Chapter Summaries

Charlotte recruited a large force of adventurers by offering steady wages and a share of any treasure they found, after White Wolf chose an inheritor. He left the adventurers believing they were joining an expedition to uncover an Orc Kingdom treasure, while Louis recognized Charlotte’s story as a lie.

• Louis Smythe advised Charlotte to recruit experienced adventurers, and Charlotte agreed to wait until White Wolf chose an inheritor.
• White Wolf set an under-twenty requirement, and a tall, muscular young man won the duels and became his chosen inheritor.
• Charlotte offered adventurers one Flor per week to join his group and promised employment that could last one or two months.
• Nearly a hundred adventurers accepted Charlotte’s offer, and the existing Great Axe Adventurer Group members chose to remain with him.
• Charlotte claimed he had orc ancestry and an uncle’s treasure map, promising the group five percent of any treasure they uncovered.
• White Wolf remarked that Charlotte was skilled at lying, while Louis recognized that the treasure-map story and claimed ancestry were fabricated.

After Magru Teller dismissed him and forced him to betray Menilman, Charlotte abandoned his hopes of returning to a quiet government career and rallied adventurers to seek the ruins of Machu Picchu. He led the growing band out of York Town, determined to build an army and eventually take revenge on Magru Teller.

• Charlotte recruited the adventurers who remained in York Town by claiming his uncle had left him a treasure map, then bought ale from White Wolf and treated the crowd.
• After drinking, Charlotte smashed his mug, vowed to return to Strasbourg with an army and kill Magru Teller, and promised his followers future fortunes of at least one hundred Gold Ecus.
• Charlotte left York Town with more than a hundred adventurers, carrying his Magic Alchemy Staff and the Vampiric Rapier Louis Smythe had given him.
• White Wolf told Louis Smythe that Charlotte seemed like a desperado, and Louis explained that Charlotte was an imperial civil servant with a promising future and a female companion who was a Count's daughter.
• Charlotte asked the adventurers for someone who knew the way to Machu Picchu, and a volunteer agreed to lead the group toward the nearby ruins.

Charlotte used his new insights from the Agmilas Labyrinth to test himself while leading a large adventurer group toward Machu Picchu. When Winterburn and the Fiery Steed Detective Agency caught up with them, Charlotte provoked the adventurers into a fight and struck Addison with a calculated surprise attack.

• Charlotte reorganized the adventurers and arranged for the women to rest inside Maple Leaf Village while the men camped outside.
• Winterburn arrived with six other detectives from the Fiery Steed Detective Agency, prompting Charlotte to tell the adventurer leaders that the detectives were rivals seeking the treasure.
• Yas warned Charlotte that two detectives were Transcendents, and Charlotte volunteered to handle Winterburn while the adventurers targeted the others.
• Charlotte's group ambushed the detectives, and Charlotte attacked Addison instead of Winterburn.
• Addison blocked Charlotte's bullets with Flame Battle Qi, but Charlotte used Insight and his Vampire Hand Axe to strike the weak point behind Addison's head.

Charlotte killed Addison during the ambush and absorbed his life essence, while Blood Rose repaired itself and formed a fourth Bloody Vortex. Winterburn escaped after Charlotte and the adventurers claimed to be Byronian spies, leaving the detectives defeated and captured.

• Charlotte used the Vampire Hand Axe and Blood Rose to kill the wounded Addison, then urged the adventurers to join the fight.
• Charlotte fought Winterburn with the Vampire Hand Axe while digesting Addison’s life essence and discovering that Blood Rose could repair itself and merge into his arm.
• Winterburn’s attackers killed two detectives and captured three, while he held his ground against Charlotte and the adventurers.
• Charlotte claimed that the group were Byronian spies, and the adventurers backed up his lie.
• Winterburn believed the claim, killed two adventurer leaders, broke through the encirclement, and escaped; Charlotte chose not to pursue him.

Charlotte used Lord Leo’s intervention to force the adventurers to kill the Wild Horse Society detectives and then win their loyalty with a share of the spoils. Lord Leo requisitioned Charlotte’s group and asked for intelligence on Grand Duke Ferdinand’s route to Strasbourg, leaving Charlotte to conceal what he knew.

• A Knight’s Lance pierced Winterburn, and Lord Leo emerged, claiming he had stopped a threat to the Empire’s plans.
• Charlotte answered Lord Leo in fluent Byronian and claimed to be from House of Adonis while urging the adventurers to kill the Farsian detectives.
• Under Lord Leo’s pressure, the adventurers stabbed all seven Wild Horse Society detectives, including those already dead, and Charlotte distributed their money and equipment.
• Lord Leo introduced himself, requisitioned Charlotte’s group, and asked what Charlotte knew about Grand Duke Ferdinand’s route to Strasbourg.
• Charlotte claimed he had heard Ferdinand would pass through the ruins of Machu Picchu, an ancient Orc Kingdom fortress.

After the battle, Charlotte used Winterburn’s life essence to cultivate Angel’s Thorn through Blood Rose and inherited House of Asilo’s sword techniques. He then resumed escorting Lord Leo and the adventurers toward Machu Picchu, exhausted by the journey on foot.

• Charlotte worried that Lord Leo would discover his identity and Bloody Glory cultivation, then used the Protagoras Breathing Method to absorb Winterburn’s life essence.
• Charlotte condensed the Angel’s Thorn Bloody Rune instead of opening a fifth Bloody Vortex, drawing on the inheritance contained in Blood Rose.
• Charlotte received House of Asilo’s sword techniques and suspected that Louis’s possession of Blood Rose and the Spear of Sharlons was no coincidence.
• Lord Leo offered Charlotte Blood Bait, but Charlotte declined and said he had brought a Blood Servant.
• Charlotte led the adventurers and Lord Leo toward Machu Picchu, and the long trek on foot left him miserable.

Charlotte learned that Lord Leo’s mission would help provoke a war between the Empire of Fars and South Seraph, and resolved to sabotage the plan. At Machu Picchu, he successfully began turning the ruins into the first Labyrinth of Agmiras, trapping the expedition inside without their knowledge.

• Charlotte learned that the Blood Flame Transformation Technique could let him travel through the air by becoming blood flame.
• Lord Leo told Charlotte that Byron and the Black Phoenix Dynasty had allied to lure South Seraph restorationists into assassinating Grand Duke Ferdinand and ignite a war; Charlotte resolved to sabotage the plan.
• After the party reached Machu Picchu, Charlotte entered the ruins alone to test his research on the Labyrinth of Agmiras.
• Charlotte’s diary confirmed that Machu Picchu could become a labyrinth, and the transformation began with an eighteen-day completion period.
• Lord Leo, his servants, and the adventurers entered the ruins, increasing the labyrinth’s population to 136 and its encroachment progress to 16.5%.

Charlotte ventured into Machu Picchu Fortress to investigate the labyrinth’s depths and strengthen his control over the labyrinths, but a monster’s enchanting whisper lured Hannah into the darkness and killed her. After burying her remains, Charlotte left, vowing to hunt the creature within fifteen days as the labyrinth pulled demonic vines into its domain.

• Charlotte left the adventurers’ camp and entered the depths of Machu Picchu Fortress, where he sensed the labyrinth driving hidden beings inward.
• A mysterious whisper enchanted nearby beasts, and Hannah rushed into the darkness despite Charlotte’s warning.
• Charlotte’s Vampire Hand Axe vanished into the depths, so he held back rather than risk entering the monster’s territory himself.
• After several dozen minutes, Charlotte recovered the axe and found Hannah and dozens of animals dead, their bodies withered into skeletons.
• Charlotte buried the corpses, vowed to find the monster within fifteen days, and watched the labyrinth drag demonic vines across its boundary.

Lord Leo confirmed that Grand Duke Ferdinand would pass nearby and took Charlotte along to support an ambush by the South Seraph Restorationists. He gave Charlotte an Anti-Space Long-Range Rifle and Demon-Breaking Armor-Piercing Bullets, and they left Machu Picchu Fortress.

• Lord Leo sent blood bats to scout and confirmed that Ferdinand would be passing nearby.
• Lord Leo decided that he and Charlotte would go to the ambush instead of sending Charlotte’s people.
• Lord Leo gave Charlotte an Anti-Space Long-Range Rifle and explained that it could be concealed inside ordinary objects.
• Charlotte accepted the rifle and packed its heavy bullets into an adventurer’s old shoulder bag.
• Lord Leo and Charlotte departed Machu Picchu Fortress toward the ambush.

Charlotte followed Lord Leo from the fortress, then used the chance to turn his sniper rifle on him as Menilman Soumei attacked. Lord Leo escaped wounded, and Menilman took Charlotte to check on Grand Duke Ferdinand.

• Charlotte followed Lord Leo toward the battlefield after learning that Machu Picchu had completed Labyrinthization.
• Lord Leo concluded that the South Seraph Restorationists had failed because Grand Duke Ferdinand's six personal guards were absent from the battlefield.
• Charlotte and Lord Leo found Grand Duke Ferdinand grieving beside Duchess Ferdinand's body while their guards fought off attackers.
• Lord Leo ordered Charlotte to shoot Ferdinand, but Charlotte instead fired three shots at Lord Leo.
• Menilman Soumei struck Lord Leo with her rapier, wounding him and forcing him to escape as bats.
• Menilman told Charlotte they could have coordinated better, then took him to check on Grand Duke Ferdinand.

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.