Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary: “Deciding to Become a Tutor Because It Meant Free Books”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After several days resting in Turan Town, Cui Ciyou visits the local Adventurers’ Guild with Dak, a young guard who volunteers to accompany him.
• He observes the guild’s busy atmosphere and studies the quest postings to improve his understanding of the world, its language, occupations, and currency.
• Among the postings, he discovers a recruitment notice from Philip Boreas Greyrat, mayor of Roa City, seeking a tutor for his daughter, Eris.
• The notice emphasizes that Eris is difficult, energetic, and has caused previous tutors to quit within a month. The ideal candidate must teach language, arithmetic, literacy, and preferably magic or swordsmanship.
• Recognizing the names Roa, Philip, and Eris from Jobless Reincarnation, Cui realizes he is in the story’s timeline before Rudeus becomes Eris’s tutor.
• He retreats to the inn to reconsider his future and decides to travel to Roa immediately and apply for the position.

Character Developments

• Cui Ciyou: Demonstrates growing adaptability, intelligence, and determination. Despite knowing only limited Human Common Tongue, he uses memory, logic, and context to interpret quest notices. His discovery of the tutoring position transforms his uncertainty into a concrete plan.
• Dak: Shows loyalty and attentiveness by accompanying Cui without hesitation when he decides to explore the town.
• Eris: Though absent from the chapter, she is characterized through the recruitment notice as violent-tempered, energetic, and exceptionally difficult to teach.
• Rudeus: His future role as Eris’s tutor becomes an important reference point. Cui understands that he has arrived before the original story’s events involving Rudeus and Eris.

Significant Themes

• Using knowledge of the future: Cui’s familiarity with the anime’s plot gives him an opportunity to make informed choices and potentially alter his circumstances.
• Resourcefulness and adaptation: He overcomes language and cultural barriers through observation, memory, and deduction.
• Access to knowledge: Books are rare and expensive, making employment with a wealthy noble family an appealing way for Cui to study and gain valuable information.
• Opportunity and ambition: The tutoring position represents more than employment—it offers education, social access, financial security, and a path toward influence in the new world.
• Fate versus intervention: Cui recognizes a familiar point in the original timeline and deliberately chooses to insert himself into events before Rudeus does.

Character Interactions

• Cui and Dak travel together from the inn to the Adventurers’ Guild, with Dak acting as his companion and support.
• Within the guild, Cui mainly observes adventurers, staff, and quest applicants rather than engaging directly with them.
• The central interaction is indirect: Cui encounters the Boreas family through their public job posting and begins planning a future relationship with Eris as her potential tutor.
• The chapter ends with Cui deciding to travel to Roa and seek employment with Philip Boreas, motivated primarily by the chance to gain access to books and education.

Chapter Summary: “Farewell, Until We Meet Again”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After returning to the inn in Turan Town, Cui Ciyou informs caravan leader Carl that he plans to leave and travel alone to Roa, in Fitoia Territory of the Asla Kingdom.
• Although surprised and disappointed, Carl respects his decision and warns him about the dangers of traveling alone, particularly the unrest caused by groups such as the Grey Wolf Bandits.
• Carl gives Cui Ciyou a pouch of money, her finest steel longsword, and a magnificent white horse to aid him on his journey.
• Cui Ciyou sincerely accepts the gifts, promising to remember Carl’s kindness.
• Carl’s son Dak, who greatly admires Cui Ciyou, asks to accompany him. Carl firmly rejects the idea, reminding Dak that Cui Ciyou has his own path.
• Before leaving, Cui Ciyou encourages Dak to train hard and become a hero—not necessarily a famous or legendary one, but someone who accomplishes meaningful deeds.
• Cui Ciyou rides out of Turan Town, leaving Carl, Dak, and the caravan guards watching sadly until he disappears.
• Later, Dak wonders whether Cui Ciyou will return. Carl admits she does not know, but predicts that they will soon hear legendary stories about him.
• Cui Ciyou’s next destination is confirmed as Fortress City Roa.

Character Developments

• Cui Ciyou: Demonstrates determination by choosing to pursue his own path alone. Though usually emotionally restrained, he shows genuine gratitude toward Carl and unexpected tenderness toward Dak, revealing a growing capacity for emotional connection.
• Carl: Shows herself to be generous, practical, and respectful of Cui Ciyou’s independence. Her gifts and warnings reflect both affection and concern, while her restraint in not stopping him highlights her trust in his judgment.
• Dak: His admiration for Cui Ciyou deepens into a desire to follow and emulate him. His disappointment at the separation shows how important Cui Ciyou has become to him, while Cui’s encouragement gives Dak a personal goal.
• The caravan guards: Their silent, reluctant farewell suggests that Cui Ciyou has earned their respect and become a valued member of their group.

Significant Themes

• Parting and uncertainty: The farewell is emotionally bittersweet, emphasizing that meaningful relationships may end without any guarantee of reunion.
• Independence and destiny: Cui Ciyou chooses to leave despite the comfort and companionship offered by the caravan, following a personal path toward Roa.
• Kindness and gratitude: Carl’s practical gifts symbolize the support Cui has received, while his acceptance acknowledges the bond they formed.
• Heroism: Cui redefines being a hero for Dak, suggesting that ordinary acts of courage and goodness matter as much as legendary achievements.
• Hope for the future: Though the characters separate sadly, Carl believes Cui’s future actions will make him the subject of stories and legends.

Important Character Interactions

• Cui Ciyou and Carl: Their exchange moves from casual familiarity to sincere emotional farewell. Carl offers material support and advice, while Cui promises to remember her kindness.
• Cui Ciyou and Dak: Dak’s desperate wish to follow him contrasts with Cui’s gentle encouragement. Cui’s advice establishes him as a role model for Dak.
• Carl and Dak: Carl sharply prevents Dak from acting impulsively, showing her protective authority while teaching him to respect another person’s path.
• Cui Ciyou and the caravan: His final nod and departure acknowledge the mutual respect and attachment formed during their journey.

Chapter Summary: The Beastkin Lying by the Roadside

Key Plot Points and Events

• Cui Ciyou travels alone toward Roa on the white horse Carl gave him, carrying food and money Carl thoughtfully provided.
• He reflects gratefully on Carl and Dak, hoping Dak may one day become strong enough to be a hero.
• Near the roadside, Cui discovers a nearly dead beastkin woman suffering from extreme dehydration, starvation, and possible poisoning.
• He recognizes her as Ghislaine Dedoldia, the renowned Black Wolf Sword King and an advanced-level Sword God Style swordswoman.
• Ghislaine bluntly tells him that she is going to die and initially refuses help, having lost the will to survive.
• Cui refuses to abandon her. He uses his supplies to soften black bread in water, explaining that someone who has starved for a long time must begin with liquid or semi-liquid food.
• Ghislaine’s buried desire to live resurfaces as she watches him patiently prepare the food.
• Remembering past encouragement from Keith—that she could survive by teaching others swordsmanship—Ghislaine offers to teach Cui swordsmanship in exchange for the food.

Character Developments

• Cui Ciyou demonstrates compassion, practicality, and determination. Although initially wary of the unfamiliar beastkin, he quickly chooses to help Ghislaine and treats her condition carefully rather than simply giving her solid food.
• His knowledge of the original story allows him to recognize Ghislaine and understand the significance of saving her.
• Ghislaine, despite her legendary strength and reputation, is shown in a helpless and emotionally broken state. Hunger and possible poisoning have reduced her to despair, but Cui’s kindness rekindles her survival instinct.
• Her offer to teach swordsmanship marks the first step toward regaining purpose and agency.

Significant Themes

• Compassion and responsibility: Cui feels morally obligated to help once he encounters Ghislaine, even though continuing on would be easier.
• Hope amid despair: Ghislaine believes death is inevitable, but food and human kindness awaken her will to live.
• Strength beyond combat: Ghislaine’s power as a Sword King cannot save her from starvation; survival also depends on care, preparation, and cooperation.
• Reciprocity and mentorship: Ghislaine responds to Cui’s assistance by offering the skill she possesses—swordsmanship—suggesting a mutually beneficial relationship.
• The contrast between appearance and vulnerability: The powerful adventurer is reduced to a fragile, dying figure, emphasizing the limits of reputation and physical strength.

Character Interactions

• Cui approaches Ghislaine cautiously but speaks gently to avoid frightening her.
• Ghislaine initially responds with blunt resignation, asking him to leave her to die.
• Cui challenges her defeatist attitude and insists that she eat before deciding her future.
• His careful preparation of food communicates concern more effectively than his words, reminding Ghislaine of what it feels like to be cared for.
• Moved by his kindness and motivated by Keith’s earlier advice, Ghislaine offers him swordsmanship lessons in return for the meal.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Cui Ciyou cares for Ghislaine, who is near death after prolonged starvation.
• He feeds her small amounts of softened bread mash and carefully limits her water intake, warning that solid food or overeating could kill her weakened body.
• Ghislaine gradually regains a little strength and realizes she may survive.
• She asks Cui Ciyou to teach her swordsmanship, promising to learn if it will help her repay him.
• After some teasing about proper introductions, they exchange names. Ghislaine identifies herself as Ghislaine Dedoldia, confirming Cui Ciyou’s suspicion that she is the famous Black Wolf Sword King.
• Ghislaine formally swears loyalty to Cui Ciyou, declaring that she will become his sword and cut down his enemies whenever needed.

Character Developments

• Cui Ciyou is shown as knowledgeable, calm, compassionate, and practical. His understanding of starvation and careful treatment reveals both medical awareness and genuine concern for Ghislaine. He also recognizes her identity and is amused by the contrast between her legendary strength and her severe lack of common sense.
• Ghislaine shifts from helpless near-death weakness to cautious recovery. Cui Ciyou’s kindness causes her distrust of humans to soften, and she develops gratitude and respect for him. Her promise to teach him swordsmanship evolves into a solemn swordsman’s oath of lifelong loyalty.

Significant Themes

• Compassion overcoming prejudice: Cui Ciyou treats Ghislaine without fear, discrimination, or lust, challenging her expectations of humans.
• Trust and gratitude: Ghislaine’s survival and emotional response to being cared for lead her to place deep trust in Cui Ciyou.
• The contrast between strength and vulnerability: Despite being a renowned Sword King, Ghislaine is helpless because of her ignorance and poor judgment.
• Oaths and loyalty: Her declaration to become Cui Ciyou’s sword establishes a serious bond based on honor and repayment of life debt.
• Practical knowledge as a form of power: Cui Ciyou’s ability to nurse Ghislaine back to health is as important as physical strength.

Character Interactions

• Cui Ciyou gently feeds and reassures Ghislaine while firmly controlling her food and water intake.
• Ghislaine observes his behavior closely, comparing his kindness and reliability to people she once knew, including Paul, Zenith, and Keith.
• Their exchange over names highlights their contrasting personalities: Cui Ciyou is familiar with social customs and lightly teasing, while Ghislaine is blunt and socially inexperienced.
• The chapter ends with Ghislaine offering Cui Ciyou her sword, transforming their relationship from rescuer and rescued person into teacher, student, and sworn companions.

Chapter Summary: “Knowing Nothing but the Sword”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After rescuing Ghislaine Dedoldia from near-starvation, Cui Ciyou continues traveling with her.
• Ghislaine recovers with remarkable speed, going from barely able to walk to running faster than Cui Ciyou’s horse within a few days.
• Her physical strength, appearance, alertness, and predatory aura gradually return as she resumes her warrior’s training and breathing exercises.
• Despite recovering physically, Ghislaine remains emotionally distant, silent, and burdened by an underlying gloom.
• She faithfully fulfills her oath to become Cui Ciyou’s “sword,” acting as his guard, servant, and weapon. She follows him constantly, protects him while traveling and camping, and keeps watch at night.
• Cui Ciyou attempts to question her about the world, swordsmanship, beastfolk, kingdoms, history, and magic. However, her answers are extremely brief, vague, or incomplete.
• He concludes that Ghislaine’s knowledge is almost entirely limited to combat and survival, making her useless as a general guide to the world.
• Cui Ciyou reflects on her former adventuring party, Black Wolf’s Fang, and realizes that the group’s complementary personalities likely allowed someone as combat-focused and socially inept as Ghislaine to function.
• He abandons the hope of learning systematic worldly knowledge from her.

Character Developments

• Ghislaine: Physically returns to her former strength and dignity, regaining her vitality, muscle, sharp senses, and warrior’s presence. However, she remains psychologically withdrawn and demonstrates extreme obedience, treating herself more as a weapon than as an independent person. Her identity is revealed to be almost completely centered on fighting.
• Cui Ciyou: Becomes responsible for Ghislaine’s recovery and begins observing her more closely. He develops a clearer, somewhat amused understanding of her personality and limitations, recognizing both her overwhelming combat ability and her near-total lack of common knowledge or social skills.

Significant Themes

• Identity and purpose: Ghislaine defines herself through her role as a sword and protector rather than as an autonomous individual.
• Physical recovery versus emotional healing: Although her body rapidly heals, her silence, distance, and gloom show that her deeper wounds remain unresolved.
• Strength and weakness: Ghislaine is nearly unmatched in combat but helpless in ordinary survival and social situations.
• Interdependence: The chapter emphasizes how people with complementary strengths support one another; Ghislaine once relied on her adventuring party to compensate for her deficiencies.
• Limits of knowledge: Power and experience in one field do not translate into understanding of the wider world.

Character Interactions

• Cui Ciyou provides Ghislaine with food, water, shelter, and orders her to rest, while Ghislaine responds with rigid obedience.
• Ghislaine protects Cui Ciyou constantly, maintaining a guard position and prioritizing his safety even during meals and sleep.
• Their conversations are practical and one-sided: Cui Ciyou asks questions, but Ghislaine gives only the shortest possible answers.
• Cui Ciyou’s attempts to connect with or learn from her reveal the vast gap between his curiosity about the world and her narrow, combat-centered perspective.

Chapter Summary: Arrival at the Destination—The Fortress City of Roa

Key Plot Points and Events

• Cui Ciyou and Ghislaine complete their long, oppressive journey and arrive at Roa, the central city of the Fitoia Territory and a major stronghold in the Asla Kingdom.
• They enter through Roa’s imposing city gate after paying the entry tax.
• Cui Ciyou observes the city’s bustling population, including merchants, nobles, adventurers, ordinary citizens, and several demi-human races such as dwarves, elves, and demons.
• He studies Roa’s architecture, businesses, guards, transportation, social divisions, and economic activity to understand the world’s technology and culture.
• The pair notice that the city becomes increasingly prosperous and refined as they move inward: adventurer-oriented shops dominate the outskirts, while luxury businesses and elite residences occupy the central districts.
• Cui Ciyou recognizes that Roa’s urban design serves both commercial and defensive purposes, with successive layers functioning like defensive lines during an attack.
• After surveying the city, Cui Ciyou decides that they should first find an inn and establish a place to stay.

Character Developments

• Cui Ciyou demonstrates his analytical and observant nature, using his enhanced senses to examine Roa’s infrastructure, social structure, economy, and defenses.
• His modern-world perspective leads him to compare the city’s public carriages to buses and its urban organization to cities on Earth.
• He becomes increasingly impressed by Roa’s sophistication, inclusivity, and careful planning.
• Ghislaine remains quiet and alert but is visibly unsettled by the overwhelming noise and information of the crowded city. Although she has visited prosperous places before, she experiences Roa differently as a traveler rather than a wanderer or tourist.
• Her familiarity with forests, battlefields, and the Sword Sanctum contrasts with her difficulty processing the chaotic urban environment.

Significant Themes

• Civilization versus wilderness: Roa’s crowded, structured society contrasts sharply with Ghislaine’s experience in forests and battlefields.
• Historical legacy: The ancient walls, marked by time and war, emphasize Roa’s importance as a surviving fortress from the Great Human-God War.
• Urban planning and defense: The city’s layered districts reveal how commerce, class, and military strategy are integrated into its design.
• Cultural diversity and coexistence: The presence of humans and demi-humans highlights Roa’s relative inclusivity and vitality.
• New-world discovery: Cui Ciyou’s comparisons to modern Earth underscore his outsider perspective and the chapter’s focus on exploring an unfamiliar society.

Character Interactions

• Cui Ciyou leads the journey through the city while Ghislaine follows silently, creating a dynamic in which he interprets and analyzes their surroundings and she responds through instinctive observation.
• Their contrasting reactions—Cui Ciyou’s curiosity and systematic assessment versus Ghislaine’s sensory overload and uncertainty—emphasize their different backgrounds.
• The chapter ends with Cui Ciyou taking practical responsibility for their next step by leading Ghislaine to search for lodging.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• After stabling his horse, Cui Ciyou takes Ghislaine to the Adventurers’ Guild in Roa City to investigate the highly paid private-tutor position at House Boreas Greyrat.
• The commission seeks instructors for a noble girl’s swordsmanship, arithmetic, reading, and writing, with meals and lodging included.
• The guild receptionist reveals that Cui is already the fifth applicant that month. The previous tutors lasted no more than three days, with one being expelled after only half a day.
• Cui recognizes that the infamous Eris Boreas Greyrat is responsible for the tutors’ rapid turnover and reflects on her reputation as a violent, spoiled “Mad Dog.”
• Cui and Ghislaine travel to the enormous, castle-like Boreas residence, where they are admitted after explaining their purpose.
• They are escorted inside by the manservant Thomas, whom Cui suspects will later be involved in Eris’s kidnapping.
• Cui observes that the household’s maids are all beastfolk, reinforcing the Boreas family’s apparent preference for beastfolk servants.
• In the reception room, they meet Sauros Boreas Greyrat, the loud and intimidating lord of Fittoa.
• Sauros questions their identities, origins, species, and abilities. Ghislaine introduces herself as a Sword King trained by Gal Farion, while Cui identifies himself as a human Sword Saint.
• Impressed primarily by Ghislaine’s reputation, Sauros hires both of them for two Asla Kingdom gold coins per month.
• Sauros aggressively slaps Cui’s shoulder to test or intimidate him, but Cui remains completely unmoved, subtly demonstrating his strength and surprising Sauros.

Character Developments

• Cui Ciyou: Shows confidence, composure, and considerable knowledge of the original story. He is not intimidated by the Boreas family’s wealth or Sauros’s aggressive behavior. His ability to absorb Sauros’s powerful strike establishes that his strength is genuine, despite his youthful and delicate appearance.
• Ghislaine Dedoldia: Presents herself as a highly accomplished swordswoman and earns immediate respect after revealing her Sword King rank and connection to the Sword God, Gal Farion.
• Sauros Boreas Greyrat: Is introduced as loud, domineering, prejudiced, and physically intimidating. He is suspicious of Cui because of his appearance and lack of a conventional noble surname, but his attitude shifts somewhat after learning about Ghislaine’s status and witnessing Cui’s resilience.
• Thomas: Receives greater significance through Cui’s suspicion that he will eventually orchestrate Eris’s kidnapping.
• Eris: Never appears directly, but her reputation dominates the chapter. Her violent temperament is emphasized by the fact that no tutor has survived the position for more than three days.

Significant Themes

• Reputation and first impressions: Eris’s reputation precedes her, while Cui’s handsome appearance causes Sauros to judge him negatively before learning about his abilities.
• Power beneath appearances: Cui looks refined and harmless but possesses enough strength to withstand Sauros’s brutal test. Ghislaine’s beastfolk identity initially draws surprise, yet her title commands respect.
• Nobility and privilege: The Boreas family’s massive residence, armored guards, wealthy salaries, and indulgent household reflect the excess and power of the nobility.
• Spoiled authority and abusive environments: The failed tutors suggest a household where Eris’s behavior is tolerated because of her noble status and family influence.
• Cui’s foreknowledge: His knowledge of future events shapes his interpretations of the people and circumstances he encounters, particularly Thomas and Eris.

Character Interactions

• Cui and the guild receptionist: The receptionist teasingly warns Cui that previous tutors have quickly failed, providing comic foreshadowing about Eris.
• Cui and Ghislaine: They cooperate as a team, applying for complementary teaching roles—Cui for academics and Ghislaine for swordsmanship.
• Cui and Thomas: Cui remains outwardly polite while privately scrutinizing Thomas because of his suspected future role in Eris’s kidnapping.
• Cui and Sauros: Their first meeting is confrontational. Sauros insults and distrusts Cui, while Cui responds calmly and professionally. Sauros’s physical test fails to unsettle him, creating an early power imbalance beneath their hostile exchange.
• Sauros and Ghislaine: Sauros reacts with genuine admiration to Ghislaine’s Dedoldia heritage and Sword King title, treating her with more respect than Cui.
• Sauros and the household maids: His irritation toward Cui increases when he notices the beastfolk maids admiring Cui, revealing jealousy and possessiveness.

Chapter Summary: “An Unfriendly First Meeting”

Key plot points and events

• Sauros proudly announces that he has found excellent tutors for his granddaughter Alice: Cui Ciyou and Ghislaine, a Sword King and a Saint-level swordswoman.
• Sauros’s refined son, Philip Boreas Greyrat, enters and apologizes for his father’s rough behavior before sending the tutors to meet Alice.
• Alice immediately reveals her rebellious and violent personality. She insults Cui Ciyou, dismisses academic studies, and demands a stronger-looking sword instructor.
• When Cui Ciyou ignores her provocations, Alice attacks him with a powerful punch enhanced by a small amount of Battle Aura.
• Cui Ciyou effortlessly catches her fist, demonstrating the overwhelming gap between their abilities. With Philip’s reluctant permission, he disciplines Alice by striking her with his sword’s scabbard.
• Alice pretends to give in, then launches a surprise counterattack and bites Cui Ciyou’s shoulder hard enough to draw blood.
• Philip, Ghislaine, and the servant Thomas finally pull Alice away, leaving the first meeting chaotic and openly hostile.

Character developments

• Cui Ciyou remains calm, analytical, and emotionally restrained throughout Alice’s insults and attacks. He recognizes her natural combat talent but also judges her as an exceptionally unruly child. His diminished sensitivity to pain is revealed when Alice bites him.
• Alice is established as ferocious, arrogant, impulsive, and highly aggressive despite her young age and cute appearance. She possesses remarkable physical instincts and can unconsciously use Battle Aura. Her willingness to attack, deceive, and bite shows why she earned the nickname “Mad Dog.”
• Philip is shown to be polite, composed, and embarrassed by both his father’s roughness and his daughter’s behavior. Although initially uncomfortable with Cui Ciyou’s punishment, he permits it when assured Alice will not be seriously harmed.
• Ghislaine remains watchful and protective, nearly intervening when Alice attacks, but respects Cui Ciyou’s signal that he can handle the situation.
• Sauros is characterized as boisterous and domineering, while Philip’s refined manner provides a sharp contrast.

Significant themes

• Contrasts between appearance and personality: Philip looks scholarly and gentle but is related to the rough Sauros, while adorable-looking Alice behaves like a violent “mad dog.”
• Discipline versus rebellion: Alice rejects education and authority, forcing Cui Ciyou to establish boundaries through direct confrontation.
• Natural talent and uncontrolled power: Alice’s early Battle Aura and combat instincts suggest extraordinary potential, but her lack of discipline makes her dangerous.
• First impressions and social tension: The meeting highlights the difficulty of integrating the tutors into the Boreas household and foreshadows conflict between Cui Ciyou and Alice.
• Cui Ciyou’s altered body: His muted pain response hints at the unusual physical changes he has undergone since arriving in this world.

Character interactions

• Sauros boasts to Cui Ciyou and Ghislaine about their abilities, while Philip politely repairs the social damage caused by his father.
• Alice verbally challenges Cui Ciyou, attacks him physically, and reacts with shock when he effortlessly restrains her.
• Cui Ciyou responds to Alice’s violence with controlled physical discipline rather than anger, creating an immediate power struggle.
• Philip, Thomas, and Ghislaine react anxiously as Alice escalates from punching to biting, ultimately working together to restrain her.

Chapter Summary: “Books Are Expensive in This World”

Key Plot Points and Events

• During his travels with Carl’s merchant caravan, Cui Ciyou rapidly learns to speak and understand the Human Common Tongue, though reading and writing remain difficult because books and educational materials are scarce.
• Carl explains that even basic literacy books are prohibitively expensive. Since books must be written by hand on costly papyrus or parchment, they are largely restricted to nobles and the wealthy.
• In Roa, Cui Ciyou discovers that advanced instructional books—such as magic compendiums and swordsmanship manuals—can cost ten gold coins, an amount equivalent to many years of an ordinary family’s income.
• He recognizes that knowledge is effectively monopolized by the upper classes, making social advancement nearly impossible for commoners without exceptional opportunities.
• Cui Ciyou realizes how fortunate he was to join the Boreas Greyrat Family, whose estate contains a substantial library. Philip grants tutors limited access to it, excluding family secrets and forbidden materials.
• Once admitted by the butler Alphonse, Cui Ciyou becomes fascinated by the library and studies obsessively. His intelligence, memory, and analytical ability allow him to progress rapidly.
• He learns grammar, history, geography, politics, noble hierarchies, religion, racial cultures, magic theory, and the principles of the Sword God, Water God, and North God styles.
• His research reveals that the first Water God was also a God-level magician, and that North God Style was founded by Kalman and expanded by his son Alex.
• His peaceful immersion in study is interrupted by a scream, breaking porcelain, and an angry girl outside the library. Cui Ciyou reluctantly prepares to return to his difficult duties as tutor to the Boreas family’s “Mad Dog” young lady.

Character Development

• Cui Ciyou becomes increasingly aware of the social and economic barriers surrounding knowledge in this world. His appreciation for the Boreas family’s library deepens his gratitude toward them.
• His extraordinary memory, reasoning skills, and determination are emphasized as he quickly moves from basic literacy to studying complex academic and historical subjects.
• He develops a more informed and systematic understanding of the world, transforming from an outsider with limited language ability into a capable scholar.
• At the same time, his intellectual enthusiasm contrasts sharply with his frustration toward his difficult tutoring assignment. He recognizes that acquiring knowledge is enjoyable, while dealing with his student is a grueling practical challenge.
• Carl acts as a practical guide, explaining the economic realities of books and revealing the class-based nature of education.
• Philip and Alphonse indirectly support Cui Ciyou’s development by providing him access to the Boreas library.

Significant Themes

• Knowledge as wealth and power: Books are rare, expensive, and controlled by the elite, making education a privilege rather than a universal right.
• Class inequality: The cost of books demonstrates how deeply entrenched the divide is between nobles and commoners.
• Opportunity and social mobility: Cui Ciyou recognizes that the Boreas family’s library offers him an extraordinary chance unavailable to most people.
• Cultural adaptation: Learning the local language and history allows Cui Ciyou to understand and participate more fully in this new world.
• Intellectual curiosity versus practical responsibility: His passion for study provides fulfillment, but he cannot escape the demanding real-world obligations of tutoring.
• The value of literacy and preservation: The chapter highlights how the lack of printing technology limits the spread of knowledge and slows societal progress.

Character Interactions

• Cui Ciyou and Carl: Carl enthusiastically teaches him the Human Common Tongue and explains why books are financially inaccessible to ordinary people.
• Cui Ciyou and the Boreas household: Philip’s decision to grant tutors library access gives Cui Ciyou the resources necessary for rapid intellectual growth, while Alphonse formally admits him to the library.
• Cui Ciyou and the “Mad Dog” young lady: Although she does not appear directly in much of the chapter, her violent outburst—marked by a scream, broken porcelain, and shouting—reminds Cui Ciyou of the difficult tutoring relationship awaiting him outside the library.

Chapter Summary: The Red-Haired Young Lady’s “Talent for Swordsmanship”

Key Plot Points and Events

• A week after Cui Ciyou disciplined Alice, the bite wounds she inflicted on his shoulder have completely healed. This prompts him to examine the extraordinary changes caused by his transmigration.
• Cui reflects on his enhanced physical strength, rapid regeneration, pain resistance, Perception, and unusual Mental Power. He suspects that Mental Power is the source of both his bodily enhancements and his Anti-Magic Field.
• While studying the geography of the Asura Kingdom, Cui observes several of Ghislaine’s swordsmanship lessons with Alice.
• Ghislaine repeatedly defeats Alice in brutal training sessions, knocking away her wooden sword and leaving her bruised, exhausted, and in tears.
• Despite the pain and humiliation, Alice never gives up. She repeatedly rises, insults Ghislaine, and attacks again with increasing determination.
• Ghislaine recognizes Alice as a natural-born warrior with exceptional instincts, reflexes, aggression, and an uncompromising refusal to surrender. She concludes that Alice is ideally suited to the Sword God Style and could achieve limitless accomplishments if properly trained.

Character Developments

• Cui Ciyou: Gains a clearer understanding of his transmigrated body and begins theorizing that Mental Power is his fundamental ability. His observations also deepen his appreciation of Alice’s combat potential.
• Alice Boreas Greyrat: Her impulsive and aggressive nature is reinforced, but so is her extraordinary perseverance. Although only five years old, she shows frightening physical ability, combat instincts, and even a trace of Battle Aura.
• Ghislaine: Acts as a harsh but effective instructor. Though usually stern and severe, she offers rare, genuine praise for Alice’s talent and recognizes similarities between Alice’s tenacity and warriors from her own past.
• Cui and Ghislaine: Their interaction is primarily observational and conversational. Cui watches Ghislaine’s lessons and discusses Alice’s abilities with her, while Ghislaine provides an expert assessment of Alice’s future potential.

Significant Themes

• Innate talent versus training: Alice possesses extraordinary natural ability, but Ghislaine’s punishing instruction is necessary to refine it.
• Perseverance and refusal to yield: Alice’s greatest strength may be her determination to continue fighting despite pain, defeat, and exhaustion.
• The nature of power: Cui’s reflections suggest that Mental Power may underlie his physical abilities, regeneration, pain resistance, and anti-magic properties.
• Violence as education: Ghislaine’s brutal methods appear cruel, but they are presented as practical training designed to develop real combat effectiveness.
• Foreshadowing future greatness: Alice’s early talent is connected to her later achievements, including defeating Sword Saints and eventually reaching the level of a Sword King.

Character Interactions

• Alice openly challenges and insults Ghislaine even while being repeatedly defeated, creating a dynamic of hostility mixed with respect.
• Ghislaine responds without sympathy during training but privately acknowledges Alice’s immense potential.
• Cui acts as an observer and interpreter, comparing Alice’s current abilities with her future reputation and recognizing that her legendary swordsmanship is already beginning to emerge.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Eris excels in swordsmanship. Although Ghislaine regularly defeats her in training, the harsh, practical instruction rapidly strengthens Eris’s fundamentals and reveals her natural talent.
• In contrast, Eris refuses to study arithmetic, reading, and writing with Cui Ciyou. She avoids lessons by hiding, pretending to be ill, escaping through windows, destroying teaching materials, creating messes, or simply refusing to cooperate.
• Cui Ciyou tries patience, explanations, educational games, and—when pushed beyond endurance—the scabbard. Even after being beaten, Eris refuses to cry and responds with intense hatred and defiance.
• After an entire week without a proper academic lesson, Cui Ciyou asks Eris’s father, Philip, to intervene. Philip politely refuses, insisting that managing Eris is part of the tutor’s responsibility.
• Philip’s response triggers painful memories of Cui Ciyou’s irresponsible father, who shifted family and educational responsibilities onto his exhausted wife. Cui Ciyou becomes angry and abandons the idea of seeking parental help.
• Cui Ciyou does not approach Eris’s mother, Hilda, because of her hostility toward him after his previous physical discipline of Eris. Hilda’s fierce protectiveness also reminds him of the contrast between her and his devoted mother from his former life.
• Despite Eris’s refusal to study, Cui Ciyou is not dismissed or punished. He receives respectful treatment and an advance salary of two Asla Kingdom gold coins.
• Briefly tempted to accept the situation and enjoy being paid while using the Boreas library, Cui Ciyou ultimately decides to remain Eris’s tutor and handle the problem himself, though he postpones dealing with it seriously for the moment.

Character Developments

• Eris: Demonstrates exceptional swordsmanship talent, physical energy, stubbornness, and fierce resistance to academic education. Her opposition to Cui Ciyou becomes deliberate and personal.
• Cui Ciyou: Begins questioning his supposed emotional detachment. His sense of duty, shaped by his mother’s teachings about promises and responsibility, compels him to continue teaching despite his frustration. His anger toward Philip exposes unresolved resentment toward his past family life.
• Philip: Reveals himself as a courteous but irresponsible parent who shifts the burden of Eris’s education entirely onto Cui Ciyou.
• Hilda: Remains hostile toward Cui Ciyou because he disciplined Eris, emphasizing her role as a fiercely protective mother.
• Ghislaine: Continues to train Eris through brutal but effective swordsmanship practice, contributing to Eris’s rapid improvement.

Significant Themes

• Responsibility and contracts: Cui Ciyou realizes that accepting a job and salary creates an obligation, even when the work is difficult or unrewarding.
• Parental responsibility: The chapter criticizes parents who expect teachers to handle every aspect of a child’s education while refusing to participate themselves.
• Trauma and memory: Philip’s behavior awakates Cui Ciyou’s memories of his negligent father and his hardworking mother, deepening his emotional conflict.
• Different forms of education: Eris thrives under direct physical challenge but rejects abstract academic learning, highlighting the importance of teaching methods suited to the student.
• Duty versus personal convenience: Cui Ciyou is tempted to abandon the teaching struggle and focus on his own research, but his conscience prevents him from fully giving up.

Character Interactions

• Eris and Cui Ciyou: Their relationship is openly adversarial. Eris uses evasion and sabotage to resist him, while Cui Ciyou alternates between patience, frustration, discipline, and reluctant determination.
• Eris and Ghislaine: Their training is physically harsh but productive; Ghislaine’s methods match Eris’s temperament and produce clear results.
• Cui Ciyou and Philip: Cui Ciyou seeks parental assistance, but Philip deflects responsibility with polite, dismissive words, causing Cui Ciyou to resent him.
• Cui Ciyou and Hilda: They have no meaningful conversation because Hilda’s hostility makes cooperation impossible.
• Cui Ciyou and his absent family memories: Philip’s behavior causes him to compare the present situation with his former father’s irresponsibility and his mother’s self-sacrifice, shaping his renewed commitment to fulfill his own obligations.

Chapter Summary: The Red-Haired Young Lady’s “Night Raid,” Divine Punishment Day and Night

Key Plot Points and Events

• Late at night, Cui Ciyou meditates and discovers that his Mental Power slowly increases whenever it is completely exhausted and restored.
• Eris secretly enters his room using a spare key, intending to attack him with a wooden sword. She has apparently been doing this repeatedly for fifteen days—three times every night and twice each morning, totaling seventy-five attacks.
• Believing Cui Ciyou is asleep, Eris launches a powerful Sword God Style strike aimed at his face.
• Cui Ciyou easily catches the sword, disarms her, and pins her to the bed before she can react.
• He confronts her about her relentless attacks and points out that she was the original aggressor in their first meeting.
• Eris insists that Cui Ciyou is responsible for her behavior because he previously spanked her, acted arrogantly, and forced himself into the role of her tutor.
• Cui Ciyou argues that their hostility is mutual: she insulted him, attacked him first, and bit him, while he merely retaliated.
• The chapter ends with Cui Ciyou reflecting on Eris’s frightening persistence and violent temperament, recognizing traits associated with her future reputation as the “Mad Dog.”

Character Developments

• Cui Ciyou: Demonstrates increasing Mental Power, exceptional reflexes, and overwhelming physical skill. Although calm and controlled, he is becoming genuinely frustrated by Eris’s repeated harassment. He also shows a dry, analytical sense of humor when calculating the number of attacks.
• Eris Boreas Greyrat: Reveals remarkable persistence, courage, and determination, but also impulsiveness, aggression, and a strong grudge. Her swordsmanship is developing rapidly under Ghislaine’s instruction, allowing her to use a dangerous Sword God Style opening attack even during a sneak assault.
• Their relationship: Their antagonism has become a repetitive cycle of attacks, counters, arguments, and mutual blame. Beneath the hostility, their interactions show growing familiarity and a developing teacher-student dynamic.

Significant Themes

• Persistence and obsession: Eris’s refusal to give up is both admirable and absurd, emphasizing her intense willpower.
• Training and growth: Both characters are improving—Cui Ciyou through Mental Power cultivation and Eris through sword training.
• Mutual responsibility: The chapter humorously challenges the idea of a clear victim and aggressor, showing that both characters contributed to their feud.
• Comedy through repetition and contrast: Eris treats each attack as a serious act of “divine punishment,” while Cui Ciyou regards the encounters as exhausting, predictable interruptions.
• Foreshadowing: Eris’s aggression and ferocity hint at the “Mad Dog” persona she will later become known for.

Character Interactions

• Eris sneaks into Cui Ciyou’s room and attempts to strike him while he sleeps.
• Cui Ciyou effortlessly restrains and disarms her, reversing the power dynamic.
• Their argument centers on their first meeting, their mutual insults and violence, and Eris’s continuing attempts at revenge.
• Their exchange combines physical conflict, sarcastic reasoning, and underlying evidence that Eris continues to seek Cui Ciyou out because of their increasingly important relationship.

Chapter Summary: “You Don’t Dislike Me, Right?”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Cui Ciyou confronts Alice about repeatedly skipping his reading, writing, and arithmetic lessons over the past two weeks.
• He explains that her schedule is already lenient: she has one rest day every three days, and her lessons occupy only the mornings and afternoons, leaving her noon and evenings free.
• Alice initially blames Cui Ciyou, claiming he deliberately assigns boring classes to make her suffer.
• Cui realizes that Alice’s hostility may be directed less at the subjects and more at him personally as her tutor.
• He suggests resigning and allowing her father to find another teacher. Alice immediately panics and insists that he remain, revealing that she prefers him to the teachers she drove away before.
• Cui asks whether she hates him. Alice, embarrassed, avoids answering and instead asks whether he hates her.
• Cui admits that although their first meeting was unpleasant and Alice is difficult, he appreciates her blunt, honest nature. He concludes that he probably does not dislike her.
• Alice becomes visibly flustered by his answer but agrees to a new arrangement: she will attend his academic classes and make an effort to listen, while Cui will make the lessons more enjoyable and preserve ample time for her swordsmanship.
• Alice leaves after threatening Cui over his previous punishment with a sword sheath, while Cui reflects that their relationship may finally be improving and that his first successful class may take place the next day.

Character Developments

• Alice: Her defiance gives way to guilt, embarrassment, and anxiety over losing Cui as her tutor. Though she continues to act aggressively and hide her feelings behind insults, she demonstrates attachment and trust by refusing to let him leave. She also makes her first genuine compromise by agreeing to attend his classes.
• Cui Ciyou: He shifts from physically restraining and reprimanding Alice to speaking with patience and understanding. He recognizes that her avoidance is personal rather than purely academic and responds with unusual honesty about his own feelings. His willingness to adapt his lessons shows growing investment in Alice’s education and well-being.
• Their relationship moves from open antagonism toward reluctant mutual acceptance, with hints of emotional attachment beneath their constant teasing and hostility.

Significant Themes

• Understanding beneath conflict: Alice’s aggression masks discomfort, embarrassment, and fear of abandonment, while Cui’s calmness allows him to see beyond her behavior.
• Compromise and trust: Their agreement succeeds because both characters make concessions—Alice attends lessons, and Cui promises to make them more engaging.
• Emotional honesty: The direct questions about whether they dislike each other force both characters to acknowledge feelings they usually conceal.
• Different kinds of ability: Cui emphasizes that Alice cannot focus only on swordsmanship and must also develop less enjoyable academic skills.
• Attachment disguised as hostility: Alice’s insistence that Cui remain her tutor suggests that her antagonism is partly a way of maintaining closeness while protecting her pride.

Character Interactions

• Cui begins in an authoritative role, reminding Alice of her responsibilities, but gradually adopts a gentler and more personal tone.
• Alice alternates between accusations, sulking, embarrassment, and threats, using aggression to conceal her concern that Cui might leave.
• Cui’s admission that he does not dislike her deeply unsettles Alice, producing visible blushing and awkwardness.
• Their final exchange preserves their combative dynamic—Alice threatens him over the sword-sheath punishment—but the threat now feels more playful than genuinely hostile.

Chapter Summary: “Dyscalculia, or Dyslexia”

Key Plot Points and Events

• More than half a month after planning her lessons, Alice finally attends her first afternoon class with Cui Ciyou.
• Her daily schedule consists of swordsmanship with Ghislaine, etiquette and history with Teacher Edna, and reading, writing, and arithmetic with Cui Ciyou.
• Cui Ciyou prepares for the lesson by collecting smooth pebbles to use as visual teaching aids.
• He assesses Alice’s abilities and discovers that she can barely write simple numbers and cannot reliably perform basic addition or subtraction.
• Alice initially reacts defensively, questioning the usefulness of reading and writing. Cui Ciyou explains that literacy could prevent her from being cheated in contracts or payments.
• He begins teaching numbers from one to ten using pebbles, then introduces their written forms.
• Although Alice is impatient and easily distracted, she cooperates more seriously than expected, counting the pebbles and attempting to copy the numbers.
• The lesson ends after a slow but modestly successful introduction to basic numbers. Immediately afterward, Alice’s tense composure suddenly collapses, setting up the next development.

Character Developments

• Alice: Demonstrates severe difficulty with literacy, number recognition, and basic arithmetic, contrasting sharply with her exceptional swordsmanship. Despite her reluctance and pride, she keeps her promise to attend class and makes a genuine effort to learn. Her willingness to participate suggests she is not simply rebellious or unintelligent, but may have a specific learning difficulty.
• Cui Ciyou: Shows patience, adaptability, and insight as a teacher. Rather than criticizing Alice, he adjusts the lesson to concrete objects and offers frequent encouragement. He begins considering whether Alice’s struggles resemble dyscalculia or dyslexia rather than reflecting a general lack of intelligence.
• Ghislaine and Teacher Edna: Do not appear directly, but their lessons form part of Alice’s structured education.

Significant Themes

• Uneven abilities and learning difficulties: Alice’s brilliance in swordsmanship exists alongside profound academic struggles, suggesting intelligence can be highly specialized rather than universally balanced.
• Patience and individualized education: Cui Ciyou recognizes that conventional explanation is ineffective and uses physical objects to make abstract numbers understandable.
• Pride and vulnerability: Alice’s dismissive attitude masks embarrassment and insecurity about her inability to perform tasks expected of her.
• Effort over immediate success: Though Alice learns slowly and makes mistakes, her willingness to try represents meaningful progress.
• Nature versus upbringing: Cui Ciyou reflects that Alice’s lack of education and indulgent upbringing may have contributed to her academic limitations.

Character Interactions

• Alice enters the classroom reluctantly but honors her agreement with Cui Ciyou.
• Cui Ciyou calmly acknowledges her attendance, refusing to provoke her despite her childish defiance.
• When Alice questions the value of literacy, he gives a practical explanation involving contracts and monetary deception, leaving her unable to argue.
• During the lesson, he guides her patiently with pebbles, praises her correct answers, and reassures her that ignorance is not shameful.
• Alice responds with unusual cooperation, carefully following his instructions even while becoming frustrated and distracted.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• Alice struggles with basic arithmetic, writing, noble etiquette, and dancing, becoming increasingly frustrated and convinced that she is unintelligent.
• She openly expresses her self-doubt and fear to Cui Ciyou, even beginning to cry.
• Cui reassures her that learning slowly does not mean she is stupid. He explains that people learn differently and reminds her of her exceptional swordsmanship talent.
• He takes responsibility for her difficulties as her tutor, suggesting that his teaching methods may not suit her and promising to work with her patiently.
• Moved by his sincere belief and unconditional encouragement, Alice promises to work harder and stop skipping classes.
• Overcome with embarrassment and gratitude, she thanks Cui Ciyou and flees the study.
• Cui reflects that Alice is not an “incorrigible beast” after all; beneath her temper is someone capable of sincerity, vulnerability, and responding to kindness.

Character developments

• Alice: Reveals a fragile, insecure side beneath her fierce and troublesome exterior. She accepts encouragement, cries from feeling genuinely believed in, and makes a sincere commitment to improve. Her shy gratitude hints at growing affection and trust toward Cui Ciyou.
• Cui Ciyou: Demonstrates patience, empathy, and emotional insight as a tutor. He shifts from viewing Alice as a difficult student to recognizing her as a vulnerable child who needs understanding and a suitable teaching method. His own attitude softens toward her.

Significant themes

• Intelligence is not defined by learning speed; people possess different talents and learning styles.
• Encouragement, patience, and sincere affirmation can help someone overcome insecurity.
• Genuine kindness can break through emotional defenses and build trust.
• The chapter contrasts outward temperament with inner vulnerability, showing that Alice’s apparent hostility hides a sensitive and earnest nature.

Character interactions

• Alice seeks reassurance from Cui Ciyou after confessing her fear of being stupid.
• Cui responds with direct, heartfelt encouragement, emphasizing her strengths and affirming his faith in her.
• Alice’s tears and promise to work hard mark an emotional turning point in their tutor-student relationship.
• Their interaction becomes warmer and more intimate, with Alice showing shy gratitude and Cui developing genuine fondness and optimism about teaching her.

Chapter Summary: “Mad Dog and the Sword King, a Perfectly Matched Pair”

Key Plot Points and Events

• More than a month has passed since Cui Ciyou and Ghislaine began tutoring Eris Boreas Greyrat.
• Eris receives instruction in:
  • Arithmetic and literacy from Cui Ciyou
  • Swordsmanship from Ghislaine
  • Noble etiquette and social knowledge from Edna Lelen
• Edna struggles to teach Eris proper noble behavior. Eris finds etiquette lessons tedious, drinks tea improperly, and accidentally drops the cup.
• Cui Ciyou has had only limited success getting Eris to attend academic lessons.
• Ghislaine, however, has made remarkable progress with Eris through relentless swordsmanship training.
• Their daily sparring sessions are harsh, with Ghislaine repeatedly striking Eris with a wooden sword to correct her technique.
• Despite the punishing training, Eris continues fighting with determination and gradually improves. Ghislaine notes that Eris has learned basic principles such as thrusting with the point and cutting with the edge instead of simply swinging wildly.

Character Developments

• Eris remains impatient, rough, and resistant to conventional education, but she shows extraordinary dedication and talent in combat.
• Her swordsmanship ability is revealed to be exceptional, supported by:
  • Early Battle Aura
  • Great speed, agility, and coordination
  • Strong instincts for timing and attack angles
  • Fearlessness and relentless offensive drive
• Eris’s personality and fighting style make her naturally suited to the Sword God Style, which emphasizes overwhelming offense and decisive attacks.
• Eris grows more respectful and attached to Ghislaine, eventually addressing her by name rather than using rude insults.
• Ghislaine proves unexpectedly capable of mentoring Eris. Her blunt, direct personality and overwhelming strength suit Eris better than gentler forms of instruction.
• Ghislaine begins to show pride and affection toward Eris, recognizing her as a gifted junior.
• Cui Ciyou observes the unusual bond between them and acknowledges Eris’s remarkable swordsmanship talent.
• Edna Lelen remains patient and kind but is largely ineffective against Eris’s rebellious nature.

Significant Themes

• Teaching through compatibility: Effective mentorship depends on matching the student’s personality. Ghislaine succeeds because her directness and toughness align with Eris’s temperament.
• Discipline and perseverance: Eris’s talent alone is not enough; her progress comes from enduring painful, repetitive training and refusing to give up.
• Communication through action: Eris and Ghislaine express respect and trust more through combat and training than through conversation.
• Natural aptitude versus formal education: Eris resists etiquette and academics but thrives in swordsmanship, highlighting the contrast between imposed expectations and innate gifts.
• Mutual respect: Ghislaine’s strength earns Eris’s admiration, while Eris’s determination earns Ghislaine’s approval.

Character Interactions

• Eris and Edna: Edna patiently teaches etiquette, but Eris finds it boring and ignores the instructions, leaving Edna quietly frustrated.
• Eris and Cui Ciyou: Cui Ciyou struggles to keep Eris engaged in literacy and arithmetic and is one of the few people willing to discipline her physically.
• Eris and Ghislaine: Their relationship develops from hostility—Eris once bit Ghislaine—to a close mentor-student bond. Ghislaine’s harsh corrections and rare nods of approval deeply affect Eris.
• Cui Ciyou and Ghislaine: Cui Ciyou studies their unusual compatibility and recognizes that Ghislaine has become the most successful of Eris’s tutors.
  Overall, the chapter portrays Eris and Ghislaine as a remarkably well-matched pair whose fierce personalities and shared directness allow them to form a powerful bond through swordsmanship.

Chapter Summary: “Ghislaine Could Only Teach Alice”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Cui Ciyou begins systematic swordsmanship training under Ghislaine, fulfilling her promise to teach him after he saved her life.
• Ghislaine teaches the fundamentals of the Sword God Style: its distinctive grip, footwork, and basic swings, slashes, and thrusts.
• Although Cui Ciyou has exceptional physical abilities, reaction speed, and the capacity to reproduce movements perfectly, he lacks Battle Aura and the instinctive “feel” required by traditional swordsmen.
• His training therefore resembles precise physical conditioning rather than the world’s conventional form of swordsmanship.
• Alice watches his lessons and secretly enjoys seeing him struggle, especially when Ghislaine strikes him with a wooden sword for making mistakes.
• Ghislaine repeatedly explains techniques through animal metaphors and sound effects—such as moving like a wolf, cat, or bird—but Cui Ciyou cannot translate these instinctive descriptions into usable movements.
• When Cui Ciyou asks how the Sword God trained Ghislaine, she explains that he simply fought her continuously from morning to night until she collapsed, revealing the brutal nature of orthodox Sword God training.
• Cui Ciyou realizes that Alice can naturally understand Ghislaine’s instinctive teaching and imitate the intended movements, confirming her exceptional talent.
• He decides to supplement Ghislaine’s practical instruction with theoretical study from swordsmanship books in the library.

Character Developments

• Cui Ciyou: Recognizes that his analytical, rational mindset differs fundamentally from the instinct-driven Sword God Style. Rather than becoming discouraged, he identifies the need to combine theory with practical sparring and seeks to develop a swordsmanship path suited to him.
• Alice: Demonstrates a natural affinity for Ghislaine’s “beast-like” instruction. She quickly turns vague animal comparisons into effective movements, reinforcing her innate swordsmanship talent. She also playfully mocks Cui Ciyou during training.
• Ghislaine: Reveals herself to be a poor verbal instructor despite being an excellent swordswoman. Her own training was based almost entirely on relentless combat, so she struggles to explain techniques intellectually.

Significant Themes

• Instinct versus reason: The chapter contrasts Alice and Ghislaine’s intuitive, feeling-based swordsmanship with Cui Ciyou’s logical and technical approach.
• Different paths to mastery: Swordsmanship is presented through the three major styles: the Sword God Style’s instinctive aggression, the Water God Style’s rational technique, and the North God Style’s flexible use of any means necessary to win.
• Limits of conventional teaching: Ghislaine’s methods work for naturally instinctive students like Alice but are ineffective for analytical learners like Cui Ciyou.
• Talent versus discipline: Alice’s natural gift contrasts with Cui Ciyou’s need to rely on study, analysis, and deliberate practice.
• Cultural and educational differences: Cui Ciyou’s modern, theory-oriented expectations clash with the primitive, combat-based training traditions of the Sword Sanctum, whose warriors were often illiterate.

Important Character Interactions

• Ghislaine repeatedly corrects Cui Ciyou’s form, physically punishing mistakes while trying unsuccessfully to explain movements through animal imagery.
• Cui Ciyou challenges Ghislaine’s teaching style and sarcastically points out that her “special treatment” is merely less brutal than the Sword God’s training.
• Alice laughs at Cui Ciyou’s struggles but also demonstrates that she genuinely understands Ghislaine’s instinctive lessons.
• Cui Ciyou observes Alice’s progress and concludes that Ghislaine’s teaching method may truly be suited only to someone with Alice’s natural instincts.

Chapter Summary: “Academic Brain and Artistic Brain”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Since their honest conversation after the previous night raid, Cui Ciyou and Alice’s relationship has gradually improved, though some awkwardness remains.
• Alice keeps her promise to stop skipping class. She now attends arithmetic, literacy, etiquette, and history lessons, even if only reluctantly and with limited success.
• Cui Ciyou discovers that Alice struggles severely with academic subjects:
  • She cannot reliably perform basic arithmetic, such as adding three and two or subtracting three from eight.
  • She learns letters and words slowly, forgets them easily, and writes in crooked, disorderly handwriting.
  • She has difficulty memorizing history, noble genealogies, etiquette, and dance steps.
• In stark contrast, Alice displays extraordinary talent in swordsmanship. Under Ghislaine’s instruction, she learns quickly, improves rapidly, and performs naturally in physical and combat-related activities.
• Cui Ciyou begins comparing Alice’s abilities to Earth concepts such as the “Left Brain” and “Right Brain,” along with dyscalculia and dyslexia. He concludes that Alice may possess an exceptionally developed “Athletic” or “Artistic Brain,” while struggling with logic, language, and numbers.
• He considers changing his teaching methods by using images, stories, spatial memory, and swordsmanship movements to make academic information easier for Alice to understand.
• Alice becomes overwhelmed and furious after failing repeatedly at the simple problem “8 - 3.” She strikes the classroom table in frustration.
• Cui Ciyou ends the lesson early. After Alice escapes to the training grounds, he summons Ghislaine and Teacher Edna to hold their first tutor meeting and discuss how to better educate her.

Character Developments

• Alice: Demonstrates determination and genuine willingness to learn despite her severe difficulties. Her academic failures deeply frustrate and anger her, revealing that she is not lazy or indifferent but painfully aware of her limitations. Her extraordinary swordsmanship talent remains her defining strength.
• Cui Ciyou: Becomes more understanding and less judgmental toward Alice. Instead of viewing her failures as laziness or stupidity, he begins to recognize a possible cognitive imbalance and searches for alternative teaching methods. He also assumes a more active, thoughtful role in her education.
• Ghislaine: Remains Alice’s highly effective swordsmanship instructor, representing the field in which Alice excels.
• Teacher Edna: Encounters the same challenges as Cui Ciyou while teaching etiquette and history, making her a natural participant in the upcoming discussion about Alice’s education.

Significant Themes

• Different forms of intelligence: The chapter contrasts academic ability with physical, intuitive, and artistic talent, questioning the idea that poor school performance equals low intelligence.
• Playing to one’s strengths: Cui Ciyou realizes that Alice may learn best through visual, physical, and imaginative methods rather than conventional memorization.
• Frustration and perseverance: Alice repeatedly fails but continues trying, showing that effort and motivation do not always guarantee immediate academic success.
• Nature versus expectations: Alice’s talents and weaknesses appear innate, while noble education imposes expectations that do not suit her abilities.
• Compassionate teaching: The chapter emphasizes adapting education to the learner instead of forcing everyone into the same academic mold.

Character Interactions

• Cui Ciyou patiently teaches Alice using pebbles, letters, writing exercises, and dance practice, though their lessons often end in comic or frustrating failure.
• Alice’s awkwardness during dance lessons leads Cui Ciyou to suspect she may be deliberately stepping on his feet, despite her excellent physical coordination in combat.
• Ghislaine’s swordsmanship lessons highlight the sharp contrast between Alice’s academic struggles and her natural combat brilliance.
• After Alice’s emotional outburst, Cui Ciyou responds calmly by ending the lesson rather than reprimanding her.
• He then brings Ghislaine and Teacher Edna together, beginning a cooperative effort to create a more suitable educational approach for Alice.

Summary: “The Tutors’ First Meeting”

Key Plot Points and Events

• In House Boreas’s reception room, Alice’s tutors meet to discuss her recent progress.
• Teacher Edna notes that Alice’s attitude toward studying has improved, but she still struggles to understand and memorize etiquette and history.
• Cui Ciyou adds that Alice has similar difficulties with arithmetic, reading, and writing. Although she works hard, abstract rules and patterns are difficult for her to grasp.
• Ghislaine reports that Alice’s swordsmanship is progressing well, highlighting that Alice learns best through physical activity and personal interest.
• Cui proposes a new, interest-based teaching method:
  • Abstract knowledge should be made visual, concrete, and connected to swordsmanship and combat.
  • Alice should have a companion during every lesson so she does not feel isolated or discouraged.
  • Ghislaine will participate as Alice’s fellow student during afternoon academic lessons.
  • Cui will join Edna’s etiquette and history lessons as Alice’s classmate.
• Cui persuades Ghislaine to study by teasing her about her past lack of financial and survival skills, including nearly starving after eating dangerous food.
• He suggests practical arithmetic using sword swings and combat statistics, while reading and writing can be integrated into similarly engaging exercises.
• For etiquette and history, he recommends role-playing, social simulations, and “sand table” exercises in which Alice acts as a commander or decision-maker during historical events.
• Edna enthusiastically accepts the plan, and the tutors agree to begin the new schedule the following day:
  • Morning: Etiquette and history through situational teaching, with Cui participating.
  • Afternoon: Arithmetic, reading, and writing through practical exercises, with Ghislaine learning alongside Alice.
  • Evenings: Free time.
  • Every third day: A rest day remains in place.

Character Developments

• Alice: Though she struggles academically, she is shown to be diligent and increasingly cooperative. Her strengths and interests suggest that conventional instruction is poorly suited to her rather than that she lacks effort or ability.
• Cui Ciyou: Demonstrates creativity, insight, and a modern educational perspective. He takes a leadership role in reorganizing Alice’s education and shows a mischievous, teasing side when dealing with Ghislaine.
• Ghislaine: Reveals reluctance toward academic study and reacts angrily to Cui’s teasing, but ultimately agrees to participate. Her similarity to Alice in temperament and learning style becomes an important part of the proposed method.
• Teacher Edna: Initially concerned and frustrated by Alice’s difficulties, but becomes excited and hopeful when Cui presents his innovative ideas.

Significant Themes

• Education through personal interests: The chapter emphasizes adapting teaching to a student’s strengths rather than relying solely on rigid traditional methods.
• Practical and experiential learning: Role-playing, combat-based arithmetic, and simulated historical decisions are presented as more memorable than abstract instruction.
• Encouragement through companionship: Learning alongside a peer can reduce loneliness, frustration, and feelings of inadequacy.
• The value of unconventional thinking: Cui’s “modern” ideas challenge the limited educational practices of the medieval fantasy setting.
• Mutual growth: Ghislaine is not merely a mentor or observer; she must also learn, creating the possibility that both she and Alice will improve together.

Character Interactions

• Edna and Cui collaborate closely, comparing observations about Alice and building a shared teaching strategy.
• Cui and Ghislaine exchange playful but antagonistic banter. He uses her painful memories to convince her to study, while she privately considers him unpleasant.
• Cui positions himself and Ghislaine as Alice’s classmates rather than distant instructors, emphasizing equality and emotional support.
• Edna responds positively to Cui’s creativity, while Ghislaine gives reluctant but ultimately firm consent.
• The meeting ends with all three tutors aligned around a new, cooperative educational plan for Alice.

Chapter Summary: “Turning Words into Images, Turning Numbers into Swords”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Teacher Edna revamps Alice’s morning etiquette and history lessons into interactive role-playing and strategy games.
• In etiquette class, Edna plays a king, Cui Ciyou acts as a provocative foreign envoy, and Alice represents the Boreas Greyrat family. Alice practices diplomacy, royal etiquette, and defending her family’s honor while resisting the urge to draw her sword.
• History becomes a war game using sand tables and models. Alice commands armies, responds to unexpected events, and reviews her decisions with Cui Ciyou and Edna. Ghislaine occasionally plays an enemy general, usually by charging directly into battle.
• Afternoon arithmetic and literacy lessons are moved to the training grounds and tied to swordsmanship, timing, movement, and combat exercises.
• Alice learns addition through counting wooden swords, measures time with an hourglass, and learns subtraction by attacking Ghislaine while Ghislaine blocks some of the strikes.
• Reading and writing are practiced through training reflections, illustrated sword manuals, and playful letters of challenge.
• After a month, Alice can perform basic addition and subtraction within ten and write several common words. Ghislaine, previously nearly illiterate, also learns basic arithmetic and dozens of Human Common Tongue words.
• Cui Ciyou gains a genuine sense of accomplishment as a teacher.

Character Developments

• Alice: Becomes far more engaged and enthusiastic about academic subjects. Her competitiveness, love of swordsmanship, and interest in challenges help her overcome frustration with abstract learning. She also develops better diplomatic judgment and strategic thinking.
• Ghislaine: Serves as Alice’s study companion and training partner. Despite her initial bewilderment and limited literacy, she gradually learns basic arithmetic and vocabulary through Cui Ciyou’s patient instruction and Alice’s example.
• Cui Ciyou: Demonstrates creativity and patience as an educator, adapting lessons to his students’ interests and strengths. He learns that practical, experience-based teaching is particularly effective for Alice.
• Teacher Edna: Improves the structure of etiquette and history lessons by turning them into vivid performances and simulations.
• Alice and Ghislaine: Their shared lessons create a supportive but competitive learning environment.

Significant Themes

• Learning through engagement: Practical activities and familiar interests make difficult subjects accessible.
• Education adapted to the student: Alice learns best when academics are connected to swordsmanship, competition, and action.
• Turning abstractions into experience: Numbers become swords, attacks, blocks, and seconds; history becomes a strategic battlefield; writing becomes part of training.
• Growth through challenge: Competition reduces frustration and motivates both students to improve.
• The value of patient teaching: Persistent guidance can help even reluctant or inexperienced learners make meaningful progress.

Character Interactions

• Alice confronts Cui Ciyou’s “envoy” during etiquette practice, learning to answer insults with controlled, proper speech instead of violence.
• Alice and Ghislaine compete in sword-based arithmetic exercises, with Ghislaine recording Alice’s time and later defending against her attacks.
• Edna and Cui Ciyou jointly guide Alice through role-playing, battle analysis, and academic exercises.
• Alice’s enthusiasm indirectly encourages Ghislaine to study, while Ghislaine’s presence gives Alice companionship and reduces her frustration.