage Truchi passed Bukales after judging his spells barely adequate, and Bukales later apologized to Xu Yi for underestimating him and the Xinfei Merchant Guild.
• Xu Yi told Bukales that samples from the Milando Duchy’s resources had revealed something valuable and invited him to work at the Magic Research Institute for a salary that could reach fifty gold coins a month.
• Xu Yi concluded that Bukales was tempted by the offer and identified the duchy’s scarce resource as rare earth.

Xu Yi and Canby traveled with a convoy over Laimart City's badly damaged highway, prompting Xu Yi to propose researching a magic-powered shock absorption system for locomotives. As the convoy stopped near the city, a Xinfei employee reported that the road ahead was blocked.

• Xu Yi and Canby complained about the highway's potholes, and Xu Yi noticed that its cement surface was thin and poorly maintained.
• Xu Yi asked Canby to record the need to develop a shock absorption system using wind magic, and Canby and the researchers discussed possible designs.
• Xu Yi studied a map showing that Laimart City and other Prince Eric strongholds remained untouched by the magic industry, then wondered why the king had stayed silent about Eric's planned counteroffensive.
• The convoy stopped after an argument broke out ahead, and a Xinfei employee told Xu Yi that the road was blocked.

Xu Yi’s convoy was blocked from entering Laimart City’s highway, prompting him to consider how cities could restrict the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s transport. He decided to examine building a national highway linking Bunta City and Sewell City.

• Xu Yi learned that Laimart City’s City Guard was stopping Magic Locomotives from using the highway under the City Lord’s orders, despite letting other traffic pass.
• Xu Yi offered the junior officer two purses of gold but failed to persuade him to let the convoy through.
• Xu Yi ordered the convoy to turn back and take an unpaved road, then discussed the blockade with Canby and the others.
• Xu Yi worried that two other cities along the route might also restrict the Xinfei Merchant Guild because they supported Prince Eric.
• Xu Yi considered replacing the Kingdom’s fragmented, city-controlled highways with a national network and studied the feasibility of a direct highway between Bunta City and Sewell City.

After Kota stopped a Xinfei Merchant Guild convoy at Laimart City, Count Will and Count Michelle discussed backing Prince Eric and pressuring the guild, while Count Longley questioned their hostility. Though he agreed to supply Prince Eric with what Bateru City could afford, Longley resolved to follow the Xinfei convoy and reconsider bringing the guild to his city.

• Kota accepted gold from Xu Yi for stopping the Xinfei Merchant Guild convoy, paid his men, and reported the convoy to Count Will.
• Count Will and Count Michelle discussed targeting the Xinfei Merchant Guild and agreed to supply Prince Eric's army with goods worth three hundred thousand gold coins each.
• Count Longley objected to making an enemy of the guild, but agreed that Bateru City would contribute supplies worth up to one hundred thousand gold coins.
• After leaving Laimart City, Count Longley recalled how impressed he had been by Bunta City's development and resolved to seek the Xinfei Merchant Guild's convoy.

After Laimart City barred the Xinfei Merchant Guild convoy, Xu Yi camped in the wilderness and considered whether Prince Eric’s faction was turning against the guild. As he weighed staying neutral against openly supporting Princess Royal Servini, a tremor and an agonized scream interrupted the night.

• Xu Yi ordered the convoy to camp outside Laimart City, where the staff set up tents and prepared food and drink.
• Canby shared the dwarven distillery’s first successful liquor batch with Xu Yi, who praised it and advised him to use better packaging for sales.
• Xu Yi told Hart to strengthen the camp’s defenses and discussed dwarven divisions and magic locomotive suspensions with Canby.
• Unable to sleep, Xu Yi considered whether Laimart City had acted independently or on Prince Eric’s orders and recognized that the guild might have to choose sides.
• Xu Yi’s thoughts began to tip toward Princess Royal Servini when the ground trembled and an agonized scream sounded in the wilderness.

Xu Yi’s caravan came under attack from a disciplined force of cavalry protected by an Advanced Mage’s Azure Guardian. He ordered the guards to use costly Flame Magic Arrows to batter the barrier, treating the attack as an opportunity to demonstrate the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s power.

• Xu Yi learned that more than two hundred mounted attackers were approaching and that three patrolling guards had not returned.
• Hart’s guards opened fire with Magic Repeating Crossbows, inflicting heavy casualties before the enemy mage raised Azure Guardian.
• Xu Yi ordered the guards to replace their bolts with Flame Magic Arrows and fire at the barrier.
• The explosive arrows weakened Azure Guardian, but the mage reinforced it and kept the cavalry protected.
• Hart questioned the expense and suggested Xu Yi fight the mage himself, but Xu Yi said he preferred to solve problems with money and wanted the attack to warn others of the guild’s strength.

Xu Yi’s convoy repelled a night attack by cavalry and learned that the attackers belonged to the Sark Kingdom’s Greedy Wolf Legion. The ambush made Xu Yi reconsider his assumptions about the dangers facing the Xinfei Merchant Guild, and he sent Hart to deliver the prisoners and evidence to Princess Royal Servini.

• Xu Yi’s guards used Flame Magic Arrows and a lightning spell to break the mage’s Azure Guardian barrier, defeat the cavalry, and capture three prisoners.
• Xu Yi learned that three guards had been killed and reflected that the convoy had survived only because its attackers had underestimated its weapons and defenses.
• Hart and Isos reported that the attackers were from the Sark Kingdom’s Greedy Wolf Legion and had crossed into the territory without encountering obstacles.
• Xu Yi ordered Hart to take the prisoners and interrogation report to Bunta City and hand them to Princess Royal Servini.

Count Michelle reassessed the Xinfei Merchant Guild after a failed raid revealed the strength of its magic weapons and guards, then wrote to Prince Eric with a new proposal. Xu Yi’s convoy left the attack site and reached Basaru City’s territory, where he learned its new count might hold a different political stance from his late father.

• Count Michelle admitted that her intelligence about the Xinfei Merchant Guild had been wrong after Everton and Mage Deral described how its magic arrows and guards defeated the Greedy Wolf Legion’s raid.
• Count Michelle concluded that the guild was stronger than she had believed and began writing to Prince Eric with a new proposal about it.
• Xu Yi’s convoy left the attack site, while Hart escorted three sleeping prisoners back toward Bunta City to report to Princess Royal Servini.
• Xu Yi’s convoy reached the end of a cement road and learned from a researcher that Basaru City had not built one under its former city lord, Count Longley.
• Xu Yi learned that the younger Count Longley had inherited the city and wondered whether he might differ from his late father, who had supported Prince Eric.

Xu Yi’s convoy reached impoverished Bateru City, where its narrow streets forced the guild to camp outside the gates. The city’s young ruler, Count Rivell Longley, arrived in haste and greeted Xu Yi with unusual excitement, leaving Xu Yi wondering whether Longley’s political views differed from his father’s.

• Xu Yi was shocked by how small and dilapidated Bateru City was and wondered whether its late ruler, Old Count Longley, had sincerely cared for the commoners.
• A gate officer told Ankato that the convoy’s magic locomotives could not fit through the city’s cramped streets, so Xu Yi decided the convoy would camp outside.
• Xu Yi persuaded the officer to let the convoy camp nearby by offering him a purse of gold, but the officer returned it when an approaching carriage appeared.
• Count Rivell Longley hurried from the carriage, introduced himself as Bateru City’s City Lord, and eagerly asked for Xu Yi’s support.
• Xu Yi was astonished by Rivell’s warm reception and wondered whether the young count held different political views from his father.