Chapter Summaries

In Arwintar, a wealthy young nobleman mourned the hardship of poor dancers while claiming his visits to nightclubs were meant to support them. His king rejected his excuse and warned that another offense would cost him his consciousness.

• A red-haired young nobleman left a tavern after saying he was sad about the Empire's prosperity resting on the suffering of its people.
• The man lamented that poor young women had to sell their dignity as dancers and said he wanted to help them by supporting their business.
• The man's king contacted him through Message and asked whether that was his reason for going to nightclubs.
• The man pleaded to explain himself, but his king refused and threatened to erase his consciousness if it happened again.

A man carrying out the King's mission considered which woman to deliver an item to, after ruling out several candidates. On the outskirts of the Imperial Capital, an underworld enforcer confronted him and demanded his valuables.

• The man ended his call and lamented that the King's inspection had ruined his plans to visit more bars and strip clubs.
• He studied a map and list of mission contacts, deciding to eliminate male candidates and consider the two women among the Four Strategists.
• An underworld enforcer approached the man on the outskirts of the city and threatened to ruin his face unless he handed over his valuables.

Tristan killed a thug who tried to rob him, then used his Shadow Demon to dispose of the body. He left the alley in a calm mood and continued on his way to work.

• A thug tried to rob Tristan and reached for his collar.
• Tristan cut off the thug’s hand and left foot, then killed him with streaks of light.
• Tristan summoned Aya’s Shadow Demon to erase the corpse and blood.
• Tristan left the alley, passed patrolling guards, and greeted them.

After leaving an alley where an unimportant refugee had vanished, Tristan followed a map to investigate Imina, an archer on the Imperial worker team [Four Strategists]. He used Artoria’s [Perspective Glasses] to spy on the inn where Imina was staying and heard her speaking to Hekkeran.

• Tristan thanked a guard for directions and left without arousing suspicion after killing a refugee in an alley.
• Tristan reflected that nobody would remember the refugee, then checked his map for his first target.
• Tristan chose Imina because the intelligence said she was a half-elf with a wood elf father and a human mother.
• Tristan found the inn where Imina was staying and put on Artoria’s [Perspective Glasses] to observe and listen.
• Tristan heard a woman call out to Hekkeran and a man panting.

The chapter shifted to an upscale district in the Baharuth Empire’s capital, where former nobles’ abandoned mansions reflected the Bloody Emperor’s purges. In one grand but neglected residence, a family acknowledged that it was no longer noble.

• Tristan flipped a coin and got tails, choosing to see how the other woman was doing.
• The narrative described how nobles used lavish homes and gardens to display wealth and influence.
• Many mansions in the district stood empty after the Bloody Emperor stripped their owners of noble status.
• The chapter focused on a still-inhabited but neglected mansion, whose owner appeared to be a fallen noble.
• Someone in the residence said that their family was no longer noble.

Aisha confronted her father, who blamed the Emperor for stripping their family of its noble status, and told him she would stop supporting the household and leave with her sisters. As she headed to her room, her youngest sister ran up to tell her that a package had arrived.

• Aisha's father raged that the family could regain its noble status if the Emperor died, while Aisha stayed calm.
• Aisha told her father she would bring home no more money and would leave with her sisters.
• Aisha recalled how her father's insistence on maintaining a noble household had forced her to leave the magic academy and work as a Worker to pay the family's debts.
• Aisha left the room after her father fell silent and headed toward her own room.
• Aisha's youngest sister ran into her arms and told her that a package had arrived.

Aisha returned to her room with her younger sister and examined a mysterious black casket that had been sent to her. She recognized its magic seal and began to suspect who had sent it.

• Aisha agreed to return to the room with her younger sister, who said their father had been unable to open a little box.
• Aisha reflected that a well-paid tomb-exploration job could let her settle her sisters’ expenses and leave work as a worker.
• Aisha found Kuti waiting beside a black casket and learned their father had removed its colorful wrapping.
• Aisha examined the casket and recognized that it had a magic seal.
• Aisha wondered who had sent the expensive sealed box.

Aisha opened a magically locked box and found a letter from her former friend Angelina Colesweet. The letter brought back memories of their school days and ended with Angelina asking why Aisha had left school, a question Aisha still could not answer.

• Aisha used third-tier-level magical power to unlock the box and remove an envelope sealed with Angelina Colesweet’s family crest.
• Aisha opened Angelina’s letter and read about their former classmates and life at the Imperial Magic Academy.
• Aisha recalled how she and Angelina had become friends as the academy’s two third-tier magic geniuses.
• Aisha read Angelina’s question about why she had left school and remembered that she had refused to explain herself.

Aisha read a letter from Angelina inviting her to the magic academy’s school anniversary, but she decided not to go. She then found a small red package in the black box and, later, reacted with shock when its value was revealed to her companions at Singing Apple Pavilion.

• Aisha remembered that she could once have asked Angelina, Dale, or Yueliana for help, but pride had kept her from doing so.
• Aisha read Angelina’s invitation to the school anniversary and folded the letter away, deciding not to attend.
• Aisha’s younger sister pointed out a small red package in the black box, and Aisha opened it with a terrified expression.
• At Singing Apple Pavilion, Aisha nearly spat out her drink when she heard the package was worth one thousand gold coins.

Aisha learned that a magical item with several powerful effects could be worth at least one thousand gold coins, then asked to take a day off to meet a friend. The chapter described the Baharuth Empire Magic Academy's role in educating talented commoners and helping the Empire surpass the Re-Estize Kingdom.

• Scarface Uncle estimated that a magical item that increased magical power and protection while removing negative statuses would be worth at least one thousand gold coins.
• Aisha claimed she had seen a similar item at her teacher's place and asked to take a day off to meet a friend.
• Imina said the group would not set out on their mission for at least three days.
• The chapter described the Magic Academy's location, history, and practical curriculum for students from noble and commoner families.
• The chapter explained that the academy helped the Empire develop and that the Re-Estize Kingdom and Dragon Kingdom had considered creating similar institutions.

The chapter described the Empire’s magic academy, its two divisions, and how magical talent and noble bloodlines shaped students’ status. In an Arcane Academy history class, the homeroom teacher abandoned her lecture for a test threat and then offered to tell the students more interesting stories.

• The Re-Estize Magic Academy proposal failed because nobles obstructed it, while the Dragon Kingdom lacked the strength to build a school.
• The Empire’s academy grew into a higher-learning institution divided into the vocational Imperial Comprehensive Academy and the prestigious Imperial Arcane Academy.
• The chapter explained that the Arcane Academy’s students were more often noble-born and that magical talent helped people gain noble status and pass it to their children.
• The homeroom teacher saw that her students were ignoring her history lecture and announced that an impromptu test would count for a quarter of the course credits.
• After the students protested and promised to listen, the homeroom teacher offered to tell them stories instead.

Mona struggled to discipline Angelina, a gifted student who regularly slept through class but had no reason to fear poor grades or parental complaints. After Angelina woke and apologized for sleeping through Magic History, Mona found herself softening again.

• Mona praised Sister Mona as the students cheered for her offer to make class more engaging.
• Mona walked to Angelina's desk and tapped it to wake her from a daydream.
• Mona considered how Angelina's magical ability, excellent grades, and distant parents made her difficult to discipline.
• Angelina woke and asked whether class was over.
• Mona scolded Angelina for sleeping despite her perfect Magic History grade, and Angelina promptly apologized.
• Mona softened after seeing Angelina's sincere apology.

Mona taught the class about the Minotaur Sage and announced the school anniversary holiday and parent-teacher conference. After class, Yueliana worried that her father would scold her for dropping from third place to fifth.

• Mona explained that the Minotaur Sage's far-ahead inventions had earned him the title of the Minotaur Sage Who Only Talks but Never Acts.
• Mona said the Minotaur Sage had also improved humans' circumstances in the Minotaur Kingdom, which led human kingdoms to regard him as a hero.
• Mona announced there would be no classes that afternoon or the next day, but that the parent-teacher conference would take place that afternoon.
• After the teacher left, Yueliana clung to Angelina and feared her father would punish her for falling to fifth place.

Angelina was told she had to attend the parent-teacher meeting, then recalled the morning months earlier when she woke up beside a naked, beautiful stranger in her bed. The memory left off as Angelina compared the woman’s appearance to her mother Opeiran and Lia.

• Angelina saw Dale writing a dismissal letter and learned she feared losing her allowance after failing a subject.
• Angelina thought she could skip the parent-teacher meeting because her parents would not attend.
• Teacher Mona told Angelina she had to attend the meeting anyway.
• Months earlier, Angelina woke in her home in Maplemoon Territory with a naked woman holding her in bed.
• Angelina escaped the woman’s embrace and recognized her face as strangely familiar, but remained captivated by her beauty.

Angelina woke to find a naked woman named Aya in her bed, and discovered that Aya had a life force like Ling’s. Opeiran saw them together and burst into tears, leaving Angelina to chase after her.

• Angelina found Aya naked in her bed and questioned why she was there.
• Aya explained that she had mistaken Angelina’s room for Opeiran’s while returning from the bathroom.
• Angelina’s Magic Eyes That See Through Life activated and revealed Aya’s blazing life force, like Ling’s.
• Opeiran opened the door, saw Angelina and Aya together, and burst into tears.
• Angelina hurried after Opeiran, leaving Aya alone in the room.

Aya attended Angelina’s parent-teacher conference as her guardian because Opeiran was too busy to come. At the conference, Angelina sat beside Dale, who was frightened that her strict father had returned from abroad to attend.

• Angelina learned that Aya would attend her parent-teacher conference and report back to Opeiran.
• Aya hugged Angelina and told her she could be spoiled as much as she liked.
• Angelina and Dale sat through the Magic Academy’s parent-teacher conference.
• Dale whispered that her father had abandoned his business abroad to attend, and Angelina noticed Dale was trembling.

Angelina attended the parent-teacher conference with Aya, while the teacher announced that some students would need private three-way meetings. After Dale left with her father, a parent approached Aya, who clarified that she had come in place of Angelina’s mother.

• Angelina refused Dale’s plea for help as both girls faced the parent-teacher conference.
• The teacher praised the class’s results and explained that some students would meet privately with a parent and teacher.
• The teacher called Dale first, and she went to the office with Viscount Yalian.
• A middle-aged man approached Aya and asked if she was Duchess Colswit.
• Aya said she was attending the conference on Angelina’s mother’s behalf.

Aya deflected a man's unwanted attention, then revealed her connection to Viscount Yaren and turned down his request to meet about business. Angelina was called into the teacher's office, while Dale left sobbing with her mother.

• A man tried to pester Aya, but Viscount Yaren intervened and sent him away.
• Aya and Viscount Yaren spoke privately about his interest in the Karte Great Salt Lake and salt trading.
• Aya refused to meet with Viscount Yaren that afternoon, saying she was having lunch with Lina-chan's friends.
• The teacher called Angelina and her guardian into the office after Dale left sobbing beside her scolding mother.
• Aya asked Viscount Yaren whether he had returned all that way for his daughter.

Aya accompanied Angelina around campus after arranging to discuss business with Viscount Yalian. She teased Angelina about her recent scolding and offered to buy her lunch, while Angelina wondered how long Aya would stay.

• Aya agreed to meet Viscount Yalian over dinner to discuss business, then left with Angelina.
• Aya asked Angelina about the school anniversary celebration and its stage play as they walked through campus.
• Angelina admitted she had been reprimanded by Teacher Mona for skipping class, unexplained absences, and conflicts with classmates.
• Aya lectured Angelina about attending class and getting along with her classmates.
• Aya offered to treat Angelina to lunch, and Angelina asked how long Aya would stay before correcting her from calling her Aunt Aya to calling her Aya big sister.

Aya learned that Angelina's class would perform a play about the Thirteen Heroes' Trojan Horse Stratagem, a tale closely resembling the Trojan Horse legend from Aya's former world. Aya then hinted that she might not need to tell Opeiran what Angelina's teacher had scolded her about.

• Aya agreed to attend Angelina's school anniversary celebration the next day.
• Angelina explained that her class planned to perform the Thirteen Heroes' Trojan Horse Stratagem.
• Angelina said the heroes hid inside a jeweled wooden horse to enter the Demon Gods' headquarters and assassinate them.
• Aya wondered whether the tale's resemblance to her world's Trojan Horse legend was a coincidence.
• Aya hinted to Angelina that she might keep the teacher's scolding from Opeiran.