Chapter Summaries

Tennyson Fadeyev was released from Arda Prison after his teacher Wells secured his freedom. The lord promised to pardon Tennyson’s uninvolved relatives if Wells and his colleagues developed a method for mass-producing steel within half a year, so they hurried back to the laboratory to begin.

• Arda Prison’s strict routines and improved conditions were described as Tennyson Fadeyev worked on barstools.
• The warden told Tennyson that his teacher Wells had come to take him home.
• Wells explained that Tennyson’s release depended on helping develop a method for mass-producing steel within half a year.
• Tennyson worried about his family, and Wells said the lord would pardon relatives who had not directly participated in the rebellion if they succeeded.
• Wells urged Tennyson to return to the laboratory with him and start researching immediately.

Stanford returned to Franklin Harbor from a successful northern expedition and traveled to Lakeheart Town to report to Earl Greiman. On the way, Glit told him about the rebellion and the earl’s crackdown, including reforms that were sending rural workers into the cities.

• Stanford returned to Franklin Harbor with the Exploration Team after trading and surveying among the northern tribes.
• Stanford left for Lakeheart Town to report to Earl Greiman and met the merchant Glit on the road.
• Glit told Stanford that villages in the north had rebelled against Earl Greiman and that the uprising had been put down.
• Glit explained that Earl Greiman had punished the rebels, stripped landlords of their tax-contractor authority, banned private punishments, and ordered rural debts investigated.
• Glit said the earl’s reforms had driven many rural people to seek work in the cities.

Stanford learned that rural workers were filling factory jobs and wondered whether Earl Greiman had prepared for resentment over his policies. Paul proposed commercial insurance as a way to encourage landowners to invest in new industries, and the officials agreed to launch the service.

• Glit told Stanford that rural workers were obedient, hardworking, and cheap to hire.
• Stanford considered how Paul’s policies might affect rural landowners and recalled a naval officer who had joined the Exploration Team after losing hope of promotion.
• Hansel warned Paul that rural gentry resented the new policies and were unlikely to risk their wealth on unfamiliar businesses.
• Paul refused to withdraw his orders and proposed tax reductions and subsidies for landowners who invested in industry and commerce.
• Paul introduced commercial insurance, explaining that banks would collect premiums and compensate businesses for losses.
• Old Ford and the other officials discussed the proposal and agreed that the banks should launch commercial insurance.

Captain Stanford reported on the Northern Exploration Fleet’s journey into the lands beyond the Rocky Mountains, including fertile Blackwater Basin and native tribes seeking agricultural knowledge. Paul decided to expand the Greiman Family’s territory overseas by establishing a trading post and pursuing colonization.

• Paul welcomed Captain Stanford to the lord’s office and asked about the exploration team members who had stayed among the natives; Stanford said they were well and had returned with the ship.
• Stanford described the northern regions the fleet had explored, including Serene Prairie, Lucky Forest, Blackwater Basin, the Great Prairie, and the frozen wasteland.
• Paul approved Stanford’s proposal for a trading post, and Old Ford agreed that the Government Affairs Council would organize merchants to travel north with the fleet.
• Stanford reported that native tribes wanted to learn crop cultivation, and Hansel proposed teaching them in exchange for land.
• After Stanford praised Blackwater Basin’s exceptionally fertile soil, Paul announced plans to expand the Greiman Family’s territory beyond the Rocky Mountains and spread human civilization and Aldo’s glory.

Nathan and Sita watched the Grand Duke of Eton recognize law-abiding Spellcasters as citizens, while Mariana returned to Gabella after receiving a message. At the Holy See, Pope Harrington II’s officials debated whether to rescue the failing Horn Bay Church immediately, and Anthony advised putting out the fire before it spread.

• The Grand Duke proclaimed that law-abiding Spellcasters in Eton would receive the rights and protections of ordinary citizens, prompting public debate that soon subsided.
• Nathan told Sita that Mariana had hurried back to Gabella after receiving a message, and Sita regretted missing the chance to serve beside His Highness.
• At the Golden Summit Temple, Tours blamed Elvis for the Horn Bay Church’s defeats as the Church’s armies retreated toward Collins.
• Holy See officials argued over whether to send troops to help the Horn Bay Church now or wait until after dealing with the heretics.
• Pope Harrington II asked Anthony for his view, and Anthony urged him to extinguish the crisis before it spread.

After more than two months among the Great Stream Tribe, Glan prepared to leave with the Western Exploration Fleet and learned that the tribe faced an enemy from the southern land. Egbert showed Glan a stone tablet depicting the enemy as a humanlike creature with crooked, goat-like horns.

• Glan told Egbert he was leaving, and Egbert regretted that their conversations about other continents would end.
• Glan recalled how the Western Exploration Fleet crossed the ocean, encountered the Great Stream Tribe, and spent two months trading, recovering, and repairing its ships.
• Glan asked Egbert about the worry on his face, and Egbert revealed that enemies from the south threatened the tribe.
• Egbert explained that the enemies looked much like humans and showed Glan a stone tablet depicting a humanlike figure with goat-like horns.

Glan learned from Egbert that the Superior Race had once led the continent’s peoples against the demons, but had begun enslaving northern races five years earlier. Unable to promise military help, Glan offered the Great Stream Tribe a batch of weapons before wishing Egbert luck.

• Egbert told Glan that the Superior Race had awakened Godly Power and united the races to drive the demons into Hell’s Gate.
• Egbert explained that the races had granted the Superior Race the southern lands after the war, while the other races shared the north.
• Egbert said the Superior Race began raiding the north five years earlier to capture slaves for its warring tribes.
• Glan called the Superior Race shameless but admitted he could not promise help because he served Earl Paul Greiman.
• Glan offered Egbert’s tribe a batch of swords and knives, and Egbert thanked him for his blessing.

Tennyson Fadeyev investigated how changes in iron’s composition affected its properties, while Webster proposed that phlogiston from charcoal and soot could turn iron into steel. The two planned to test Webster’s discovery together after lunch.

• Tennyson repeatedly melted and stirred iron, recording how it softened and lost weight as it became wrought iron.
• At lunch, Tennyson told Hoffman he planned to separate the elements in iron and test their effects on its properties.
• Webster said he had learned that blacksmiths wrapped iron bars in charcoal powder, coal soot, and wood ash and heated them to make steel.
• Webster proposed that phlogiston in the mixture caused the change, and Tennyson eagerly asked to experiment with him after lunch.

Gerd Rhodesney discussed the profits and prospects of the new industries built with technology from Northwest Bay with his father, Prince Jasim Rhodesney, and his brother Yuriko. He estimated the industries could bring in 500,000 Silver Shields next year and match the Royal Family’s traditional income within five years.

• Gerd welcomed Prince Jasim Rhodesney and Yuriko after they returned early from the All-Night Banquet.
• Prince Jasim asked Gerd about the factory reports, while Yuriko struggled to understand the figures and charts.
• Gerd said factories producing paper, canned goods, salt, Spring Carriages, and Honeycomb Coal were already earning profits.
• Gerd estimated the new industries would net 500,000 Silver Shields next year, crediting Earl Paul Greiman’s technology and commercial channels.
• Gerd said Northwest Bay’s merchant fleet and shipbuilding methods could help expand trade and industry, and projected that the new industries might match the Royal Family’s traditional income within five years.

Prince Jassim and his sons discussed Paul Greiman’s growing influence in Northwest Bay and how the Royal Family should deal with him. Gerd argued that Greiman was powerful but loyal and uninterested in political conquest, so Prince Jassim told Gerd to build a friendship with him and keep him connected to Crystal Radiance’s circle of power.

• Yuriko suggested that Greiman should be made to offer his industries to the Royal Family, but Gerd challenged his assumption that Greiman would agree.
• Gerd explained that Arda’s organized workshops and farms made it a powerful industrial territory that could quickly support a war effort.
• Gerd warned that Greiman controlled several earldoms and had the backing of many Northwest Bay lords, making a rebellion potentially as damaging as Giles’s.
• Gerd told Prince Jassim that Greiman appeared loyal and more interested in scholarship, commerce, and invention than political power.
• Prince Jassim instructed Gerd to establish a friendship with Greiman and maintain his connection to Crystal Radiance’s powerful circles through Gerd.

Prince Jassim urged Gerd to secure the western bay as a political asset while warning that Catherine’s supporters might pursue the throne. After waking, the king asked Catherine whether she wanted to rule and, when she refused, named Gerd as his preferred successor and charged her with helping the kingdom manage coming changes.

• Prince Jassim told Gerd that the king’s failing health could spark a succession crisis and urged him to strengthen his position by holding the western bay.
• Gerd asked Prince Jassim to treat Catherine and Irene kindly if the throne fell to their family, and Prince Jassim agreed.
• The king awoke in his bedchamber and sent the Queen and Irene away so he could speak with Catherine alone.
• The king asked Catherine whether she wanted the throne, and she said she had only meant to help him govern and would support whoever succeeded him.
• The king explained that he favored Gerd because he was open to new ideas and asked Catherine to help Gerd guide the kingdom through change.
• Catherine promised to work with her brother and help reconcile the old and new for the Aldo Kingdom.

Mariana returned to the Imperial Capital and met with Aldrich, Yarvi, Ambolov, and Marshal MacDonald to discuss the danger posed by the Diaz Family's plan to send MacDonald and Siegfried north. MacDonald proposed striking first after they appeared to leave the capital, while remaining ready to return and act.

• Mariana arrived at Scholar's Tower and joined Aldrich, Yarvi, and MacDonald for a secret meeting.
• Aldrich explained that the Emperor had ordered MacDonald and Siegfried to lead an army north against the Orcs, threatening Antonio's military influence.
• Ambolov told the group that Antonio was still hesitating over taking the final step.
• MacDonald argued that they should wait until he and Siegfried had left the capital before striking, when the First Prince and the Diaz Family would be less prepared.
• Mariana recognized MacDonald's plan to lure their opponents into a false sense of security, and MacDonald clarified that they would still seize the initiative and return to the capital to attack.

Paul reviewed the urban development plan for Lakeheart Town, approved it despite the need to relocate graves, and began considering a new name for the growing city. He then ended the meeting to receive the Chemistry Laboratory members, who had arrived to report their progress.

• Sir Smolett presented the latest plan for Lakeheart Town, including wide roads and extensive sewers.
• Sir Smolett pointed out that the plan required graves, including the Greiman family cemetery, to be relocated, and Paul approved the move with the Government Affairs Council covering residents' costs.
• Berna questioned whether the expanding city should still be called Lakeheart Town, and Paul and Hansel suggested alternative names before Old Ford proposed soliciting names from residents.
• Paul ordered a notice and reward for city-name suggestions, while keeping the island district's name as Lakeheart Town.
• Berna reminded Paul of the Chemistry Laboratory's appointment, and Paul postponed further planning discussions with Sir Smolett until the next day.
• The Chemistry Laboratory members arrived at Paul's office to report their latest progress.

Paul challenged the alchemists’ phlogiston theory after their experiments suggested that phlogiston controlled the properties of steel. The chapter ended with La Di questioning why Paul refused to let her use magic to help their research.

• Wells explained the alchemists’ phlogiston theory to Paul and said they believed phlogiston governed metal smelting and steel’s properties.
• Paul ordered the researchers to weigh a piece of iron before and after calcination, and the iron grew heavier instead of lighter.
• Paul rejected the alchemists’ deduction that metal lost phlogiston during calcination, leaving Wells, Tennyson, and the other researchers discouraged.
• La Di told Paul that she could use magic to produce high temperatures and help the alchemists with their research.
• Paul refused to let La Di use magic, and she pressed him to explain why.

Paul explained to Laddie that he opposed making human society dependent on unstable magic and its small number of Spellcasters, though he would consider it if conventional methods failed. Meanwhile, exhausted Tennyson left the Chemistry Laboratory to investigate phlogiston and encountered his former classmate Nick.

• Paul told Laddie that magic was too unpredictable to serve as the foundation for human development and warned that Spellcasters might become an entrenched ruling class.
• Laddie challenged Paul’s bias against magic, but he said ordinary people should solve society’s problems through their own ingenuity while conventional methods remained available.
• Tennyson emerged from the Chemistry Laboratory after two sleepless days researching phlogiston and headed toward the school cafeteria.
• Tennyson ran into Nick, a former classmate who had earned a reward for solving an artillery-surveying problem and had since started an optical-equipment company.

Nick offered to help Tennyson solve his high-temperature experiment by making a large convex lens to focus sunlight. Meanwhile, Paul welcomed the returning Eastern Exploration Team and learned that they had found an isthmus leading to a forested southern land inhabited by elves.

• Tennyson told Nick that his steel-property research had stalled because he could not reach the temperature needed to separate phlogiston in its elemental form.
• Nick explained how a convex lens could focus sunlight and proposed making a larger lens to produce extreme heat, and Tennyson asked him to help.
• Berna informed Paul that the Eastern Exploration Team had returned, and Paul waited eagerly to meet its members.
• Nigel and four other members arrived, and Paul welcomed them before asking about their journey to the East.
• Nigel described sailing past the Nasar Peninsula and the Gabella Empire to an isthmus connecting to the forested Emerald Forest, where the team had encountered elves.

Paul learned that the elves possessed an unquenchable fuel and that Nigel had brought back raw rubber, prompting him to prepare another expedition to the Elf Lands. Meanwhile, King Rhodesney XVII died and Gerd Rhodesney became king, leading Grand Duke Giles to consider a march on Crystal Radiance while Samar urged him to wait for a conflict within the royal family.

• Nigel described the elves’ beauty, their vulnerability to human slave hunters, and their secret weapon: a fuel that water could not extinguish.
• Nigel gave Paul a pale-yellow, flexible substance, and Paul recognized it as raw rubber.
• Paul ordered Nigel and his crew to rest, then return to the Elf Lands to contact the elves and win their friendship.
• King Rhodesney XVII died, and his nephew Gerd Rhodesney succeeded him as Rhodesney XVIII.
• Grand Duke Giles celebrated Gerd’s accession and announced that he would raise troops and march on Crystal Radiance.
• Samar advised Giles to wait for Catherine and Jasim to clash, and Giles decided to activate his spies in Crystal Radiance.

Paul and the Northwest Bay nobles arrived in Crystal Radiance to pay their respects to the new king. After entering the capital, Paul learned about the royal tradition of kings abandoning their given names upon taking the crown.

• Crystal Radiance's guards opened the West Gate and prepared for visiting nobles amid heightened security.
• Derrick Heller presented his family's crest and explained that the Northwest Bay nobles had traveled by ship to reach the capital.
• Derrick complained that the closed gates had forced them to spend the night outside, but Paul urged him to enter the city.
• Paul and the nobles rode into Crystal Radiance, where Paul marveled at the capital's size and unfamiliar architecture.
• Earl Parker explained to Paul that King Rhodesney XVIII had abandoned his given name, Gerd, when he took the crown.

Paul and Mellon answered King Rhodesney XVIII’s invitation to the Royal Palace, where they met Princess Catherine Rhodesney and discussed Northwest Bay’s rise. The king asked Paul to help bring similar prosperity to the whole kingdom.

• After arriving in Crystal Radiance, Paul and Mellon received an order to visit the Royal Palace the next day, while the other lords had received no such message.
• Paul and Mellon entered the palace with Victor, Laddie, and their companions, surrendered their weapons, and met Rhodesney XVIII in his parlor.
• Rhodesney XVIII introduced his cousin, Princess Catherine Rhodesney, and Catherine thanked Paul for supporting the Royal Army and providing technology and markets.
• Rhodesney XVIII praised Paul and Mellon for transforming Northwest Bay, while Mellon credited Paul and Paul acknowledged the Garnard Family’s investments.
• Rhodesney XVIII asked Paul what he thought of replicating Northwest Bay’s success throughout the kingdom.

Paul advised Rhodesney XVIII to test reforms in a loyal, limited Economic Zone before expanding them across the kingdom. After Paul departed, Rhodesney and Catherine discussed the proposal and pledged to stand united, though Rhodesney privately worried she might hate him later.

• Rhodesney XVIII asked Paul how to replicate Northwest Bay’s achievements, and Paul cautioned that the Royal Territory’s circumstances were very different.
• Paul proposed establishing an Economic Zone where the king could test and revise policies before applying successful reforms elsewhere.
• Catherine praised Paul’s suggestion, and Rhodesney said he would consider trying it.
• After Paul and his party left, Rhodesney asked Catherine about Paul and then asked how far she would go to serve the kingdom.
• Catherine vowed to give everything, and Rhodesney let her return to the military camp while privately wondering whether she would hate him someday.