Recaps

Hubert defended Duke Charlie's residence against forces sent by Keli, Vito, and the Church of Light while they tried to reach Irene. As the fighting turned against the defenders, Claire appeared beside Keli and confronted him.

• Hubert destroyed the Archmages' Spatial Fluctuation spell with a single sword strike, and Keli asked the white-robed Pope when the Church's forces would act.
• More than a dozen gray-clad fighters arrived through Spatial Teleportation portals, including a Sword Saint who challenged Hubert.
• Hubert knocked the Sword Saint back but was suppressed when the gray-clad fighters formed a coordinated formation and attacked as one.
• Keli and Vito's forces pushed Claire's guards toward the Charlie residence and began bombarding it with spells, leaving Keli confident he could seize the throne.
• Claire appeared beside Keli, picked up his crystal ball, and pointed out that he had left himself unprotected by sending his forces after Irene.

Claire killed Prince Klee and Vito after exposing their role in the attack on Irene, then forced Klee’s forces to surrender. The white-robed Pope realized the Church of Light would make him the scapegoat for its involvement.

• Claire showed Prince Klee the corpses of his three Archmage guards and evidence linking him and the Church of Light to the attack on Irene.
• Claire revealed that Vito was dead, and Prince Klee threatened that Irene would not survive either.
• Klee’s attackers found Irene missing from Duke Charlie’s residence and learned she had gone to Archmage Merlin’s home to visit Edith.
• Prince Klee failed to kill himself, asked Claire to do it, and Claire killed him before warning his forces to surrender.
• Klee’s forces laid down their weapons, while the gray-robed Inquisitors escaped and the white-robed Pope feared he would be made the scapegoat.

Irene was crowned Queen after Claire helped remove the nobles who had plotted against her, and Claire received the title of Duke Tulip and the post of Kingdom Administrator. Irene then surprised Claire by granting her the right to establish a duchy in her territory.

• Claire advised Irene on ruling the kingdom and confirmed that the nobles involved in the assassination attempt had been dealt with.
• Irene ascended the throne, accepted her crown from Joseph, and received the nobles’ oaths of loyalty.
• Joseph granted titles to Irene’s supporters, including Duke Bauhinia for Sophia and the title of Duke Tulip and Kingdom Administrator for Claire.
• Irene added that Claire could establish a duchy within her territory, leaving Claire and the assembled nobles stunned.

After Irene’s coronation, Claire received the title of Duke Tulip and prepared to return to Nafu City, entrusting Irene’s support and the church’s containment to her allies. She decided to remain in the Royal Capital for graduation season at the Royal Capital Magic Academy, where she planned to buy twenty student slots for Nafu City.

• Irene rewarded Claire with the title of Duke Tulip, grateful for Claire’s role in helping her become Queen.
• After the coronation, Claire left the grand hall with Sophia, Yana, Shane, Norton, and Hubert while Irene began taking over the royal power.
• Claire asked her allies to support Irene and use evidence against the church to weaken its influence in the kingdom.
• Sophia told Claire that graduation season at the Royal Capital Magic Academy was approaching and that Claire could obtain ten slots.
• Claire chose to stay and seek twenty slots at one million Gold Coins each, then reviewed the list Sophia sent to her residence.

Walker, a research-oriented mage, struggled to find a patron at the Royal Capital Magic Academy recruitment fair until Claire recruited him for Nafu City. Though he worried that the remote southern city offered poor prospects, Walker agreed to follow her.

• Walker tried to persuade Count Henry to hire him, but Henry rejected him because his research skills and lack of combat ability did not suit his businesses.
• Walker considered settling for a less ambitious position after realizing that his preferred work in inscriptions and enchantment offered few research opportunities.
• Claire approached Walker, said his qualifications suited her needs, and invited him to come with her.
• Walker learned that Claire was the lord of Nafu City, a city at the southernmost edge of the kingdom.
• After considering the risks of joining a local lord, Walker agreed to follow Claire.

Claire recruited promising mages in the royal capital for Nafu City, using her influence to take them from noble, royal, and military recruiters. After gathering everyone on her list, she prepared to push her luck further while her reputation was still strong.

• Walker told Claire he was a research-oriented mage with little combat ability, and Claire said she valued his research skills.
• Claire interrupted Count Pulan's recruitment of Victor, and Victor followed her after seeing how respectfully the nobles treated her.
• Claire went to the royal and military recruiters and selected three mages from their list with their approval.
• Claire led Victor, Walker, and the three mages through the capital, recruiting more people as influential figures greeted her respectfully.
• Claire finished gathering the mages on her list and decided to take one more chance while her reputation was at its height.

Claire returned to Nafu City with twenty newly recruited mages and brought several research-oriented mages to work under Isaac. She increased the Academy of Sciences’ monthly budget to 250,000 in exchange for results, leaving Isaac eager to develop his new material.

• Claire traveled back to Nafu City with the mages, their luggage, pets, and equipment, and the group saw the growing prosperity of Griffin County.
• Nafu City’s citizens greeted Claire warmly at the gates and made way for her convoy to enter.
• Claire brought the mages to the Academy of Sciences, where Isaac reunited with his former student Walker.
• Claire assigned the research-oriented mages to Isaac, who was delighted to gain qualified assistants.
• Isaac asked Claire to increase his research budget, and she agreed to provide 250,000 a month if his team produced results.

Claire assigned mages to the Academy of Sciences and the military, then selected five others to become teachers in Nafu City’s planned Magic Schools. The school sites were ready, and the five teachers would stay at the Baronial Manor until construction and enrollment began.

• Claire gave Isaac a costly advancement potion and sent his mages to work at the Academy of Sciences.
• Claire brought more than ten High Mages to Hant’s military camp, where she outlined their benefits and handed them over to him.
• Claire led Victor and four other mages to the Baronial Manor after leaving them unassigned to the research institute or military camp.
• Claire explained that she had chosen the five mages for their abilities in teaching, combat, alchemy, inscriptions, and enchantment.
• Regan reported that the Magic School sites had been finalized and cleared, and Claire told Victor and the others they would teach in Nafu City’s schools.

Claire ordered Nafu City’s walls removed to make room for a larger Magic Academy and sent Regan to Hill City to recruit High Mages. After learning that Iron Hammer and the other freed Minotaurs had moved to Gilded Rose Town, Claire decided to visit them.

• Claire told the construction architects to tear down Nafu City’s walls so the city and Magic Academy could expand.
• Claire asked Regan to recruit around thirty High Mages from Hill Magic Academy’s graduating class and gave him a bank card with tens of millions on it.
• Regan explained that Iron Hammer and the other Minotaurs had exchanged their Slave Contracts and moved to Gilded Rose Town to farm.
• Claire learned the Minotaurs still came to Nafu City to work when they were free and decided to visit Gilded Rose Town.

Claire returned to her estate, asked Regan to announce her advancement in rank, and discovered Melly learning about magic from Victor and the other mages. After revealing that Melly had magical talent, Claire left her with the mages to teach and tricked her into running across the estate before teleporting away.

• Claire asked Regan to announce her advancement in rank so Nafu City’s residents would know she was a duke.
• Melly watched Victor and the other mages demonstrate magic and enchant a broom to sweep by itself.
• Claire tested Melly’s magical affinity and found that she had talent for learning magic.
• Claire assigned Victor and the other mages to teach Melly while the Magic Academy was being built.
• At Melly’s request, Claire told her to move farther away, then teleported Melly to her own spot and walked into the house.

Claire took Rona to Gilded Rose Town, where Rona revisited the flowers she had planted and Claire found Iron Hammer working as a Minotaur chieftain. The chapter left Claire talking with Iron Hammer after learning the Minotaurs had settled in town and helped their neighbors.

• Claire invited Rona to visit Gilded Rose Town, and Rona eagerly agreed so she could see the flowers she had planted.
• Claire and Rona arrived in the farming town, where Rona toured the flower-filled streets and collected a few blooms.
• The town's manager directed Claire to the area where the Minotaurs lived after she asked about Iron Hammer.
• Claire found Iron Hammer pulling an iron plow in a field and learned he had become a chieftain.
• Iron Hammer explained that the farmland belonged to his neighbor and that the Minotaurs helped plow in exchange for meals.

Claire learned that Gilded Rose Town’s residents earned far less than people in nearby towns, despite producing more grain and having enough to eat. She recognized that low incomes and falling grain prices threatened the town’s future, but left the problem unresolved.

• Harry confronted Claire and asked why Gilded Rose Town was worse off and why young people like Brother Anthony and Brother Kent wanted to leave for Nafu City.
• Harry’s father, the official Iron Hammer, explained that farming income covered only about half his family’s needs, though they could find other work.
• The official estimated that a household in Gilded Rose Town earned four or five Gold Coins a year, far below incomes in Nafu City and Nakin Town.
• Claire realized that young residents would keep leaving and that increased grain production had lowered prices without improving farmers’ earnings.
• Residents told Claire they could eat their fill but wanted to earn more, and the crowd fell silent when someone said a boy from Gene’s family earned more in Nafu City than their whole household did.

Claire learned about Gilded Rose Town’s farming and economic problems, promised to find solutions, and surveyed its farmland before returning to Nafu City. She sent Isaac and the Academy of Sciences to research magical tools for farming, where they began studying plowing, irrigation, harvesting, and pest control.

• Claire listened to Gilded Rose Town’s residents, identified the problems they faced, and promised to work out solutions after consulting materials and studying the market.
• Claire flew around the town with Rona to record its farmland and explained that she wanted her subjects to have better lives and the territory to produce enough grain for itself.
• Claire returned to Nafu City, and Isaac arrived in Gilded Rose Town with mages from his Academy of Sciences to research farming tools.
• Isaac and the mages discussed magical plowing equipment, improvements to Water Pumps, future harvesting tools, and potions for pests and weeds.

Claire planned to diversify Gilded Rose Town’s agriculture with profitable crops and local processing, while keeping food production and brewing central to the town’s economy. After finalizing a preliminary development plan, she told Rona they would leave the next morning to address the town’s problem.

• Isaac and the townspeople tested crude first-generation machines on the Minotaur Iron Hammer’s land, then quickly built a more stable second-generation machine.
• Claire reviewed potential cash crops, including sugarcane, fruit, tea, and cocoa, and planned to process them locally to increase Gilded Rose Town’s income.
• Claire told Regan to bring seeds for every available economic crop from Hill City so they could run growing trials with Rona’s Elven Magic.
• Claire decided Gilded Rose Town should grow hops and brew alcohol from food crops, while preserving the ability to supply grain during a food crisis.
• Claire finalized a preliminary development plan and invited Rona to join her on a trip related to Gilded Rose Town’s problem the next morning.
• Rona packed away her medicine-making tools after assuming they were leaving immediately, and Claire teased her for not asking when they would go.

Claire visited Rum Town to recruit Mr. Cork and his brewery workers for a new brewery in Gilded Rose Town, but he declined because he preferred to stay in his hometown. Claire left without pressing him, saying she would get what she wanted eventually.

• Claire explained to Rona that she wanted to open a brewery in Gilded Rose Town and had come to Rum Town to find brewing talent.
• Claire approached Mr. Cork, introduced herself as the lord of Nafu City, and offered him and his workers higher pay to join her brewery.
• Mr. Cork thanked Claire but refused the offer, saying he and the workers wanted to remain in their hometown.
• Rona questioned why Claire let Mr. Cork leave, and Claire replied that what was hers would be hers, then returned to the tavern with Rona.

Kirk led the brewery workers to demand more than six months of unpaid wages from Barnett, while refusing Claire's offer to take them to work in Nafu City because he feared uprooting their families. Barnett rejected their claim, halved their wages, and told them to leave if they disliked it.

• Kirk weighed Claire's offer but decided he had to prioritize his coworkers' and their families' stability over moving to Nafu City.
• Kirk gathered the brewery workers and led them to the office to demand their overdue wages.
• Barnett claimed the brewery lacked money and offered to pay only a small advance.
• Kirk challenged Barnett's excuse and insisted that the workers were owed their wages.
• Barnett admitted he had money but refused to pay, cut their wages in half, and threatened to replace them.

Barnett threatened to cut the veteran brewers’ wages, leaving Kirk and his coworkers unsure whether they could risk quitting. Claire offered Kirk work in a town under her command, and he began considering her offer after hearing the proposed pay.

• Barnett told the veteran workers to accept lower wages or leave, and forbade them from raising the subject of pay again.
• Kirk and his coworkers left the brewery dispirited, and Kirk returned home without knowing what to do.
• After Kirk’s wife told him a guest had arrived, he found Claire and Rona waiting for him.
• Claire invited Kirk to brew in one of her towns and gave him time to consider the offer.
• Kirk asked Claire what terms she could offer, and she proposed a base salary and bonuses totaling around twenty-five Gold Coins per worker.

Claire persuaded Kirk to bring his coworkers to Nafu City by offering them land, housing, free schooling, regular wages, and an advance. After Kirk agreed, Claire explained to Rona why she had waited until the workers were desperate before making the offer.

• Claire offered Kirk a house, land, free schooling for his children, and a place for all seventy-six workers in Nafu City.
• Kirk asked about getting paid before the beer sold, and Claire offered roughly two thousand Gold Coins as an advance on their wages.
• Kirk agreed to lead the workers to Nafu City, and Claire told him he could use their employer’s Brewing Machines to settle the debt owed to them.
• After Claire left, Kirk celebrated with his wife and daughter, saying that their good days had finally arrived.
• Rona questioned Claire’s generous terms, and Claire explained that waiting until the workers had given up on their hometown made them more likely to follow her to Gilded Rose Town.

Kirk led Barnett’s brewery workers in smashing the equipment after Claire told him they could take it as repayment for unpaid wages. When Barnett arrived, the workers stood together and revealed that they had found a better-paying employer, leaving him stunned as they vented their anger.

• Kirk persuaded the hesitant workers to join him in wrecking Barnett’s brewery equipment, believing Claire had encouraged them to destroy it.
• Barnett arrived, threatened the workers, and ordered them to clean up, but they gathered behind Kirk instead of backing down.
• Kirk told Barnett he was quitting because of the unpaid wages, and the workers declared they had found a new boss.
• The workers showed Barnett their advance pay and described their better wages and promised homes and farmland, then denounced him for years of exploitation.

Claire helped seventy-six workers leave Barnett’s brewery for new jobs in Nafu City after Barnett threatened to imprison them. Barnett tried to report Claire, but the law enforcer arrested him instead and ordered his public execution.

• Barnett threatened the workers with prison for smashing his equipment, but Claire told him she had ordered it and invited the workers to leave with her.
• Claire knocked Barnett backward with a Wind Pellet and led Kirk and the workers to the prepared wagons.
• The workers and their families packed their belongings, and Claire took Rona along, who felt more connected to human society after witnessing their happiness.
• Barnett went to the Steward’s Office in Rum Town to report Claire, but the law enforcer recognized her status as a city lord and had Barnett shackled.
• The law enforcer ordered Barnett dragged away for public execution the following day.

Claire brought newly recruited mages and crop seeds to Gilded Rose Town, where she ordered the mages to prepare a field for planting. Seeing Archmage Isaac arrive from testing a new machine, the mages reconsidered their objections, and their representative asked what shape Claire wanted the plowed land to take.

• Kirk and the other workers traveled through the Griffin Barony and listened to their driver praise Nafu City.
• Regan caught up with Claire and reported that he had recruited twenty-three mages from Hill Magic Academy and bought the requested crop seeds.
• Claire sent the transport caravans toward Nafu City and took Regan and the mages to Gilded Rose Town.
• Claire arranged for Kirk's workers to settle in, chose an unplanted field, and ordered the mages to turn its soil with Earthquake Spells.
• Isaac arrived on a newly built machine after testing it with the Academy of Sciences mages, and the bespectacled mage asked Claire what she wanted them to plow the land into.

Claire inspected Isaac’s improved Tilling Machine, then helped the mages plant a large field and used a Mental Connection with Rona to cast a powerful growth spell. The seeds sprouted rapidly, and Claire summoned rain to water the newly grown plants.

• Isaac demonstrated his Magic Array-powered Tilling Machine, which turned soil efficiently and ran for over a week on one first-tier Magic Crystal.
• Claire praised Isaac’s machine after hearing that it cost only three or four hundred Gold Coins to make.
• Isaac invited the mages to try the Tilling Machine, and they eagerly helped plow the field.
• Claire and Rona selected seeds, and the mages planted them across a field of about thirty mu.
• Claire formed a Mental Connection with Rona and supplied the power and spellcraft for Rona’s large-scale plant-growth spell.
• The spell rapidly grew the crops, and Claire summoned a raincloud to water them.

Claire tested crops in Gilded Rose Town and planned factories to process the crops that thrived there. The town began distributing seeds and using new farm machines, while Claire prepared to announce her rank promotion alongside the Magic School’s upcoming recruitment.

• Claire, Rona, and Isaac inspected the accelerated crops, identified which plants suited the land, and planned crop proportions and factories for the town.
• Claire sent Isaac’s plowing machine to Nafu City to be copied, and the next day residents collected seeds as the machines worked in the fields.
• Claire told Regan to prioritize the brewery’s construction and seek only a few specialists for the other factories.
• Isaac said the brewery equipment and sowing machine were being built, then asked Claire if he could guest lecture at the Magic School.
• Regan asked whether Claire’s rank promotion should be announced, and Claire agreed to announce it with the school’s recruitment.

After Claire became Duke Tulip, Nafu City residents discussed what to call her and learned that she had established a Magic School. The chapter left Gil hopeful that he could become a teacher at the new school.

• Residents read the notices announcing Claire’s new title and decided to call her “Lord.”
• Gil read an enrollment notice announcing that Nafu City would open a Magic School for talented applicants under seventeen, regardless of gender.
• Residents debated whether their children were suited to become mages and asked whether young children could attend.
• Gil discovered that the school was also hiring ordinary teachers and decided his learning and teaching experience made him a strong candidate.

Victor tested Roland’s magical talent and accepted him into the Magic School, though he warned that he would call on him in class. After a long day of enrollment, Victor reflected on the school’s prospects and the gap between it and the Royal Capital Magic Academy.

• Roland entered Victor’s classroom for a magical talent test and pretended he could sense elemental lights before the crystal ball was activated.
• Victor infused the crystal ball with mana and confirmed that Roland could perceive the elements, giving him good magical talent.
• Victor told Roland he could enter the Magic School, then joked that he would call on him in every class.
• Claire arranged food while the five mages tested nearly three thousand applicants, accepting just over fifty by evening.
• Victor estimated that the school would eventually enroll one to two hundred students and considered whether Claire might someday advance enough to help Griffin County compete with stronger academies.