Chapter Summaries

Broly and the children reached the drought-stricken Cartisi Region, where they learned that water was scarce and costly. After an old local explained how deforestation for iron smelting had devastated the oasis, he warned them to leave if they could, leaving their search for relatives shadowed by Cartisi’s hardship.

• Broly and the children ran out of water on their way to town and used fruit to quench their thirst as they traveled.
• Nahash learned that water in town cost seven Empire Coins per liter at Senny Tavern, while a bath was considered a luxury.
• Mine offered to buy water for an old man, Victor, who then explained that iron mines and smelting factories had led to widespread tree-cutting and the region’s water shortage.
• Victor described how rising water prices and declining incomes had driven Cartisi into poverty, then warned the children to take their relatives and leave if possible.
• Merraid remarked that she had already said Cartisi was not a good place.

Broly and the children arrived in Cartisi, where water and food were scarce, and settled at an inn after buying well water. After Nahash and Losang drove off a group of robbers, Broly shared food and water with hungry local children, and Akame explained that even brief happiness mattered.

• Broly reassured the children that Cartisi was not as hopeless as Vampa and led them to an inn with barrels of well water.
• Merraid and the other girls cleaned themselves with wet towels while Nahash and the others guarded the carriage.
• A group of thugs tried to rob the travelers, but Nahash and Losang defeated them without killing anyone.
• Local children asked for water, and Broly gave them bread and jerky as well.
• Mine, Akame, Esdeath, Merraid, and the others helped distribute food and water to the children.
• Akame told Merraid that the children’s full meal brought them happiness, giving the act meaning.

Broly’s group reached central Cartisi and found Dam’s Rubber Tree Village struggling with drought, poverty, and rising water prices. As the village prepared to sell children to survive, Iron Slave’s collection team headed there and encountered Broly’s convoy.

• Broly’s group traveled into central Cartisi, where water cost 21 Empire Coins per liter, and bought fruit from Traveling Merchants.
• Broly’s group reached Rubber Tree Village, where the village elder and Tribal Chief argued over relocating as drought and poor rubber sales threatened the villagers’ survival.
• The village elder and Tribal Chief agreed to contact Slave Traders and sell children, despite the Tribal Chief’s concerns about the village’s future.
• A slave trader decided to keep his prices low, then left for Bosil City while Iron Slave stayed behind to collect children from the village.
• Iron Slave led the Slave Collection Team toward Rubber Tree Village and came across Broly’s convoy of children, whose quality impressed him.

Broly’s group rescued Dam and reached Rubber Tree Village, where they learned the village planned to sell him again to survive its financial troubles. Broly’s companions proposed buying Dam instead, leaving the village’s fate unresolved.

• Broly’s group defeated a Slave Collection Team on the road and took its money and supplies.
• Broly’s group arrived at Rubber Tree Village, where Dam reunited with his grandfather after being brought back by the group.
• The village elder explained that poverty had forced the village to sell children and pleaded with Dam to sacrifice himself again.
• Mine questioned the village’s situation, and the elder explained that failed rubber trees, rising water prices, and taxes had left the village unable to survive.
• Broly learned that Dam had sold for thirty-five thousand Empire Coins, and Nahash said the group had fifty thousand in settlement money, so they decided they could buy him.

Broly and his companions returned children to their homes across central Cartesi, then encountered Batunan, a man pursued by the Oasis God Cult for planning to dig a Spring Eye. Broly took an interest in the project and brought Batunan along as the group continued toward Tulik’s home.

• Dam chose to remain in Rubber Tree Village, so Broly gave him extra settlement money before leaving with the others.
• Broly returned the second child safely, but learned that a Danger Beast attack had destroyed the third child’s village and left her family’s fate unknown.
• Merraid comforted the homeless girl, and Mine pulled Broly away after explaining that Merraid’s methods involved touching and licking ears.
• Broly and Nahash took Tulik toward his home while the others searched for survivors from the ruined village.
• Oasis God Cult members chased Batunan for his plan to dig a Spring Eye, and Broly misdirected them before learning about the project.
• Broly carried the injured Batunan onto the carriage and continued toward Tulik’s home, while the cult members returned and went to stake out Batunan’s house.

Broly reunited Tulik with his family and brought Batunan back to his companions, where the children learned that Lana's parents were dead. Batunan explained his theory about Cartisi's water shortage and revealed he had spent ten years mapping underground water veins, though he had not yet found a source that could restore the river.

• Tulik refused Broly's resettlement money, said he planned to become a painter like his father, and bid farewell to the group with his mother.
• Broly took Batunan away from town, warning that the Oasis God Cult might be waiting for him at home, and returned with him to the others.
• Akame and the children debated whether to tell Lana that her parents had been killed by Danger Beasts, and Merraid chose to reveal the truth before comforting the crying girl.
• Broly asked Batunan how to restore the dried-up Cartisi River, and Batunan blamed deforestation and underground water loss rather than divine punishment.
• Batunan admitted he had not found a suitable water vein, then showed the children a map he had spent ten years surveying and said the Oasis God Cult had interfered with his search.

Broly invested more than twenty million in Batunan’s plan to revive the Cartisi River, and Batunan secretly gathered former well diggers to search for a high spring. As Broly’s group debated secret identities and Merraid worried about the powerful people they might anger, the diggers struck water.

• Broly offered to fund Batunan’s plan, and Batunan eagerly accepted after hearing the group had over twenty million.
• Batunan hired old companions to secretly dig at locations where he had found high water veins, while Broly’s group learned about his struggle to revive the river.
• Merraid worried that success would threaten the Cartesi dignitaries who profited from selling water, but Broly and the others refused to abandon the project.
• Merraid suggested the group use nicknames instead of their real names, and Broly chose “Red Scarf Who Does Good Deeds Without Leaving His Name.”
• A well digger struck water while digging and excitedly announced that they had found it.

Broly’s search for a new spring for the Cartisi River uncovered a water outlet that the well diggers judged too weak to be useful. After they stopped digging, Broly used his strength to blast away half the hillside, releasing a torrent of groundwater that flooded the dry riverbed.

• Batunan tested the water outlet and led the well diggers in digging deeper, but its flow weakened and proved insufficient to revive the Cartisi River.
• Batunan and the well diggers proposed selling the outlet, explaining that they could not break through the massive rock below it.
• Broly asked to continue digging himself and told everyone to move away from the hillside.
• Akame, Kurome, Mine, Esdeath, Merraid, and the others moved down the slope as Broly unleashed a burst of Green Light and destroyed half the mountain.
• Groundwater surged through the opening and flooded the dry riverbed for several kilometers.

Broly demonstrated his Energy Blasts to the Well Diggers and explained how he had carved out a spring without damaging the mountain. After Merraid described the Empire’s Imperial Arms, Broly promised to obtain some for Esdeath, Mine, and the other children.

• Broly told Batunan that he had dug out a place for a spring, and the Well Diggers inspected the crater he had made.
• Esdeath and Mine asked how Broly fired his Energy Blasts, while Merraid investigated his hand and found no hidden mechanism.
• Merraid explained that the Empire’s forty-eight Imperial Arms were powerful weapons and Items, and identified Akame and Kurome’s kitchen knife as the broken Demon Sword Murasame.
• Mine asked about the Pumpkin Cannon, and Merraid said it was guarded in the Imperial Palace after the Assassin’s Guild failed to steal it.
• Broly offered to get Imperial Arms for Mine, Esdeath, and the other children, despite Merraid warning that the Empire would not sell them.

Broly opened a spring at Mountain Lake and learned that connecting more high-ground springs could help restore the Cartisi River. After the Well Diggers began treating him as a deity, Broly and the children established the Saiyan God Cult, and he prepared to inscribe his name beside the spring.

• Batunan explained that the Mountain Lake spring would take days to saturate the Cartisi River, and Broly proposed opening more springs to speed the process.
• The Well Diggers offered Broly food, and one of them knelt and claimed he had received a blessing.
• Batunan and Tsukushi explained why people sought something to believe in, and Broly declared that he could become a god.
• The children argued over becoming Broly's believers and saintesses, while Merraid was told she could only be an ordinary believer.
• After the meal, Broly prepared to carve an inscription beside the spring, and Batunan declined to have his own name included.

Broly restored the Cartisi River overnight by opening springs and repairing channels, leaving Saiyan Cult stone tablets that people revered as divine signs. As Broly and his companions departed for Bosil City, the Saiyan Cult spread through Cartisi, and Batunan became its First Pontiff.

• Broly carved a Saiyan Cult message into a boulder, left handprints and a face mark, then flew Batunan along the dry riverbed to open springs and connect them to the river.
• Broly restored the Cartisi River overnight, and villagers celebrated the returning water and worshipped the stone tablets beside the springs.
• Broly asked Batunan how to locate underground water veins, then returned to the others as they agreed to take Green home before heading to the Imperial Capital.
• The Cartisi nobles feared the Saiyan Cult’s influence, while the Oasis Cult Leader died and the Oasis Cult dissolved as the Saiyan Cult gained widespread support.
• Cartisi’s dignitaries made Batunan the Saiyan Cult’s First Pontiff, and he began repairing waterways and planting trees with donated wealth.
• Dam returned to Rubber Tree Village, while Tulik vowed to paint Broly and his companions but began by making a crooked portrait of Nahash.

Broly and his companions reached Bosil City with Green and decided to rest before visiting his family. At the same time, Travay’s men failed to buy the Cabrera family’s bookstore because their son was missing, and Travay ordered them to force the sale and burn the family inside.

• Nahash complained about Bosil City’s steep entry fee, while the group discussed the slave traders they had defeated and the rescued slaves they had sent away.
• Broly asked Green whether to visit his family or rest first, and Green chose to rest because he feared his parents might have sold him.
• A shrewd man offered to buy the Cabrera family’s bookstore, but Mr. Cabrera refused unless they returned his missing son.
• Travay learned that his subordinate had lost the kidnapped child and ordered his men to force the Cabreras to sign the transfer contract and burn the bookstore with the family inside.
• Losang asked Green what his family did, and Green said they owned a bookstore.

Green and his companions went to the Cabrera bookstore, where they discovered that Lord Traway had arranged Green’s kidnapping to pressure his parents into surrendering the shop. Green reunited with his family, and the group had to decide what to do with the beaten kidnappers.

• Green remained troubled about why his parents had sold him, so Broly and the others promised to visit his home with him that night.
• Broly’s group ate a roasted lamb dinner, and nearby troublemakers withdrew after hearing the children discuss the rumors about them.
• Fran Cabrera refused to sign the bookstore transfer contract until he saw his son, and Green arrived at the shop with his companions.
• The kidnappers tried to silence Green, but Broly threw one of them into a bookshelf and the children beat the gang leader until he confessed Lord Traway’s plan.
• Green learned his parents had not sold him, kicked the gang leader, and reunited with his parents.
• Akame, Rad, and Esdeath proposed different ways to dispose of the seven beaten kidnappers.

Broly and the children defended Green and his family bookstore from thugs, then let them go after Green asked for mercy. The thugs’ employer, Travay, fired them and threatened them, while the resentful former employees planned to warn the Cabreras that Travay would return.

• The thugs begged for mercy, and Broly offered to kill them, but Green asked him to spare them and only beat them and warn them away from his family and bookstore.
• Green’s parents thanked the children and gave them books; Broly chose a book on female psychology, which he used as a pillow that night.
• Travay blamed the failed mission on his subordinates, fired them, and threatened them with his pistol when they protested.
• The fired thugs complained about Travay and planned to warn the Cabreras, while Travay went to find his older sister.

Tevina arranged for Ben Bern to help her brother, Mr. Travay, deal with the children at Cabrera Bookstore and profit from them. When Ben Bern and his men confronted Broly and the others, Broly cut Hawk in half, and Ben Bern ordered his men to kill him.

• Tevina introduced Mr. Travay to the slave trader Ben Bern and arranged for Ben Bern to bring Slave Fighters to the bookstore.
• Ben Bern agreed to help Mr. Travay, hoping to gain favor with Marquis Bosil through Tevina.
• After Green warned them of the planned attack, Broly and the children waited at Cabrera Bookstore instead of leaving for the Imperial Capital.
• Ben Bern and Mr. Travay arrived at the bookstore and recognized Broly and the other children as potential slave merchandise.
• Hawk threatened Broly, who swiftly cut him in half and asked again whether they had come to cause trouble.
• Ben Bern ordered his men to draw their weapons and kill Broly.

Broly killed the men who attacked Green Family Bookstore, including Traway, who claimed his sister Tevina was Marquis Bosil’s favored woman. Broly planned to visit the City Lord’s Mansion to ask them about the threat, while Merraid pointed out that doing so would be like provoking them directly.

• Broly killed Ben Bern and the other attackers, then killed Traway after learning Traway’s sister was Tevina, Marquis Bosil’s favored woman.
• Broly and the children burned the bodies and cleaned the street outside Green Family Bookstore with help from Green’s parents.
• Merraid asked whether they could leave, but Broly said he first wanted to investigate the threat Traway had mentioned.
• Broly told Merraid and Esdeath that Traway had claimed Marquis Bosil was behind him, and he intended to visit the Marquis and ask about it.
• Merraid said Broly’s plan was no different from provoking the Marquis to his face, and Broly agreed.

Broly went alone to the City Lord's Mansion to ask Marquis Bosil and Tevina whether they planned to seek revenge for Tevina's brother. After a guard attacked him and Broly kicked him through the gates, Broly entered the mansion, where fighting had already begun.

• Merraid warned Broly that taking his companions to the City Lord's Mansion could put their lives at risk, and Broly decided to go alone.
• Esdeath asked to accompany Broly, but he ordered her to stay somewhere safe, and she agreed.
• Broly told the mansion guards that he had killed Tevina's brother and wanted to ask Marquis Bosil and Tevina whether they would come after him.
• One guard attacked Broly, and Broly kicked him through the mansion gates, killing him.
• The surviving guard watched Broly enter the mansion, then shouted that an assassin was attacking as fighting broke out inside.

Broly rampaged through the City Lord's Mansion after its guards attacked him, believing he was an assassin, while he tried to find Marquis Bosil. Marquis Bosil tricked Broly with directions and fled to gather troops, leaving a young guard behind to distract him.

• Broly defeated the City Lord's Mansion's Top Warrior with a single punch, then killed the western cowboy after catching and throwing back his bullets.
• Broly found Marquis Bosil hiding and asked where he could find the marquis, not realizing he was speaking to him.
• Marquis Bosil claimed the marquis was in a bedroom on the highest floor and begged Broly to spare him; Broly promised not to hurt him because he had not attacked.
• Broly headed upstairs, and Marquis Bosil ran out to his carriage after he left.
• Marquis Bosil ordered a young guard to keep the assassin occupied and promised him a reward, while secretly planning to blame him for failing to guard the gate.

Broly searched the City Lord's Mansion for Marquis Bosil, asking its frightened residents to help him find the marquis and Tevina. Meanwhile, Marquis Bosil reached the Armaments Department and sent the city garrison back to the mansion, while Slave Traders learned an assassin had attacked him.

• Broly found three women hiding under a table and learned that Marquis Bosil had left and Tevina was not there.
• The women and the mansion's clerical staff searched for Marquis Bosil while Broly looked through the rooms.
• A young guard stayed outside the mansion, afraid to enter despite his duty to Marquis Bosil.
• Marquis Bosil accused the Armaments Department Officer of failing to stop the assassin and ordered troops to the City Lord's Mansion.
• The city garrison mobilized, and Slave Traders heard that an assassin had attacked Marquis Bosil.

Marquis Bosil gathered the Local Garrison and the Slave Traders’ forces to attack the City Lord’s Mansion, while Merraid and Esdeath watched from a distance. The young guard returned to rescue hostages, but Marquis Bosil ordered an immediate bombardment before his promised five minutes were up.

• Slave Traders joined the Local Garrison as an Auxiliary Force, and Marquis Bosil ordered a record of who had come to help.
• Merraid rejected Esdeath’s suggestion to attack the army and decided they would follow it to watch Broly.
• Marquis Bosil’s army reached the City Lord’s Mansion, where the young guard reported that the assassin had taken hostages.
• The young guard offered to rescue hostages, and Marquis Bosil told him he had five minutes before the army bombarded the mansion.
• Marquis Bosil immediately ordered the bombardment, and cannon fire shook the mansion as the young guard returned inside.