Chapter Summaries

Mahiro Yotsuba treated a gravely wounded fox-eared girl after arriving in a snowy village where everyone else had been massacred. The girl woke the next morning with her wounds and clothes restored, covered by Mahiro’s blanket.

• Yotsuba Maya persuaded Mahiro to stay with her for the night after Yotsuba Miya left to rest.
• Mahiro arrived in a burning village and discovered that its beast-eared residents had been killed.
• Mahiro found a badly wounded white-haired fox-eared girl calling for Yue Dan and healed her with Regeneration.
• The girl remained unconscious, so Mahiro made a fire, covered her with a blanket, and stayed nearby.
• The girl woke the next morning and realized her injuries and clothes had been restored.

After Snow Woman awoke, she told Yotsuba Mahiro how Yue Dan had betrayed her clan and killed her mother. She asked Mahiro to train her and help her get revenge, leaving him to respond by telling her to put her clothes back on in the freezing cold.

• Snow Woman awoke beside Yotsuba Mahiro, introduced herself, and explained that Yue Dan was her sworn enemy.
• Snow Woman recounted how Yue Dan had murdered her mother and killed her after their villages were caught in a war between larger tribes.
• Snow Woman returned to Demon Fox Village with Mahiro and found her mother’s body among the dead villagers, then vowed to avenge her.
• Snow Woman asked Mahiro to teach her and help her take revenge, offering anything he wanted, including herself.
• Mahiro picked up Snow Woman’s clothes and told her to dress because the weather was freezing.

Mahiro and the Snow Woman continued their journey, training by wiping out bandits and taking their loot. After discovering an elf transformed into a living mass of flesh, they were confronted by a mysterious figure who demanded their valuables.

• Mahiro agreed to make the Snow Woman his servant, and they set off together.
• Mahiro sent the Snow Woman to fight nearly twenty bandits, and she killed them all.
• Mahiro collected the bandits’ treasure and found several murdered merchants among their stolen goods.
• The Snow Woman alerted Mahiro to a covered cage, where he discovered an elf whose magic had turned her into a living lump of flesh.
• A black-clad stranger concealed by a slime approached Mahiro and the Snow Woman and demanded their money and valuables.

Yotsuba Mahiro fought the black-clad swordsman Shadow and recognized him as Cid Kagenou from The Eminence in Shadow. After Shadow disappeared, Mahiro took the grotesque lump of flesh to a ruined house and began channeling magic into it to try to restore it.

• A black-clad swordsman attacked Mahiro, who blocked the barrage with magical threads while Snow Woman watched.
• The swordsman used a draw slash that split into smaller blades, and Mahiro answered with a powerful sword strike that tore through the forest.
• The swordsman revealed himself as Shadow, exchanged names with Mahiro, and vanished into the forest.
• Mahiro told Snow Woman that Shadow was not a bad person, then freed the lump of flesh from its cage and carried it to a ruined house.
• Mahiro recalled that magic had been injected into the lump of flesh and channeled psions into it, causing it to swell until it nearly filled the house.

Mahiro restored the elven girl from a rotting mass and explained that her condition came from the Curse of Diabolos, inherited from the legendary heroes. She pledged herself to fight the Diabolos Cult, accepted Mahiro’s powerful new armor, and Snow Woman reaffirmed her own loyalty while Mahiro told her to focus on her revenge against Yue Dan.

• Mahiro forced more magic power and a strengthening potion into the elven girl, ending her loss of control and restoring her human form.
• The girl woke in Mahiro’s arms, examined her restored body, and learned that her illness had been a bloodline curse.
• Mahiro explained that the curse came from Diabolos and that the girl descended from the elven hero; Snow Woman confirmed the heroes’ history and described the beastkin nation’s division after Shiva fell.
• Mahiro identified the Diabolos Cult as the group seeking to resurrect Diabolos, prompting Snow Woman to connect the Cult to Yue Dan’s betrayal.
• The elven girl vowed to serve Mahiro and bring judgment upon the Cult, then accepted his black, gold-trimmed all-purpose armor.
• Snow Woman offered her life to Mahiro, but he told her to pursue revenge against Yue Dan and said he had another task for her.

Mahiro founded Shadow Garden with Snow Woman, whom he renamed Alpha, then secured a swordsmanship tutor position with the Kagenou family after defeating Lord Kagenou. He returned to the inn to find Alpha struggling to control her slime Teigu.

• Mahiro named the new organization Shadow Garden and renamed Snow Woman Alpha, who pledged herself to him.
• Mahiro visited the Kagenou Baron House and offered to tutor Claire Kagenou in swordsmanship.
• Mahiro claimed Menkyo Kaiden in the Royal Capital Bushin Style and defeated Lord Kagenou in a brief match.
• Lord Kagenou hired Mahiro to teach both Claire and Cid Kagenou, while Cid recognized him and wondered why he was there.
• Mahiro returned to the inn and found Alpha tripping over her slime dress as she struggled to control the slime Teigu.

Mahiro left Alpha in charge of building the organization and its finances, then began swordsmanship lessons for Claire and Cid at the Kagenou residence. He demonstrated how magic power could improve movement speed and began teaching Claire to control it efficiently.

• Alpha proposed finding other hero descendants, expanding their ranks, and establishing a secret base, and Mahiro entrusted her with the work and the treasure he had seized from thieves.
• Mahiro arrived at the Kagenou residence the next morning to teach Claire and Cid swordsmanship.
• Claire asked how Mahiro had moved so quickly, and he demonstrated his speed by appearing around her before she could react.
• After Mahiro evaded her attacks and explained the importance of dodging, Claire bowed and asked him to teach her how to move faster.
• Mahiro had Claire remove her shoes and explained that she should focus magic power on the soles of her feet to accelerate, while Cid watched the lesson.

Yotsuba Mahiro trained Claire and used Cid’s secret identity as Shadow to make him behave. Three years passed as Mahiro continued teaching Claire, Alpha, and Snow Woman.

• Mahiro taught Claire how to use magic to strengthen her sword strikes, then had her practice standing on water; Claire succeeded, while Cid pretended to fall into the river.
• Claire attacked Mahiro, but he caught her kick and embarrassed her by commenting on her underwear, prompting her to continue fighting with her sword.
• Claire trained from morning until evening, while Cid climbed out of the river and watched; her parents were pleased with her dedication and her new teacher.
• Mahiro confronted Cid about whether to call him Cid Kagenou or Shadow and threatened to reveal his identity to his family, making Cid behave like an obedient student.
• Over the next three years, Mahiro trained Claire during the day and taught combat techniques to Alpha and Snow Woman at night.

After three years of training Claire and helping build Shadow Garden, Mahiro attended Claire’s farewell party and declined her request to keep teaching Cid. He received Baron Kagenou’s recommendation letter for a teaching position at the Magic Swordsman Academy, but the baron asked him to delay his departure.

• Mahiro and Alpha trained Snow Woman to strength on par with Alpha, while Claire refined her swordsmanship and magic control under Mahiro’s harsh lessons.
• Mahiro rescued Lilim, the future Sixth Seat Zeta, from a Cult prison wagon and cured her Demon Possession.
• On her fifteenth birthday, Claire attended a farewell party before leaving for Midgar Magic Swordsman Academy and asked Mahiro for a graduation gift.
• Mahiro congratulated Claire, promised her a gift, and refused her request to renew his contract and teach Cid, saying Cid might surprise her someday.
• Baron Kagenou gave Mahiro a recommendation letter for the royal capital and pleaded with him to stay two more years to teach Cid.

After Claire disappeared, Mahiro learned that Shadow Garden had traced her to an abandoned mine and decided to rescue her himself. At the mine, Viscount Olba held Claire captive while seeking a holy sword to gain the Order’s favor and save his daughter.

• Claire vanished from the Kagenou household, and Lady Kagenou beat Baron Kagenou while demanding that he find her.
• Beta told Mahiro that Shadow Garden had located Claire in an abandoned mine and found a holy sword there; Mahiro chose not to inform Cid and planned to rescue Claire himself.
• Viscount Olba watched over the Severion Holy Sword, hoping to offer it and Claire to the Order so he could become a Knight of the Rounds and save his daughter, Milia.
• Olba confronted the shackled Claire, who mocked his defeat at the Bushin Festival and vowed she would win the championship.
• Olba told Claire she would not live long enough to compete again.

Claire fought Olba in the prison and managed to break free of one shackle, but he overpowered and badly injured her. Meanwhile, Shadow Garden attacked the cult’s base, and Mahiro reached Claire’s cell just as she was near collapse.

• Claire dodged Olba’s attacks, tore a chain from the wall, and lunged at him, but he stopped her.
• Alpha and Shadow Garden’s six other fighters wiped out the soldiers guarding the cult’s base and announced their purpose to the survivors.
• Mahiro arrived at the base, ordered the girls to find a holy relic, and went to rescue Claire.
• Olba beat Claire, dragged her up by the hair, and was interrupted by a soldier reporting an intruder.
• Mahiro killed the soldier, disintegrated the prison bars, and approached the badly injured Claire.

Yotsuba Mahiro rescued Claire, healed her, and began torturing Olba by killing and reviving him repeatedly. After Olba took red pills from a vial, his body transformed and his power surged, leaving the confrontation unresolved.

• Yotsuba Mahiro found Claire badly injured, healed her with “Regeneration,” and freed her from the demon-sealing chain.
• Mahiro defeated Olba, then repeatedly killed and revived him while questioning whether resurrection restored the original person.
• Olba broke down under the repeated deaths, but attempted a sudden attack that Mahiro blocked and punished.
• Mahiro noticed Olba’s vial and urged him to take its contents, revealing that he knew about the Diabolos Cult.
• Olba swallowed the red pills, healed, grew to nearly three meters tall, and unleashed a destructive surge of magic power.

Mahiro rescued Claire, gave her an injection as a graduation gift, and left her with a promise that they might meet again. He then went with the Seven Shadows to the shrine holding the Holy Sword, but the sword resisted him when he tried to pull it from its pedestal.

• Mahiro killed Olba without reviving him, then gave the restored Claire an injection and teased her before leaving with Epsilon.
• Claire thanked Mahiro, trusted his gift, and asked whether they would meet again; Mahiro said they probably would and departed.
• Epsilon led Mahiro to the shrine, where Alpha and the others had been unable to approach the Holy Sword because of its pressure.
• Mahiro forced his way through the shrine's murderous aura and reached the sword with the Seven Shadows.
• Mahiro gripped the Holy Sword's hilt, but it rejected him and fiercely resisted being pulled from its pedestal.

Mahiro pulled the holy sword from the shrine, unleashed tremendous magic, and watched the sword transform into a mysterious tattoo. After Claire returned home and recovered, Mahiro began teaching at Midgar Magic Swordsman Academy, where he glimpsed a woman who looked like Alpha.

• Mahiro used his full strength to pull the holy sword free, releasing a pillar of magic that Cid saw from a distant peak.
• The holy sword dissolved into points of light and formed a crossed-swords tattoo on Mahiro’s hand, ending the rescue operation.
• Claire returned home, injected the medicine Mahiro had given her, rested for a week, and then left for the royal capital.
• Ruslan Barnett welcomed Mahiro as a new teacher at Midgar Magic Swordsman Academy, and Zenon Griffey offered to show him the faculty housing.
• Mahiro rode the train with Zenon, who probed him with small talk, then spotted a golden-haired woman resembling Alpha near the station.

Yotsuba Mahiro reunited with Alpha in his new dormitory, discussed Shadow Garden’s plans for the royal capital, and then went to Midgar Magic Swordsman Academy for his new teaching post. As he wondered whether Claire would be in his first-year class, he collided with a pink-haired girl.

• Jeno warned Mahiro not to lose his way in the Royal Capital’s busy shopping district, and Mahiro followed him to the teachers’ residence.
• Mahiro found Alpha waiting in his dormitory, greeted her affectionately, and learned that she had left Delta behind to clear Cult strongholds.
• Alpha told Mahiro that Gamma wanted to establish a merchant association in the royal capital, and Mahiro approved the plan while telling her to act on her own judgment.
• Mahiro agreed that Shadow Garden could offer Snow Woman limited support in Lawless City, where she was building a force and searching for Yue Dan.
• Alpha left to prepare Shadow Garden to move its base, reminding Mahiro to eat the cookies Beta had sent.
• Mahiro arrived at Midgar Magic Swordsman Academy as a teacher and wondered whether Claire would be in his first-year class before a pink-haired girl fell in front of him.

Yotsuba Mahiro began his new job as homeroom teacher of First-Year Class A, where Claire Kagenou attacked him before Rose Oriana intervened. Rose recognized Mahiro from their past, and her memories returned to the kidnapping that had brought them together.

• Mahiro helped Sherry Barnett gather her Sacred Relic books and introduced himself before she hurried to class.
• Mahiro entered First-Year Class A as its new homeroom teacher, surprising Sherry and Claire.
• Claire lunged at Mahiro with her sword, but Rose Oriana blocked the strike and warned Claire against fighting in class.
• Claire sheathed her sword and returned to her seat, while Rose recognized Mahiro and remembered being kidnapped years earlier.

Rose Oriana remembered how Yotsuba Mahiro had rescued her from bandits, inspiring her to pursue swordsmanship, and was overjoyed to meet him again as her teacher. After Mahiro’s first lesson, Sherry checked on him and Headmaster Lutheran joined them in the corridor.

• Yotsuba Mahiro and his companions rescued Rose Oriana from bandits, and Mahiro comforted her before she learned his name.
• Rose Oriana recalled how her rescue led her to take up swordsmanship and felt delighted to reunite with Mahiro, while Claire glared at her jealously.
• After class, Sherry asked Mahiro whether he was all right, and he reassured her despite anticipating trouble between Claire and Rose.
• Headmaster Lutheran approached and teased Sherry about getting along with Mahiro, who praised her intelligence and diligence.
• Mahiro excused himself to teach another class, and Lutheran let him go.

Mahiro taught his first Royal Capital Bushin Style lesson to Group Nine and decided to coach students one by one. Rose and Claire both tried to claim his attention, but he sent them to the back of the line before beginning instruction.

• Lutheran encouraged Sherry to spend more time with Mahiro, leaving her flustered at the thought of getting closer to her teacher.
• Mahiro ate lunch with Zenon Griffey and learned he would teach the weakest first-year group, Group Nine.
• Rose Oriana and Claire Kagenou arrived at Mahiro's class in black martial uniforms, surprising the students.
• Mahiro proposed sparring with students individually, but Claire and Rose both stepped forward and argued over who would go first.
• Mahiro knocked both girls on the head and sent them to the back of the line, then began instructing a nervous student.

Mahiro instructed the students in swordsmanship and tested Rose and Claire, whose attacks revealed their growing skill. After praising Rose and stopping Claire’s charge, he faced her as she unleashed the magic technique he had taught her.

• Mahiro corrected the students during sword practice as a mysterious sting on the mark on his hand grew stronger.
• Rose challenged Mahiro, who used Illusory Sight to make her relive the night she was kidnapped and face her hated bandit leader.
• Rose attacked Mahiro with renewed fury, but he disarmed her and praised her swordsmanship and prospects at the Bushin Festival.
• Claire challenged Mahiro and attacked at greater speed than Rose, then used magic threads to strengthen her sword with the technique he had taught her.

After Claire lost to Mahiro in a spar, he returned to his dorm and found Zeta waiting for him. They discussed her loyalty, Mahiro’s wishes, and whether he wanted immortality, while Huai Min and Claire remained awake elsewhere that night.

• Claire unleashed a sword-wind attack she had learned from Mahiro, but he stopped it with one slash, and she calmly accepted defeat.
• Mahiro returned to his dorm, noticed a golden hair on his bed, and called out Zeta, who had been hiding nearby.
• Zeta nestled against Mahiro and said she wanted to understand his view of the world so she could fulfill his wishes.
• Mahiro told Zeta he wanted the people around him to live as they pleased and said he sought Diabolos’s blood for its potential as an enhancer, not for immortality.
• Zeta asked whether Mahiro desired immortality and offered to resurrect Diabolos for him; he questioned whether Diabolos’s blood could truly grant it.
• Zeta left Mahiro grilled Pacific sauries before departing, while Huai Min and Claire were still awake in the girls’ dormitory.