Chapter Summaries

Romain expanded farming and used the first soybean oil to make soap while his people endured a summer rainstorm. After Niriel explained that the overcrowded school was wasting resources on students who would not learn, Romain approved a selective reduction, and she produced a list of six hundred students to remove.

• Romain planned to reclaim wasteland and grow crops to support at least ten thousand future arrivals from Kant Territory.
• The oil-pressing workshop produced its first soybean oil, which Romain chose to use for soap and weapon maintenance rather than cooking.
• A torrential rainstorm halted farm work for two days, while Jet, Dick, Aaron, Green, and Kao led the soldiers in cross-country training through the rain.
• Niriel told Romain that the school’s 2,459 students overwhelmed its resources and proposed removing students who showed little aptitude for learning.
• Romain authorized Niriel to decide which students over ten would leave, while giving younger children and the newest students more time.
• After the storm, Niriel gave Romain a list of six hundred students selected for removal from the school.

Romain expelled students who failed to learn and reassigned them to labor, then sent troops to relocate more people from Kant Territory. Meanwhile, Nathson traveled toward Taler County and discovered that pirates and the noble coalition were fighting across the northern coast.

• Niriel expelled students over ten who had failed to learn and gave them literacy books as Romain assigned them to work in various departments.
• Romain sent one thousand soldiers under Aaron and Green to Kant Territory, where they relocated more than three thousand people without conflict.
• Romain worried that Nathson had not returned, though Nathson's Apostle panel remained active.
• Nathson and two soldiers traveled north toward Taler County, passing through checkpoints and paying guards along the way.
• Nathson killed a band of pirates and learned that a large-scale pirate invasion had spread fighting across the northern coast.
• Nathson detoured to avoid the war, but the signs of conflict grew more common as he continued his journey.

Nathson returned to his homeland and found villages devastated by pirates, then discovered that his home in Manger Village had been burned. Grief-stricken, he killed a band of pirates and learned that the people of Manger Village had hidden in the woods, leaving Aina and Will’s fate unknown.

• North Ice Pirates raided villages, killing farmers and leaving widespread destruction.
• Nathson reached Taler County and learned that pirates had sacked the county and killed its lord and household women.
• Nathson found his home in Manger Village reduced to ash and broke down, crying out for Aina and Will.
• Nathson, Ess, and Lot rode toward smoke and killed the pirates attacking refugees.
• Refugees recognized Nathson and told him that the people of Manger Village had hidden in the woods.

Nathson reunited with Aina and Will and urged them to flee the coming battle with him. When Aina refused to abandon the villagers who had helped her, Nathson and his soldiers chose to offer the refugees a chance to travel with them to Lord Romain’s safe and prosperous land.

• Nathson reached the forest camp and tearfully reunited with Aina, while four-year-old Will was wary of his father and accepted candy from him.
• Nathson urged Aina and Will to leave at once because pirates and the noble armies were likely to turn the region into a battlefield.
• Aina refused to leave without the villagers who had helped her and Will survive, including Freeman, Connor, and Mag’s children.
• Nathson said he could not take a large group without risking his soldiers, but Ess and Lot pledged to follow his lead.
• Nathson addressed the refugees and invited them to come with him to Lord Romain’s safe, prosperous land.

Sigg Town expanded its farming and livestock operations while Romain resisted Duke Gale’s demand for troops. With Gale’s patience exhausted, Romain decided to declare independence and change his banner, leaving Seth to ask what name he would establish himself under.

• Romain expanded livestock production, divided animals among five Farming Grounds, and increased the workforce while Aki strictly trained and disciplined the workers.
• Duke Gale’s messenger demanded that Romain send one thousand men to the front and promised to help him take Count Kant’s lands afterward.
• Romain dismissed the accusations as rumors and had Seth compose a courteous reply intended to delay Gale.
• Romain told his followers that they had no time left and must declare independence by changing the banner that marked their loyalty to the Armor-Splitting Family.
• Seth sighed and asked Romain what name he intended to establish himself under.

Romain declared himself King of the River Valley, made Origin City his capital, and began quietly establishing his rule. When Hoss arrived seeking help for Morey, who was trapped amid Grand Duke Gale’s campaign against rebellious nobles, Romain gave no answer, and Hoss left convinced Morey could not be saved.

• Romain adopted the title King of the River Valley, chose an iron-ring banner, renamed Sigg Town Origin City, and replaced the old flags without announcing the rebellion.
• Hoss arrived from Silver Dragon Canyon and asked Seth to arrange a meeting with Romain.
• Hoss told Romain that Lord of Buck had rebelled after Grand Duke Gale ordered witches burned, and that Morey was trapped in Buck Highland.
• Romain dismissed Hoss without offering to intervene, despite Hoss explaining that Celine had abandoned Morey.
• Hoss discovered Origin City’s cheap, high-quality iron goods, sold his cargo, and loaded tools and salt.
• As Hoss departed, he saw Romain’s changed banner and concluded that Morey could not be saved.

Romain sent Dick with a thousand elite soldiers to rescue Morey in Buck Highland, then focused on managing the heat and expanding Origin City. The chapter left the expedition underway as Romain resumed construction and relocated residents to strengthen Coal Iron Town.

• Romain overruled objections and ordered a thousand elite soldiers, led by Dick and accompanied by Dota, to travel to Buck Highland and rescue Morey.
• Romain watched the soldiers depart on the final day of summer and resolved to make the expedition's details known to strengthen his credibility with residents.
• When extreme heat halted most work, Romain organized thousands of people to catch fish for ten days, bringing in roughly one hundred and fifty thousand jin.
• After temperatures fell, Romain restarted work and pushed plans to build Origin City's road network and improve Coal Iron Town's infrastructure.
• Romain had Aaron and Green relocate more than three thousand people from Kant Territory.

Romain planned to expand Coal Iron Town and disperse workers from Origin City to support steel production. When Nathson returned from Cold Wind Town stripped of his belongings and accused of theft, Green led more than two hundred riders there and confronted Lord Wende.

• Romain planned to send a thousand people to Coal Iron Town, develop the Salt Mine, and move the Blacksmith Shed’s craftsmen to create a steel processing center.
• Ess reported that Lord Wende had detained Nathson and demanded toll money and his horse after Nathson ran out of funds.
• Romain ordered Aaron and Green to retrieve Nathson, and they rode to Cold Wind Town with more than two hundred cavalrymen.
• Green killed two guards at the town entrance and confronted Lord Wende, who accused Nathson of being a bandit.
• Nathson explained that Wende had seized his horse, mistreated him, and claimed the villagers traveling with him as the lord’s property.
• Green demanded that Wende release Nathson’s companions and return the horses, threatening further bloodshed if he refused.

After Aaron and Green escorted Nathson and a thousand refugees to Origin City, Romain reprimanded Nathson but assigned him to train recruits and promised to settle the newcomers. As the city’s population grew, Romain prepared to recruit new Apostles and tested Gevra’s newly learned spells.

• Aaron and Green returned to Origin City with Nathson and roughly a thousand refugees after rescuing them.
• Nathson told Green he wanted to apologize to Romain, and Green joked that Romain would dock his pay.
• Romain punched Nathson, ordered him back to his unit to train recruits, and told him to bring his wife to the Barracks Compound.
• Romain decided to let the refugees rest before assigning them work, since he wanted them to adapt to the city’s rules and collective labor.
• Romain prepared for his sixth large-scale Apostle recruitment, using 200 draws despite Origin City’s population exceeding twenty-three thousand.
• Romain asked Gevra to demonstrate her spells, and she used Alpha Seal to disrupt his thoughts and Delta Seal to create a weak defensive barrier.

Romain learned that Gevra’s Innate Spell could influence fate, though its effects might never come to pass, and encouraged her before making his sixth recruitment. The draw yielded mostly low-star Apostles, leaving Romain dissatisfied and wishing he could recruit from a true city.

• Romain asked Gevra about her Innate Spell, and she explained that she could change fate without knowing whether or when the change would happen.
• Romain cheered Gevra up, asked her to wish him luck, and Gevra kissed his forehead as a blessing.
• Romain completed two hundred recruitment draws and gained three three-star Apostles, twenty-eight two-star Apostles, and the rest as one-star Apostles.
• Romain judged the new Apostles’ overall quality to be poor and reflected that a real city might offer better recruits.

Romain developed the Residents Department and discovered that Extraordinary Resources could transfer knowledge and ideas to apostles. Elsewhere, Dick’s force headed to aid the Buck Knights, while a group of prophets agreed to launch their plan early as their people faced extinction.

• Romain assigned Aida as Jimmy’s deputy and explored using skill enhancement to pass knowledge and ideas to apostles.
• Dota reported that Buck Highland’s castle had fallen, Lord Owen was dead, and Mr. Morey was missing.
• Dick ordered his force to help the Buck Knights, hoping they would respond to the aid by honoring Lord Owen.
• A group of prophets argued over their losses and the aged Prophet’s uncertain visions of hope.
• The group agreed to begin their operation before winter, and their hesitant sister also gave her approval.

More than five hundred Witches attacked the Holy City and fought their way to the sanctuary, where five generations of Sacred Knights blocked them. A giant armored figure crashed into the sanctuary grounds carrying the Sword of Glory and the Shield of Immortality, leaving her identity and the battle’s outcome unresolved.

• Over five hundred disguised Witches launched a night assault on the Holy City, and Shasta led them through the guards while the Church raised the alarm.
• The Witches fought past Holy City guards and Templar Knights, using spells to reach the sanctuary as the Church’s forces assembled.
• Five Sacred Knights—Mande Megg, Danny Philip, Marcus, Quintus, and Aulus—blocked the Witches, while Mona and the Thunder Witch challenged their oaths and the Church’s history.
• The Thunder Witch signaled for help, and a massive block of ice crashed into the sanctuary grounds, killing or injuring nearly half the defenders gathered there.
• A towering figure in Platinum Armor emerged from the crater holding the Shield of Immortality and the Sword of Glory, artifacts once entrusted to the Conqueror’s followers.

Valia and the witches stormed the sanctuary to confront the Pope, but a sacred field suppressed their magic and exposed a darker power hidden behind the Holy Seat. Valia awakened her Frost Giant bloodline and led the survivors out, while the Thunder Witch died after helping them escape and warned Shasta to seek powerful allies cautiously.

• Valia fought past the paladins and assassins, then reached the sanctuary, where the Nuns’ choir weakened her divine artifacts and disrupted the witches’ magic.
• The Thunder Witch challenged the choir, but the Pope’s power overwhelmed the witches and trapped them in a field that interfered with spellcasting.
• Valia awakened as a four-meter Frost Giant, disrupted the suppressive field, and led some of the witches in retreat while others attacked the Holy Seat.
• Valia froze and threw aside the paladins as the witches fought through the Holy City; the Twin Witches used Mana Burst to knock the pursuing paladins into a crater.
• The surviving witches escaped across the sea on an ice raft, where the wounded Valia returned to normal and the Thunder Witch warned Shasta about relying on rulers before dying.
• Fewer than a hundred witches watched as the Thunder Witch disintegrated, leaving them grieving and uncertain about the road ahead.

Romain finished a major road-building project in time for Origin City’s autumn harvest, then organized the harvest and autumn planting. Worried about Dick’s expeditionary army and the threat of war, he ordered the mass production of crossbows.

• Romain supervised the paving of 150 kilometers of roads and pushed the work to completion before the autumn harvest.
• Origin City harvested more than 2.3 million jin of soybeans and peas and over two million jin of vegetables, then held a two-day celebration.
• Farmers planted more than twenty thousand mu of winter wheat and began reclaiming land for overwintering vegetables.
• Romain grew anxious after seven Apostle interfaces dimmed, though Dick, Dota, and the other veterans remained safe.
• Romain ordered Witchi’s Woodworking Factory to produce three thousand heavy and light crossbows before the end of the year, for both soldiers and farmers.

Romain planned to arm farmers with crossbows and form unpaid Militia Crossbowmen to defend his territory. Meanwhile, Trek led prisoners toward Grand Duke Armor-Splitting and faced an approaching army bearing the unfamiliar Thorn Ring and Light Spear banner, as the Buck Knights also gathered nearby.

• Romain planned shared training grounds where farmers could practice with light crossbows, while heavy crossbows went to the army and carpenters mass-produced weapon parts.
• Trek, a Shattering Archer and Romain's half-brother, escorted Buck Highland prisoners after his force captured Buck Castle and killed Lord Owen.
• A messenger from the King of the River Valley offered Trek a hundred Gold Coins to ransom Morey Perea, but Trek refused because Morey was implicated in the Witch affair.
• Late at night, Trek saw the King of the River Valley's army advancing as Buck Knights moved through the forest, and he prepared his depleted force for battle.
• Trek watched six hundred heavily armored infantrymen advance with broad shields and realized a battle was unavoidable.

Dick rescued Morey from Trek's forces in Buck Highland and brought him back to Origin City, where Romain welcomed him as a guest and promised him protection. Toran named Fett the future Lord of the Buck and warned him that Buck Highland faced a dangerous struggle for survival.

• Dick refused to reveal his name to Toran and said he had only followed orders to ensure Morey's safety.
• Dick's soldiers found Morey in a cage, and Morey agreed to go with them to meet the King of the River Valley.
• Toran told Fett that the unfamiliar army was elite, then agreed to nominate him as the next Lord of the Buck and warned him about the coming dangers.
• Romain welcomed the returning army and Morey at the docks, arranged funerals for the fallen, and held a feast for the soldiers.
• Romain invited Morey to stay in Origin City and promised that no one could touch him as long as he obeyed the laws.

Romain traded Iron Ingots to Albert for raw textiles and crop seeds, then began expanding Origin City’s industries and putting its large workforce to use. He ended the chapter preparing to press oil from Soybeans and make tofu on a much larger scale.

• Albert told Romain that he had heard about Romain’s victory over the Shattering Archers and discovered that Romain had declared himself King of the River Valley.
• Romain and Albert negotiated a trade, and Romain agreed to exchange ten thousand pounds of steel for textiles and a larger collection of crop seeds.
• Albert watched as dockworkers loaded the Iron Ingots onto his ship, then left astonished by Origin City’s steel stores.
• Romain entrusted the seeds to Barro and explained how to preserve them, especially the rice seeds and Sugarcane.
• Romain recruited more female textile workers, expanded the Textile Factory, and planned to press three hundred thousand pounds of Soybeans for oil and use one million pounds to make tofu.

Romain expanded winter work in Origin City and led a long exploration of the basin’s mineral resources, then reached the Gold Mine and began preparations to pan for placer gold. He left large-scale mining for later because the mountain terrain and fractured rock made the gold ore difficult to extract.

• Romain expanded the oil-press and tofu workshops, enlarged the construction team, and raised Origin City's army while assigning idle laborers to dig gold.
• Romain abducted more than three thousand villagers from Kant Territory, pushing Origin City's population past thirty thousand as Count Kant remained away.
• Romain conducted a nearly twenty-day exploration and confirmed the basin held extensive deposits of stone, iron, gold, silver, copper, mirabilite, and Rock Salt.
• Romain returned from his exploration, rested briefly, and then set out for the Gold Mine as winter clothing improved conditions for the laborers.
• Romain found the Gold Mine difficult to work because of hard rock and treacherous terrain, so he chose to pan for placer gold and prepare tools and supplies.

Romain oversaw gold panning that yielded Placer Gold and a rich Nugget Gold, then learned Ruto could not forge advanced Adamantine weapons. Back at Origin Manor, he found a woman dying in a difficult birth and began preparing to perform a Cesarean Section.

• Romain’s camp extracted nearly sixty jin of low-grade Placer Gold in three days, and later found a half-jin piece of Nugget Gold.
• Romain declared the gold-panning site a forbidden zone, assigned fifty scouts to guard it, and threatened severe punishment for anyone who concealed gold.
• Romain asked Ruto to forge an Adamantine shortsword, but Ruto admitted he could process Adamantine only and lacked the skill to make an effective weapon.
• Romain returned to Origin Manor and found a pregnant woman in critical condition after a difficult labor.
• Romain ordered a Cesarean Section, gave Green Stone Powder to Garin, sterilized his shortsword in the brazier, and prepared to operate.

Romain saved Shana and her baby through a cesarean section, then ordered a hospital built to reduce deaths from childbirth in Origin City. The hospital was nearing completion, and Romain began considering how to supply it with alcohol for sterilization.

• Garin explained that Divine Realm’s advanced metalworking techniques were secret and that it had lost the ability to produce Orichalcum Steel.
• Romain told Garin that he had performed a Lower Uterine Cesarean Section and offered to teach him.
• Romain gave Shana’s husband three months of Maternity Leave and ordered extra eggs and milk for Shana’s recovery.
• After learning how many mothers and babies had died from difficult births, Romain ordered Seth and Jimmy to build a hospital.
• Half a month later, Romain inspected the nearly finished hospital, selected experienced female apostles as medical trainees, and considered producing alcohol for sterilization.