Recaps

Charlotte sought Archpriest Augsladin’s guidance about his connection to Agmilas and the labyrinth in Silver Doveburg. Augsladin explained the New Continent’s dependence on Evil God powers, reassured him that the city’s people were safe, and asked him to deliver the promised guard.

• Charlotte learned that the woman who took the ancient painting of the Evil God was a widowed Princess, a taboo subject in the Empire.
• Charlotte admitted to Archpriest Augsladin that seeing the painting had affected him, and Augsladin revealed that Charlotte had already turned Silver Doveburg into a labyrinth.
• Archpriest Augsladin explained that people on the New Continent used Evil God powers to survive amid extreme hardship, and that Agmilas could no longer create Labyrinth Guardians in Silver Doveburg.
• Archpriest Augsladin assured Charlotte that the city’s residents would not become Evil Spirits and warned him not to rely too heavily on Labyrinth Power or cause Baron Filer more trouble.
• Charlotte thanked Archpriest Augsladin, who asked him to bring the promised guard sooner.

Charlotte questioned the rules of Agmilas’s Labyrinth Power but chose not to Labyrinthize Silver Doveburg again, determined to protect its people and resist the invasion. After learning that Grand Duke Joseph had died in battle and the Behemoth army had been defeated, Charlotte set out for Mostarburg with a smaller force.

• Charlotte wondered why Agmilas’s Labyrinth Power contradicted Archpriest Augsladin’s claims, then resolved not to turn Silver Doveburg’s residents into Labyrinth Guardians.
• Nanny Karen told Charlotte she knew he had Labyrinthized Silver Doveburg and warned him not to rely too heavily on Agmilas’s power.
• Nanny Karen informed Charlotte that Grand Duke Joseph had died at Interlaken, the Behemoth army had been crushed, and Madame Nansera was preparing a counteroffensive.
• Charlotte agreed to go to Mostarburg and decided to help protect the Behemoth People after learning Madame Nansera intended to massacre them.
• Charlotte left Dorothy at Machu Picchu and departed with Dobbin, Yellow Bear, selected squads, and a reduced supply train.

Charlotte gathered routed soldiers and scouted the South Seraph Restoration Army’s camps near Mostarburg with Dobbin. He watched a young Behemoth noblewoman lead a surprise attack on one camp, where a vampire Knight stopped her assault.

• Charlotte recruited defeated soldiers until he had more than five thousand men and approached the besieged city of Mostarburg.
• Charlotte and Dobbin scouted the Restoration Army camps, where Charlotte heard Behemoth People being tortured but decided he could not help them.
• Charlotte and Dobbin hid as a force of Behemoth People passed by, led by a young noblewoman wielding two swords.
• The young woman attacked a camp and killed seven soldiers before a vampire Knight blocked her swordsmanship.

Charlotte rescued Anastasia and her troops from Karon’s camp, killing the enemy’s two Transcendents and scattering the remaining soldiers. After learning that Anastasia’s mother had been tortured to death by Madame Nansera, he offered her a poem to comfort her.

• Dobbin tried to help Anastasia, but Charlotte killed the South Seraph Knight blocking him and shot Karon with six psionic bullets.
• Charlotte urged Anastasia to retreat, then covered her escape with Dobbin and scattered the camp’s soldiers.
• Charlotte sent the camp’s supplies to Machu Picchu through the Mind Channel and caught up with Anastasia’s troop.
• Anastasia recognized Charlotte as the commander who recaptured Silver Doveburg and identified herself as Baron Filer’s illegitimate daughter.
• Anastasia told Charlotte that Madame Nansera had tortured her mother to death, and Charlotte recited a poem to comfort her.

Anastasia joined Charlotte’s West Wind Knight Regiment, and he rebuilt and reinforced his forces while the South Seraph Restoration Army besieged Mostarburg. After receiving a new appointment and Baron Filer’s order to submit to his command, Charlotte attacked a nearby enemy unit and asked Filer for support.

• Charlotte invited Anastasia to join the West Wind Knight Regiment, and she accepted.
• Charlotte brought Anastasia to camp, gave her about five hundred routed soldiers, and expanded his own forces as well.
• South Seraph commanders demanded that Hughes send a Saint Rank to kill Charlotte, but Hughes refused because the Saint Rank had gone to Ferlanden and he feared damaging morale.
• Charlotte sent carefully worded letters to Mostarburg, his father, and his elder brother, but the South Seraph encirclement prevented replies from reaching him.
• The South Seraph Restoration Army attacked Mostarburg for five or six days while Charlotte held back with his regiment.
• Baron Filer ordered Charlotte to move closer and submit to his command, so Charlotte attacked a nearby South Seraph unit and asked Filer for support.

Charlotte received a major promotion and a residence in Val-d'Oise District while Baron Filer's Knight Order was trapped inside Mostarburg. As Hughes attacked the city, Charlotte launched a successful night raid against a weak South Seraph Restoration Army camp.

• Baron Filer ordered his Knight Order into Mostarburg, and Hughes sealed the city behind them.
• Charlotte was promoted to first-grade Administrator Chief and appointed Lucavaro District Political Affairs Bureau Director; he also received a twenty-member Knight Order and a residence in Val-d'Oise District.
• Charlotte's promotion raised morale among the West Wind Knight Regiment, whose members valued his generosity with meals and equipment.
• Hughes kept one force watching Charlotte and led the main Restoration Army in an assault on Mostarburg, where the defenders struggled to hold out.
• Charlotte sent his troops on a dark, windy night to raid three weak enemy camps, crushing one before the watching force reacted.

Charlotte led the West Wind Knight Regiment in a nighttime raid that destroyed three South Seraph Restoration Army camps. The victories spread his reputation throughout Mostarburg and beyond, while Hughes arrived too late to stop him.

• Charlotte attacked a second camp with eighteen Overback Red Bears, who broke through the barricades and slaughtered the defenders.
• Oley confronted Great Bear Tyrant but was fatally wounded when Bear Honey hurled a Knight's Lance into his back.
• Charlotte's troops swept through the fleeing soldiers and destroyed a third camp before withdrawing.
• Hughes arrived to find three camps ruined, and Charlotte's raid made his reputation spread throughout Mostarburg and beyond.

Charlotte returned to camp after Hughes withdrew, but Hughes later confronted him in the Dreamscape and pressured him to agree to a public duel beneath Mostarburg. Charlotte accepted, fought Hughes briefly, then escaped the Dreamscape, while Nanny Karen discovered Hughes’s compromising dossier on Charlotte was incomplete.

• Hughes gathered the routed soldiers from the three camps and withdrew, while Charlotte returned to camp and reviewed the raid.
• Charlotte encountered Hughes in the Dreamscape, where Hughes demanded a public duel in exchange for military merit and threatened Charlotte’s family and reputation.
• Charlotte agreed to fight Hughes, and the two exchanged blows with their swords and martial techniques.
• Charlotte withdrew from the Dreamscape before Hughes could continue attacking, leaving Hughes holding his lance in an unfinished stance.
• Nanny Karen appeared after both men left, destroyed the dossier Hughes had brought, and noted that its list of Charlotte’s exploits was incomplete.

Charlotte prepared to kill Hughes in the coming duel, then comforted Anastasia by telling her that she was Farsian rather than defined by her origins. Hughes agreed to let Zolman fight Charlotte instead, while the two generals aimed to keep Hughes from gaining prestige.

• Nanny Karen recalled that the Count had wanted to kill Charlotte after reading the investigation documents, and the Dreamscape shattered.
• Charlotte realized Hughes had threatened to expose his secret and resolved to kill him in the duel using his trump cards and Demon-Breaking Armor-Piercing Bullets.
• Anastasia asked whether she belonged to the Behemoth People or the Madame Nansera, and Charlotte told her that they were all Farsians who should not fight over identity.
• Charlotte lent Anastasia Anne's handkerchief, then asked for it back after she wiped away her tears.
• Zolman and Limbersen Rock argued over who would duel Charlotte, and Hughes chose Zolman, a level-fifteen Knight.
• Zolman and Limbersen Rock privately agreed that either could take the duel, but Hughes must not gain prestige.

Charlotte prepared for a formal duel with Hughes, but Hughes changed the opponent to Zolman, a senior South Seraph Restoration Army general. After Zolman mocked Charlotte with an embarrassing story from his past, Charlotte entered the duel determined to kill his enemies.

• Charlotte arranged a duel agreement witnessed by Grand Duchess Joseph, Archpriest Augsladin, and Vigo, while Hughes revised it to allow a South Seraph general to duel.
• Grand Duchess Joseph, Archpriest Augsladin, and Baron Filer watched as Charlotte and his allies arrived beneath Mostarburg to face Hughes and the South Seraph generals.
• Zolman stepped forward as Charlotte’s opponent, and Charlotte’s baffled question about who he was enraged him and boosted the South Seraph troops’ morale.
• Charlotte examined the agreement and realized Hughes had changed the opponent from himself to an unspecified South Seraph general.
• Charlotte accused Hughes of sending Zolman because of infighting, then grew furious when Zolman threatened to make him run naked and prepared to fight with Blood Rose.

Charlotte’s duel with Zolman drew the attention of Mostarburg, while Belisa noticed Hughes leaving and feared the South Seraph Restoration Army would attack the city. As Charlotte’s fight pushed him to a disadvantage, his House of Asilo swordsmanship broke through to its eighth movement, Twilight Elegy.

• Zolman and Charlotte began their duel as Hughes quietly left Mostarburg with an elite unit.
• Belisa spotted Hughes departing and suspected Madame Nansera might exploit the distracted defenders to attack the city.
• Belisa sought help from Charlotte’s companions, and Anastasia agreed to investigate with her and a small combat squad.
• Charlotte fought Zolman through more than fifty exchanges but gradually fell behind.
• Blood Rose’s clashes with Zolman’s lance helped Charlotte break through to the eighth movement of the House of Asilo Twelve Angelic Movements, Twilight Elegy.

Charlotte defeated Zolman in their duel, then discovered that the South Seraph Restoration Army had launched a surprise attack on Mostarburg. As battle engulfed the city, Charlotte chose to try to rout the enemy forces before Hughes could capture Mostarburg.

• Zolman realized Charlotte's swordsmanship had improved during their duel and accused him of gazing upon an evil god.
• Charlotte used a concealed Anti-Space Long-Range Rifle to maim Zolman, then killed him with Blood Rose.
• Madame Nansera charged onto the battlefield, and the West Wind Knight Regiment joined the fight.
• Charlotte searched for Hughes and learned from Dobbin that Anastasia had gone to defend Mostarburg after the Duchess's maid warned of an attack.
• Charlotte deduced that Hughes was attacking Mostarburg while the city's defenders watched the duel, and he decided to rout the South Seraph Restoration Army first.

Hughes captured Mostarburg, killed Grand Duchess Joseph, and withdrew, leaving Charlotte to reckon with his losses and Hughes’s real objective. The next morning, Charlotte met his older brother Mycroft Mecklen and sister-in-law Winnie Mecklen, whose family ties linked her to his former fiancée Sylvie Martin.

• Hughes led his troops over Mostarburg’s walls, killed Grand Duchess Joseph, and opened the city gates before withdrawing with the South Seraph Restoration Army.
• Charlotte’s West Wind Knight Regiment repelled the remaining South Seraph forces, and Dobbin returned with Belisa, Anastasia, and several hundred prisoners.
• Charlotte realized Hughes had used the attack to cover a withdrawal, then gathered supplies and the fallen soldiers’ bodies and refused invitations to enter Mostarburg.
• The next morning, Charlotte met his older brother, Mycroft Mecklen, and sister-in-law, Winnie Mecklen, who had once helped arrange his engagement to her younger sister, Sylvie Martin.

Charlotte met with his brother Mycroft Mecklen and sister-in-law Winnie, refused their request to attend the nobles’ balls in Mostarburg, and assured them that Sylvie was doing well in Strasbourg. He gave the couple a military carriage as they left, while Winnie decided to write to Sylvie and encourage her to reconcile with Charlotte.

• Winnie asked Charlotte whether he had been hurt in battle, and Charlotte reassured her that he was fine.
• Mycroft told Charlotte that the nobles wanted him to enter Mostarburg for celebratory balls, but Charlotte refused, citing his orders from the Central Government Office.
• Winnie asked about Sylvie, and Charlotte said she had become a detective and confirmed that their engagement had ended.
• Charlotte shared a meal with Mycroft and Winnie, then gave them a military carriage and horses.
• On their way back to Mostarburg, Winnie said she would write to Sylvie and urge her to reconsider Charlotte.

Charlotte prepared to leave Mostarburg, but Archpriest Augsladin offered him a role as his deputy on an embassy to the Empire of Inglima. The chapter ended with Charlotte and the West Wind Knight Regiment hurrying toward Strasbourg to arrange the mission.

• Charlotte decided to evacuate Mostarburg and ordered the West Wind Knight Regiment to prepare to leave for Machu Picchu.
• Archpriest Augsladin told Charlotte that the war in Ferlanden had escalated, with both sides committing huge forces and powerful fighters.
• Augsladin offered Charlotte three options, including serving as his deputy on an embassy to the Empire of Inglima, and Charlotte accepted.
• Augsladin proposed stationing the West Wind Knight Regiment in Cappadocia City as a possible fallback, and Charlotte agreed to protect his rear.
• Augsladin departed for Strasbourg and told Charlotte to follow quickly, while Charlotte ordered his troops to leave Mostarburg.

Charlotte allowed Belisa to join his group and lent her Cat's Mask so she could learn to defend herself. While cultivating that night, he broke through to eighth-rank Star War Qi, then discovered a vampire assassin in his camp who claimed to be on his side.

• Anastasia explained that Belisa had followed the group after Duchess Joseph's death, and Charlotte let the maid stay because she was a Transcendent.
• Belisa revealed that she was a second-rank Sky Glider, and Charlotte lent her Cat's Mask and told her to practice throwing knives and firearms.
• Charlotte arranged the camp's night watch and continued cultivating after the group rested.
• Charlotte formed a Bloody Vortex in his right hand and used it to advance his Star War Qi to the eighth rank.
• Charlotte caught a masked vampire assassin attacking him, and the attacker called out that he was on Charlotte's side.

Charlotte followed the Byronian spy Julian Asilo away from the West Wind Knight Regiment and learned about Byron’s plans to attack Fars’s diplomatic mission with new burst-fire Alchemical Rifles. The conversation ended with Julian asking Charlotte to arrange a place for him to sleep and bathe.

• Charlotte pursued the assassin Julian Asilo out of camp and let him mistake her for a fellow Byronian spy.
• Julian revealed that Byron had sent spies to discover when Fars’s diplomatic mission would depart so they could intercept and kill its members.
• Julian said Baron Leo would lead the attack using five ultra-long-range burst-fire Alchemical Rifles loaded with Demon-Breaking Armor-Piercing Bullets.
• Charlotte considered how the rifles might threaten even Saint Rank Transcendents and recalled the strengths and limitations of Transcendence firearms.
• Julian asked Charlotte to arrange a place for him to sleep and take a bath.

Charlotte brought Julian to the military camp and spent the night discussing sword techniques, vampire secret arts, and military intelligence with him. She prepared to lead the Knight Order toward Machu Picchu and then Strasbourg, while Julian asked to travel with her.

• Charlotte introduced herself to Julian as Qian Nan and let him believe she was an irregular descendant.
• Julian shared knowledge of House of Asilo's secret arts and other vampire clans, and filled in gaps in Charlotte's inheritance.
• Charlotte and Julian emerged from her carriage together after daybreak, prompting rumors that shocked Anastasia and Belisa.
• Charlotte ordered the Knight Order to set out for Machu Picchu, planning to send several dozen people to Strasbourg afterward.
• Julian asked Charlotte if he could accompany her to Strasbourg.

Charlotte returned to Strasbourg with Julian and his companions, where the West Wind Knight Regiment received a new mission to help the Empire of Inglima clear pirates from Cappadocia City without alarming friendly nations. He reunited with Anne at Gorgia University and prepared to give her a gift as they rode to afternoon tea.

• Charlotte sent Dobbin, Yellow Bear, Spotted Deer Gwen, Gale Wolf Bancroft, and the West Wind Knight Regiment to Machu Picchu, then summoned Dorothy to bring warhorses and join him.
• Charlotte and his group returned to Strasbourg, and the Central Government Office's Military Affairs Knight Order Department declared the regiment's previous mission complete and assigned it to assist the Empire of Inglima in clearing pirates from Cappadocia City.
• Charlotte reviewed the old documents and troop order that gave the Inglima mission political legitimacy, though he knew the Empire might blame him if anything went wrong.
• Dorothy parted from Charlotte to handle personal matters, while Charlotte arranged lodging at Falcon Street Number One and chose to visit Gorgia University before seeing Archpriest Augsladin or Anne Brittany.
• Charlotte met Anne outside her classroom, invited her to afternoon tea, and embraced her in the carriage as he worried about her learning of his past.
• Charlotte told Anne part of what had happened in the Duchy of Behemoth, and, as the carriage headed to a restaurant, he prepared the gift he had brought for her.

Charlotte gave Anne the short guns Famous Painting, which she used to create lifelike portraits of herself for his residences. He then went to the Minister of Foreign Affairs’ residence at Central Avenue Number 5 to find Archpriest Augsladin about their planned diplomatic mission.

• Charlotte gave Anne Famous Painting and explained that it could create up to five interactive portraits.
• Anne arranged for five large portraits of herself to be framed and sent to Charlotte’s residences, and Charlotte danced with the portrait at Champs-Élysées Avenue Number 58.
• Charlotte set out in his ordinary carriage, collected cash, and went to the Temple of the Lord of Radiance to ask where Archpriest Augsladin was.
• Charlotte entered Central Avenue with military documents and went to the Minister of Foreign Affairs’ residence to meet Archpriest Augsladin.
• The guards admitted Charlotte to a waiting room filled with officials seeking an audience.

Charlotte accepted an envoy post to the Empire of Inglima, and a bribe to a young official secured him a seniority-based promotion. After completing his reassignment, he left the Central Government Office in Madam Nancy’s carriage while his former colleagues underestimated his new status.

• Charlotte was summoned to a young official at the Minister of Foreign Affairs’s residence and agreed to serve as an envoy to the Empire of Inglima.
• Charlotte slipped the young official a wallet, and the official signed a document promoting him to second-rank, twenty-eighth-grade Administrator Chief.
• Charlotte submitted the document at the Central Government Office and received his new identity as Minister Plenipotentiary of War to the Empire of Inglima for the Empire of Fars.
• Charlotte encountered former colleagues who invited him to celebrate a promotion, but he declined and told them his reassignment had already been handled.
• Madam Nancy arrived in a carriage for Charlotte, and he rode away while his former colleagues speculated about the carriage and dismissed his prospects.

Charlotte visited Baker Street 221B, the estate the Queen had awarded him, with Anne, who had collected the keys and furnished the residence. As they admired the quiet street, Charlotte spotted someone familiar hurrying past.

• Charlotte chose to continue his date with Anne instead of going to Embassy Street for official training.
• Anne directed Madam Nancy to Baker Street 221B and revealed that she had arranged for the estate's keys and furnishings.
• Charlotte and Anne toured the renovated two-floor residence and admired Anne's magical portrait in the living room.
• Charlotte ordered coffee, set meals, ale, and fruit wine through the apartment's service bell.
• Charlotte spotted a familiar figure hurrying past Baker Street while he and Anne stood by the window.

Charlotte learned that Louis Smythe had acquired the Fiery Steed Detective Agency for him and planned to visit it, but Archpriest Augsladin soon arrived with preparations for their diplomatic mission to the Empire of Inglima. Charlotte then went to Falcon Street Number One and used his political authority to appoint Anastasia and Belisa to government positions.

• Anne told Charlotte that Louis Smythe had bought Aubrey Teuton Atwood's Fiery Steed Detective Agency for him, and Charlotte decided to visit it the next day.
• Charlotte spent a quiet afternoon with Anne, then returned to Champs-Élysées Avenue Number 58 and slept in a different bedroom after viewing Anne's portrait.
• Archpriest Augsladin told Charlotte that the envoy delegation would depart at the end of the month and outlined its clothing and weapons requirements.
• Charlotte went to Falcon Street Number One and appointed Anastasia a First-Class Clerk and Belisa a Grade Forty-Five First-Class Assistant, despite Belisa lacking the required qualifications.

Charlotte took control of the Fiery Steed Detective Agency and addressed its employees, offering raises to detectives who stayed and City Patrol jobs to unselected assistants and apprentices. He left the agency with most of its workers willing to remain or join his patrol force.

• Charlotte and Anne visited the Fiery Steed Detective Agency in Alcatraz District.
• Charlotte gathered the agency's employees on the rooftop and announced that he would be its new president.
• Charlotte offered official detectives who stayed a weekly raise of twenty Centimes, and nearly all chose to remain.
• Detectives selected assistants and Apprentice Detectives to join them under Charlotte.
• Charlotte offered severance to unselected workers and invited those without other prospects to report to the Lucavaro District City Patrol.

Charlotte reorganized the Fiery Steed Detective Agency, prepared for a diplomatic mission, and joined Archpriest Augsladin’s delegation. At sea, Augsladin diverted Charlotte to Goling Island to secure an escape route, and Charlotte realized Julian Asilo had disappeared.

• Charlotte trusted the veteran detectives from the Wild Horse Society to choose their own assistants, treated them to a feast, and persuaded two detectives who planned to leave to stay.
• Charlotte selected the Silver Knight supernatural pistol from the diplomatic armory and said farewell to Anne before joining Archpriest Augsladin on Embassy Street.
• Archpriest Augsladin led a delegation of more than two hundred people out of Strasbourg, with Charlotte ranking around eighth and traveling in a military carriage.
• After the delegation boarded a warship for the Empire of Inglima, Augsladin transferred Charlotte and his subordinates to a merchant ship and revealed that Charlotte’s task was to secure an escape route on Goling Island.
• Charlotte watched Archpriest Augsladin sail away and then realized Julian Asilo was missing.