Chapter Summaries

Li Ang reviewed his troop’s shortage of experienced recruits, weapons, and funds while the people of Wheat Fragrance Territory kept him out of their way as they worked. He sent Risadiran to capture the contact who had hired an assassin, giving him the Pioneer Noble Emblem and ordering him to recover the remaining payment and investigate the true employer if possible.

• Li Ang found that his settlers needed more training and his experienced troops lacked the weapons required to upgrade.
• Li Ang saw that his workers were busy and repeatedly avoided his attempts to help around the territory.
• Li Ang returned the Noldo longsword to Risadiran and told him to go pursue the employer’s contact.
• Risadiran asked for proof of Li Ang’s identity so he could gain the contact’s trust and bring him back alive.
• Li Ang gave Risadiran his Pioneer Noble Emblem and told him to retrieve the remaining payment and investigate the employer behind the job.

On Goddess Blessing Day, Li Ang led Wheat Fragrance Territory in a ceremony for Eunomia and welcomed Sarah and Lady Lesley back with a caravan of merchants. Sarah had persuaded nobles across the eastern region to invest in the Mondesny Joint-Stock Company, completing its share sale with Godric’s endorsement.

• Li Ang led his subjects in a formal prayer before the wooden statue of Eunomia, Goddess of Order.
• Ansen reported that Sarah and Lady Lesley had returned with a caravan and many merchants.
• Sarah promoted the Mondesny Joint-Stock Company to nobles in several eastern territories and used Baron Godric’s subscription document to reassure them.
• The nobles subscribed for shares, and those who traveled to Long River Town handed their money to Godric after he confirmed the venture.
• The Mondesny Joint-Stock Company’s executives completed the listing process.

Mondesny Co., Ltd. sold all its shares, bringing Li Ang a fortune, while merchants flocked to Wheat Fragrance Territory to learn about the company. Godric then warned Li Ang that the kingdom had declared war on the Bacchus Empire, and Li Ang discovered that some of the gold coins in his proceeds had been shaved down.

• Mondesny Co., Ltd.'s shares sold out, and Long River Town merchants followed Lesley to Wheat Fragrance Territory hoping to meet its lord and explore business opportunities.
• Godric returned to Wheat Fragrance Territory and told Li Ang that the king had declared war on the Bacchus Empire, requiring Li Ang to join the royal army.
• Li Ang divided the fundraising proceeds with Godric, giving him two chests according to their agreement and the financing commission.
• Li Ang suspected his remaining chest was too light, poured out its gold coins, and found that some had been shaved thin.

Li Ang upgraded Wheat Fragrance Territory’s investment company into an industrial group and pitched merchants on a new commercial order built around real businesses, loans, and caravan security. The merchants embraced his plan, while Li Ang privately admitted he hoped to profit from them repeatedly.

• Li Ang saw an opportunity to develop banking and credit services in Pande, where gold coins still circulated and King Ulrich had declared war on Bacchus.
• Li Ang established Wheat Fragrance International Real Economy Industrial Group and issued a charter granting residents and workers shares tied to their contributions.
• Li Ang presented a plan to merchants from Long River Town, promising diversified industries, investment protections, low-interest loans, and free military escorts for caravans flying the group’s flag.
• Sarah asked Li Ang what his grand business language meant, and he privately said he wanted to run several more schemes on the wealthy merchants.
• The merchants applauded and celebrated Li Ang’s promises, which addressed their concerns about capital, cash flow, personal safety, and caravan security.

Li Ang used the kingdom’s coming war with the Bacchus Empire to persuade merchants to invest in companies under the Wheat Fragrance Industrial Group and fund large caravans. The territory filled with silver, and Godric agreed to help make Li Ang’s barony official and lend his garrison to protect the traders in exchange for a share.

• On Blessing Day, Li Ang and the merchants established companies across nearly every industry, placing them under the Wheat Fragrance Industrial Group to avoid commercial taxes.
• Li Ang urged the merchants to seize the chance to trade with the Bacchus Empire, claiming his apparent elite troops and Count Oden’s letter would make their caravans safe.
• Convinced by the show of force and Count Oden’s endorsement, merchants began arriving in Wheat Fragrance Territory and bringing silver for the venture.
• After hearing about Li Ang’s all-industry platform, Godric offered to help formalize his barony and provide his garrison to protect the caravans.
• Li Ang demanded twelve percent, and Godric accepted the deal.

Li Ang received his enfeoffment decree and the king’s summons to assemble at Seven Forks Fortress for war. He joined Godric’s march with a small force and a vast merchant caravan, then turned the crowded military camp into a market for Wheat Fragrance Group.

• A Royal Noble Council envoy delivered Li Ang’s enfeoffment decree and relayed Earl Oden’s advice that he stay with him during the war.
• A Lion Knight delivered King Ulrich’s summons ordering the kingdom’s lords to assemble at Seven Forks Fortress.
• Li Ang equipped his Meitengheim Great Swordsmen and Armored Crossbowmen, while assigning thirty recruits to manage the caravan’s goods.
• Li Ang and his caravan joined Godric’s force, and their presence helped the marching force grow to more than two thousand people.
• Li Ang sold food, wine, daily necessities, and entertainment to the lords and soldiers waiting near Seven Forks Fortress.

Li Ang’s Wheat Fragrance Group prospered as soldiers and lords gathered near Seven Forks Fortress, then the army advanced into the Bacchus Empire under King Ulrich’s Two-Headed Snake plan. Li Ang joined Count Oden’s force, which attracted many minor lords and unexpectedly grew to rival the main force, before surrounding Sava Fortress.

• Li Ang’s Wheat Fragrance Group sold food, goods, entertainment, and a costly copy of Memoirs of a Pendor Officer to the troops gathering near Seven Forks Fortress.
• After Count Oden, Duke Alma, and the king’s troops arrived, King Ulrich divided the army into a main force led by Alma, a flanking force led by Oden, and a mobile central army under his command.
• Li Ang joined Oden’s force because Godric had been assigned to him, and many minor lords followed Li Ang’s banner for its supplies and entertainment.
• Oden’s force gathered nearly four thousand men, roughly matching the main force and the king’s central army.
• Oden surrounded Sava Fortress with more than three thousand men, while Li Ang questioned the value of attacking a fortress on the secondary front.

Li Ang persuaded Count Oden to besiege Sava Fortress rather than storm it, then turned the siege into a booming trade fair and entertainment business. Oden joined in for a share of the profits, and Li Ang expanded his ventures across western Bacchus Empire.

• Li Ang explained that King Ulrich wanted to weaken Duke Alma and urged Oden to besiege Sava Fortress and ambush its reinforcements instead of launching an assault.
• Oden ordered his troops to withdraw from the walls and build obstacles around Sava Fortress, beginning the siege.
• Li Ang publicized Wheat Fragrance Group’s Double Eleven merchandise fair, drawing tens of thousands of Bacchus Empire residents and selling out the merchants’ goods.
• Oden confronted Li Ang over soldiers gambling away their wages at Alice Entertainment World, then accepted an eight-percent share in exchange for protecting Li Ang’s business and keeping his troops from the front lines.
• Li Ang expanded Wheat Fragrance Group and Alice Entertainment World across western Bacchus Empire, appointing merchants as authorized agents to open entertainment venues.

After the war ended, Li Ang sent his people back to Wheat Fragrance Territory to spend their accumulated wealth and traveled to Lion City for his investiture. He entered King Ulrich’s throne room and announced himself before the king.

• Godric and Count Oden’s forces retaliated against the Snake Worship Cult after it robbed a Lesley Trading Co. caravan, recovering most of the goods and burning the gang’s hideout.
• Emperor Marius defeated Duke Alma at Calundru Castle, while Count Oden’s forces held the southern bank of the Sava River and secured the kingdom’s strategic objectives.
• King Ulrich and Emperor Marius withdrew their armies, and on January 1st, 355, Ulrich announced the war’s end.
• Li Ang sent Lesley and the caravans back to Wheat Fragrance Territory, assigned Ansen to expand its facilities and defenses, and sent Sarah to buy equipment.
• Li Ang arrived in Lion City with the Meitengheim strongmen and entered the palace carrying his investiture decree.
• Li Ang stepped before King Ulrich’s throne and announced that he sought an audience.

Li Ang faced a challenge to his claim over Wheat Fragrance Territory during his baron investiture, as Renier and Duke Alma accused him of occupying Ailedge. He redirected King Ulrich’s attention by claiming to have found a chest of denars left behind after the battle, and the king praised him as an upright noble.

• Count Oden led Li Ang into the throne hall for his investiture, with Oden and Duke Alma attending as witnesses.
• King Ulrich mocked how quickly Li Ang had developed Wheat Fragrance Territory, while Igor introduced himself as the king’s temporary handler of Noble Council affairs.
• Renier accused Li Ang of taking Ailedge, and Count Oden countered that Renier had burned the village before Duke Alma defended Renier’s actions.
• Li Ang suspected Renier and Alma wanted to delay his investiture and take Wheat Fragrance Territory, so he addressed King Ulrich instead.
• Li Ang claimed he had found a chest of denars the king left behind after the battle, and Oden backed up his story.
• King Ulrich accepted Li Ang’s account and praised him as an upright noble, leading Li Ang to conclude that the king could be won over with money.

At the royal court, Li Ang used a large payment to secure King Ulrich’s neutrality, then challenged Lord Rainier to a duel to defend his honor and protect Wheat Fragrance Territory. Rainier refused and left with Duke Alma, leaving Li Ang wary of their future revenge but glad they had failed to disrupt his knighthood ceremony.

• Li Ang presented King Ulrich with tens of thousands of denars as returned private property, prompting the king to remain neutral.
• Li Ang challenged Lord Rainier to a duel in the throne room after Rainier questioned his honor.
• Li Ang repeatedly insulted Rainier and raised Wheat Fragrance Territory as the stakes, trying to force him to accept the duel.
• Rainier refused the challenge despite Li Ang’s taunts and departed with Duke Alma.
• Li Ang recognized Rainier as a dangerous enemy but considered the ceremony’s survival a victory.

Li Ang was officially invested as a baron by King Ulrich, then left Lion City to return to Wheat Fragrance Territory and build up his forces. On the road, he hired merchants to recruit immigrants for his sparsely populated lands.

• Li Ang swore fealty, received the title of baron from King Ulrich, and was given a lance in what he understood as payment for the king's temporary neutrality.
• Oden promised to watch Alma and help recruit fighters, then asked Li Ang for help with his illegitimate son.
• Li Ang declined Kloze's offer to celebrate and hurried out of Lion City because Renier and others threatened his safety.
• Li Ang offered merchants 50 denars for every young, strong immigrant they brought to Wheat Fragrance Territory, and they set out to find recruits.
• Li Ang's party caught up with Lesley's caravan, then reached Wheat Fragrance Territory in less than three days after the merchants scattered.

Li Ang returned to Wheat Fragrance Territory, learned that Amy had protected it from bandits and then sold him grain at doubled prices, and began strengthening his forces. The chapter ended with Risadiran arriving wounded and warning that an army of at least a thousand men was approaching.

• Li Ang learned that Amy had sent two hundred men to patrol his territory after knights and bandits appeared, and that their long stay had emptied his food stores.
• Amy sent Li Ang a doubled-price grain offer, and he agreed to buy the supplies delivered by White Deer Fortress.
• Li Ang asked Amy for information about the bandits, but she reported that they had withdrawn a month earlier and their whereabouts were unknown.
• Li Ang hired mercenaries and conscripted able-bodied subjects of both sexes for intensive military training.
• Risadiran returned wounded with an unconscious man in black and warned Li Ang that an army of at least a thousand men was heading toward them.

Li Ang learned that Risadiran had captured the employer who ordered the assassination, but the man's sudden escape triggered an attack by a huge bandit force. The chapter ended as Li Ang prepared to defend his territory and called for aid.

• Li Ang ordered his men to scout the enemy, light signal fires, and request help from White Deer Fortress.
• Risadiran explained how he tracked the employer from Long River Town, overheard a plot involving a young knight, and pursued the group west to Kaineburg.
• Risadiran said he captured the employer and spent a month transporting him toward Wheat Fragrance Territory, despite the man's strange, unresponsive state.
• Near Trublen, the employer broke his ropes and fled, but Risadiran caught and knocked him unconscious at the village entrance.
• A vast force of bandits emerged from Trublen Village as Li Ang and his men prepared for battle.

Risadiran returned to Wheat Fragrance Territory with a mysterious dead-faced man as enemy forces attacked both the territory and White Deer Fortress. Li Ang prepared his outnumbered defenders for battle while Sarah rode to seek reinforcements from Ralph.

• Risadiran escaped a pursuing bandit army while carrying the dead-faced man back to Wheat Fragrance Territory.
• Li Ang saw black smoke rising above White Deer Fortress and realized it was under attack as well.
• Li Ang concluded that the Bacchus Empire had coordinated the assaults and that an insider had helped keep Godric away.
• Sammer reported more than a thousand bannerless bandits resting by the river ten li west of Wheat Fragrance Territory.
• Sarah rode north to seek reinforcements from Ralph's mounted rangers.
• Li Ang's roughly one hundred defenders, including raw recruits, prepared to face the approaching force.

Li Ang organized the village’s defenses, then led a small force to ambush the pursuing bandits while they rested by a river. After drawing part of their disorganized force into a grove, he left Kloze’s men to attack them, while the surviving enemy troops remained outside.

• Li Ang ordered Ansen to fortify the village entrance and Lesley to arrange three lines of wagon barricades.
• Li Ang took Kloze’s Charge Squad and thirty heavily armored archers to meet the bandits before they reached the village.
• Li Ang’s force found eight or nine hundred exhausted bandits resting without scouts by the river.
• Li Ang’s archers fired a surprise volley, and Li Ang shot a pursuing knight from his horse before luring the bandits toward the grove.
• The bandits rushed into the grove, where Kloze’s men sprang from ambush and cut down more than twenty of them.

Li Ang used two Noldo arrows to throw the enemy column into chaos, then sent Kloze and the Meitengheim Charge Squad to attack its exposed center. Several knights were killed and the bandits’ front and rear were separated, though some knights escaped.

• The bandits withdrew from the grove, regrouped, and began marching toward Wheat Fragrance Territory under the protection of infantry at the front and rear.
• Li Ang ordered Kloze to prepare an ambush and fired a volley to halt the enemy column on the narrow road.
• Li Ang killed two knights with Risadiran’s silver arrows, causing the bandits and remaining knights to panic and lose unified command.
• Kloze led the Meitengheim Charge Squad out of the woods and broke through the bandits shielding the column’s center.
• The Meitengheim fighters killed several knights while others fled, splitting the bandits’ front and rear.

Li Ang split the enemy column, then disguised himself as a knight and tricked the searching bandits into retreating. He rode toward Wheat Fragrance Territory as the enemy force fled behind him.

• Li Ang ordered his force to retreat into the woods after the enemy split its column and began searching for the ambushers.
• Li Ang returned to the road, killed the few bandits left there, and sent Kloze with the archers to harass the leading enemy troops.
• Li Ang put on armor taken from dead knights, mounted Alice, and rode toward the rear while shouting that the enemy should retreat.
• Li Ang convinced the bandits following him to join the retreat, then killed the knight who challenged his story.
• The bandits believed Li Ang's cries and fled toward the rear, while Li Ang turned toward Wheat Fragrance Territory shouting for a full retreat.

Li Ang returned to Wheat Fragrance Territory after disrupting the enemy’s rear force and found Kloze’s archers holding off the remaining soldiers. He used the enemy’s isolation and uncertainty to undermine their morale while they waited for reinforcements.

• Li Ang concluded that the enemy bandits were hastily recruited cannon fodder without a reliable command structure.
• Li Ang caught up with Kloze near Wheat Fragrance Territory, where Kloze’s archers had pinned down the enemy knight and his force.
• The enemy knight remained trapped in a defensive position, unable to attack the territory, defeat Kloze’s group, or retreat safely.
• Li Ang arrived, and Kloze’s group cheered as he rode close enough to address the enemy commander.
• Li Ang claimed the enemy’s rear army had been defeated and slowly changed out of the knight’s armor while the enemy watched without firing.
• Li Ang told the enemy that his own reinforcements would arrive soon, leaving them to wait under mounting pressure.

Li Ang exploited the exhausted, hungry attackers’ fear and dwindling morale to provoke them into charging Wheat Fragrance Territory. After the enemy ranks collapsed into chaos, he led his men in an assault and rode toward Renier, who was protected by shield-bearing infantry.

• Li Ang taunted the attackers with a duel and promised food, prompting their commander to order a charge.
• Li Ang recognized Lord Rainier and offered to pardon the attackers if they killed him, while Rainier urged his troops to attack.
• Li Ang and his archers harassed the advancing infantry as he used Alice’s steady pace and an apple to further undermine their morale.
• Desertions spread through the exhausted attackers, and Rainier’s attempts to punish fleeing men worsened the rout.
• Li Ang ordered his men to charge through the scattered enemy and rode toward Renier, whose infantry formed a shield line around him.