Recaps

Fran considered how to secure cotton and other industrial materials, then turned her attention to the apprentices at the expanding mine. Byron and Jared mistook distant fighting for the arrival of a Knight Master, but Anna appeared dragging a badly wounded Knight instead.

• Fran planned to buy cotton through the Spirit Realm while researching how to cultivate it, and she worried about obtaining cotton-growing methods and other industrial supplies.
• The mine expanded across the mountain, where Byron and Jared worked beside noisy machinery while Gray Robes supervised the miners.
• Byron and Jared heard distant fighting and believed a Knight had arrived to rescue them, so they celebrated.
• A Gray Robe follower beat Byron and Jared and dragged them toward the mine shaft; a nearby refugee hoped the Gray Robes would prevail.
• Anna arrived with a bloodied, half-dead Knight in silver armor, dragging him across the ground.

Fran visited Heart Lake Market to check on her commissions, then arranged a bulk purchase of cotton through the White Hill Chamber of Commerce. She left with a delivery agreement in place and planned to return in three days to inspect a headless Tosk Horned Bull corpse.

• Fran learned that commission XXXXXXXXXX4 had been accepted and arranged to pay extra Spirit Crystals for Spirit Realm transport.
• Fran agreed to inspect the headless Tosk Horned Bull corpse in three days and required reimbursement if it did not match the description.
• Fran went to the White Hill Chamber of Commerce after realizing that large-scale crop purchases were handled by chambers of commerce.
• Fran showed Pierce an encyclopedia illustration so he could identify cotton, which the White Hill Chamber of Commerce had in its records and warehouse.
• Fran arranged to buy all the cotton available and any additional cotton the chamber acquired, despite Pierce recommending goat wool.

Fran learned that the Alliance had sealed off the 'Ancient' Domain and was searching for the Radiance Domain, forcing her to go to the Law Domain despite the danger. There, she confronted the Alliance representatives about whether they intended to violate her contract.

• The Lord of Radiance told Fran that the Alliance had surrounded the 'Ancient' Domain and asked whether she had done anything there besides helping Una become its Domain Lord.
• Fran considered abandoning Una, but the Lord of Radiance warned that the Alliance was locating the Radiance Domain and could track Fran if she refused to meet them.
• Fran agreed to go to the Law Domain and arrived without encountering resistance.
• Fran entered the meeting room, where Tristan and Ophelia sat with unfamiliar representatives of the Law School and Elemental School.
• Fran asked whether the Alliance planned to violate their contract, leaving the people in the room rattled and Elijah bewildered by her lack of fear.

Fran negotiated with the Alliance over access to the sealed Ancient Realm, using the threat of a suicidal act to prevent them from pressuring her. Elijah offered an Abyss Contract with compensation and protection, and Fran agreed to keep the Radiant Sect out of the realm; afterward, Elijah revealed that securing her signature had been the real aim.

• Tristan warned Fran that the Alliance had sealed off the Ancient Realm, while Fran threatened to have the Lord of Radiance’s followers kill themselves and restore the three Deities’ influence.
• Fran held firm as Tristan and the others fell silent, unwilling to risk provoking her into suicide.
• Elijah produced an Abyss Contract and promised that he would not harm Fran or any Second Order or higher Profession, while the Alliance offered one million Gold Coins and protection for the Lord of Radiance’s followers.
• Fran accepted the Alliance’s request and agreed that no one in the Radiant Sect besides her and the realm’s lord could enter the Ancient Realm.
• After Fran left, Elijah told Tristan that an Abyss Contract was the way to ensure both sides would be satisfied, then asked Archmage Arthur Carter to confirm.

Arthur Carter questioned Elijah’s decision to involve the Alliance, while Elijah explained why the Alliance’s survival took priority and why Fran was unlikely to activate the Abyss Contract. Fran returned to the Radiance Domain with an agreement in place, then went to Heart Lake Market to address the Alliance’s tracking methods.

• Arthur Carter praised Elijah’s actions but warned that involving the Alliance had been rash, and Elijah recorded their conversation for the council.
• Elijah explained that the Alliance faced a more immediate danger and believed Fran would avoid activating the Abyss Contract as long as she still had hope.
• Arthur Carter asked Elijah not to mention him in the report, and Elijah agreed.
• Fran told the Lord of Radiance that the meeting had gone well and that the Alliance’s lockdown should remain in place under their agreement.
• Fran left the Divine Temple without learning what the Alliance was searching for, then went to Heart Lake Market to change the traits used to track her.

Fran rushed to alter the physical information The Alliance used to identify her, then disguised her mental fluctuations. She left herself temporarily harder to track, though her new mental signature would revert if she stopped sustaining it.

• Fran bought three magical beast corpses from the Adventurers Guild at 300% of the listed price and brought them back to White Flower City.
• Fran used the Costa Lizard’s blood and the other beasts’ materials to change her physical characteristics, accepting a temporary loss of physique.
• Fran finished altering her fingerprints, irises, skin patterns, breathing, and heartbeat while leaving her appearance unchanged.
• Fran used [Aether Manipulation] to transform her mental power into fluctuations resembling those of a newly advanced First Order mage.

Elan weighed whether to leave Fran’s Base Camp and decided to stay, though he refused to keep doing the work she had assigned him. Exhausted after returning from the Spirit Realm, Fran arranged preparations for testing firearms and directed the apprentices to help manufacture parts, while Elan sensed that her appearance or presence had changed.

• Elan considered leaving the Base Camp but stayed because he worried about the three apprentices’ safety in Antir, and he decided he would no longer do Fran’s assigned labor.
• Fran returned to the Base Camp exhausted and instructed Brian to gather materials and prepare ingredients for black powder samples.
• Fran reviewed firearm-part blueprints and decided that the apprentices should help workers make the parts.
• Elan told Fran he would stop doing his assigned work, and Fran accepted and told him to divide the blueprints among the apprentices.
• Elan sensed that Fran felt different despite still appearing as Lai, but the unease faded as she spoke and moved.

Fran planned to exploit the looming fall of Horn Pass and the resulting fear in White Flower City to expand the Lord of Radiance’s faith and restore her Divine Power. At Base Camp, Kahn realized that workers could machine firearm parts quickly with a lathe, leaving him shaken about the value of his Magic Artisan training.

• Fran confirmed that The Alliance had not moved against the Lord of Radiance and insisted that the Lord notify her before entering the Spirit Realm.
• Fran concluded that Horn Pass was unlikely to hold and planned to use the coming war and Finley’s rise to lordship to spread anxiety and recruit believers in White Flower City.
• Fran estimated that recruiting people from White Flower City and River Valley Territory would help restore the Lord of Radiance’s strength and eventually support her own advancement.
• At Base Camp, Kahn directed a worker using a lathe to produce a firearm part from his blueprint.
• Kahn recognized the part as a firearm component and realized that lathe work could let ordinary workers machine parts rapidly, making him question his Magic Artisan training.

After the apprentices watched workers manufacture weapon parts without magic, Kahn questioned whether mages were still needed. Fran explained that mages could use and improve machinery while relying on workers to handle production, and Ocien asked whether the apprentices could stay with her after becoming Formal Mages.

• Fran praised Kahn and the other apprentices for teaching workers to use a lathe, but they remained troubled by the workers' ability to make weapons without magic.
• Kahn asked Fran why she involved workers in mechanical production and whether mages still needed to exist.
• Fran explained that mages could enhance machinery and use workers' standardized production and repair work to save time and effort.
• Ocien realized that the Forge School's path had shifted toward Fran's approach and worried he would not advance without following her lead.
• Ocien asked whether they could keep working for Fran after advancing to Formal Mages, and Fran welcomed any mage who wanted to work at her camp.

Duke Theodore learned that Horn Pass was likely falling and ordered Count Ian to activate the Territory Destroyer while preparing to confront the Prince of Antir. Fran intercepted Ian before he could use it, leaving the coming battle over the Royal Capital unresolved.

• A messenger told Duke Theodore that Horn Pass had gone silent, and Theodore sensed that eleven of his knights had died there.
• Theodore ordered Count Ian to activate the Territory Destroyer and return with his knights, then prepared to tighten the siege around the Royal Capital and attack the prince.
• Fran learned that Ian was heading to activate the device and rode to White Flower City to stop him.
• Ian reached the designated site with Maeve, but an unseen attacker knocked Maeve unconscious before she could deploy the Territory Destroyer.
• Fran, disguised with a red glow and using a voice-changing potion, melted Ian's sword and put him to sleep until sunrise.

Count Ian recovered after being knocked unconscious and found the Territory Destroyer sabotaged, then returned to White Flower City with Maeve. Finley revealed he had become a lord, and Ian inferred that this had helped Duke Theodore defeat the Prince of Antir, while Lucy remained missing.

• Count Ian woke in the mud, sensed an unfamiliar Territory Resonance, and found Maeve and the damaged Territory Destroyer nearby.
• Count Ian discovered that Fran had torn open the device's Energy Core chamber and taken its power source.
• Count Ian recalled the attacker mentioning an Earth Spirit and realized Lucy had planned to use the Territory Destroyer in a dangerous scheme.
• Count Ian returned to White Flower City with Maeve and found Finley waiting at the gate.
• Finley told Count Ian he had become a lord the previous night after secretly finding a Territory Token, and Ian realized this had weakened the Prince of Antir.
• Finley told Count Ian that Lucy had not yet returned to the city.

Lucy abandoned her mission after a mysterious red-glowing attacker overpowered her and freed the Earth Spirit, while Fran secured the Energy Cores from Lucy’s devices. Fran then ordered Anna to prepare a force to seize River Valley City, intending to pressure Duke Theodore while Count Ian was away.

• Lucy woke to find the Earth Spirit restraint device ruined and recalled how the mysterious attacker had overwhelmed her, scorched her hair, and warned her not to interfere with the Earth Spirit.
• Lucy decided to retrieve the Territory Destroyer and return to the Alliance, and considered that Maeve might have a chance to join the Ocean Society after she left.
• Fran stored the two Energy Cores she had taken from Lucy’s devices and considered learning Alliance inscriptions so she could use them.
• Fran found Anna and ordered her to lead the people who had pledged allegiance, along with half the believers, to take River Valley City.
• Fran told Anna that about sixty people could be equipped within five days and that the attack would pressure Duke Theodore while Count Ian was away.

Darian’s victory at Horn Pass became a setback when he learned that Theodore had killed the Prince of Antir and captured one of Darian’s professionals, forcing him to seek terms. In the Royal Capital, Theodore discovered that Ian was still a Second Order professional and sensed an unexpected power at White Flower Territory.

• Darian learned that Theodore had killed the Prince of Antir and captured one of the three professionals Darian had sent to the Royal Capital.
• Darian decided to surrender Horn Pass, accept Theodore’s compensation, ransom the prisoners, and return to Lorinvik.
• Theodore reflected on the Prince of Antir’s death before Count Ian arrived at the Royal Palace.
• Theodore sensed that Ian still possessed the aura of a Second Order professional and realized White Flower Territory held a powerful force rather than the damage left by the Territory Destroyer.

Theodore planned to consolidate his control over Antir while Count Ian handled Lorinvik, and he decided Finley could not yet be replaced. In White Flower City, Fran persuaded Finley to let rumors spread and recognize her as his liege, severing his allegiance to Ian.

• Ian told Theodore that Finley had concealed the Territory Token until he became a lord, and Theodore asked whether Finley had a wife or children.
• Ian explained that Finley was unmarried and had no children, so Theodore could not use bloodline inheritance to replace him.
• Theodore said Prince Darian wanted negotiations, then ordered Ian to settle matters in Lorinvik within half a month and preserve Antir’s territory.
• Finley worried that Fran’s request would put him at odds with Theodore, but agreed to let messages circulate without interference after Fran reminded him she had promised to register his territory with the Alliance.
• Fran told Finley to call her his liege while maintaining Territory Resonance, and Finley’s declaration made her his true liege and removed Ian’s blessing over Hundred Flower Territory.

Anna's force attacked River Valley City with firearms and a cannon, overwhelming its defenders and opening the way into the city. The gates were breached, but the chapter ended before the attackers entered.

• Anna waited outside River Valley City while believers prepared their firearms and the cannon Fran had built.
• A skilled enemy archer killed six defenders on the walls, frightening the remaining guards into hiding.
• Anna ordered the cannon to blast the wooden watchtower, then climbed onto the wall and raised the city gates.
• The attackers fired on the guards at the entrance, and the defenders' wooden shields failed to stop the bullets.
• A believer brought the cannon to bear on the gate defenders, whose ordinary soldiers and civilians were knocked unconscious by the blast.

Anna fought Morris, the lord of River Valley Territory, and killed him with the sword Fran had given her. After hearing the invading troops fire cannons at the lord’s castle, she went to stop them before the battle caused further damage.

• Morris confronted Anna on the city wall and attacked her with Sky Strike, but she survived the blow’s aftershock.
• Morris charged Anna, and she used Whirlwind Slash to cut through his armor and greatsword.
• Anna stabbed Morris through the back of his neck, then struck his heart and brain until he lay still.
• Anna heard the gray-robed believers’ troops fire cannons at the lord’s castle and decided to stop them.

Fran ordered Finley to demolish part of White Flower City’s wall to make room for factories and a railway station as she planned to expand production and secure the territories’ food supply. The residents’ anger grew, and a local noble who tried to exploit it was taken away by Gray Robes.

• Count Ian’s purge and rumors of another war left White Flower City fearful, and Finley ordered part of its western wall demolished.
• Fran planned factories, a railway station, and agricultural production facilities to develop White Flower and River Valley Territories.
• Fran intended to use the Base Camp to produce parts and support construction, but she recognized that transportation and food production had to be addressed first.
• Residents and nobles gathered to protest the wall’s demolition while Finley let their anger build without interference.
• A former financial officer stirred the crowd by blaming the demolition on the lord’s poor judgment, then was taken away by Gray Robes backed by Finley.

Brian’s staged execution of White Flower City’s former treasurer turned the crowd’s fear of war against nobles who resisted Fran. In River Valley City, Anna approved a similar public execution and ration distribution, while wondering why Fran had delayed using the believers to seize towns.

• Brian watched Gray Robes execute the former treasurer in White Flower City after believers branded him a demon and silenced him.
• The believers cheered, and many residents joined them as Brian judged his plan to redirect their anxiety toward the nobles successful.
• A Gray Robe in River Valley City brought Anna a captured grain-store official and proposed executing him publicly before distributing rations.
• Anna approved the plan and ordered the execution and gathering to happen near dusk, before too few believers remained to prevent trouble.
• Anna questioned why Fran had waited to organize believers to seize towns and spread the faith.

Duke Theodore struggled with the limits of the King's position as trouble spread across Antir, while Count Ian's declining rank forced him to abandon his plans at Horn Pass. Fran delegated her responsibilities and used her rare free time to study her growing spell abilities.

• Duke Theodore considered how remaining in the Royal Capital to claim the King's power left Antir vulnerable to foreign lords and local unrest.
• Duke Theodore learned that Count Ian's rank was slipping as trouble arose in White Flower Territory and River Valley Territory, forcing Ian to negotiate with Darian instead of taking Horn Pass.
• Duke Theodore ordered someone to bring Count Ian back to handle the troubles across Antir, then brooded alone in the throne hall.
• Fran assigned Brian and Finley to White Flower City, Anna to River Valley City, and Aila and the apprentices to work at the base camp.
• Fran checked her spell proficiency and examined Elemental Regression, which could return an element after she used Elemental Conversion.

Fran experimented with [Elemental Conversion] and [Elemental Regression], discovering that she could turn converted elements into devastating attacks. After a second conversion amplified an earth spell far beyond normal limits, she stopped experimenting as her mental power ran low.

• Fran tested a fire-to-wind conversion with [Howling Gale], whose lingering airflow gouged the ground and wrapped around a boulder.
• Fran cast [Elemental Regression] on the converted wind elements, vaporizing the boulder and leaving a scorched Shallow Pit.
• Fran converted earth elements into fire and then wind, striking a dead tree with the resulting airflow before using [Elemental Regression] to return the elements to earth.
• Fran used the highly activated earth elements to cast [Earth Uplift], raising the ground into a twenty-meter pillar over five minutes.
• Fran considered attempting a third conversion but stopped because her mental power could not support more experimentation.

Darian began negotiating with Baron Seras Field after Count Ian abruptly returned to Antir, while suspecting that a crisis there might strengthen his bargaining position. At Base Camp, Fran discovered that neighboring lords had sent disguised scouts into River Valley Territory and decided to move the commoners somewhere safer.

• Darian questioned Seras about Duke Theodore's throne, but Seras admitted he knew little and let the talks proceed slowly.
• Darian suspected Count Ian's sudden departure meant serious trouble in Antir and waited for a chance to demand a larger ransom.
• A disguised scouting party from a neighboring lord followed a strange track through River Valley Territory toward the black smoke rising from Base Camp.
• Fran ambushed the scouts and killed their First Order Professional leader after the rest of the group vanished.
• Fran realized the neighboring lords were probing Antir and decided to relocate the commoners because she lacked enough First Order Professionals to defend the territory.

Count Ian returned to White Flower Territory with a force after learning that Finley remained its lord but had changed allegiance, while River Valley Territory also appeared to have a new lord. He arrived at White Flower City prepared to reclaim the territory, but Finley stood ready to resist with firearms and cannons as he awaited Fran.

• Count Ian postponed returning to White Flower and River Valley Territories while he helped defend Antir from raids across its lands.
• Count Ian sensed that Finley still ruled White Flower Territory but had changed lieges, and he realized that River Valley Territory had gained a new lord as well.
• Count Ian led his knights toward White Flower City after the territories’ messengers vanished and no word arrived from either territory.
• Count Ian found White Flower City’s gates shut and Finley waiting above them with armed defenders.
• Finley relied on firearms, nine loaded cannons, and Fran’s expected arrival to hold off Count Ian’s force.

Fran captured Count Ian after helping Finley repel the First Order knights, then questioned him about Horn Pass and Duke Theodore's situation. With the information gathered, she ordered Ian and the other captives killed.

• The city cannons wounded the First Order knights, and Finley held the walls with help from two white-robed men until Fran arrived and scattered the attackers with spells.
• Fran had Maeve keep [Disorderly Touch] active while Count Ian recovered from its effects, and Maeve reflected on how Fran had hired and overworked her.
• Ian realized Fran was behind the assault and feared the Alliance's power and the consequences of opposing a Second Order Mage.
• Fran ended Maeve's spell, then tortured Ian with a dagger to make him reveal what happened at Horn Pass and explain Duke Theodore's situation.
• After Fran praised Maeve's observations and confirmed she had all the information she needed, she ordered the captives killed.

Fran prepared to expand her territory by killing Duke Theodore’s knights and making White Flower Territory part of the Alliance. She left Finley in charge of the executions, while he realized she had secured his lordship before he knew about it.

• Fran recalled how Ian’s survival and Prince Darian’s surrender had strengthened Duke Theodore, and decided she would not let Ian return alive.
• Fran explained to Finley that she planned to kill the knights because she distrusted their loyalty and had no place for them in her religious order.
• Fran reassured Finley by showing him an Alliance document recognizing him as lord of White Flower Territory.
• Fran revealed that she had applied to occupy all of Antir and had made Finley’s territory legitimate under Alliance law.
• Fran ordered Finley to execute the knights three days later, giving Duke Theodore time to react.

Darian's ransom negotiations with Seras stalled until a tremor from Antir's Royal Capital changed their leverage and reopened talks. In River Valley City, Fran sent Anna to Flying Eagle Territory with three hundred armed followers.

• Darian argued that he could not pay Seras's demand of three hundred Gold Coins, while Seras insisted on the ransom and reminded him that Theodore would not abandon the captured knights.
• Darian prepared to send Shadow Cult followers into Antir to burn granaries and steal valuables, then decided to attack Seras that night when the negotiations seemed hopeless.
• Darian felt the Throne of Antir tremble and draw him in more strongly, and Seras arrived in shock; Darian then resumed negotiations, expecting Theodore's position to change soon.
• Anna observed the rapidly built church in River Valley City, which Fran had constructed with specially formulated bricks and cement.
• Fran assigned Anna to lead three hundred firearm-equipped followers to Flying Eagle Territory, south of River Valley Territory and far from the Royal Capital.