Chapter Summaries

After Count Black died, Victor accepted temporary custody of the Great Oak Territory’s seal and command of its army while agreeing to guard Brando until he could inherit. Victor executed officers who had plotted against Count Black, then ordered Yellen to help him manage the territory while keeping the count’s death secret.

• Magnus told Victor that Count Black had died on April 21 and gave him the lord’s seal under the count’s final orders.
• Victor agreed to act as Brando’s guardian and temporarily hold the seal, while Yellen pledged the Great Oak Territory’s army to him.
• Yellen showed Victor imprisoned officers who had conspired to contact Beck of the First Legion, and Diaz offered to serve Victor in exchange for release.
• Victor ordered the prisoners released, then killed Diaz and several other officers when they pledged to obey him.
• Victor explained that their betrayal of Count Black made them untrustworthy, and Yellen affirmed that they could not be trusted.
• Victor told Yellen to keep Count Black’s death secret and began assigning him tasks for managing the Great Oak Territory.

After the battle, Victor assigned Magnus and Yellen to pursue the First Legion’s remnants and occupy the eastern nobles’ territories, then inspected the wounded soldiers and praised the Medical Department’s work. The chapter ended with Victor promising rewards as the legion faced thousands of seriously wounded soldiers.

• Victor asked Magnus to manage Great Oak Territory, sent Yellen to help pursue the First Legion’s remnants and occupy the eastern territories, and requested that Viscount Sonanda come meet him.
• Magnus learned that Victor had executed the unstable elements and approved Yellen’s plan to use Diaz’s former troops to clear noble territories while replacing their officers.
• Victor visited the wounded soldiers’ camp and asked Getze about the Medical Department’s casualties and resources.
• Getze reported that the department had treated more than 4,200 seriously wounded soldiers, including over 1,500 from allied forces.
• Victor toured the medical wards, encouraged the wounded and staff, and promised generous rewards for their service.

After the battle, Victor arranged for James to take two thousand men and allied troops under Knight Yellen to deal with the remnants of the First Legion. The casualty report revealed that the Southern Marching Legion had lost more than half its strength, leaving Victor to rely on the Golden Sunflower Territory’s two regiments and urgently contact Foss and the others.

• James told Victor his troops were ready, and Victor approved a force of two thousand men to move against the remnants of the First Legion.
• Victor sent James to the Great Oak Territory’s camp to coordinate with Knight Yellen, then explained that Count Black’s death had affected the Great Oak Territory’s army.
• James agreed to meet Yellen, while Victor advised him to avoid a direct confrontation with the First Legion unless an opportunity arose.
• A clerk reported that the Southern Marching Legion had suffered over 3,400 deaths, over 2,900 serious injuries, and over 4,700 minor injuries.
• Victor dismissed the guards who rushed in after he struck his desk, then decided to contact Foss and the others because the Two Rivers Territory’s army had lost more than half its strength.

After the battle, Victor divided his forces to suppress loyalist nobles and secure grain while managing the many prisoners. Viscount Sonanda arrived grieving Count Black’s death, then agreed to help transport Victor’s wounded troops by sea as the army began moving south.

• James left with a Great Oak Territory cavalry battalion to pursue the remnants of the First Legion.
• Victor assigned allied forces to suppress resistance and requisition grain in Cambridge County and Boler County, while reserving Suffolk County for the Southern Marching Legion and the Coastal Defense Fleet.
• Victor appointed Old Buck to command the prisoner camp guard detachment and arranged for wounded soldiers to help guard the prisoners.
• Viscount Sonanda arrived at Rotten Tree Beach, learned that Count Black had died, and wept beside the count’s body.
• Sonanda agreed to lend the Coastal Defense Fleet to transport Victor’s wounded troops to the Golden Sunflower Territory.
• The Southern Marching Legion and Great Oak Territory troops began heading south with the prisoners, while another force sailed south from Rotten Tree Beach.

Victor recalled allowing Lodan to divide the Logistics Department so some soldiers could stay behind to build the permanent camp while the main army marched south. After confirming that the troops and Great Oak Territory’s forces were ready, Victor joined Steward Magnus and set off with the army.

• Lodan asked Victor for more time to finish clearing the battlefield, recovering supplies, and reinforcing the camp and temporary dock.
• Victor explained that the army had to march south at once to suppress the Eastern Region and free troops to support Count Lloyd.
• Victor let Lodan keep part of the Logistics Department behind to build the permanent camp and wait for Commander Sodoma’s fleet, while the rest supported the main army.
• Lodan agreed to arrange supplies and prepare the army to depart the next day.
• Michael told Victor that the army and Great Oak Territory’s troops were ready, and Victor joined Steward Magnus as the column set off.

Victor considered the Red Hemp Family as a potential ally to secure Suffolk County while he marched south, and learned that its heir had been captured. He planned to use the heir’s ransom to bring Viscount Boateng’s family under the Northern Frontier Allied Army’s influence.

• A messenger told Victor that envoys from the Red Hemp Family wanted to ransom their captured heir.
• Victor asked Magnus about the family while keeping Count Black’s death secret to protect Brando’s succession and prevent rivals from interfering.
• Magnus explained that Viscount Boateng had once supported Count Black, later sided with Grand Duke Mora, and withdrew Red Hemp Territory’s ships from the Coastal Defense Fleet.
• Victor learned that his army had captured more than 4,000 people from Red Hemp Territory, including its heir and the remnants of its fleet.
• Victor considered Red Hemp Territory a potential partner who could help secure Suffolk County while he led the army south.

Victor prepared to meet Red Hemp Territory’s envoy after Magnus declined to accompany him, while Ron escorted the delegation. The meeting ended with Viscount Boateng and his steward Ekmeier facing Victor, where a captive called Boateng “Father.”

• Magnus refused Victor’s invitation, explaining that his past service to Count Black could cause suspicion if he appeared beside Victor.
• Ron kept Red Hemp Territory’s delegation under guard while Ekmeier anxiously asked when Victor would meet them.
• Viscount Boateng, worried about his captive son Totti and intimidated by the army, nearly fainted as he waited with Ekmeier.
• Ron ordered Ekmeier to bring Boateng to meet Victor, despite Ekmeier’s attempts to leave the frightened viscount behind.
• Victor met Boateng and Ekmeier, and someone startled them by calling Boateng “Father.”

Victor met Viscount Boateng, secured Red Hemp Territory’s military support, and negotiated a ransom for its captured soldiers while keeping its fleet and Serf Soldiers for his campaign. Boateng agreed to send troops under Victor’s command as the Northern Frontier Allied Army prepared to march south.

• Viscount Boateng revealed himself to Victor, reunited with Totti, and heard his account of the battle.
• Victor told Boateng that the army would march south and ordered Red Hemp Territory to gather troops and join him at Sunset City before May 5.
• Victor refused to release Red Hemp Territory’s captured troops without payment, and Ekmeier offered gold and supplies to ransom them.
• Victor negotiated for five thousand gold coins and two thousand tons of wheat, kept the fleet until Mora’s defeat, and demanded the Serf Soldiers’ families.
• Boateng agreed to send Totti with one thousand private soldiers to Cornwall County and lead another five hundred under Great Oak Territory’s orders in Suffolk County.

After Victor let Viscount Boateng and his party leave, Boateng planned how to pay the ransom and feed Red Hemp Territory’s serfs. He decided to send the captured Serf Soldiers’ families and other relatives to Victor, reducing the number of people his territory had to support.

• Victor reassured Michael that Viscount Boateng would not break his word, then rode toward the roadside with his men.
• Viscount Boateng, Totti, and their retainers stopped once they had ridden out of sight of the Southern Marching Legion, and Ekmeier reassured Boateng that Victor would not pursue them.
• Boateng ordered Ekmeier to gather 3,000 gold and linen to cover the ransom, while Ekmeier warned that surrendering 2,000 tons of wheat would leave Red Hemp Territory short of food before the summer harvest.
• Totti suggested handing over the families of the captured Serf Soldiers to reduce the territory’s food burden.
• Boateng approved Totti’s idea and ordered Ekmeier to send the soldiers’ families and other relatives to Victor.

Victor arrived at Red Hemp Territory to collect ransom goods and the families of captured Serf Soldiers, then went to a banquet at Viscount Boateng’s manor. There, he found nearby nobles waiting to apologize and ransom their captured relatives.

• Viscount Boateng decided to give Victor as many serfs as his territory could spare, and Ekmeier prepared grain, cloth, and the captured soldiers’ families for Victor’s arrival.
• Victor asked Ekmeier to distribute linen to the serfs so they would stay warm, while Michael warned Victor that Red Hemp Territory was skilled in using poisons.
• Victor went to the banquet with his guards after learning that Count Black would not attend, and Viscount Boateng welcomed him at the manor.
• Viscount Boateng showed Victor the estate and introduced the nearby nobles who had gathered to apologize and ransom their captured relatives.

Victor attended a banquet in Red Hemp Territory, where nobles tried to reach him through their relatives and sought the release of their captured family members. He avoided their advances, suspected Viscount Boateng had profited from arranging the introductions, and went to sample the food.

• Viscount Boateng introduced Victor to several nobles, and Madam Sallia Yellow Celery flirted with Victor while asking him to bring back her husband, Baron Russell.
• Victor said Baron Russell was safe, prompting other nobles to crowd around and beg him to release their relatives.
• Michael stepped in to shield Victor, and Viscount Boateng and Totti pushed the nobles away.
• Viscount Boateng apologized and explained that the nobles had approached him after learning of Victor’s arrival and the ransom preparations.
• Victor hinted that Boateng should share the benefits he had accepted, then walked to the banquet table to try Red Hemp Territory’s food.

Viscount Boateng admitted that he had taken money from five noble families to arrange meetings with Victor, then apologized and handed it over to fund the Allied Army. Victor continued south with the army after promising to keep Totti safe, and over the next few days he collected enough money and provisions to sustain the army and serfs for a year.

• Totti learned that Viscount Boateng had taken 2,500 gold from five noble families, and warned his father that the scheme had angered Victor.
• Viscount Boateng and Totti apologized to Victor and offered him all the money; Victor accepted it for the Allied Army and praised Totti, promising to keep him safe.
• Viscount Boateng blocked the other nobles from approaching Victor for the rest of the banquet, and Victor spent the night at the Lord's Mansion in the Red Hemp Territory.
• After Steward Ekmeier met Victor the next morning, Victor departed with the army and released the Red Hemp Territory's standing soldiers; Viscount Boateng offered another five hundred troops to join him.
• Victor continued south through several nobles' territories and collected enough money and supplies to cover the army's and serfs' needs for a year.

Victor released Baron Russell after collecting ransom and supplies from the defeated nobles, then assigned him to secure resources and choose a new lord for Cabbage Territory. With Suffolk County’s noble territories dealt with, Victor prepared to move on to Sunset City and a campaign into Cornwall County, while planning to send future spoils and serfs to Two Rivers Territory.

• Baron Russell thanked Victor for his release and promised to return with troops to join him at Sunset City.
• Victor tasked Baron Russell with requisitioning 3,000 gold and 3,000 tons of grain from Cabbage Territory and selecting a suitable new baron.
• Victor warned Baron Russell that Cabbage Territory would lose part of its fief and held him responsible for preventing future unrest.
• Victor sent Michael to help Baron Russell choose horses for his journey home.
• After Baron Russell left, Victor reviewed the army’s collected wealth and supplies and planned to prepare for a southward campaign into Cornwall County.
• Victor noted that the army’s growing number of serfs and future spoils would strengthen Two Rivers Territory in the Northlands.

Victor arranged for Baron Russell’s released soldiers to travel safely through a Suffolk County overrun by refugees, then brought his army to Sunset City. He went to Great Oak Territory to protect young Brando’s succession after Count Black’s death, where members of the Great Oak Family began plotting to block the inheritance.

• Michael told Victor that Baron Russell had organized his released soldiers, distributed their limited weapons, and set out for Yellow Celery Territory.
• Victor explained that he needed troops from the captured nobles to reinforce his forces for the campaign in southern Cornwall County, and wondered when Commander Sodoma’s fleet would return.
• On May 3, Victor’s army reached Sunset City after a cautious march with its many serfs and prisoners.
• Victor learned that Count Black’s funeral and Brando’s inheritance were being arranged, so he took his guards to the Lord’s Mansion to support the seven-year-old heir.
• Several Great Oak Family members gathered to oppose Brando’s succession because they feared losing the power they had gained during Count Black’s civil war.

Great Oak Family conspirators planned to open six border watchposts and lure a refugee band into Great Oak Territory to draw Viscount Golden Sunflower's army away from the manor. They assigned forces to the watchposts, but the plan left the manor's elite guards and the larger armies in Sunset City as unresolved threats.

• A Great Oak Family conspirator proposed luring refugees toward the manor so Viscount Golden Sunflower's troops would leave to meet them.
• The conspirators agreed to open border watchposts, potentially by sending men to open gates or poison guards.
• The lead conspirator urged them to cooperate, warning that Diaz and Tiago had been killed despite controlling a quarter of the territory's military.
• The conspirators divided responsibility for six watchposts and pledged more than four hundred warriors to the plan.
• A conspirator questioned how the plot could succeed with ten to twenty thousand troops in Sunset City, and the lead conspirator argued that the enemy could not spare many men while serfs and prisoners remained in the military camp.

A group of Great Oak Territory’s relatives plotted to revolt against Viscount Victor and prevent Brando from inheriting, but Magnus learned of their plan through infiltrators and a betrayer. Victor and Magnus prepared to suppress the conspiracy and keep Brando safe.

• The conspirators agreed to rebel, believing Count Black’s death and the Diaz brothers’ fate justified their plan to make Viscount Golden Sunflower and Brando pay.
• Magnus received intelligence exposing the conspiracy and summoned Depaul and Victor to discuss it.
• Victor and Magnus discovered that infiltrators and a conspirator who wanted leniency had both reported the plan.
• Magnus decided to use the rebellion as a chance to remove the plotters before Brando inherited the title.
• Victor asked to keep Brando in the same room with him for protection, and Magnus agreed.

A Silver Maple Secret Guard captain and his two subordinates abandoned their plan to assassinate Victor and instead prepared to sow chaos in Sunset City and the eastern counties. As the captain documented the dangerous effects of secret medicine on his surviving men, he worried that his report might never reach Silver Maple’s leaders.

• The disguised Silver Maple Secret Guards left Sunset City after delivering a letter to the Lord's Mansion, and the captain explained that Victor was too powerful to assassinate.
• The captain revealed that their new plan involved exploiting unrest among Great Oak Territory’s collateral branches to attack estates and disrupt Victor’s forces.
• The two subordinates reported that they had poisoned a POW camp well with Rage Potion, while accomplices in Sunset City prepared to start fires.
• The captain proposed killing minor nobles and their families to discourage the eastern counties’ nobles from mobilizing their private armies.
• The captain recorded that secret medicine had strengthened the two young guards but left them prone to bloodthirsty impulses, and recalled that the other survivors of their squad had died during the experiments.

Steward Magnus and Victor learned that a refugee horde was advancing through Great Oak Territory as part of a known conspiracy. When the horde unexpectedly sped up, Victor prepared his personal guard to confront it.

• Steward Magnus reported the refugee horde to Victor, and they agreed to follow their plan to destroy the conspirators’ armed force.
• Magnus asked Victor for engineers and special construction material to build fortresses at key border locations in Great Oak Territory, and Victor agreed.
• A messenger reported that the horde had breached two sentry posts and was advancing quickly with over a thousand donkeys or mules.
• Victor hurried to the camp and ordered Bask to prepare the personal guard to fight the approaching refugees.
• Bask eagerly went to tell the soldiers to depart.

Victor sent Bask’s personal guard to defeat the refugee band and preserve its mounts, while conspirators led by Enzos launched a surprise assault on the Lord’s Mansion. Enzos and the others rushed inside after the fighting faded, but froze at what they saw.

• Victor told Gutierrez to instruct Bask to preserve the refugee band’s mounts and question prisoners about where they came from.
• Bask led the personal guard away from the manor, while mounted scouts guided and scouted for them.
• The conspirators learned that the manor’s army had left and agreed to attack the Lord’s Mansion while it was unguarded.
• Mabella withdrew her claim to the Count’s title, pledged support to Enzos, and accepted his promise of half the docks in Sunset City.
• Enzos gathered the black-clad attackers and ordered them to leave no one alive inside the manor.
• The attackers stormed the manor, and Enzos and the conspirators rushed in after the cries and screams faded, then froze at the scene.

Enzos’s rebellion was defeated, and Mabella revealed herself as an undercover agent who had helped Victor and Magnus expose the plot. As Enzos’s allies surrendered and blamed him, he was left with only two companions beside him.

• Mabella escaped to the cavalry outside the manor and identified herself as an undercover agent working with Steward Magnus.
• Enzos realized Mabella had betrayed the rebels, and Depaul’s troops finished suppressing the black-clad soldiers and surrounded Enzos’s group.
• Depaul mocked Enzos for his failed rebellion, while Victor and Magnus arrived and Magnus condemned the plot against Count Black and Brando.
• One of Enzos’s companions knelt and begged Victor and Magnus for mercy, claiming Enzos had deceived him.
• Enzos’s remaining companions followed suit, blamed him, and revealed his plan to seek the duchy’s army’s help against Golden Sunflower Territory.
• Enzos watched as only two people remained beside him and wondered whether the others would truly be spared.