Chapter Summaries

Count Samo weighed Princess Royal Servini’s accusation that Duke Stark had poisoned King Eric as the Lampari Kingdom edged toward civil war. Princess Caroline offered Drake Duchy’s support for Servini in exchange for help building a magic machinery industry and transferring military magic machinery technology, leaving Samo to consider the proposal.

• Count Samo reflected on Servini’s accusation against Duke Stark and concluded that the king’s death and the appointment of Stark as regent were suspicious.
• Princess Caroline warned Count Samo that the Sark Kingdom might exploit Lampari’s weakness next year, but argued that Servini could stabilize the kingdom with Xu Yi and the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s support.
• Princess Caroline asked Count Samo to help move skilled Xinfei Merchant Guild workers from Sewell City to establish a production base in the Drake Duchy.
• Count Samo insisted that he had promised Xu Yi to protect the workers and said he could send them elsewhere instead.
• Princess Caroline offered Drake Duchy’s extensive support for Servini in exchange for Count Samo’s help building a magic machinery base and transferring military magic machinery technology.

Xu Yi refused to transfer military magic machinery technology to the Drake Duchy and Lord Wellen, but agreed to build factories in the duchy and considered recruiting workers from the Lampari Kingdom. The chapter ended with Hart reporting that people from Lord Wellen’s territory had crossed over intending to settle in Xinfei territory.

• Xu Yi told the Drake Duchy’s envoy he would not transfer military magic machinery technology, but offered to establish factories there.
• Xu Yi instructed Kennard to refuse Lord Wellen’s request for technology while giving his orders priority.
• Xu Yi and Kennard discussed production shortages and decided to recruit technical staff and workers from the Lampari Kingdom, with help from the Emma Family.
• Hart reported that a group from Lord Wellen’s territory had entered Xinfei territory to settle there, delighting Xu Yi and Kennard.

Xu Yi sought to relieve the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s labor shortage by paying Lord Wellen’s subjects to relocate to his fief, despite the cost and the strain on the guild’s finances. The chapter ended with Kennard reporting that the newcomers were drawn by the fief’s comfortable living conditions, especially its planned automated water supply.

• Xu Yi explained that the guild’s limited workforce was holding back production and said he would pay to relocate as many of Lord Wellen’s subjects as possible.
• Sebas warned that relocation fees could reach two hundred gold coins per person and that the guild had less than two million gold coins available.
• Kennard predicted Lord Wellen would seek military magic machinery in exchange and proposed involving trusted merchant guilds in manufacturing components; Xu Yi approved the plan.
• Sebas cautioned that road construction, worker wages, and the expensive water supply system could strain the guild’s finances, while Xu Yi said expected Rulson Kingdom orders would provide working capital.
• Kennard told Xu Yi and Sebas that the people wanted to move because life in the fief was comfortable, especially the promise of clean water delivered to their homes.

Xu Yi negotiated Lord Wellen’s purchase of five thousand people and military magic machinery as the Stantin Duchy’s lords rushed to arm themselves. Meanwhile, Servini launched a campaign against Duke Stark, and the Lampari Kingdom’s civil war began with her outnumbered Private Guard stunningly defeating the kingdom’s Second Army.

• Xu Yi agreed to pay Lord Wellen 2.2 million gold coins in cash, household magic machinery, and military magic machinery for five thousand people, and Lord Wellen requested three opportunities for the Xinfei Merchant Guild to assist him in combat.
• As Lord Wellen’s victories made him a potential rival to the Grand Duke, Stantin’s lords flooded the Xinfei Merchant Guild with orders and exchanged increasing amounts of ore for military magic machinery.
• Xu Yi gave Servini priority deliveries of military magic machinery on credit, treating her support as an investment in her bid for power.
• In October 3784, Servini condemned Duke Stark and announced a campaign against him, while the Duke of Stantin declared her a rebel on Prince William’s behalf.
• A week later, civil war broke out; nearly half the kingdom’s cities backed Servini, and her three-thousand-strong Private Guard defeated the fifteen-thousand-strong Second Army of the Kingdom Garrison.

After Princess Royal Servini’s forces defeated Duke Stark’s rebellion, Leslie asked Xu Yi to seek mercy for his father, and Xu Yi agreed to try. Servini asked the Xinfei Merchant Guild to return to the Lampari Kingdom, but Xu Yi decided the kingdom would be only one market among many, while his private fief remained the guild’s foundation.

• Leslie visited Xu Yi after fleeing the civil war and asked to buy military magic machinery to help Duke Stark.
• Xu Yi refused to support Duke Stark but agreed to ask Servini to spare him, despite believing she could not pardon his treason.
• Servini’s envoy questioned Xu Yi for letting Leslie go, and Xu Yi defended Leslie as his friend.
• The envoy told Xu Yi that Servini wanted the Xinfei Merchant Guild to return and develop extensively in the Lampari Kingdom.
• Xu Yi accepted the idea of investing in the kingdom but decided the guild would no longer treat it as its foundation.

After the Stark rebellion was suppressed, Servini invited Xu Yi to her coronation, but he declined, fearing that her becoming queen would change their friendship. As the Lampari Kingdom stabilized and Lord Wellen threatened the Xinfei Merchant Guild over its military sales in the Stantin Duchy, Xu Yi resolved that he could no longer back down.

• Duke Stark submitted to Princess Royal Servini, then died by poison, and the Kingdom Parliament sentenced him and ten other Stark leaders to death while sparing some of the rebels’ descendants and property.
• Servini invited Xu Yi to her December 25 coronation, but he refused to attend and explained that he feared losing her as a friend after she became queen.
• Xu Yi assured the envoy that his support for Servini and the Lampari Kingdom would continue, even as he worried their relationship would grow more complicated.
• Lord Wellen was defeated by four allied lords whose troops outnumbered his forces and then demanded that Xu Yi stop selling military magic machinery to the other Stantin lords.
• After weighing Lord Wellen’s ultimatum for two days, Xu Yi decided he could no longer back down.

After Xu Yi rejected Count Wellen’s demand to stop selling military magic machinery, Wellen invaded Xu Yi’s territory with ten thousand soldiers but found the Abundant River blocking his way. Xu Yi flew across to meet him, forcing Wellen to recognize that the Xinfei Merchant Guild had a decisive advantage in mages.

• Count Wellen led ten thousand soldiers to the Abundant River and saw that Xu Yi’s widened river and defenses made crossing difficult.
• Wellen recalled how Xinfei military magic machinery had helped him defeat other lords and planned to seize the guild to dominate the Stantin Duchy.
• Wellen rejected his aide’s suggestion to charge across the guarded bridge and waited for boats to ferry his soldiers over the river.
• Xu Yi flew across the Abundant River and asked Wellen to come out and speak with him.
• Wellen realized that the Xinfei Merchant Guild had hundreds of powerful mages, Great Mage Camilla, and Xu Yi, a Level Nine Mage.

Count Wellen attacked Xu Yi’s fief after Xu Yi refused his demands, but Xu Yi’s magic barrier and the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s weapons devastated Wellen’s army at the Abundant River bridge. Wellen ordered a retreat, deciding to blockade the guild’s territory instead.

• Count Wellen demanded that Xu Yi accept his terms, but Xu Yi refused and offered him one last chance to withdraw.
• Count Wellen ordered crossbowmen to shoot Xu Yi, but Xu Yi blocked their arrows with a magical barrier and flew away.
• A magic stone thrower on the opposite riverbank launched fireballs into Count Wellen’s army, inflicting heavy casualties and throwing the troops into chaos.
• Count Wellen ordered his soldiers to charge across the bridge, but the Xinfei Merchant Guild Guard Corps cut them down with volleys from their cylindrical weapons.
• Count Wellen accepted his aide’s advice to withdraw and blockade the guild’s territory, then ordered his army to retreat.

Xu Yi’s forces routed Count Wellen’s army with military magic machinery, and Xu Yi sent Hart’s guards across the river after the retreating troops. On the day of Servini’s coronation, she reflected on how much Xu Yi meant to her, then wondered whether she mattered as much to him.

• The Xinfei Merchant Guild Guard Corps drove Count Wellen’s ten thousand soldiers into retreat using explosive flame bombs and repeating crossbows.
• Xu Yi sent Hart and five hundred guards across the bridge in thirty Mana Armored Transport Vehicles to pursue Count Wellen’s retreating troops.
• As she prepared to ascend the throne, Servini felt numb and realized that Xu Yi’s absence was weighing on her.
• Prince William rushed into Servini’s arms, and his presence reminded her how few royal relatives remained by her side.
• Servini recognized that she regarded Xu Yi as someone like family because she had entrusted him with the secret of Eric poisoning her father.
• Servini wondered whether Xu Yi’s refusal to attend her coronation meant that she was not important to him.

Xu Yi traveled to Count Wellen’s manor to negotiate an end to their war, arguing that Wellen should compensate the Xinfei Merchant Guild for its losses. Wellen accepted a ceasefire, and Xu Yi began listing his demands, starting with a larger territory.

• Xu Yi drove through battle-damaged roads and burned homes in Count Wellen’s territory, seeing how the conflict had disrupted local lives and trade.
• Xu Yi arrived alone at Count Wellen’s manor, where armed soldiers escorted him to the count.
• Count Wellen threatened to have Xu Yi seized but backed down and asked whether Xu Yi had come to negotiate.
• Xu Yi demanded a ceasefire, and Count Wellen agreed after Xu Yi argued that Wellen should compensate the guild for disrupted trade.
• Count Wellen asked Xu Yi to state his demands, and Xu Yi began by demanding a larger territory.

Count Wellen accepted Xu Yi’s ceasefire terms in exchange for priority access to the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s Military Magic Machinery, and ceded a strip of northern territory that connected Xu Yi’s holdings. After discussing the deal, Xu Yi declined to attend Queen Servini’s coronation and learned that Sophia might do something unexpected.

• Count Wellen agreed to Xu Yi’s conditions after the Xinfei Merchant Guild offered to prioritize supplying him with Military Magic Machinery and new models.
• Count Wellen and Xu Yi provisionally settled a ceasefire that ceded nearly six hundred square kilometers and its inhabitants to Xu Yi.
• Xu Yi explained to Kennard that the territory would connect the Black Rice Wasteland to his existing holdings and make development easier.
• Xu Yi told Kennard he had declined Queen Servini’s coronation for personal reasons.
• Kennard warned Xu Yi that Sophia might do something surprising, and Xu Yi wondered what she could do.

After Queen Servini lifted the restrictions on the Xinfei Merchant Guild, the guild returned to the Lampari Kingdom and reopened its Bunta City Product Service Center. Xu Yi and Servini appeared before the cheering crowd, while their new royal and public roles complicated their familiar relationship.

• Queen Servini lifted the bans on the Xinfei Merchant Guild as the kingdom began reopening its magic industry to merchant guilds.
• The announcement that the Xinfei Merchant Guild could return delighted people across the kingdom, especially Bunta City residents.
• On February 6, 3785, crowds gathered as the Xinfei Merchant Guild's Product Service Center reopened in Bunta City.
• Xu Yi emerged to cheers and invited Queen Servini to join him, prompting an even louder response from the crowd.
• A minister rebuked Xu Yi for addressing Servini by name, and Servini dismissed the matter while maintaining her royal dignity.

The Xinfei Merchant Guild celebrated its return to the Lampari Kingdom with a crowded special sale at its Bunta City Product Service Center. Xu Yi told gathered merchants that his guild might transfer any technology to those willing to invest seriously in research and development, prompting one merchant to ask about magic machine tools.

• Queen Servini attended the opening of the Xinfei Merchant Guild's Product Service Center in Bunta City, while the guild accepted the Lampari Kingdom's administrative oversight of its returned assets.
• The Product Service Center held a discounted special sale, drawing huge crowds of customers from Bunta City and neighboring cities.
• Merchants from across the Lampari Kingdom gathered on the center's third floor to meet Xu Yi and discuss the guild's return.
• Xu Yi said that earning money and improving people's lives went hand in hand, and that his guild reinvested much of its earnings in developing new products.
• Xu Yi said the guild might transfer any technology to merchant guilds that mastered it and used it for further research and development.
• A merchant asked Xu Yi whether the Xinfei Merchant Guild would transfer its magic machine tool technology.

Xu Yi explained why the Lampari Kingdom needed to build its industrial and skilled-worker foundations before it could usefully acquire military magic machinery technology, and offered merchants limited magic machine tool technology and training plans. He then learned that the Xinfei Merchant Guild had earned over one million gold coins in sales in a single morning.

• Xu Yi and Kennard discussed why the Lampari Kingdom and its merchants had not asked for military magic machinery technology, and Xu Yi concluded the kingdom was not ready.
• Xu Yi explained that Lampari lacked the industrial foundations to manufacture military machinery independently and planned to transfer some magic machine tool technology.
• Xu Yi offered merchants help recruiting dwarf craftsmen and recommended establishing vocational skills training colleges to develop skilled workers.
• Thirty-seven merchants requested the Small Magic Thread-Rolling Machine technology at eight hundred thousand gold coins each, while Xu Yi ruled out transferring all of the guild's machine tool technology.
• Sebas reported that the Xinfei Merchant Guild's morning sales had exceeded one million gold coins, with net profit expected to top three hundred thousand gold coins.

Xu Yi expanded the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s workforce and factories after acquiring territory from Count Wellen, while the guild’s support helped Count Wellen and Angklu dominate their respective halves of the Stantin Duchy. Sanchelli then unveiled a machine that could automate complex metal shaping, leaving Xu Yi convinced that it could begin a transformation in the guild’s production.

• Count Wellen and Angklu used Xinfei Merchant Guild equipment to conquer territory and emerged as the leading lords in northern and southern Stantin Duchy.
• Xu Yi surveyed his newly acquired territory, trained more than nineteen thousand residents, and hired them for simple factory work at the Xinfei Merchant Guild.
• Xu Yi invested in new factories to expand production, but judged technological improvements necessary to solve the guild’s capacity problems.
• Sanchelli demonstrated a Fully Automatic Pre-Controlled Magic-Powered Lathe that shaped a steel plate in under five minutes with little worker involvement.
• Xu Yi praised Sanchelli’s invention as a major breakthrough and awarded him the guild’s first-ever first-level reward.

Afalia's Father struggled to choose between returning to his hometown, Bunta City, and staying with his family in the prosperous Stantin Duchy. Just as he resigned himself to remaining far from his relatives, a group of passenger magic locomotives arrived at Xinfei Farm, and he recognized someone stepping out.

• Afalia's Father considered returning to Bunta City, but his wife, Yaqi, and Leia opposed leaving their secure jobs and comfortable life with the Xinfei Merchant Guild.
• Reports revealed that the Xinfei Merchant Guild would only provide technical support for Lampari Kingdom factories and would not operate wholly owned factories there, eliminating Afalia's Father's hope of returning without leaving the guild.
• Afalia's Father weighed his family's savings and the benefits of living in the clean, prosperous fief against his longing to be near his relatives in Bunta City.
• Afalia's Father went for his usual afternoon stroll and wished that his relatives could move to the fief.
• Several Medium Passenger Magic Locomotives arrived at Xinfei Farm, and Afalia's Father froze when he saw someone emerge from the first one.

Afalia's Father was surprised when his cousin Torres arrived from Bunta City with other relatives to work for the Xinfei Merchant Guild. After touring the guild's housing and factories, the 276 recruits were increasingly convinced they should stay.

• Torres arrived with residents of Roverto Village, and Afalia's Father learned that Torres and several relatives had come to work for the Xinfei Merchant Guild.
• Torres told Afalia's Father he would work as a Mana Welding Worker at the shipyard, and Afalia's Father eagerly described the new workers' housing and amenities.
• The Xinfei Merchant Guild representative called the recruits to line up, and Torres promised to visit Afalia's Father for a drink that evening.
• The recruits toured the guild's factories and saw their clean facilities and orderly work, which persuaded them that they should stay.

Torres and the other recruits from Bunta City toured the Xinfei Merchant Guild shipyard and saw the enormous cargo ship Wingspan. Xu Yi welcomed them, then joined Nevall aboard as the ship set out on its first long-distance coastal voyage, leaving Xu Yi confident in the guild’s growing industrial capabilities.

• Torres and the other recruits were stunned when Basaka showed them the five-story Wingspan at the shipyard.
• Xu Yi arrived, welcomed the recruits from Bunta City, and asked Basaka to ensure they were settled comfortably.
• Xu Yi told Nevall that recruiting experienced workers from Bunta City would strengthen the guild, and Nevall reported that the Wingspan had survived a severe storm during its voyage.
• Xu Yi promised Nevall command of a future deep-sea exploration fleet and ordered the Wingspan to begin its first long-distance coastal voyage.
• Nevall relayed the order, and the Wingspan sailed out toward the Endless Sea as Xu Yi watched from the bow and resolved to recreate Earth’s industrial technology.

Xu Yi arrived at Karasga Island aboard the Wingspan and reflected on the island’s transformation through the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s investment. After unloading the monthly supplies, he took Great Mage Truchi and Smilton to a storeroom filled with military magic machinery.

• The Wingspan reached Karasga Island, where Smilton and Great Mage Truchi welcomed Xu Yi.
• Xu Yi recalled how the Xinfei Merchant Guild had built factories, a mine, and a harbor while improving the islanders’ homes and living conditions.
• The islanders unloaded the monthly supplies of daily necessities from the Wingspan.
• Xu Yi, Great Mage Truchi, and Smilton entered a storeroom in the ship’s lower hold and found it packed with military magic machinery.

Xu Yi asked Smilton and Great Mage Truchi to help bring the islands and surrounding waters near Karasga Island under his control, offering military equipment and smaller Mana-Powered Ships in return. Smilton pledged to control the waters, though Xu Yi could not provide him with a vessel as large as the Wingspan.

• Smilton and Great Mage Truchi acknowledged that Xu Yi expected something in return for his support and asked what he wanted.
• Xu Yi showed them a map made from Magic Airship surveys and explained that he wanted control of the nearby islands and their resources.
• Great Mage Truchi questioned whether extracting and shipping island resources would be profitable, and Xu Yi pointed to the Wingspan as a solution to transport costs.
• Xu Yi said he valued control of the waters more than the islands themselves and asked Smilton to secure them.
• Smilton asked for Military Magic Machinery and ships, ideally one as large as the Wingspan, and Xu Yi offered smaller vessels instead.
• Smilton vowed to keep every inch of the waters under Xu Yi's control.