Recaps

Muska joined Mu En’s group after receiving the Erdtree’s blessing and revealed that he had been entrusted with a new plan. In Valley Town’s church, he began presenting the “Golden Realm Plan” to Dola and the others.

• Dola worried that Muska’s position as head of the Northern Kingdom’s Intelligence Department made him dangerous, despite Mu En’s blessing.
• Muska apologized to Sheeta, promised not to pursue Laputa, and asked to discuss the deity’s plan with Dola and the others.
• Mu En assured Dola that Muska could be trusted for now, and the group returned to Valley Town instead of meeting aboard the damaged Goliath.
• Duffi led the townspeople back after Mu En confirmed the Goliath was no longer a threat, and the group gathered in the town church.
• Muska told Dola, Duffi, and the others that Mu En had entrusted him with new responsibilities and introduced the Golden Realm Plan.

Muska outlined the Golden Realm Plan to spread the Erdtree’s influence through the Northern Kingdom by winning over elites with blessings and sending Valley Town believers to aid the poor. He assigned Dola, Pazu, and Sheeta to continue the Laputa Plan and search for the Castle in the Sky, with Simon and the Goliath supporting them.

• Muska explained that blessings could persuade the kingdom’s powerful leaders to become loyal believers and that church officials could be silenced or bribed.
• He recruited the residents of Valley Town as the first missionaries, who would spread the Erdtree’s faith among workers and the poor.
• Muska announced that Dola, Pazu, and Sheeta would continue the Laputa Plan and search for the Castle in the Sky, while Simon placed the Goliath at their command.
• Muska described five steps for the Golden Realm Plan, including training believers, granting missionaries blessings, courting powerful figures, and sending missionaries to major cities.
• Muska declared that the Northern Kingdom would fall under Lord Erdtree’s control as the powerful depended on blessings and the common people gathered under the golden faith.

Mu En reviewed the gains and plans from his intervention in Castle in the Sky, then returned his attention to the Valley of the Wind. The chapter ended with Yupa’s team approaching the Sea of Corruption to begin its advance exploration.

• Mu En reflected that he had brought Muska and Dola under his command and left Pazu and Sheeta to travel toward Laputa.
• Mu En discovered that his connection with the Fallingstar Beast had given him a fledgling ability to control gravity.
• Mu En decided to send the Fallingstar Beast with Dola’s group to Laputa as a bodyguard and to make him exercise.
• Mu En shifted his focus back to the Valley of the Wind and chose to review Yupa’s Sea of Corruption exploration team first.
• Yupa led ten masked riders on black Horseclaws across the desert and stopped on a dune near their destination.

Yupa led Sura to the edge of the Sea of Corruption to test how the forest’s fungi reacted to the Erdtree’s power. They reached an insect-food tree and began their investigation, leaving the cause of the fungi’s reaction unresolved.

• Yupa explained the dormant forest’s ecology and warned Sura and the expedition team to keep their insect flutes and flashbangs ready and never shoot at insects.
• Yupa took Sura toward the forest while the other eight team members stayed behind to guard the expedition.
• Yupa questioned whether the Erdtree’s power had truly caused the hyphae to wither and decided to test his suspicion himself.
• Yupa scraped powder from an insect-food tree into a test tube, and the liquid turned purplish-black, showing that the bark still contained deadly poison.
• Sura pressed his gloved hand against the tree and prepared himself for the dangerous test, feeling excitement rather than fear.

Sura used the Law of Regression on the Sea of Corruption, causing a wide area of fungi to wither and turn gray without provoking an insect swarm. Yupa found that the fungi’s remains were nontoxic, leaving him to suspect that the Sea of Corruption itself was not poisonous.

• Sura cast the Law of Regression across the insect-feed tree and the surrounding fungi while Yupa watched.
• The fungi within the spell’s reach turned gray and withered, and the insect-feed tree’s lower half died.
• Yupa collected a sample, and he and Sura retreated with their team when the forest showed no response.
• Yupa tested the sample and found that the withered fungi were nontoxic.
• Yupa considered that the Sea of Corruption’s fungi might have been poisoned rather than naturally toxic.

Mu En learned that the Sea of Corruption’s fungi purified the world by absorbing toxins, and he shared the revelation with Yupa while reviewing the Valley of the Wind expedition’s progress. The camp had gathered valuable materials and the Blessed had proven capable explorers, but Mu En’s attention shifted to problems facing Nausicaä and Meila.

• Mu En realized he had never told Yupa that the Sea of Corruption’s fungi were not inherently poisonous and explained how their environment affected them.
• Mu En told Yupa that the Sea of Corruption purified toxins into clean sand and water vapor, leaving Yupa shaken by the implications for humanity.
• Yupa reported that Erdtree’s power caused no adverse reaction in the Sea of Corruption and described the expedition’s sheltered forward camp and gathered resources.
• Yupa recounted how five Blessed villagers drove off a giant king dragonfly by baiting it and beating it with their fists and feet.
• Mu En concluded that the expedition should continue with the resources available and turned his attention to the difficulties facing Nausicaä and Meila.

Meila’s rescue team defeated a band of robbers in a desert valley, only to be confronted by wealthy travelers claiming the dead men were their guards. Kamlin took over the tense standoff and asked whether they admitted the men had been their guards.

• Meila’s rescue team reached a sheltered valley near Pejite after three days of searching for refugees along the desert route.
• The team encountered armed men blocking the narrow pass, and the newly selected Blessed Warriors swiftly killed nearly all of them.
• The surviving robber fled, while Kamlin called off the fight and the team began gathering weapons and preparing to bury the dead.
• A group of well-equipped travelers accused the rescue team of murdering their guards and demanded supplies, compensation, and Horseclaws.
• Meila struggled to reason with the accusers, so Kamlin stepped forward and asked whether the dead men had been their guards.

Kamlin and the Blessed Warriors defeated a group of Pejite nobles who had tried to rob their supplies, then learned that the rebels had taken Pejite City and the nobles had fled. Meila urged the group to continue to her hometown and help its refugees.

• Kamlin warned the armed refugees that their attempted robbery made them accomplices to banditry, but they ordered their guards to attack.
• Kamlin and the ten Blessed Warriors deflected the gunfire, disarmed the guards, and captured the thirty refugees without killing them.
• The captives confessed that they were former Pejite nobles fleeing the rebels, and had sent guards disguised as bandits to steal supplies.
• Meila mourned the suffering caused by Pejite's civil war, and Kamlin reminded her that they had come to help the refugees.
• Meila rallied herself and led Kamlin's group toward Pejite.

Kamlin’s rescue team reached Pejite City, where the war was winding down and few refugees wanted to leave. Mu En instructed Kamlin to secretly recruit believers by using Order Healing to cure Sea of Corruption Disease, and Kamlin prepared to begin.

• Kamlin offered the captured guards a choice between helping refugees and leaving without supplies, then stripped the former nobles of their weapons and provisions.
• Kamlin and Meila reported that Pejite City was controlled by the Explorers’ Association and that few people were willing to join the rescue team.
• Mu En told Kamlin to use healing to spread faith among the refugees without displaying his power publicly.
• Mu En taught Kamlin Order Healing, which could remove Sea of Corruption Disease and restore patients’ health.
• Mu En promised to make loyal believers Blessed and protect the team, and Kamlin resolved to travel as a healer.

Mu En’s group drew attention in the shantytown by offering free medical treatment, and rumors of their miraculous cures spread. The commander of the Mercenary Corps of the Wind decided to visit them himself, hoping they might cure his illness and missing arm.

• Mu En’s group treated refugees and mercenaries for free, prompting stories of their cures to spread through the shantytown.
• Kamlin and the others learned that disability was widespread among the residents and attracted the notice of the Mercenary Corps of the Wind.
• A burly subordinate told the commander that people who received treatment had recovered from severe injuries.
• The commander, who had lost his left arm and spent his savings seeking a cure, agreed to inspect the healers himself.

Kamlin and the Blessed Warriors treated shantytown residents while spreading the Erdtree’s teachings, but their efforts turned tense when a mercenary leader rejected their message. The chapter ended with him ordering his men to attack Kamlin and the other two healers.

• Kamlin’s group treated more than a hundred shantytown residents through mobile clinics, requiring patients to hear the Erdtree’s teachings first.
• Mu En rewarded the Blessed with one Rune for every new believer and arranged for the mercenaries to receive silver wages.
• Ashta and his men forced their way into Kamlin’s tent, and their sickly leader asked what the Golden Order taught.
• Kamlin explained the Erdtree’s beliefs in equality, fair rewards for labor, health, and justice, angering the leader.
• The leader ordered his men to chop up Kamlin and the other two Blessed Warriors and throw them to the insects.

Kamlin and two Blessed Warriors defeated the Mercenary Corps of the Wind’s fighters, but their commander collapsed from the Sea of Corruption’s poison during his duel with Kamlin. As the commander neared death, Erdtree’s Favor revived him, and he saw the Erdtree.

• More than twenty members of the Mercenary Corps of the Wind tried to surround Kamlin and his two companions, but the Blessed Warriors defeated them in close combat.
• The commander prepared to fight Kamlin after realizing his subordinates had been beaten and that he could not let the defeat go unanswered.
• Kamlin proposed that if the commander lost, he would stop obstructing them and help spread the Erdtree’s teachings, but the commander attacked instead.
• The commander suddenly coughed blood and collapsed, revealing that the Sea of Corruption’s poison had reached its limit.
• Erdtree’s Favor flooded the dying commander with golden light, and he saw the Erdtree before losing consciousness.

Kamlin healed the Wind's captain with Erdtree's Favor, but the captain's internal injuries remained severe. After the Mercenary Corps of the Wind agreed to join Kamlin's efforts in exchange for treatment, the captain passed out again before healing could begin.

• Kamlin used Erdtree's Favor to revive the captain, and the mercenaries gathered around him in relief.
• The captain began coughing up blood again, revealing that his injuries were not limited to external wounds.
• Ashta offered to accept Kamlin's earlier terms if he cured the captain, but Kamlin demanded that the mercenaries join them and help their fellow countrymen.
• The captain agreed on condition that Kamlin swear in the Erdtree's name that his promises were true.
• Kamlin swore to help everyone in need, and the captain collapsed unconscious before Kamlin realized he was being asked to treat him.

Kamlin and the Blessed Warriors healed Wawar, whose mercenaries then explained their history and why they had mistaken Kamlin’s group for swindlers. Impressed by Wawar’s efforts to protect others, Kamlin invited him to become one of Lord Divine Tree’s people.

• Kamlin’s companions used Incantations to cure Wawar’s poisoning and restore his left arm, and the Mercenary Corps of the Wind pledged their service.
• Ashta explained that the group had once been the Expedition Corps of the Wind and had survived an expedition into the Sea of Corruption with the late King Deus.
• Ashta said insect tamers attacked the expedition, where Wawar lost his left arm while protecting his men.
• After the Explorers' Association withheld their contracted payment, Wawar confronted its chairman, and the group later became an independent mercenary corps.
• Ashta explained that Wawar sheltered refugees, refused to spend their savings on himself, and banned unknown missionaries after his men were swindled by fake healers.
• Kamlin offered Wawar the chance to become one of Lord Divine Tree’s people.

Wawar joined the Erdtree’s people after witnessing the strength of Kamlin and the other Blessed Warriors, and the Mercenary Corps of the Wind helped the rescue team expand its influence in Pejite’s shantytowns. Mu En planned to unite the outer city before turning toward Pejite’s powerful inner-city factions, while the joint gathering began with Nausicaä.

• Kamlin defeated Wawar in a spar, and Wawar accepted the Erdtree’s Blessed Dew, becoming the fifth Golden Folk.
• Wawar tested his new strength by throwing the heavy Ashta over ten meters, astonishing the Mercenary Corps of the Wind.
• Mu En watched Kamlin’s work and was pleased that the rescue team had recruited the mercenaries and improved its relief and missionary efforts.
• At Mu En’s direction, Kamlin and the others avoided expanding into Pejite City and focused instead on bringing the outer shantytowns under their control.
• Mu En planned to use Pejite’s trade and intelligence networks to spread Erdtree faith farther afield, including into the Torumekian Empire.
• Mu En turned his attention to Nausicaä as the joint gathering began.

Nausicaä traveled with the Valley of the Wind’s caravan to Mining Town for the Commercial Federation’s trade gathering and learned about the ancient flying-ship ruin beneath the settlement. After meeting Chairman Haideng, she sensed that he and Elder Trudeau secretly disliked each other, leaving her wondering what had happened between them.

• Nausicaä rode with Elder Trudeau toward Mining Town as he explained that the settlement was built over a vast Ceramic Steel ruin believed to be an ancient flying ship.
• The Valley of the Wind’s caravan reached Mining Town, where Nausicaä saw many aircraft, including a distinctive wooden Dorok ship.
• Trudeau introduced Nausicaä to Chairman Haideng, Pejite’s minister of commerce and head of the Commercial Federation, and the caravan completed registration.
• As the caravan entered its assigned camp, Nausicaä sensed that Trudeau and Haideng inwardly disliked each other and wondered whether they had a past grievance.

Nausicaä and Trudeau prepared the Valley of the Wind’s booth at the joint gathering’s nations’ exhibition area. After renting counters and arranging their goods, they opened the display as the morning sun reached the market.

• Nausicaä and Trudeau toured the exhibition hall and viewed goods displayed by several countries.
• Trudeau explained that only a dozen or so countries qualified for the nations’ exhibition area and warned Nausicaä that Haideng held grudges.
• Trudeau paid two gold snake coins to rent counters for the first half of the gathering, despite the attendant’s stated four-coin fee.
• Trudeau told Nausicaä that Haideng had imposed extra fees and had previously ended gatherings early with false warnings.
• Nausicaä and the Valley of the Wind’s caravan arranged their exhibits under Trudeau’s direction, and the booth opened for business.

Nausicaä and Trudeau opened the Valley of the Wind’s stall at Mining Town’s exhibition, showcasing giant Blessed Crops, grape juice, and soybean oil. As merchants gathered to sample the food, a grating voice interrupted them with a warning.

• Nausicaä and her companions arrived in Mining Town on the exhibition’s third day, with many stalls still vacant.
• Trudeau presented the Valley of the Wind’s giant Blessed Crops, grape juice, and soybean oil to attract merchants.
• A goateed merchant praised his own region’s Fruit Vine while dismissing the Valley of the Wind’s wine.
• Trudeau explained the crops’ qualities as merchants speculated about their origins.
• Nausicaä brought out samples of the crops and Blessed grape juice for the merchants to taste.
• An unknown speaker shouted, “Wait!” just as the merchants were about to sample the food.

Nausicaä defended the Valley of the Wind’s Blessed Grape Juice after Muhadi denounced it at the exhibition. The merchants sampled the drink, rejected Muhadi’s claims, and rushed to place orders as he left in disgrace.

• Muhadi tasted the Blessed Grape Juice, spat it out, and criticized its sweetness and quality in front of the gathered merchants.
• Trudeau tried to explain that the product was grape juice rather than wine, but Muhadi accused the Valley of the Wind of cheating customers and selling inferior goods.
• Nausicaä explained that the juice was intended as an affordable drink for commoners and announced that it cost two Gold Snake Coins per barrel.
• Nausicaä arranged for merchants to sample the juice, and they found it delicious and judged Muhadi’s accusations false.
• Nausicaä challenged Muhadi’s belief that only expensive goods were proper business, and he left the booth in anger.
• The merchants eagerly placed orders and asked about the Valley of the Wind’s other Blessed Crops products.

Nausicaä promoted the Valley of the Wind’s products to merchants, and a demonstration of its inexpensive soybean oil and fried potato patties drew an excited crowd. As the stand became the exhibition’s main attraction, Asbel, prince of Pejite, asked Nausicaä to speak privately about an important matter.

• Nausicaä limited grape juice purchases and directed bulk-order merchants to Elder Trudeau to negotiate contracts.
• Merchants inspected the vegetables and grape juice, while Nausicaä recognized that some hoped to plant the crops as seeds.
• Nausicaä introduced soybean oil, and villagers prepared and fried potato and onion patties as a demonstration.
• The crowd praised the patties, and Nausicaä announced that a barrel of soybean oil cost only five silver snake coins.
• Merchants surged around the Valley of the Wind’s stand to secure soybean oil as Asbel introduced himself and requested a private discussion with Nausicaä.

Asbel, the prince of Pejite, met Nausicaä after tasting the Valley of the Wind’s potato pancakes and brought her to Pejite’s vast arms and aircraft exhibition. He proposed buying out the Valley of the Wind’s agricultural products and securing an exclusive supply for Pejite.

• Asbel arrived at the gathering with Haideng, tasted a potato pancake at the Valley of the Wind’s booth, and approached Nausicaä to discuss business.
• Asbel led Nausicaä, Por, and Elphias Doge out of the tent to Pejite’s factory-style exhibition hall.
• Nausicaä saw Pejite’s extensive displays of weapons and aircraft and recognized the nation’s industrial strength.
• Asbel brought the group to a reception room and offered to buy the Valley of the Wind’s agricultural products for exclusive supply to Pejite.

Asbel offered to buy the Valley of the Wind’s Blessed Crops to improve food for ordinary people in Pejite, but Nausicaä explained how merchants and powerful interests could prevent the produce from reaching them affordably. Asbel realized she might have a broader solution when she asked whether he had heard of the Golden Order.

• Asbel described the poor diet and harsh working conditions endured by ordinary people in Pejite and offered to buy the Valley of the Wind’s entire Blessed Crops output at triple the price.
• Nausicaä declined an exclusive deal and asked how much food Asbel needed and who would pay for it.
• Asbel proposed that Pejite’s merchants or royal family purchase the food, but Nausicaä explained that intermediaries and threatened commercial interests could drive up prices or obstruct the plan.
• Asbel recognized that Nausicaä’s objections implied she had another way to address the problem and asked if she could solve it.
• Nausicaä asked Asbel whether he had heard of the Golden Order.

Nausicaä explained the Golden Order to Asbel and Haideng, then demonstrated its power by curing Haideng’s Sea of Corruption Disease and piercing an alloy wall. Asbel and Haideng were left stunned by what they had witnessed.

• Nausicaä told Asbel that the Erdtree’s Golden Order could provide food, strengthen people, heal illnesses, and purify toxins.
• Nausicaä asked Asbel and Haideng whether they sincerely wanted to improve workers’ lives, and both confirmed their positions.
• Nausicaä cast Order Healing, causing Haideng to cough up blood before his diseased hand became healthy again.
• Haideng asked Nausicaä to demonstrate her power again, and she pierced an alloy wall with a golden blade at her fingertip.
• Asbel and Haideng wondered whether they were dreaming after seeing Nausicaä’s display.

Nausicaä demonstrated the Erdtree’s power to Asbel and Haideng, then proposed that Pejite use it to improve workers’ lives and strengthen the royal family’s position. Haideng ended the meeting to consider her offer, while Nausicaä expected him to return.

• Asbel marvelled at Nausicaä’s power, while Haideng moved to protect him and took charge of the conversation.
• Nausicaä offered to help Pejite address workers’ hardships and reduce the influence of wealthy merchants through the Erdtree’s abilities.
• Nausicaä explained the Erdtree’s principles and suggested that Asbel could receive its power, prompting his interest and Haideng’s alarm over threats to royal tradition.
• Haideng called for time to consider the proposal, and Nausicaä asked him and Asbel to keep their conversation and her power secret.
• After Haideng and Asbel left, Por questioned Nausicaä, who said Haideng would return because he had not firmly rejected her offer.

Nausicaä learned that Mu En had guided her negotiations in Pejite and heard his plan to address the city’s crisis while secretly freeing enslaved refugees. As the Valley of the Wind’s food booth drew a growing crowd at Mining Town’s gathering, detailed reports of Pejite’s atrocities began spreading among merchants.

• Mu En praised Nausicaä’s negotiations and told her that Yupa’s situation was stable and research on the Sea of Corruption had progressed.
• Mu En shared Kamlin’s report of Pejite’s violence against refugees, and Nausicaä asked to help them.
• Mu En told Nausicaä that Kamlin would rescue Pejite’s refugees and tasked her with finding and freeing enslaved people in Mining Town and spreading news of Pejite.
• Trudeau ended free food samples at the Valley of the Wind’s booth and began selling limited portions as merchants showed strong interest in its crops and products.
• Merchants at a Mining Town tavern discussed increasingly detailed reports of Pejite’s collapse and worried about delayed Ceramic Steel armor deliveries.