Chapter Summaries

Fang Li confronted the Dragon through the Dragon Stone, forcing it to acknowledge Emilia as an inheritor of the throne. After silencing the civil official who had insulted her, he earned Marcos's respect.

• Fang Li walked up to the Dragon Stone and told Emilia and the others to watch as he challenged the Dragon to act.
• Fang Li threatened to kill the Dragon if it remained a bystander, and the Dragon Stone erupted in light.
• The Dragon Stone displayed its acknowledgment of Emilia as an inheritor of the throne, silencing the assembled candidates and officials.
• Fang Li defended Emilia's right to compete and pointed his dagger at the nervous civil official who had insulted her, declaring that such people deserved to die.
• Marcos questioned Fang Li about his killings, then saluted him and called him a knight worthy of respect.

After the dragon recognized Emilia, Meltoroft ordered the nobles to let her compete without discrimination, and Fang Li became known across Lugnica. On the castle battlements, Fang Li confronted Roswaal and learned that Roswaal had followed his Gospel Book’s predictions to make Fang Li Emilia’s knight, then left him behind.

• Meltoroft recognized Emilia’s right to compete fairly and warned that slandering her for being a Half-demon would count as insulting the king.
• The Royal Selection conference continued in silence after Fang Li left the audience hall, and the nobles expected his name to spread throughout Lugnica.
• Fang Li confronted Roswaal on the royal castle battlements and asked whether Roswaal had made him Emilia’s knight by choice or according to the Gospel Book.
• Fang Li explained that Roswaal supported Emilia and sought Fang Li’s aid because the Gospel Book recorded those actions as steps toward Roswaal’s wish to revive his teacher and slay the dragon.
• Roswaal admitted through his words that he would accept being a puppet or fiend if it helped him achieve his purpose, while Fang Li turned and left.

Fang Li was invited by the Royal Guard Knights to join as an honorary knight, allowing him to accept the title without taking on their duties. He agreed and received the Royal Guard Knight title from the system.

• Reinhard, Julius, and Felix stopped Fang Li and invited him to join the Royal Guard Knights on Captain Marcos's orders.
• The three knights brought Fang Li to Marcos, who explained the invitation.
• Fang Li questioned joining during the Royal Selection and said he had no wish to take on extra responsibilities.
• Marcos offered Fang Li honorary membership, with the rights of a Royal Guard Knight but no regular duties.
• Fang Li accepted, and the system announced that he had joined the Royal Guard Knights and gained the title of Royal Guard Knight.

Fang Li joined Lugnica’s Royal Guard Knights and gained a powerful new title that boosted his attributes. After accepting his uniform and Knight Sword, he emerged dressed as a knight and prepared to leave with Reinhard, Julius, and Felix.

• Fang Li inspected the Royal Guard Knight title, which increased his attributes and granted a sword-using bonus while barring him from joining evil factions.
• Fang Li replaced his Butei (S-Class) title with Royal Guard Knight, raising his overall attributes by 60 points.
• Marcos formally welcomed Fang Li into Lugnica’s Royal Guard Knights and presented him with a Knight Sword and uniform.
• Fang Li changed into the uniform, and Reinhard, Julius, and Felix praised how well the knightly attire suited him.
• Fang Li dismissed their comments and told everyone they should head out.

After the audience ended, Fang Li revealed he had joined the Royal Guard Knights, startling Emilia and the other candidates. He and Emilia left together, with Fang Li flicking her forehead after she said she had things to apologize for.

• Fang Li waited outside the audience hall as officials and knights emerged and whispered about him wearing a Royal Guard Knight uniform.
• Reinhard told Felt and Emilia that Fang Li had accepted the invitation to join the Royal Guard Knights, though Fang Li called himself an idle knight.
• Priscilla claimed Fang Li would belong to her when she became king, and Al joked that she had fallen for him before they departed.
• Felt, Reinhard, Crusch and Felix, and Anastasia and Julius each left after speaking with Fang Li.
• After Roswaal had already left, Emilia said she should apologize to Fang Li, and Fang Li flicked her forehead before walking away.
• Emilia clutched her forehead and hurried after Fang Li.

Fang Li and Emilia walked toward the royal capital as Emilia thanked him for defending her and apologized for making him her knight. Fang Li told her he had never refused to join the Royal Selection and reminded her that he was her friend too, leaving Emilia tearful.

• Emilia awkwardly told Fang Li she had not expected him to become a Royal Guard Knight, and he admitted he had not expected it either.
• Emilia stopped and thanked Fang Li for standing up for her, then apologized because Roswaal had made him her knight without her knowledge.
• Emilia blamed herself for involving Fang Li in the Royal Selection, but Fang Li said she was too quick to endure hardship and apologize for things that were not her fault.
• Fang Li explained that he had held back because Emilia did not want to involve him, and that he might have helped sooner if she had asked.
• Fang Li told Emilia that even if he was not her knight, he was her friend too, and tears gathered in her eyes.

Emilia reacted with overwhelming joy when Fang Li told her they could be friends, and the two left the royal palace together. Later, Fang Li read Roswaal’s plan to have him build alliances for Emilia’s Royal Selection campaign and rejected Roswaal’s attempt to manipulate him.

• Emilia asked Fang Li if she could have friends, then held his hand to reassure herself that the moment was real.
• After half an hour, Emilia released Fang Li’s hand, but clung to his sleeve as they left the palace together.
• Rem gave Fang Li a personal letter from Roswaal while they were at the Dragon Carriages.
• At a noble inn that night, Fang Li read Roswaal’s letter explaining that the Royal Selection would last three years and asking him to form alliances for Emilia.
• Fang Li crumpled Roswaal’s letter and declared that the future written in the Gospel could be killed.

After learning that Roswaal proposed a covenant to strengthen Emilia’s position in the Royal Selection, Fang Li left the decision to her. Emilia chose to negotiate for herself and asked Fang Li to accompany her.

• Fang Li read Roswaal’s letter to Emilia, explaining that a covenant could help her gain support in the Royal Selection.
• Rem reported that the public announcement of Emilia’s candidacy had prompted complicated reactions among the kingdom’s citizens.
• Rem said Roswaal had ordered her to help Fang Li conclude the covenant and would follow his commands.
• Fang Li told Rem that Emilia, not he, had to decide whether to form the covenant.
• Emilia agreed to form the covenant and chose to negotiate herself, then asked Fang Li to come with her.
• Fang Li agreed to accompany Emilia.

Fang Li explained the strengths and weaknesses of Felt, Priscilla, Anastasia, and Crusch as potential allies to Emilia. He recommended allying with Crusch, and the chapter left them arriving at her secondary residence.

• Fang Li told Emilia that the Astrea Family's support made Felt's faction powerful, but its internal divisions and Felt's inexperience made an alliance unstable.
• Fang Li explained that Priscilla's good fortune and Barielle influence were valuable, but her arrogance and unpredictability made her a risky ally.
• Fang Li described Anastasia's mercenary forces and commercial influence as major advantages, while warning Emilia that her merchant nature made loyalty dependent on profit.
• Fang Li recommended that Emilia form an alliance with Crusch.
• Rem drove Fang Li and Emilia to Crusch's secondary residence in the Royal Capital's noble district.

Fang Li advised Emilia to seek an alliance with Crusch, and Emilia visited the Carsten villa to discuss it. Crusch welcomed them but asked them to stay overnight and return to the matter the next day.

• Fang Li explained that Crusch had the strongest support and was Emilia’s best prospect for an alliance because she showed no prejudice toward Emilia’s Half-Elf heritage.
• Emilia agreed that she would need to offer Crusch something valuable in return for an alliance.
• Rem said the Carsten family had accepted their visit, and Wilhelm Trias escorted Fang Li, Emilia, and Rem into Crusch’s villa.
• Emilia sincerely asked Crusch for time to discuss an important matter, and Crusch praised her noble soul.
• Crusch asked Fang Li’s group to stay the night and promised to hear Emilia’s request the following day.

Fang Li suspected that his actions had changed the course of events and left Emilia and Rem to rest before their negotiations. In Karsten Villa’s courtyard, he met Wilhelm Trias, the former commander and legendary Sword Demon, who challenged him to a spar.

• Fang Li wondered whether his conspicuous role in Emilia’s Royal Selection had prompted Crusch’s invitation to Karsten Villa.
• Fang Li told Emilia and Rem to rest and prepare for the next day’s negotiations, then went outside.
• Fang Li found Wilhelm practicing swordsmanship in the courtyard and recognized him as the legendary Sword Demon.
• Wilhelm said he sensed sharp killing intent from Fang Li and challenged him to offer some instruction.
• Fang Li accepted Wilhelm’s challenge.

Fang Li and Wilhelm fought a fierce sword duel, matching the Sword Demon’s rapid attacks with Fang Li’s Flash Sheath technique. They were driven apart by a powerful clash, smiling as they faced each other again.

• Wilhelm charged at Fang Li, and the two swordsmen met in a flurry of blows.
• Wilhelm unleashed a storm of sword strikes, and Fang Li countered each one with precise, forceful slashes.
• Fang Li used Flash Sheath—Eight Flower Mirror to meet Wilhelm’s attacks in a clash of blades.
• Fang Li and Wilhelm struck swords with enough force to drive them apart, then met each other’s gaze with smiles.

Fang Li and Wilhelm ended their sword spar, and Wilhelm later told Crusch and Felix that Fang Li was unlike anyone he had met. Wilhelm left them questioning what drove Fang Li to fight, while Crusch recalled the Dragon’s importance to the kingdom.

• Fang Li and Wilhelm exchanged blows in a brief, precise sword fight that left the lawn otherwise untouched.
• Fang Li stopped the spar and suggested that their warm-up had been enough for Wilhelm, who recognized Fang Li’s extraordinary skill and judgment.
• Wilhelm watched Fang Li leave and briefly imagined him as the Sword Saint before admitting to himself that he was old.
• Wilhelm returned to Crusch and Felix and described Fang Li as frightening, though he said he admired him.
• Wilhelm explained that Fang Li seemed different from people driven by resolve and reasons, prompting Crusch to insist that he must have a reason to fight and to recall the Dragon.

Crusch learned from Wilhelm that Fang Li fought and grew stronger simply because he wanted to, without fear of death or any other reason. She recognized that his freedom from hesitation made him both terrifying and worthy of respect.

• Crusch explained that she wanted to sever Lugnica’s covenant with the Divine Dragon so the kingdom could stand on its own.
• Wilhelm told Crusch that Fang Li had neither resolve nor a reason to fight, and that he had recognized this through their spar.
• Wilhelm explained that Fang Li pursued strength simply because he wanted to, and kept living because he had no reason to die.
• Wilhelm warned Crusch that Fang Li’s talent and clarity could let him grow stronger without end.
• Crusch admitted that Fang Li was beyond her imagination.

Fang Li recognized signs of preparations at the Carsten family residence and realized that negotiations with Crusch had effectively begun the previous day. When Crusch mistook Emilia’s visit for a declaration of war, Emilia clarified that she wanted an equal alliance.

• Fang Li noticed the Carsten family making extensive preparations and suspected they were connected to events from the original story.
• Rem told Fang Li that Crusch had invited Emilia to resume their delayed talks.
• Crusch thanked Fang Li for cooperating with her test the previous day, and Fang Li acknowledged that their negotiations had already begun.
• Crusch mistakenly accused Emilia of coming to declare war, then apologized after Wilhelm and Felix clarified the misunderstanding.
• Fang Li asked Crusch to hear their proposal, and Emilia again requested an alliance on equal terms.

Emilia and Crusch negotiated an alliance, with Crusch asking for Fang Li’s fighting strength as the condition. Fang Li accepted because he wanted to join the coming battle against the White Whale, and Crusch explained she was not trying to recruit him into her faction.

• Crusch said Emilia’s faction offered her little benefit, and Felix pointed out its lack of manpower and popular support.
• Emilia asked what Crusch wanted as a bargaining chip, and Crusch requested Fang Li’s fighting strength.
• Emilia’s faction and Crusch’s faction formed an alliance after Crusch secured her condition.
• Emilia worried that Fang Li alone had made a sacrifice, but Fang Li said the arrangement benefited him because he wanted to get involved.
• Crusch clarified that she wanted reliable fighters for the coming battle and asked whether Emilia knew about the White Whale.

Crusch revealed her plan to subjugate the White Whale and asked Fang Li to join the battle as a condition of an alliance with Emilia. Fang Li recognized that Crusch also wanted the political prestige of having the man who threatened the Dragon fight at her side, but accepted her offer.

• Crusch's mention of the White Whale awakened Wilhelm's fierce hatred, while Emilia and Rem reacted with shock.
• Crusch described the White Whale as one of the Great Beast Trio, a roaming disaster that had devoured countless people and destroyed a kingdom subjugation force.
• Crusch announced that she intended to subjugate the White Whale and needed Fang Li's assistance.
• Fang Li questioned how his abilities could change the outcome and pointed out Crusch's political motive for seeking his participation.
• Fang Li accepted Crusch's offer.

Fang Li explained why Crusch’s alliance with Emilia depended on his participation in the White Whale subjugation campaign, and why fighting the White Whale served his own goals. Emilia insisted on joining the battle, and Fang Li accepted her decision.

• Fang Li told Emilia that Crusch wanted his presence in the campaign to soften the public reaction to ending Lugnica’s covenant with the dragon.
• Emilia felt guilty about relying on Fang Li, but he flicked her forehead and said he chose to help her and would benefit from defeating the White Whale.
• Fang Li recalled that killing the White Whale could give him the Gluttony Witch Factor, which would advance his Main Quest.
• Fang Li revealed that the system had assigned him an A-Class Side Mission to protect Emilia, Crusch Karsten, and Wilhelm Theresia during the campaign.
• Emilia declared that she would join the subjugation because Crusch was going to the battlefield, and Fang Li reluctantly accepted.

Fang Li reflected on Crusch’s preparations to hunt the White Whale and considered using the appearance of mist to locate it. He ran into Rem at the villa, where she unexpectedly asked whether he liked Emilia.

• Fang Li thought the growing troop and supply buildup at Karsten Villa would soon attract suspicion.
• Fang Li recalled Wilhelm’s claim that the White Whale’s movements were linked to the Witch Cult and reasoned that mist could help reveal its location.
• Fang Li encountered Rem while she was settling Roswaal’s Dragon Carriage.
• Rem asked Fang Li whether he liked Lady Emilia.

Rem asked Fang Li whether he liked Emilia, and Fang Li admitted he had a favorable impression of her while telling Rem that he did not dislike her either. He then revealed that he already had a lover, leaving Rem eager to speak with him as they returned to the mansion.

• Rem asked Fang Li if he liked Emilia because she had noticed how much he helped her.
• Fang Li admitted he had a favorable impression of Emilia and said he did not dislike her.
• Fang Li told Rem, “I don't dislike you either,” then revealed that he already had a lover.
• Rem hurried after Fang Li, and he asked her to make him food before they entered the mansion together.