Hi Coffee!
I gave 1.43 a test and yes, Samuel tells the PC to go to the Merchant's Guild instead and things proceed well. I'm excited to continue the story!
Um, I realized after I posted my bug report it sounded kinda... overbearing. Going on about the things I tried to do probably read as over dramatic complaining. I had intended to be thorough in explaining as much detail about it as I could to make it easier for you to find, especially when at that point I thought there were some hidden mechanics about triggering the next story phase. Sorry about that! Alas, I seem to be unable to prevent myself from acting like a numpty muppet. :)