Chapter Summaries

Plot points and events

• Annan arrives at a public hearing in the Broken Mountains, where Elvis Raymond—son of Grand Commander Raymond—presides over five charges against him. The accusations claim Annan allowed the Imperial Princess and his followers to destroy property, attack nobles, and massacre a village.
• Annan rejects the charges. When Kilian Raymond testifies that the Princess’s Blue Dragon attacked his territory, Annan counters with Knight Makarov, whom he summons magically to testify.
• Makarov says Kilian’s troops ambushed the Princess’s party and abducted her; the dragon arrived to rescue her. Under pressure, Kilian confirms Makarov’s account and admits that the incident was his fault.
• Annan declines to pursue Kilian over the offense against the Princess, leaving Kilian and Makarov to settle the damage privately. This deprives Elvis of a chance to turn the matter into a broader accusation.
• Elvis then raises the charge that the Blue Dragon massacred Poi Village. Several villagers give emotional testimony, and Annan invites the Princess to explain what happened.

Character developments and interactions

• Annan remains relaxed and prepared under public scrutiny. He counters the accusations with evidence, challenges the hearing’s bias, and shows restraint by not pressing charges against Kilian.
• Kilian changes his testimony, accepts responsibility, and appears motivated by a memory of Duns and a desire not to disappoint him. His honesty surprises the assembly.
• Makarov initially hesitates before testifying, but speaks firmly despite Grand Lord Raymond’s implied pressure. The presence of the Disciplinary Legion in his territory helps explain why he sides with Annan.
• Elvis Raymond tries to use the formal hearing to build a case against Annan, but loses control of the first accusation when Kilian admits the truth.
• Grand Lord Raymond quietly pressures the witnesses and watches the proceedings, while Annan refuses to be intimidated.

Significant themes

• Truth versus political manipulation: The hearing is presented as a formal search for justice, but the accusations and pressure on witnesses reveal its political purpose.
• Power and coercion: Raymond’s influence shapes the proceedings, yet witnesses’ choices—and Annan’s evidence—complicate his control.
• Accountability and mercy: Kilian accepts blame, while Annan chooses not to punish him further, separating responsibility from retaliation.
• Public testimony and reputation: Because the hearing is witnessed by many, each admission and rebuttal carries consequences beyond the immediate dispute.

Key plot points and events

• Annan brings Princess Joan before the council. She says villagers tried to claim the bounty on her, but the Blue Dragon rescued her; she denies knowing the villagers who accused her. Grand Lord Raymond dismisses the accusation and has them removed.
• The council then hears claims that the Blue Dragon destroyed Hami and Haji Village and Gelang Town. Annan points out that the witnesses never saw the dragon, only a shadow. Illymoyas appears and denies attacking the settlements.
• A supposed survivor of Andrey Village accuses the Blue Dragon of burning the village, killing its people, and stealing its wealth. Annan counters by summoning Captain Reyne, who testifies that his mercenary team found the village raided by the Slave Grand Knight, rescued its people, and killed him.
• With the accusations undermined, Grand Lord Raymond apologizes on the Council’s behalf and calls the matter a misunderstanding. As the hearing ends, guards arrive with urgent news, and Raymond studies Annan thoughtfully.

Character developments and interactions

• Annan remains composed and strategically counters each accusation, using witnesses and evidence to protect Illymoyas and expose the false case. His quiet confidence suggests he may have anticipated a further development.
• Joan firmly rejects the villagers’ claims, confirming that the apparent “Imperial Princess” was not involved with them.
• Illymoyas calmly denies the charges. Annan reacts protectively when Elvis implies she had a motive to plunder.
• Captain Reyne provides credible testimony that shifts the council’s attention toward the possibility that other groups—not the Blue Dragon—were responsible.
• Grand Lord Raymond attempts to minimize the scandal and preserve the Council’s authority, while Annan’s success makes clear that Raymond cannot easily control him.

Significant themes

• Truth versus political manipulation: The Raymonds’ accusations rely on suspicious witnesses and assumptions, while Annan challenges them with testimony and evidence.
• Power and public image: The council’s nobles watch not only the claims themselves but also how the Raymond family handles a public setback.
• Strategic restraint: Annan avoids overplaying his hand, even as he steadily weakens the case against his side.

Key events

• The Council dismisses all accusations against Annan’s subordinates, allowing him to remain Grand Lord Raymond’s honored guest. Annan and Raymond maintain noble courtesy despite their hostility, since open conflict would be costly and damaging to both.
• Raymond invites Annan and Princess Joan to the Golden Palace. Concerned Raymond might act against his companions, Annan sends Illymoyas, Black Widow, and the others through a Portal to safety.
• In private, Elvis Raymond accuses his brother Kilian of betraying the family by changing his story. Kilian insists the accusations against Annan were doomed and says he sided with Annan to prevent the conflict from escalating. Elvis leaves to report him to their father.
• At the palace, Raymond warns Annan that helping commoners will only encourage them to demand more. Annan rejects the idea that rulers must please either nobles or commoners; Raymond approves, revealing his contempt for the people he rules.
• Raymond leads Annan and Joan into his Spoils Room, claiming Annan has earned the privilege of seeing it. Among the trophies and riches, Annan finds stacks of fabric. Raymond reveals that they are human skins.

Character developments and interactions

• Annan demonstrates strategic restraint and confidence: he recognizes that the Council’s rules limit what Raymond can do, but also admits he cannot simply defeat him. He remains guarded during the palace visit and is unsettled by the Spoils Room.
• Raymond presents himself as a courteous host while showing a tyrannical, cynical view of commoners. His collection of human skins suggests the cruelty behind his polished noble manners.
• Kilian stands by his decision to undermine the accusations, valuing the prevention of escalation over obedience to his father. His exchange with Elvis exposes tension within the Raymond family.
• Joan supports Annan and appears amused by the power struggle, though Raymond dismisses her understanding of his political warning.
• Illymoyas initially cannot understand why the rivals do not simply fight, highlighting the difference between dragon customs and noble politics. Black Widow, meanwhile, resents being sent away for her protection.

Significant themes

• Power and restraint: Noble rules can curb destructive conflict, but they also serve the interests of those already in power.
• Class and political control: Raymond portrays commoners’ demands as insatiable, using that fear to justify keeping authority concentrated among lords.
• Public civility and hidden violence: The characters maintain formal manners while plotting against one another; Raymond’s grotesque trophies make the violence beneath his refined image explicit.

Key plot points and events

• In Grand Commander Raymond’s collection room, Annan and Joan see the preserved skins of people who opposed the Broken Mountains. Joan recognizes the skin of Adele, the uprising’s leader, and is horrified to realize that a girl who once helped her was also turned into a display.
• Joan condemns the collection and, shaken by what she has seen, resolves to go to Coal Mountain and oppose the unjust system. Annan supports her and takes her back to their lodgings.
• Raymond berates his son Elvis for having targeted Annan, warning that insecurity makes him unfit to lead. He orders Elvis to seal off the Coal Mountain mine, framing it as a final test.
• Mrs. Phelan invites Annan to visit. He initially refuses, but changes his mind after hearing that people from the Empire have arrived in Golden City looking for Joan.
• Elvis seeks advice from his mother. Rather than reassuring him, she urges him to imitate his father. She is on her way to meet Mrs. Phelan, who has promised her a surprise.

Character developments

• Joan moves from shock and disgust to a clear political commitment, choosing to stand with Coal Mountain’s people.
• Annan recognizes Joan’s need for a meaningful cause and supports her resolve. His decision to visit Mrs. Phelan shifts when he hears Joan may be sought by Imperial visitors.
• Elvis reveals his fear that Annan’s influence could threaten his position. Raymond challenges his lack of confidence and makes his future as heir conditional on his actions.

Significant themes

• Dehumanization and cruelty: The display of human skins exposes the brutality of the ruling class and the way its victims are denied their humanity.
• Moral awakening and resistance: Joan’s horror becomes a determination to oppose injustice.
• Power and succession: Raymond tests his sons’ fitness to rule, while Elvis’s insecurity contrasts with the confidence expected of a leader.
• Purpose and resolve: Annan sees that Joan, like Little Smo, needs a goal to give her life direction.

Character interactions

• Annan quietly comforts Joan after she retches, treats her feelings with respect, and accepts her decision to go to Coal Mountain.
• Joan openly confronts Raymond’s attempt to justify his collection by pointing to similar practices among Imperial nobles.
• Raymond rebukes Elvis, dismisses his fears about Annan, and assigns him the mine blockade as a test.
• Elvis’s mother reinforces Raymond’s harsh standard rather than comforting her son, then leaves to meet Mrs. Phelan.

Key plot points and events

• Phelan learns that an unknown force has seized the open-pit Coal Mountain, the source of over 80% of his trading company’s income. Hart’s cryptic message suggests the attackers are powerful enough to defeat three Master Level fighters, possibly even Epic Level.
• Phelan worries that asking Grand Commander Raymond for help would leave him indebted to a dangerous ally. Before he can investigate, news spreads through the city, and his merchant allies press him to act.
• Elvis Raymond arrives with guards, saying his father has sent him to help seal off the mine. Phelan recognizes that the Raymonds will expect something in return but cannot easily refuse.
• Meanwhile, Annan attends a tea party hosted by Phelan’s wife. He meets Melanie, the Grand Lord’s wife, and probes her feelings by mentioning Kilian. Her reaction reveals that the subject is painful; Annan then flatters her, easing the tension.
• Joan insists on joining the Freemen as a fighter rather than remaining a protected princess. Illymoyas approves, and Little Smo assigns her to the all-women Eighth Squad.
• Joan reports Annan’s warning that Raymond and Phelan may soon act. The Freemen realize Golden City has learned of the mine’s seizure far faster than seems possible. Captain Reyne suspects a leak and rushes to alert Volod and the others.

Character developments and interactions

• Phelan shifts from alarm to hurried damage control, while recognizing that both his allies and the Raymond family may exploit his crisis.
• Annan remains composed and strategic: he conceals his involvement in the mine seizure, tests Melanie’s response to Kilian, and warns the Freemen to prepare.
• Melanie briefly loses her cool when Kilian is mentioned, suggesting unresolved hurt, but Annan’s compliment restores her warmth.
• Joan asserts her identity as a soldier and Freeman, taking a place among women who have endured the same harsh conditions she wants to fight against.
• Little Smo emphasizes discipline and appearance as essential to building a credible Freemen force; Captain Reyne’s concern for Joan conflicts with her determination and Illymoyas’s support.

Significant themes

• Power and dependency: Phelan needs help but fears the political price of accepting it.
• Information and betrayal: The unusually rapid spread of news suggests someone has leaked the mine’s capture.
• Agency and solidarity: Joan rejects passive protection, while the women’s squad reflects the shared hardships that can unite the Freemen.
• Appearance versus reality: Annan’s polite conversation masks probing intent, and the Freemen’s uniforms and marching help turn a loose group into a recognizable force.

Key plot points and events

• Captain Reyne confronts the mercenaries at Open-Pit Coal Mountain and offers them a choice: join his side or be treated as enemies. Volod and the Archmage switch sides; Hart refuses to betray President Phelan.
• Reyne has Hart bound and brought before the group, but accepts Hart’s declaration that he will not fight for either side. Volod agrees to watch him.
• Reyne’s group debates whether to abandon the mountain and spread rebellion elsewhere. They decide to keep it as a base while also extending their influence through the Broken Mountains.
• Meanwhile, Annan attends Mrs. Phelan’s tea party and asks Melanie how Grand Lord Raymond became so overweight. She says he gained weight after resolving the Gold Mine crisis and becoming secure in power, though Annan remains suspicious.
• Leaving the Phelan residence, Annan encounters Imperial officials searching for the Imperial Princess. He distracts them with talk of Free City and sends them through a Portal—effectively abducting them.

Character developments and interactions

• Hart proves loyal to Phelan but refuses to fight Reyne’s forces. His restraint contrasts with Volod’s pragmatic decision to change sides.
• Volod openly prioritizes survival and payment over loyalty, and embraces being called a “lapdog” because he believes siding with the Holy Knights is right.
• Reyne shows respect for Hart’s choice and focuses on winning people’s confidence by holding territory as well as expanding the rebellion.
• Little Smo recognizes that, unlike in Rikaner, people in the Broken Mountains have no obvious outside protector to trust.
• Annan is charming and inquisitive at the tea party, but his political goals remain firm: he views anyone blocking the people’s welfare as an enemy. His friendly patter also masks decisive action against the Imperial officials.

Significant themes

• Loyalty versus self-preservation: The mercenaries weigh allegiance against survival and reward, while Hart’s loyalty remains intact even as he refuses to fight.
• Legitimacy and public confidence: Reyne believes rebellion needs a visible stronghold to convince people the Freemen can resist the lords.
• Power and privilege: Raymond’s security and excess contrast with Annan’s concern for the region’s oppressed population.
• Charm as a tool of power: Annan uses sociability and humor to control situations, turning a conversation into an unexpected act of abduction.

Key plot points and events

• Annan learns that Imperial agents are in the Broken Mountains and worries they may expose Joan’s false identity. He sends Rofi to tell her to remain hidden.
• Annan discovers that the Freemen have ten Master-Level fighters, including Black Widow and Illymoyas. Led by Captain Reyne, they confront President Phelan and Elvis Raymond near Open-Pit Coal Mountain.
• Outnumbered, Phelan and Elvis cannot break the Freemen’s blockade. The Freemen declare that their goal is to end oppression in the Broken Mountains.
• Elvis identifies Captain Reyne’s connection to Annan and recognizes Illymoyas, then reports to his father, Grand Lord Raymond.
• Grand Lord Raymond reveals that he and Annan are engaged in a contest over Phelan Trading Company’s holdings. He warns Elvis not to assume Annan will cooperate with a plan to seize the mine.
• Elvis accepts his father’s reasoning and has Kilian lead a force to seal off Open-Pit Coal Mountain. Annan waits, confident that the Freemen need time to grow; Grand Lord Raymond remains untroubled, while Phelan panics over the threatened loss of his business.

Character developments and interactions

• Annan is increasingly open about leading the Freemen, but remains cautious about Joan’s safety and lets the confrontation develop rather than rushing into it.
• Rofi teases Annan about whether to eliminate the Imperial agents, showing her playful, provocative rapport with him.
• Captain Reyne and the Freemen present a united front. Hart, once aligned with Phelan, now supports the Freemen’s cause, though he promises to protect Phelan from harm.
• Elvis Raymond shifts from trying to manage the crisis tactically to accepting his father’s broader political strategy. His exchange with Grand Lord Raymond reveals both his ambition and his deference to his father.
• Grand Lord Raymond emerges as a calculating ruler who treats people and events as pieces in a power game. Phelan, by contrast, is reduced to pleading with Elvis as his control over the mine slips.

Significant themes

• Power and exploitation: The chapter depicts a hierarchy in which elites profit from the labor and suffering of those below them, while the oppressed have little influence.
• Reform versus entrenched rule: The Freemen challenge a system that could otherwise persist for generations; their campaign is framed as a struggle to end oppression, not merely capture a mine.
• Politics as strategy: Both Annan and Grand Lord Raymond approach the conflict as a contest of moves, with economic assets and opponents treated as pieces.
• Realism versus heroic fantasy: The narration questions the familiar tale of a righteous underdog overcoming evil, suggesting that people who rise through the system often become part of it.

Key plot points

• President Phelan learns that Annan Reeves is tied to the Oskulas Mercenary Company and goes looking for him, but discovers Annan has already left.
• Returning to the Manor, Phelan learns Annan visited earlier at the invitation of Mrs. Phelan, who was also hosting the Lord’s wife. Phelan initially suspects an affair, but his wife insists they only talked.
• Phelan reveals that Annan has taken Coal Mountain, the trading company’s crucial asset. Desperate to protect the business, he asks his wife to seduce Annan.
• Meanwhile, Annan and Little Smo realize the Grand Lord is keeping them contained at Coal Mountain, likely to weaken the Phelan Trading Company rather than provoke a direct fight. Annan plans to use the time to develop their position.
• Mrs. Phelan arrives at the Black Reef Tavern and tries to draw Annan into her appeal. Annan refuses, explaining that he rescued the laborers at Coal Mountain rather than taking the mountain itself. She argues that the workers had jobs and wages.

Character developments and interactions

• President Phelan shifts from anger and suspicion to calculated desperation. Though jealous and humiliated, he puts the company above his pride and pressures his wife to help him.
• Mrs. Phelan appears genuinely startled by Phelan’s accusation, then agrees—or at least is sent—to approach Annan. At the tavern she uses tears and emotional appeals, making Annan uncomfortable.
• Annan remains composed and alert to others’ motives. He recognizes the political advantage in the Grand Lord’s apparent containment strategy, and politely but firmly rejects Mrs. Phelan’s approach.
• Little Smo helps Annan interpret the Grand Lord’s unusual response; their exchange shows their strategic alignment.
• Phelan and his wife argue over trust, fidelity, and the company, but reconcile when Phelan frames the requested seduction as a sacrifice for their shared future.

Significant themes

• Business versus personal relationships: Phelan treats his marriage as a possible tool for saving the company, even as he professes love.
• Power and manipulation: The Grand Lord, Phelan, and Mrs. Phelan all try to influence events indirectly, while Annan sees the political maneuvering and refuses to be drawn in.
• Exploitation and moral framing: Annan calls his actions a rescue of enslaved laborers; Mrs. Phelan repeats the company’s claim that they were simply employees.
• Misunderstanding and dramatic irony: Phelan interprets Annan’s visit to his wife as suspicious, unaware that Annan’s actual reason for accepting the invitation was to avoid an Empire official.

• Mrs. Phelan confronts Annan: Annan describes the miners’ brutal lives—sixteen-hour shifts, beatings, starvation, and frequent death—and explains that the youngest was only twelve. Horrified, Mrs. Phelan offers her jewelry as compensation and apologizes for her husband. Annan agrees to investigate whether President Phelan knew about the abuses, promising to consider returning the mine if he was truly ignorant.
• Phelan’s response: Mrs. Phelan reports Annan’s account, but her husband refuses to answer whether he knew the truth. He dismisses Annan’s stated motive as a pretext for profit, and she realizes that he has changed. Phelan seeks help from Grand Lord Raymond, offering half the mine’s future profits, but Raymond refuses to risk his family’s forces in what he calls a private business dispute. Elvis Raymond suggests Phelan speak with Annan.
• Phelan turns hostile: Convinced that Annan and the Raymonds are conspiring to seize his company’s wealth, Phelan returns home and smashes up his study, vowing that neither side will escape unscathed.
• Annan’s hidden advantage: Annan and Grand Lord Raymond are tacitly weakening Phelan’s remaining influence, though Raymond expects his control of the Broken Mountains to prevail. He plans to isolate Annan by blocking coal purchases and supplies. But Raymond does not know that Annan can use his Portal to sell coal in Free City. While the snow disrupts travel and communication, Annan publicly lets the Freemen appear increasingly desperate as they quietly establish themselves across the mountains, including through the Skarlu United Organization.
  Character developments and themes: Mrs. Phelan’s genuine compassion contrasts with her husband’s denial and greed; Phelan’s refusal to face the miners’ suffering exposes his moral decline. The chapter highlights exploitation, conscience, and the dangers of power built on hidden suffering. It also emphasizes the gap between appearances and reality: Raymond believes he has Annan cornered, while Annan is secretly expanding his reach.

Plot points and events

• Joan arrives in the Broken Mining District, a lawless, coal-rich region divided among rival gangs. The largest, the independent Oyster Gang, controls the biggest mine; smaller gangs constantly fight over their own sites.
• Seeking a way into the district, Joan applies to work as a miner. The foreman notices her strength and persuades her to become an enforcer for the Fire Dragon Gang instead.
• As the foreman takes Joan to meet the gang’s boss, a whistle announces an attack by the rival World Tree Gang. The Fire Dragon Gang rushes into battle.
• Before Joan can meet the boss, an enemy uses a Magic Scroll to kill him. Joan’s new comrades begin to flee, but she kills an attacker with ease and turns the retreat into a counterattack.
• The Fire Dragon Gang wins the skirmish and pursues its enemies. The surviving members declare Joan their new boss, leaving her surprised but seemingly well-positioned to advance her mission.

Character developments and interactions

• Joan enters the district as a prospective miner but chooses the more dangerous, influential role of enforcer. Her confidence and formidable strength become clear in the fight, where she quickly takes charge by example.
• The foreman recruits Joan for the bonus attached to bringing in a professional. Once the gang’s boss dies, he and the others readily recognize Joan as their new leader.
• The Fire Dragon Gang’s members initially falter after their boss is killed, then rally around Joan when she proves capable in combat.
• Joan also recalls that her companions, including Deputy Captain Skeeter and Illymoyas, are nearby, and that Illymoyas gave her a scale—an unusual sign of trust.

Significant themes

• Violence as social mobility: In the district, strength and willingness to risk one’s life can offer laborers a chance to escape brutal mine work.
• Power and instability: Gang leadership changes abruptly, and survival depends on who can act decisively when violence erupts.
• Accidental leadership: Joan becomes a boss not through a planned promotion but because she protects the gang and proves stronger than its enemies.
• Dark humor amid danger: Joan’s thoughts about gang names and her bemused reaction to being made boss contrast with the sudden brutality of the battle.

Plot points and events

• After the Fire Dragon Gang’s boss is killed in an ambush by the World Tree Gang, newcomer Joan is unexpectedly accepted as the gang’s new leader.
• She questions the mine laborers about their conditions, then improves them: a 12-hour workday, two meals, and triple wages. She also orders padded coats, better food, and weapons.
• Joan appoints Harding as deputy leader and directs him to use the former boss’s money to buy supplies.
• Hoping to prevent further attacks and expand the gang’s territory, Joan leads the gang to strike the World Tree Gang’s nearby base. They find it abandoned: its members have fled, and its mage-apprentice leader was already killed by Joan during the earlier ambush.
• The Fire Dragon Gang takes control of the World Tree Gang’s coal mine, giving Joan two mines after only half a day as boss.

Character development and interactions

• Joan adapts quickly to leadership. She is compassionate toward the laborers, but also learns to hide that compassion when gang customs require discipline. She is decisive and willing to spend the gang’s funds on improved working conditions and supplies.
• Harding eagerly embraces Joan’s authority and is thrilled to become deputy leader, though he questions the cost of her generosity. Joan’s confidence overrules his hesitation.
• The gang members shift from demoralization after losing their boss to renewed enthusiasm when Joan promises action and a chance to gain territory.
• The laborers initially respond fearfully, accustomed to harsh treatment, but rejoice at Joan’s promises of shorter hours, more food, and higher pay.

Significant themes

• Power and survival: In the Broken Mining District, leadership changes through violence, and weaker groups must follow someone strong or flee.
• Compassion within a brutal system: Joan tries to improve laborers’ lives while navigating a world that treats people as property and rewards cruelty.
• Pragmatism and ambition: Her reforms are generous, but the gang’s willingness to accept them is reinforced by the prospect of greater profits and territory.
• Rapid adaptation: Joan turns an unexpected promotion into immediate reforms, preparations for conflict, and territorial expansion.

Plot points

• Joan takes control of Mountainside Ravine, a small mine with only thirty-nine laborers. She selects twenty-two physically capable workers as enforcers, freeing them from mine labor, and provides food while promising better conditions for everyone else.
• She leaves the mine under the deputy gang leader’s watch, but Harding insists on accompanying her. Joan reassures the former lackey now guarding the site that the mine can be retaken if lost, while a life cannot be replaced.
• On the snowy return journey, Joan proposes expanding the gang and renaming it the Freedom Gang. She also hints to Harding that she is far more than an ordinary laborer.
• A Ratfolk Wanderer slips past the group. Learning that Wanderers are nimble but widely hated and accused of stealing, Joan leaves food by the roadside and draws a smiling face in the snow as a wordless invitation.
• Back at Valoran Basin, Joan expects new recruits but the coal-buying caravan brings no slaves. Harding handles the coal sale and gives Joan what he considers her share. She refuses it and tells him to divide the money among the gang.

Character developments

• Joan increasingly acts as a leader concerned with her people’s welfare. Seeing how quickly her decisions transform the miners’ lives helps her understand Annan’s commitment to the poor. She also begins applying his generous leadership style, even catching herself nearly using his name.
• Harding is eager to serve Joan and follows her lead, though he still assumes a boss should claim a large share of the profits. His caution suggests he is unsure whether Joan’s generosity is genuine or a test.
• The former lackey shows immediate devotion to his new responsibility, while the freed laborers respond to Joan with gratitude and growing loyalty.

Character interactions

• Joan earns the miners’ trust through concrete help: freeing selected workers, offering food, and promising improved treatment.
• She challenges Harding’s contempt for Wanderers, asking him to consider whether their mountain skills could be useful. Although she recognizes the horror of their reported cannibalism, she leaves contact to Skeeter, who may know how to approach them.
• Joan rejects Harding’s attempt to give her half the sale proceeds, insisting the money belong to the gang.

Significant themes

• Compassion and practical leadership: Joan uses authority to improve people’s lives rather than enrich herself.
• Loyalty through care: Her actions win devotion more effectively than threats or force.
• Prejudice and possibility: The gang views Wanderers as dangerous thieves, but Joan looks for ways their abilities might benefit the community.
• Freedom and identity: The proposed new name reflects Joan’s ambition to build a different kind of organization, though the gang members do not yet understand what it means.

Key plot points and events

• Joan pays the Broken Mining District’s thugs from a windfall, winning their loyalty—but then realizes she has spent the money she needs to buy the slaves arriving with the traders.
• Unable to ask for the money back without damaging her image as a boss, Joan buys fifty slaves on credit, agreeing to pay twenty-five Gold Narls in ten days with two percent interest. She says she needs the workers for both her mine and the newly acquired Mountainside Ravine.
• Harding escorts the newly arrived slaves into a warm mine tunnel and praises Joan, while they notice that existing workers seem better fed and happier than they expected.
• Two imperial officials among the slaves recognize Joan as an impostor posing as a princess. They decide to watch her and the Freedom Gang before reporting anything.
• The officials connect Joan’s promises of pay and benefits to Annan’s reformist methods. They debate whether his growing influence—and possible plans in the Broken Mountains—should be reported to the Empire.

Character developments and interactions

• Joan shows generosity toward her workers, but her impulsive spending leaves her financially strained. She is also conscious of her authority and refuses to take back money once given.
• Harding remains skeptical of Joan’s generosity, yet supports her by flattering her to the slaves and carrying out her instructions.
• The imperial officials move from suspicion of Joan’s identity to cautious observation. Their past contact with Annan makes them wary of both his political influence and the consequences of his involvement in the mountains.
• Joan and the slaves meet on unequal terms—she has bought them—but her treatment of existing workers offers the newcomers reason to hope for better conditions.

Significant themes

• Generosity versus authority: Joan’s kindness earns loyalty but conflicts with the practical demands of running a gang.
• Labor and power: Workers are treated as valuable assets, yet their living conditions and treatment vary sharply between bosses.
• Reform versus stability: The officials’ discussion frames Annan’s methods as disruptive but potentially necessary to shake a rigid political order.
• Reputation and political image: Joan must maintain her boss’s image, while the Empire judges Annan by his actions rather than his peaceful rhetoric.

Character interactions

• Joan negotiates with the slave trader, accepting debt to secure the workers.
• Harding praises Joan to the slaves and leads them to shelter.
• The two officials quietly compare impressions of Joan and debate whether to report her identity and Annan’s possible plans.

Plot points

• After buying the laborers’ freedom with a loan, Joan returns to the Mine Tunnel and stops Harding from making them kneel. She explains that she can provide food and clothing immediately, but wages will have to wait until she has money.
• Joan asks where the workers’ families live and promises to send letters telling them they are safe. She spends the evening writing letters for the workers, many of whom have little to report beyond that they are alive and well.
• Three workers have no family to contact: two former Empire officials and an underage boy marked by whip wounds. Joan invites them to join the Freedom Gang, promising they will share in its meals. They accept.
• After finishing the workers’ letters, Joan realizes the rest of the gang also want to write home. Though exhausted, she resumes writing for them late into the night.

Character developments and interactions

• Joan shows that her leadership is based on dignity and care, not authority. She recognizes the workers as people with families and needs, and finds a strong sense of purpose in being needed by them. Her resentment toward the officials softens enough to welcome them into the gang.
• Harding begins by bullying the workers and expects them to obey Joan out of fear. Joan challenges him by asking him to imagine his own daughters suffering without him. The comparison moves him, and he starts to understand the workers’ humanity, though he still ingratiates himself with Joan.
• The workers are initially wary and powerless, but the offer to contact their families gives them hope. The boy and officials, who have no family to write to, gain a new one through the Freedom Gang.
• Joan’s interactions with the workers—listening to their stories, helping them write, and welcoming the outsiders—gradually turn the gang from a group of rescued laborers into a community.

Significant themes

• Dignity and compassion: Joan rejects forced deference and insists that the workers be treated as human beings rather than tools.
• Family and belonging: Letters reconnect the workers with loved ones, while the Freedom Gang offers family to those who have none.
• Purpose through service: Joan discovers that she does have desires: she feels fulfilled when others depend on her and she can make a meaningful difference in their lives.

Plot points and events

• Harding writes a letter home, revealing how much he misses his family. Joan promises she will help him visit someday and arranges for his letter—and the others—to be delivered by Illymoyas, since Golden City has no courier she trusts.
• Joan calls on Illymoyas in the snowy night and asks where the dragon is most vulnerable. Illymoyas refuses to answer and knocks Joan into the snow before leaving with the letters.
• At Teyvat Mountain, the Wolf King hears that Joan defeated Albert and took over his gang. He plans to claim Albert’s remaining territory, while leaving open the possibility of revenge depending on Joan’s response.
• The next morning, Joan surveys her enlarged gang. With twenty members in the Basin and several more at Mountainside Ravine, she decides they must secure territory quickly to cover wages, food, and her debt to the Slave Trader. There is no time for proper training: anyone who can hold a weapon and not flee qualifies.

Character developments and interactions

• Joan shows compassion beneath her tough leadership, recognizing Harding’s homesickness and arranging help without exposing his feelings to the others. His trust in her is clear, though she cannot promise his visit with certainty.
• Harding’s tender family side contrasts with his usual hard-edged manner. He manages the workers effectively, and Joan praises him for keeping them in line.
• Joan and Illymoyas share a teasing, familiar rapport, but the dragon keeps her vulnerabilities—and perhaps her secrets—to herself.
• The Wolf King is calculating and ruthless: he invokes his bond with Albert, but his decision to seize the dead leader’s assets suggests that ambition matters more than loyalty.

Significant themes

• Hidden tenderness: Even dangerous gang members have personal attachments and softer sides.
• Trust and leadership: Joan earns loyalty through practical support, but her promises and authority are tested by the gang’s precarious situation.
• Survival and urgency: Poverty, debt, and threats from rival gangs force Joan to expand and prepare quickly.
• Power and vulnerability: Joan seeks to learn Illymoyas’s weak point, while the Wolf King weighs whether to challenge her.

Chapter summary

Key plot points and events

• Joan learns that the Coal Mine’s income is heavily reduced by payments to the Grand Lord, the Oyster Gang, and the powerful Wolf Gang. The Wolf Gang also demands an additional half of the profits from Mountainside Ravine, claiming the territory belonged to the Wolf King’s brother.
• Joan rejects the demand and angrily insults the Wolf Gang. Although she considers stopping the messenger, she lets him leave, knowing she is not strong enough to fight a trained Warrior. She sends the Wolf King a threat: she will come for his head.
• The Wolf King considers retaliation, but his cautious second-in-command, Granger, warns that powerful forces may be involved in the recent takeover of the mine. Rather than act directly, they enlist the Pain Gang to investigate and attack Joan’s operation.
• The Pain Gang’s scarred boss, Aili, accepts the task and threatens to kill everyone there.
• Back at the mine, Harding and the workers fear the Wolf Gang and urge Joan to flee. Joan reassures them by claiming she represents a powerful faction with Master-level experts—and possibly an Epic—behind her. She leaves, saying she will fetch reinforcements.
• Joan waits outside the Valoran Basin with a scale, apparently trying to contact or summon Illymoyas, but it does not respond. She wonders whether Illymoyas is still delivering a letter.

Character developments and interactions

• Joan reveals her impatience with the exploitative system and her willingness to confront powerful groups, even when she knows she is outmatched. She also uses confidence and an invented story about powerful allies to steady her frightened subordinates.
• Harding is loyal and protective of Joan, repeatedly trying to prevent her from provoking the Wolf Gang. Despite his fear, he believes her claim that she has formidable backing.
• Granger emerges as the Wolf Gang’s cautious strategist, suspecting Joan may have powerful connections and preferring to use the Pain Gang to test her.
• The Wolf King is proud and vengeful, while Aili, the Pain Gang’s boss, responds to the assignment with brutal confidence.
• Two Empire officials observe Joan’s confrontation and judge her inexperienced and easily provoked.

Significant themes

• Power and exploitation: Multiple factions extract payment from the miners, leaving little profit for those doing the work.
• Courage versus capability: Joan stands up to the Wolf Gang but recognizes that her fighting ability is limited.
• Bluffing and uncertainty: Joan’s claimed reinforcements may be a strategy to maintain morale, while the Wolf Gang’s leaders are unsure what support she actually has.
• Loyalty under pressure: Harding and the gang members remain with Joan despite their fear of retaliation.

Plot and events

• After returning without reinforcements, Joan assures the Freedom Gang they are coming, though she privately knows time is running short before the Wolf Gang arrives.
• She sends Bores to warn the mining districts and dispatches others to bring the workers back from Mountainside Ravine. The gang gathers everyone at the mine to avoid being attacked in scattered groups.
• Joan tells the workers the Wolf Gang may enslave them again if the Freedom Gang falls, but promises compensation and safety for their families if they fight.
• To delay the attackers, Joan orders the mine entrance blocked with loose stones. She believes the Wolf Gang will avoid harming the workers, which could bring punishment from the powerful Oyster Gang.
• Joan asks Harding, the person she trusts most, to ride to the Wolf Gang and stall them. Though frightened for his daughter, he agrees and gives Joan his small savings to protect his family if he dies.

Character developments and interactions

• Joan shifts from confident new leader to a strained, reluctant strategist. Unable to win a direct fight, she relies on deception, evacuation, barricades, and delay—and feels the moral weight of sending Harding into danger.
• Harding shows loyalty despite his fear. He helps Joan rally the workers, then accepts the risky mission because he trusts her promise to care for his daughter.
• The workers are frightened and initially consider leaving, but Joan’s appeal to their freedom and families—and Harding’s grim warning—pushes them toward staying.
• Bores and Hahahahaharold accept important tasks: Bores spreads the warning, while Harold leads the workers in barricading the mine. Joan’s use of Harold’s unusual name briefly lightens the tense atmosphere.

Themes

• Leadership and responsibility: Joan must make choices that expose others to danger, and feels their trust as a burden.
• Freedom and solidarity: The workers are urged to defend their chance to live independently rather than return to servitude.
• Sacrifice and trust: Harding risks himself for the group, while Joan gives her word to protect his family.
• Strategy over strength: With little chance of winning a fight, the Freedom Gang’s best hope is to delay the Wolf Gang until help arrives.

Plot points and events

• Joan prepares Mountainside Ravine for the Wolf Gang’s expected attack. The workers haul rubble to the mine entrance, building a deep barrier, while Joan teaches the gang members basic military commands.
• Joan cannot reach Illymoyas. With the ground frozen, she abandons the idea of digging traps and relies on sealing the mine. Her food supply should last about a week, and she hopes reinforcements will arrive.
• Two Imperial officials privately debate whether to help Joan. Though they recognize she is an impostor, they decide they may have to protect her because of her connection to Annan Reeves.
• Lente and two companions run back to warn the workers. Dubi, however, turns against Joan, claiming she has doomed them by provoking the Wolf Gang. He captures the messengers and urges his men to abandon her and seize the mine afterward.
• Lente escapes but is accidentally killed when he falls against a lump of coal. Dubi hides the circumstances and pressures Lente’s companions to claim loyalty to Albert, the Wolf King’s brother.
• As the mine’s makeshift barricade grows, an accident injures one worker, and anxiety mounts. With the expected attack drawing nearer and the messengers still missing, Joan orders the entrance sealed.

Character developments and interactions

• Joan takes responsibility for the defense, training her followers and making a difficult final decision to close the mine despite the risk of being cut off.
• Lente remains loyal to Joan even after Dubi offers him a chance to stay safe. His resistance ends in his accidental death.
• Dubi reveals his ambition and disloyalty, hoping to exploit Joan’s likely defeat to take control of Mountainside Ravine.
• The Imperial officials shift from hesitation to a conditional resolve to protect Joan, motivated by her ties to Annan.
• The workers and gang members cooperate in the defense, but their growing unease reflects how uncertain and vulnerable their position is.

Significant themes

• Loyalty versus self-interest: Lente risks himself for Joan, while Dubi puts personal ambition ahead of the group.
• Leadership under pressure: Joan must act with incomplete information and limited resources.
• Fear and uncertainty: The delayed messengers, approaching enemy, and sealed entrance intensify the group’s isolation and anxiety.
• Betrayal and political allegiance: Dubi’s attempt to align with Albert shows that danger comes not only from the Wolf Gang outside but also from divisions within.

Key plot points and events

• At the Wolf Gang’s cavern, Granger rejects the Freedom Gang’s offer to share profits and demands Joan kneel before him. The Wolf King suggests she is already dead, and Harding is prevented from leaving.
• In the Broken Mining District, Jody urges Fisher to join the Blade of Freedom, arguing that people remain oppressed because they have stopped believing they can fight back. Fisher recalls how poverty and unfair systems repeatedly thwarted his attempts to build a life. Though moved, he postpones his answer until Jody returns.
• News arrives that the Wolf Gang is targeting Joan in Valoran Ravine. Jody leaves to help, while Fisher offers to send someone with him.
• Gloria, an intimidating Orc, captures Bores, a messenger carrying the warning. Learning Joan—the “Princess”—is in danger, Gloria orders him to lead her there and declares she needs no reinforcements.
• The Wolf Gang and its allies reach the apparently deserted mine tunnel. Aili notices the warm stove ashes and realizes Joan’s people have not fled but are hiding inside.

Character developments and interactions

• Jody reveals his conviction in the Blade of Freedom’s ideals and challenges Fisher to recover his former belief in justice. He shifts immediately from recruiting Fisher to helping Joan.
• Fisher is shown as principled but embittered by repeated exploitation. Jody recognizes his concern for his workers as evidence that his conscience remains, leaving open the possibility that Fisher will join.
• Gloria responds fiercely to the threat against Joan, whom she identifies as the Princess; her confidence and strength frighten Bores into guiding her.
• Aili shows sharp observational judgment, seeing through the appearance of abandonment at the tunnel.
• Granger and the Wolf King demonstrate the Wolf Gang’s contempt and brutality toward Joan, while Harding tries to appease them.

Significant themes

• Oppression and resistance: Jody argues that resignation allows the powerful to keep exploiting ordinary people.
• Hope versus fatalism: Fisher’s experience has made change seem impossible, while Jody insists that impossibility is no excuse not to try.
• Conscience and solidarity: Fisher’s treatment of his workers distinguishes him from those who exploit them, and the warning draws several characters toward Joan’s defense.
• Appearances can deceive: The mine seems abandoned, but Aili recognizes that Joan’s people are still concealed inside.

Plot and events

• Aili’s Pain Gang spends hours clearing rubble from a mine tunnel where the Freedom Gang is hiding. Rama listens at the barrier and is killed when a sword thrusts through the stones.
• Furious, Aili uses Rama’s bow to suppress the defenders, allowing his people to clear the blockage. The Freedom Gang’s fighters wear layers of leather armor and iron pots, using makeshift spears to hold the narrow entrance.
• The Pain Gang breaks through after a costly struggle. Aili kills the armored defender at the entrance, then confronts Joan, who is leading the defenders.
• Joan urges the workers to fight for their families and charges Aili, but he easily knocks her down. His gang overwhelms the defenders in a brutal massacre.
• Joan tells Aili they are both from the Northern Frontier and should not fight one another. Aili hesitates, but chooses to continue, calling it a fight for survival. He kicks her sword toward her and tells her to fight like a warrior.
• Joan sees the defenders continue fighting despite having little chance. Among the dying is Haha, who clarifies with his last words that “Haha” is his name, not laughter.

Character developments and interactions

• Aili shifts from controlled leadership to rage after Rama’s death. Though he briefly responds to Joan’s appeal to shared origins, loyalty to his fallen companions and the Wolf King’s promise outweighs any sense of kinship.
• Joan shows courage and responsibility, trying to rally workers who are poorly equipped and outmatched. Even after being injured, she refuses to abandon them.
• Rama dies while scouting the barrier, prompting Aili’s violent retaliation.
• The workers and gang members fight despite their fear and weakness, revealing their determination and loyalty to one another.
• Aili and Joan embody the clash between survival and solidarity: they share a homeland, but become enemies in a struggle that neither side can escape.

Significant themes

• Survival and the cost of loyalty: Aili’s group has endured a punishing journey and sees the fight as necessary for survival.
• Courage amid hopelessness: Joan and the workers resist despite overwhelming odds.
• The tragedy of internal conflict: People from the same frontier are driven to kill one another.
• Names and dignity: Haha’s final correction preserves his identity in the midst of the massacre.