Chapter Summaries

Charlotte dealt with the deadly insect swarm in Cappadocia City, then worked to improve the city’s economy. Meanwhile, Archpriest Augsladin’s alliance talks stalled as Julian secretly gathered intelligence.

• Charlotte learned that Red-Bearded Morgan and Poison Bee Jack had been Chatham’s men, and that the shattered Bag of Insects still attracted the swarm.
• Cruz offered to retrieve the Bag of Insects, but Charlotte stopped him and entered the swarm himself.
• Charlotte reached the bones at the swarm’s center, recovered the Bag of Insects, and drew the black mist and insects back inside it.
• A little girl gave Charlotte a salted fish, and he quietly resolved to make it up to her later.
• Over the next several days, Charlotte issued orders that helped revive Cappadocia City’s market by abolishing taxes and forgiving debts.
• Archpriest Augsladin held negotiations in the Empire of Inglima without progress toward an alliance, while Julian gathered intelligence under the status of a Fars diplomat.

After recruiting a former pirate captain, Charlotte agreed to sail for Saint Michael’s Island and seize it from the Golden Goat Fleet. On the voyage, he discovered that Mad Horse Dai Weisi was conspiring with Chatham to ambush him.

• Charlotte detained the crews of two merchant ships, bringing his fleet to six ships, and recruited the former pirate captain Mad Horse Dai Weisi to command a combat squad.
• Mad Horse Dai Weisi proposed taking Saint Michael’s Island while most of the Golden Goat Fleet was away, and Charlotte agreed despite suspecting his motives.
• Charlotte recruited five hundred more people and expanded the West Wind Knight Regiment to two thousand men before sailing with Mad Horse Dai Weisi aboard six merchant ships.
• Charlotte used Insight to learn that Mad Horse Dai Weisi planned to lure him into an encirclement set up by Chatham, the leader of the slave ships.

Charlotte uncovered Mad Horse Dai Weisi and Chatham’s ambush and turned the pirates’ plan against them. After killing the pirate captain with a rifle shot, he launched a counterattack as Anastasia led the boarding assault.

• Charlotte discovered that Mad Horse Dai Weisi and Chatham had arranged to trap his fleet between pirate ships.
• Charlotte killed Mad Horse Dai Weisi, subdued his men, and forced them to guide the fleet toward the enemy ships.
• Charlotte disguised Cruz in Dai Weisi’s clothes and ordered the merchant ships to raise white flags to fool the pirates.
• Charlotte shot the pirate captain with the Anti-Space Long-Range Rifle as the fleets drew near.
• Anastasia led her team in charging onto the pirate warship.

Charlotte returned to Cappadocia City with five captured pirate ships, raising its labyrinthization progress to (11/18). When two large Empire of Inglima Royal Navy warships arrived, he improvised an explanation for his presence just as a six-ship pirate fleet was sighted.

• Anastasia, Dorothy, Belisa, and the West Wind Knight Regiment fought aboard the five pirate ships, and Charlotte helped defeat their resistance.
• Charlotte captured five ships, returned to Cappadocia City, and incorporated five or six hundred pirates into the West Wind Knight Regiment.
• Chatham waited several days for Charlotte's fleet and his missing ships, then sailed toward Cappadocia City.
• Charlotte saw two Empire of Inglima Royal Navy warships arrive and greeted their officers at the docks.
• Charlotte introduced himself and explained that he had driven pirates away from Cappadocia City, but a lookout reported six pirate ships approaching.

Charlotte secured the support of Inglima’s naval officers after James Cook defeated Chatham’s pirate fleet, then obtained the six surrendered ships. The officers accepted his hospitality and left Cappadocia without challenging his temporary rule.

• Francis Drake recognized Chatham’s Golden Goat Fleet among the pirates, and James Cook thanked Charlotte for helping Inglima recover Cappadocia City before sailing out to confront them.
• While James Cook fought the pirates, Francis Drake told Charlotte that enemies in his previous battles had surrendered as soon as fighting began.
• Chatham raised the white flag, and James Cook escorted all six pirate ships into Cappadocia’s harbor.
• Charlotte asked James Cook and Francis Drake for the six ships, and they agreed to give them to him.
• Charlotte entertained the two officers and left each one a bag containing one hundred Gold Pounds; they praised him and departed Cappadocia two days later without questioning his administration.

Charlotte completed Cappadocia City’s Labyrinthization, handed over the fleet, and traveled to Britannia after Archpriest Augsladin summoned him. While shopping for weapons at Lafayette’s Shop, he unexpectedly reunited with Julian Asilo, who revealed that he had become a Twenty-Fourth Rank First-Rank Ensign.

• Charlotte completed Cappadocia City’s Labyrinthization, declined a second one, and left Seaman and Cruz in charge of the fleet after having Chatham and several subordinates beheaded.
• Charlotte traveled to Britannia, delivered the pirate leaders’ heads to the City Patrol, and filed a report praising James Cook and Francis Drake.
• Charlotte found that Archpriest Augsladin and Viscount Durenne were absent from the Fars embassy, so he went out to learn the city and shop for weapons.
• At Lafayette’s Shop, Charlotte examined several Blood Kindred weapons, including three Vampiric Weapons, before Julian Asilo entered and greeted him.
• Charlotte and Julian introduced their ranks and positions, and Julian reproached Charlotte for deceiving him during their earlier meeting.

Charlotte and Julian discussed Charlotte’s identity, First Rose of Fars, and the evening ball hosted by Count Lamorak. Charlotte accepted Julian’s invitation, bought the Withered Rose, and absorbed the weapon into his Bloody Vortex.

• Julian joked with Charlotte about Senior Menilman and explained that he had once considered asking his father to propose to her when he was five.
• Charlotte told Julian that he liked someone else, and they avoided discussing the war between Byron and Fars.
• Julian invited Charlotte to Count Lamorak’s ball, where Archpriest Augsladin would also be present, and gave him an invitation.
• Charlotte bought Julian’s Withered Rose for two hundred Gold Pounds after hearing that it could absorb enemies’ life force to replenish its bullets.
• Charlotte’s left arm warmed, and the Withered Rose merged into the Bloody Vortex within it.

Charlotte accepted Julian’s Withered Rose, which Julian explained could merge with Blood Rose into a Bloody Vortex, and the two spent the afternoon dining before traveling together to Count Lanmalock’s ball. They arrived at the Champagne Palace, where Charlotte faced the unfamiliar world of high aristocracy and could not find Archpriest Augsladin.

• Julian explained that House of Asilo’s Supernatural Weapons could merge into a Bloody Vortex, and Charlotte decided he liked Withered Rose.
• Julian and Charlotte shared a meal of Byron cuisine in Julian’s office and talked until the ball approached.
• Julian had Charlotte change into suitable clothes, and Charlotte summoned the Dark Luxury to take them to the ball.
• Charlotte and Julian arrived at the Champagne Palace, where Charlotte put away the Dark Luxury and yielded its space to a young lady’s carriage.
• Charlotte could not spot Archpriest Augsladin among the gathered nobles and felt nervous at his first true aristocratic gathering.

Charlotte and Julian explored the extravagant Champagne Palace ball and discussed noble customs, while Charlotte reflected on Anne’s aristocratic background and his hope to marry her. Their evening took a turn when they heard that Jeremy Renner and Elijah Wood were about to duel over Veronica.

• Charlotte compared Champagne Palace’s extravagance with the palaces of his previous life and realized how gentle Anne Brittany had been despite her noble upbringing.
• Charlotte and Julian wandered through the palace, sampled champagne, and drew flirtatious attention from noblewomen.
• Julian asked whether Charlotte was a virgin, and Charlotte said he already loved someone and hoped to marry her.
• A crowd announced that Jeremy Renner and Elijah Wood were going to duel over Veronica, and Charlotte and Julian went to watch.

Charlotte dismissed a staged duel at a noble ball, refused a young woman’s offer to duel for her, and learned that such spectacles were common. When he heard that two gentlemen were dueling for Miss Soumei, he rushed over, thinking Senior Menilman might have come to Inglima, and interrupted the fight.

• Charlotte and Julian watched Elijah Wood defeat Jeremy Renner in a duel that Charlotte recognized as deliberately staged.
• After the crowd dispersed, Charlotte found Julian gone and sat alone at the ball.
• A young woman in a blue court gown offered Charlotte two Gold Pounds to duel for her, but he refused.
• Charlotte heard about several more arranged duels and went to find Archpriest Augsladin.
• When he heard that two gentlemen were dueling for Miss Soumei, Charlotte hurried to the site and leaped into the dueling ground.
• Charlotte deflected both duelists’ rapiers and followed up with two kicks.

Charlotte was mistaken for a suitor in a staged duel for Aurora Soumei and was challenged by Julanther after refusing to back down. The chapter ended with Julanther formally challenging Charlotte to a duel for Menilman Soumei.

• Charlotte kicked two duelists out of the dueling ground and met the unfamiliar Aurora Soumei.
• Julanther stepped forward to challenge Charlotte for Aurora, but Aurora said she did not need men to duel for her.
• Charlotte tried to forfeit, then accepted the challenge after Julanther offered to let him withdraw if he renounced Miss Soumei.
• Aurora introduced herself as a Farsian and explained that Menilman was her distant cousin.
• Aurora remarked that the First Rose of Fars never lacked duelists, and Julanther challenged Charlotte to a duel for Menilman Soumei.

Charlotte defeated Julanther in a duel and received the antique Magic Rapier Unicorn Vulture. After Aurora Soumei arranged to visit him, Archpriest Augsladin revealed that he had planned to visit her father.

• Charlotte pierced Julanther’s formal attire with his rapier without injuring him, and Julanther surrendered his sword and left.
• Charlotte examined the antique Magic Rapier Unicorn Vulture, which had the attributes Toughness, Swiftness, and Magic-Breaking.
• Aurora Soumei asked Charlotte about Menilman and arranged to visit him at the Fars embassy the next day.
• Archpriest Augsladin told Charlotte that the other delegation members were unavailable and asked for his help.
• Charlotte said Aurora was visiting him tomorrow, and Augsladin revealed that he had planned to visit Miss Soumei’s father.

Charlotte learned that Aurora Soumei was a high-ranking diplomat from an illustrious Inglima family, then left the ball and fought off robbers while wandering Briton. The next day, Aurora arrived at the Fars Embassy, where Charlotte greeted her with Dorothy, Anastasia, and Belisa.

• Archpriest Augsladin explained the ties between the Fars and Inglima branches of the Sumei Family and told Charlotte that Aurora Soumei was a nineteenth-rank associate councillor.
• Charlotte felt a vague sense of crisis about Aurora, then left Champagne Palace after seeing Archpriest Augsladin join the Inglima delegation.
• Seven or eight robbers attacked Charlotte near Briton's river, and he wounded them, took their shillings, and threw their weapons into the water.
• Charlotte returned to the embassy, reported the weapons, practiced Bloody Glory, and told Dorothy Soumei that Aurora would visit.
• Aurora Soumei arrived at the Fars Embassy in uniform, and Charlotte greeted her alongside Dorothy Soumei, Anastasia, and Belisa.

Aurora Soumei told Charlotte that the alliance between the Empire of Inglima and the Empire of Fars was nearing completion and urged him to secure a role in it. Charlotte left the conversation wondering what favor Aurora wanted in return for revealing the secret.

• Aurora discovered that Dorothy was her cousin and spent the morning with Dorothy, Anastasia, and Belisa while Charlotte waited.
• Charlotte visited Julian at Lafayette's Shop, recounted the previous day's events, and invited him to return to the embassy.
• Charlotte and Julian waited at the embassy while Aurora and the three girls shopped, then Aurora asked Charlotte for a private conversation.
• Aurora told Charlotte that the alliance negotiations were nearing completion and advised him to leave his name in the agreement.
• Charlotte thanked Aurora and asked what she wanted him to do for her.

Aurora Soumei hired Charlotte to publicly duel Ban Lamorak, Count Lamorak’s son, to end his harassment and avoid his demand that she remain unmarried if no one defeated him. Charlotte accepted and requested two Vampiric Weapons, while Dorothy and the others reacted with alarm when they learned who his opponent was.

• Aurora Soumei asked Charlotte to fight Ban Lamorak in a public duel after explaining that Ban had given her a year to find someone who could defeat him or she would have to remain unmarried for life.
• Charlotte accepted the duel, dismissing the threat because Ban was only a Mid-Order Transcendent Knight, and said he would need a weapon that could overcome Ban’s Frost Dragon Battle Qi.
• Aurora offered to obtain a Knight’s Lance or Magic Rapier, and Charlotte requested two Vampiric Weapons suited to his Bloody Glory cultivation.
• After Aurora left, Charlotte told Dorothy that he had agreed to duel her cousin’s suitor for a hefty sum.
• Dorothy, Anastasia, and Belisa reacted with disbelief when Charlotte said Ban was only a Mid-Order Transcendent, and Charlotte asked what made Ban special.

Charlotte learned that Ban Lamorak, known as Briton's Youngest Lion, was a celebrated young duelist and asked how he compared to other famous fighters. Julian revealed that Ban stood alongside him among the five empires’ most formidable young men, while the strongest youths in three other empires were women.

• Dorothy told Charlotte that Ban Lamorak had defeated sixteen High-Order Transcendents and was called Briton's Youngest Lion.
• Charlotte compared Ban to Kreil, Abner, Hughes, James Cook, and Francis Drake, surprising Dorothy, Anastasia, and Belisa with how little he knew of their reputations.
• Charlotte visited Lafayette's Shop and asked Julian about Ban's strength.
• Julian said Ban and he were the leading men under twenty among the five great empires, and declared himself Lord Azure.
• Julian explained that the strongest youths in Fars, the Black Phoenix Dynasty, and the Lionheart Dynasty were women, including the Strasbourg Rose.

Charlotte persuaded Archpriest Augsladin to stamp a lengthy proposal for an alliance between Fars and the Empire of Inglima, then delivered it to Count Soumei. The Count hurried to the palace after reading it, leaving Charlotte with Aurora, who told him she had found a Knight's Lance and might offer him her father's Magic Rapier.

• Charlotte told Archpriest Augsladin that he and Aurora intended to pursue an alliance against Byron, and Augsladin warned him against rushing into state matters.
• After arguing late into the night, Charlotte persuaded Augsladin to stamp an alliance proposal without signing it, then spent the night writing more than twenty-three thousand words.
• Aurora arranged for Charlotte to lunch with Count Soumei, and Charlotte presented the Count with his proposal.
• Count Soumei read part of the proposal, hurried off to meet the Emperor, and asked Aurora to keep Charlotte there in case he needed to explain it.
• Charlotte ate the Count's untouched lunch, and Aurora told him she had found a Knight's Lance but might offer him her father's Magic Rapier instead.

Charlotte spent the afternoon and evening with Aurora, then Count Soumei summoned them to meet the Emperor of Inglima. After passing strict palace security, Charlotte met the young Emperor Alfred Guillaume, who said he knew quite a lot about Charlotte’s past.

• Charlotte shared an elegant Black Phoenix Dynasty dinner with Aurora and thought of Anne and the life he had left behind in Strasbourg.
• Aurora asked Charlotte about the girls from Fars and Inglima, but Count Soumei interrupted to say the Emperor had summoned him.
• Count Soumei took Charlotte and Aurora by carriage to Red Dragon Palace, the center of Inglima’s imperial power.
• Palace guards searched Charlotte and confiscated Blood Rose and Withered Rose before allowing him to meet His Majesty Alfred Guillaume.
• Alfred Guillaume looked Charlotte over and told him that he knew quite a lot about his past.

Charlotte Mecklenburg met Emperor Alfred Guillaume, who rewarded him with a diplomatic rank and a riverside garden before having him sign alliance documents through the night. By noon the next day, Charlotte had finished signing and was on his way back to Embassy Street to rest.

• Alfred Guillaume questioned Charlotte about his past romantic affairs, and Charlotte answered while Aurora Soumei realized he had admitted his past.
• Alfred appointed Charlotte a first-rank Councillor and Red Dragon Palace Archivist, and granted him an abandoned riverside garden in Briton.
• Count Soumei urged Inglima to ally with Fars to curb the Byron Empire's expansion, and Alfred agreed to sign the alliance.
• Charlotte signed the alliance documents and several more batches of state papers throughout the night.
• Charlotte finished signing the documents by noon and asked Count Soumei to send him back to Embassy Street to sleep.

After Agility Technique broke through, Charlotte used Cat's Mask to acquire the Hundred Bear Chief's Meteor Hammer Technique and practiced it at Lafayette's Shop to prepare for his duel with Ban Lamorak. He remained in Briton while the alliance treaty's procedures continued, improving quickly enough to hold his own against Julian.

• Charlotte broke through in Agility Technique, increasing his speed, agility, and jumping height.
• Charlotte used Cat's Mask on the Over-the-Back Red Bear Warriors and learned the Meteor Hammer Technique and Bearman Shield Hammer Technique, though he discarded the battle axe skill he had drawn.
• Charlotte went to Lafayette's Shop and borrowed Meteor Hammers and shield hammers from Julian to practice for his duel with Ban Lamorak.
• Charlotte practiced the Meteor Hammer Technique through the morning, then gave up on the strength-demanding Bearman Shield Hammer Technique and focused on the Meteor Hammers.
• While waiting for the alliance treaty's remaining procedures, Charlotte practiced at Lafayette's Shop every day and improved until he could hold his own against Julian.