Chapter Summaries

Hudson used his diplomatic duties to build friendships and explain Alpha Kingdom military reforms to Prince Peter, then showed him the kingdom’s magical beast legion. He hurried home when Melissa went into labor and learned that she had given birth to a son while another child was still on the way.

• Hudson gave Prince Peter a Military Training Manual and explained how Alpha Kingdom reforms improved soldiers’ logistics and food supplies.
• Prince Peter voiced his support for reform, though Hudson recognized the political resistance and sacrifices it would require.
• Hudson invited Prince Peter to inspect the magical beast legion, whose Dragonkin impressed the prince.
• Hudson considered expanding magical beast breeding and buying more Magic Crystal Stone to support his business plans.
• After half a month of hosting the delegation, Hudson returned to the lord’s manor when Melissa was about to give birth.
• A maid told Hudson that Melissa had delivered a son and still had another child in her womb, so he waited outside the delivery room.

After Melissa gave birth to two sons, Hudson punished Little Franz for questioning their appearance and joked with Beldens and Maxim about finding mates for the magical beast legion. Meanwhile, Graeme struggled to survive as a captive among the Minotaurs, and the chapter ended with the chieftain summoning him.

• Little Franz called his newborn brothers ugly and questioned whether they were Hudson’s sons, so Hudson spanked him while Melissa added two hours to his lessons.
• Little Franz threatened to run away, but Hudson and Melissa teased him instead of taking the threat seriously.
• Hudson, Beldens, and Maxim traded jokes about dragons, bears, and Hudson’s plans to expand the Alpha Kingdom’s magical beast legion.
• After the inheritance trial, Graeme was captured by Minotaurs and feared that his Pigmen tribesmen would be slaughtered if food ran short.
• Graeme gained the Minotaurs’ trust, became their lackey, and secretly cultivated while attempts to train his tribesmen failed.
• A messenger told Graeme that the chieftain wanted to see him.

Graeme became chieftain of a Pigmen tribe and was ordered to guard the frontier near Hudson’s territory under harsh terms. Meanwhile, Hudson’s dragon-breeding operation attracted the attention of the Dragon Knights, but Maxim’s arrival at the reception room revealed that his visitor Barbara was his sister and an old rival.

• Chieftain Stark appointed Graeme commander of the Pigmen Legion of the Empire's Border Defense Army and chieftain, ordering him to guard the frontier and meet steep annual payments.
• The Minotaur tribes placed their vassals along the frontier near Hudson’s territory, while Hudson’s breeding base drew magic beasts from across the continents.
• Hudson learned that the three Dragon Knights had arrived because their dragons suspected he had forced Maxim to become a breeding dragon.
• Hudson brought Maxim to meet the visitors, but Barbara attacked him, prompting Maxim to flee with her toward the sea.
• Maxim warned Barbara that she was forgetting their bond as brother and sister, stunning Hudson and the onlookers.

Maxim defeated his older sister Barbara after she confronted him over an old theft, while the dragons watching confirmed that he had not been controlled by evil magic. Barbara remained at Hudson’s manor to argue with Maxim, leaving Hudson and Liliand struggling to keep the siblings from fighting again.

• Maxim and Barbara fought over the sea, and the mermen decided to relocate rather than risk angering the dragons.
• Guerrero and Sigmund observed that Maxim was holding back and discussed rumors about him as Maxim knocked Barbara unconscious.
• Barbara awoke, complained about Maxim, and the witnesses’ account disproved the rumor that evil magic had controlled him.
• Hudson gave up investigating who spread the rumor and tried to persuade Maxim to repay the gold, but Maxim insisted that he had earned it by stealing it.
• Barbara stayed in Maxim’s lair and argued with him about their past, while Beldens recorded their exchange and Hudson asked Liliand to persuade Barbara to leave.

After settling the damages caused by Maxim and Barbara, Hudson learned that the Orc Empire was rotating its border troops and warned the northern lords to stay vigilant. Meanwhile, Graeme tried to train a core group of Pigmen, and the Minotaur chieftains began an unexpectedly sudden election that left Primrose caught in Stark’s maneuver.

• Hudson made Maxim pay half the battle damages and watched him head to the magical beast breeding base to earn back the money.
• Hudson learned that the Orc Empire had replaced the Behemoth Clan at the front with the Boarmen, Hyena-men, and Minotaur clans, and he told Tom to warn the northern lords.
• Graeme settled his Pigmen on the grasslands and ordered selected clansmen to begin cultivating, whipping a distracted young Pigman to make an example of him.
• Chieftain Stark convened the Minotaur chieftains and pushed for a rapid election, proposing Chieftain Primrose for the position after Primrose objected to the timing.
• After the chieftains’ subordinates nominated several leaders, guards brought out voting plaques, and Stark explained how the sealed-box election would work.

Stark took the Minotaur chieftaincy and urged the tribes to avoid direct conflict with the Great Demon King while keeping the border stable. Meanwhile, the Lord of Darkness recruited cults to overthrow the Kingdom of Hesse, revealing that the Alien Race Alliance, the Church, and a faction in the Falcon Kingdom were financing the uprising.

• Stark became chieftain despite Primrose and other Minotaur leaders resenting the election.
• Stark proposed flexible border tactics, including limited fighting inside the Empire, and warned the Minotaurs against provoking the Great Demon King or invading the Alpha Kingdom.
• The Lord of Darkness invited cult leaders to unite against a weak kingdom and promised them land and a chance to rule openly.
• Longxi questioned what the cults would gain, while the Storm Pope demanded to know who was backing the plan.
• The Lord of Darkness identified the Kingdom of Hesse as the target and named the Alien Race Alliance, the Church, and the Falcon Kingdom as sponsors.
• The Lord of Darkness said a faction in the Falcon Kingdom sought to use continental turmoil to cover an unknown operation, and that some promised supplies had already arrived.

Emerging nobles in the Falcon Kingdom weighed a coup against the old aristocracy, with Viscount Catalino urging them to prepare for action while continental chaos distracted outside powers. Meanwhile, Hudson saw the Minotaurs’ trade proposal as a chance to expand smuggling and exploit the Orc Empire’s worsening economic weakness.

• The Lord of Darkness secured a contract among cult organizations, though mutual distrust left their future cooperation dependent on self-interest.
• Viscount Catalino warned the emerging nobles that new tariffs threatened their maritime trade and that they lacked the parliamentary votes to stop them.
• Viscount Frolov urged the nobles to seize the Royal Capital, while Baron Miklos warned that international intervention could ruin a coup.
• Viscount Catalino said chaos in the Southern and Central Continents would soon distract other countries, and the nobles agreed to prepare their forces while awaiting a signal.
• Hudson learned that the Minotaurs had proposed mutual trade, then told Tom to discreetly spread word that they would ease smuggling restrictions.
• Hudson concluded that expanded trade could benefit his kingdom as the Orc Empire’s wealth drained away and its barter economy weakened its commerce.

Longxi approached Hudson with secret information about a major operation, hoping to trade it for a promise and protect his family. Meanwhile, Avalart Kingdom began tax reform, while Hudson weighed the July Association’s offer and Longxi’s request.

• Longxi told Mahat and the Yin Yang Envoys that the July Association was fracturing, and he considered selling valuable information to secure his family’s future.
• Baron Katerley reported that the July Association’s leaders wanted to discuss a major deal, and Hudson demanded that they show sincerity.
• In Avalart Kingdom, Elton VIII approved beginning reforms with taxation after Duke Grenafan warned that the government’s authority was weakening.
• Avalart Kingdom abolished tax farming, and Hudson received tens of thousands of serfs from its nobles in exchange for magical potions.
• Longxi brought Hudson a gift and said revealing his information would trigger a deadly contract backlash, then asked Hudson for a promise.

Hudson learned that cult organizations were planning a joint operation and warned the Five Nations Alliance, while saving Longxi from immediate death by giving him a potion that suppressed his contract backlash. The governments prepared to strike the cults, and the Skull Society’s attempt to flee into the Black Forest Kingdom ended in an ambush.

• Hudson reassured Longxi that the Coslo Family would protect the July Association if its members cooperated, then gave him a potion to suppress his contract backlash after Longxi began revealing the cults’ plans.
• After Longxi left, Hudson considered the warning about a joint cult operation, sent it to the nations, and withheld the operation’s exact location and target.
• The mysterious president learned that Longxi had survived his visit to Hudson and ordered Mahat to watch him and assist if he tried to move his family into Hudson’s territory.
• Alexander V learned that the cults were targeting the Black Forest Kingdom and ordered officials to monitor their gathering before launching an operation to eradicate them.
• The other four nations of the Five Nations Alliance began arresting cult members, while the Skull Society was routed by Alpha Kingdom nobles’ private troops.
• The Skeleton Lord led the Skull Society toward the Black Forest Kingdom, ran into an ambush at the forest, and ordered his followers to scatter before fleeing himself.

After the July Association’s betrayal left the Netherworld Cult isolated, the Lord of Darkness ordered an uprising across the Black Forest Kingdom. The rebellion spread through Messiah Province, and Viscount Petrovich faced a Rebel Army assault on Odersburg as the chapter ended with the city’s defenders fighting back.

• The Lord of Darkness blamed Hudson and the July Association for the cult’s isolation, then ordered the Netherworld Cult’s divisions to revolt and its unexposed agents to go dormant.
• The Rebel Army captured a barony, where its commander ordered residents sorted into camps while soldiers looted and abused the population.
• Marquis Kingsberg ordered county governors to suppress the spreading rebellion and requested help from the Standing Army after Count Ridgewick warned that local forces were inadequate.
• Viscount Petrovich reported Odersburg under siege and requested reinforcements as the Rebel Army began its assault with Magic Crystal Cannons.
• Petrovich ordered the defenders to use stones and boiling filth against Rebel Army soldiers climbing the city walls.

The Netherworld Cult’s Rebel Army captured Odersburg, sacrificed the city’s dead to the Evil God, and expanded its rebellion across the Black Forest Kingdom and beyond. Hudson was summoned to the Royal Capital, where ministers revealed that commercial nobles had destroyed the Falcon Kingdom’s royal line, threatening the established order of Royal Authority.

• Lord of Darkness drove the defenders of Odersburg toward defeat, while Netherworld Cultists inside the city sabotaged communications and unleashed Undead creatures.
• Viscount Petrovich sent his family’s younger members away through a secret passage, then died fighting as the Rebel Army breached Odersburg.
• Lord of Darkness oversaw a blood-offering ritual that returned greater power to the cultists, and the Evil God demanded further offerings for a war in the Abyss.
• Rebellions spread across the Black Forest Kingdom and other regions, and Hudson learned that the Five Nations Alliance’s preparations had been inadequate.
• Hudson traveled to the Royal Capital after the king summoned him to an urgent meeting.
• Count Francis told Hudson that the Falcon Kingdom’s commercial nobles had likely arranged Henry V’s death and wiped out the royal family, leaving no clear direct heir.

Hudson and Alpha Kingdom faced the fallout from Falcon Kingdom’s regicide as the emerging nobles fled the Royal Capital with its wealth and resources. Cult rebellions and extreme weather then spread across the continent, leaving Hudson struggling to contain drought and floods in his territories.

• Hudson urged Caesar IV to support Falcon Kingdom’s royalists through an alliance conference, while Caesar IV could offer little beyond political backing.
• Viscount Catalino and the emerging nobles agreed to flee by sea, rally serfs by proclaiming their emancipation, and loot or destroy the Royal Capital’s resources.
• Marquis McCaddon ordered raids on emerging nobles’ homes and called provincial troops to assemble, while other old nobles moved cautiously.
• Evil God-backed cult rebellions expanded as droughts and floods struck the continent, worsening hardship and swelling rebel ranks.
• Hudson used irrigation and mages to limit Snow Moon Territory’s drought losses, then mobilized troops and Maxim to fight flooding in Mountain Territory.

Flooding devastated Mountain Territory and other regions, forcing nobles and the Alpha Kingdom to confront crop losses, reconstruction costs, and demands for relief. As depositors withdrew their money, Hudson ordered the Near East Development Bank to protect its reserves and prepare for a possible wave of bank runs.

• Hudson assessed the flood damage to Mountain Territory and organized emergency relief and grain harvesting, while Maxim roasted the soaked rye to keep it from sprouting.
• Caesar IV considered disaster-relief requests from thirteen provinces, but Marquis Delgado warned that the treasury lacked funds and Duke Newfoundland recommended only limited tax cuts and aid.
• After the floodwaters receded, Hudson’s departments began reconstruction while local lords worked to salvage crops and resume production.
• Rudolf warned Hudson that the Near East Development Bank had lost eight million gold coins in deposits in one week and that small banks faced a possible wave of bank runs.
• Hudson ordered stricter reviews of commercial loans and prompt full payment to depositors, while advising the bank to sell assets to major clients for cash.

Hudson warned the Near East nobles of a possible war with the Orc Empire as drought and internal conflict pushed Beastfolk leaders to consider invading human lands. Meanwhile, Black Forest Kingdom faced a worsening rebellion after Marquis Kingsberg’s defeat, and its ministers waited for Marquis Relian’s army to arrive.

• Natural disasters disrupted the Aslant Continent, while the Falcon Kingdom’s rebels dispersed and rival foreign powers backed competing claimants to its throne.
• Hudson ordered Tom to issue a war warning to the noble lords of the Near East Region after judging that the Orc Empire might turn its drought crisis into a war against the human kingdoms.
• At an Orc Empire court meeting, the Lion Emperor struggled to address water shortages, while the Bearman Emperor described the worsening scarcity and the Silver Moon Wolf Emperor proposed a war against the weakened human nations.
• The Eagle Emperor urged the Beastfolk to wait for a clearer view of the continental situation and, if necessary, limit any war to a local conflict.
• Alexander V learned that Marquis Kingsberg had suffered a crushing defeat against the rebels and asked where Marquis Relian and his army were; Count Nicholas said they were expected in Messiah Province within ten days.

Alexander V agreed to seek foreign aid as rebellions overwhelmed the Black Forest Kingdom, while Hudson learned that a covert cult was fueling tribal wars in the Orc Empire. At a Royal Capital meeting, Hudson recommended sending a force of no more than eighty thousand troops to assist the Black Forest Kingdom.

• Alexander V heard pleas for aid from four provinces and, after Duke Milton advised seeking help from the Five Nations Alliance, assigned Marquis Krasna to negotiate without compromising the kingdom’s core interests.
• Hudson learned from Zero that a hidden cult in the Orc Empire was provoking slaughter between Beastfolk tribes, and ordered his intelligence department to keep watching it without making contact.
• Hudson received the Black Forest Kingdom’s request for aid and traveled to the Royal Capital to attend a meeting on whether to send troops, their size, and their commander.
• Prime Minister Grand Duke Newfoundland opened the meeting, and Marquis Delgado argued that sending troops was inevitable and urged the ministers to focus on the force’s size and command.
• Hudson recommended three standing legions and some nobles’ private troops, with the total force capped at eighty thousand because of logistical limits and the Black Forest Kingdom’s weak military reforms.

Hudson helped resolve the court’s struggle over command of the Southern Expeditionary Army by proposing a military pledge and a drawing of lots. Count Pierce was selected to lead the expedition against the Netherworld Cult rebels, and troops and nobles began mobilizing for the Black Forest Kingdom.

• Hudson watched the provincial governors and military officers compete for command, while recognizing that the expedition offered status and the prospect of war spoils.
• Hudson proposed that candidates issue military pledges and that the commander be chosen by lot if disputes remained.
• Caesar IV ordered wooden lots prepared, and Prime Minister Grand Duke Newfoundland announced that Count Pierce had drawn the command.
• Hudson understood that Count Pierce’s appointment could benefit the noble bloc of Southeast Province and supported no effort to undermine him.
• The three Standing Army corps left the Royal Capital, and the nobles of Southeast Province began mobilizing to join the expedition.

Hudson dealt with Maxim’s ended mating season and struggled to care for his children before continental chaos deepened as evil cult rebellions spread. Charles III then proclaimed himself emperor, prompting the Dawn Holy See to plan a coalition against him.

• Hudson ordered the return of deposits for magical beasts Maxim had not impregnated and dealt with his four unruly children at home.
• Hudson suspected the Evil Gods were coordinating the continent-wide rebellions, while the races began counterattacking and Hudson joined the suppression of three Evil Gods.
• Reports showed the evil cult rebels losing large-scale battles despite gains in local fighting, and Hudson sensed greater trouble was coming.
• A messenger told Hudson that Charles III had proclaimed himself emperor and that the king had summoned him to a council meeting.
• Pope Pius VII angrily questioned the Church officials over their failure to anticipate Charles III’s coronation.
• Bishop Solon urged the Church to form an intervention coalition and force Charles III to abdicate, winning the support of the Church higher-ups.

After Charles III proclaimed himself emperor, the Alpha Kingdom debated whether to join an intervention coalition, but its court meeting turned into a crisis over royal authority. Caesar IV drove Duke Newfoundland from the prime minister’s post, and Duke Affierro also left, leaving the royal faction without its leaders and the Kingdom’s key offices vacant.

• Ilibia’s court approved a cautious plan to join an intervention against the Franks, while other nations began weighing their own responses.
• Hudson attended an Alpha Kingdom meeting held half a month after Charles III’s ascension, where most ministers treated the issue lightly and Caesar IV demanded serious discussion.
• Prime Minister Duke Newfoundland argued that the Kingdom should condemn Charles III but stay out of the Church-led coalition, prompting Caesar IV to rebuke him and call him old.
• Duke Newfoundland resigned and left the court, and Duke Affierro refused Caesar IV’s implied offer to replace him, citing that he was even older.
• Duke Affierro also left, leaving the royal faction without its two leading figures and the prime minister and Minister of Military Affairs positions unfilled.

Hudson observed the fallout from Caesar IV’s court reshuffle before leaving to avoid the coming political struggle. Meanwhile, Charles III prepared the Frankish Empire for war against the Anti-French Alliance, while Falcon Kingdom’s noble factions began negotiating after their civil war stalled.

• Caesar IV’s appointments weakened the royal faction but opened many court posts for his supporters, while Hudson left the palace to avoid the political turmoil.
• Marquis Hesius reported that the Church and Ilibia Kingdom were forming an intervention coalition, but the Five Nations Alliance was unlikely to join, partly because Hudson opposed military intervention.
• Count Phils urged Charles III to attack Opulus Kingdom and then carry the war into Ilibia Kingdom, while Duke Bergson proposed using the navy against the Church.
• Charles III accepted their proposals and decided to gamble on striking first against the Empire’s enemies.
• Falcon Kingdom’s three noble factions reached a stalemate and, led by neutral great nobles, began difficult negotiations.

As drought-driven unrest and rebellion spread across the Orc Empire, its rulers debated launching a war against the Alpha Kingdom and suppressing cults. In Mountain Territory, Hudson graduated the first class of military academy cadets and assigned them to army internships.

• Hudson’s intelligence organizations fueled Beastfolk revenge movements, while drought and racial divisions helped rebels spread tax resistance across the Orc Great Plains.
• The Silver Moon Wolf Emperor, Bearman Emperor, Lion Emperor, Eagle Emperor, and Behemoth King discussed the worsening crisis and considered invading the Alpha Kingdom and crushing rebel cults.
• Hudson reviewed the military academy’s surviving cadets and noted that more than three thousand had completed their studies.
• Hudson congratulated the cadets, warned them that graduation did not make them qualified officers, and announced their assignments to active armies for internships.