Recaps

Derek used the Panel, trade, and military training to build a hidden base and expand his influence. After securing support from the Ferrera family and preparing for the coming war, he ambushed a slave-hunting team and brought its captives to his base.

• Derek trained a militia, earned top marks from Knight Cloya, and left Count Perez’s household to become a Wandering Knight.
• With Andrew’s help, Derek recruited soldiers and built a blacksmith business, then escorted the Goat Caravan and defeated a bandit attack.
• Derek befriended Loyd, helped him become a Mountain King, and established a secluded base where they built defenses and expanded their forces.
• Derek brought Adrian and more recruits to the base, grew his blacksmith operation, and sold warhorses and weapons through Knight Cloya and the Goat Merchant Guild.
• Derek returned to Ferrera Castle for the New Year, agreed to join the coming war, and received two mini manors from Baron Ferrera in exchange for military and commercial support.
• After Loyd reported that slave hunters would pass through the mountains, Derek planned an ambush and defeated the team with cavalry and spearmen.
• Derek led the captured slaves to Deep Mountain Base and began screening them for enlistment and labor.

Derek rose to command through victories against the Barbarians, earning a new title and control of Saint Myra Province. He established his power there, freed abducted serfs, and prepared to defend the province from the Holy Cross Kingdom.

• Derek built up his forces at Deep Mountain Base, quelled a Slave Soldier plot, and began producing weapons as the King ordered troops to march north.
• After the Barbarians invaded, Derek joined the Second Provisional Legion, earned a Chiliarch appointment, and led his unit to a string of victories around Ironwall City.
• Derek trapped Enrick’s Barbarian forces in a burning town, routed their survivors, and helped force the Barbarian army to retreat.
• The King named Derek Court Viscount and Baron of Augusta, made him commander of the new Saint Myra Legion, and granted him territory in Saint Myra Province.
• Derek accepted Count Perella’s proposed marriage but postponed it, then confronted Barbarians near the border and demanded that they honor the province handover treaty.
• Derek secured the release of abducted serfs and settled them in Augusta Territory, where he freed them and began recruiting them into his private army.
• Derek seized local mines, estates, and offices as his forces expanded, then headed to the front and ordered his troops to defend their fortified position against the Holy Cross Kingdom.

Derek defended Birch Castle, strengthened his political and military position, and secured Saint Myra Province while preparing for the next conflict. As rival nobles plotted with the Holy Cross Kingdom, Derek mobilized his forces and made plans to expand into the northern wilderness.

• Derek held Birch Castle against Earl Connor’s assaults, and Simon escaped a trap during the Holy Cross Kingdom army’s retreat.
• Derek gained support from Northland nobles, expanded Augusta Territory, and planned a Knight Order and broader military production.
• Assassins attacked Derek in Pulan City, and he retaliated by arresting soldiers and confronting Marquis Hussein and the assembled nobles.
• Derek trained noble Knight Squires harshly, then defeated the Southern Knights’ challenges and secured the territorial handover with Count Lovett.
• Derek agreed to a political marriage with Miss Tiona and later gave Sheriff a secret mission to negotiate with Earl Connor.
• Sheriff secured Connor’s promise to steer the Holy Cross Kingdom’s forces away from Birch Castle, while Derek planned to seize strategic points in the northern wilderness.
• Count Lovett and Baron Tamir plotted with Grand Duke Sebastian Bruno Fernandez to betray the Northland, while Marquis Hussein secretly revealed a granary to Derek.
• Derek sought grain from Count Perez, mobilized troops, strengthened Birch Castle, and prepared Augusta Territory for both war and the farming season.

Derek defeated Grand Duke Fernandez by luring the Holy Cross army into a flood, then expanded House Augusta’s rule and secured the Church’s support. After marrying Tiona and receiving the title of Count Augusta, he began consolidating his territories while negotiating with Governor Ronald.

• Derek defended Birch Castle, ambushed Holy Cross forces, and used a breached riverbank to flood Augusta City and destroy Fernandez’s army.
• Derek drove the defeated Holy Cross forces from Augusta Territory and Saint Peter Province, then subdued nobles who resisted his rule.
• Derek executed Baron Halley after taking his castle and warned the surrendered nobles that he would destroy his enemies.
• Derek wagered with Archbishop John, then used his power to grant John a spiritual advancement, winning the Archbishop’s allegiance and spreading his prestige.
• Derek arranged attacks against remaining loyalists, married Tiona, and received King Louis’s appointment as Count Augusta.
• Derek met Governor Ronald, accepted royal documents, and proposed transferring Saint Peter Province’s administration and legion to him while keeping his own ambitions guarded.
• Derek questioned farmers about conditions in Augusta Territory, and Tiona reported that she had organized the count’s residence and household.