Chapter Summaries

Taklin Town rapidly grew into a center of jobs and investment after the Xinfei Merchant Guild and Lampari Kingdom’s other guilds arrived. Xu Yi and Servini discussed expanding magic-industry education in the Lampari Kingdom, and Servini agreed to submit his scholarship and training proposal to Parliament.

• The Xinfei Merchant Guild announced plans for a production base in Taklin Town that would employ at least five thousand workers once its first four factories were built.
• The Amli Merchant Guild hired seventeen hundred Sark workers for the first phase of a road linking the border to Taklin Town and offered them benefits such as injury insurance and heat allowances.
• Other Lampari merchant guilds announced investments in Taklin Town, drawing workers, merchants, nobles, and Sark leaders to the rapidly growing town.
• Xu Yi asked Servini whether Taklin Town’s development reminded her of Bunta City, and Servini said the towns differed because Xu Yi would not share Xinfei’s core technologies.
• Xu Yi proposed scholarships and job priority for students studying magic-industry theory, and Servini agreed to submit the plan to the Kingdom Parliament and seek Xinfei’s cooperation.

Xu Yi visited the Mana Signal Tower under construction near Anvilmar City and offered Akali the directorship of a planned Magical Mechanical Theory Research Center in the Lampari Kingdom. Akali asked for two days to consider, and Xu Yi drove off with her to pick up guests before lunch.

• Xu Yi left the palace and visited the Mana Signal Tower site, where Akali and workers were overseeing its construction.
• Xu Yi treated the workers to lunch and invited Akali to join him for a meal.
• Xu Yi asked Akali to consider becoming director of a Magical Mechanical Theory Research Center planned in cooperation with the Lampari Kingdom.
• Akali realized the position would report directly to Xu Yi rather than Avita's Research Institute and asked for two days to decide.
• Xu Yi drove Akali away from the tower site, saying they would pick up guests before eating.

Xu Yi met Princess Caroline and Marquis Southgate on the highway, where Princess Caroline and Seymour had been racing in their Mana Sedans. After Xu Yi warned them about racing on public roads, Marquis Southgate arrived with a Great Mage from the Mages' Guild Headquarters in Sky City.

• Xu Yi asked Akali to encourage Stille to think more about her own feelings, but Akali refused to intervene.
• Princess Caroline arrived with Akali and discussed the Magic Array Resonance Technique and the Xinfei Merchant Guild's communication network.
• Seymour crashed his yellow Mana Sedan into a tree while reversing, and Princess Caroline asked Xu Yi to arrange repairs.
• Xu Yi warned Princess Caroline and Seymour not to race on the highway, but Seymour dismissed the warning.
• Marquis Southgate arrived with an elderly Great Mage from the Mages' Guild Headquarters in Sky City.

Xu Yi welcomed Marquis Southgate and Great Mage Ferguson to Anvilmar City to discuss their decisions, then encountered Anko Allen and a drunk noble at a restaurant. After dealing with the noble’s drunk driving, Xu Yi invited Anko Allen to join them, leaving Anko thrilled and his friends bewildered.

• Xu Yi greeted Marquis Southgate and Great Mage Ferguson, then led them toward Anvilmar City in their Mana Sedans.
• Xu Yi took the group to a Chanel Restaurant branch in the city’s new commercial district.
• A drunk grandson of Duke Festarlin cursed at Xu Yi over the reserved parking spaces, and Anko Allen identified him as a friend.
• Xu Yi told Anko to take the drunk driver to the Public Security Office, but the young man insulted Xu Yi, so Anko knocked him unconscious with magic.
• Xu Yi praised Anko’s improved magic and invited him to join the group, leaving Anko’s friends confused by his sudden departure.

Great Mage Ferguson explained why the Mainland Mages' Guild Headquarters valued the Xinfei Merchant Guild: it employed thousands of mostly low-rank mages and gave them a way to earn a living. The discussion left Xu Yi wary of the Guild's intentions, while Akali reflected on how meeting him had changed her life.

• Great Mage Ferguson met Anko Allen and learned that President Allen's magical abilities had improved through his research into magic machinery.
• Xu Yi recalled that Ferguson had arrived from Guild Headquarters alongside Marquis Southgate without explaining the purpose of his visit, making him cautious.
• Ferguson asked how many mages worked for the Xinfei Merchant Guild, and Xu Yi said there were 2,736, prompting concern that the number might attract suspicion.
• Ferguson said Headquarters highly regarded the guild because it employed many low-rank mages and helped them make a living.
• Ferguson explained that low-rank mages struggled to support themselves while pursuing magic research, and Akali silently regretted not meeting Xu Yi sooner.

Great Mage Ferguson offered to make the Xinfei Merchant Guild a Designated Partner Merchant Guild of the Mainland Mages' Guild, with cooperation focused on improving Low-Rank Mages' living conditions. Xu Yi remained cautious as Ferguson planned to inspect the guild before deciding on details, while Xu Yi turned to Marquis Southgate to introduce Akali's Mana Communication Network.

• Xu Yi recalled how the Xinfei Merchant Guild had provided work and practical training for Low-Rank Mages, earning President Allen's support and recruiting over sixty percent of Lampari Kingdom's Level Three to Level Five Mages.
• Great Mage Ferguson praised Xu Yi's contribution to mages' welfare and said the Mainland Mages' Guild wanted to cooperate with the Xinfei Merchant Guild.
• Ferguson revealed that the Mages' Guild Council had proposed naming the Xinfei Merchant Guild a Designated Partner Merchant Guild, and Xu Yi asked what responsibilities the status would entail.
• Ferguson said the guild was considering cooperation to improve Low-Rank Mages' living conditions, but he would first inspect the Xinfei Merchant Guild before setting specific plans.
• Ferguson stayed behind to meet President Allen while Xu Yi and Marquis Southgate prepared to travel to the Stantin Duchy.
• Xu Yi introduced Akali to Marquis Southgate and recommended the Mana Communication Network project she led.

Marquis Southgate and Xu Yi finalized agreements to bring the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s infrastructure and household magic machinery to the Malo Empire. Southgate left determined to build a modern magic industry base on his fief, but remained concerned that the Candel Empire might already have secured a deal for military magic machinery.

• Marquis Southgate signed an agreement for the Xinfei Merchant Guild to install an automatic water supply system on his fief for forty-eight thousand gold coins.
• Marquis Southgate signed a seventy-six-thousand-gold-coin agreement to introduce a magic communication network and postponed road construction while he sought approval for a route to Angelo City.
• Marquis Southgate agreed to build household magic machinery assembly plants with the Xinfei Merchant Guild and jointly develop his mines, while Xu Yi proposed local steelworks and metal smelting factories.
• Marquis Southgate planned to reproduce the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s modern magic industry model on his fief and praised the Malo Empire as a better partner than the Candel Empire.
• Marquis Southgate wanted to investigate the guild’s military magic machinery, but Xu Yi avoided discussing it, leaving him worried that Remito Russell’s earlier visit might have involved a private deal with the Candel Empire.

Xu Yi rejected the Mages' Guild headquarters' proposal to have the Xinfei Merchant Guild support fifty low-rank mages and solve their research problems. He argued that improving mages’ practical skills for magic industry was a better way to help them, though Great Mage Ferguson did not yet understand what those skills involved.

• Great Mage Ferguson arrived with Parmes Allen and fifty low-rank mages, then asked Xu Yi to provide for them and support their magic research.
• Xu Yi refused to take responsibility for the mages’ problems, explaining that the Xinfei Merchant Guild could not support thousands or tens of thousands of people without work.
• Great Mage Ferguson revealed that Great Mage Truchi had already opposed the proposal, and said he had brought it as a preliminary plan from the headquarters' parliament.
• Archmage Camilla joined the discussion, called the plan stupid, and explained that low-rank mages generally lacked the precision required to make magic machinery.
• Xu Yi proposed improving low-rank mages’ skills in magic industry rather than their magical strength, leaving Great Mage Ferguson confused about what those skills meant.

Xu Yi and Great Mage Ferguson developed a proposal to improve low-rank mages’ livelihoods by expanding magic industry and training future workers, then arranged a trial seminar in the Lampari Kingdom. The chapter ends with Xu Yi viewing Ferguson’s visit and the proposal’s reception as major steps toward expanding the Xinfei Merchant Guild across the continent.

• Great Mage Ferguson left the Lampari Kingdom with Xu Yi’s proposal for the Mainland Mages’ Guild Headquarters.
• Xu Yi proposed promoting magic industry and creating training for novice and low-rank mages so they could prepare for work in magic machinery guilds.
• Xu Yi and President Allen agreed to hold a Magic Industry Seminar in Anvilmar City starting in early spring.
• Great Mage Ferguson urged Xu Yi and Allen to make the seminar a success so its results could help persuade the headquarters’ parliament to approve the proposal.
• President Allen warned Xu Yi that the headquarters’ parliament might reject the proposal, but Xu Yi said the Guild’s willingness to take magic industry seriously was already an important step.

Freeman and Bobic struggled to transport precision equipment across the Malo Empire’s rough roads, then joined other merchant guilds stranded at a washed-out bridge. Freeman proposed using the Magic Excavator and their cargo to repair the crossing so they could continue delivering supplies to President Xu.

• Freeman warned Bobic to drive carefully as their Large Cargo Magic Locomotive jolted over the Malo Empire’s poor roads.
• Bobic urged Freeman to buy Air-Suspension Cargo Magic Locomotives, but Freeman postponed the decision until after the delivery.
• Freeman studied the map and redirected their journey toward a nearby town because the road conditions made their planned stop unreachable before dark.
• Freeman and Bobic found eight Large Cargo Magic Locomotives and their crews stranded where floodwater had damaged a bridge.
• Freeman judged that the bridge’s collapsed middle section could be filled in and suggested using a Magic Excavator and the cargo vehicles to repair it.

President Cruz discussed the poor roads around Marquis Southgate’s magic industry base with Franklin Sosgate, who was overseeing the project. Franklin approved Cruz’s plan to use engineering magic machinery to crush nearby hills and improve the roads, leaving Cruz ready to begin work.

• President Cruz supervised the Amli Merchant Guild’s construction work at Marquis Southgate’s fief and reflected on the many guilds Xu Yi had invited to invest there.
• Cruz told Franklin Sosgate that muddy roads were slowing construction and would hinder other guilds moving into the area.
• Cruz proposed using crushed stone from nearby rocky hills to firm up the roads and prepare future highway roadbeds.
• Franklin authorized Cruz to excavate the hills without seeking the marquis’s approval and offered him further support.
• Cruz praised Franklin as an outstanding heir, and Franklin welcomed his guidance.

Xu Yi and Marquis Southgate discussed the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s plans with Duke Macalose, who doubted that its farmland magic machinery could transform the autumn harvest. Xu Yi urged him to judge by the results and warned that the guild’s limited supply might not be available to him later.

• Freeman and his companions worked to repair a broken bridge while President Cruz and Franklin tried to level muddy roads.
• Duke Macalose questioned Xu Yi’s claim that farmland magic machinery could make the harvest several times faster, and Xu Yi said it could be completed in a week or even three days.
• Marquis Southgate said the Cantona Chamber of Commerce would handle his territory’s harvest within half a month, with poor roads slowing the work.
• Marquis Southgate praised the Stantin Duchy’s roads and Xinfei products, while Duke Macalose acknowledged the value of its air conditioner and refrigerator but remained skeptical about its farm machinery.
• Xu Yi told Duke Macalose to judge the machinery after the harvest and warned that the guild might not prioritize him when its limited supply became sought after.

Xu Yi and Marquis Southgate negotiated how factories in the Magic Industrial Base would employ people from Southgate’s fief. Southgate retained authority over the workers and agreed to a hiring fee of thirty gold coins per worker each year, before Xu Yi revealed he initially needed about ten thousand workers.

• Duke Macalose bought seven sets of each type of Household Magic Machinery for 3,600 gold coins.
• Xu Yi asked Marquis Southgate about his people’s income and proposed discussing factory workers and their wages.
• Xu Yi proposed hiring the people as individual employees under the guilds’ authority, but Marquis Southgate refused to give up control over his people.
• Xu Yi and Marquis Southgate agreed that the guilds would hire workers through the marquis for thirty gold coins per worker per year.
• Xu Yi said the factories initially needed about ten thousand workers, stunning Marquis Southgate.

Xu Yi asked Marquis Southgate to provide ten thousand workers for seventeen factories, but Southgate worried that releasing them would cripple farming in his fief. After Xu Yi explained how farmland magic machinery could free up labor, Southgate promised to solve the shortage, while Xu Yi left frustrated by the obstacles to expanding the Xinfei Merchant Guild across the Malo Empire.

• Xu Yi asked Marquis Southgate for ten thousand workers, and Southgate said his fief could not spare them from farming.
• Xu Yi explained how farmland magic machinery and the Cantona Chamber of Commerce could reorganize farming and reduce its labor needs.
• Xu Yi suggested Southgate recruit workers through Duke Macalose and other nobles, offering them an annual commission.
• Marquis Southgate said he would resolve the worker shortage without explaining how.
• Xu Yi left the manor to inspect the magic industry base and reflected on the difficulty of expanding into the Malo Empire.

Billier organized a Mana Racing Car competition in Wimbledon City and reflected on the growing success of his dealership and the sport. Prince Frank attended and suggested paving the roads on his private fief so racers could have a larger venue, leaving Billier astonished at the prince’s interest.

• Billier started an elite race featuring thirteen Mana Racing Cars for the gathered nobles and merchants.
• Billier watched the drivers and judged them amateurish compared with competitors in Xinfei Merchant Guild races.
• Steward Lons brought Billier to meet Prince Frank, who had unexpectedly come to watch the event.
• Prince Frank said he preferred racing on broad roads and asked whether paved roads on his private fief could give racers more room.

After returning from the Malo Empire, Xu Yi prepared to meet rising demand for farmland machinery and addressed the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s shortage of specialized mages. The new Xinfei Magic Industry College attracted thousands of applicants, giving the guild a promising path to recruit trained staff.

• Xu Yi returned to the Stantin Duchy after securing agreements with Malo Empire nobles, including contracts for the Cantona Chamber of Commerce to harvest more than three hundred thousand hectares.
• Cantona asked Xu Yi for priority access to farmland and engineering machinery, and the Drake Duchy agreed to yield part of its order in exchange for help with its farmland renovation project.
• Xu Yi focused on the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s limited production capacity, which was held back chiefly by a shortage of mages trained to configure magic arrays to exact standards.
• Eleven magic industry seminars in the Lampari Kingdom helped low-rank mages understand the field and consider specialized work in the industry.
• More than two thousand low-rank mages enrolled in the Xinfei Magic Industry College within two weeks, and 1,316 agreed to give the guild priority in hiring them.
• Xu Yi hoped the college would supply suitable employees and show mages that the magic industry offered an alternative to pursuing power through magic alone.

At the Mages' Guild Elders' Parliament, Great Mage Ferguson supported Xu Yi's proposal for concrete cooperation between the Guild and the Xinfei Merchant Guild, citing the skill of its mages and Archmage Camilla's enthusiasm for her work there. The elders rejected the idea that the Guild should cooperate on Xu Yi's terms, and President Gascoigne had yet to state his decision.

• Great Mage Ferguson reported that Xinfei Merchant Guild's mages excelled at magic arrays and said he supported concrete cooperation with the Guild.
• President Gascoigne asked Ferguson about Archmage Camilla's position on Xu Yi's proposal.
• Ferguson said Camilla enjoyed working at the Xinfei Merchant Guild and believed the Guild should cooperate properly with Xu Yi.
• Several elders objected, insisting that the Xinfei Merchant Guild should follow the headquarters' arrangements instead of setting terms.
• Ferguson turned to President Gascoigne to decide the Guild's position.

President Gascoigne decided to pursue cooperation with the Xinfei Merchant Guild and sent Great Mage Ferguson back to the Stantin Duchy to negotiate. In Sky City, Ferguson discovered that a shopkeeper had canceled her Large Frost Array installation because her shop was using a magic air conditioner.

• President Gascoigne asked Great Mage Ferguson about the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s revenue and learned that it might exceed ten million gold coins a year.
• Gascoigne said headquarters was willing to cooperate with the Xinfei Merchant Guild and instructed Ferguson to tell Xu Yi that the guild must show its sincerity.
• Ferguson went to Sky City’s shopping street and intervened in an argument between a middle-aged mage and a shopkeeper over a canceled Large Frost Array installation.
• Ferguson ruled that the shopkeeper could cancel the installation but would forfeit her deposit.
• Ferguson guessed that the shopkeeper had replaced the Large Frost Array with a magic air conditioner, and she was startled when he was right.

Xu Yi discussed Leslie’s plans to take control of a southern island and establish a farm near Miss Winniton’s home, then reviewed the Stantin Duchy’s agricultural statistics and an upgrade plan. The duchy had enough food to withstand years of disasters, and Xu Yi began considering how improved agricultural productivity could expand livestock raising.

• Leslie told Xu Yi that the southern island’s crops yielded three or four harvests a year and asked for military magic machinery to help him take control of it.
• Leslie revealed that he had bought a farm near Miss Winniton’s home and asked Xu Yi to provide farmland magic machinery so he could make it the area’s best farm.
• Viscount Constantine reported that the Stantin Duchy produced enough grain to feed its people and endure at least three years of major natural disasters without famine.
• Xu Yi read Constantine’s preliminary plan for upgrading agriculture and considered how farmland machinery and fertilizer could make meat and livestock more accessible.
• Xu Yi recalled that the Lampari Kingdom had repealed a statute concerning draft oxen after farmland machinery reduced dependence on them.

After the repeal of the draft-cattle slaughter ban revealed that farmland magic machinery had replaced animal labor, Xu Yi advanced plans to diversify agriculture and establish livestock farms in the Stantin Duchy. He left the chapter considering Viscount Constantine’s growing authority, while Anise began to suffer sudden pain beside him.

• The Lampari Kingdom’s repeal of the draft-cattle protection law led to widespread slaughter, but the autumn harvest showed that farmland magic machinery had replaced draft cattle for most farm work.
• Xu Yi approved Viscount Constantine’s agricultural upgrade proposal, including an experimental livestock farm, feed crops grown with the elves, and future meat-processing facilities.
• Xu Yi ordered Constantine to require birth registration, learned that more than thirty thousand children had been born in the duchy the previous year, and warned him to prevent anyone from disrupting the duchy’s transition.
• After Constantine left, Xu Yi considered whether to entrust him with greater authority, despite fearing he might become like Angklu.
• Anise told Xu Yi that Elder Elusia wanted them to return to the tribe to address her not becoming pregnant, and Xu Yi suggested inviting both elders to the duchy instead.
• Anise suddenly fell silent and grimaced in pain.