Chapter Summaries

Galan and Lia shared a meal at Lake’s restaurant, where they enjoyed enormous steaks and an array of desserts. Lia relaxed around Galan as she ate, and he felt reassured by seeing her smile.

• Lake served Galan five enormous steaks, and Galan was overwhelmed by their flavor.
• Lia watched Galan eat, uncertain how to behave around him, until he offered to share his steaks.
• Lia tasted the steak and enjoyed it, while Galan praised Lake’s cooking.
• Lake brought out a huge tray of desserts that Lia had ordered, and Galan worried about the cost.
• Lia tried Mercury Pudding and happily praised the restaurant, easing Galan’s unease.

Galan and Lia explored Äußerst’s lively night streets after sharing desserts at Lake’s restaurant. At a trinket stall, Lia considered an accessory while Galan wondered whether her calling him by name meant she was beginning to trust him.

• Galan helped Lia finish the many desserts she had ordered, and Lake saw them off as his restaurant filled with customers.
• Galan and Lia wandered through the city, where Lia watched the sights and tried unsuccessfully to scoop goldfish.
• Galan explained why Äußerst was safe and bustling at night, and Lia asked whether other human cities were as lively.
• Lia called Galan by name and pointed out a trinket stall, where the owner suggested a butterfly-orchid accessory and called Galan her boyfriend.
• Lia held out the accessory, and Galan offered to help her put it on.

Galan and Lia spent the evening strolling through Äußerst, where he bought her a butterfly flower ring and told her he wanted Mirror Lotus plants. As they headed home late at night, Lia clasped his hand, leaving Galan smiling.

• Galan bought Lia a butterfly flower ring for one Shtrel Silver Coin and noticed a Mirror Lotus ring at the stall.
• Lia said she wanted to buy Galan something, and he teased her about having no money.
• Lia declared she would get a job, and Galan asked her to get him a couple of Mirror Lotus plants next time.
• Galan took Lia by the wrist as they entered a crowded alley, and Lia clasped his hand as they walked home.

Serie summoned Galan to the Palace after waking him in Äußerst and telling him to come see her. The chapter left Galan confronting Serie, who announced that she intended to teach him magic despite his being a warrior.

• Galan woke in his Äußerst inn room and heard Serie speak to him through Voice Transmission Magic.
• Serie ordered Galan to come to the Palace, and he reluctantly got dressed rather than risk her coming to fetch him.
• Galan checked that Lia was still asleep and planned to leave a message with the inn owner before heading out.
• In the Palace, Galan questioned why Serie had summoned him to teach him magic.
• Serie asked whether Galan was unwilling to learn and said he should be proud she was willing to teach him.

Galan returned to the Palace, where Serie revealed her plan to teach him magic and use their strengthened causal link to estimate how long he could remain in the timeline. Galan doubted he could learn quickly enough, and Serie remarked that ordinary offensive magic might take him more than ten years to master.

• Galan returned to the Palace and learned that scholars there were preparing to establish the Continental Magic Association under Serie's direction.
• Serie told Galan she would teach him magic so their strengthened causal link could help her estimate his remaining time in the timeline.
• Galan questioned whether he could learn magic as a warrior, but Serie said his mana met the threshold for becoming a mage.
• Galan worried that learning magic from scratch would take too long, and Serie estimated that an ordinary offensive spell could take him more than ten years to learn.

Serie offered to use Magic of Transfer Magic to teach Galan a spell directly, but warned that powerful magic would exceed his mana. Galan chose Blood Manipulation Magic, received its knowledge from her, and asked whether transferring it would erase Serie’s own knowledge.

• Serie explained that she could transfer a spell directly to Galan and warned that complex magic required enormous mana.
• Galan considered choosing Magic for Controlling Bacteria, but Serie cautioned that he lacked the knowledge needed to develop it safely and offered Blood Manipulation Magic instead.
• Galan weighed the uses and risks of controlling blood before choosing Blood Manipulation Magic.
• Serie handed Galan a scarlet grimoire, and its knowledge poured into his mind when he touched it.
• Galan asked Serie whether giving him the magic would make her lose her knowledge of it.

After thanking Serie for teaching him a spell, Galan left and learned why the adventurer equipment shop was drawing a crowd: a self-proclaimed genius pharmacist was selling potions reputed to save the dying. The pharmacist’s identity and the potion’s extraordinary effects caught Galan’s interest.

• Serie told Galan that teaching him the spell had cost her little and that she was pursuing her own research into Return Magic.
• Galan thanked Serie, agreed to cooperate with her research, and left after she insisted she was not helping him for his sake.
• Galan bought snacks for himself and Lia, then asked a passerby why the nearby adventurer equipment shop was packed with people.
• The passerby explained that a pharmacist calling himself the most talented of the century had opened a potion stall there.
• The passerby said he had witnessed the pharmacist revive a gravely wounded adventurer, prompting many adventurers to queue for potions.
• Galan grew interested in the mysterious pharmacist and his potions.

Galan grew interested in the skilled pharmacist whose potion had saved a dying person, but the crowded shop kept him from meeting the man. In the back room, Fitz’s boss tried to make him prepare more potions, leaving Fitz locked inside after he declared that he would become the Medicine King.

• Galan judged the unknown pharmacist’s potion highly effective and decided to try meeting him later.
• Fitz’s boss found him asleep on the floor and shouted into his ear until he woke.
• The boss urged Fitz to make another batch of potions, pointing to the strong sales and the money they could earn.
• Fitz dismissed the profits and declared that his goal was to become the Medicine King.
• The boss shut Fitz in the back room until he agreed to make potions, then reflected that he had taken Fitz in after finding him homeless last week.

The shop owner reflected on Fitz’s Apothecary skills and sold-out Potions before a traveler arrived seeking a blood-preserving Magic Device. Meanwhile, Galan read the Grimoire Serie gave him and gained an almost complete understanding of Blood Manipulation Magic.

• The shop owner accepted Fitz’s Potion-making skill and considered expanding the shop’s business, though he wondered why Fitz cared so little about money.
• A young traveler asked the owner for a container with a Blood Coagulation effect, and the owner went to check the storeroom’s stock.
• Lia asked Galan where he had gone, and Galan told her he had picked up a Grimoire while concealing his connection to Serie.
• Galan read Serie’s Grimoire and found that its transferred knowledge gave him an extraordinarily deep grasp of Blood Manipulation Magic.

After the grimoire vanished once Galan learned [Blood Manipulation Magic], Lia showed him Frog's letter saying he would take her around the city. Galan visited the shop across the street and found a well-preserved set of Magic Devices with a [Blood Coagulation] effect.

• Galan watched the grimoire dissolve after mastering the magic it contained.
• Lia showed Galan Frog's letter and said Frog planned to take her around the city.
• Galan encouraged Lia to spend freely at Frog's expense.
• Galan went to the shop to look for a container that could store blood.
• The shop owner brought out four glass vessels with a [Blood Coagulation] effect, and Galan noticed their strong mana reaction.

Galan chatted with the shop owner about Magic Devices and the war, then asked to meet the shop’s full-time master potion maker. The owner grew suspicious and feared Galan would expose the problems with Fitz’s supposed mastery.

• Galan praised the owner’s preservation of a Magic Device and spoke with him about their expertise and the war.
• The owner mourned the Hero of the South’s defeat and doubted that he would live to see peace, while Galan privately recalled that Himmel would defeat the Demon King within three years.
• Galan urged the owner to keep hope and proposed a bet that he would live to see an age of peace, but the owner laughed it off.
• Galan asked to meet the master potion maker because he was an apothecary himself.
• The owner became tense and suspected Galan wanted to test Fitz and uncover the truth about his abilities.

Galan sought out Fitz at the shop to see his work, while the owner tried to keep Fitz hidden. Fitz revealed his ambition to make a Rejuvenation Potion and offered Galan an untested Shrinking Potion, prompting the owner to complain that Fitz had neglected his stock.

• The owner told Galan that Fitz had gone out to eat, but Galan said he would wait nearby and return.
• Fitz emerged from the back room, surprising the owner and confirming Galan’s suspicion that he was the pharmacist.
• Galan asked Fitz to show him a potion he had made, but Fitz refused because he was not satisfied with his work and wanted to make a Rejuvenation Potion.
• Fitz eventually mentioned that he had just made a batch of Shrinking Potion that he had not tested.
• The owner complained that Fitz had spent ingredients on other experiments instead of making more stock for the shop.

Himmel, Heiter, and Eisen searched a Northern Plateau dungeon after Frieren vanished, and they suspected she had wandered into a Mimic. They had found no Mimics or treasure chests, leaving them puzzled about how Frieren could have disappeared.

• Himmel called for Frieren in a cave but received no answer, and Heiter suggested she might be stuck in a Mimic.
• Himmel recalled that Frieren had recently blasted her way out of a Mimic with Explosive Magic, and he conceded that she might fall for the same trap again.
• Eisen arrived after climbing out of a deep chasm, surprising Heiter with his strength and leaving his butt only a little sore.
• Eisen agreed that Frieren had probably fallen for a Mimic, but Himmel pointed out that the party had found none in the dungeon.
• Himmel, Heiter, and Eisen realized they had seen no Mimics or treasure chests, and wondered how Frieren had vanished unnoticed.

Himmel, Heiter, and Aizai guessed that Frieren had gone back to explore a dangerous Hidden Chamber and hurried to find her. Frieren reached the chamber alone, discovered its golden chest was a Mimic, and opened it anyway.

• Heiter suggested Frieren might have returned to a Hidden Chamber they had passed, and Himmel questioned why she had gone alone.
• Aizai and Himmel guessed Frieren had avoided Heiter because she feared his anger, and the three set off to search for her.
• Frieren secretly retraced her steps and used floating magic to bypass the passage’s traps.
• Frieren collapsed the chamber wall with magic and found a large golden treasure chest inside.
• Frieren’s spell identified the chest as a Mimic, but she convinced herself the result was wrong and opened it.

Himmel, Heiter, and Eisen fled a rolling boulder trap and found Frieren after she was swallowed by a Mimic. After Heiter scolded her for leaving the party, Himmel reassured her that they would help her because they were a team.

• Eisen triggered a rolling boulder trap, and he, Himmel, and Heiter ran from it.
• Frieren was swallowed by a Mimic after opening a chest, then blasted her way out with a fireball spell.
• Heiter scolded Frieren for leaving the party and worrying them, and she apologized.
• Himmel asked Frieren why she had not asked them for help and told her the Hero Party would always help her.

Galan examined Fitz’s high-quality Shrinking Potion and learned that Fitz pursued a Rejuvenation Potion simply because it was difficult to make. Galan tried to persuade Fitz to research a blood-regenerating potion that could help him use Blood Manipulation Magic, and the chapter ended with Galan appealing to Fitz’s sense of challenge.

• Galan followed Fitz into his storeroom and inspected the Shrinking Potion, recognizing its exceptional quality.
• Galan asked why Fitz wanted to make a Rejuvenation Potion, and Fitz said he chose it because it was difficult.
• Galan proposed that Fitz research a potion that rapidly replenished blood, hoping it could support Galan’s Blood Manipulation Magic.
• Fitz refused to pursue anything besides the Rejuvenation Potion and challenged Galan to research the blood potion himself.
• Galan began persuading Fitz by claiming he had already tried and failed to develop the blood-regenerating potion.

Frieren was swallowed by a Mimic after leaving the party and blasted her way out, where she reunited with Himmel, Heiter, and Eisen. After Heiter scolded her for repeatedly acting alone, Himmel reassured her that the Hero Party would help her because they were a team.

• Heiter warned Himmel that the hidden passage might contain deadly traps, while Eisen explained that he had climbed out of the deep pitfall.
• Eisen stepped on a sunken stone and triggered a rolling boulder trap, sending him, Himmel, and Heiter running for cover.
• Frieren opened a chest, was pulled inside by a Mimic, and used Spell That Creates a Fireball to destroy it and escape.
• Heiter reprimanded Frieren for leaving the party alone and reminded her that the boulder could have killed them all.
• Frieren apologized and admitted she feared the others would stop her from exploring the hidden chamber.
• Himmel gently told Frieren that the Hero Party would help her because they were a team.

Galan reluctantly prepared to join a large Adventurers Guild expedition into a newly discovered Dungeon after Serie ordered him to search for Unified Empire artifacts. Lia persuaded him to take her along, and they headed to the guild to sign up.

• Serie ordered Galan to join the Dungeon commission and bring back any interesting antiques he found.
• Galan refused Lia's request to accompany him, warning that the Dungeon was dangerous.
• Lia clung to Galan's arm and persuaded him to take her along by promising to stay behind him if danger arose.
• Galan and Lia left for the Adventurers Guild, where adventurers discussed the expedition's twelve parties and hundred-Lacir-Gold-Coin reward.

Galan and Lia arrived at the Adventurers Guild as twelve teams prepared to explore a dangerous Dungeon. Galan found the team Serie had assigned him to, whose members were already wary of the unknown recruit and were startled when he arrived with Lia.

• Galan and Lia entered the crowded Adventurers Guild and saw adventurers gathering for the Dungeon expedition.
• Galan searched the assembled parties for the team Serie had arranged for him.
• The blond captain urged Hupas to stay calm when the guild-appointed recruit arrived, while Hupas demanded that the newcomer prove his strength.
• A purple-hatted mage worried that the recruit might be a burden and hurt their chances of winning the expedition's reward.
• Galan approached the team's table with Lia, and the adventurers fell silent at the sight of them.

Galan arrived to join Clinton’s party for the Dungeon expedition with Lia, but Pass rejected them both and provoked a public argument. The dispute ended with Clinton ordering Pass to apologize, which Pass refused while revealing Galan had joined through the back door.

• Pass confronted Galan and immediately dismissed him as unfit to join the party.
• Clinton greeted Galan and questioned why he had brought Lia along for the Dungeon expedition.
• Pass called Galan and Lia burdens and threatened to object to Lia joining, while Lia offered to wait in the city.
• Galan defended Lia and told the party he would bring her whether they approved or not, prompting Pass to challenge him to a fight.
• Clinton ordered Pass to apologize, but Pass refused and loudly claimed Galan had entered the party through the back door.