Chapter Summaries

Frederick inspected Würzburg’s homeless shelter and observed citizens reporting crimes as the duchy’s crackdown continued. Seeing the new recruits praised, he told Tony he planned to replace the military uniforms.

• Across the Duchy of Weissen, officials began a January crime crackdown using Würzburg as their model.
• Frederick visited Würzburg’s shelter, inspected its conditions and work arrangements, and judged it reasonable for the era.
• Würzburg citizens crowded the prosecutor’s office to report crimes, and city staff served them hot ginger drink while guards helped disabled people and pregnant women skip the line.
• Frederick watched the young recruits maintain order as citizens praised their role in arresting gang leaders.
• Frederick told Tony he planned to replace the military uniforms, and Tony asked him to give the guards better-looking ones.

Frederick reorganized the Duchy of Weissen’s government and military, then oversaw the design of new uniforms. After a drunken banquet, he woke to find Walküre in his bed, where she explained that her aunts had encouraged her to practice with him.

• Frederick reviewed the Garden’s records, arranged aid for innocent captives, and tried to draw out the unknown client who had ordered his assassination.
• Frederick established new government departments, a Supreme Ministerial Council, an anti-corruption agency led temporarily by Ah Fu, and a reorganized military under his High Command.
• Frederick and military personnel settled the colors, designs, armor, and equipment for new uniforms, and soldiers tested the field gear.
• Frederick hosted a banquet after two days of uniform discussions, and his friends got him drunk.
• Frederick woke beside Walküre, who said her aunts had urged her to practice with him while waiting for him to have an heir.

Dennis learned that his relatives had been stealing from his city and family businesses, so he hired Weissen Accounting Firm to audit them and filed a lawsuit. Meanwhile, the new Bond and Equity Trading Law imposed strict audits on bond sellers, and Diesel sought investors for his engine industrial park.

• Deloitte told Dennis that relatives he had appointed had siphoned off more than the city earned, and Dennis ordered an audit of his family businesses.
• Weissen Accounting Firm uncovered further losses, and Dennis filed a lawsuit against those responsible instead of confronting them himself.
• The Bond and Equity Trading Law established an exchange in Ratibor City and required bond sellers to publish an accounting firm's rating.
• Diesel complained to Aumert that the Red-haired Hounds had found problems in his business and that fixing them was necessary to sell bonds.
• Aumert explained that Wessen State's investment funds were being spread among new states, so he could not buy most of Diesel's bonds.
• Manuel and Aumert suggested that Diesel seek investment from former nobles and wealthy families attending an upcoming meeting.

Frederick learned that unidentified envoys had falsely promised Forest Sea nobles a railway in exchange for joining his proposed Elbe River Convention Organization. He planned to proceed cautiously with the railway and left for a series of diplomatic trips.

• At a farm, Kler told Frederick that envoys had approached Forest Sea nobles on his behalf and promised them a railway.
• Frederick realized the railway promise was false and explained that the Forest Sea’s many small landowners would make construction difficult.
• Katie warned Frederick that the envoys’ plan would leave him losing either way, while Kler suggested Georg Bauer might find minerals there.
• Frederick said he intended to build a railway through the Forest Sea to Hanma City but would first conduct a thorough survey.
• Katie cautioned Frederick that the railway scheme might be connected to earlier sabotage and an assassination attempt.
• Frederick told Katie he was traveling to the Helvetian Federation, the Kingdom of Gaul, and the Dark Lands.

Frederick and the Supreme Ministerial Council investigated false envoys spreading promises of railway expansion and addressed competing demands on the government budget. The chapter left Frederick reviewing the improved fiscal figures while weighing the costs of governing a growing territory.

• Vanessa brought Frederick council letters proposing new docks, a palace, government offices, and cultural buildings, and he referred them for feasibility studies.
• Christian reported that impostors had claimed Frederick planned to extend railways across the north, prompting ministers to warn that the budget could not support such construction.
• Frederick said the council needed to identify who orchestrated the rumor and directed Administration to develop identifying marks for officials working outside their offices.
• Frederick instructed Maybach and Adam to publish a vaguely promising article about a railway network in the Weissen Daily.
• Frederick ordered Commerce to fund efforts to acquire superior breeding livestock and heard that shortages of building materials were delaying subsidized worker housing.
• Frederick reviewed the 1034 fiscal report and Friendship Bond deliveries, which showed a much smaller deficit and substantial factory orders from the World's Fair.

Frederick negotiated with Baron Ivan von Kattefeld over joining the Elbe River Convention Organization, and her husband Herbert proposed a plan to develop their territory beyond timber. After inviting the couple to dinner and a cathedral ceremony, Frederick learned Herbert was the son of a man he had killed in battle.

• Baron Ivan von Kattefeld offered timber in exchange for a railway, and Frederick explained that he would not need to import timber for two or three years.
• Baron Ivan von Kattefeld described her husband's plan for commercial forests, orchards, a canning factory, medicinal herbs, and livestock, impressing Frederick.
• Frederick proposed building gravel roads and allowing road-use tolls while railway branch lines remained out of reach, and Baron Ivan von Kattefeld agreed to join the customs union and abolish two laws that taxed passing merchants.
• Baron Ivan von Kattefeld brought Herbert to dinner at Frederick's castle, where Frederick invited them to the German Cathedral topping-out ceremony.
• Ah Fu reported that Herbert was young and inexperienced, and Frederick learned that Herbert's father was the man Frederick had shot dead on the battlefield.

Count Weissen showed wealthy Forest Sea nobles Weissenburg City's businesses and modern transportation, convincing them that following Grand Duke Wessen and building roads could bring prosperity. The nobles moved toward establishing the Elbe River Convention Organization as Anna prepared to discuss military support for Tarraco.

• Count Weissen explained that Grand Duke Wessen's newspaper articles promoted economic development, while Baroness Carterfield marveled at the wealth of commoner business owners in a teahouse.
• Count Weissen drove the Forest Sea nobles in vans and explained the vehicles and Frederick's mechanical traffic lights.
• Count Weissen took the nobles to a vehicle market, where they saw strong demand for vans and heard that Anna had received a car worth three thousand florins.
• More nobles negotiated with Frederick, and they accepted that building roads would help them prosper, clearing the way for the Elbe River Convention Organization.
• Anna told Frederick that everyone had accepted his view about building roads first, and Frederick urged her to build railways and highways in her own country.

Anna confided in Frederick about the Osmagar Empire’s corruption and asked for his advice, and he proposed helping her exploit the coming unrest. After they concealed their political discussion, Frederick uncovered that Anna’s servant served someone suspicious, and Anna asked him to help.

• Anna described the Empire’s corruption, failing institutions, and the threat posed by her older siblings while she leaned on Frederick for comfort.
• Frederick advised Anna to tear down the old system, but she explained that she lacked money, a reliable army, and trustworthy officials.
• Anna revealed that the Duchy of Samor had effectively broken away with Piaster support and warned that more parts of the Empire could soon erupt into chaos.
• Frederick agreed to take advantage of the coming disorder and considered moving labor-intensive industries into Anna’s territory while keeping high-value production for himself.
• Anna asked Frederick to make the servants believe they had spent the afternoon in an affair, but he questioned a servant about whom she served and she named someone that alarmed Anna.
• Anna mouthed for Frederick to help her, then mischievously asked whether a man would do.

Frederick taught Anna about industrial development and power-sharing, then proposed helping her build a new industrial city in her territory. Anna agreed in principle, and they discussed its location and a railway project before preparing for the Church of Light envoy’s arrival.

• Anna discovered that seven of her eight maids had been passing information to nobles, and Frederick comforted her before teaching her privately.
• Frederick explained industrial management and argued that prosperous commoners would demand political power, leading Anna to accept giving them a limited role after the current crisis.
• Frederick offered to help Anna build a city with factories, officials, a military, schools, and agricultural support, with repayment secured by a share of its tax revenue.
• Anna proposed a royal summer retreat south of Vienna as the site, and Frederick suggested naming the city after Ferdinand to protect her reputation.
• Frederick and Anna discussed extending a railway more than nine hundred kilometers to the Great Bay, with construction set to begin in June and completion expected in 1038.
• They planned to discuss further matters after the German Cathedral topping-out ceremony, where Church of Light envoy Ailude would arrive the next day.

Frederick and the guests marked the completion of German Cathedral’s spire with a topping-out ceremony, installing a lightning rod and pouring the final concrete. The cathedral’s interior still needed about two more years of work, and Ailude offered to invite the Pope to officiate Frederick and Maria’s wedding there.

• Frederick welcomed nobles and clerics, including Ailude and Empress Anna, to the cathedral’s topping-out ceremony.
• Frederick and Maria helped Ailude climb the scaffolding, where he saw the names of Scripture buyers engraved on the cathedral tiles.
• Ailude read from the Holy Scripture, Frederick positioned the lightning rod, and the Grand Duke of Mainz secured it in place.
• Bishop Clement inspected the lightning rod and formwork, approved the construction records, and signed them.
• Ailude, Frederick, Maria, and other guests poured concrete into the spire’s formwork, and an Earth mage vibrated it into place.
• Frederick told Antonia the cathedral’s interior would take about two more years, and Ailude offered to invite the Pope to officiate Frederick and Maria’s wedding.

Frederick hosted the founding ceremony of the Elbe River Convention Organization, then offered Maria a government department after reassuring her of her abilities. The chapter ended with Maria asking what the department was and Frederick teasing that he would tell her later.

• Frederick hosted the signing ceremony for the Elbe River Convention Organization, whose members agreed to cooperate on trade, education, and infrastructure.
• Weissenburg City and Ferdinand City in the Osmagar Empire established a sister-city relationship, surprising Rudolf and the other guests.
• After Rudolf and the other visitors left, Frederick told Maria he wanted her to head a government department because he believed she was capable.
• Maria worried she lacked the qualifications and asked whether she needed to pass an exam, and Frederick praised her efforts and said he had saved the department for her.
• Maria asked what the department was, and Frederick teased her that he would tell her later.

Frederick appointed Maria to establish the Ministry of Culture, drawing on the success of her comic-book publishing business to shape its work promoting the duchy, building libraries, and managing public performances. Maria accepted the challenge as Frederick prepared to travel abroad, and he gave her a document of ideas to guide her.

• Frederick assigned Dibich Avellardo to become president of the Elbe River Bank and then met with Maria in his office.
• Maria reported strong sales for her comic-book series, and Frederick noted that the books were also increasing demand for products and influencing public habits.
• Frederick outlined plans for the Ministry of Culture to promote the duchy, establish public libraries, and manage plays and performances.
• Maria worried about the responsibility, but Frederick encouraged her to learn from mistakes and said his upcoming trip would give her time to prove herself.
• Maria accepted the task, and Frederick handed her a document containing ideas for the new ministry.

Frederick received an urgent request from Prince Little Louis to treat King Old Louis’s sepsis and proposed injecting allicin directly into the bloodstream. His team began developing sterile IV equipment and testing the treatment, but they discovered that allicin did not dissolve well in water.

• Christian delivered Prince Little Louis’s letter asking whether Weissenburg could treat King Old Louis, who was critically ill with sepsis.
• Frederick proposed injecting allicin into the blood, and the gathered officials agreed to test the idea on pigs first.
• Aumert agreed to arrange production of syringes, needles, and infusion lines, while Friedrich planned experiments using saline and allicin.
• Frederick instructed the team to dilute allicin in 0.9% saline and keep the medicine sterile, and Friedrich prepared saline solutions for microscope tests.
• Frederick wrote down a method for producing injectable glucose and named it “Sugar of Life.”
• Friedrich’s team prepared piglets for allicin trials, but they found that allicin was not very soluble in water.

Frederick, Friedrich, and Psyche developed and tested intravenous allicin, finding a safe dose that helped treat sepsis and other inflammation. After Bishop Clement approved the successful human trial, Frederick departed by airship with medicine and a medical team.

• Psyche suggested dissolving allicin in alcohol before mixing it with saline, and Friedrich prepared the medicine for testing.
• Friedrich tested different allicin doses on piglets and identified a dose that caused no apparent harm.
• Bishop Clement approved a first-phase trial involving one hundred adult patients, and Psyche trained nurses to administer injections safely.
• The human trial revealed one patient's alcohol allergy, while many patients with sepsis and other inflammation improved after treatment.
• The trial found allicin ineffective against an infection that caused green pus, and Bishop Clement signed the experimental report.
• Frederick left by airship with a large supply of medicine and the medical team.

Little Louis welcomed Frederick and the medical team to Toulouse Fortress to treat the gravely ill Old Louis. Their arrival reunited Frederick with Claire, who had been held at the castle, and Frederick warned that Old Louis would need extreme treatment.

• Little Louis studied reports about the Ghazi Empire’s new Fire Powder before visiting his dying father, who told him to take charge of the kingdom and release Claire when war began.
• The Night Witches and Frederick’s medical team arrived, and Little Louis greeted the doctors and Eugene before leading them to Old Louis.
• Frederick noticed Juste, the Royal Mage Corps leader who had killed his father, but only exchanged a blank nod with him.
• Claire recognized Frederick and embraced him in tears, and Frederick learned that she had been detained after wandering into the Lightning Ranger training grounds while searching for fish.
• Frederick presented Old Louis with a document and explained that ordinary treatments would not work, so the team would have to use extreme methods.

Frank took charge of Old Louis's treatment and insisted on moving him to a clean field hospital, despite Baron Ganden's objections. After confronting Ganden over past grievances, Frank accepted responsibility for the king's life and said he was ninety percent confident he could save him.

• Little Louis agreed to let Frank oversee Old Louis's treatment, and Frederick prepared to publicize the results to promote allicin.
• Frank and Florence examined Old Louis, found poor care and a chest wound with pus in the lung, and ordered a hospital and laboratory to be set up.
• Frank decided Old Louis should be bathed and transferred to the field hospital, but Baron Ganden tried to stop him.
• Frank answered Ganden's objections and exposed how Ganden had treated poor students, prompting Old Louis to have him taken away for questioning.
• Old Louis entrusted his life to Frank, who declared himself ninety percent confident he could help the king recover.

Eugene organized a riverside camp for King Louis and negotiated its security arrangements with Prince Moritz, while Frederick stayed at the castle as a guarded guest. The chapter left Frederick alone with Countess Green, who had turned a business inquiry into an unsettling advance, and Eugene fleeing his father with a mace.

• Eugene let Theo tour the camp and told him to have his friends come for breakfast while warning them to behave around the female soldiers.
• Eugene agreed with Prince Moritz to keep their forces separated by a restricted zone, and Moritz offered guards, maids, and supplies for King Louis.
• Prince Moritz gave Eugene a gold Pocket Watch, then chased him with a spiked mace after seeing the tent arrangement for the guards and maids.
• Mages heated King Louis's sickroom, and Florence advised the maid on bathing him carefully around his bedsores.
• Countess Green locked Frederick in his room and asked about the Sisterhood's sail-less ship research before hinting at other possibilities.
• Richard Nahl left the commotion between Eugene and Prince Moritz to go fishing, while Frederick planned to visit Citrus Island after his leave.

Claire woke under house arrest while Old Louis continued treatment in the camp hospital, and nobles competed for a chance to test the new medicine. The chapter ended with Little Louis inspecting Theo’s IV and learning that the injection barely hurt.

• Claire woke beside Frederick and planned to travel with Grand Duke Wessen’s people to Weissenburg City before returning home.
• Old Louis underwent routine checks and learned that doctors planned to culture his blood, drain pus from his lungs, and begin preparing him for medicine injections.
• Eugene urged Prince Moritz’s young allies to volunteer for the medicine trial, while minor nobles crowded Little Louis’s office to offer themselves as candidates.
• Frederick chose five trial participants by drawing lots, but Theo and other young nobles had already begun receiving the medicine, and Prince Moritz sent his son Eugene to take two bottles as punishment.
• Little Louis asked Theo how he felt, then examined the IV needle in his vein and learned that it had only hurt when first inserted.

Little Louis visited Friedrich’s laboratory and helped prepare sheep’s blood and culture plates to test whether the King had recovered. After learning how the portable laboratory had contained a deadly epidemic, he decided to use his resources to persuade Grand Duke Wessen to support it.

• Little Louis checked Theo and the others, then followed Friedrich to the laboratory and agreed to follow its strict entry procedures.
• Friedrich had Little Louis shake sheep’s blood with glass beads, then explained that the blood would be used to make culture media rather than for a transfusion.
• Friedrich and the researchers prepared culture plates, diluted four blood samples, and placed the samples in an incubator to check for bacteria.
• Friedrich told Little Louis that the laboratory had helped identify and contain a Projectile Diarrhea outbreak in the Duchy of Mainz.
• Little Louis decided to appeal to Grand Duke Wessen’s interests and offer his resources to secure support for the laboratory.

Frederick uncovered a Gaulish spy operation targeting him and played along while Claire helped identify a woman. As Old Louis began treatment for his infection, suspicion of Little Louis led him to reward Frederick with the duchy of Deer Harbor if he recovered.

• Frederick discovered a copper sound-transmission tube beneath his bed and suspected the trained maids were Gaulish spies; he decided to play along and send Grand Duke Suarez a gift.
• Frank identified purple bacteria in Old Louis’s blood and confirmed that Frederick’s medicine could kill them, so Florence began an intravenous treatment.
• Little Louis urged the doctors to treat Old Louis and asked Frederick to help infected soldiers, while Old Louis grew suspicious that his son wanted him dead and was trying to win Frederick over.
• Old Louis named Frederick Duke of Deer Harbor if he recovered and awarded gold to Frank, Friedrich, Manuel, Florence, and the other helpers.