Chapter Summaries

Xu Yi and President Cruz discussed the obstacles to building roads across the Candel Empire and the continent, while Xu Yi mapped out sea routes to connect coastal countries. The chapter ended with Teresa cautiously appearing at Xu Yi’s door.

• President Cruz told Xu Yi that corruption and delays had made the Candel Empire road project costly and frustrating for the Amli Merchant Guild.
• Xu Yi and Cruz compared three planned cross-continent roads, and Cruz judged the northern route through the Falk Kingdom and Malo Empire the most feasible.
• Xu Yi reviewed the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s five successful shipments to the Nozdormu Commercial United Kingdom, which had earned over two million gold coins and established the Golden Sea Route.
• Xu Yi drew possible northern maritime routes on the map, imagining a sea route that could encircle the continent while noting that winter ice would obstruct northern travel.
• Xu Yi wondered whether the Candel Empire was as corrupt as Cruz believed, then invited Teresa inside after she cautiously peeked through the doorway.

Xu Yi drove Teresa to the Research and Development Center after hearing that Canby and the other engineers were about to fight, and learned more about her work and desire for revenge. He revealed her father had been cleared and offered her the chance to return to the Sark Kingdom, but Teresa refused and reached for Xu Yi’s hand, causing him to slam on the brakes.

• Teresa told Xu Yi that Canby and the others were arguing with Master Donnorman and Master Potteru over the Mana Cannon, so Xu Yi took her to the Research and Development Center.
• Teresa explained that she had come because Fivenn was on leave after her granddaughter’s birth, and admitted she had wanted to see Xu Yi.
• Xu Yi asked whether Teresa’s work on military magic machinery was driven by a desire to avenge her family, and warned that the guild might sell its weapons to the Sark Kingdom.
• Xu Yi revealed that Count Ozil had framed Teresa’s father, that her father’s name had been cleared, and that Ozil had been imprisoned.
• Xu Yi told Teresa she could return to the Sark Kingdom and inherit her father’s title, but she refused and asked whether he was trying to send her away.
• Teresa reassured herself that Xu Yi would let her stay, then took his right hand and pressed it against something soft, making him brake sharply.

Xu Yi instructed Kennard on the limits of a military magic machinery deal with the Sark Kingdom, which he planned to use to control its development. He later admitted to Avita that he was deliberately helping the Sark Kingdom gain the means to reverse-engineer the guild’s machinery, while Teresa continued to wait for his decision.

• Xu Yi told Kennard that Queen Servini approved selling military magic machinery to the Sark Kingdom and laid out limits on types, quantity, and technology.
• Xu Yi encountered Teresa outside Avita’s laboratory, and Teresa asked whether he had made up his mind; he said he had not, and she promised to wait.
• Avita questioned why Xu Yi would sell military magic machinery to the Sark Kingdom when the Lampari Kingdom could gain an advantage by withholding it.
• Xu Yi explained that military machinery was already being smuggled to the Sark Kingdom for study and that the guild’s civilian cooperation projects had given it some manufacturing foundations.
• Xu Yi told Avita he was deliberately helping the Sark Kingdom rather than letting it research in secret, so he could keep its development under control.
• Avita asked whether Xu Yi’s plan included Teresa, and Xu Yi could only turn away awkwardly.

Leslie and Xu Yi tested a mobile Mana Signal Tower while bringing the Xinfei Merchant Guild Guards Fleet to Yara Harbor. There, Xu Yi met Russell to discuss the Candel Empire Navy’s maintenance problems with its borrowed frigate, and Commander Nuen was asked to describe his experience using it.

• Leslie received Xu Yi’s message and ordered the ten frigates to rendezvous with the Mana Airships at Yara Harbor.
• Akali reported unstable mana signals during the test, and Xu Yi discussed possible interference and plans to expand communications coverage.
• Xu Yi and the fleet arrived at Yara Harbor, where Russell greeted Xu Yi with restrained displeasure.
• Russell accused Xu Yi of criticizing the navy after Xu Yi asked whether it was satisfied with the frigate’s performance.
• Russell explained that the Guard Frigate Morning Light had repeatedly failed because of inadequate routine maintenance, then asked Commander Nuen to give Xu Yi a detailed account of using it.

Xu Yi negotiated with Russell and the Candel Empire Navy over their malfunctioning Guard Frigate, insisting that the Xinfei Merchant Guild handle its maintenance. The navy accepted the guild’s terms and a seventy-thousand-gold-coin repair bill, while Xu Yi saw the deal as the payoff for his long-term strategy.

• Lieutenant Colonel Nuen praised the Guard Frigate but complained that its fuel consumption and range were poor, and Xu Yi explained that they should have used the guild’s high-concentration Magic Crystals.
• Russell admitted that the navy had kept the instruction manual from its officers and defended its decision to operate the ship according to its own methods, prompting Xu Yi to warn them about the consequences.
• Xu Yi and Russell negotiated at the navy barracks, where the Candel Empire Navy sought to learn how to maintain its Guard Frigates independently.
• Xu Yi explained that the navy lacked the equipment and expertise to repair the ships, so the Candel Empire Navy agreed to let the Xinfei Merchant Guild handle all upkeep and maintenance.
• Xu Yi quoted seventy thousand gold coins to repair the inoperable Guard Frigate, and the navy reluctantly accepted the charge.
• Xu Yi reflected that he had sold the Guard Frigates cheaply because he expected future maintenance fees to bring the Xinfei Merchant Guild its real profits.

Xu Yi negotiated agreements with the Candel Empire Navy and the Lavender Merchant Guild that expanded the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s access to ports, markets, mines, and deep-sea resources. As he departed, Russell asked when the Xinfei Merchant Guild would sell Mana Airships, and Xu Yi put him off while considering him another prospective customer.

• Xu Yi met Roberto Zeni, president of the Lavender Merchant Guild, and proposed using Xinfei steel ships to exploit deep-sea resources.
• After five days of negotiations, Xu Yi and the Candel Empire Navy agreed on Guard Frigate maintenance, fleet access to southern ports, a Southern Waters development plan, and other business arrangements.
• The Xinfei Merchant Guild and the Candel Empire Navy privately agreed to develop six mines and help the guild gain sales channels and official recognition in the empire.
• Xu Yi and Roberto Zeni agreed to cooperate on Deep-Sea Fishing Mana-Powered Ships, deep-sea resource information, refrigerated shipping, and sales channels.
• Russell asked Xu Yi when the Mana Airship would go on sale, and Xu Yi said public sales might not begin until the following year and gave no firm price.

Xu Yi and Leslie discussed the magic power network and Leslie’s troubled relationship with Miss Winniton as the fleet sailed south into the Endless Sea. Xu Yi asked Leslie to establish overseas colonies for the Xinfei Merchant Guild, offering him the chance to control land and restore the Stark Family.

• The Xinfei Merchant Guild fleet sailed more than four hundred kilometers offshore, and Leslie explained that an unexplored place lay farther south.
• Xu Yi proposed placing Mana Signal Towers on small islands to extend the magic power network, though he admitted he had no solution for linking them across the sea.
• Xu Yi asked when Leslie planned to marry Miss Winniton, and Leslie’s fallen status and her family’s opposition made marriage difficult.
• Xu Yi asked whether Leslie wanted to restore the Stark Family by gaining control of a vast stretch of land.
• Xu Yi asked Leslie whether he would establish overseas colonies for the Xinfei Merchant Guild.

Xu Yi and Leslie reached a vast island and discussed placing Leslie in charge of developing it for the Xinfei Merchant Guild. After learning that the island’s natives were hostile but impoverished, Xu Yi approached their village with flour and offered to trade, leaving the first meeting poised to begin.

• Xu Yi learned that the island was several dozen times larger than Masur Island and considered assigning Leslie to develop it as an overseas base.
• Leslie told Xu Yi that the island had natives who spoke a language similar to Sains Continent Common Language but had threatened his party.
• Xu Yi landed at the island’s natural harbor, ordered the guards to hide their traditional weapons, and led them toward a nearby village.
• Xu Yi saw the villagers’ shabby clothes and gaunt faces, then offered them flour in exchange for goods of value.

Xu Yi left Leslie in charge of gaining control of the island while he returned to the Sains Continent aboard a Mana Airship. At Nixi Harbor, he considered how mass-produced Mana Airships could grant air supremacy and discussed the future of the Transport Fleet’s trade route with Nevall, ending by telling him to head east.

• Xu Yi gained the islanders’ trust through trade, left Leslie the Guard Fleet and a Mana Airship to survey the island, and departed for the Sains Continent.
• Xu Yi flew to Nixi Harbor, where he saw how much the port had grown and reflected on the military threat posed by mass-produced Mana Airships.
• Xu Yi’s Mana Airship landed on a Xinfei Merchant Guild cargo ship, and Nevall reported that the latest shipment had earned four hundred thousand gold coins on its round trip.
• Xu Yi warned Nevall that demand for Household Magic Machinery in the Rulson Kingdom was nearing saturation and told him to prepare for declining profits.
• When Nevall asked how to sustain the trade route, Xu Yi told him to head east.

Xu Yi was delayed at Nixi Harbor when Count Kompani relayed King Trutz’s urgent request to meet him, then traveled to the Azshara Tribe while the king made his way there. Elder Windini discussed Evelyn Town’s success with Xu Yi and asked for household magic machinery and help establishing similar towns in other countries.

• Count Kompani stopped Xu Yi’s Mana Airship and told him King Trutz wanted to meet him in person.
• Xu Yi went to the Azshara Tribe while waiting for King Trutz to arrive from Kuraka City.
• Xu Yi saw that Evelyn Town attracted many human tourists and earned the tribe substantial income from its carefully limited elven goods.
• Elder Windini asked Xu Yi to supply household magic machinery for the town’s human visitors, and he agreed.
• Elder Windini asked Xu Yi to help establish more towns like Evelyn Town in other countries.

Xu Yi reunited with the pregnant Stille in the Azshara Tribe, watched her Illusion Film, and proposed ways to improve and monetize the New Moon Merchant Guild’s productions. He left the discussion with Elder Windini considering a collaboration in which skilled elves would create special effects for the films.

• Xu Yi learned that Elder Windini had cared for Stille during her pregnancy and let her bathe daily in the tribe’s Moonlight Pool, which had strengthened her sensitivity to magic elements.
• Stille showed Xu Yi the film "Drifting Catkins," and he offered suggestions on its camera angles and plot.
• Xu Yi proposed public mana illusion projectors in cities to promote films and show paid advertising Illusion Films.
• Xu Yi asked Elder Windini about adding special effects to recorded illusions and requested information on Illusion Magic Arrays.
• Elder Windini suggested that elves skilled in Illusion Magic Arrays could join the project and help the New Moon Merchant Guild create special effects.

Xu Yi met King Trutz near Nixi City and agreed to cooperate on building Mana Signal Towers across the Rulson Kingdom. King Trutz then revealed that the Lampari Kingdom had declared war on the Sark Kingdom and seized territory.

• Count Kompani met Xu Yi at Nixi Harbor and escorted him north to welcome King Trutz.
• Xu Yi suspected King Trutz had come to discuss cooperation, possibly involving Military Magic Machinery.
• King Trutz met privately with Xu Yi and proposed building Mana Signal Towers throughout the Rulson Kingdom.
• Xu Yi agreed to cooperate with the Rulson Kingdom on its mana communications network.
• King Trutz told Xu Yi that the Lampari Kingdom had declared war on the Sark Kingdom and captured three southern cities.

King Trutz told Xu Yi that the Lampari Kingdom had declared war on the Sark Kingdom after a military magic machinery smuggling incident, leaving Xu Yi uncertain about Servini’s control of her kingdom. He then negotiated with Xu Yi to buy military magic machinery for the Rulson Kingdom, and Xu Yi agreed to discuss the details.

• King Trutz explained that the Lampari Kingdom had declared war on the Sark Kingdom after a border clash tied to military magic machinery smuggling.
• Xu Yi wondered whether Servini had ordered the war or whether someone else controlled the Lampari Kingdom, then read her declaration of war in the Lampari Weekly.
• Xu Yi thanked King Trutz for the warning and asked why he had summoned him, learning that the king wanted to discuss military magic machinery.
• King Trutz asked Xu Yi to sell military magic machinery to the Rulson Kingdom, and Xu Yi agreed to negotiate the quantity and types.

Xu Yi reached preliminary agreements with King Trutz for the Xinfei Merchant Guild to build communications and smelting facilities, open bicycle factories, and sell military magic machinery to the Rulson Kingdom in a deal worth twenty-seven million gold coins. As his airship headed to the Lampari Kingdom, Xu Yi learned that negotiations with the Sark Kingdom were still waiting for him and wondered what Servini intended.

• Xu Yi and King Trutz agreed to inspect Mana Signal Towers, build a Rulson communications network linked with those in the Lampari Kingdom and Stantin Duchy, and keep the network's core under Rulson control.
• Xu Yi and King Trutz reached preliminary agreements for steelworks, nonferrous-metal smelters, a bicycle factory, and a tire factory in the Rulson Kingdom.
• Xu Yi agreed to sell the Rulson Kingdom military magic machinery, including armored vehicles, Mana Cannons, and frigates, in a deal worth twenty-seven million gold coins to be fulfilled over three years.
• Xu Yi reflected that King Trutz had used the Lampari Kingdom's declaration of war on Sark to promote Rulson as a partner, though Xu Yi had already planned to sell military machinery to Rulson.
• Xu Yi called Avita and learned that Sark's representatives had stayed to continue negotiations and left two people waiting to meet him; he told Avita to make no further commitments until he returned.
• Xu Yi continued toward the Lampari Kingdom and wondered why Servini seemed to be letting him enter a situation that others could see was dangerous.

Xu Yi was intercepted on his way to Anvilmar City because Lampari Kingdom regulations barred foreign mages and flying devices from its airspace. He sent the Mana Airship back to the Stantin Duchy and traveled with Lakstan toward the capital to meet Servini, leaving the state of the war with the Sark Kingdom uncertain.

• Near Karamay City, Lakstan and several Advanced Mages stopped Xu Yi and explained that new airspace regulations prohibited his Mana Airship from flying over Lampari Kingdom.
• Lakstan said Servini had proposed the regulations and ordered the mages to take Xu Yi to see her.
• Xu Yi sent Akali and the Mana Airship back to the Stantin Duchy, then followed Lakstan toward Anvilmar City.
• On the way, Xu Yi saw that Karamay City appeared calm and asked Lakstan how the war with the Sark Kingdom was going.

Xu Yi reached Anvilmar City and met Servini, who revealed that she had declared war on the Sark Kingdom because the Xinfei Merchant Guild was selling military magic machinery to them. She accused Xu Yi of supporting both sides, and he began explaining what she had misunderstood.

• Lakstan escorted Xu Yi to the Lampari Royal Palace and said President Allen wanted to meet him after his audience with the queen.
• Two maids led Xu Yi to Servini, and he confirmed she appeared healthy and unharmed.
• Xu Yi asked Servini why she had declared war on the Sark Kingdom, and she said the Xinfei Merchant Guild's arms sales had prompted her decision.
• Servini accused Xu Yi of betraying Lampari by supporting the Sark Kingdom as well as her own kingdom.
• Xu Yi said Servini had misunderstood and began explaining what had happened.

Xu Yi and Servini discussed her decision to declare war on the Saal Kingdom, then left the Royal Palace in disguise to stroll through the city. Servini refused to reveal the identity of her child’s father, leaving Xu Yi to wonder about the man she still remembered fondly.

• Servini asked why Xu Yi had not told her about his plans, and Xu Yi criticized her for declaring war on the Saal Kingdom so rashly.
• Servini invited Xu Yi for a walk, changed into ordinary clothes, and led him out of the Royal Palace through a concealed route.
• Servini and Xu Yi wandered through the city streets, where Servini spoke cheerfully about the freedom she rarely enjoyed as queen.
• Servini said she might never marry, and Xu Yi urged her to identify the father of her child so he could confront him.
• Servini refused to name the man, saying she did not regret meeting him, and Xu Yi admitted he felt a little jealous.

After Servini and Xu Yi spoke privately, the Lampari Kingdom proposed a ceasefire, and the two kingdoms agreed to reopen and expand their free trade zone. Xu Yi led the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s first caravan into Taklin Town, where Sark Kingdom officials welcomed him.

• Half a month after Xu Yi left Anvilmar City, the Lampari Kingdom proposed a ceasefire, which the Sark Kingdom accepted a week later.
• During negotiations, the Lampari Kingdom demanded that the free trade zone reopen and expand to include three border cities.
• Two weeks after the new trade agreement was signed, the Xinfei Merchant Guild led a caravan of cargo magic locomotives into Taklin Town.
• Mayor Puyol and Commerce Office Director Paula Elwin welcomed Xu Yi as he arrived in his mana sedan.
• Xu Yi joked to Elwin that the roads should be built to make visits more convenient.

The Lampari Kingdom’s renewed cooperation with the Sark Kingdom reopened the free trade zone and created an opportunity for the Amli Merchant Guild to build highways there. After the ceremony, Xu Yi followed a middle-aged man to Mayor Puyol’s manor, where he was met by palpable killing intent.

• Xu Yi introduced President Cruz of the Amli Merchant Guild to Director Elwin, and they agreed to work together to bring highway construction to the Sark Kingdom.
• Xu Yi and Mayor Puyol prepared for the Free Trade Zone Reopening Ceremony, while Xu Yi clarified that the Lampari Kingdom’s guild representatives would take the lead.
• The Lampari Kingdom and Sark Kingdom held the ceremony, reopening the free trade zone in Taklin Town.
• Lampari merchants moved into the expanded trade zone, where the Xinfei Merchant Guild established plans for its first Sark Kingdom store selling household magic machinery.
• Xu Yi skipped Mayor Puyol’s luncheon and followed a middle-aged man to the mayor’s manor, where killing intent greeted him in the main hall.

Xu Yi negotiated with Major General Tofka and signed an agreement for the Xinfei Merchant Guild to sell military magic machinery to the Sark Kingdom. The Sark commanders worried the deal might be a trap, but Tofka acknowledged that their kingdom had no choice but to accept whatever military magic machinery it could obtain.

• Xu Yi brushed off a hostile general and made clear he would leave unless the Sark Kingdom negotiated sincerely.
• Xu Yi rejected the Sark Kingdom's request for long-range mana cannons and reminded Major General Tofka that they had agreed to sign the previously negotiated deal.
• Xu Yi reviewed the agreement, raised minor issues, and signed a contract for more than five million gold coins' worth of military magic machinery.
• After Xu Yi left, the commanders questioned whether the Xinfei Merchant Guild intended to deceive the Sark Kingdom.
• Major General Tofka told the commanders that the Sark Kingdom had to accept the deal, even if it was a trap, because it had no other way to obtain military magic machinery.