Chapter Summaries

Annan exposed Marquis Barr’s connection to Free City, survived an assassination attempt, and secured the King’s trust and a viscount title. He later visited Barr in the Dungeon and tried to recruit him, leaving Barr considering Annan’s offer.

• Annan revealed a coded message in Rikaner Glory and accused Marquis Barr of colluding with Free City.
• An assassin posing as an old woman attacked Annan, but his Magic Shield stopped the dagger and Maria helped capture the attacker.
• Annan arrested Marquis Barr, ordered the Newspaper Office sealed, and had its mage consultants’ Magic Rings seized.
• Clo placed the Purification Court under Annan’s command, approved his plan to clear the New Royal Capital of the Blade of Freedom, and rewarded him with a noble title and other gifts.
• Annan became Viscount Young Miss Olmedo and later visited Barr in the Dungeon, where he revealed that he was Annan Reeves and offered Barr a place working for him.

Annan recruited Barr into Free City’s service and planned to give him his own newspaper, then encountered the imprisoned Girl in the Iron Maiden in a strange nighttime vision. The Girl asked Annan to free her, but he demanded to know why the Church had imprisoned her.

• Annan convinced Barr that his talents could serve Free City, and Barr agreed to join on the condition that he would not work with Evelyn.
• Annan promised Barr his own Newspaper Office and planned to explain his return to Free City by having someone else take his place.
• Annan heard breathing in the Dungeon and ordered the Court Director to deal with the Iron Maiden, then decided to move Headquarters and avoid the Purification Court’s Dungeon.
• That night, Annan heard the Girl in the Iron Maiden calling for help and found himself in the Church Dungeon, where she asked him to open the Iron Maiden.
• Annan asked why the Church had imprisoned the Girl, and he resisted the cold force that seized his soul.

Annan rejected the Iron Maiden’s offer of power and destruction, then learned that Schofield had betrayed the Blade of Freedom and turned its members over to the City Guard. After ordering Maria to investigate the captives and declaring Schofield expendable, Annan heard a prisoner volunteer to assassinate him.

• The Iron Maiden offered Annan power, wealth, and help destroying the New Royal Capital, but he refused to trust her without knowing who she was.
• Martin brought a captured man from the Blade of Freedom to the Purification Court, and the man pleaded with Annan for help rescuing the group.
• The man explained that Schofield had captured the Blade of Freedom members on Holt Street and handed them to the City Guard.
• Maria learned that Schofield had been meeting with a noble and attending wealthy people’s dinners, leading Annan to conclude he had sold out the Blade of Freedom.
• Annan ordered Maria to investigate who had taken Deck and the others, decided Schofield had used up his chance, and heard a former Shadow Guard volunteer to assassinate him.

Annan spared Shadow and sent him to deliver a secret warning to Schofield, while the middle-aged Blade of Freedom member learned Annan’s identity. Shadow reached the Sudden Wealth Gang, but his mission turned into a fight when Schofield summoned a Water Elemental.

• Shadow claimed he had left the Shadow Guard after failing its selection, and Annan decided to spare him and give him a mission.
• Annan ordered Shadow to reach Schofield unnoticed and deliver Young Miss Olmedo’s regards, then made him sign a Devil Contract.
• Annan revealed his identity to the middle-aged man, who was overwhelmed, and then returned with Maria to the dungeon’s Iron Maiden.
• Shadow disguised himself as an old man, killed two gang members, and put on their clothes outside the Sudden Wealth Gang headquarters.
• Schofield spotted Shadow and summoned a Water Elemental, which fought him until a Teleportation Array whisked it away.
• Shadow grabbed the stunned Schofield and ordered him to stay quiet.

Annan questioned Iron Maiden in the Dream Realm and learned she was a priest of the Maiden of Misfortune, then tracked down Schofield and the people captured by the Clayton Family. The chapter left Schofield with a chance to redeem himself by rescuing Living Dead Street’s residents within a month, while Annan reclaimed his people from the Claytons.

• Annan returned to Iron Maiden’s cell in the Dream Realm, learned she was a priest of the Maiden of Misfortune and confirmed her group were sworn enemies of the Guardian Church.
• Annan met Shadow at the Sudden Wealth Gang’s headquarters, where Shadow claimed he had captured Schofield after driving away a Water Elemental.
• Annan learned that Schofield had secretly rescued and cared for sick people from Living Dead Street, so he gave Schofield a month to rescue every resident there.
• Annan asked Schofield where the Blade of Freedom members he had betrayed were being held.
• Annan went to the Clayton Family Manor, told Hilly Clayton that the captured Blade of Freedom members were his people, and took Deck and the others away.

Annan exposed Berst as the Blade of Freedom’s traitor and agreed to send Deck and the others to the front lines. After offering Berst a chance to make amends, Annan used his testimony to prepare a search of Peacekeeper Milburn’s Manor, then learned Olmedo had information about the Guardian Church.

• Annan brought Deck and the captured Blade of Freedom members to the Purification Court, where Berst confessed that Peacekeeper Milburn had recruited him as a spy.
• Deck recognized Annan’s ploy and revealed that the Blade of Freedom suspected a traitor among them; Berst defended his betrayal by describing the group’s poverty and suffering.
• Annan declined to subject Berst to Salt Purgatory, and Deck asked to join the front lines; Annan sent him and the others to Little Smo.
• Annan offered Berst a chance to make amends, then used Berst’s testimony and a witness to justify searching Peacekeeper Milburn’s Manor.
• Annan returned to the Official Residence, where Olmedo told him she had found an answer about the Guardian Church.

Annan learned that the imprisoned priestess Louise posed a growing danger to the New Royal Capital, then moved against Peacekeeper Milburn for his crimes. The chapter ended with Milburn arrested as the crowd applauded Annan.

• Olmedo told Annan that Louise, a priestess of the Maiden of Misfortune, had been sealed away after spreading disasters across the Rikaner Kingdom, and warned that her eventual escape could bring calamity to the New Royal Capital.
• Annan brought Louise an Apple Pie, but he and Maria slipped on the wet straw in her cell before leaving to handle other business.
• Annan and the Purification Court surrounded Milburn's Manor and found Milburn's family guarded, his property seized, and victims rescued from his private dungeon.
• Annan arrested Milburn for colluding with the Blade of Freedom, corruption, maintaining a private dungeon, and imprisoning citizens, while Berst accused Milburn of bribing the Blade of Freedom.
• Milburn demanded to know why Annan was destroying him, and Annan declared that traitors to the Kingdom would face justice as the crowd cheered.

Annan interrogated Peacekeeper Milburn and forced him to name nobles implicated in his crimes and his ties to the Blade of Freedom. After an attack on Annan, the nobles appealed to the Royal Palace to have him transferred to the Southlands.

• Peacekeeper Hena asked Annan to ensure Milburn never left the Dungeon, and Annan interrogated Milburn about his allies.
• Annan offered to protect Milburn's family if he named the nobles involved, but refused to promise Milburn himself would be spared.
• Milburn gave Annan a list of names, and Annan carried it to Reynaldo at the Minister of War's Official Residence.
• A bounty on Annan circulated in the New Royal Capital's underworld, and nobles tried to protect themselves from the evidence he held.
• After Annan was attacked on his way to the Purification Court, he targeted people on the list, prompting the nobles to appeal to the Royal Palace to send him to the Southlands.

Clo summoned Annan to the Royal Palace after Annan’s actions against the nobles drew praise from the Council Chairman. Annan persuaded the king to keep him in the New Royal Capital, where Clo granted him broad authority to oppose the Blade of Freedom.

• Flocken urged Clo to send Annan south, but the Council Chairman argued that the Kingdom’s real enemies were within the New Royal Capital and praised Annan’s actions.
• Reynaldo warned Annan that the Council Chairman might try to corrupt him and advised him to avoid being alone with the Legendary Mage.
• After Clo slept for sixteen hours, a Palace Guard summoned Annan, who left the Purification Court and went with Reynaldo to the palace.
• Clo offered Annan authority in the New Royal Capital instead of another reward, and Annan vowed to drive out every member of the Blade of Freedom.

Annan tried to understand and care for the imprisoned Iron Maiden without releasing her, believing her freedom would unleash Misfortune on New Royal Capital. After feeding her apple pie, he rejected her request for freedom but told her she could ask for anything else.

• Annan reassured Reynaldo that he stayed in New Royal Capital to protect its people, then returned to the Purification Court.
• Annan and Maria moved the sleeping Iron Maiden onto a bed in the Dungeon while leaving her Manacle and torture device in place.
• In Iron Maiden’s dream, Annan asked why she had not eaten and explained that he would not free her because she could destroy New Royal Capital.
• Annan brought Iron Maiden Aunt Susan’s apple pie and fed it to her while Maria watched from outside the Cell.
• Iron Maiden asked Annan to loosen her ankle Manacle, but he refused and cleaned pie filling from her mouth.
• Iron Maiden said she wanted Annan, and he replied, "Get in line."

Annan received an invitation to the Council Chairman’s banquet, investigated a Noble, and struggled to persuade Iron Maiden to sign a Devil Contract. At the banquet, he danced with a young Noblewoman but drove her away by explaining that his backside was swollen from repeated falls.

• Annan received an invitation from the Council Chairman and wondered why he had been invited.
• Annan raided a Noble’s estate on suspicion of harboring Blade of Freedom members and brought prisoners back to the Purification Court.
• Reynaldo found Agawar on the guest list, but Annan decided to attend the banquet anyway.
• Annan learned that Iron Maiden would not release Misfortune, but she refused to sign a Devil Contract and made him fall repeatedly.
• Annan brought Iron Maiden soup and promised to return after the banquet to keep her company.
• Annan danced with a young Noblewoman at the Council Chairman’s banquet, then startled her by explaining that his backside was swollen.

At a banquet, Annan and Reynaldo discussed the nobles marked for punishment, while the Council Chairman thanked Annan and hinted he might assign him a mysterious Case. Back at the Official Residence, Annan discovered Baron Rainer had sent him a naked man as a gift and decided Rainer would be the first to die.

• Annan confirmed that a noble on the list would be dealt with after the banquet.
• The Council Chairman introduced Agawar, then privately thanked Annan for clearing the Kingdom of evil and hinted he might assign him a Case.
• Lady Hailey sent Annan an invitation to meet at midnight, but Annan suspected a trap and tore it up.
• After returning to the Official Residence, Annan searched for clues about the Council Chairman's Case while Reynaldo considered what it might be.
• Annan opened Baron Rainer's carriage gift, saw a muscular bare-chested man inside, and declared that Rainer would die first.

Annan learned that Princess Sails had been deliberately left in the Old Royal Capital’s dungeon during the Migration and agreed to investigate who was responsible. He then raided Baron Rainer’s estate, found no serious wrongdoing, and left after returning the valuables his men had taken, before asking Reynaldo to recruit the baron into the real Blade of Freedom.

• Reynaldo explained that Princess Sails had been left in the dungeon during the Migration and that the Council Chairman wanted the mystery investigated because of her royal blood.
• Annan agreed to investigate Princess Sails’s abandonment, then went with the Purification Court to raid Baron Rainer’s Castle.
• Annan’s men found valuables but no secret dungeon or evidence of oppressed civilians, and Annan ordered them to return everything they had taken.
• Baron Rainer wondered whether Annan had approved of his gift, while other nobles later heard that Young Miss Olmedo had officially certified him.
• Annan asked Reynaldo to send a minor official to sound Baron Rainer out about joining the real Blade of Freedom.

Annan recruited Baron Rainer into the Blade of Freedom, then Martin discovered a graveyard full of marked bodies. Maria found signs that one victim had been buried alive, leaving Annan with a possible murder case to investigate.

• A City Guard officer invited Baron Rainer to join the Blade of Freedom, but Rainer tied him up and sent him back to Annan.
• Annan personally offered Baron Rainer a choice between a Spellbook and a Devil Contract, and Rainer joined the Blade of Freedom.
• Annan told Baron Rainer he could recruit others as long as he stayed safe, then sent Martin to walk around the city.
• Martin returned with a corpse he had found in the graveyard and said there were many more bodies buried beneath stone and wooden markers.
• Maria examined the corpse and found signs that the victim had struggled after being buried, suggesting he had been buried alive.

Terry investigated the recently buried corpse and questioned the Graveyard groundskeeper, who revealed that a group of men without right-hand little fingers had buried it. Terry took the groundskeeper and his sick granddaughter with him to report to Lord Orr and seek treatment.

• Annan ordered Terry to investigate the corpse Martin had found and sent Martin along to assist him.
• Terry examined the grave and determined that the victim had scratched at the pit before dying and that several people had buried him.
• Terry confronted the groundskeeper, who admitted that he had secretly watched a group bury the body half a month earlier.
• The groundskeeper identified the group by their missing right-hand little fingers and said his granddaughter needed three gold coins and fourteen silver coins for treatment.
• Terry refused to give the groundskeeper money but promised medical care, then carried his feverish granddaughter and brought him along for safety.

Annan worked to influence the war against Free City, contacted Khaelberos, and tried to persuade Iron Maiden to accept release into the Wilderness. Terry returned with evidence that a Case involving the Old Royal Capital’s bloodline was connected to the Shadow Brotherhood.

• Annan arranged for Barr and the other witnesses to be hanged, then learned that Khaelberos had arrived in the New Royal Capital and sent him a letter.
• Annan brought Iron Maiden clam chowder in the Dungeon and suggested sending her into the Wilderness, but she dismissed his attempt to change her mind.
• Terry reported that the people who buried the dead had no little fingers and that the Hara Gang, a Shadow Brotherhood affiliate, was likely involved.
• Terry said the Shadow Brotherhood had offered information about the Old Royal Capital’s bloodline in exchange for ending the investigation.
• Annan connected the information to the Case the Council Chairman had intended to give him, and Terry remarked that they had been lucky.

Annan questioned the Shadow Brotherhood about a dead man and learned that Princess Sails had been deliberately abandoned in the Old King Royal Capital, with Tax Collector Sogra named as a suspect. Terry then deduced that the Brotherhood had revealed the secret to make Annan act against the nobles pressuring them.

• Annan and Terry visited the Hara Gang, where the Shadow Brotherhood's contact identified the dead man as Kurtz, a defector they had sent The Faction to capture and execute.
• Annan pressed the contact about Princess Sails, and he revealed that a dying political target had said she was deliberately abandoned in the Old King Royal Capital.
• Annan coerced the contact into naming Tax Collector Sogra as one of those responsible for silencing the target, then learned the Brotherhood had lost contact with its branch in the Dimon Kingdom.
• Terry told Annan that the contact had withheld the full story: nobles had closed in on the Brotherhood after suspecting it knew their secret, so the Brotherhood wanted the Purification Court to target them.
• Annan accepted that the Brotherhood was trying to use him, but decided its help was worthwhile and looked forward to telling the Council Chairman that the culprit was already locked up in the Dungeon.

Annan visited Grand Duke Babatod's Manor to deliver a letter to Khaelberos and learn whether the Legendary Mage would support him. Khaelberos rejected Annan violently, leaving his position uncertain as Annan returned to Free City with Faru Barros.

• Annan decided to visit Grand Duke Babatod in person after receiving no reply to his letter for Khaelberos.
• Grand Duke Babatod welcomed Annan and showed him a performance by Falu Barros, the former King of the North, whom Annan accepted as a gift.
• Annan asked Grand Duke Babatod to summon Khaelberos and handed the Mage the letter.
• Khaelberos used Lie Detection on Annan, learned he had read the letter, and hurled him into a row of seats before ordering him out.
• Annan left the Manor with his subordinates, then told them to bring along Faru Barros when they saw him following.

Annan revealed his identity to Falu Barros and persuaded him to join the Blade of Freedom, then entered the dungeon to visit Iron Maiden. Iron Maiden saw Annan in his true appearance and asked who he was.

• Annan used a Purification Spell to reveal his true appearance to Falu Barros, who recognized him as the head of the Purification Court.
• Falu Barros asked Annan to send him back, but Annan challenged him to stop living without dignity.
• Annan offered Falu Barros a chance to start over and join the Blade of Freedom, and Falu accepted.
• Annan brought Falu to the Purification Court and introduced him to Maria as a new ally.
• Annan carried a Magic Lamp into the dungeon to see Iron Maiden, who asked who he was.

Annan agreed to free Iron Maiden’s Misfortune in a remote forest, provided she left the Guardian Church alone, and she asked to accompany him. After Annan released her, Misfortune unleashed a devastating storm that brought down a Red Dragon.

• Iron Maiden agreed to release Misfortune and asked to stay by Annan’s side; Annan accepted after securing her promise to leave the Guardian Church alone.
• Annan chose a sparsely populated forest more than fifty li from the New Royal Capital and escorted Iron Maiden there by Carriage.
• Annan’s men defeated assassins sent by Nobles, and Annan ordered two Nobles punished for the attack.
• At a hunting cabin, Annan had Lemon break Iron Maiden’s Manacles, then fled the Forest with his men.
• Misfortune sent birds and falcons into chaos, awakened a Red Dragon, and formed a hailstorm that battered the dragon until it crashed into the Forest.