Recaps

Charlotte helped Menilman escort Grand Duke Ferdinand and his wounded Duchess toward Strasbourg, then watched as Ferdinand was shot dead after entering the city. Menilman protected Charlotte from political repercussions, assigned him a prison case, and told him to prepare for the coming war.

• Menilman defeated the assassins, and Charlotte helped arrange for the wounded Duchess Josephine to be carried to a carriage.
• Menilman offered Charlotte a choice of clerical or military work, and Charlotte chose to transfer into the military.
• Menilman warned Charlotte to keep silent about what he had witnessed, and City Patrol soldiers escorted Grand Duke Ferdinand into Strasbourg.
• Gunfire erupted after Menilman handed the City Patrol over to an officer, and Grand Duke Ferdinand was reported shot dead.
• Menilman told Charlotte that Magru Teller had been blamed for the prison's missing Supernatural Weapons and assigned Charlotte the case as a reward.
• Menilman gave Charlotte three days off and told him to prepare to earn merit in the coming war; Charlotte returned home, troubled that he could not prevent it.

After escaping the Wild Horse Society, Charlotte reunited with Anne Brittany, Sylvie Martin, and Vinnie Arsenault, who learned how he had defeated the detectives and reached the fourth order. He planned to return to Machu Picchu during his three days off, while his visitors left with a much higher opinion of him.

• Charlotte discovered that he had left the adventurers trapped in the Labyrinthized Machu Picchu and decided to return there after his visitors came by.
• Anne Brittany visited Charlotte and embraced him, and Charlotte reassured her while hiding his distrust of the political forces behind her family.
• Sylvie Martin and Vinnie Arsenault arrived, and Vinnie praised Charlotte for killing eight Wild Horse Society detectives, including three Transcendents.
• Charlotte explained that Magru Teller had framed him after he refused to report Senior Menilman, and he admitted that he had reached the fourth order through the Bloody Glory path.
• Charlotte and the three women talked through the morning before Anne, Sylvie, and Vinnie departed together.

Sylvie kept her former engagement to Charlotte secret, while Charlotte headed to Machu Picchu after failing to cultivate the Dark Breathing Technique. During a visit to Kilmainham Prison, he learned that Magru Teller’s weapons scandal had made him a scapegoat and received a pouch of money tied to the case; the chapter ended as Charlotte joined the prison staff to welcome a new warden.

• Sylvie left Champs-Élysées Avenue Number 58 without telling Vinnie Arsenault that she and Charlotte had once been engaged.
• Charlotte hired a carriage to go to Machu Picchu and failed once again to cultivate the Dark Breathing Technique.
• Charlotte visited Kilmainham Prison, spoke with Madame Pascal, and learned that Magru Teller had been dismissed.
• A bearded weapons-room guard handed Charlotte a pouch of money and warned him not to get involved in the investigation of Magru Teller’s sale of confiscated Supernatural Weapons.
• Charlotte realized the prison’s powerful figures were using Magru Teller as a scapegoat and accepted the money as compensation for testifying.
• Charlotte joined Kilmainham Prison’s management to welcome its newly appointed warden.

Charlotte Mecklen was transferred from Kilmainham Prison to become the City Patrol Commander of Lucavaro District, only to discover that his new office had been abandoned. After counting his illicit payment from Magru Teller, he traveled to Machu Picchu and sensed that Lord Leo was trapped inside.

• The new warden issued Charlotte a transfer order appointing him City Patrol Commander of Lucavaro District, a promotion that raised his rank and salary.
• Charlotte found the Lucavaro District City Patrol office deserted and concluded that someone had arranged his exile there.
• Charlotte counted 150 fifty-Flor banknotes from Magru Teller and considered paying off his house, buying a carriage, or starting a business.
• Charlotte returned to Machu Picchu Fortress, sensed that Lord Leo was trapped, and entered alone.
• Charlotte found the meeting hall deserted and damaged by battle, with two unfamiliar corpses, then walked deeper into the fortress without drawing his weapon.

Charlotte rescued the adventurers trapped in the Machu Picchu labyrinth and persuaded them to follow him to Strasbourg by promising them a share of his family’s treasure. He settled them in Lucavaro District, then went to the Central Government Office to reestablish his records for his City Patrol position.

• Charlotte rescued Mason and the other adventurers from the monsters in the Machu Picchu labyrinth and led them back to the meeting hall.
• Charlotte claimed he had found his family’s treasure and promised the adventurers five percent, persuading them to accompany him to Strasbourg.
• Charlotte vowed to return and destroy the monster that had killed Hannah, while leaving Lord Leo trapped in the labyrinth for the time being.
• Charlotte brought the adventurers to the abandoned City Patrol office on Falcon Street and settled them there.
• Charlotte visited Madame Aldegonde, who prepared documents to help him reestablish his records after his transfer to the City Patrol.

Charlotte used his authority and connections to obtain City Patrol identities for more than 170 adventurers, then offered them lifelong weekly salaries in exchange for serving in Lucavaro District. He distributed their official documents and promised that treasure-hunt participants would eventually have assets worth at least one hundred Gold Écus.

• Charlotte used Madame Aldegonde's documents, Flor, and his knowledge of government procedures to secure more than 170 City Patrol identities for adventurers.
• The adventurers demanded the proceeds from the treasure auction, but Charlotte told them the first batch of treasures had been sold and the money could not yet be distributed.
• Charlotte offered each adventurer a weekly City Patrol salary of thirty-five to forty Centimes for as long as they continued serving.
• Mason questioned whether the Long-term Small Payment Contract was a scam, while Yas and other adventurers considered how to verify their new positions.
• Charlotte swore that every treasure-hunt participant would eventually have assets worth at least one hundred Gold Écus and handed out City Patrol identification documents.
• Charlotte offered to pay for a meal and sent Mason, Yas, Hermontha, and others to buy food.

Charlotte settled the Lucavaro District City Patrol office, learned that the Duchy of Behemoth had declared war on Nansera Territory, and received his first weekly payday. He then met Dobbin, who arrived with over a hundred transferred officers to fill Lucavaro’s vacant posts.

• Charlotte organized the remaining adventurers to clean and repair the City Patrol office, then returned home and read letters from Menilman and Miss Anne.
• Menilman advised Charlotte to endure his current post and hinted that he might later transfer to the navy, while Miss Anne warned him to stay cautious because the Duchy of Behemoth had declared war on Nansera Territory.
• On Monday, Charlotte and the Lucavaro District City Patrol officers received their weekly salaries, and Charlotte felt relieved that his arrangements had gone smoothly.
• Dobbin arrived with over a hundred City Patrol officers transferred from the Upper Seven Districts and discovered that Charlotte was now his commander.
• Dobbin explained that salary-drawing officials had secured transfers to the Upper Seven Districts, leaving him and his colleagues to fill Lucavaro’s vacancies, and Charlotte accepted the new officers.

Charlotte held a welcome feast for the adventurers newly assigned to the Lucavaro District City Patrol, but an armed confrontation nearly began when Aubrey Teuton Atwood approached the office. After the danger passed, Charlotte went to seek help from Vinnie Arsenault at the Cat Detective Agency.

• Charlotte assigned the adventurers to the City Patrol under Dobbin and the other officers, and they realized they had become actual subordinates rather than temporary workers.
• Charlotte used his salary to host a welcome feast, and Dobbin returned with food and ale for the gathering.
• Charlotte sensed Aubrey Teuton Atwood approaching and took aim with his Anti-Space Sniper Rifle, while Dobbin and the others formed a defensive circle.
• Aubrey stopped before entering the rifle's firing zone and turned away, leaving Charlotte uncertain what would have happened if he had attacked.
• Charlotte put Dobbin in charge of the patrol's daily affairs and left to seek aid from Vinnie Arsenault at the Cat Detective Agency.

Charlotte visited the Cat Detective Agency to meet Vinnie Arsenault and found Aubrey Teuton Atwood there, who accused him of killing eight detectives. Atwood proposed settling their grievance through a public duel and left promising to send Charlotte a challenge letter.

• Charlotte arrived at the Cat Detective Agency, and Sylvie Martin escorted him to Vinnie Arsenault's office.
• Aubrey Teuton Atwood introduced himself and confronted Charlotte about the eight detectives Charlotte had killed.
• Charlotte explained that Atwood's hired assassin had fled after encountering over two hundred city patrol officers.
• Atwood acknowledged Charlotte's growing strength and said he would not fight personally because he had promised Vinnie not to act.
• Atwood proposed a public duel with one of his detectives' relatives, and Charlotte agreed to await the challenge letter.

Charlotte learned that Aubrey Teuton Atwood had arranged a duel against two Mid-Order Transcendents and a High-Order challenger, so he planned to choose Machu Picchu as the dueling grounds. Anne offered to arrange help from her Seventeenth-Order Knight cousin, and Charlotte asked whether he should explain the matter to him in person.

• Vinnie Arsenault warned Charlotte that his Fourth Order strength would not be enough against the duel’s challengers, including Addison’s older brother, a High-Order Transcendent.
• Charlotte thanked Vinnie, asked her to look after Sylvie, and left the Cat Detective Agency after telling Sylvie that killing him would not be easy.
• Charlotte picked up three kittens and supplies, then returned home, where Anne visited and learned he was facing a duel.
• Anne offered to contact her Seventeenth-Order Knight cousin to guarantee victory against Aubrey Teuton, and Charlotte asked if he should speak to the cousin himself.

After Anne promised to introduce Charlotte to her cousin, an assassin disguised as a passerby attacked Charlotte, who killed him with the Anti-Space Sniper Rifle. Charlotte had the City Patrol remove the body and found a note linking the assassin to the Chelsea Detective Agency.

• Anne agreed to arrange afternoon tea with her cousin for Charlotte when he returned to Strasbourg.
• Insight warned Charlotte of an approaching assassin, and he fought the disguised man with Blood Rose and the Vampire Hand Axe.
• Charlotte shot the fleeing assassin with the Anti-Space Sniper Rifle and discovered a magical face disguise among his belongings.
• Charlotte summoned Dobbin and the City Patrol, then paid the newspaper boys who had run to report the killing.
• Charlotte searched the assassin's wallet and found money and a note addressed to the Chelsea Detective Agency at 5 Dragon Castle Avenue, Alcatraz District.

Charlotte examined the assassin’s spoils, including the Cat’s Mask, and wondered why Aubrey Teuton Atwood had hired an Orc Assassin to kill him. During cultivation, Charlotte’s Blood Flame Qi rune erupted and revealed that he had learned the Blood Flame Transformation Technique, leaving him able to shift between human form and living flame.

• Charlotte identified the dagger as a powerful Anti-Space weapon and learned that the Cat’s Mask could transform him into six beings he had encountered and grant him one random skill from each.
• Charlotte recalled the Orc Assassin Alliance’s reputation for pursuing contracts until their targets died and suspected Aubrey Teuton Atwood had sent an assassin after him.
• Charlotte practiced Bloody Glory and reviewed how his high spirituality and cultivated runes had made him stronger than an ordinary fourth-rank fighter.
• Charlotte’s Blood Flame Qi rune grew restless and exploded through his body, transforming him into a mass of blood flame.
• Charlotte reversed the Protagoras Breathing Method to return to human form, then transformed into blood flame again and floated through Champs-Élysées Avenue Number 58.

Charlotte mastered the Blood Flame Transformation Technique and read about the Hand of Blazing Flame, then decided to buy a carriage. After inspecting a secondhand carriage, he rejected its price and asked the dealer to show him another.

• Charlotte practiced the Blood Flame Transformation Technique until he could change forms within seconds and discovered its limited flight and ability to evade physical attacks.
• Charlotte read about the House of Adonis's Hand of Blazing Flame and noticed that Carnstein's descent countdown had extended to 71 days, 8 hours, 20 minutes, and 17 seconds.
• Charlotte fed and played with his kittens, skipped work, and headed to a carriage dealership to buy a carriage.
• Charlotte inspected a distinguished secondhand carriage and used Insight to check it for problems.
• The carriage dealer quoted four Écu for the carriage, and Charlotte asked to see another one.

Charlotte negotiated a low price for a used carriage, bought a Brabant draft horse, and hired Madam Nancy as his coachman for a trial week. After inspecting the carriage’s custom interior, he directed Madam Nancy to take him to Gorgia University.

• Charlotte rejected the broker’s high asking price and bargained him down to two Écus and eight Fols, including several accessories.
• Charlotte bought a two-year-old Brabant Horse for two Écus and received a year’s worth of fodder.
• Madam Nancy asked Charlotte for a coachman’s job, and he agreed to hire her for a week-long trial at eighty-five Centimes per week.
• Madam Nancy drove Charlotte’s new carriage smoothly as he examined its spacious interior and built-in study.
• Charlotte changed his mind about going home and told Madam Nancy to drive him to Gorgia University.

Charlotte visited Gorgia University to see Anne and learned from Dorothy Soumei that two High-Order Transcendents planned to challenge him. The chapter left him facing Anne and her classmates after Dorothy revealed that both challengers were at the university.

• Charlotte arrived at Gorgia University and waited outside Anne's class while studying his diary.
• Dorothy Soumei recognized Charlotte and warned him that two High-Order Transcendents intended to challenge him.
• Dorothy told Charlotte that both challengers were at Gorgia University before walking away.
• Anne came out of class and saw Dorothy speaking with Charlotte.
• Charlotte told Anne about the planned duels, and Anne's eyes widened.

Charlotte accepted Kreil Brittany’s challenge to test his skill, and survived a brief duel against the much stronger knight by using Insight, Angel’s Thorn, and Bloody Glory. Kreil knocked him back and asked whether he had chosen Bloody Glory at the university.

• Kreil offered to help Charlotte with his duel against the Wild Horse Society if Charlotte could withstand three moves, but asked him to stay away from Anne if he failed.
• Charlotte agreed to duel Kreil, hoping to gain experience and make a good impression on Anne’s family.
• Kreil attacked Charlotte with Hartingen University’s Thunderstorm Swordsmanship while Charlotte used his blood flame form to evade the strikes.
• Kreil knocked Charlotte dozens of paces away with a palm strike, then ended the duel without attacking again.
• Charlotte returned to human form, recovered from a light injury, and told Kreil that he had chosen Bloody Glory.

Kreil and Abner agreed to take Charlotte’s duel in his place, while Kreil teased Anne about marrying him. Charlotte and Anne then rode together to Rosay District, where Charlotte stopped for coffee.

• Kreil introduced Abner Sumay to Charlotte and took the group to a military carriage for a private conversation.
• Kreil confirmed Charlotte had awakened Blood Flame Qi and condensed a Bloody Rune, then said he and Abner would accept the duel for him.
• Kreil told Charlotte that a fourth-rank Transcendent was not enough to marry Anne, making Anne protest that they were only friends.
• Kreil and Abner departed, regretting that they had never obtained the Proof of War or challenged Zimmerman Axel Robin.
• Charlotte invited Anne for a ride in his secondhand carriage, and Anne asked about his Bloody Rune before they headed to Rosay District.
• Charlotte asked Madam Nancy to stop at a riverside coffeehouse and buy two cups of coffee.

Charlotte cultivated a Bloody Rune for Agility Technique, then settled into his new household and began organizing the Lucavaro District City Patrol. He left the patrol’s troubled state largely untouched for now, instead reassuring his men as he prepared to manage his other problems.

• While riding with Anne along the Rosay River, Charlotte formed an Agility Technique rune and later tested its speed and jumping ability in his courtyard.
• Charlotte hired Madam Nancy as his coachwoman and offered her son miscellaneous work, then arranged a low-ranking City Patrol position for Madam Nancy.
• Charlotte rode to Falcon Street Number One in the rain and found that only a little over one hundred and ninety of the district’s City Patrol officers had reported for duty.
• Charlotte reviewed Dobbin’s information on Lucavaro District’s gangs and learned that five major gangs controlled most of the district’s underworld.
• Charlotte spoke over refreshments with adventurers and City Patrol officers, reassuring them about the work ahead and the money he had promised.

Charlotte was ambushed by Magru Teller, who had escaped prison and attacked him with a Thunderclap Blunderbuss. Their fight raced across rooftops as Charlotte realized Magru’s monstrous transformation and seemingly endless ammunition came from a Cursed Armament.

• Charlotte’s Insight spotted Magru Teller preparing to shoot, so Charlotte leaped onto his carriage roof and fired a Demon-Breaking Armor-Piercing Bullet that destroyed Magru’s lower body.
• Magru survived the shot, blamed Charlotte for his family’s ruin, and transformed flesh strands into eight legs to rush after him.
• Charlotte fled across rooftops and fought back with his Vampire Hand Axe while Madam Nancy stayed out of the battle for her child’s sake.
• Magru fired repeatedly as Charlotte’s ordinary bullets failed to pierce his defenses, then reloaded specially made ammunition from a Spatial Bullet Bag.
• Charlotte recognized that Magru’s power came from a Cursed Armament, a pinnacle product of Classical Alchemy.

Charlotte battled Magru Teller, whose Cursed Armament had transformed him into a powerful half-man, half-spider monster seeking revenge for his imprisonment. As the fight continued, two detectives watching from nearby reconsidered their plans to duel Charlotte.

• Charlotte reflected on the differences between Classical Alchemy and Classic Alchemy as he struggled to claim anything from Magru Teller, whose Cursed Armament could not be separated from his body and soul.
• Magru Teller abandoned his Thunderclap Blunderbuss, charged Charlotte with a giant axe, and blamed him for exposing his framing of Menilman and the punishment that followed.
• Charlotte used his Alchemy Staff and Agility Technique to evade Magru Teller's attacks, but the former warden's speed, strength, and endurance kept him on the defensive.
• Charlotte assessed his weapons and limited supply of Demon-Breaking Armor-Piercing Bullets, but could not find a reliable way to defeat Magru Teller.
• Reggie Asu and Kalenda Modi watched the fight and realized Charlotte was holding his own against a Mid-Order High Stage opponent.
• Reggie Asu and Kalenda Modi decided to ask their agency head to remove them from the duel roster.

Charlotte fought Magru Teller and discovered that channeling Bloody Glory between his Bloody Vortices amplified his abilities. After using the newfound technique to gain the advantage, he killed Magru Teller and watched his body turn to ash.

• Charlotte battled Magru Teller while Reggie Asu and Kalenda Modi watched and assessed his abilities.
• During the fight, Charlotte linked his Bloody Vortices with Bloody Glory, increasing the Vampire Hand Axe’s speed and power.
• Charlotte used the same technique with the Agility Technique, making himself faster and evading Magru Teller’s axe blows.
• Charlotte seized an opening and sent Blood Rose through Magru Teller’s head, killing him.
• Magru Teller’s cursed body crumbled into ash, and Charlotte reflected that his former superior had not needed to die.

Charlotte sold Magru Teller’s curse remnant to Reggie Asu and discovered that channeling Bloody Glory through his Bloody Vortices accelerated his growth. He advanced to Fifth Order Transcendence, but the next morning Anne warned him that Kreil Brittany and Abner Sumay had been sent to the front and could no longer help him in his duel.

• After Magru Teller’s cursed remains were left behind, Reggie Asu offered Charlotte Écu for the curse remnant, and Charlotte sold it to him for twenty-five Écu.
• On the carriage ride home, Charlotte tested a method of channeling Bloody Glory through his Bloody Vortices and found that it amplified his mystic arts and helped him absorb life essence faster.
• After absorbing Magru Teller’s life force, Charlotte activated his fifth Bloody Vortex and advanced to Fifth Order Transcendence.
• The next morning, Anne rushed to Charlotte and told him that Kreil Brittany and Abner Sumay’s unit had been redeployed to the front, leaving them unable to duel on his behalf.
• Charlotte accepted that the soldiers had to obey their orders, while Anne worried that he could not defeat a High-Order Transcendent.

Charlotte reassured Anne before his duel, learned that Magru Teller had escaped Kilmainham Prison, and received a new challenge from two detectives. When Vinnie Arsène visited, she offered to teach him Cat Elf Magic, and Charlotte agreed.

• Charlotte wore his uniform and reassured Anne about his strength and recent advancement to the Fifth Order.
• Anne left to find a way to help Charlotte win the duel.
• Madam Nancy reported that Magru Teller had killed more than ten prison guards and escaped Kilmainham Prison.
• Vinnie Arsène delivered a new challenge on behalf of two Fiery Steed Detective Agency detectives and warned Charlotte that Addison's brother had advanced to the Fourteenth Order.
• Vinnie offered to teach Charlotte the Spirit Communication Technique and Cat Transformation Technique, and he accepted.

Charlotte mastered the Spirit Communication Technique and Cat Transformation Technique, impressing Vinnie Arsenault with his extraordinary talent. After Vinnie left, Charlotte received the death notice of Madame Pascal and suspected Magru Teller had killed her.

• Charlotte used the Spirit Communication Technique to bond with three clever cat kittens, and Vinnie Arsenault was astonished by how quickly he mastered it.
• Charlotte learned the Cat Transformation Technique, turned into a clever cat, and discovered his Insight and Agility Technique remained available in that form.
• Vinnie watched Charlotte demonstrate his enhanced agility as a cat, then left convinced he would become an important figure.
• Charlotte practiced both spells late into the night and woke to find a black-envelope death notice for Madame Pascal.
• Charlotte suspected Magru Teller had killed Madame Pascal and asked Madam Nancy to attend the funeral in his place and give one Flor as condolence money.

Charlotte signed the formal duel challenge from Harriet Alva and continued cultivating before an Orc Assassin Alliance operative confronted him at dinner. He escaped the assassin’s attack by transforming into a cat and fleeing onto the rooftops.

• Charlotte read Vinnie Arsenault’s challenge letter, signed its three copies, and chose Machu Picchu Fortress as the duel’s location.
• Charlotte studied the Vampire Secret Scroll and focused his cultivation on the Hand of Blazing Flame.
• After the rain cleared, Charlotte went out to dinner and was approached by a powerful brown-haired orc.
• The orc admitted he belonged to the Orc Assassin Alliance and had been sent to finish a colleague’s failed mission.
• When the assassin threatened to kill Charlotte’s lover first, Charlotte named Senior Menilman and Duchess Mesu, then transformed into a clever cat and escaped the flying knives.