Chapter Summaries

After Alster’s death, Romain refused Gale’s summons to send troops against the Witches and planned to stall while he investigated the suspected conspiracy. He told Seth that after half a year, he would crown himself king.

• Romain learned that Gale had become Grand Duke and demanded that his vassals send three-quarters of their forces to avenge Alster by fighting the Witches.
• Romain accused Gale of being involved in Alster’s murder, then rejected Seth’s warning that refusing the summons could be treated as treason.
• Aaron, Green, Dick, Jet, and Sigg Town’s other leaders returned and waited for Romain to decide whether they would obey Gale’s order.
• Romain refused to send troops and told Seth to acknowledge Gale’s position while citing Sigg Town’s troubles as reasons for delaying.
• Romain told Seth he needed only half a year, then declared that he would crown himself king.

After Alster’s death, Romain rejected Gale’s authority and stalled while preparing to rebel if his rights were threatened. In Sigg Town, he maintained a 2,000-man army and used the town’s growing food and livestock supplies to support military and civic expansion.

• Romain grieved Alster’s death but refused to acknowledge Gale, and he sent Gale’s messenger away with a promise of future support while preventing him from observing Sigg Town.
• Romain replenished his army to 2,000 soldiers and relied on grain reserves, Winter Wheat, and Sigg Town’s increased steel production to supply them.
• Romain used Sigg Town’s simple social structure to redirect labor toward military training without abandoning basic survival needs.
• The Construction Team completed brick houses and a Barracks Compound, while the Livestock Department slaughtered animals and preserved large stores of meat.
• Romain ordered the Agriculture and Livestock Departments to plant four to five thousand mu of Forage Grass along the river as natural pasture.

Romain decided to break the blockade imposed by Count Kant and the Five Great Nobles by taking Sigg Town’s two thousand soldiers to war. After rallying them with a speech about resisting oppression and defending their families, he led them in a chant declaring that destiny was on their side.

• Romain worried that the blockade would eventually deprive Sigg Town of essential supplies and stall its growth.
• Romain assembled Sigg Town’s two thousand trained soldiers and urged them to stand proudly as an army.
• Romain told the soldiers that war was necessary to resist exploitative lords and protect their families.
• Romain admitted that he feared defeat and hardship but insisted that they had to fight to secure their future.
• Romain raised his fist, and the soldiers answered by chanting, “Destiny shines upon us! We shall win every battle!”

Romain prepared his two-thousand-strong army for an all-out attack on Kant Territory, relying on trained Apostles to steady his less experienced troops. He led the force out of Sigg Town before midsummer to defeat the nobles threatening his development, and Count Kant’s sentries spotted his fleet as the coming battle began.

• Romain confirmed a simple war plan and organized his army around squads led by trusted Apostles and elite sergeants.
• Romain used Battle Simulation Vouchers to train his Apostles through repeated combat scenarios, sharpening their instincts and battlefield skills.
• At the end of summer’s first month, Romain led two thousand armed soldiers out of Sigg Town, leaving the town prepared to defend itself.
• Romain resolved to crush Kant Territory before the Summer Harvest and seize more laborers to address his shortage of workers.
• Count Kant’s downstream sentries spotted Romain’s fleet, and a bird carried word of the approaching army to the count’s castle.

Romain chose a ravine for a decisive battle against the approaching noble coalition, hoping its rocky, winding terrain would blunt their cavalry despite his army being outnumbered. As both sides prepared, divisions among the coalition’s leaders deepened, while Frant interpreted Count Bechtels’s orders as a command to hold back and watch for an opportunity.

• Romain sent out scouts, learned that the six-family noble coalition had about seven thousand troops, and chose a ravine where its cavalry could not charge effectively.
• Romain and Dick rejected a prolonged siege and selected the ravine for a decisive battle, then drilled their two thousand soldiers there.
• The coalition’s nobles argued over how to fight: Vilichka and Guerande wanted to crush Romain quickly, while Bald Carter and Sir Simon urged caution and Count Kant pressed Frant for support.
• Frant recalled Count Bechtels’s order to observe and act when the opportunity arose, and decided it meant he should avoid committing his forces for now.

Count Kant took command of the coalition army and ordered Sir Simon’s forces to lead the next assault on Sigg Town. The Simon infantry entered the ravine, where the chapter weighed the danger of fighting outnumbered and the losses both sides might suffer.

• Frant declined command, and Count Kant took control of the coalition army as his forces grew to half its strength.
• The nobles argued over who should lead the attack, while Count Kant recalled their losses and his desire to rescue the people taken from his territory.
• Count Kant ordered Sir Simon to lead the assault, and Sir Simon agreed despite the taunts over his family's small losses in the previous battle.
• Sir Simon gathered the Simon Family's infantry and sent them into the ravine.
• The narration explained that outnumbered troops could lose morale and stamina, but that battles between armies still caused heavy casualties on both sides.

Sir Simon’s army fought Romain’s forces in a narrow valley, where Romain’s disciplined archers inflicted heavy losses before the armies clashed at close range. The Simon Family troops retreated after a brutal few minutes, while Romain’s army held its position with its own casualties.

• Sir Simon led the Simon Family army toward Romain’s heavy infantry and saw that the opposing force was a formidable defensive line.
• Romain’s archers fired thirty volleys, suppressing the Simon Family’s ranged troops and causing about a hundred casualties before stopping.
• Sir Simon ordered an attack, and the Simon Family army advanced to meet Romain’s forces in the narrow valley.
• A conscript stepped into spear range, and a Squad Leader pierced his eye, triggering a fierce close-combat battle.
• The Conscript Army fled after four or five minutes, leaving around two hundred corpses, while Romain’s army suffered sixty or seventy dead and wounded and did not pursue.

Sir Simon’s defeat showed the nobles that Romain’s disciplined archers and long-pike infantry made a frontal assault costly. The Guerande and Vilichka forces also attacked and withdrew, leaving both armies locked in a war of attrition as Count Kant ordered Bald Carter to circle around Romain’s rear.

• Sir Simon told Count Kant that the enemy’s long pikes made a frontal assault too difficult and proposed an encirclement, a stalemate, or an attack on Sigg Town.
• Count Frant warned that sending elite troops around the rear could expose them to danger, and Count Kant ordered Lord Steve and the Guerande Family to attack.
• The Guerande Family advanced through Romain’s arrows, met his fresh infantry and long pikes, and retreated.
• Romain replaced tired and wounded soldiers by squad as the Vilichka Family’s army advanced through the arrows and engaged his line.
• Sir Foucault drove the Vilichka troops into a fierce charge, which inflicted heavy losses on both sides before Vilichka retreated.
• Count Kant ordered Bald Carter to lead his warriors around Romain’s rear and wait for the signal to attack.

Count Kant launched a major assault on Romain’s forces while Bald Carter attacked their rear, and the War Knights broke through the frontline. Romain’s commanders tried to cover the retreat as Nathson rallied the Third Battalion to stop the advance.

• Count Kant sent his conscripts and more than seventy War Knights charging through Romain’s arrow fire, then signaled Bald Carter to attack from behind.
• Bald Carter led five hundred Carter Family warriors, including Beast Warriors carrying battering-ram logs, against Romain’s four hundred heavy infantrymen guarding the rear.
• The War Knights revealed their armor and drove into the center of Romain’s frontline, cutting down soldiers and breaking the battle line.
• Romain shot War Knights with his Armor-Piercing Greatbow while Aaron, Green, and Dick tried to halt their advance and cover the soldiers’ retreat.
• Romain ordered Nathson to reform the battle line, and Nathson rallied the Third Battalion to stop the attackers.

Romain’s forces endured attacks from both ends of the ravine and defeated the noble coalition in the Battle of the Ravine. Count Kant fled as Romain’s army captured thousands of enemy soldiers and secured a costly victory.

• Nathson rallied the Third Brigade to hold the second line as Green and Aaron retreated through it, and Romain ordered the archers to keep firing.
• Jet and the heavy infantry held off the Beast Warriors in the rear, while Romain’s troops stopped the War Knights from breaking through at the front.
• Sir Simon withdrew from Count Kant’s coalition, while Vilichka and Steve agreed to make one final attack.
• Vilichka and Guerande fled when routed troops and pursuing enemies surged toward them, and Nathson called on the enemy soldiers to surrender.
• Count Kant left the battlefield in despair as Romain’s two thousand troops defeated the seven-thousand-strong enemy force, killing more than sixteen hundred and capturing more than two thousand.

After defeating the noble coalition, Romain led his surviving soldiers into Kant Territory and ordered villagers to leave their homes. He exposed their suffering under the nobles, then forced them to follow him, leaving their destination unclear.

• Romain stopped the pursuit, ordered the battlefield cleared, and had the captured War Knights executed.
• Romain regrouped his army and marched through Kant Territory, where Count Kant defended his castle.
• Romain ordered soldiers to bring villagers and their grain and livestock, but the villagers said nobles had taken their grain and described abuses by the coalition’s lords.
• Romain told the villagers he wanted to abuse their families, and they begged him to spare them.
• Romain ordered the soldiers to take the villagers away, then knocked their leader down with his riding whip when they refused to move.

Romain brought the captured people and fallen soldiers’ families back to Sigg Town, then organized the Summer Harvest. The wheat yield disappointed him, but Sigg Town had enough grain to avoid an immediate food crisis.

• Romain sent Green, Aaron, and Dick to bring the families of fallen soldiers to Sigg Town and promised the soldiers they would return together.
• Romain’s forces spent three days transporting the captured people across the river, while merchants flocked to Sigg Town after trade reopened.
• Romain inspected the Winter Wheat fields and ordered Witchi to make Grain Windmills and build three Threshing Grounds.
• The Summer Harvest yielded 1.8 million jin of wheat from six thousand mu of mature fields and just over six hundred thousand jin from four thousand mu of wasteland.
• Romain concluded that the low yield came from Winter Wheat’s poor adaptation to the region and decided that Sigg Town had enough food for now.

Romain held a three-day celebration to comfort Sigg Town’s residents while handling the consequences of the war, including widows’ pensions and the army’s heavy casualties. Overwhelmed by his duties, he chased two figures who had thrown a ball of grass at him.

• Romain arranged a three-day banquet for the town, with generous meals for the original residents and lighter food for newcomers.
• Romain told Linda that she could keep Deren’s pension if she remained unmarried, while leaving her free to remarry and forgoing the remaining payments.
• Romain established policies for other war widows, including support for pregnant women and their children.
• Romain reviewed the casualty list and learned from Dick that only a little over thirteen hundred of the original two thousand troops remained at full count.
• Two furtive figures hit Romain in the forehead with a ball of grass, and he sprang up to chase them.

Romain chased Aaron and Green across Origin Manor, then joined Aaron in catching and humiliating Green. When Dick, Gevra, and Sana arrived to invite them to the celebration, Romain declined and decided to host a barbecue party instead.

• Romain chased Aaron and Green across the grass, and Aaron stopped to hold him off so Green could escape.
• Romain tickled Aaron until he revealed Green had smashed him, then persuaded Aaron to help catch Green.
• Romain and Aaron pinned Green down, pulled off his pants, and jeered at him until Dick, Gevra, and Sana arrived.
• Romain returned Green's pants and declined the invitation to the celebration, while Gevra chose to stay with him.
• Romain proposed a barbecue party and offered to grill skewers, but Green doubted his cooking and said he would not eat.

Romain hosted a lavish barbecue at the manor, bringing his companions together to eat, drink, and relax beneath the stars. The night ended with Green declaring his ambition to become the strongest knight, while Romain and Aaron responded with increasingly drunken boasts.

• Romain prepared a wide variety of skewers with expensive spices and invited his companions to barbecue at the manor.
• Kao, Nathson, Dick, and Niriel praised the food, while Green criticized the seasoning even as he ate quickly.
• Gevra brought Garin to the barbecue, and Romain made candied fruit skewers for Gevra and Sana.
• After the barbecue, Green and Aaron argued over military tactics, and Jet and Garin explained the legendary Shield Guard and its Aosteel equipment.
• Green declared that he would become the greatest First Knight and defeat entire armies, prompting the drunken Romain and Aaron to make extravagant promises and toast him.

After asking Romain for freedom, Niriel revealed that she needed his soldiers to restore Sea Fortress. Romain agreed to provide an Infantry Brigade if Sea Fortress swore loyalty to him, and Niriel accepted.

• Romain woke at noon with a hangover, and Niriel explained that she had stayed behind to look after him.
• Niriel asked Romain to free her, saying she felt tormented and that someone needed her.
• Romain told Niriel he could not let all the Sea Fortress People leave, and Niriel asked to borrow his soldiers and support.
• Romain promised Niriel an Infantry Brigade by the following year if she trained literate students, and required Sea Fortress to swear loyalty to him.
• Niriel agreed to the terms and kissed Romain, pledging Sea Fortress and herself to him.

Romain sent Nathson on a dangerous journey to reunite with his family, then expanded trade in Sigg Town by selling mass-produced iron goods. As the pirate war continued beyond his borders, Romain focused on production and strengthening his own position.

• Romain equipped Nathson with armor, weapons, supplies, funds, two veteran soldiers, and five warhorses before seeing him off to bring his family to Sigg Town.
• Romain learned that Alex had united more than ten thousand pirates and that Grand Duke Armor-Splitting had divided his forces to fight on several fronts.
• Merchants and farmers increasingly traded at the market by Sigg Town’s docks, where Romain’s rules kept unrelated visitors out of town.
• Romain began selling cast iron pots, kitchen knives, and hoes at low prices to attract more merchants and trade for scarce goods.

Romain used the postwar influx of people and resources to expand farming, the army, and production while aiming to lower the price of iron tools and salt. The chapter left his captured enemies assigned to labor and his town’s projects moving ahead at full speed.

• Romain sold metal goods at low prices to attract merchants and ease his shortage of metal currency.
• After the celebration, Romain organized five thousand farmers into groups to plant leguminous crops across ten thousand mu of fields.
• Romain visited wounded soldiers and oversaw a commendation ceremony as he planned to expand the army to three thousand soldiers.
• Romain increased the Construction Team to one thousand workers, who completed forty brick houses each day.
• Romain assigned captured soldiers and other able-bodied prisoners to the salt mines, Coal Iron Town, and other heavy labor, while increasing production of hammers and sickles to bring down prices.

Romain learned that the Oak Family’s divine inheritance had been stolen and wondered whether Gale had inherited the Oak Family’s own artifact after Alster’s death. Meanwhile, Romain expanded Sigg Town’s army and pushed its disorganized veterans and recruits through intensive training.

• Merchants told Romain that the Witch had been accused of stealing the Oak Family’s family inheritance, and Romain wondered whether Gale had received it from Alster.
• Grand Duke Oak posted a reward notice but otherwise stayed calm, saying his legion had to remain in the Bar Mountains and guard the Nether Sea.
• Romain harvested the Spring Wheat, found its yield disappointingly low, replanted the fields, and registered thousands of new arrivals with Jimmy.
• Romain planned to add seventeen hundred recruits to the roughly thirteen hundred veterans and expanded the heavy infantry and archers.
• Romain formed a two-hundred-person Cookhouse Squad and imposed strict routines for soldiers’ meals, washing, weapon care, and training.
• Veterans led the recruits through chaotic drills, and the hastily assembled army gradually began to function.

Romain expanded Sigg Town’s production and bought large quantities of cloth and crop seeds, then distributed clothing to residents to strengthen their attachment to the settlement. As summer planting ended, he sent the farmers to reclaim more land and plant additional crops.

• Romain expanded the Woodworking Factory to five hundred workers and arranged for an apostle to learn how to press oil from soybeans.
• Romain demanded large quantities of linen, cotton, wool, and crop seeds from the merchant Albert, offering to pay three times the price.
• Romain had the cloth sewn into clothing and distributed to the residents, who came to regard their possessions as property worth protecting.
• After summer planting ended, Romain sent the farmers to reclaim wasteland and plant forage grass, vegetables, and other crops.