Chapter Summaries

Xu Yi explained how he had given the Commercial Association Magic Fan technology on terms that would keep the Xinfei Merchant Guild influential through its production standards and machinery. On the carriage ride home, Akali admitted she envied the rich and asked Xu Yi to marry her.

• Xu Yi recalled how Chairman Lanke and the other guild leaders had accepted his offer to share Magic Fan technology in exchange for five silver coins per fan and admitted the Xinfei Merchant Guild to the Commercial Association.
• Xu Yi reasoned that the association leaders expected to acquire more of his technology, while he intended to bind their production to Xinfei standards and earn from machinery sales and repairs.
• Xu Yi remembered how the Fasak Merchant Guild's Magic Fan production relied on Xinfei Magic Machine Tools and specifications, limiting its ability to develop independently.
• Akali told Xu Yi that seeing the wealthy at the banquet had made her envy their lives, and he said she could become rich or marry someone rich.
• Akali smiled at Xu Yi and asked, "Mr. Chairman, how about I marry you?"

Xu Yi arranged for the Angola Tribe dwarves to join the Magic Machine Tool Workshop and hired the Amli Merchant Guild to build a much larger factory as the Xinfei Merchant Guild prepared for rising demand. After reflecting on his long-term plans and the risks of sharing technology, he went to meet a mysterious visitor and recognized her as Miss Anise.

• Xu Yi settled Canby and the hundred Angola Tribe dwarves in the staff dormitory and told them to learn the workshop's work quickly.
• Xu Yi hired Wayne Riley of the Amli Merchant Guild to build a large, sturdy new Magic Machine Tool Workshop.
• Xu Yi considered the guild's rapid growth and the need to expand production ahead of a possible surge in agricultural machinery orders after his audience with the king.
• Xu Yi reflected on his plans to build an industrial system and his decision to share Magic Fan technology, which Heinz had opposed.
• Alex told Xu Yi that a veiled woman had arrived with a drawing and wanted to see him alone.
• Xu Yi entered his office, saw the veiled visitor, and addressed her as Miss Anise.

Xu Yi met Anise, who asked for help with the elves’ river problem, but he said he needed to inspect their territory before offering a solution. He then visited Baron Haines, whose expanding newspaper business led Xu Yi to ask whether Haines planned to remain in Bunta rather than return to Anvilmar.

• Anise told Xu Yi that the elder wanted to pursue his proposed solution to the river problem, but she refused to let him visit the elves’ territory.
• Xu Yi instructed Supervisor Riley about the new factory buildings and then went to Baron Haines’s newspaper office.
• Baron Haines asked Xu Yi to make three more Magic Printing Presses because the Bunta Daily’s sales were growing and new newspapers were about to launch in Sartan City and Karma City.
• Xu Yi suggested alternative names for the new newspapers, then asked Haines whether he intended to stay in Bunta instead of returning to Anvilmar.

Xu Yi persuaded Baron Haines to return to Anvilmar and establish the Anvilmar Daily before other families could control it. Haines agreed to travel with Xu Yi for his Mages' Guild Qualification Certification Examination, while promising to return to Bunta.

• Baron Haines told Xu Yi he wanted to stay in Bunta, where running the Bunta Daily gave him purpose, and described how its reporting had helped punish a minor noble.
• Xu Yi warned Haines that the Bunta Daily would face opposition and that people viewed its coverage of the Xinfei Merchant Guild as advertising.
• Xu Yi urged Haines to return to Anvilmar and use his family's influence and newspaper experience to take the initiative before rival nobles established the Anvilmar Daily.
• Haines agreed to return to Anvilmar but said he would come back to Bunta, where he considered his roots to be.
• Haines agreed to accompany Xu Yi to Anvilmar when Xu Yi went to take the Mages' Guild Qualification Certification Examination.

Xu Yi visited the research institute and saw Avita demonstrate that glowgrass could absorb the Thunderflash Array’s light and glow softly, suggesting a new approach to magic lamps. As Xu Yi admired the discovery, Akali arrived and teased Avita about being alone with the Chairman in a darkened room.

• Xu Yi went to the research institute for a meal and learned that Akali was out while Avita had stayed to work on a new discovery.
• Avita showed Xu Yi that her improved Thunderflash Array could produce lightning light for nearly a minute, though Great Mage Camilla had said its power could not be reduced further.
• Avita placed glowgrass in the array, and it absorbed the light and continued glowing softly after she stopped channeling magic.
• Xu Yi watched the glowgrass illuminate the curtained room and praised Avita’s discovery before Akali teased them from the doorway.

Xu Yi took Akali’s necklace after she insisted she did not want it, then left Avita to comfort her. As Xu Yi considered his many responsibilities on the way home, he spotted two familiar figures entering a nearby restaurant.

• Akali returned President Lanke’s necklace to Xu Yi and asked him to give it back, but he agreed only to take it without returning it to avoid offending President Lanke.
• Xu Yi explained his ideas for using glowgrass with the Thunderflash Array to Avita, then left after asking her to look after Akali.
• After Xu Yi departed, Akali broke down in tears and admitted to Avita that she had tried to win his affection, then wondered if he might be into men.
• Xu Yi walked through chilly Bunta City, thought about his work and the shortage of practical-minded mages, and noticed two familiar figures entering a restaurant.

Xu Yi learned that Vena and Rem had been dismissed by the Leo Merchant Guild after accidents involving magic machinery they developed, and that they had taken Magic Machine Tool technology from the Xinfei Merchant Guild. As the two planned to leave Bunta City, Xu Yi offered them jobs at Xinfei.

• Xu Yi encountered Vena and Rem in Bunta City, where Vena admitted she felt guilty about the accidents caused by the Leo Merchant Guild’s Magic Fans and Magic Rice Cookers.
• Vena revealed that she and Rem had obtained Magic Machine Tool technology during a visit to the Xinfei factory and later shared it with the Leo Merchant Guild; she apologized to Xu Yi.
• Vena said the Leo Merchant Guild had dismissed them a week earlier and that they planned to leave Bunta City because they could not return to Mage Camilla or continue magic machinery research there.
• Xu Yi offered Vena and Rem positions at the Xinfei Merchant Guild, leaving them astonished.

Xu Yi discussed protecting the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s magic machinery secrets with Stille, then saw Great Mage Camilla demonstrate a compact magic array that combined heating and cooling. Camilla’s breakthrough advanced the Magic Air Conditioner as Xu Yi prepared to leave for his examination in Anvilmar.

• Stille urged Xu Yi to require confidentiality agreements, and he agreed to have her discuss them with Avita and Akali.
• Xu Yi worried that the Kingdom’s laws offered little protection for the guild’s technology, so he planned to impose steep financial penalties for leaks.
• Xu Yi and Stille entered Great Mage Camilla’s laboratory, where she showed them a magic array combining Frost Chill and Flame arrays.
• Stille activated the Frost Chill Array, and Great Mage Camilla adjusted the array so its Flame Array produced low flames without interfering.
• Xu Yi realized the compact array could make the heating-and-cooling Magic Air Conditioner much smaller, and Camilla said she had helped because he was preparing for his examination in Anvilmar.

Vivian continued her studies at Baron Rector Magic Academy, where her talent for painting drew unwanted attention from Enrique. When Enrique tried to force her to leave with him, Xu Yi intervened and revealed that he was the chairman of the Xinfei Merchant Guild.

• Vivian reviewed her language lesson and left for painting class, where Enrique and two companions blocked her path.
• Enrique repeatedly asked Vivian to have dinner with him, but she refused and told him to give up.
• Enrique grabbed Vivian and dragged her toward the academy gates while his companions closed in.
• Xu Yi stopped Enrique with a fireball that broke his water shield and knocked him down, then drenched him with water.
• Enrique threatened Xu Yi by invoking his father, Chairman Morgan, but Xu Yi claimed to be Morgan's good friend.
• Xu Yi identified himself as the chairman of the Xinfei Merchant Guild, leaving Enrique ashen-faced.

Xu Yi protected Vivian from Enrique and reassured her before signing an agreement with Baron Rector Magic Academy to establish a Xinfei Merchant Guild scholarship fund. The fund would support students in need and recruit Magic Department graduates for the guild, while Director Hiller remained uncertain about the value of magical machinery.

• Xu Yi drove Enrique and his companions away after seeing Enrique grab Vivian, then learned that Enrique had been harassing her for days.
• Xu Yi examined Vivian's bruised arm, told her to report future trouble, and agreed to let her stay at the academy for class.
• Xu Yi met Director Hiller to finalize a scholarship fund offering aid to poor students and additional support for Magic Department students who would work for the Xinfei Merchant Guild for at least three years after graduation.
• Xu Yi and Baron Rector Magic Academy representatives signed the agreement after Director Hiller accepted that the fund gave students a choice to continue their studies.
• Xu Yi told Director Hiller that magical machinery would prove a valuable path for mages, but Hiller only said he hoped so.

The Xinfei Merchant Guild paid its workers, including the hundred slaves transferred by Viscount Leslie, and held a banquet to celebrate. Xu Yi reflected on how noble status and owning territory would let him build the industrial park he envisioned, then hinted that his upcoming trip to Anvilmar might make him a noble.

• Heinz and Canby announced payday, an early finish, and a free banquet, prompting both workshops to boost their productivity.
• Sebas distributed wages, and the workers received generous pay and benefits, while the dwarves earned especially high overtime wages.
• Bazac was astonished to receive eight gold coins, then knelt to thank Xu Yi, who had him treated for a bleeding forehead.
• Heinz warned Xu Yi that paying the slaves could anger the nobles, but Xu Yi said he was acting as a merchant and wanted a territory of his own.
• Xu Yi explained that owning territory would let him build a complete industrial park and hinted to Heinz that he might return from Anvilmar as a noble.
• Xu Yi asked Alex to prepare the banquet venue, then called Heinz, Canby, and Sebas into his office.

Xu Yi arranged the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s work for his upcoming trip to Anvilmar and argued that the guild should invest more in research and production efficiency. He hinted at a lucrative new plan, leaving Heinz eager to hear the details.

• Sebas reported that the guild had earned over eleven thousand gold coins in monthly profit, while worker wages and benefits cost more than six thousand.
• Xu Yi urged Heinz and Canby to improve production efficiency through better workflows and new Magic Machine Tools, including a magic drill.
• Xu Yi said he would travel to Anvilmar with Viscount Leslie and tell him about the guild’s new research plans.
• Sebas outlined the guild’s research investments, prompting Heinz to object that they were too costly and Xu Yi to argue that one thousand gold coins a month was too little.
• Xu Yi asked Heinz, Canby, and Sebas to listen to a plan he said would make the guild a lot of money.

Xu Yi and Viscount Leslie arrived in Anvilmar City, where Leslie stopped three young nobles from beating a man. After the man walked away, Xu Yi sensed an unusual magic fluctuation from him and wondered whether he was a mage.

• Baron Haines left the convoy and said his father might be interested in meeting Xu Yi.
• Xu Yi and Viscount Leslie discussed Anvilmar City's crowds and Xu Yi's plan to attract young mages through the Xinfei Scholarship Fund.
• Three young men named Victor, Shalu, and Urgat beat a man in the street while the crowd watched.
• Xu Yi tried to intervene, but Viscount Leslie got out of the carriage and ordered the three young men to stop.
• Viscount Leslie kicked Victor, Shalu, and Urgat, and they fled into the crowd.
• The injured man walked away without thanking Leslie, and Xu Yi said he had sensed an unusual magic-array-like fluctuation from him.

Xu Yi arrived in Anvilmar City, surveyed its untouched market for magic machinery, and registered for the Mages' Guild examination with Great Mage Camilla's recommendation. After Anko Allen mocked him, Xu Yi rebuked him, and Anko vowed to sabotage his examination.

• Xu Yi settled into Count Sean Samo's residence in Anvilmar City and ordered the steward to store his covered cargo carefully.
• Xu Yi explored the city, found no magic machinery, and went to the Mages' Guild to register for the examination.
• An elderly mage questioned Xu Yi's age and talent but let him enter after checking Great Mage Camilla's recommendation letter.
• Xu Yi received his examination badge and was mocked by Anko Allen, who boasted of his magical talent.
• Xu Yi told Anko to learn some manners, and Anko seized Xu Yi's form and vowed to prevent him from passing the Elementary Examination.

Xu Yi recognized the crowded Mages' Guild assessment hall as a source of workers for the Xinfei Merchant Guild and tried to recruit mages to study magic machinery. Most declined, leaving him with only one mage willing to visit Bunta City before someone unexpectedly recognized him.

• Xu Yi surveyed the mages in the hall and realized they might solve the Xinfei Merchant Guild's shortage of workers for drawing magic arrays.
• Xu Yi introduced himself to Cesar, explained magic machinery, and offered him ten gold coins a month to join the Xinfei Merchant Guild.
• Cesar declined Xu Yi's offer because he preferred to focus on improving his magic.
• Xu Yi approached seven more mages, but only three showed interest and just one agreed to visit Bunta City.
• A delighted voice called out to Xu Yi and recognized him.

Xu Yi reunited with his old classmate Elwin in Anvilmar City and offered him and his adventuring companions safe work involving magic. After reviewing the city’s business prospects, Xu Yi went to check his warehouse, only to see it burst into flames.

• Xu Yi met Elwin, Rooney, and Bob, then learned that Elwin and his companions had turned to adventuring because they lacked better prospects.
• Xu Yi offered Elwin a safe job involving magic that would pay at least ten gold coins a month, and Elwin and the other mages showed interest.
• Xu Yi returned to his office, where Supervisor Lam told him the Agriculture Bureau and the King’s attendant officer had been notified of his arrival.
• Xu Yi assessed Anvilmar City as a promising market for Magic Fans and felt pleased that eight mages were interested in visiting the Xinfei Merchant Guild.
• Xu Yi headed to the warehouse to check the goods essential to his trip and saw flames engulf it.

After arson damaged the warehouse holding Xu Yi’s farmland magic machinery, he refused to surrender the machines to Lord Fisher and the Agriculture Bureau officials who demanded them. The confrontation ended with Xu Yi questioning whether Fisher had the authority to speak for the bureau.

• Viscount Leslie told Xu Yi that the warehouse fire had been a warning aimed at him, and Xu Yi declined his offer to store the machinery elsewhere.
• Xu Yi privately recalled sensing magical energy in the fire and suspected a mage had been involved, then cleaned and tested the six machines saved from the blaze.
• Steward Ram brought Lord Fisher and three Agriculture Bureau officials to meet Xu Yi, and Fisher demanded that Xu Yi hand over the farmland magic machinery for study.
• Xu Yi refused, pointing out that the bureau’s invitation had not required him to surrender the machines and questioning how the officials had learned he brought them.
• Lord Fisher insulted Xu Yi and insisted he was defying the Agriculture Bureau, but Xu Yi challenged his authority to issue orders on the bureau’s behalf.

Xu Yi rejected Lord Fisher’s demand for his farmland magic machinery, then found a beggar carrying a crystal ball with an unusual Wind Magic Array. Testing it revealed that the array could change its output in programmed sequences, leaving Xu Yi excited by its potential.

• Xu Yi dismissed Supervisor Lam’s concern about offending the Agriculture Bureau and returned to inspect the six machines, finding five intact and one with a damaged magic array.
• Xu Yi went into Anvilmar City to buy magic-array materials and recognized a hungry man who had tried to sell something at a shop.
• Xu Yi offered the man hot milk and food in exchange for a chance to inspect the item he carried.
• The man handed Xu Yi a crystal ball whose Wind Magic Array produced changing patterns of wind and swirling flakes.
• Xu Yi recognized that the array’s changing output suggested programmable magic and saw the crystal ball’s potential to transform magic arrays.

Xu Yi hired Sanchelli to research magic arrays after recognizing the value of his work. When Victor and his companions arrived to beat Sanchelli, Xu Yi paid Victor to let him go and then offered the young nobleman a business opportunity.

• Xu Yi offered Sanchelli a job researching magic arrays for ten gold coins a month, and Sanchelli accepted.
• Victor, Shalu, and Urgat found Sanchelli and prepared to punish him for humiliating them.
• Xu Yi stood between Victor and Sanchelli, explaining that Sanchelli was his employee and offering compensation.
• Victor accepted Xu Yi's pouch of gold and let Sanchelli go, while Shalu and Urgat learned Xu Yi was a friend of Viscount Leslie.
• Xu Yi asked Victor whether he was interested in going into business with him.

Xu Yi learned that political rivalries had complicated the Agriculture Bureau’s response to his farmland machinery, then met two officials who offered a more respectful explanation of their work. He agreed to demonstrate his six machines for them before his audience with the king.

• Supervisor Lam told Xu Yi that the king would receive him the day after tomorrow and hinted that Agriculture Bureau head Marquis Saitek opposed Viscount Leslie’s father, Duke Stagg.
• Two new Agriculture Bureau officials, Harvey and a young woman, met Xu Yi and praised his Farmer Support Plan and the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s machinery.
• Xu Yi told Harvey that Lord Fisher’s officials had demanded his six machines, and Harvey explained that the two visitors’ Farmland Reform Committee was responsible for cooperation with the guild.
• The young woman asked Xu Yi to demonstrate the machines so they could report their operation to the king.
• Xu Yi complimented the young woman’s eyes and agreed to the demonstration, warning them not to be frightened by the machines’ power.