Chapter Summaries

Annan rescued Louise from the collapsed Hunter's cabin and brought her to the fallen Red Dragon, where he decided his Warriors should bathe in its blood to grow stronger. The dragon was dead, but its blood offered a chance to awaken a Dragon Bloodline.

• Annan and Maria found Louise alive beneath the wreckage of Hunter's cabin, and Annan freed and treated her injured ankle.
• Louise reacted jealously to Maria and learned from her that Annan was the King of the North seeking revenge against the Kingdom.
• A Ranger reported that the Red Dragon had died, but its blood could strengthen Warriors and might awaken Dragon Bloodlines.
• Annan led his group to the dragon's body and found seven Warriors enduring a painful bath in its blood.
• Annan encouraged the Warriors to keep going while a Mage doubted that any of them would awaken a bloodline.

Annan returned to the New Royal Capital with Louise and pursued Nobles he suspected of ties to the Blade of Freedom. He began surveilling Kyle to draw him out, and Kyle confronted him at the Purification Court, still convinced someone had sent Annan.

• Annan and his companions carried the Red Dragon's remains through the Portal, evaded inspection by the Knights' Order, and returned to the New Royal Capital.
• Annan gave Louise a room at the Purification Court and entrusted her care to Maria before leading his people to arrest Nobles on his list.
• Annan searched Wendell's Manor despite Wendell's claims of loyalty, then sent Wendell and Horan to the City Guard because neither had ties to the Blade of Freedom.
• Annan spent days watching Grand Duke Babatod's residence to test Kyle's loyalties, drawing warnings from Reynaldo and public displeasure from Grand Duke Babatod.
• Kyle emerged from the shadows in Annan's room and demanded to know who had sent him; Annan said he had come on his own.

Annan provoked Kyle after discovering he had ties to Annan Reeves, while Kyle struggled to deal with Annan’s fearless investigation. After five days of harassment, Kyle returned to confront Annan, who tested him with another accusation.

• Kyle used Lie Detection on Annan, then threatened him before leaving through a window without attacking.
• Annan reassured his men that Kyle could not harm him, then fed Louise and hoped to recruit her to Free City.
• The next day, Annan harassed Kyle for five days by shouting his name, arresting Guards, and parading Blade of Freedom members near him.
• Kyle returned to Annan’s repaired room to settle their dispute and asked how Annan knew he knew Annan Reeves.
• Annan accused Kyle of belonging to the Blade of Freedom, and Lie Detection beeped when Kyle denied it.

Annan revealed himself to Kyle and tried to persuade him to abandon the Grand Duke’s service, while Kyle chose to stay neutral and keep their apparent feud going. At the Royal Palace, the Council Chairman proposed giving Annan the investigation into Princess Sails, but Clo left the Kingdom’s affairs to him without answering.

• Annan confessed he was the Purification Court Head and dropped his disguise, revealing himself to Kyle.
• Annan showed Kyle a Crystal and urged him to leave the Kingdom’s side, but Kyle refused to betray his contract or reveal his employer’s pay.
• Kyle returned to Grand Duke Babatod and claimed Annan would not back down, hiding their private conversation and saying he had thrown away his black cloak.
• Annan continued their public feud as the Council Chairman recommended that Clo entrust him with investigating why Princess Sails had been left behind in the Old King Royal Capital.
• Clo voiced no decision about the investigation and told the Council Chairman to handle the Kingdom’s affairs while he slept.

Annan discussed Free City's war effort and the dangers of winter with Olmedo, then set a small goal of reaching the New Royal Capital before New Year. At the Royal Palace, the Council Chairman summoned Young Miss Olmedo and told her the task he had promised was ready.

• Annan learned that the Dimon Kingdom planned to join the war under Grand Marshal Garkin and discussed Free City's finances and the worsening front with Olmedo.
• Olmedo warned Annan that forming an alliance could provoke the Empire, and Annan ended their conversation as a Blizzard approached.
• Annan set a goal of reaching the New Royal Capital before New Year and received word that the Council Chairman wanted to see him.
• Annan met the Council Chairman, defended his actions against the Nobles, and heard that the promised task had arrived.

Annan investigated the betrayal of Princess Sails and the Ratfolk spy embedded among the Kingdom’s leaders, coordinating with Olmedo, Olin, and others before identifying Glutton as his first target. Glutton learned that Olmedo was coming for him and sought help from Grand Duke Babatod.

• The Council Chairman asked Annan to investigate who had betrayed Princess Sails and uncover the Ratfolk spy at the top of the Kingdom, and Annan agreed to find a lead within five days.
• Annan told his subordinates that the Council Chairman was backing him, then contacted Olmedo and learned through Ingrid that the Stuen Clan was plotting against the Empire.
• Annan told Olin his suspicions and asked her to consult Princess Sails, who supplied several names, including a prince; Olin reported that the Empire already knew about the matter.
• Annan contacted Sienna and Aixue, learned that strangers had recently loitered near the Manor, and promised Sienna he would visit after the war.
• Annan matched Princess Sails’s names against his list and chose Glutton, Warden of the Old Royal Capital, as his first target.
• Glutton learned that Olmedo was coming for him, blamed Milburn for exposing him, and ordered his Butler to seek help from Grand Duke Babatod.

Annan raided Glutton’s Manor and interrogated him, then arrested Tax Collector Sogra while investigating the plot against Princess Sails. After the Council Chairman removed a deadly Curse, Sogra revealed that a butler named Luby had contacted him, and the Council Chairman gave Annan authority to continue his investigation.

• Annan used the Council Chairman’s Amulet to convince Kyle to let the Purification Court raid Glutton’s Manor, then had Glutton arrested.
• Annan questioned Glutton about the Blade of Freedom and Princess Sails, but Glutton claimed he knew nothing.
• Annan arrested Socrates and confronted him over the attempt to kill Olga and harm Princess Sails.
• Annan summoned the Council Chairman, who removed the Curse preventing Socrates from speaking.
• Socrates revealed that a butler named Luby had contacted him and that someone else was behind the conspiracy.
• The Council Chairman returned the recharged Amulet to Annan and told him to do what he thought was right.

Annan traced the conspiracy against Princess Sails from Socrates to Guard Captain Hunter and suspected Grand Duke Babatod was behind it. He left Reynaldo uninvolved for now and prepared to pursue Babatod.

• Annan confronted Socrates, who admitted he had lied about the name Luby and agreed to cooperate in exchange for a chance to live.
• Socrates identified Luca as Reynaldo's Guard Captain, Hunter, who had contacted him about the conspiracy.
• Annan chose to speak with Reynaldo before taking action against Hunter and asked whether Reynaldo had tried to harm Princess Sails.
• Reynaldo denied knowing about the plot and explained that Grand Duke Babatod had recommended Hunter years earlier.
• Annan connected Babatod to both Hunter and the Dungeon's Warden, Glutton, and concluded that the grand duke was likely behind the conspiracy.

Annan investigated Grand Duke Babatod’s suspected Ratfolk network and identified two of the grand duke’s regular guests as suspects. After Reynaldo detained the Guard Captain, Hunter confessed he had spied on Reynaldo for Babatod and revealed what he knew about the spy network.

• Faru Barros identified Knight Miel Bogard and Curator Zloyutro as regular guests at Babatod’s private performances.
• Annan assigned Terry to investigate Miel, investigated Zloyutro himself, and left the Guard Captain to Reynaldo.
• Reynaldo detained the Guard Captain, Hunter, along with his accomplices.
• Hunter admitted Babatod had sent him to spy on Reynaldo and explained that he had withheld sensitive information while seeking freedom.
• Hunter revealed his contact, other spies, and the place where Babatod trained his agents.

Annan traced the plot against Princess Sails to Grand Duke Babatod and told the Council Chairman, who left to confront the Grand Duke while keeping Annan behind a Barrier. Annan stayed in the Lounge with the Chairman’s unexpectedly talkative Staff.

• Hunter admitted that Grand Duke Babatod had planted him beside Reynaldo and ordered him to target Princess Sails, though Hunter had stalled and arrested the other spies.
• Annan decided to test the Council Chairman’s stance before moving against Babatod and planned to send Hunter to Free City for reform before making him a Legion instructor.
• Annan reported his investigation to the Council Chairman, including Babatod’s ties to Zloyutro and Miel Bogard and his royal-family connection to the old King.
• The Council Chairman told Annan to remain in the Lounge, then left to confront Babatod and placed a Barrier around the room for Annan’s protection.
• The Chairman’s Staff revealed that it could speak and was maintaining the Barrier, and Annan asked why the Chairman thought he had done better at his age.

Annan survived the Council Chairman’s accusation of treason by explaining that Reynaldo had staged a deception to expose a Spy. After the Council Chairman’s crackdown shook the New Royal Capital, he put Annan in charge of hunting down the remaining Spies.

• While the Council Chairman was away, Annan heard strange voices outside the Lounge, which the returning Chairman revealed were a Ratfolk trick to unsettle him.
• The Council Chairman accused Annan and Reynaldo of working with the Blade of Freedom, but Annan gave their agreed explanation and convinced him they had been baiting a Spy.
• After Annan left, the Council Chairman and the Staff argued over whether Annan should be killed, and the Chairman silenced the Staff with his Magic Power.
• Annan learned that the Council Chairman had captured Grand Duke Babatod, fought Kyle, suppressed Ratfolk and corrupted Spies, and locked down the New Royal Capital.
• The Council Chairman placed Annan in charge of the cleanup, and Annan gave his subordinates lists of suspected Spies and Nobles to investigate.

Annan arrested nobles and suspected spies across the sealed New Royal Capital, then used Louise’s misfortune and a staged illusion to make prisoners confess. After seizing their wealth, he caught Little Bat looting the treasure and offered to pay Babartod’s unpaid fee in exchange for protection.

• Annan and Evelyn spread news of the scandal while Annan arrested Ratfolk spies and other suspects until Reynaldo persuaded him to stop because the Dungeon was nearly full.
• Miel Bogard named accomplices, and Annan had them brought in before using Louise’s misfortune and Martin’s staged escape to frighten nobles into confessing.
• Annan thanked Louise and promised to help rebuild the Church in Free City, then sent the interrogation results to the Royal Palace and seized the nobles’ property.
• Annan’s men hauled the valuables to the Official Residence’s Warehouse, where Annan found Little Bat secretly taking treasure to recover Babartod’s unpaid fee.
• Annan offered to pay the rest of Babartod’s fee if Little Bat agreed to protect him.

Annan hired Kyle, also known as Little Bat, to protect him under a new Contract, then helped restore order in the New Royal Capital after the city’s conspiracy was crushed. As Annan prepared to tell Princess Sails that her enemies would be executed, an Invitation Letter summoned him to the Royal Palace.

• Annan replaced Babartod as Kyle’s employer, and they signed a Devil Contract that barred Kyle from fighting the Council Chairman.
• Beludona gained soul power from the Contract and shared her sincere approach to deception with her Devil class.
• Kyle kept the several hundred Gold Coins he had taken from Annan, made Annan an Amulet, and disappeared into the shadows.
• Annan collected his share of the Warehouse valuables and had the remaining goods delivered to the Royal Palace.
• The Council Chairman ended Martial Law after Annan’s forces captured the mastermind and cleared out the underlings, and Annan sent Princess Sails word that her enemies would be hanged.
• An Invitation Letter arrived for Annan, naming the Royal Palace as the venue.

Annan received the Council Chairman’s authority to interrogate Grand Duke Babatod and search his manor for evidence of his contact with the Ratfolk. After confronting Babatod in the dungeon, Annan claimed that he, too, was working with the Ratfolk.

• Clo fell asleep while the Council Chairman briefed him, so the Council Chairman attended the banquet and announced Clo was still resting.
• The Council Chairman promoted Annan to viscount and assigned him to interrogate Babatod and search the grand duke’s manor for clues.
• Annan skipped the banquet’s festivities and went with Maria to the Royal Palace dungeon to confront Babatod.
• Annan provoked Babatod and questioned why he had chosen Princess Sails as a target, suggesting he had considered the Second Prince as well.
• Babatod demanded to know who Annan was, and Annan told him he was working with the Ratfolk.

Annan interrogated Babatos about the Princess Sails case and learned that the king had ordered the princess's murder, then revealed himself as a Ratfolk to secure Babatos's cooperation. After leaving Babatos in shock over Clo's deception, Annan brought the testimony to the Council Chairman, who was playing chess against himself and the Staff.

• Annan and Maria convinced Babatos that they were allies, and Annan promised to protect Babatos's descendants in exchange for his cooperation.
• Annan revealed that he was a Grayfur Rat Priest and asked Babatos to explain the Princess Sails case and the order to kill the princess.
• Babatos said the king himself had ordered the murder, and Annan realized Clo had deceived Babatos and served the McKennan Clan's interests.
• Annan left Babatos to consider Clo's betrayal, then took the parchment to the Council Chairman while Maria went to see Babatos's guarded family.
• Annan found the Council Chairman playing chess against himself and the Staff, and the Council Chairman asked whether Annan knew how to play.

Annan accepted the Council Chairman’s assignment to investigate who had ordered Grand Duke Babatod’s plot, then seized Babatod’s treasures while searching his manor. He showed Olmedo the Chairman’s Knight Chess position, and she identified it as a representation of the war between Free City and the Kingdom.

• The Council Chairman told Annan that Babatod’s plot to discredit King Clo had been ordered by someone else and assigned Annan to investigate Babatod’s Manor.
• After Annan left, the Council Chairman and the Staff argued over using him and discussed their desire to reunite with Olmedo.
• Annan gathered the Purification Court and took over Babatod’s Manor, where they began searching through its vast hoard of valuables.
• Unable to find the requested clues amid the manor’s treasures, Annan arranged the Council Chairman’s Knight Chess position for Olmedo to examine.
• Olmedo recognized the unfinished game as the state of the war between Free City and the Kingdom and explained that Free City’s pieces could advance toward her Castle.

The Blade of Freedom captured Mondo Territory without a fight and advanced toward the New Royal Capital, while Annan pursued a clue about the Council Chairman’s plans. Annan entered the Lounge to steal the chess pieces but was caught by the Council Chairman.

• The nobles resisted the Blade of Freedom as rumors spread about Clo’s alleged collusion with the Ratfolk, and Annan ordered Maria to hang nobles who had fled to the New Royal Capital.
• Little Smo’s forces reached Mondo Territory, where the lord’s guards opened the gates and helped the Blade of Freedom capture the Castle.
• Annan learned that the Blade of Freedom had gained nearly twenty Knights’ Orders and passed information about a secret soldier-training base to Reynaldo.
• Olmedo urged Annan to investigate the unfinished chess game, and Annan ordered Maria to guard the Manor before going to the Royal Palace.
• Annan entered the dark Lounge to look for the chess pieces, but the Council Chairman appeared and caught him there.

Annan searched Babartod’s hidden fortune and uncovered a mysterious contact who had promised to help the disgraced Grand Duke. Following a coded trail, Annan and Martin found the first sign of the contact in the New Royal Capital.

• Annan failed to retrieve the crystal from the Council Chairman, then returned to Babartod’s Manor to search for money and clues.
• Annan questioned Babartod, who revealed a hidden base in the Secret Valley outside the New Royal Capital.
• Annan took Terry and Martin to the valley, where they found a passage beneath a stone slab and recovered about twenty thousand gold Narls.
• Terry found a note in the hideaway directing someone to retrieve an item from the usual place, and Babartod revealed that a man calling himself the Mysterious Man had promised to help him.
• Babartod explained that he could find the Mysterious Man by spotting an eagle, a lion, a snake, and a badger, and Annan found a crude eagle drawing on a bakery door after Martin noticed it.

Annan followed a trail of animal clues to find a hidden wooden box containing a withered Fruit of Corruption. Little Bat identified it as a rare potion meant for liches, leaving Annan wondering how it could save Babartod.

• Annan questioned people at the Bakery about a lion, and Terry reported seeing a snake on a Freight Wagons cart.
• Annan suspected the mysterious person was nearby and told his men to pretend they were helping Babartod.
• Martin found badger graffiti in an alley, and Annan followed its direction to a sealed room containing a wooden box.
• Annan opened the box and found a withered Fruit, then took it to the Purification Court.
• Little Bat identified the Fruit as a valuable potion that could turn a lich into an undead, and Annan wondered why it had been given to Babartod.

Annan pieced together that Asimov had foreseen the Fruit of Corruption reaching Vitalig and arranged Tower Spirit Lilith as payment in advance. He sought Vitalig’s Life Casket, but the Royal Magic Academy guarded it until the Council Chairman appeared and took the fruit, promising to handle it.

• Annan asked the Skeleton King whether he needed the Fruit of Corruption, but the Skeleton King declined because Cold and Death were part of his power.
• Annan brought the fruit to Babartod, who revealed that Vitalig’s Life Casket was in the Empire and that he had preserved it in hope of restoring the Second Prince.
• Annan realized Asimov’s connection to the Prophecy School and suspected that Tower Spirit Lilith had been sent as advance payment for giving the fruit to Vitalig three years later.
• Annan told Kyle about Vitalig and Asimov, and Kyle explained that prophecies showed only fragments of the future rather than controlling people’s choices.
• Annan went with Kyle to Montreal Mountain and learned from Olin that Vitalig’s Life Casket was guarded at the Royal Magic Academy.
• The Council Chairman appeared beside Annan, picked up the box containing the Fruit of Corruption, and told him to leave it to him.