Chapter Summaries

At Asta’s banquet, Louis’s fireworks concealed a barbarian assault on the Frost Dragon Fief, turning the celebration into a massacre. As the barbarians stormed the manor, Kalk recognized Louis and charged him with four powerful warriors.

• Asta resented the nobles’ attention to Louis, while Uru learned that Louis knew about the attack and promised to protect Uru’s wife and daughter.
• Kalk led the barbarian warriors through the north gate and secret passage, killing guards as fireworks masked their advance.
• The barbarians emerged from an underground wine cellar and attacked the manor, setting fires and killing knights.
• Asta’s banquet erupted into panic as Sever organized the defenders, but the barbarian assault overwhelmed them.
• Kalk spotted Louis amid the fighting, recognized him from Uru’s portrait, and charged with four warriors possessing transcendent battle aura.

Louis used his Sorrowflame Vine Court magic to kill Kalk and four other transcendent barbarian warriors, while Asta was killed during the assault on the manor. Lambert arrived with the Red Tide Knight Order, and Louis ordered his forces to capture a few important figures and kill the rest.

• Vale shielded Louis from Kalk and four other transcendent barbarians with Absolute Defense, while Louis's eerie fire burned through their battle aura and killed them.
• Uru saw Louis's magic destroy the strongest barbarian warriors and realized their plan had failed.
• Six barbarians attacked Asta and his guards; Sever fought to protect him, but Asta fled and was killed.
• Lambert arrived at the manor with the Red Tide Knight Order and led them in tearing apart the barbarian formation.
• Lambert apologized to Louis for arriving late, and Louis ordered him to capture a few important figures and kill everyone else.

After the barbarians’ attack on the Frost Dragon Fief manor, Louis used the nobles’ meeting to present evidence that Sixth Prince Asta had colluded with the barbarians and allied noble families. The chapter left the surviving nobles facing incriminating letters that tied Holmes, Klan, Bolton, Harlov, and Himan to a plot against Red Tide.

• Lambert reported that Asta, Viscount Bolton, and several other nobles had died, while Red Tide kept Uru and his two lieutenants prisoner.
• Louis gathered the surviving nobles and called for an investigation into the attack, then Lambert displayed a barbarian sacred object found on Asta’s body.
• Camille accused Asta of conspiring with Holmes, Klan, Bolton, Harlov, Himan, and the barbarians, and Louis ordered searches of the named nobles’ lodgings.
• Uru confessed that Asta had ordered the barbarians to disrupt Red Tide and produced documents bearing Asta’s signature and the Frost Dragon Fief’s seal.
• Frostfang and Nak testified that Asta had given them a badge and token and ordered them to open the north gate for the barbarians.
• Lambert’s search party returned with sealed letters implicating Holmes, Klan, Bolton, Harlov, and Himan in plans to undermine Red Tide.

Louis sentenced the conspirators after the Barbarian attack, then used the Reconstruction Conference to propose a Northern Frontier alliance under Red Tide’s leadership. The conference ended with half of the prominent nobles signing the covenant, while the rest withheld their support.

• Lambert presented letters implicating Holmes, Klan, Bolton, Harlov, and Himan in a conspiracy against Red Tide, and Sever claimed responsibility to protect Asta.
• Louis sent Sever and Asta’s family to the Imperial Capital for trial and ordered Holmes, Klan, Harlov, and Himan executed.
• Four days later, Louis opened the Reconstruction Conference and called on the Northern Frontier’s nobles to unite after the Sixth Imperial Prince’s death.
• Bradley outlined Red Tide’s proposed alliance, offering shared supplies, trade benefits, coordinated defense, military support, and other services to participating fiefs.
• Joern and more than a dozen other nobles signed the alliance covenant, leaving half of the Northern Frontier’s prominent nobles committed.

Duke Spencer Raymont publicly presented himself as Greyrock’s benevolent patron while secretly expanding experiments on orphaned children to develop Dragon Marrow Extract. Meanwhile, Louis left Frost Dragon Ridge after securing more than half the Northern Frontier’s nobles and planned to consolidate his influence gradually.

• Raymont received a report that Louis had defeated the Barbarians, killed Sixth Prince Asta, and brought much of the Northern Frontier under Red Tide control.
• Raymont ordered increased intelligence gathering and began planning to contain Louis through trade, alliances, and financial pressure.
• Raymont visited Greyrock’s underground laboratory, where alchemists used orphaned children and a dead dragon to develop a mass-producible source of battle aura.
• Raymont ordered the alchemists to increase the dosage despite the children’s short life expectancy, then returned aboveground to resume his benevolent public image.
• Louis woke during his journey away from Frost Dragon Ridge and reflected that more than half the Northern Frontier’s nobles had joined his system.
• Louis summoned the Daily Intelligence System as his carriage continued onward.

Louis reviewed intelligence about Red Tide’s new steam vehicle, Carville’s fleet, and Duke Raymont’s Dragon Marrow Extract before arriving at Frost Glaive City to inspect its reconstruction. He reaffirmed his plans for the city and left Orien and the craftsmen with a vision of its future.

• Louis learned that Red Tide had built its first steam-powered land transport vehicle, Carville’s scouts were watching Dawnlight Harbor, and Raymont had refined a second-generation Dragon Marrow Extract.
• Louis planned to monitor Greyrock Province and accelerate Red Tide’s military development while preparing to destroy Carville’s pirate fleet at a time of his choosing.
• Louis arrived at Frost Glaive City and explained that rebuilding it would honor his promise to Duke Edmund, establish Isaac’s rightful rule, and create a military and political hub for the Northern Frontier.
• Orien Arden and Harold Greer welcomed Louis, who described plans for the city and corrected details in its heating, drainage, and industrial works.
• Louis inspected the reconstruction and saw the monument honoring those who died for the Northern Frontier, helping Orien understand his commitment to rebuilding the city.

Louis oversaw Hamilton’s successful test of Red Tide’s first steam vehicle and directed him to develop rail and war machines before leaving for Dawnlight Harbor. There, Carville prepared to attack the harbor while secretly planning to fake his death and abandon his pirates, unaware that Louis had uncovered his calculations.

• Louis visited Red Tide’s testing grounds, where Hamilton demonstrated the working steam vehicle and explained how its piston and gears drove it.
• Louis praised Hamilton, ordered further improvements, and set the next goal of building rail vehicles and war machines.
• Louis delegated Red Tide’s administrative and armament work to Bradley, then departed for Dawnlight Harbor.
• Carville’s scouts reported weaknesses in Dawnlight Harbor’s defenses, and Carville rallied his fleet for a planned surprise attack.
• After the pirates dispersed, Carville revealed that he intended to steal the cargo, fake his death, and escape with his treasure, leaving the fleet behind.
• Louis had already learned of Carville’s hidden calculations through intelligence reports.

Carville led the Mad King's fleet into the Rift Tide Belt to ambush the Red Tide convoy, but Louis had anticipated the attack and trapped the pirates in Silco's floating-mine formation. After losing many ships, Carville ordered the surviving pirates to press their assault on the cargo vessels.

• Carville planned to destroy the Red Tide convoy in the Rift Tide Belt and led thirty-seven black-sailed ships into the ambush site.
• Carville's fleet attacked three unmanned Red Tide frigates used as decoys, believing the opening assault had succeeded.
• Louis watched from the Dawnlight as the Thunderclap Formation detonated beneath the pirates' tightly grouped ships, destroying ten vessels.
• The Dawnlight frigates revealed their cannons and sank another damaged pirate ship while Carville realized the attack was a trap.
• Carville ordered the surviving pirates to spread sharkfire oil, form a smoke screen, and charge the cargo ships for a second assault.

Louis’s Dawnlight fleet destroyed Carville’s pirate armada and captured him after he tried to escape. Under interrogation, Carville revealed his hidden treasure locations, and Louis sent knights to recover them.

• Carville’s fleet attacked Dawnlight, but its shells barely damaged the armored ships, while Dawnlight’s specialized bombs tore through the pirate ships.
• Carville ordered his surviving ships to retreat, then set the Wave Devourer ablaze and escaped by boat, but Red Tide Knights captured him.
• Louis identified himself to Carville and used the pirate’s family in Seril Harbor to frighten him before ordering him interrogated for his treasure locations.
• Elliott’s knights used a mist and syringe to compel Carville to reveal hidden treasure coordinates, which they recorded.
• Louis watched as the knights set out to dig at the locations Carville had disclosed.

After the Dawnlight fleet defeated the Mad King's pirates, Louis recovered the pirates’ spoils and ordered valuable devices, charts, and documents secured. Four days later, the fleet began its first long voyage to the Empire’s Southeast Province, leaving Dawnlight Harbor amid cheers and fireworks.

• The Dawnlight fleet returned to the harbor without losing a ship, and Elliott praised Louis for his precise command of the battle.
• Louis and Elliott oversaw the salvage of the Mad King's treasure, including Ashen Guild records, a Boom Cannon core, Alchemical Fire Oil, and nautical charts.
• Louis ordered Silco to study the recovered weapons and told Elliott to verify the charts and preserve letters that could prove useful.
• Four days after the pirates' defeat, Louis addressed Dawnlight Harbor’s residents before the fleet prepared to sail for the Empire’s Southeast Province.
• Elliott ordered the ships to weigh anchor, and the Dawnlight fleet sailed out as residents cheered and alchemical fireworks lit the harbor.

Louis planned to expand Red Tide’s grain systems among allied territories as he prepared for growing turmoil in the Empire. Meanwhile, Merian successfully tamed a white bear, and Louis approved the creation of the Red Tide Beast Corps and the first White Bear Knight Order.

• Bradley reported a bumper harvest of about three hundred and forty thousand tonnes, and Louis decided to reserve grain for allies while charging nobles outside Red Tide’s system higher prices.
• Louis and Bradley drafted a plan to introduce Red Tide’s grain-production methods and oversight system to allied territories, with contracts, standard granaries, and penalties for resistance.
• Merian shifted from Frost Giant research to taming magical beasts and discovered that adding Frostheart Solution could calm a white bear.
• Merian’s trained white bear obeyed combat commands during a demonstration, charging through a reinforced shield wall and stopping on command.
• Louis approved the Red Tide Beast Corps and the first White Bear Knight Order, then rewarded Merian with gold coins and rare materials.

Arwin Sait led the Dawnlight Fleet from the Northern Frontier to Viro Harbor, where the nine warships and their valuable cargo astonished the harbor authorities. After the fleet docked, Arwin reunited with his cousin Toran and invited him to join Red Tide.

• Arwin Sait recalled how his fleet survived a three-day storm, thick fog, and a pirate attack before reaching the Southeast Province.
• Dalin spotted the nine warships approaching Viro Harbor and raised the alarm, but Herman Kelvin recognized the Red Tide flags and ordered the harbor to welcome them.
• Arwin led the fleet into the harbor and greeted Herman while workers unloaded rare minerals, weapons, fabrics, and furs from the Northern Frontier.
• Herman was astonished by the fleet and its cargo and hurriedly wrote a letter to the Duke.
• Arwin reunited with Toran, thanked him for saving his life, gave him gold, and invited him to join Red Tide, but Toran declined.

Duke Calvin recognized that Louis had made Red Tide powerful and independent, and decided to renegotiate their trade relationship as the Empire approached a succession crisis. Selton feared Louis might threaten his claim to lead the Calvin Family, while Rhein worked to strengthen his faction and ordered an investigation into Louis.

• Duke Calvin learned that nine Red Tide warships had reached Viro Harbor and concluded that Louis controlled the Northern Frontier beyond the family’s influence.
• Duke Calvin ordered new trade terms for Red Tide under a partnership framework and went to meet Eduardo, who had returned to the estate.
• Selton Calvin feared Louis’s growing power and resolved to secure his own position as head of the Calvin Family.
• Rhein received Mace’s promise to raise his proposal and discussed the imperial factions with Karen Saul.
• Rhein ordered funds sent to Mace and directed the Intelligence Directorate to investigate Louis’s movements.

Louis learned that Duke Calvin planned to separate Red Tide from the Calvin Trading Company and began planning how to make Red Tide independent. He also discovered that Sif was pregnant, then met with Bradley and Deslan to discuss alternative trade routes and outside partners.

• Louis learned that Rhein was pushing to restore the Elector System and that Duke Calvin intended to place Red Tide under a new partnership agreement.
• Louis discovered that Sif was pregnant and shared his happiness with Sif and Emily.
• Louis told Bradley and Deslan that Red Tide would not return to the Calvin Family’s system and explained how he had prepared its personnel and finances for independence.
• Bradley and Deslan proposed separating Red Tide’s network from the family’s, contacting outside nobles, and finding alternative shipping and foreign trade routes.
• Louis decided to contact Joern and explore Count Harvey’s connections while Bradley and Deslan carried out the other preparations.

Louis strengthened Red Tide’s southern trade prospects by proposing cooperation with the Harvey Family, then exposed Jade Federation agent Layton From and sent him away with a trade proposal. Layton fled Red Tide that night, carrying Louis’s letter to his superiors.

• Louis hosted Yorn Harvey and proposed that the Harvey Family provide ports and warehousing for a joint trading company, promising Red Tide’s support for the New Noble Alliance.
• Yorn agreed to deliver Louis’s letter to Count Harvey and pursue the partnership.
• Red Tide Knights seized Layton From at Cold Salt Hall and brought him before Louis.
• Louis revealed that he knew Layton belonged to the Blue Tide Guild and offered trade in cold iron, demon marrow, and other minerals.
• Louis gave Layton a sealed letter for his superior, then ordered the knights to return him to Cold Salt Hall.
• Layton hurriedly packed up and fled south from Red Tide with his attendants.

Louis exposed Federation guild spies in Red Tide and offered them regulated trade while warning them to stay out of the Northern Frontier. In the south, Count Harvey weighed Louis’s trade proposal and decided to begin cautiously with a trial shipment, leaving the two houses poised to negotiate.

• Louis identified several Federation guild operatives in Red Tide, described their activities, and sent them back with a trade proposal and a warning against interference.
• Louis watched Red Tide’s lights and reflected that he had chosen his own path despite his father’s decisions.
• Count Harvey reviewed the Empire’s political and commercial crises before receiving letters from Joern and Louis.
• Count Harvey read Joern’s enthusiastic account of Louis’s proposal, then examined Louis’s detailed plan to exchange northern goods for access to southern ports and supplies.
• Count Harvey decided to express interest and send representatives north to test the partnership with one route and one shipment.

Selna Grovel approved trade with Louis Calvin after Red Tide exposed the Blue Tide Guild’s spy and offered a detailed partnership. In Red Tide, Mary and her family celebrated the Spring Opening Festival before watching Louis address the gathered city.

• Layton From reported that Louis Calvin had discovered the Blue Tide Guild’s Northern Frontier operation but sent back a trade proposal instead of punishing him.
• Selna reviewed Red Tide’s growth and Louis’s offer, then authorized a trade envoy and a station while excluding military supplies and intelligence.
• Mary, Smith, and Innie enjoyed the Spring Opening Festival, where residents praised Lord Louis for the city’s prosperity.
• Mary’s family joined the crowds at Sunfire Plaza, where Pete helped keep order and the fire pillars were lit.
• Louis appeared on the platform, and the crowd fell silent as Mary watched him in the firelight.

At the Spring Opening Festival, Louis urged Red Tide’s people to help rebuild struggling communities across the Northern Frontier. The next morning, he planned cautious trade partnerships and harbor expansion while Pete joined the crowd gathering to register for the relief effort.

• Louis praised Red Tide’s achievements and called on its people to join a new recruitment drive to rebuild villages and towns across the Northern Frontier.
• The next morning, Bradley briefed Louis on spring preparations and delivered the Blue Tide Guild’s cautious offer to trade through the Cold Salt Caravan.
• Louis ordered a Covert Department to manage guild dealings, set rules for fair contracts, and expand Dawnlight Harbor and smaller ports discreetly.
• Pete put on his junior official’s uniform and headed to Administrative Plaza, where crowds had gathered to register for the Red Tide Relief Team.

Pete joined Red Tide’s Spring Aid Team as a logistics candidate, passed selection, and completed seven days of training in relief work, administration, and a three-year plan for reshaping the Northern Frontier. The chapter left him setting out by carriage to carry Red Tide’s systems and aid to distant villages.

• Pete registered for the Spring Aid Team as a logistics candidate and was later selected for the first batch.
• Pete and the other candidates took an oath before Bradley and heard Louis tell them to prioritize common people and report nobles who obstructed their work.
• Pete studied relief procedures, administrative systems, and methods for limiting noble authority during the seven-day course.
• Pete learned Red Tide’s three-year strategy to stabilize the Northern Frontier, introduce its systems, and bring villages under its administrative order.
• Pete departed by carriage with his handbook, uncertain about the challenges ahead but determined to bring Red Tide’s aid beyond the city.

Lampard learned that the Regent King’s condition had briefly improved after taking an Ochreleaf Essence Fruit, then consulted Divine Envoy Salomon about the curse weakening him. Lampard left determined to continue his plan to divide the Empire and establish an Eastern Empire under the Golden Feather Flower Church’s backing.

• A young personal guard saw the Regent King regain consciousness after taking an Ochreleaf Essence Fruit and secretly reported that he was out of danger.
• Lampard received the message and went to the hidden cellar beneath his residence to meet Divine Envoy Salomon.
• Lampard told Salomon that the Regent King’s condition had stabilized, and Salomon said the curse would still kill him within two years.
• Lampard recalled how he had stirred disorder across the Empire and revealed that he intended to divide it rather than claim the whole throne.
• Lampard thanked Salomon and accepted that the curse would take longer to finish its work.