Chapter Summaries

Roderick persuaded Oliver to join his comrades for an evening at a tavern, easing Oliver’s loneliness. Over drinks, Mark revealed he had bought a house and planned to marry, while Elton said he preferred remaining single.

• Roderick, Tommy, Elton, and Mark convinced Oliver to join them for a meal and drinks.
• Roderick led the group to the busy tavern in Stockaded Village Number One and ordered ale and food at his expense.
• Mark told Roderick that he had bought a house and was struggling with the mortgage payments.
• Mark revealed that he was engaged to a woman the village chief had introduced to him and hoped to marry her soon.
• Mark urged Roderick, Elton, and Tommy to consider marriage, but Elton said he preferred living without ties or debt.

At a tavern gathering, Oliver listened as his comrades discussed marriage and Tommy’s reassignment, then confronted the permanent loss of his own chance to serve on the front line. Roderick led a toast that eased the moment, though Oliver’s future remained uncertain and lonely.

• Mark and Elton disagreed about whether soldiers should marry early or spend their wages while they could.
• Mark asked Roderick why he had not married, and Roderick said he had not met anyone suitable.
• Mark praised Tommy for his transfer to the Culture and Propaganda Department, but Tommy said he wanted to return to frontline combat.
• Oliver understood Tommy’s longing to fight, then dwelled on how his destroyed knee had permanently ended his own frontline service.
• Roderick noticed Oliver’s distress and led the table in a toast to their being alive, and the comrades raised their cups together.

At court in Prye City, Empress Dowager Katerina von Eisenberg learned that Princess Louise had married Baron Karl von Schmidt in Carnford and dismissed complaints about the Schmidt Family’s caravans. King Sigmund demanded the family’s destruction, but Katerina calmed the court and rejected violence, leaving the dispute unresolved.

• Minister of Ceremonies reported that Louise had arrived safely in Carnford and married Karl a day later than planned because she was unwell.
• Katerina accepted the wedding delay and ordered Albert to serve Louise and report on developments in Carnford.
• The Lord Seal Minister accused the Schmidt Family of exploiting its royal marriage alliance to evade taxes and expand its influence in the south.
• Sigmund furiously ordered Duke Eisenberg’s Blackstone Cavalry to attack the Schmidt Family and execute its entire clan.
• Katerina rebuked the proposed violence and characterized the caravans’ misconduct as minor, preserving harmony with the Schmidt Family.

Empress Dowager Katerina defused a dispute involving the Schmidt Family and banished Friedrich von Schmidt from his military posts to Hewenham Territory. After summoning provincial governors to discuss rewards and next year’s war, the court assembly ended with King Sigmund indulging in a disgraceful display while Katerina left in disgust.

• Empress Dowager Katerina ordered a royal letter sent to Lord Karl of Carnford, asking him to remind Duke Schmidt to act cautiously and preserve harmony.
• A military official accused Friedrich von Schmidt of violating orders and military discipline, and King Sigmund demanded his execution.
• Empress Dowager Katerina spared Friedrich, stripped him of his posts at Blackstone Pass, and reassigned him as a cavalry captain in Hewenham Territory, where he could not leave without an imperial edict.
• Empress Dowager Katerina summoned the Empire’s provincial governors to the Royal Capital to discuss campaign rewards and next year’s war against the Sauron people.
• After the assembly, King Sigmund called dancers into the Council Chamber and celebrated with them while Empress Dowager Katerina left without intervening.

Empress Dowager Katerina and her lover Viktor discussed threats to King Sigmund’s rule and their plans to centralize royal power. Viktor also dismissed Katerina’s scheme against Konrad and vowed to surpass him at magic.

• Katerina collapsed into bed after a draining court session and reflected on the kingdom’s crises.
• Viktor joined Katerina, and she told him Louise had married into Carnford, removing a threat to Sigmund’s throne.
• Viktor warned that the nobles remained dangerous and urged Katerina to reclaim their authority for the crown.
• Viktor criticized Sigmund’s indulgence, while Katerina asked him to guide their son; Viktor acknowledged Sigmund was his son.
• Katerina asked why Viktor smelled of medicinal herbs, and he said he had been studying magic and discussed Konrad’s achievement at the Royal Capital Magic Academy.
• Katerina proposed sending Konrad to the frontier, but Viktor cautioned that the academy could not be controlled through political schemes and said he would surpass Konrad himself.

Tommy staged the public execution of a Sauron spy in Carnford, rallying the Shantytown Area around Lord Karl’s rule. Franz and Ernst then captured a suspicious refugee they believed was connected to the spy and took him toward the castle.

• Tommy announced that the Sauron spy would be executed, and the executioner beheaded him before the gathered crowd.
• The crowd cheered the execution and praised Lord Karl as soldiers prepared to display the spy’s head and body.
• Franz, disguised as a laborer, identified a suspicious worker by his reaction to the execution and followed him through the temporary market.
• Franz and Ernst blocked the man’s escape in an alley, subdued him, and bound him while claiming he was a thief.
• Franz and Ernst carried the captive toward the castle, telling onlookers they would take him to Lord Karl’s dungeon.

Karl visited the dungeon after Franz reported the Intelligence Department’s capture of a skilled suspected spy. Richter began interrogating the prisoner, who endured torture without revealing his name or mission, and Karl watched as the questioning continued.

• Franz reported how he and the Intelligence Department had tracked and captured the suspicious man, and Karl praised their work.
• Richter asked the chained prisoner for his name and home, but the man stayed silent.
• Franz splashed concentrated salt water onto the prisoner’s wounds, and Richter tried to persuade him to cooperate by describing the fate of another captive.
• When the prisoner still refused to speak, Richter ordered two executioners to crush his fingers in a hardwood clamp.
• Franz gave the exhausted prisoner water, and Richter asked again for his name and mission, but he refused to answer.
• Karl watched from the shadows as Richter ordered the prisoner to rest before another round of interrogation.

Karl and Richter tortured the captured spy until he revealed his identity and details of a Sauron infiltration mission. Richter sent people to investigate the information while ordering the interrogation to continue until it could be verified.

• Richter's usual torture methods failed to make the captive reveal anything, so Karl suggested waterboarding with wet paper.
• After repeated rounds of waterboarding, the captive broke and identified himself as Thomson from the Northern Territory.
• Thomson revealed that General Leon had sent him and six men to infiltrate the area disguised as refugees two months earlier.
• Thomson named the five remaining agents as Jack, David, Harrison, Fred, and Lawrence, and gave their approximate locations.
• Richter recorded the information and ordered his people to investigate secretly while continuing to interrogate Thomson and verify his claims.

Karl’s newly formed First Regiment grew to 2,500 carefully selected refugees and began rigorous basic training on the Carnford Plains. The chapter leaves the regiment still far from Karl’s envisioned war machine, with discipline and formation taking priority over individual skill.

• Recruitment officers and veterans selected 2,500 men from the refugees, favoring soldiers with combat experience and family responsibilities.
• The First Regiment trained spearmen to thrust at vulnerable points in armor through repeated drills.
• Swordsmen and Shieldbearers practiced blocking, throwing javelins, and quickly forming defensive lines.
• Mixed squads practiced deploying into formations, protecting their flanks, and advancing together.
• Squads fought padded sparring matches, with the losing side ordered to wash the winners’ sweat-soaked leggings and socks.
• The regiment focused on obedience, discipline, and maintaining formation rather than making each soldier an exceptional fighter.

Karl oversaw the training and equipment of his 2,500-man army, emphasizing basic combat skills and strict discipline. Brendan presented him with a crude drill manual compiled from soldiers’ battlefield experience, and Karl examined its practical instructions and diagrams.

• Karl’s army equipped most infantry with leather armor or Cotton Armor, while veterans and officers received better protection such as Chain Mail, Cloth-Faced Armor, or scarce plate armor.
• Karl watched the soldiers practice basic killing skills and formations, explaining that discipline had to turn individuals into a cohesive force.
• Brendan gave Karl a sheepskin booklet compiled by veteran soldiers, clerks, and former draftsmen from their battles and past experience.
• Karl reviewed the manual’s instructions on spearmen, combined squad formations, marching regulations, and battle command signals.
• Karl judged the manual crude and lacking systematic theory, but recognized it as a clear collection of practical lessons for battlefield survival and cooperation.

Karl approved Carnford’s first written military drill manual and ordered it to be tested and continually revised, arguing that systematic training could produce reliable soldiers at scale. As spring arrived, refugee settlement and recruitment of skilled newcomers accelerated Carnford’s development, with new stockaded villages nearing completion.

• Karl praised Brendan and the other officers for compiling veterans’ battlefield experience into a drill manual and told them to keep revising it based on training and combat.
• Karl ordered copies distributed to every company and instructed sergeant majors to use the manual in training.
• By early April, most refugee families in Carnford had received land, and spring plowing had begun across the Carnford Plain.
• Edgar delegated more administrative work to trained officials and coordinated Carnford’s development as Minister of Industry and Commerce.
• Recruitment notices in Fran City and southern towns attracted scholars, engineers, craftsmen, and clerks to the Northern Territory.
• Stockaded Village Number Two was completed, construction of Number Three advanced, and plans for Number Four were ready.

Edgar established a temporary Inspection Bureau to monitor Carnford’s new officials, while Morr advanced Amber Bay’s harbor, saltworks, and shipbuilding plans. Karl accepted that Carnford could not yet break the southern salt monopoly and approved plans to build its own fleet, beginning with Cogs and caravels.

• Edgar divided Tunbao's administrative powers among departments and secretly created an Inspection Bureau to investigate officials and hear the common people's concerns.
• Morr oversaw the construction of three barges at Amber Bay, allowing small coastal vessels to load and unload goods.
• Morr established Carnford's first saltworks, and local salt prices fell as production supplied the territory and nearby Fran City.
• Grimm warned Karl that southern nobles and clans controlled the salt market, so Karl kept Carnford's salt sales local and limited.
• Karl put Carnford's fleet-building plan into motion, and Morr and veteran shipwrights proposed starting with Cogs and caravels.

Karl invested heavily in establishing Carnford’s shipyard at Amber Bay, ordering three caravels and ten cogs to build the territory’s fleet. He introduced a rank and training system to recruit skilled refugees and develop local shipbuilders, leaving the new vessels taking shape on the beach.

• Carnford’s shipbuilding craftsmen, many refugees from Field Territory, arrived to work for Karl after learning of his recruitment campaign and benefits.
• Karl approved the construction of three caravels and ten cogs despite the strain on the treasury.
• The shipyard was established at Amber Bay, where workers built sheds and cranes and laid the ships’ keels on the beach.
• Karl introduced a system of craftsman ranks and benefits that rewarded senior craftsmen for training apprentices.
• Edgar selected educated young men to learn shipbuilding while working at the shipyard.
• The craftsmen and workers began building the fleet, and the frames of cogs and caravels gradually took shape.

In late pregnancy, Charlotte exercised and eagerly read a letter from her father, hoping for news of Karl. She learned Karl was rebuilding Carnford and interpreted his marriage as a cover for preparing their future, leaving her determined to wait for him.

• Charlotte practiced light exercise in the courtyard under Aunt Martha’s watchful eye.
• Lady Isabella gave Charlotte a letter her father had sent from Fran City, and Charlotte hurried to read it alone.
• Charlotte felt disappointed that the letter was not from Karl, then read her father’s updates about Karl and Carnford.
• Charlotte learned that the road to Carnford was complete and that Karl had introduced a new taxation policy while the territory’s population and commerce grew.
• Charlotte took Karl’s recent marriage as a necessary disguise and resolved to stay well and wait for him.

Richter uncovered and executed Sauron’s spies in Carnford as Karl’s forces and weapons production expanded. The chapter ended with Karl visiting Elmont’s heavily guarded cannon workshop and finding the young engineer disheveled but intensely focused.

• Richter used Thomson’s testimony to locate and capture spies operating in shops, construction sites, and the Shantytown Area.
• Richter publicly identified the captured spies, and all eight, including Thomson, were executed.
• Karl divided the Main Corps’ more than 3,000 recruits into two regiments under Brendan and Roland, while the three Tunbao formed militia camps totaling 900 men.
• Morr used water-powered machinery to improve musket production, but only 20 of 200 inspected flintlock rifles had usable bayonets.
• Karl inspected the secured cannon workshop and found Elmont disheveled after more than a month of work but visibly absorbed in his task.

Karl inspected the newly completed Eagle Cannons and Minin Cannons, then arranged a secret live-fire test in a mountain hollow. The Eagle Cannon fired successfully toward a dead tree, but the chapter ended before the shot’s impact was confirmed.

• Elmont showed Karl two bronze Eagle Cannons and described their design, weight, and three-pound ammunition.
• Karl praised Elmont’s work and ordered a live-fire test after Elmont reported that the cannons had not yet been fired.
• Hector completed twelve Minin Cannons after marrying Helena, and Karl inspected the new weapons.
• Karl held a secluded test with Edgar, the cannon makers, their assistants, and loyal guards.
• Elmont fired the Eagle Cannon at a dead tree three hundred meters away, sending its iron shot downrange.

Karl oversaw successful test firings of the Eagle Cannon and Minin Cannon, then promoted Elmont and ordered him and Hector to compile a practical artillery training manual for Carnford. Elmont and Hector agreed to draft an outline for Karl to review and begin the work immediately.

• Elmont's Eagle Cannon test shot snapped a thick dead tree trunk, confirming the cannon's fire rate and accuracy.
• Hector demonstrated the Minin Cannon's layered ammunition, blasting a bush and heavily damaging the tree trunk behind it.
• Karl praised the craftsmen and promoted Elmont to First-Class Craftsman, granting him authority to recruit and train apprentices.
• Karl ordered Elmont and Hector to write a practical artillery manual covering cannon maintenance, transport, loading, aiming, and post-firing procedures.
• Elmont and Hector accepted the assignment and promised to prepare an outline for Karl to review.

Karl and Richter discussed expanding the Intelligence Department and improving counterespionage among the growing refugee population. Karl ordered the department to build intelligence channels through merchant caravans, beginning with Grimm's.

• Karl praised Richter for dismantling the Sauron spy network and promised increased funding for the Intelligence Department.
• Richter proposed making headmen, merchants, and militia officers responsible for watching for suspicious newcomers.
• Karl rejected assigning the task to merchants and militia officers, and ordered refugees organized into groups and teams under a baojia system with collective rewards and punishments.
• Karl told Richter to expand the department carefully, prioritizing loyalty and reliability among new personnel.
• Karl directed Richter to target merchant caravans as the department's first external intelligence network rather than infiltrating Sauron military forces.
• Richter accepted the order to identify or recruit people connected to caravans such as Grimm's and gather information about their goods and contacts.

Karl reviewed Carnford’s growing security and military strength, then realized the Saurons might target the Iron Islands next. He resolved to send someone there to gather information and consider helping the remaining kingdom forces.

• Karl reflected that the Intelligence Bureau had eliminated Carnford’s internal traitors and that the territory’s army and weapons production had expanded.
• Karl considered how Edgar’s royal-flag merchant caravan could bring wealth to Carnford by selling Northern Territory goods.
• Karl worried that the Saurons’ newly acquired manpower could support a major campaign, then ruled out Carnford, Fran City, and Eagle's Nest Fortress as likely targets.
• Karl spotted the Iron Islands on the map and recalled how their forces had disrupted the Saurons during the previous winter’s attack.
• Karl concluded that the Saurons would likely try to capture the Iron Islands and decided to send someone to investigate and find a way to help its defenders.

Karl finished investigating Carnford’s records and considered borrowing Grimm’s caravan ships to explore the Iron Islands. After a peaceful dinner with Lady Eileen and Princess Louise, he reassured Louise about Edgar’s caravan before falling asleep beside her.

• Karl decided he might ask Richter about borrowing Grimm’s ships to investigate the Iron Islands, since Carnford’s vessels were unsuited to the Northern Sea.
• Karl joined Lady Eileen and Princess Louise for dinner, apologized for his recent absence, and promised to spend more time with them.
• Karl accompanied Lady Eileen and Princess Louise on a walk through the castle garden before returning to his room.
• Princess Louise asked Karl about Edgar’s caravan, and he said its business beyond the pass was proceeding well and benefited from her imperial banner.
• Princess Louise said she was happy to help Carnford, and Karl fell asleep peacefully beside her.