Chapter Summaries

Rorschach used infected microorganisms and Transmutation Dust to possess a dead Imperial soldier, Joseph Muller, and regain a crude body on the battlefield. After disguising himself among the Imperial troops, he watched a golden streak strike and destroy an airship.

• The Imperial Army used the Anti-Magic Device and its cannons to rout the Holy Kingdom's church forces, leaving Rorschach's body shattered.
• Rorschach discovered that his soul could control microorganisms nourished by his blood and used them to reanimate a dead Imperial infantryman.
• Rorschach consumed Transmutation Dust-rich soil and blood from nearby corpses to give the new body rudimentary spellcasting ability.
• Rorschach found the soldier's papers identifying him as Joseph Muller and collected identification tags from fallen Imperial soldiers.
• Achim approached Joseph, accepted the fallen soldiers' papers, and offered him water as the Imperial Army cleared the battlefield.
• A golden streak plunged into the airship and detonated it above the battlefield.

Grey Cardinal Joseph confronted Chief Mage Willard von Solon at the crashed airship, while Richard tried to support his teacher. A young Mage named Joseph Rorschach arrived and revealed that he was immune to Solon’s deathly magic.

• Grey Cardinal Joseph flew to the battlefield after learning that the airships had stripped the paladins and clergy of divine protection.
• Joseph Rorschach handed his identification documents to Achim and ran toward the crashed airship.
• Willard von Solon and Grey Cardinal Joseph faced off as Richard healed wounded Mages and attacked Joseph with acid arrows.
• Solon used the dead aboard the airship and the battlefield’s Breath of Death to form a ring, while Joseph brought out an ancient Holy Emblem to hold him back.
• A young Mage healed Richard, questioned Solon’s claim that he was an incarnation, and revealed that his name was Joseph too.
• Solon’s attempt to kill and control Joseph Rorschach with the Breath of Death had no effect.

Joseph Rorschach disrupted Soren's attack on Priest Joseph during the battle around the burning airships. After Priest Joseph escaped, Soren questioned Rorschach and concluded he was an agent of the Mage Guild.

• Soren used Vessel Mutation to make Priest Joseph's blood vessels swell, burst through his flesh, and attack him.
• Rorschach secretly sent a blue beam that freed Priest Joseph, who healed himself with Light Power and left the battlefield.
• Soren reassessed Rorschach after his death magic and Negative Energy failed to affect him, then asked who he was.
• Rorschach claimed to be Joseph, an agent codenamed Frost Eagle from the Imperial Military Special Powers Defense Agency.
• Soren revealed that Agency Chief Sabins had died in a suspicious air crash and accused Rorschach of being a lackey of the Mage Guild.

Soren drove off Rorschach’s clone and ordered the Anti-Magic Device wreckage destroyed, then told Richard he would not inherit Soren’s true knowledge. Cut off from his main body and close to death, Joseph Rorschach reconnected with it, transferred his memories, and departed in a bird vessel after burying the soldier whose body he had used.

• Soren recognized Rorschach as a clone made from remains, let him escape, and ordered the Anti-Magic Device wreckage destroyed.
• Soren praised the Mustache Mage and told Richard to study the spells he had already taught him rather than inherit his true knowledge.
• Joseph Rorschach struggled to survive and used a modified spell array to reconnect with Main Body Xia and transmit his memories.
• Joseph Rorschach severed the connection, made a grave marker for Joseph Muller, and transferred himself into a bird before the clone’s body burned away.
• Flying Bird Xia flew toward Bayern, leaving Joseph Muller’s grave marked with his name, unit, rank, and death in the Andorilla Battle.

Rorschach investigated the damaged Anti-Magic Device while overseeing the construction of the New Steel Mill and the industrial city of New Kempston. At the city's quiet inauguration, he announced that the Imperial Army had crushed the church forces at Andorilla and wiped out the northern Kingdom's Holy Knights.

• Rorschach examined the airship's damaged Anti-Magic Device, then used his duplicate's returned memories to sketch it and plan a prototype for studying anti-magic countermeasures.
• Rorschach inspected the New Steel Mill, where Andre reported on the relocation of workshops and Rorschach ordered experienced workers to be distributed among production sections and train recruits.
• Mr. Hase and the former lord turned farmland into housing and recruited former serfs through long-term labor and home contracts for the new industrial city.
• Rorschach attended New Kempston's quiet inauguration with Andre, Mr. Hasse, and the factory heads.
• Rorschach announced that the Imperial Army had defeated the church forces at Andorilla and wiped out the northern Kingdom's Holy Knights.

Rorschach learned that the Little Expeditionary Army had been destroyed and discussed wartime business and plans to expand education. The chapter ended with him instructing Andre to test every new student for magical talent.

• Rorschach told Hasse that he had witnessed the Little Expeditionary Army's destruction, and Hasse believed him.
• Hasse reported that Fanta Food Factory's orders were below expectations, and Rorschach approved its new bean soup sausage product.
• Rorschach proposed expanding the Guild school to educate workers' children, and the former deputy Guild Master offered to build on the old school.
• Rorschach proposed requiring university students to complete company internships before graduating, with unqualified students liable for conscription.
• Rorschach told Andre to develop a convenient, accurate test for magical talent for every child enrolling in the school.

Rorschach’s internship scheme brought Martin and Hannah to the New Steel Mill, where Andre tested the students for magical potential. Hannah’s results revealed that she could become a spellcaster.

• Rorschach’s new rules drove university students to seek internships, while the Thoth Key club members applied to Basf, Fanta, and the New Steel Mill and were rejected.
• Hannah told Martin she had secured an internship at the New Steel Mill through her bookkeeping skills and offered to teach him so they could go together.
• Martin learned bookkeeping from Hannah, and the two secretly traveled to the Sinkhole factory in Kempston for their internships.
• Andre explained that every intern would take a test for magical potential and placed the Iron Hat on Hannah.
• Andre examined Hannah’s Magic Aura and recorded that she possessed spellcasting potential.

Martin failed the mage-potential test, while Hannah passed a series of magical aptitude tests and signed a secrecy contract. She activated the final array, gaining a connection to Rorschach's Spellcasting Cloud.

• Andre tested Martin with the Iron Hat and stamped his profile to show he had no Spellcaster potential.
• Andre took Hannah through the next testing door, while Martin stayed behind and learned from Rorschach that he had failed.
• Rorschach offered Martin a dangerous chance to become a Spellcaster, and Martin agreed to take the risk.
• Hannah signed Andre's confidentiality contract and passed tests for transmutation, illusion, evocation, and abjuration magic.
• Hannah asked why Divination Magic was not tested, then activated the final magic array and gained a connection to Rorschach's Spellcasting Cloud.

Martin entered Rorschach’s dangerous laboratory and agreed to serve as the first human test subject in an experiment to give people spellcasting abilities through symbiosis with Living Water Body microorganisms. The chapter ended with Rorschach instructing Martin to carry and carefully maintain a vial of the microorganisms while reporting for regular examinations.

• Andre told Hannah she had to complete an internship and sign a confidentiality agreement before studying magic, then gave her an alchemy manual to study on her own.
• Martin congratulated Hannah on becoming a mage apprentice, but withdrew when she invited him to report in with her and went to find Rorschach.
• Rorschach showed Martin how Living Water Body microorganisms transformed after contact with blood, and a mutated mouse was devoured by Gez, the magical bird living in symbiosis with the microorganisms.
• Rorschach explained that his experiments aimed to establish symbiosis between the microorganisms and other living creatures, then tested a small culture with Martin’s blood.
• Rorschach gave Martin a sealed necklace container for the vial and ordered him to add exactly three drops of blood each morning and return for examinations every ten days.

Rorschach recruited Martin to help establish two newspapers and oversaw the opening of the Bavaria Southern Institute of Technology. After reviewing the magical talent screenings, he left Andre in charge of the school while he prepared to focus on industrial work in Kempston.

• Rorschach hired Martin as editor, reporter, and writer for two planned newspapers, requiring him to make sure an illiterate old woman could understand every article before publication.
• Rorschach reviewed the magical talent screening results, which found one exceptionally gifted child and one child with talent among the new students, as well as Hannah and a minor noble's son among the interns.
• Rorschach told Andre to oversee the newly opened Bavaria Southern Institute of Technology and use the provided teaching materials while adapting them to the students.
• Rorschach explained that factories needed to reduce their reliance on magical equipment by replacing some arrays and heat sources with improved steel, engineering, and skilled labor.
• Rorschach packed his things and said he would sit in on several classes before leaving Kempston.

Rorschach heard a lecturer read a letter condemning Charles XVI’s refusal to form the National Guard, then continued his work on heating infrastructure before traveling back to Lanster. In the forest, he hid as a Bayern legion passed and spotted someone familiar among its ranks.

• Roland’s published letter to Charles XVI was read aloud to students, and Rorschach praised their lecturer while reminding him to close the classroom door during sensitive discussions.
• Rorschach discussed the heating project and the possible military use of its steel pipes with Jansen, then told him to keep construction on schedule.
• Rorschach left for Lanster, passing multiple military checkpoints on the way.
• Rorschach concealed himself as a Bayern legion moved through the forest and noticed a familiar figure riding with the troops.

Rorschach used Gez to distract Bart while the army traveled through the forest, then reached Lanster and inspected the precision instrument factory. Gao Po showed him two completed Analytical Engines, which Rorschach compressed and left in Gao Po’s care with scrolls of Arcane Vision.

• Rorschach directed Gez to startle Bart, causing the mage to abandon his conspicuous ornaments and cloak and travel more cautiously.
• Rorschach waited for the army to disappear into the forest, then mounted his horse and continued toward Lanster.
• Rorschach arrived at Gao Po Precision Instrument Factory, where Gao Po greeted him and showed him the workshop’s precision instruments.
• Gao Po unveiled two completed Analytical Engines assembled from reverse-engineered Istarani designs.
• Rorschach compressed the engines with a spell, gave Gao Po two Arcane Vision scrolls, and left the factory after instructing him.

Rorschach tested the Tower Spirit’s spell analysis and considered how to improve its capabilities. He then developed a system of Descriptors and Grade Descriptors to organize spells and manage access to the Tower Spirit.

• Rorschach reflected on Gao Po’s transformation and compared him with Andre, whose rise had not changed his attitude toward Rorschach.
• Rorschach connected the Tower Spirit’s main body to a machine and tested its analysis of Armor of Spirit.
• The Tower Spirit explained that adding more machines would bring diminishing returns and that it needed a better container to improve further.
• Rorschach recognized that the Spellcasting Cloud’s storage system limited its design and continued refining how spells were analyzed and combined.
• Rorschach and the Tower Spirit organized spell entries into Feature Talismans and Descriptors, then added Grade Descriptors to prioritize the Tower Spirit’s processing.

Rorschach refined the Spellcasting Cloud and decided to recruit collaborators, while the Mage Guild and Empire argued over magic-blocking devices and communications. When a Guild staff member mentioned an unfamiliar nonmagical communication system, Rorschach recognized it as a Telegraph System and offered to help.

• Rorschach set the Spellcasting Cloud's descriptors up to the sixth circle and considered making the system compatible with traditional casting methods.
• Rorschach decided to ask Professor Caroline and Lady Elizabeth to contribute their expertise, then chose to begin testing the system on a small scale.
• Rorschach went to the Mage Guild office to send Caroline a letter as the Guild and Empire continued arguing over communications and Anti-Magic Devices.
• A staff member told Rorschach that the Guild had obtained blueprints for a nonmagical communication device but needed a technician to understand them.
• Rorschach identified the device as a Telegraph System and asked to meet the person in charge.

Rorschach explained how Bayern could build a wired telegraph network and advised the Mage Guild chairman to involve the Baldorom Merchant Guild as an intermediary. The chairman left convinced the project was a major undertaking, while Rorschach’s businesses stood to supply its materials and equipment.

• The Bayern branch chairman teleported to meet Rorschach and asked about Valois’s new communication technique.
• Rorschach explained the telegraph blueprints and pointed out the challenges of training staff, laying and protecting wires, and maintaining power.
• Rorschach told the chairman that building the network would require support from local lords, landowners, the royal family, and City Hall.
• Rorschach recommended that an independent merchant company operate the telegraph and named the Baldorom Merchant Guild as an intermediary.
• Rorschach noted that his own enterprises could provide the telegraph’s raw materials, machinery, and coal-fired power plant.

The guild completed the first cross-border telegraph line from Bayern to Valois, and its first message warned that the Imperial Army had reached the Condé Region. Richard’s regiment advanced toward the region’s capital, where a young girl approached him with a flower basket.

• Bayern and Valois mages joined their underground telegraph lines at the Holy Kingdom’s border, after knocking out and removing a local patrol.
• The first cross-border telegram reported that the Imperial Army’s vanguard had reached the Condé Region, about 140 kilometers from the royal capital.
• Richard led his infantry regiment behind Major General Karl’s force, escorting supplies and refugees as the Imperial Army advanced through the kingdom.
• Richard disciplined soldiers who harassed women in the refugee carriages and waited for Karl’s orders before approaching the Condé regional capital.
• A young girl arrived in a miniature carriage and tried to give Richard a flower basket, prompting his adjutant to draw his sword and the guards to raise their rifles.

Richard rejected a nobleman's attempt to arrange a match with Theresa, then uncovered an estate owner's exploitation of starving farmers. After receiving orders to rush ammunition to the battlefield, Richard prepared his regiment to march on the Condé Region's capital and ordered any leftover grain distributed to the farmers.

• Richard refused the pastries and Theresa's marriage offer, then ordered the adjutant to return her carriage and keep the soldiers in line.
• Richard led the regiment to an estate, where its owner claimed to have surrendered to General Karl and welcomed the troops inside.
• Richard questioned starving farmers and learned that the estate owner had helped Karl's troops seize their food before using hunger to take their land and force them into servitude.
• Richard ordered the estate owner detained and prepared a forced march after inferring that General Karl was advancing on the Condé Region's capital.
• A light cavalryman delivered orders to transport ammunition to the battlefield, and Richard ordered his regiment to replenish its rations and give any remaining grain to the farmers.

General Karl’s forces began their assault on the Fortress of Montecchio, and he sent Major Richard and Captain Schmidt on a dangerous mission to breach its defenses from within. Richard and Schmidt passed through the fortress wall, reaching the interior as the siege continued.

• Karl’s troops captured the defenders’ counter-approach trench and began bombarding the fortress while engineers advanced with Satchel Charges.
• Karl explained that the Imperial Army had only three months to wage the war and asked Richard to risk opening the fortress defenses; Richard agreed.
• Karl introduced Captain Schmidt, an Army Mage, and he and Richard entered the trenches under invisibility spells.
• Richard and Schmidt crossed the battlefield to the bastion, where Schmidt cast a spell that let them pass through the wall.

Richard and Schmidt infiltrated the Fortress of Montecchio and stopped its mages from completing a devastating spell, helping Karl’s forces break through the defenses and capture the fortress. As the Empire advanced toward Valuana, Rorschach learned that the king had summoned him to the palace.

• Schmidt suspected the defenders were preparing a large-scale magical attack, and Richard tracked the magic to a secret chamber inside the fortress.
• Richard cast Cloudkill on three mages preparing the Ninth Circle Spell Vengeful Storm, and Schmidt finished the attack before they could complete it.
• Karl’s troops breached the fortress’s outer defenses, then charged after an explosion and a pillar of fire destroyed the gate’s cannons and supports.
• Rorschach learned that the capital of the Condé Region had fallen and predicted that Holy Kingdom mages would join the war.
• Andre told Rorschach that His Majesty the King had invited him to the palace the next day.

King Albert asked Rorschach to settle the growing number of refugees fleeing Valois, and offered him a border countship in exchange. Rorschach rejected the risky terms and proposed creating a special zone instead.

• Albert asked Rorschach to use his factories and trading companies to settle more than ten thousand refugees entering Bayern from Valois.
• The court hoped Rorschach could organize the refugees into a controlled industrial workforce like the workers at his Steel Mill.
• Albert offered Rorschach the Border Count title and the Kempston borderlands if he settled the refugees without unrest and met steep grain and military supply demands.
• Rorschach recognized that the offer would saddle him with dangerous border defenses and costly obligations, so he declined the title.
• Albert urged Rorschach to accept, but Rorschach asked whether he had heard of a special zone.