Chapter Summaries

Derek crushed Marquis Hussein’s challenge by having the alleged attackers killed and threatening anyone who opposed him, establishing the harsh balance of power in the Northern Lands. Hussein adapted to the local political realities and offered a cautious gesture of goodwill, leaving their future relationship uncertain.

• Derek rejected Marquis Hussein’s threat of accusing him of high treason and reminded him that he could switch sides if necessary.
• Derek ordered Augusta’s knights to whip the alleged assassins and declare that anyone who left camp would die in an apparent accident.
• The Northern Lands nobles retreated in fear, while Marquis Hussein recognized that the Northern Lands followed different political rules from the Royal Capital.
• Marquis Hussein adjusted his approach, softened his smile, and moved aside to make room for Derek.
• Derek hoped Hussein understood that the Holy Cross Kingdom and the Barbarian Kingdom posed greater threats than their internal rivalry, and the gathered nobles and officers fell silent.

Derek, Count Perella, and Marquis Hussein divided the conquered territory while concealing their alliance behind a show of hostility. After discussing a generous dowry for Tiona, Count Perella asked about Derek’s talented blacksmith and ordered one hundred sets of heavy armor, leaving Derek suspicious of his intentions.

• Count Perella and Derek adjusted their territorial demands to leave the Southern Nobles an unprofitable share while keeping Marquis Hussein’s portion intact.
• Marquis Hussein departed with the soldiers’ corpses, and Derek and Count Perella agreed to maintain the appearance of bitter hostility for outsiders.
• Count Perella told Derek that Tiona would soon visit Saint Myra City and offered her a generous dowry of an estate and a village fief.
• Count Perella asked about Derek’s talented blacksmith, and Derek offered discounted weapons and equipment.
• Count Perella ordered one hundred full sets of heavy armor, making Derek wonder if he was planning a rebellion.

Derek returned to his territory with dozens of young Northland nobles who had joined his following, including the exceptionally talented Virut Chrono. He began training them alongside himself and challenged Virut to a spar, leaving the young knight determined to measure the gap between them.

• Derek accepted fifty or sixty young attendants from Northland noble families, strengthening his ties with the nobles and adding Virut Chrono, a Level 6 knight and future Baron, to his following.
• Derek arranged for the new followers to live and train at his territory, setting demanding standards for them to become honorary or Elite Knights.
• Derek remembered the followers who did not appear on the Knight Panel and marked them and their families for scrutiny.
• Derek joined the Knight Squires in daily training and chose Virut as his sparring partner.
• Derek told Virut to steady his sword and control himself, and Virut vowed to become a Northland Knight like him before asking to see the difference in their strength.

Derek brutally tested Virut and the newly arrived Knight Squires, exposing the gap between them and the knights under his command. The young men were left wondering whether the Northern Lands’ rising generation had simply grown too weak.

• Derek struck Virut during his formal salute and scolded him for following southern knightly customs.
• Derek overwhelmed Virut in a swordfight, criticizing his strength, reactions, technique, and footwork before kicking him to the ground.
• Derek challenged the unconvinced Knight Squires to have Virut fight one of his knights, and Virut chose Brute Bear.
• Brute Bear easily disarmed Virut and pressed a training sword to his neck.
• Virut challenged nearly every knight present despite his injuries, while the Knight Squires saw that Derek’s knights included many skilled and Titled Knights.

Derek used strict training and personal care to win over the new Knight Squires, including Virut, and left them eager to continue training. When he opened the Panel the next day, even the squires who had arrived with ill intentions had appeared on it, giving him a way to influence their families.

• Derek drove the new Knight Squires through harsh training, emphasizing willpower and making the Formal Knights train alongside them.
• The exhausted squires complained in the bunkroom about Derek and considered leaving until they heard he was coming.
• Derek reassured the squires that his strict training was meant to keep them alive in future battles, then personally treated Virut's injuries with medicinal wine and a massage.
• Virut's resentment disappeared, and the other squires were moved by Derek and the knights caring for them and teaching them how to recover.
• The squires began another day of training with renewed morale, and Derek saw on the Panel that even the ones with ill intentions had appeared there.

Derek oversaw intensive training for the Knight Squires, then reviewed affairs in Saint Myra Province as the Southern Legion’s arrival drew near. Just as he prepared to visit his fiancée, David Palmer arrived and revealed that Baron Palmer had sent two of his daughters ahead as Derek’s potential lovers.

• Derek put the Knight Squires through riding drills, weighted cross-country runs, nighttime operations, and military lessons, then gave them a week off.
• Derek met with his knights and officials, heard that Tiona had arrived and the Southern Legion was coming soon, and discussed the growing tension in Saint Myra Province.
• Derek decided to visit his fiancée before the new year, but David Palmer arrived with gifts and called him brother-in-law.
• David told Derek that Baron Palmer had sent his second and third daughters ahead, while his eldest daughter was still on the road.

Derek accepted the Palmer Family’s tribute and continued toward Pulan City with an army, where the Northland Knights’ poor showing against the Southern Knights had created a political crisis. He arrived at the military camp just as a Southern Knight demanded to face him.

• Derek agreed to take in the Palmer sisters temporarily, and David gave him a list of gifts worth more than a thousand Gold Coins on behalf of the Palmer Family.
• Derek accepted the Palmer Family’s annual tribute and learned that its new status as landed nobles had strengthened its business and ambitions.
• David left after two days, and Derek resumed his journey to Pulan City with five or six thousand troops.
• Derek learned that the Southern Knights had arrived ahead of him and fought the Northland Knights to a draw, while defeating the Royal Capital Knights.
• Derek rode ahead to the military camp and heard a Southern Knight challenge him and boast that the Southern Knights would replace the Northland Knights.

Derek confronted the Southern Knights after one insulted him, swiftly defeating and humiliating the man before taking control of the training grounds. He challenged Count Robert Lovett to win three bouts against his Formal Knights to secure the captive’s release.

• A Southern Knight insulted Derek and challenged him, while Virut and the squires prepared to fight.
• Derek disarmed the Southern Knight, dragged him from his horse, and had him tied to a rope and dragged around the grounds.
• Derek ordered the drums beaten and soldiers to surround the camp, then berated the Northland Knights for losing and told them to call in the army if necessary.
• Derek had Virut lead the squires against the Southern Knights and told Adrian to hold the line with Formal Knights.
• Count Robert Lovett demanded the captive’s release, and Derek offered to hand him over if Lovett’s men won three matches against his Formal Knights.

Virut and the Northland Knight Squires overwhelmed the Southern Knights, prompting Count Lovett to send out Titled Knights. The chapter ends as the Titled Knights and Simon agree to field three fighters each in a dangerous triangular formation.

• Virut unhorsed five Southern Knights in a row before retreating to rest.
• The Northland Knight Squires defeated the Southern Formal Knights in most of their matches, leaving Count Lovett stunned.
• Count Lovett ordered the Southern Titled Knights to take the field, though they were reluctant to fight the squires.
• Derek sent the squires to challenge the Titled Knights in succession, turning the matches into an exhausting training opportunity.
• The Titled Knight fighting at the end discussed a new challenge with Simon, and both sides formed triangular teams of three.

Derek’s Northland Knights defeated Count Lovett’s Southern Knights, forcing Lovett to accept the agreed territorial division and promise an apology gift. At the banquet afterward, Derek met Miss Tiona, who said she hoped to marry him and asked only for a little respect.

• Derek watched House Augusta’s knights defeat the Southern Knights through close coordination and a staggered charge.
• Count Lovett conceded, agreed to the territorial division, and promised Derek an apology gift.
• Count Perella and Marquis Hussein hosted a banquet that publicly welcomed the Southern Nobles despite their new rivalry.
• Derek met Miss Tiona, who asked about the Palmer Family sisters and said she wanted a marriage with him, offering the Perez Family’s support in return for respect.

Derek reached a tentative understanding with Miss Tiona while overseeing the transfer of Saint Myra Province to the Locke Kingdom. After winter, Sheriff arrived in the Augusta Territory, and Derek sent him on a secret, dangerous mission that could earn him a Knight Fief.

• Derek and Miss Tiona agreed to pursue their political marriage, with her seeking greater status and influence as his wife.
• Derek met with Tiona several more times, oversaw the Southern Nobles' handover of Saint Myra Province, and remained wary of the Barbarian Kingdom's motives.
• Derek spent a lonely New Year in the Augusta Territory, though visits from the three Palmer sisters made the winter less cold.
• As spring approached, Sheriff and several Ferrera relatives arrived from the Northern Province to seek refuge with Derek.
• Derek assigned Sheriff a secret and dangerous mission, promising him a Knight Fief if he completed it and urging him to make decisive choices.

Sheriff traveled through the winter to meet Earl Connor, the disgraced Sword of God, on Derek’s behalf. Connor welcomed him, curious about what the Northland Knight wanted and how capable his envoy would prove to be.

• Sheriff set out from the Northern Lands to prepare for the Holy Cross Kingdom’s expected counteroffensive and to meet Earl Connor.
• After half a month of travel, Sheriff reached Connor, who had been stripped of his Legion Commander title following the defeat.
• Connor told his eldest son he would have sought Barbarian support for a two-sided attack to retake Saint Myra Province.
• Connor inferred that Derek had sent Sheriff and agreed to receive him, hoping to learn what the Northland Knight wanted.
• Sheriff entered Connor’s room travel-worn, and Connor judged that the meeting would either go smoothly or not at all.

Sheriff negotiated with Earl Connor on Viscount Derek’s behalf, agreeing to grant him a substantial barony within ten years in exchange for cooperation against the Holy Cross Kingdom’s army. Meanwhile, Derek revealed his plan to exploit the war and expand north into the Barbarians’ sparsely held wilderness, leaving its success dependent on the coming conflict.

• Sheriff asked Earl Connor to influence the Holy Cross Kingdom’s legion to bypass Birch Castle, and Connor agreed in exchange for a barony with over ten thousand people and annual taxes exceeding one thousand Gold Coins.
• Sheriff swore on behalf of the Augusta Family that Derek would fulfill the promise within ten years, and Earl Connor proposed deeper cooperation and added conditions involving trade and Warhorses.
• Derek, unaware of Sheriff’s promise, studied his scouts’ map and explained that the northern wilderness could support a population of one million.
• Derek planned to seize strategic points in the wilderness while the war drained the Locke Kingdom’s and Holy Cross Kingdom’s forces, but knew the plan depended on his own strength surviving the conflict.

Count Lovett persuaded Marquis Hussein to help undermine Derek by delaying grain shipments, then learned that Baron Tamir had arranged for Grand Duke Sebastian Bruno Fernandez to attack Derek’s territory. Count Lovett approved of the plan and prepared to profit from the conflict.

• At Count Lovett’s banquet, he urged Marquis Hussein to delay grain deliveries when Derek and the Holy Cross forces had both suffered heavy losses, offering him Augusta’s territory in return.
• Marquis Hussein agreed to hear nothing of the plan while affirming that the King’s will came first, and Count Lovett took this as consent.
• Count Lovett returned home and found his younger brother, Baron Tamir, waiting after a hurried journey to the Holy Cross Kingdom.
• Baron Tamir said he had promised Grand Duke Sebastian Bruno Fernandez the locations of the grain depots, and Fernandez had agreed to attack from the Northland Knight’s territories, especially Derek’s.
• Count Lovett welcomed the betrayal and declared that nothing was beyond it.

Marquis Hussein secretly told Derek about a hidden granary, prompting Derek to warn Count Perez of a possible attack by the Holy Cross Kingdom. Derek then mobilized Augusta Territory for war while continuing preparations for farming, as his enemies underestimated him.

• Marquis Hussein revealed a hidden granary to Derek and asked him to pass word of his goodwill to the King.
• Derek suspected Hussein was trying to distance himself from an impending grain scandal and rode through the night to meet Count Perez.
• Count Perez promised to secretly deliver stored grain and warned Derek that the Holy Cross Kingdom could besiege Birch Castle while its main army ravaged Augusta Territory.
• Derek mobilized troops, expanded recruitment, and strengthened Birch Castle while also organizing irrigation and water storage for the farming season.
• Observers assumed Derek was simply preparing to defend Birch Castle, and one dismissed him as a young man who knew only hard work.

Derek expanded his forces and prepared Augusta Territory for war as the Holy Cross Kingdom launched a 200,000-man western expedition. Grand Duke Fernandez and Earl Connor Rad clashed over strategy, while Fernandez secretly relied on his own plans and treated the 150,000 serf soldiers as expendable.

• Derek inspected Augusta Territory's construction, ordered surplus weapons stored, and demanded more conscription and harsher training despite the army's ruinous costs.
• Northland nobles secretly moved large quantities of grain into Saint Myra Province as both sides prepared for war.
• Grand Duke Sebastian Bruno Fernandez led a 200,000-man Holy Cross Kingdom army west with Cardinal Archbishop as priest and Earl Connor Rad as deputy commander.
• Fernandez and Connor argued over whether to change direction around Birch Castle, then parted on bad terms.
• Fernandez revealed that his anger had been an act, that he had concealed his trump cards, and that the Church and royal family did not intend the 150,000 serfs to return.

Grand Duke Fernandez planned to use the Locke people's internal conflict to attack Saint Myra Province from Birch Castle and keep the Northland Knights in check. As the Holy Cross Kingdom's vanguard reached the border, Derek concluded that its army would advance through his territory with overwhelming numbers.

• Grand Duke Fernandez explained that he would use the Locke people's offer to weaken Saint Myra Province and keep the Northland Knights under observation.
• Earl Connor recognized Fernandez's strategic reasoning and told his son that the Northland Knights had to be confronted to take Saint Myra Province.
• Derek scouted the terrain and observed the Holy Cross Kingdom's preparations for moving a huge army through the region.
• When the Holy Cross Kingdom's vanguard reached the border, Derek studied its likely routes from Birch Castle toward Augusta Territory and Pulan City.
• Derek warned that the Holy Cross Kingdom could concentrate superior numbers against the defenders and advance steadily.

Derek prepared Augusta Territory’s defenses and divided his forces as the Holy Cross Kingdom’s two-hundred-thousand-man army advanced toward Birch Castle. Grand Duke Fernandez reached the castle and began scouting its defenses, where he saw Derek’s banner flying.

• Derek ordered Adrian to hide ten thousand men at Birch Castle, sent Sheriff north with people and supplies, and told Simon to prepare the militia for a mass escape.
• Earl Connor’s messenger confirmed that Grand Duke Fernandez planned to attack Augusta Territory through Birch Castle with a main force and two diversions.
• Marquis Hussein warned Derek that the Southern Nobles planned to disrupt Augusta’s food supply and shared the grain transfer points under his control.
• Derek asked Marquis Hussein to establish a grain depot near Augusta Territory and thanked him for the warning.
• Grand Duke Fernandez arrived at Birch Castle after a difficult march that cost him at least ten thousand soldiers, then went to scout the terrain.
• Grand Duke Fernandez saw Birch Castle’s reinforced walls and Derek’s Two-Headed Dragon Banner.

Adrian used the crossbowmen at Birch Castle to ambush Grand Duke Fernandez, who narrowly survived and then offered Derek an earldom to become his vassal. After Adrian rejected the offer on Derek’s behalf, Fernandez’s attacks on Birch Castle failed, so he decided to surround it with forts and wooden defenses.

• Grand Duke Fernandez inspected Birch Castle from a distance he believed safe, while Adrian recognized him as a valuable target and ordered his crossbowmen to fire.
• The crossbowmen’s bolts struck Fernandez’s party, killing more than a dozen knights and aides, but his escort protected him from serious injury.
• Fernandez recovered his composure, praised his escort, and offered Derek the title of Earl and land if he would become his vassal.
• Adrian rejected Fernandez’s offer twice on Derek’s behalf and joked about losing the chance to become a hereditary Earl.
• After resting for three days, Fernandez tried several attacks but found no opening at Birch Castle.
• Fernandez stopped attacking and ordered forts, wooden walls, and watchtowers built to contain Birch Castle.

Grand Duke Fernandez advanced through Locke territory with brutal tactics, while Derek prepared to exploit the Holy Cross army’s inexperience. After Derek’s forces lured several Holy Cross detachments together, he ordered the heavy cavalry to attack before they caught on.

• Grand Duke Fernandez used civilians as human shields to seize a town, then sent smaller forces to clear nearby resistance.
• Simon erupted in anger over the atrocities, and Derek instructed his troops to follow orders as he planned to exploit Fernandez’s green, poorly controlled army.
• Holy Cross troops pursued routed Locke militia, repeatedly mistaking lightly trained local fighters for regular soldiers.
• Derek watched as several Holy Cross detachments gathered, then ordered the heavy cavalry to attack before the enemy separated or recognized the trap.