Chapter Summaries

After learning of Fars’s naval losses, Sophia Garland told Charlotte Mecklen she was suspending her studies to join the navy. Charlotte gave her a Golden Ring to help her borrow a warship, and Sophia left for the battlefield after entrusting him with a lock of her hair.

• Charlotte learned that Menilman had been promoted several ranks and given twenty-two political appointments for his role in the naval victory.
• Sophia Garland visited Charlotte and told him she would suspend her studies and join the navy, leaving Strasbourg.
• Charlotte gave Sophia a Golden Ring and asked her to have someone deliver it to a friend to request the loan of a warship.
• Sophia cut off a lock of her hair and asked Charlotte to keep it; he tucked it into his diary and wished her a safe return.
• Sophia left without looking back, determined to fight for Fars.

After Anne warned Charlotte that political maneuvering was keeping him away from the front, Charlotte tried to harvest Joy of Destiny by rewriting the God of Joy’s legend. The war continued to worsen supply shortages as the rival fleets prepared for another major battle.

• Anne told Charlotte that the Empire of Fars planned to reinforce its navy with army troops, and that she had extended his investigation case so he would likely avoid the battlefield until the war ended.
• Anne explained that Charlotte’s political enemies feared he might gain control of South Seraph and Behemoth, while opportunists sought influence there; she dismissed Ellens Cook as unimportant.
• Charlotte researched the God of Joy and learned that its legend described an incomplete evil god that could make people unhappy.
• Charlotte rewrote The Legend of Charlotte to portray the God of Joy as the Serpent of Destiny’s loyal pet devoted to promoting Cantonese mahjong, then sent the new edition to Anne’s publishing house.
• The Empire of Fars began another round of conscription and planned five more Magic Alchemical Warships as shortages worsened in Strasbourg.
• The fleets of Inglima, Fars, Byron, and Black Phoenix fought repeated small battles in the Sea of Giant Whales, while a larger battle loomed.

Charlotte transferred Yang Melianne and his companions out of the doomed Evil Dragon Knight Regiment and put them in charge of security in the Lucavaro District. After Yang tried distributing money to starving residents and was attacked, Charlotte said only the Emperor could save Strasbourg and suggested rebellion as an alternative.

• Yang Melianne asked Charlotte for weapons after enlisting in the Evil Dragon Knight Regiment, and Charlotte ordered him to report to the West Wind Knight Regiment instead.
• Charlotte arranged Yang's transfer through the Political Affairs Bureau and assigned him and his companions to provide security in the Lucavaro District.
• Charlotte gave Yang a bag of Centimes to distribute, and the starving residents swarmed him and took the money.
• Yang asked Charlotte why the people had reacted violently, and Charlotte said the Bard Merchant Association could not save Strasbourg and that the Emperor was responsible.
• When Yang asked whether they could do anything, Charlotte faintly smiled and told him he could try rebelling.

Sophia Garland received the Queen Bee, a Legendary Warship Charlotte had arranged for her, and set sail toward the battlefield with a supply ship. As the Queen Bee flashed with mysterious radiance, Charlotte in Strasbourg suddenly felt he owed someone a great deal of money.

• Sophia Garland waited at the harbor for the warship Count Galanod had prepared, but Yalman warned her that an approaching ship was not the Count's.
• An Inglima naval officer delivered the Queen Bee, and Yalman identified it as one of the Seven Seas' twelve Legendary Warships.
• Sophia realized Charlotte had secured the Queen Bee for her, took the Golden Ring that made the ship respond to her, and resolved to fight Anne for her love.
• Sophia accepted the Count's newly built warship as a supply ship, then departed with the Queen Bee and its crew for the sea.
• The Queen Bee flashed with hazy radiance ten times, while Charlotte suddenly felt as if he had incurred a massive debt despite having none.

Charlotte rounded up the God of Joy’s followers in Strasbourg and made them memorize a mahjong-filled edition of The Legend of Charlotte, while his Snake Cards custom spread widely. Meanwhile, a major naval battle reshaped the balance of power, and Byron shifted the war back to Ferlanden, ending Charlotte’s quiet days in Strasbourg.

• Charlotte used Lucavaro District gang members to round up the God of Joy’s followers and made them memorize the new edition of The Legend of Charlotte before paying fines to leave.
• The special edition and its Snake Cards became popular across Strasbourg and Fars, with even the Red Dragon Emperor and Lionheart Emperor taking up the game.
• Byron’s navy ambushed Duchess Mesu’s Northern Fleet, and Menilman, Sophia Garland, and allied fleets joined the battle.
• Sophia Garland’s Queen Bee sank three Byron warships, while Menilman’s fleet captured Black Phoenix’s flagship and another Magic Alchemical Warship before Black Phoenix collapsed and Byron withdrew.
• Sophia Garland named her new fleet the East Wind, and Menilman’s victories brought her fleet’s strength level with the Northern Fleet.
• Byron redirected the war toward Ferlanden and launched several large battles, killing tens of thousands of soldiers and ending Charlotte’s quiet days in Strasbourg.

Charlot Mecklenburg led the West Wind Knight Regiment to the Red Dragon Strait for Fars’s Southern Offensive, only to discover that the other four Knight Orders had been recalled and his troops had been left facing the orcs alone. After killing the messenger who brought the orders, Charlot decided to seize Dubrovnik and use its labyrinth passages to withdraw.

• Charlot left Anne and gathered Anastasia, the Labyrinth Guardians, more than five thousand troops, Golden Goat Herolf, and Leopard God Domitian for the Southern Offensive.
• Charlot’s troops found towns emptied and stripped of people as they marched toward the Red Dragon Strait.
• At the strait, Charlot learned that his Knight Order was the only one to arrive and that the Orc Tribal Alliance had several hundred thousand orcs and at least five Saint Ranks.
• Charlot received orders explaining that four Knight Orders had been recalled to Ferlanden, leaving him to hold the southern front until reinforcements arrived.
• Charlot killed the imperial messenger and ordered his troops to attack Dubrovnik so he could Labyrinthize the port and retreat through the labyrinth passages.
• Charlot rejected Domitian’s offer to contact the orc Saint Ranks, warning that personal connections could be used to trap them.

Charlotte captured Dubrovnik, turned most of its orcs into Labyrinth Guardians, and secured a fleet and a retreat route. With more than twenty thousand Guardians at his command, he decided to hold the strategically important city and asked Menilman for reinforcements.

• Charlotte led the Labyrinth Guardians into Dubrovnik, defeated its remaining orcs, and began transforming the city into a labyrinth.
• Charlotte captured two orc militia forces and learned that hunger and factional conflict had fractured the orc camp.
• When Dubrovnik's fleet returned carrying thousands of orcs, Charlotte ambushed them, captured more than fifty ships, and took over ten thousand prisoners.
• Charlotte sent fewer than five hundred Non-Cannibals to Cappadocia and transformed nearly twenty thousand other orcs into Labyrinth Guardians.
• Charlotte chose to remain in Dubrovnik and sent Menilman a request for aid against the orc camp.

Charlotte tried to recruit Agon and his six or seven thousand Non-Cannibal beastmen, but Agon insisted on returning to the Southern Continent and challenged Charlotte’s Saint Ranks for the right to leave. As Agon fought Golden Goat Herolf, Charlotte realized that the elephant people’s ancestral land, Machu Picchu, was on his territory.

• Agon led his ragged elephant-person army to Dubrovnik and asked Charlotte for food and safe passage to the Southern Continent.
• Charlotte demanded that Agon’s people join the Non-Cannibals, and Agon refused, saying he would leave with them.
• Agon challenged Charlotte’s Saint Ranks, and Domitian revealed that Agon was the youngest beastman Saint Rank and wielded the Dragon Hammer.
• Charlotte ordered Domitian to lend Treading the Sea to Golden Goat Herolf, then learned from Domitian that the elephant people’s ancestral land was Machu Picchu.
• Golden Goat Herolf and Agon began a battle in the sky, with Agon matching Herolf’s sword strikes using his bare fists.

Charlotte sent Agon's beastman army to Cappadocia City while Agon and Golden Goat Herolf fought, then provoked Agon after the Elephant Person discovered his troops were gone. Charlotte finally claimed the leopard people had taken Machu Picchu and gained citizenship in the Empire of Fars, leaving Agon caught between disbelief and hope.

• Agon and Golden Goat Herolf fought for hours as Charlotte's Labyrinth Guardians subdued the beastmen and sent those who were Non-Cannibals to Cappadocia City.
• Agon noticed his army had vanished, questioned Domitian, and searched for Charlotte, who hid in the labyrinth and insisted the beastmen had left on their own.
• Agon smashed buildings and demanded that Charlotte return his people, while Golden Goat Herolf stood nearby ready to guard against him.
• Charlotte taunted Agon and then revealed that the leopard people had taken Machu Picchu.
• Charlotte said he had helped the leopard people gain citizenship in the Empire of Fars, so they could live in Strasbourg as humans.

Charlotte failed to keep Elephant Person Agon from escaping after Agon fought Golden Goat Herolf and Leopard God Domitian, but Agon later ambushed Charlotte and carried him away. As Charlotte tried to talk his way out of danger, he asked Agon why the vampires had wanted to harm him.

• Agon rejected Charlotte’s offer and attacked, killing more than a hundred Labyrinth Guardians as Charlotte ordered his soldiers to fight back.
• Golden Goat Herolf and Domitian fought Agon together until he fled, and Charlotte ordered them to stop pursuing him.
• Domitian warned Charlotte that Agon had not used the Dragon Hammer and would return with no mercy, while Charlotte believed he had weakened Agon’s resolve.
• Agon burst out of the ground, seized Charlotte, and carried him across the Red Dragon Strait despite Herolf and Domitian’s attempt to intervene.
• Charlotte tried to save himself by asking Agon why the vampires had wanted to harm him.

Agon confronted Charlotte about his plan to unite humans and orcs, then agreed to live in Cappadocia and see whether the two peoples truly prospered there. After transforming into human form, Agon asked Charlotte to teach him a secret art, leaving their future alliance uncertain.

• Agon explained that Charlotte's plan would create a people who could be either human or orc, and Charlotte argued that change and wisdom could improve their lives.
• Charlotte revealed that he had sent Agon's people to Cappadocia and offered to return Machu Picchu to the Elephant People.
• Agon agreed to stay in Cappadocia under a concealed identity and observe how humans and orcs lived together.
• Agon transformed into a human and asked Charlotte to teach him a secret art, but rejected Bloody Glory and accepted the Dark Breathing Technique.
• Agon revealed that he was only twenty-one, and Charlotte said he could catch up by calling in lots of help.

After Agon left for Cappadocia, Charlotte learned about the orc camp’s food crisis and its Saint Ranks, then questioned Domitian about their strength. Domitian’s assessment left Charlotte wary of the powerful leaders still at the camp.

• Agon refused Charlotte’s offer of a ship and departed alone for Cappadocia after leaving the orc camp with his followers.
• Charlotte learned that the orc camp had considered slaughtering orcs for food and that its three remaining Saint Ranks were Lion Person Emisfida, Lizard Person Black Dragon, and Silverback Ape Person Qiudro.
• Charlotte asked Domitian whether he and Golden Goat Herolf could defeat the Saint Ranks, while Domitian reclaimed his weapon, Treading the Sea, from Herolf.
• Domitian said Ox Demon Samson was the strongest Saint Rank and that even he and Septimius together could not withstand Samson’s charge.
• Domitian said Emisfida was nearly as strong as Samson, while Black Dragon and Qiudro were comparable to Agon but more experienced and ruthless.

Charlotte realized he could disguise Dubrovnik as an orc-occupied city and avoid a fight with the orc camp. On the way back, he met Sabastine, who had come to support him while Menilman was busy.

• Charlotte abandoned plans to attack the orc camp after weighing the strength of its three remaining Saint Ranks.
• Charlotte and Domitian realized that Dubrovnik could pass as an orc city because it held twenty thousand orc warriors, including Domitian, while Charlotte hid the West Wind Knights.
• Charlotte decided to stay in Dubrovnik and had Domitian fly him back across the Red Dragon Strait.
• Charlotte spotted Sabastine’s Magic Alchemical Warship, and Domitian and Golden Goat Herolf landed aboard it.
• Sabastine explained that Menilman was occupied with Byron’s fleet and had sent her to support Charlotte, who then told her about his plan to pose as an orc army.
• Sabastine refused Charlotte’s suggestion to practice the Beast God Transformation Technique and smacked him for what she mistook as improper thoughts.

Charlotte settled Sabastine and her expanded fleet in Dubrovnik, then rushed to rescue Anne Brittany and Nanny Karen from a beastman Saint Rank. Anne reunited with Charlotte and fell asleep in his arms while the Saint Ranks fought, leaving Charlotte hoping they could capture their enemy before he escaped.

• Sabastine led her fleet into Dubrovnik, where Charlotte gave her the city's ships and arranged a residence for her.
• Charlotte heard an enemy attack and saw Nanny Karen and Anne Brittany fleeing a beastman Saint Rank, so he called Herolf, Domitian, and Sabastine to help.
• Herolf, Sabastine, and Nanny Karen blocked the pursuer while Anne reunited with Charlotte and explained that she had come to save him.
• Anne fell asleep in Charlotte's arms, and Charlotte asked Nanny Karen to help keep the beastman Saint Rank from escaping.
• Charlotte returned to Dubrovnik with Anne and worried that capturing or killing the enemy was crucial to preventing trouble.

After reuniting with Anne, Charlotte met the captured Orc Saint Rank Black Dragon and unexpectedly secured his oath to serve the Mecklen Family by offering him a High-Order Transcendent weapon. The others were stunned by Black Dragon’s pledge, while Nanny Karen recognized how far Charlotte had risen.

• Anne woke after three hours of sleep, embraced Charlotte, and gave him a makeup case containing dozens of supernatural weapons taken from Count Brittany’s study.
• Charlotte went to meet the captured Black Dragon, who greeted him warmly and mentioned reading his novels and writing fanfiction.
• When Black Dragon asked for a High-Order Transcendent weapon, Charlotte returned with five and let him choose a rapier.
• Charlotte and Black Dragon exchanged the customary oaths making Black Dragon a guardian of the Mecklen Family and the family an honored host to him for generations.
• Black Dragon explained that he had surrendered after Domitian urged him to, and that Charlotte’s offer convinced him to pledge himself; Domitian, Golden Goat Herolf, Sabastine, and Nanny Karen reacted with surprise.

Charlotte and the Black Dragon devised a plan to rescue Non-Cannibal orcs from Emisfida without starting a war. After the Black Dragon returned with several thousand orcs and left to placate Emisfida, Charlotte received word that the Empire had sent a second Knight Order.

• The Black Dragon warned Charlotte that Emisfida was a powerful Twenty-third Order Lionheart Berserker and devised a plan to draw Non-Cannibal orcs out of the camp.
• Charlotte explained his belief that civilized races should not eat one another, and the Black Dragon pledged himself to Charlotte and offered to lead the orcs out.
• The Black Dragon planned to blame Ox Demon Samson for the missing orcs, and Charlotte agreed while preparing an escape through Dubrovnik's passage in case the plan failed.
• Three or four days later, the Black Dragon returned with several thousand orcs, then left to keep Emisfida from becoming suspicious.
• Charlotte sent the orcs to Cappadocia without screening them, then learned that the Empire had dispatched a second Knight Order.

Charlotte discovered that the Brittany Family had sent Antonio and his elite knights to find Anne, and Antonio proved powerful enough to defeat Emisfida. After reuniting with Anne, Antonio agreed to help Charlotte destroy the orc camp and recognized Charlotte’s worth, but warned him not to father an illegitimate child before marriage.

• Charlotte tracked down the Brittany Family Knight Order and learned its leader was Anne’s brother, Antonio Brittany.
• Antonio attacked Charlotte in anger, then stopped when Charlotte said Anne was safe and revealed that he commanded two Saint Ranks.
• Emisfida’s roar trapped the group, but Antonio broke the suppression and fought the King of Ten Thousand Lions, defeating him after a fierce battle.
• Antonio returned to Dubrovnik with Charlotte, reunited with Anne, and persuaded her to return to Strasbourg with him.
• Antonio allowed Charlotte to keep Anne’s Magic Rapier and agreed to help eliminate the orc camp, provided Anne received half the military merit.
• Antonio told Charlotte that Anne had won seventeen bets on his success, recognized his performance, and warned him not to have an illegitimate child before marriage.

Charlotte gathered a force of ten Saint Ranks and devised a plan to weaken the orc camp by cursing Silverback Ape Person Qiudro. He and eight Saint Ranks traveled toward the camp to prepare an ambush, while Domitian went ahead to infiltrate it.

• Charlotte arranged quarters for Antonio's Knights and learned that the Brittany Family had brought five Saint Ranks to rescue Anne.
• Charlotte held war meetings with the Saint Ranks and gained some command authority by proposing unusual strategies.
• Charlotte's group planned to lure Qiudro out, have Domitian impersonate him, and use Anne's Eye of Destiny to curse him.
• Domitian departed to infiltrate the orc camp, while Charlotte set out with eight Saint Ranks to join him and the Black Dragon.
• Charlotte's party reached the area near the camp, where he saw piles of human bones and vowed to eradicate slave trading and the consumption of living humans from Fars.

Charlotte and the Saint Ranks prepared to intercept Silverback Ape Person Qiudro’s orc army at Red Cliff City after Domitian reported that Qiudro had split from Emisfida. As Qiudro led thirty thousand orcs toward the city, he reflected on the vampires’ betrayal and the truth that they had used orcs as food for a Blood Progenitor.

• Charlotte built a concealed tent from felt and branches, and Antonio planned to bring the design back to Strasbourg while warning Charlotte to keep it secret.
• Domitian reported that the black dragon had persuaded Qiudro to leave Emisfida and lead thirty thousand orcs to seize Red Cliff City.
• Antonio planned to block Red Cliff City’s sole land entrance, and Charlotte arranged for Sabastine’s fleet to guard the sea exit.
• Domitian and Brittany Family Knights reconnoitered the area and confirmed that Qiudro’s army was approaching Red Cliff City.
• Qiudro wondered why the orc alliance’s campaign had collapsed and recalled that vampires had treated countless orcs as food for a Blood Progenitor.

Charlotte’s forces defeated Qiudro’s army at Red Cliff City, and Charlotte advanced to Fourteenth Order while holding off the orcs at the city gate. After Antonio captured the badly wounded Qiudro, Charlotte used a Magic Contract Document to make him his servant, leaving Qiudro convinced that Domitian and the Black Dragon had been forced into contracts too.

• Qiudro led more than thirty thousand orcs into Red Cliff City and spotted a human fleet approaching from the opposite direction.
• Qiudro attacked Charlotte’s group with the Dragon-Beating Staff, but eight Saint Ranks besieged him while Charlotte fought the orcs at the city gate.
• Sabastine brought reinforcements and ordered the Magic Alchemical Warships to attack, while Charlotte advanced from Thirteenth Order to Fourteenth Order amid the fighting.
• Antonio defeated Qiudro and brought him to Charlotte, and the orcs surrendered after seeing their chieftain captured.
• Charlotte used a Magic Contract Document to bind Qiudro, who awoke furious and mistakenly believed Domitian and the Black Dragon had been forced to sign contracts as well.