Chapter Summaries

Kennard brought Candel Empire ambassador Raiden Hakane through the Stantin Duchy on Slu Road, where Hakane admired the road and Xinfei Merchant Guild’s facilities. After testing a Small Mana Dryer, Hakane ordered a hundred and revealed that Candel Empire nobles were interested in the guild’s products, giving the guild a chance to enter the empire’s market.

• Raiden Hakane admired the elevated Slu Road and said he wanted the Candel Empire to build an even grander one.
• Kennard explained that the Xinfei Merchant Guild had equipped the route with streetlamps to welcome visitors.
• Kennard and Raiden Hakane stopped at a Magic Recharging Station, where Hakane marveled at its clean restroom and automatic fixtures.
• Kennard demonstrated a Small Mana Dryer, and Raiden Hakane ordered a hundred for himself.
• Kennard reflected that Hakane had agreed to the visit because Candel Empire nobles wanted information about and had ordered Xinfei products.

Kennard explained the automatic water supply system to Ambassador Hakane as they traveled through the Dreammist Forest, then stopped to help an injured man. After elves and an emergency crew treated and transported the man, Hakane was left wondering about the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s ties with the elves and its emergency communications device.

• Kennard explained that the automatic water supply system used pipes, a Magic-Powered Water Pump, filtration facilities, and a water tower to deliver clean water.
• Kennard spotted an injured man beside the road, stopped the Mana Sedan, and told the driver to call the emergency center.
• Kennard fired a signal, and two elves arrived to examine and treat the injured man with healing magic.
• An emergency crew arrived in a modified Medium Passenger Magic Locomotive, loaded the man onto a stretcher, and took him away.
• Kennard told Hakane that the emergency centers treated patients and charged fees, and that he had put the injured man's costs on his account.
• Hakane wondered how the guild communicated with the emergency center so quickly and how close the guild had become to the elves.

Ambassador Hakane traveled with Kennard through a district of tall buildings and bustling streets, marveling at the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s wealth and the peaceful coexistence of different races. After learning the local traffic-light rules, he headed to the Motor Racing Track, where President Xu awaited him.

• Ambassador Hakane learned that the Xinfei Merchant Guild had funded seventeen tall buildings, each costing about four hundred thousand gold coins to construct.
• Ambassador Hakane saw humans, dwarves, elves, and orcs living and working together peacefully in the busy district.
• Kennard’s mana sedan stopped at a red light, and Kennard explained that traffic had to stop on red and move on green.
• The traffic light turned green, and Kennard’s mana sedan turned left toward the Motor Racing Track.
• Kennard told Ambassador Hakane that President Xu was waiting to welcome him and watch a motor race together.

Kennard brought Ambassador Hakane to a huge viewing arena, where he reunited with Xu Yi and discussed roads, transport, and the Candel Empire’s interest in Xinfei’s magic machinery. Xu Yi’s effortless use of Space Magic amid the crowd left Hakane suspecting that he was a Great Mage.

• Kennard took Ambassador Hakane to a large arena outside the town, where Xu Yi greeted him and invited him to watch a competition.
• Xu Yi offered Hakane a new Advanced Mana Sedan with off-road capability, and Hakane gladly accepted before worrying about the poor roads back to Wimbledon.
• Hakane explained that the Candel Empire’s ruler wanted to see the benefits of road construction before approving a route through three countries, and Xu Yi directed him to the Amli Merchant Guild.
• Hakane began to tell Xu Yi that the emperor was interested in Xinfei’s Military Magic Machinery, but a loud report and the crowd’s cheering interrupted them.
• Xu Yi spoke clearly to Hakane over the uproar, leading Hakane to suspect that Xu Yi had mastered Space Magic as a Great Mage.

Xu Yi prepared for an important ceremony after meeting with Ambassador Hakane, and Anise cured his hangover with an elf mental spell. Before leaving with Freya, he told Liss and Linda that he had applied to Congress to end their slave status, leaving them overwhelmed with hope and joy.

• Xu Yi told Stille that Ambassador Hakane’s visit had gone well and that Candel merchants were likely to pursue deals for household magic machinery, while he had downplayed the guild’s military machinery.
• Stille woke Xu Yi before the ceremony, and Anise used the elf Mind-Concentrating Spell to ease his hangover headache.
• Xu Yi agreed to take Freya to the ceremony so she could attend more of the guild’s important events.
• Xu Yi told Liss and Linda that he had formally asked Congress to revoke their slave status and arranged for extra servants to take over their work during their pregnancies.
• Liss and Linda wept with joy as Xu Yi left the manor with Freya.

Xu Yi and the Xinfei Merchant Guild celebrated the maiden voyage of their first deep-sea fleet, bound for the Rulson Kingdom with a large shipment of magic machinery. After the ships departed, Newman delivered King Trutz’s request for greater investment, especially in military magic machinery, leaving Xu Yi to consider the kingdom’s ambitions.

• Xu Yi opened the fleet’s launch ceremony, where Newman spoke for the Rulson Kingdom and Nevall pledged to command the fleet well.
• Nevall took command of the Wingspan, the Sunrise, and the Goddess of Victory Iris as the three Mana-Powered Ships left Xinfei Port for Nixi City.
• Xu Yi admitted to Newman that he feared unpredictable dangers at sea, while Newman trusted the ships and suggested they were equipped to deter pirates.
• Newman told Xu Yi that King Trutz wanted the Xinfei Merchant Guild to expand its investment in the Rulson Kingdom beyond its existing thirty-seven factories.
• Xu Yi said the guild planned to invest over two million additional gold coins and had agreements with twenty-six merchant guilds, but Newman insisted the kingdom wanted cooperation in military magic machinery.

Xu Yi refused Newman’s request to transfer all military magic machinery technology, explaining that the Rulson Kingdom lacked the industrial base to manufacture it and recommending that it buy equipment instead. Newman agreed to report the proposal to King Trutz, while Xu Yi worried that the Sark Kingdom might seek military magic machinery through secret means; Teresa then appeared at his door, looking deeply sorrowful.

• Xu Yi rejected Newman’s request for the Xinfei Merchant Guild to transfer all military magic machinery technology and said the Rulson Kingdom could not manufacture it yet.
• Newman revealed that King Trutz wanted the technology mainly to maintain a balance with the Lampari Kingdom, whose army had recently driven the Sark Kingdom’s Greedy Legion from the Murto Mountain Ranges.
• Xu Yi urged Newman to recommend buying military magic machinery directly from the guild, and Newman agreed to report the proposal to King Trutz before discussing the guild’s investment in the Rulson Kingdom.
• After Newman left, Xu Yi considered how neighboring countries were acquiring military magic machinery and concluded that the Sark Kingdom might try to obtain it secretly.
• Teresa appeared in Xu Yi’s doorway with a deeply sorrowful expression.

Teresa revealed to Xu Yi that she had fled the Sark Kingdom more than three years earlier and concealed her origins ever since. She showed him a newspaper reporting her family’s execution, then told him that the condemned Viscount Dorokaran was her father.

• Teresa arrived in tears and clung to Xu Yi, who promised to listen and help her.
• Teresa explained that she had fled more than two thousand kilometers from the Sark Kingdom before Xu Yi rescued her in Bunta City.
• Xu Yi reassured Teresa that he would not judge her for being from the Sark Kingdom.
• Teresa gave Xu Yi a copy of the Lampari Weekly and directed him to a report about Viscount Dorokaran’s family being sentenced to execution.
• Teresa told Xu Yi that Viscount Dorokaran was her father.

Teresa told Xu Yi that her family had been executed for treason and that she had lost her last hope of learning why her father sent her away. Later, Great Mage Camilla and Elder Lysania arrived after a Mana Sedan race, and Xu Yi asked Camilla about invitations to celebrations in her honor.

• Teresa told Xu Yi that Viscount Dolankaro had sent her away to protect her, but his trusted retainer died helping her escape after their contact betrayed them.
• Teresa learned from the Lampari Weekly that her family had been executed for treason, and she confided her grief to Xu Yi before leaving.
• Xu Yi decided that Vivian and Avita should give Teresa more support.
• Great Mage Camilla and Elder Lysania arrived at Xu Yi's Manor, arguing over who had won their race after Lysania's Mana Sedan suffered a starting problem.
• Xu Yi repaired the loose mana wire in Lysania's Mana Sedan and stopped the two from racing again in the dark.
• Xu Yi asked Camilla whether she would attend celebrations arranged by the Lampari Kingdom's Mage Association and Kingdom Parliament, and her expression darkened.

Xu Yi learned that Archmage Camilla had again refused to attend the Lampari Kingdom’s ceremony, then arranged to visit the Azshara Tribe with Elder Lysania. Their conversation turned to Anise’s relationship with Xu Yi, leaving him embarrassed as Elder Lysania offered to demonstrate elven mating.

• Archmage Camilla refused to attend the Lampari Kingdom’s ceremony celebrating her rise to Archmage, and Xu Yi considered explaining her reasons to Servini.
• Elder Lysania told Xu Yi that elves had once had many Grand Archmages but that she had no news of any current Archmages.
• Xu Yi asked whether the Azshara Tribe might have Archmages, and Elder Lysania offered to accompany him to the Rulson Kingdom next month.
• Elder Lysania found Anise hiding and asked why she was afraid of her; Anise admitted she was nervous about consummating her relationship with Xu Yi.
• Elder Lysania urged Anise to take that step and offered Xu Yi a personal demonstration, while Xu Yi stopped Anise from repeating her words aloud and declined the offer.

Newman left without securing a commitment on military magic machinery, while Ambassador Hakane departed pleased with a profitable household-magic-machinery deal. Xu Yi then watched Akali and her researchers test a rudimentary mana output network, which had yet to respond.

• Newman left dissatisfied after Xu Yi offered no clear timeline for transferring military magic machinery to the Rulson Kingdom.
• Ambassador Hakane left satisfied after agreeing to buy more than thirty thousand units of household magic machinery for resale in the Candel Empire.
• Xu Yi assessed the benefits of civilian-magic-machinery cooperation with the Rulson Kingdom and the potential of entering the Candel Empire market.
• Xu Yi asked Akali whether the mana output network test had produced a response, and she insisted the experiment should not have failed.
• Akali flew to a distant platform to investigate while her researchers told Xu Yi they had conducted at least a thousand experiments on long-distance mana transmission and network layouts.

Akali revealed that she had ignored a known materials problem because Avita had restricted research spending, prompting Xu Yi to authorize up to a hundred thousand gold coins to fix it. The Mana Transmission Terminal successfully powered several household machines, while Xu Yi considered how the network could draw more people into his private fief.

• Akali explained that heat had warped the magic array material and admitted she had known about the issue but avoided replacing it to save research costs under Avita's orders.
• Xu Yi rebuked Akali for compromising research quality and authorized up to a hundred thousand gold coins to solve the materials problem.
• Akali admitted she had used the issue to ask for additional funding, and Xu Yi warned her to spend the money only on the problem.
• Akali activated the Wooden Platform, and the distant Mana Supply Station transmitted mana that powered the Magic Fan, Magic Air Conditioner, Magic-Powered Stove, and other machines.
• Xu Yi observed that the machines ran differently on transmitted mana and considered the network's potential to connect households to the Xinfei Merchant Guild's system.
• Xu Yi noted that his Automatic Water Supply System had helped grow his private fief's population from about two hundred thousand to three hundred thousand in less than a year.

Xu Yi arrived in Bunta City with a new Magic Air Conditioner production line that would let the city manufacture the machines independently. On the way, he questioned Count Rivell about the Sark Kingdom’s attack on orc tribes in the Black Rice Wasteland and condemned the West-Garrison Army’s failure to prevent it.

• A convoy delivered semi-automatic lathes for a Bunta City-owned Magic Air Conditioner production line, marking a step toward the Lampari Kingdom’s independent magic industry.
• Xu Yi joined Count Rivell at a welcoming ceremony, and they discussed Bunta City’s growth and the guild’s decision to hand over the production line.
• Count Rivell asked Xu Yi about the Black Rice Wasteland, and Xu Yi said the attacked orc tribes were being reassured and resettled.
• Xu Yi challenged Count Rivell over how Sark troops had crossed the border and slaughtered people in five orc tribes despite the West-Garrison Army and defensive fortifications.
• Count Rivell said the attack had been sudden and carried out by small elite forces, while Xu Yi suspected the kingdom had left the wasteland exposed because it treated it as a buffer zone.

Xu Yi wondered why the Sark Kingdom had attacked the orc tribes, then discussed the Lampari Kingdom’s growing wealth and road improvements with Count Reeves. Reeves delivered Queen Servini’s private invitation for Xu Yi to visit Anvilmar City, leaving Xu Yi with complicated feelings.

• Xu Yi considered whether the Sark Kingdom’s attack on the orc tribes was meant to test the West-Garrison Army’s defenses, but doubted it could now invade the Lampari Kingdom successfully.
• Xu Yi noticed the damaged Falling Rain Highway and learned from Count Rivell that ore trucks had ruined it and that the city planned to widen it to eight lanes.
• Count Reeves told Xu Yi that Queen Servini planned to build thirteen roads and repair or widen thirty-nine more, but the kingdom needed cement for the work.
• Xu Yi agreed to establish cement processing plants in the Lampari Kingdom and asked Reeves to tell Servini that he remained committed to helping develop its magic industry.
• Count Reeves gave Xu Yi Servini’s private letter inviting him to Anvilmar City for tea, and Xu Yi felt conflicted as he thought of her.

Xu Yi saw that rival Magic Fan manufacturers were gaining market share through their own innovations and invited six guilds to meet in Anvilmar City. After finding the restaurant’s parking area full, he met President Rige and hinted that he had come to offer the guilds benefits, leaving Rige uncertain about Xu Yi’s intentions.

• Xu Yi reviewed sales figures showing that Xinfei Magic Fans had gained sales but lost market share as the Lampari Kingdom’s economy and rival manufacturers’ technology improved.
• Xu Yi drove his Mana Sedan to a restaurant in Anvilmar City, found its parking area full, and gave his car to an attendant to park elsewhere.
• Fallein introduced Xu Yi to Passaro Rige, and Xu Yi praised the Rige Merchant Guild’s Automatic Start-Stop Technology.
• President Rige asked why Xu Yi had invited six Magic Fan manufacturers, and Xu Yi said he wanted to discuss their distinctive technologies.
• Xu Yi reassured President Rige that he would not harm the guilds and had come to bring them benefits, though Rige remained uneasy.

Xu Yi arranged for six magic fan guilds to receive part of the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s overseas orders in exchange for investing in research and following Xinfei standards. After discovering that Anvilmar City had no car-washing businesses, he offered waiter Allain Noah a job providing after-sales service for mana sedans, leaving Noah thrilled at the chance to join the guild.

• Xu Yi offered six magic fan guilds a share of Xinfei’s orders from markets outside the Lampari and Rulson Kingdoms if they invested at least one hundred thousand gold coins annually in research and followed Xinfei’s standards.
• The six guild presidents accepted the preliminary cooperation agreement after Xu Yi explained that he trusted their commitment to technological research.
• Xu Yi left the restaurant with Manager Fallein and signed an autograph for the waiter who recognized him as President Xu.
• Xu Yi learned that Anvilmar City had no dedicated car-washing businesses and suggested that opening one could be a good opportunity.
• Xu Yi offered Allain Noah a full-time position providing mana sedan after-sales service through the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s Product Service Center, and Noah accepted excitedly.

Xu Yi met with Servini in the Royal Palace, where they discussed supporting magic-industry research and the political tensions around Xinfei Merchant Guild's joint ventures. After drinking and reminiscing together, Xu Yi passed out, and Servini revealed that she had been pretending to be drunk and ordered her maids to carry him to the bedroom as planned.

• Servini showed Xu Yi a royal decree establishing a magic-industry technology award funded with fifty thousand gold coins.
• Xu Yi and Servini discussed taking Lampari Kingdom guilds into foreign markets and opposition to joint ventures with Xinfei Merchant Guild.
• Servini asked Xu Yi why he kept his distance, and he explained that their positions as queen and guild president could threaten their friendship.
• Servini invited Xu Yi to stay and talk as friends, and they drank wine while recalling their first meeting.
• Xu Yi fell asleep drunk, and Servini, still alert, ordered two maids to carry him into the bedroom and proceed as planned.

Xu Yi woke from an erotic dream to find himself in bed with two of Queen Servini’s maids after a night he could barely remember. Servini’s decree gave Betty and Caro to him, but Xu Yi accepted them while making clear that he disliked the way the queen had arranged it.

• Xu Yi dreamed that Stille, Liss, Linda, Vivian, Teresa, Anise, Elder Lysania, and Elder Elusia all pleaded with him not to leave and then surrounded him naked.
• Xu Yi woke in the Royal Palace beside two naked maids and, remembering that he had drunk with Servini, struggled to reconstruct the night before.
• A court official told Xu Yi that Servini was unwell and gave him the queen’s decree, which formalized cooperation between the Xinfei Merchant Guild and the Lampari Kingdom and gave him the two maids.
• The maids introduced themselves as Betty and Caro, and the court official confirmed that they now belonged to Xu Yi and had no connection to the Royal Palace.
• Xu Yi accepted Betty and Caro, then wrote to Servini that he liked them but disliked her approach.

Xu Yi returned from the Royal Palace with Betty and Caro, two palace maids, and assigned Manager Fallein to handle the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s Anvilmar business. He left the city with the women, unaware that they believed he would never learn the truth about the previous night.

• Xu Yi returned from the Royal Palace with Betty and Caro, and Manager Fallein guessed they were palace maids with whom Xu Yi had been intimate.
• Xu Yi told Fallein to oversee the Product Service Center opening, Magic Locomotive after-sales service, cooperation with six merchant guilds, the Mana Flying Car project, and talks with the Mages’ Guild.
• Fallein questioned why Xu Yi planned to leave Anvilmar City after only one night, but Xu Yi said he had urgent matters to attend to.
• Xu Yi left Anvilmar City in his Mana Sedan with Betty and Caro, who felt nervous about their new lives and thought he might never discover what had really happened the previous night.

Nevall led the Wingspan, the Sunrise, and the Goddess of Victory Iris toward Nixi City while worrying that their dwindling supplies might not last. As Mace spotted approaching pirates in the darkness, Nevall welcomed the encounter with delight.

• Nevall ordered the fleet to reduce speed and begin night sailing.
• Nevall recalled how the three Mana-Powered Ships had survived a violent storm and considered their remaining supplies as the fleet neared the Rulson Kingdom.
• Nevall instructed Mace to watch for islands where they could replenish supplies, while Mace complained that the route offered few places to resupply.
• Mace spotted dark shapes approaching and shouted that pirates were coming.
• Nevall looked toward the darkness and reacted with delighted surprise at the prospect of pirates.