Chapter Summaries

Cui Ciyou apologized to Sylphy for his drunken behavior, and she forgave him while clarifying what had truly upset her. Norn promised to keep an eye on him, and the morning ended with the tension eased.

• Sylphy returned from the market and greeted everyone, but ignored Cui Ciyou.
• Cui Ciyou apologized to Sylphy for insulting Shera, confusing her, and making her feel disrespected by acting flirtatiously toward Sara.
• Sylphy explained that she was hurt because Cui Ciyou had treated Sara like her after asking whether she was jealous, and clarified that his other remarks had not been about her.
• Sylphy offered Cui Ciyou warm bread and said she forgave him.
• Norn promised Sylphy she would bite Cui Ciyou if he acted like a womanizer again.

Cui Ciyou and Sylphy returned to Roa after helping organize the Relief Corps in Saint Grad, where Alice greeted them eagerly at the Greyrat estate. Alice told Cui Ciyou her belated coming-of-age ceremony would be held in a few days and made him promise to stay.

• At breakfast, Cui Ciyou explained that he and Sylphy would return to Roa to report to Philip and visit Alice before going to Ranoa University of Magic.
• Three days later, Cui Ciyou and Sylphy said goodbye to the Relief Corps and rode south together, growing close during their journey.
• After more than half a month, they reached rebuilt Roa and went to the Greyrat Family's new residence.
• Alice rushed out to greet Cui Ciyou, hugged him, and punched him when she suspected he was thinking something unpleasant.
• Alice confronted Sylphy, then told Cui Ciyou that her belated coming-of-age ceremony was only days away and made him promise not to leave again.

In the days after returning from Saint Grad, Cui Ciyou and his companions settled into peaceful lives in the rebuilt Fitoia Territory. At Alice’s fifteenth birthday banquet, Cui Ciyou arrived with Sylphy, drawing the attention of the gathered nobles as a celebrated hero and Asla duke.

• Cui Ciyou handled Relief Corps paperwork and practiced swordsmanship with Sauros while Sylphy settled in with the Greyrat Family.
• Alice frequently pulled Cui Ciyou into outings and sparring, while he taught Bannie the Human Common Tongue and the rest of the Saviors squad pursued their usual activities.
• Cui Ciyou reassured Sylphy that she did not need to dye her green hair or feel nervous about the nobles at Alice’s birthday banquet.
• Cui Ciyou and Sylphy entered the banquet hall, where the gathered nobles turned their attention to the celebrated hero and honorary duke.

At Alice Greyrat’s birthday banquet, Cui Ciyou publicly defended the Superd Race and declared his friend Rujierd Superd a hero. Sauros Greyrat and Philip backed him, opening the way for Superd people to live and work in Fitoia Territory.

• Cui Ciyou attended the banquet with Sylphy, while Sauros and Philip welcomed him and guests gathered around.
• Alice Greyrat arrived, claimed Cui Ciyou as her dance partner, and danced with him before the guests.
• Cui Ciyou left Alice’s side to dance with Sylphy, noticing her loneliness and helping her feel at ease.
• Cui Ciyou introduced Rujierd Superd as an honorable hero and publicly rejected the stigma against the Superd Race.
• Sauros supported Cui Ciyou and vowed House Boreas would oppose anyone who spoke ill of the Superd Race.
• Philip announced that Superd people could trade, work, and live in Fitoia Territory.

At the banquet, Philip told Cui Ciyou that the Greville Family was seeking control of Fittoa’s reconstruction and explained the king’s plan to pit them against House Boreas. Cui Ciyou laid out a strategy to counter them, and after the banquet Sauros angrily vowed to confront the Grevilles before Cui Ciyou calmed him.

• Philip told Cui Ciyou that the Greville Family had petitioned the king to oversee Fittoa’s reconstruction and described their rise as allies of the Second Prince.
• Cui Ciyou concluded that the king wanted House Boreas and the Grevilles to fight over Fittoa, and proposed using military deterrence, political alliances, and rebuilding Roa City to counter them.
• Cui Ciyou returned to the banquet, reassured Alice, and joined Sylphy as they watched the guests celebrate.
• After the banquet, Sauros raged about the Greville Family and threatened to go to the Royal Capital to kill one of its members, but Cui Ciyou talked him down.

Cui Ciyou traveled toward the Ranoa University of Magic with Sylphy, Alice, Elinalise, and Benedict, keeping watch over Benedict because the Human God had warned she might kill Roxy. When bandits ambushed them on the road, Sylphy prepared to attack.

• Alice, Sylphy, and Elinalise insisted on accompanying Cui Ciyou, so the five of them set out together on four Magic Horned Dragon Horses.
• Cui Ciyou kept his mental power spread across the area while the group traveled, and he recalled that Rujierd was helping rebuild Fittoa while Talhand and Keith had joined House Boreas.
• Alice complained about Cui Ciyou's sour expression and said she hoped for powerful bandits to attack them.
• Dozens of armed bandits blocked the road and demanded the group's horses, money, and women.
• Cui Ciyou told the bandits that his fiancée was a Sword Saint, and Sylphy gathered magic power and cast Water Cannon.

After Sylphy erased the bandits with a devastating Water Cannon, she confronted Cui Ciyou about his Sword Saint fiancée. She admitted that his words bothered her and reminded him that he had promised to look out for her.

• Sylphy unleashed a powerful Water Cannon that washed away the bandits and carved a vast trench through the forest road.
• Alice complained that Sylphy had defeated everyone before she could fight, while Elinalise admired Sylphy's growing magical strength.
• Cui Ciyou asked Sylphy whether the spell had drained her magic reserves, and Sylphy assured him she was fine.
• Sylphy asked Cui Ciyou to compare her with his Sword Saint fiancée, and he took her hand and asked whether the matter truly bothered her.
• Sylphy admitted that she cared and reminded Cui Ciyou that he had said he would look out for her.

Cui Ciyou’s group continued north toward Ranoa, where Elinalise explained the Three Great Magical Nations and the region’s dangers. Cui Ciyou described how the harsh northern climate had driven the Magic Principality’s magical innovations, and the group continued toward Ranoa University of Magic.

• Cui Ciyou set aside his romantic complications and redirected the group’s attention to their journey north.
• Alice complained about the cold, and Elinalise explained that they were approaching the Three Great Magical Nations: Ranoa, Neris, and Basherant.
• Elinalise warned that the northern Central Continent’s harsh climate and dangerous monsters drew many adventurers.
• Cui Ciyou explained that the Magic Principality had developed magic and practical inventions to survive the cold, including heating circles and greenhouse barriers.
• Cui Ciyou compared how different lands shaped the Dragon King Kingdom, the Magic Principality, and the Asla Kingdom.

Cui Ciyou and his companions found five adventurers surrounded by Rasta Bears in a snowy mountain hollow and intervened. They wiped out the bears, leaving the survivors stunned by their strength.

• Cui Ciyou used Perception to discover five wounded adventurers surrounded by more than a hundred Rasta Bears, including a white bear king.
• Cui Ciyou and his companions rode into the hollow as Susanna prepared to cover the other adventurers' retreat.
• Alice charged into the bear tide and cut down several Rasta Bears with the Sword of Light.
• Sylphy used Quicksand Hell to swallow more than twenty bears while Elinalise fought off those that got through.
• Cui Ciyou split the white bear king in two with one sword swing, and the remaining bears fled before he and his companions finished them off.
• The five surviving adventurers stared in shock at Cui Ciyou and his companions among the bear corpses.

Cui Ciyou and his companions saved Counter Arrow from a horde of Rasta Bears, then arranged for the adventurers to keep the mission rewards and donate the remaining proceeds. Counter Arrow accepted his generosity and began processing the carcasses while Cui Ciyou's party rested nearby.

• Timothy introduced Counter Arrow and thanked Cui Ciyou and his companions for saving the party from the bears.
• Susanna offered to process the bear carcasses, and Timothy explained that this was their way of repaying their rescuers.
• Cui Ciyou asked about Counter Arrow's mission to slay twenty adult Rasta Bears and let them keep the mission bears and materials from another twenty.
• Cui Ciyou told Counter Arrow to donate the remaining proceeds to an orphanage or temple in the Saviors' name, and the adventurers agreed.
• Counter Arrow began processing the carcasses while Cui Ciyou's companions rested, and Alice asked why he had been so generous.

Cui Ciyou’s party reached Rosenberg, a prosperous city in the Basherant Principality, and learned how the Northern Territory’s harsh climate shaped its lodging rules. At the Round Shield Inn, Cui Ciyou chose heated rooms with hot baths, surprising Susanna, Timothy, and the inn’s patrons.

• Susanna guided Cui Ciyou’s party through the snow toward Rosenberg and explained its importance as a center of trade in magical implements.
• The party entered Rosenberg, paid the entrance tax, and followed Susanna to the Round Shield Inn.
• Susanna explained that northern inns were ranked and that cheaper inns lacked heating, making them dangerous in the cold.
• The party entered the warm, crowded inn, where adventurers eyed them before noticing Cui Ciyou’s unreadable expression and black hair.
• Cui Ciyou ordered six rooms with individual heating circles and hot baths, leaving Susanna, Timothy, the innkeeper, and nearby adventurers surprised.

At the Round Shield Inn, Cui Ciyou defended Susanna and his companions after Zoldat insulted them. He crushed Zoldat and his party with terrifying Pressure, leaving Zoldat unable to speak and regretting that he had provoked him.

• Cui Ciyou paid for five of the inn’s finest rooms with Asura coins despite Susanna’s objections.
• Zoldat mocked Cui Ciyou’s group, then insulted Alice and Susanna while his companions watched.
• Alice tried to draw her sword, but Cui Ciyou stopped her as Susanna told Zoldat to quit spouting nonsense.
• Cui Ciyou used Pressure on Zoldat and his party, silencing the inn and leaving them terrified.
• Zoldat realized he had picked the wrong fight and hoped the Magic Principality’s rules against adventurers killing each other would protect him.

Cui Ciyou forced Zoldat to apologize to Susanna without violating the city's rules, then settled his group into the Round Shield Inn. That evening, Timothy treated the adventurers to drinks, and Susanna explained why she considered him a good leader.

• Cui Ciyou used his Pressure to make Zoldat apologize to Susanna, and Zoldat fled the inn with his companions.
• The innkeeper escorted Cui Ciyou's group to their warm, private rooms on the third floor.
• Alice objected to letting Zoldat go, but Elinalise and Sylphy agreed that Cui Ciyou had handled the confrontation wisely.
• Cui Ciyou invited Susanna and Timothy's party to share dinner with his group downstairs.
• Timothy announced that drinks were on him, winning cheers from the hall while his teammates reacted with exasperation.
• Susanna told Cui Ciyou that Timothy's generosity made him a good leader, and Cui Ciyou raised a toast to him.

While dining in Ranoa, Cui Ciyou asked Captain Timothy about Roxy Migurdia and learned that Rudeus Greyrat had become a celebrated student at the Ranoa University of Magic. Cui Ciyou pieced together how Rudeus earned the nickname “Mud Swamp” and concluded that he had grown well.

• Cui Ciyou asked Captain Timothy for information about Roxy Migurdia, and Timothy said she was a popular new visiting instructor skilled in water and teleportation magic.
• Timothy told the group that a special admission student had defeated Prince Zanoba in the entrance examination and won him over as a master.
• Timothy explained that the student had used the compound spell Mud Swamp to trap a group of troublesome upper-year noble students without injuring them.
• Timothy revealed that the student was Rudeus Greyrat, a Water Saint-level magician descended from the Greyrat family.
• Cui Ciyou inferred how Rudeus had defeated Zanoba and handled the upper-year students, then silently praised his growth.

Cui Ciyou invited Timothy and Susanna of Counter Arrow to join House Boreas when they were ready to leave adventuring, offering them a stable future in the rebuilding Fitoia Territory. After departing, Cui Ciyou and his companions continued toward Ranoa Magic University.

• Cui Ciyou reflected on the kind character of Timothy and Susanna and decided he wanted them as trusted supporters.
• Cui Ciyou revealed to Timothy and Susanna that he was a duke of the Asla Kingdom and the next head of House Boreas.
• Cui Ciyou invited Counter Arrow to become honored retainers in the Fitoia Territory whenever they chose to settle down.
• Cui Ciyou left Timothy and Susanna to consider his offer and promised that Roa would welcome them when they were ready.
• Cui Ciyou and his companions set out again, heading toward Ranoa Magic University.

Cui Ciyou and his companions entered the Crosscut Mountain Range, where they discovered a group of adventurers fighting Snow Dragon Beasts. Cui Ciyou realized the adventurers had attacked the beasts’ nest, leaving the badly outmatched party locked in a desperate battle.

• The party traveled into the snow-covered Crosscut Mountain Range, where Elinalise warned them about its powerful monsters and ancient dangers.
• A crash and roars from a valley alerted Cui Ciyou to a battle, and he used his mental perception to scout it.
• Cui Ciyou saw more than a dozen Snow Dragon Beasts surrounding roughly twenty well-equipped adventurers whose formation had broken.
• Elinalise explained that Snow Dragon Beasts were powerful, group-dwelling wyverns that rarely attacked humans unless their nests were threatened.
• Cui Ciyou spotted a magic-filled cavern behind the beasts and concluded that the adventurers had attacked their nest and were at a severe disadvantage.

Cui Ciyou and his companions intervened when enraged Snow Dragon Beasts overwhelmed an adventurer party, rescuing the fighters and calming the beasts with his Mental Pressure. After the valley became safe, Cui Ciyou recognized one of the unconscious knights.

• Sylphy warned that the enraged Snow Dragon Beasts could threaten nearby settlements, so Cui Ciyou ordered his companions to intervene.
• Alice and Elinalise knocked the adventurers unconscious while Sylphy covered the battlefield in Silent Ice Mist.
• Cui Ciyou nullified the Snow Dragon Beast leader's breath and used Mental Pressure to make it submit and lead its kin back to their cave.
• The mist cleared, and Cui Ciyou recognized one of the unconscious knights.

Cui Ciyou and his companions rescued Zoldat and another captain after defeating the adventurers’ attackers, then learned the group had nearly died collecting a Snow Dragon Ice Saliva Crystal. Zoldat revealed they had already secured the crystal before the Snow Dragon Beasts chased them, leaving the rare treasure in their hands.

• Alice recognized the unconscious Zoldat and slapped him, then Cui Ciyou joined in until their blows woke him.
• Zoldat recognized Cui Ciyou, saw his scattered companions, and solemnly thanked him for the rescue.
• Cui Ciyou questioned Zoldat and the rescued Saint-level captain and learned four adventurer parties had accepted an S-Rank commission for a Snow Dragon Ice Saliva Crystal.
• Zoldat explained that the Snow Dragon Beasts had attacked the parties after discovering them during their retreat, apparently mistaking them for thieves who had taken a young dragon.
• Zoldat produced the fist-sized crystal and revealed that his party had collected it before the beasts caught them.

After Cui Ciyou helped Zoldat’s wounded party reach town and receive treatment, Zoldat tried to repay him by inviting him to a pleasure house. Alice and Sylphy overheard and confronted Zoldat, leaving Cui Ciyou lamenting that he would never get to hear songs at such a place.

• Cui Ciyou escorted Zoldat’s party to the next town, where Zoldat arranged treatment for the wounded.
• Zoldat visited Cui Ciyou and invited him out for drinks and beautiful women to thank him.
• Cui Ciyou declined, but Zoldat assumed he was worried about his companions and kept urging him to sneak away.
• Alice and Sylphy appeared and asked Zoldat to explain the place he had described.
• Alice and Sylphy dragged Zoldat outside, and Cui Ciyou heard sounds of blows before sighing that he would never visit a pleasure house.

After months of travel, Cui Ciyou and his companions reached Sharia, the magical city of the Ranoa Kingdom, and discovered its renowned institutions and cosmopolitan streets. The group settled at an inn as Sylphy took in the city’s thriving magical world.

• Zoldat kept trying to persuade Cui Ciyou to visit a brothel, but Cui Ciyou repeatedly sent him away before Alice and Sylphy could react.
• After passing through Pippin, the group entered the Ranoa Kingdom, and Elinalise explained Sharia’s magical institutions and reputation for open research.
• The group arrived at Sharia and marveled at its enchanted walls, towering golem guards, and Ranoa University of Magic.
• Inside the city, the group saw people and students from many races, adventurers, and magic-item shops filling the streets.
• The group found a clean-looking inn and settled in.