Chapter Summaries

Daniel returned to Dream City as the Outworld Wanderer’s servant and exposed flaws in the Mind Network, attracting the Sleeper Cult’s bishops. Gawain was pleased with Daniel’s progress, but his plans were interrupted when Sordelin returned wounded by cultists.

• Daniel entered the Assembly Hall and posted proposals about Mind Network security, node management, and organizing its archives.
• The Sleeper Cult’s Bishop Council investigated Daniel’s discoveries, confirmed the vulnerabilities, and prepared to contact him on the pope’s orders.
• Gawain told Amber that he was in a good mood and considered hiding within the cult by becoming responsible for its identity-screening system.
• Betty announced Sordelin’s return, and Gawain saw that the High-ranking Ranger had bloodstains on his chest.
• Sordelin told Gawain that cultists had slashed him.

Sordelin returned to Cecil Territory badly wounded after fighting cultists from The End of All Things, and warned Gawain that they may be targeting the Silver Empire or the Great Wall. He also reported that Winterwolf Fortress had been attacked by Aberrants, leaving Gawain preparing for possible changes between Ansu and Typhon.

• Gawain learned that Sordelin had been ambushed by Belna, a Silver Elf druid who was secretly a cultist from The End of All Things.
• Sordelin told Gawain that the cultist seemed familiar with his fighting style, and Pittman treated the lingering cursed poison in his wounds.
• Sordelin reported that Winterwolf Fortress, commanded by Andesha Wendell, had also been attacked by Aberrants, possibly by a force split from the monsters that attacked Cecil Territory.
• Heti warned that the attacks could change the situation between Ansu and Typhon, while Amber said the Intelligence Bureau had no reports from the eastern region yet.
• Gawain ordered Amber to accelerate agent training and deployment and gather intelligence from the Holy Spirit Plain, anticipating that Francis II would make domestic moves before resuming diplomacy.

Gawain explained why Typhon was likely to go to war with Ansu despite the Aberrant threat, then heard Sordelin describe how Count Belli’s rent laws had stripped farmers of their land. The chapter left Rebecca asking how the injustice could be changed, and Gawain telling her they were already on that road.

• Gawain explained that Typhon’s internal pressures and need for resources made war with weakened Ansu likely, even if the Aberrants delayed it.
• Sordelin asked why they had led refugees across the wasteland and built a kingdom, and Gawain answered that they had done it to help people survive.
• Sordelin recounted how Count Belli’s Tenant Rent Amnesty Act had been used to take farmers’ land.
• Pittman, Amber, Gawain, and Heti explained how nobles exploited laws that commoners could not read, understand, or challenge.
• Rebecca asked whether the injustice could be changed, and Gawain told her they were already walking that road.

Gawain explained to his companions that he intended to build a civilization-wide order in which rulers could be held accountable, and Sordelin pledged to serve him again. Meanwhile, Beltira returned to the secret Underground Palace and learned that the Grand Priest had awakened and summoned her.

• Gawain told Rebecca and the others that nobles had become corrupt because nothing restrained them, and described an order capable of removing rulers who made mistakes.
• Sordelin questioned whether Gawain's New Order could endure, then knelt and pledged to return to Gawain's command.
• Gawain welcomed Sordelin back and left his recovery to Pittman, while Amber privately confronted Gawain about his ambitions beyond the Cecil Territory.
• Beltira emerged healed from a mutated plant in the secret Underground Palace near the Ansu-Tifeng border.
• Archpriest Hitton told Beltira that the Grand Priest had awakened and ordered her to see him immediately.

Beltira reported to the Grand Priest that the Sleeper called Gawain an “Outworld Wanderer,” but The Ultimate Book had no answer and instructed them to avoid him. Meanwhile, recruitment for the southern development effort drew a stream of visitors to the Cecil residence in Saint Suniel City, where Gepril received them.

• Beltira passed the Underground Palace’s wardens and entered the Grand Priest’s secret chamber.
• Beltira told the Grand Priest that the Sleeper believed an external entity had occupied Gawain Cecil’s body, and The Ultimate Book offered no information about an Outworld Wanderer.
• The Grand Priest ordered the group to keep away from Gawain and said their plans in Ansu and Typhon would bring war amid false peace.
• Beltira warned that the Holy Light Church was rapidly expanding, but the Grand Priest said the group would not intervene.
• Visitors answered Santys’s recruitment drive and gathered at Number 4 Crown Street, where Gepril received them.

Korn attended the gathering at the duke’s estate expecting a chance to make useful connections, but Santys’s invitation led him to a guarded private meeting. Santys offered knowledge of Ancient Gandor, while Count Karlov Hosman separately claimed to have deciphered Cecil Territory’s Magic Web technology.

• Korn exchanged polite words with a member of the Straun Family before Gepril gave him Santys’s invitation and a brooch for a private gathering.
• Korn stayed in the estate after the first bell with other brooch-wearing guests and noticed that the attendees seemed to belong to neither noble houses nor mage factions.
• Soldiers sealed the hall’s entrances as Santys entered with Gepril and Piers and asked whether anyone was interested in the magical arts of Ancient Gandor and its lost domains.
• At Count Hosman’s castle, Count Karlov Hosman announced that his family’s advisers and scholars had cracked the secret of Cecil Territory’s Magic Web technology.

Count Karlov Hosman unveiled the Magic Net Technology he had acquired and drew Southern Region nobles eager to obtain the blueprints and construction methods. Viscount Carrol warned Ropenni Gellan that Cecil Territory’s innovations were spreading like poison, but planned to bargain for them anyway.

• Count Karlov Hosman showed the guests his castle’s Magic Net and said he had obtained blueprints and construction methods from two Rune Craftsmen.
• Nobles gathered around Count Hosman to ask about acquiring the technology, hoping to build their own Magic Nets and reduce their dependence on Cecil Territory.
• Viscount Carrol left the banquet hall and found Ropenni Gellan outside, where she said she was waiting to hear Count Hosman’s price.
• Viscount Carrol told Ropenni Gellan that Cecil Territory’s useful, low-cost products were infiltrating the Southern Region like poison.
• Viscount Carrol said he would return to the hall to negotiate with Count Hosman, treating the poison as a remedy if it remained in their hands.

Viscountess Ropini Gellan recognized the danger behind Gawain Cecil’s profitable gifts, while Gawain’s agents infiltrated Count Hosman’s castle and helped spread Magic Net construction methods among the Southern Region’s nobles. After hearing Amber’s report, Gawain prepared to profit from their interest in mining machinery and entered Dreamwalking, where Daniel reported his rapid rise in The Sleeper’s organization.

• Viscountess Ropini Gellan watched Viscount Carrol leave and concluded that the nobles would accept Gawain Cecil’s gifts without understanding their danger.
• Two undercover agents celebrated with Hosman’s scholars after secretly helping the castle bring its first Magic Net into operation.
• Amber told Gawain that Count Hosman planned to sell the Magic Net construction methods he had obtained to his allies.
• Gawain told Amber to prepare Viscount Andrew’s docks for nobles seeking Magic-Powered Engines and to keep Cecil Territory’s production capacity underestimated.
• Gawain entered Dreamwalking, where Daniel reported that he had become the leading official on The Sleeper’s Information Security and Network Architecture project and would build its first-generation database.

Gawain reviewed Daniel’s infiltration of the Sleeper Cult and gathered foundational information about the Mind Network. He discovered that Brain Servants were unnecessary for running the network and ordered Daniel to investigate what their computational power was really used for, especially in connection with Project Zero.

• Daniel reported that the Bishop Council had formed a team to investigate flaws in the Mind Network and that he planned to guide its reconstruction while discreetly introducing Gawain’s knowledge.
• Daniel told Gawain he had built a Magic Net Unit and a composite rotary Repulsion Mechanism, and had recruited his gifted apprentice Mary to assist with research.
• Daniel gave Gawain a scroll containing foundational information about the Mind Network, which Gawain rapidly scanned to build a framework of its workings.
• Gawain concluded that active Sleepers provided more than enough computational power to run the Mind Network, so Brain Servants were not necessary for that purpose.
• Gawain ordered Daniel to investigate the Brain Servants’ true purpose and to look for information about the highly secretive Project Zero.

After meeting Daniel, Gawain explored the Mind Network and encountered Patty Glan, a child who seemed to rely on its dreamscape because of pain and itching. Patty revealed that her mother was away visiting Count Hosman, leading Gawain to suspect she was connected to the southern Ansu noble he had heard about from Amber.

• Gawain reflected on the Mind Network’s active nodes and the Sleeper Cult’s reach as he walked through Dream City.
• Patty recognized Gawain as Uncle Selci and explained that she could distinguish people by how they felt.
• Patty told Gawain she entered the dream because her body hurt and itched, and said her father was dead and her mother disliked immersing herself in dreams.
• Patty said she lived in a large castle, was rarely allowed outside, and had recently seen snow from its terrace.
• Patty revealed that her mother had gone to visit Count Hosman, and Gawain recognized the name from Amber’s report and suspected Patty was tied to Count Karlov Hosman in southern Ansu.

Gawain questioned Patty about her connection to Sister Serina and learned that the Sleepers considered her unusually talented, though she could not remember how she had entered the Mind Network. After waking, he received a royal investiture decree recognizing his rule over the Konde Territory and granting him additional royal land, which he linked to Francis II’s effort to secure noble support as Ansu prepared for possible negotiations with Typhon.

• Gawain asked Patty how she met Sister Serina, and Patty said Serina had called herself her guide because Patty had a special talent.
• Gawain stopped questioning Patty when he suspected the Sleepers might have concealed or altered her memories, then left the Mind Network.
• Gawain woke to find Rebecca and Amber beside him, caught Amber trying to flee after she admitted wanting to draw on his face, and asked why Rebecca had come.
• Rebecca delivered a sealed royal document brought by a griffin messenger, and Gawain opened the royal investiture decree recognizing his rule over Konde and granting him land to its east.
• Gawain explained that Francis II had sent the decree early because he needed to reassure nobles ahead of possible diplomatic negotiations between Ansu and Typhon.

Gawain explained why Ansu’s nobles cared little about the king’s negotiations with Typhon, then learned that the Gellan family might be connected to The Sleeper. He decided to visit Glan Territory and investigate the family’s sudden decline and the former viscount’s death.

• Gawain explained that Ansu’s nobles followed rules that protected noble prisoners and preserved their lands, so they expected to benefit regardless of the war’s outcome.
• Gawain told Rebecca and Amber that Francis II had quietly granted the Cecil Family control of Konde Territory and nearby royal land to keep Gawain from disrupting negotiations.
• Gawain summoned Heti and asked whether a southern noble family named Gellan existed.
• Heti identified Viscountess Ropenni Gellan as the ruler of a family that had declined after her husband died in a magical experiment accident.
• Gawain revealed his suspicion that a Gellan family member was closely tied to The Sleeper and decided to visit Glan Territory to investigate.

Ropenni Gellan prepared for Duke Gawain Cecil’s visit as Gawain traveled to the Gellan lands and discussed the family’s history with Amber. In the capital, Francis II and Veronica learned that a Blood God bishop had been exposed as a follower of The End of All Things, prompting plans to inspect the churches.

• Ropenni tested soil samples, confirmed the Druid Potion was working, and ordered her butler to negotiate with Cecil Potion Merchants before spring.
• Ropenni told her butler that Gawain Cecil would arrive in five days for an ordinary meeting after Konde Region became a lawful fief of the Cecil Family.
• Gawain and Amber traveled toward Gellan Territory, where Amber began explaining the previous Viscount Gellan’s New Laws and the suspicious circumstances of his death.
• A royal messenger delivered news to Francis II that a Blood God bishop in Boulder City had mutated into a monster and that investigators found evidence of The End of All Things beneath the Blood God Church.
• Veronica promised Francis II that the Holy Light Church would cooperate with inspections, and she expected other faiths to help root out cultists.

Gawain visited Ropenni Gellan at her castle to meet his new neighbor and investigate whether it was affected by the true dream. He found no clear signs of an illusion, but the chapter ended when an attendant reported that Miss Patty was unwell and Ropenni reacted sharply.

• Gawain and Amber arrived at Gellan Old Castle and were welcomed by Ropenni Gellan.
• Ropenni arranged a reception and ball to host Gawain and gather the region's nobles.
• Gawain told Amber that Gellan Castle seemed unlike Konde Castle and was probably not covered by a large-scale true dream.
• Gawain examined the castle's art collection and learned that Ropenni's late husband had painted scenes from everyday life.
• An attendant told Ropenni that Miss Patty was feeling unwell, and Ropenni's expression changed instantly.

Gawain learned that Patty Glan was Ropenni Gellan’s seriously ill daughter and arranged to meet her. At the ball, Patty appeared in a wheelchair and greeted him happily, recognizing him from her father’s stories.

• Ropenni left the reception room after receiving news about Patty, and Gawain waited without pressing her for details.
• Gawain asked Amber to inspect a door at the castle gates while Ropenni was away.
• Ropenni told Gawain that Patty was her daughter and agreed that he could meet her.
• At the ball, Gawain noticed Ropenni’s hostility toward the assembled nobles and asked about their connection to Count Karlov Hosman’s banquet.
• Ropenni hurried to the banquet hall doors after noticing someone outside, and Gawain followed her.
• Gawain crouched before Patty in her wheelchair, and Patty smiled and told him that he was as tall as her father had described.

Gawain visited Viscountess Ropenni Gellan and learned how her husband Roman’s reforms had been crushed by a noble-backed uprising. Ropenni defended the executions of the commoners who had benefited from the reforms, leaving Gawain facing the depth of her bitterness.

• Gawain met Patty, who was ill and confined to a specially made chair, and promised to visit her again.
• Gawain persuaded Ropenni to speak with him about Roman Gellan and the Land Law and Free Citizen Law.
• Gawain recited Roman’s reforms, including freeing serfs and slaves, redistributing land, and opening trades and knighthood to commoners.
• Ropenni recalled how rioters stormed the castle, Roman died in a magical explosion, and neighboring lords arrived as supposed rescuers.
• Gawain explained that the executed attackers were ordinary people who had gained from Roman’s reforms, while the knights and mages behind the assault escaped.
• Ropenni insisted that the freed and newly prosperous commoners deserved their deaths and said she would hang them again if she could.

Gawain explained to Ropenni why Roman Gellan’s reforms had failed and urged her to save her vengeance for the true culprits. He then met Patty, whose illness and questions about her dead father left Ropenni visibly shaken.

• Gawain told Ropenni that Roman’s reforms failed because he changed too much too quickly, lacked force to withstand noble resistance, and never taught the freed commoners why they had gained land and rights.
• Gawain said he had come to see a friend he had never met, then advised Ropenni to wait until she could put the noose around the right person’s neck.
• Ropenni agreed to take Gawain and Amber to Patty’s room, explaining that the girl’s spirits had recently improved and that sunlight eased her pain.
• Patty greeted Gawain happily and asked whether her father could return to life too.
• Gawain told Patty he did not know whether Roman could return, but that they would all meet someday, while Ropenni gripped Patty’s chair until her fingers turned white.

Gawain discovered that Patty’s sleep-aiding device was connected to The Sleeper and learned that her memories of entering the Mind Network were unclear. He advised Lopenny to keep Patty using it while his scholars investigated, and Lopenny ended by returning to their earlier discussion about the noose.

• Gawain entertained Patty with stories until she grew tired and prepared for bed.
• Gawain noticed Patty’s magical headpiece and realized she remembered its origins in the real world, unlike her vague memories in the Mind Network.
• Lopenny explained that a mysterious mage had given Patty the device years earlier and promised to return if her condition worsened.
• Gawain identified the mage as likely belonging to The Sleeper and reassured Lopenny that the device appeared harmless, while promising to have his scholars inspect it.
• Gawain advised Lopenny to let Patty keep using the device for now, and Lopenny thanked him for making Patty happy before saying she was interested in the noose they had discussed.

After the Glan Castle ball, Gawain arranged for Camil and Pittman to examine Patty and returned to visit her. Elsewhere, The Sleeper Cult reported a breakthrough in Project Zero, while Victoria received word that the magical Communication Towers on the Ansu-Typhon border had been reactivated.

• Gawain asked Amber to bring Camil and Pittman to Glan Castle so they could examine Patty's Magical Device and treat her injury.
• Amber demanded travel money, and Gawain scolded her for replacing a document's gold clasp with a gold-plated one before she left.
• Gawain went back inside the castle to visit Patty and continue telling her the story of Charlie and the Three Golden Crowns.
• The Sleeper Cult's bishops reported that Sandbox No. 166 had sustained a stable millennium-long simulation, while the Pope urged them to seek talented people who could improve the Mind Network.
• Victoria Wilde received a secret royal letter confirming that the magical Communication Towers along the Ansu-Typhon border had been reactivated.

Camil and Pittman arrived at Glan Castle to help Patty, and Camil examined the device she used for Dreamwalking. He found that it contained valuable Sleeper technology, including a more efficient Magic Power Oscillation Structure.

• Camil and Pittman arrived at Glan Castle by Lightning Leap, though Amber escaped during the journey.
• Gawain introduced Camil and Pittman to Viscountess Lopenny and brought them to examine Patty.
• Pittman assessed Patty’s condition and said he could improve it, though he could not fully restore her health.
• Camil examined Patty’s Dreamwalking device and found no harmful features or materials.
• Camil discovered that the device contained Sleeper Brainwave Connection Technology and an efficient, stable Magic Power Oscillation Structure.