Chapter Summaries

Philip explained to Cui Ciyou how the Asura nobility’s succession system stripped defeated heirs of their sons and forced them into exile, revealing that James had won the Boreas succession with Darius Silva Ganes’s backing. Philip ended by admitting he could not bear to live on in humiliation.

• Philip told Cui Ciyou that after James won the succession, Philip had to surrender his sons to be raised as James’s adopted heirs.
• Cui Ciyou realized that noble families’ collateral lines were eliminated by removing their male heirs and marrying off their daughters.
• Philip said James had betrayed the family’s interests by allying with Darius Silva Ganes, whose political influence and wealth helped him win.
• Philip explained that Sauros could not overturn the succession custom and had to accept James as the next head of House Boreas.
• Philip recalled that he and James had once been close, then said he did not want to keep living in humiliation.

Philip asked Cui Ciyou and Ghislaine to become his retainers and help him reclaim his position in House Boreas, offering Alice’s hand in marriage and the chance to inherit the house. Cui Ciyou rejected Philip’s insinuations about his motives and had no interest in the arrangement.

• Philip asked Cui Ciyou and Ghislaine to become his personal retainers and help him reclaim what he had lost.
• Philip offered Alice’s hand in marriage as a reward for Cui Ciyou’s allegiance.
• Cui Ciyou insisted that he was neither a lolicon nor a pervert.
• Philip praised Hilda’s looks and described Alice’s potential beauty while urging Cui Ciyou to consider marrying her.
• Philip promised that Cui Ciyou could become heir to House Boreas if Philip succeeded in becoming its head.
• Cui Ciyou dismissed Philip’s elaborate proposal and had no interest in raising Alice to become his wife.

Cui Ciyou rejected Philip’s proposal to marry Alice and become head of the Boreas Greyrat Family, but promised to help Philip keep any future children and reclaim his sons from the royal capital. Philip broke down in remorse after learning Alice wanted to protect him, while Ghislaine later bluntly remarked that Cui Ciyou had smelled like he was in heat.

• Cui Ciyou refused Philip’s marriage proposal, insisting that Alice should have a life of her own and that he had no intention of marrying.
• Cui Ciyou guessed Philip feared having another son who would be taken away under the family rules, like his two older boys sent to the royal capital to James.
• Cui Ciyou promised to help Philip keep any future children and, if possible, bring his two sons back from the royal capital, thinking the coming Displacement Incident might give him an opportunity.
• Philip asked why Cui Ciyou was helping him, and Cui Ciyou answered that Alice wanted to protect him too.
• After Cui Ciyou and Ghislaine left, Philip wept and called himself an unfit, cowardly father.
• In the corridor, Ghislaine told Cui Ciyou that he had smelled like he was in heat, and he replied that no one was perfect if judged by their thoughts.

Cui Ciyou noticed Philip avoiding him and bearing suspicious scratches while Hilda grew cold toward Ghislaine and warmer toward Cui Ciyou. He later learned Philip had proposed marriage to Ghislaine, and Alphonse revealed himself as the one who had told Hilda, leaving Philip oblivious to the culprit.

• Cui Ciyou noticed Philip fleeing whenever they met, while Hilda snubbed Ghislaine and invited Cui Ciyou to her greenhouse.
• Hilda grew fond of Cui Ciyou after learning he had promised to protect her next child and had rejected Philip’s proposal to use Alice as a bargaining chip.
• Cui Ciyou later learned that Philip had privately offered to marry Ghislaine and make her his first or second wife, but Ghislaine had bluntly refused.
• Two beastfolk maids speculated that Hilda had learned of Philip’s proposal, while Philip wondered who had revealed it.
• Alphonse listened to the maids and privately admitted that he had told Hilda about Philip’s proposal.

Alice persuaded Cui Ciyou to give up his day off and take her to Roa City's Adventurers' Guild, where she listened to a bard sing the legend of the Seven Heroes. She returned to the Boreas Estate delighted, still repeating the heroes' names.

• Alice begged Cui Ciyou to take her to hear a bard at the Adventurers' Guild, and he finally agreed after she explained how bored she was.
• Cui Ciyou and Alice traveled to Roa City and entered the lively Adventurers' Guild.
• Alice excitedly watched the adventurers and listened as a bard sang about the Seven Heroes' campaign against the Demon God Laplace.
• Alice and Cui Ciyou returned to the Boreas Estate as the sun set, with Alice enthusiastically repeating the heroes' names.

After Alice’s kidnapping case ended without consequences for Darius, Cui Ciyou continued his lessons and daily routine at the Boreas Estate. He asked Roxy to demonstrate her magic and discuss magical theory, and they set off for the outskirts of Roa City on his white horse.

• Darius escaped punishment for Alice’s kidnapping after the key witnesses died and the case was closed.
• Cui Ciyou continued teaching Alice, studying Demon God Tongue with Roxy, and sparring with Ghislaine.
• Cui Ciyou decided to slow his language-learning progress so Roxy would keep teaching him.
• Cui Ciyou asked Roxy to demonstrate spells up to Saint rank and discuss the nature of magic.
• Roxy agreed to demonstrate her spells outside the city, then hurried Cui Ciyou to the stables, where they took out his white horse.

Cui Ciyou rode with Roxy toward Roa City and thanked her for demonstrating magic beyond their contract. Roxy refused extra payment because they were friends, then blushed as they continued their journey.

• Cui Ciyou and Roxy rode together on one horse toward the outskirts of Roa City.
• Roxy suspected Cui Ciyou was laughing at her, and he changed the subject by thanking her for teaching him magic.
• Cui Ciyou offered to pay Roxy extra for demonstrating spells and discussing magic theory.
• Roxy declined the payment, saying they were friends and mentioning the desserts Cui Ciyou had made for her.
• Roxy glanced toward Cui Ciyou and blushed, leaving him to wonder what had embarrassed her.

Roxy explained the fundamentals of magic to Cui Ciyou before demonstrating beginner-level water attack magic. She cast Water Ball and shattered a sapling, leaving Cui Ciyou to witness the spell’s power firsthand.

• Cui Ciyou and Roxy rode through the woods to a meadow, where they dismounted and prepared for a magic lesson.
• Roxy explained the five categories of magic, the sources of mana, and the two main methods of spellcasting.
• Roxy said she would demonstrate beginner- and intermediate-level attack magic and healing magic, and Cui Ciyou praised her skills.
• Roxy recited an incantation and formed a basketball-sized Water Ball from moisture in the air.
• Roxy sent the Water Ball into a sapling, snapping it in half with the force of the impact.

Cui Ciyou asked Roxy to trust him while he tested whether his mental power could guide another person's mana. He successfully used Roxy's mana to cast Water Ball, leaving Roxy stunned by the impossible feat.

• Roxy demonstrated Beginner Healing and beginner fire, earth, and wind spells while Cui Ciyou observed their mana with his Perception ability.
• Cui Ciyou asked Roxy to relax and let him guide the mana inside her body, and Roxy agreed to trust him.
• Cui Ciyou compressed his Magic Nullification field into his right hand and reached through their joined palms to connect to Roxy's mana.
• Cui Ciyou chanted Water Ball and guided Roxy's mana to create a basketball-sized ball of water.
• Cui Ciyou fired the water ball into the sky, where it burst into sparkling droplets, and Roxy stared in disbelief.

Cui Ciyou tested his theory of magic and cast a Water Ball without chanting, which Roxy recognized as Silent Casting. Roxy was overwhelmed by his apparent genius and collapsed in despair, while Cui Ciyou tried to comfort her.

• Cui Ciyou used his mental power to direct Roxy's magic power and formed a Water Ball without chanting.
• Cui Ciyou launched the water ball and reasoned that mental power shaped magic power while chanting and Magic Circles served as aids.
• Roxy was astonished that Cui Ciyou had mastered Silent Casting on his second attempt despite having no magic power of his own.
• Roxy connected Cui Ciyou's magical success to his rapid progress in Demon God Tongue and concluded that he was a genius or monster.
• Roxy sank to the ground and muttered about her loss of dignity as a teacher, and Cui Ciyou crouched beside her to ask if she was all right.

Cui Ciyou reflected on Roxy’s struggles and used his scientific knowledge to theorize how magic manipulated matter and air. He and Roxy rode out from Roa to practice more spells, leaving him eager to test his ideas with Saint-level magic.

• Cui Ciyou remembered how Roxy had recovered from her distress after drawing circles and felt sorry that magic had become such a source of insecurity for her.
• Cui Ciyou and Roxy rode together on a white horse from Roa’s outskirts to practice spells as they had agreed.
• Cui Ciyou reasoned that water magic formed water molecules, fire magic triggered oxidation, earth magic might summon matter across space, and wind magic directly altered air pressure.
• Cui Ciyou concluded that magic could follow physical laws and decided he needed to observe Saint-level magic to test his theory.

Cui Ciyou asked Roxy how rare mages were and learned that only about one person in four hundred became a certified mage, with advanced mages rarer still. He concluded that mental power was likely a major barrier to magic and resolved to study more advanced spells, while the note explained the world’s rules for mana, mental strength, and swordsmen.

• Cui Ciyou asked Roxy how common mages were and how difficult it was to become one.
• Roxy explained that about one in twenty people had enough innate mana, but only one in four hundred became a certified mage.
• Roxy estimated that only one in a hundred certified mages reached the advanced level, roughly one person in forty thousand overall.
• Cui Ciyou reasoned that mental power, as well as mana, determined whether someone could control magic, and recognized himself as an unusual case.
• Cui Ciyou decided he needed to examine more advanced magical phenomena to test whether magic could be understood through scientific logic.
• The note explained how childhood mana training and mental strength shaped magical talent, and contrasted the high barrier to becoming a mage with the lower barrier to becoming a swordsman.

Roxy demonstrated the Saint-level spell Lightning Cumulonimbus, but its lightning destroyed the tree and Earth Wall sheltering Cui Ciyou and the horse. After Roxy apologized, Cui Ciyou concluded that magic spells worked like programs that used magic power to construct and trigger natural phenomena, and that understanding their principles might make chantless casting possible.

• Cui Ciyou asked Roxy to cast an Earth Wall around him and the horse before she demonstrated her Saint-level magic.
• Roxy chanted Lightning Cumulonimbus and summoned a dark thunderstorm with torrential rain, strong winds, and repeated lightning strikes.
• A huge lightning bolt struck the tree and shattered the Earth Wall, while Roxy stopped the spell and apologized to Cui Ciyou.
• Cui Ciyou reasoned that the spell had rapidly amplified the physical processes behind thunderstorms, including convection, cloud formation, charge separation, and lightning.
• Cui Ciyou inferred that chants helped construct and run a magic model, and that a caster who understood a spell's principles might cast it without chanting.

Cui Ciyou explained to Roxy his theory that magic used mental and magical power to model natural principles, then guided her through silently creating a drop of water. Roxy succeeded and shared an intimate moment with him before they returned to the Boreas Estate, leaving Cui Ciyou confused by her attention and his own feelings.

• Cui Ciyou described magic as a way to understand and manipulate natural principles, and suggested that mastering magic models could enable silent casting.
• Cui Ciyou guided Roxy in sensing water particles and magic power, and encouraged her to form a tiny droplet without an incantation.
• Roxy focused on the model and successfully condensed a small drop of water above her palm.
• Cui Ciyou praised Roxy and patted her mage hat; Roxy caught his hand and placed it back on her head before withdrawing in embarrassment.
• Cui Ciyou and Roxy rode back to the Boreas Estate after the rain stopped, then parted for their rooms.
• Roxy gave Cui Ciyou a bashful smile, and he lay awake wondering about his feelings.

Cui Ciyou helped Roxy master instant, incantation-free Advanced Magic, then judged conventional spells too slow and costly for combat. He began developing a concentrated, high-pressure Water Blade inspired by industrial waterjet cutters.

• Cui Ciyou and Roxy spent months researching magic models and silent casting together.
• With Cui Ciyou guiding her mental power, Roxy learned to cast her known Advanced Magic spells instantly without incantations.
• Cui Ciyou assessed the slow formation time and heavy magic consumption of powerful area spells such as Lightning Cumulonimbus.
• Cui Ciyou conceived a low-cost Water Blade that would compress and accelerate water to cut through tough defenses.
• Cui Ciyou committed himself to developing the new combat spell.

Cui Ciyou spent months developing waterjet magic, overcoming repeated failures and a mishap that dissolved one of Philip’s mana crystals. He finally created Blue Stream Blade, a high-pressure water spell that could pierce thick iron armor, and analyzed its principles and potential uses.

• Cui Ciyou devoted himself to developing waterjet magic while continuing his work for the Boreas family and helping Roxy practice magic models.
• Cui Ciyou accidentally dissolved a fist-sized mana crystal from Philip by touching it while his Anti-Magic Field was active, after which Philip limited how many crystals he lent him.
• Cui Ciyou repeatedly failed to stabilize and compress the water, but used his Anti-Magic Field to calm mana when his experiments went out of control.
• Cui Ciyou successfully compressed water drawn from a mana crystal and fired a blue stream that pierced several centimeters of iron armor.
• Cui Ciyou named the spell Blue Stream Blade and examined its cutting power, speed, mana demands, growth potential, and tactical flexibility.

Cui Ciyou demonstrated his new Blue Stream Blade to Roxy, who judged its potential to reach Emperor-level or even God-level. Roxy asked him to stop calling her “teacher” because she feared being outshone by him and becoming jealous, and Cui Ciyou realized her fears echoed the insults she had suffered before.

• Cui Ciyou used the Blue Stream Blade to cut through a row of trees and showed the spell to Roxy.
• Roxy assessed the spell as at least Water King-level and said its potential might reach Emperor-level or God-level.
• Cui Ciyou offered to teach Roxy the spell, but she asked him not to call her “teacher” anymore because she felt inferior to him.
• Roxy admitted she feared becoming jealous of Cui Ciyou and saying cruel things to him, including insults she had once heard herself.
• Cui Ciyou agreed to stop using the title and reassured Roxy that she would always be special to him.

Cui Ciyou reassured Roxy that he cherished her and would defend her from anyone who insulted her. After explaining the name of his new spell, Blue Stream Blade, he revealed that “stream” shared a pronunciation with the last syllable of Roxy’s name, leaving her bashfully hiding beneath her mage hat.

• Cui Ciyou told Roxy that he valued her as his teacher and promised to protect her from anyone who called her a lowly demon or country bumpkin.
• Roxy changed the subject by asking what Cui Ciyou had named his new spell, and he called it Blue Stream Blade.
• Cui Ciyou explained that the Chinese word for “stream” shared a pronunciation with the final syllable of Roxy’s name.
• Roxy realized the suggestive connection between the spell’s name and her own name, blushed furiously, and hid her face beneath her mage hat.
• Cui Ciyou quietly watched Roxy’s trembling hat and thought it was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen.

Cui Ciyou theorized that Healing Magic accelerated a body's recovery by acting on its cells, then cut his own arm to test the idea. Roxy was horrified by his reckless experiment and furiously confronted him.

• Cui Ciyou asked Roxy to demonstrate Beginner Healing on a cut-down tree and discussed his theory that Healing Magic stimulated natural repair.
• Cui Ciyou explained his idea of cells and proposed that Healing Magic might speed their division to heal injuries.
• Cui Ciyou decided to test the theory by making a wound and observing how Healing Magic affected it.
• Cui Ciyou cut his left forearm with his Fine Steel Longsword and asked Roxy to cast Healing on him.
• Roxy saw Cui Ciyou's bleeding wound, became furious, and shouted his full name as she demanded to know what he was doing.

Roxy confronted Cui Ciyou for recklessly injuring himself and revealed how deeply his pain affected her. Her concern made him realize he loved her, and he impulsively kissed a tear from her eye, leaving himself stunned while the Human God denied influencing him.

• Roxy grabbed Cui Ciyou by the collar and angrily asked why he kept hurting himself without caring about the pain he caused her.
• Roxy broke down crying and told Cui Ciyou that she worried and felt hurt whenever he injured himself.
• Cui Ciyou realized his distant admiration for Roxy had become genuine love as he saw her concern for him.
• Cui Ciyou impulsively kissed a tear from the corner of Roxy's eye, then froze and wondered why he had done it.
• The Human God sneezed in the Void Space and denied interfering with Cui Ciyou's thoughts.