Chapter Summaries

Claire inspected the construction of a hospital, school, and sewage system in Nafu City before meeting a slave merchant outside the gates. She became interested in a Half-elf who could use Elven Magic and knew medicine, and the chapter ended as the merchant offered to sell her for thirty Gold Coins.

• Claire visited the construction sites and saw that work on the hospital and school was progressing quickly while the sewage project advanced more slowly.
• Regan told Claire that a slave merchant had arrived outside Nafu City, and she went to see him.
• Claire found that the merchant was carrying twenty-three Minotaurs, but she was unsure what use they would serve.
• The slave merchant showed Claire a Half-elf who did not speak the Common Tongue and had been difficult to sell.
• Claire learned that the Half-elf could use Elven Magic and knew medicine, and the merchant offered her for thirty Gold Coins.

Claire bought Iron Hammer and twenty-two other Minotaurs, along with a Half-elf, and arranged for the Minotaurs to work on city construction in exchange for food and a chance to earn their freedom. After feeding them, she saw how much they could eat and how orderly they were.

• Claire bought the Half-elf and Minotaurs from the slave merchant for one hundred Gold Coins and learned the Orc Empire was still at war with humans.
• Claire questioned Iron Hammer and learned the Minotaurs had joined the Orc Empire's army because famine had left their village starving.
• Claire opened the Minotaurs' cages and offered Iron Hammer an employment contract to build the city for food, with the chance to buy back their freedom.
• Claire opened the remaining cages and promised the Minotaurs food before work; Iron Hammer organized them into an orderly queue.
• Claire had workers bring several baskets of bread and meat, and the Minotaurs ate through the supplies before finally slowing down.

Claire put the Minotaurs to work hauling heavy construction materials and learned the buildings would soon be finished. She then tried to communicate with the silent Half-elf and used a book's technique to establish a mental connection with her.

• Claire had Iron Hammer and the Minotaurs move marble and other heavy materials at the construction site.
• The architect estimated that simple buildings would be finished in three or four days and the school within a week.
• Claire told Regan to prepare more food for the Minotaurs and returned to the manor to see the Half-elf.
• Claire shared lunch with the Half-elf, who began eating and showed more interest in her after the meal.
• After failing to communicate in Common Tongue or Magical Language, Claire used the book's method to connect her mind with the Half-elf.

Claire used Mental Connection to speak with Rona, a captured Half-elf, and hired her as Nafu City's physician while freeing her from the slave contract. After bathing, Rona explored Claire's room and became curious about the textbook Claire was writing.

• Claire learned that Mental Connection let her understand Rona across their language barrier and asked how she had been captured.
• Rona explained that she had wandered out of the forest and knew herbal medicine, and Claire offered her a physician's position in Nafu City.
• Rona accepted, and Claire handed her the master-servant contract and declared her free.
• Claire opened Rona's cage and sent her to bathe and get suitable clothes.
• Rona returned to Claire's room, examined a Water Cloud Beast egg, and asked about Claire's writing.
• Claire explained that she was writing a textbook of practical knowledge, and she claimed she could write five thousand words a day.

Rona opened Nafo City's hospital after returning from gathering herbs, and residents discovered that the quiet half-elf could treat injuries with herbal magic. Her successful treatment made her famous as a miracle doctor, though everyone believed she was mute.

• Claire offered workers five extra silver coins for learning to read, filling the night school, and raised the maids' monthly wages to twenty silver coins.
• Residents gathered to read a notice announcing that Nafo City had a doctor and went to see Rona at the new hospital.
• A large man brought in a worker with a badly injured arm, and Rona treated it with a paste made from herbs.
• Rona charged the men thirty copper coins for the treatment, as Claire had instructed.
• Word spread that Rona was a miracle doctor who never spoke, and residents began calling her the mute doctor.

Claire’s free school opened in Nafu City, and he addressed a crowd of residents to explain why they should boil drinking water. The chapter left Claire asking Regan to recruit more administrators as the city’s responsibilities grew.

• Melly left for the newly opened school, where Claire had arranged free education, dormitories, and teachers for children in the viscountcy.
• Children began telling their parents to boil water after lessons, prompting arguments and, in some cases, punishment at home.
• Claire held a public speech at the school, explaining that germs in contaminated water could cause illness and urging everyone to drink boiled water.
• The crowd repeated Claire’s advice, and he told Regan to recruit more staff so he would not have to handle every matter himself.
• A boy teased his mother for having hit him over the school’s advice, then ran off when she chased him.

Pastor Oma worried that Claire’s school and hospital were drawing people away from the church, so he went to the school to bring the students back to prayer. Regan stopped him and arranged for knights to guard the school against further intrusions.

• A woman donated fifteen Copper Coins to Pastor Oma and explained that her husband worked for Claire while her son studied at Claire’s school.
• Pastor Oma resented Claire for keeping people from church and for opening a hospital that undercut his healing income.
• Oma went to Claire’s school and told several hundred students that he had come to save them from being kept away from worship.
• A boy challenged Oma’s claims about illness by explaining that Germs in water could make people sick and asking why doctors could treat illnesses.
• Regan blocked Oma from approaching the students, asked him to leave, and then summoned two knights to guard the school.

Pastor Oma tried to turn Nafu City’s citizens against Rona by denouncing her healing as demonic, while Rona’s fear grew as the crowd began to doubt her. Claire arrived just as Rona’s confidence in staying in the city wavered.

• Oma found an answer to the boy’s question but was stopped by Claire’s knights when he tried to enter the school.
• Oma went to the hospital and accused Rona of being a witch, urging patients to seek the Church’s Holy Light instead.
• The citizens hesitated when Oma threatened that Rona’s patients would be barred from the Divine Kingdom, but Rona continued her work without understanding his words.
• Oma tried to grab Rona, and she summoned a vine that lashed the ground and drove him back outside.
• The crowd debated whether Rona was a demon, leaving her afraid and uncertain until Claire’s voice came from behind them.

Claire confronted Pastor Oma after he drove patients away from the hospital because Rona was a Half-elf. She lured him into a private room and threatened him with a fully loaded gun until he agreed to her proposal.

• Oma called Rona a demon and warned the crowd against entering her hospital, while Claire reassured Rona that she would remain Nafu City's doctor.
• Claire persuaded Oma to speak privately inside the hospital, then kicked him and ordered him to stop interfering with her hospital.
• Oma refused to give up preaching, so Claire described Russian Roulette and loaded the gun while threatening to claim he had attacked her.
• Claire loaded all six chambers and aimed the gun at Oma, explaining that they would bet on it jamming.
• Oma panicked and agreed that Claire's earlier proposal was good.

Claire stopped Pastor Oma from opposing the hospital by threatening him and promising him a monthly payment, then persuaded him to publicly clear Rona’s name. Rona said she would not leave Nafu City, while a merchant convoy approached the city.

• Claire warned Oma to stay out of trouble and offered him fifty Gold Coins a month to keep him in the church.
• Claire and Oma told the gathered people that the accusation against Rona had been a misunderstanding, and Oma urged them to seek treatment at the hospital.
• After Oma left, Claire reassured Rona that she could run the hospital as she pleased and said more doctors would arrive soon.
• Rona told Claire she liked her new life and would not leave Nafu City, and Claire suggested she learn Common Tongue.
• A merchant convoy traveling on Green Scale Horses approached Nafu City from several dozen miles away.

Claire met Baron Shane, the young leader of a merchant caravan from the Ansell family, and bought enchanted armor and weapons for Nafu City's growing forces. Shane left with a major sale, while Claire continued investing her accumulated wealth in the territory.

• Regan told Claire that a merchant caravan had arrived in Nafu City, and she went to inspect its goods.
• Shane introduced himself as Count Ansell's third son and showed Claire enchanted armor that resisted sword and hammer strikes.
• Claire lifted the armor easily and examined Shane's other goods, including enchanted weapons, Magic Scrolls, and rare materials.
• Claire bought one hundred sets each of armor and greatswords and ten sets of spears for forty-five thousand Gold Coins.

Claire recognized Shane’s goiter as a potential opportunity to sell iodine-enriched salt and showed him Nafu City. Shane became excited by the prospect, agreed to stay while Claire prepared a sample, and left hoping the discovery would help him become the next count.

• Shane told Claire he had goiter and asked where he could find a church for treatment, prompting her to consider adding iodine to salt.
• Claire took Shane through Nafu City, where he praised the residents, the clean streets, and the planned sewers.
• Claire pointed out that no one in Nafu City had goiter and offered to show Shane a cheap treatment for the illness.
• Claire explained that she planned to make iodized salt from seaweed, and Shane eagerly asked to see some.
• Claire told Shane to rest for a few days while she prepared the salt, then pointed out the hospital where his injured guards could receive treatment.
• After Claire left, Shane celebrated the opportunity, believing it could help him surpass his rivals and inherit the count’s title.

Claire produced nearly a ton of Iodized Salt and persuaded Shane of its value in preventing goiter. She offered him the salt on consignment with a seventy-thirty profit split, then asked how he planned to sell it.

• Claire ordered Regan to buy kelp and laver and commission several hundred branded wooden boxes for salt.
• Claire extracted iodine from kelp and spent two days producing nearly a ton of Iodized Salt.
• Claire showed Shane the Iodized Salt and explained how iodine deficiency caused goiter and other health problems.
• Shane accepted Claire's offer to take the salt for free and share the profits after selling it.
• Claire asked Shane how he planned to sell the Iodized Salt.

Claire persuaded Shane to market iodized salt in the royal capital through a lavish shop, paid doctors, and a public newspaper debate, then set the first five hundred boxes at one hundred Gold Coins each. Shane embraced the plan, which Claire intended to scale up and eventually make accessible enough to support Nafu City’s industry.

• Shane proposed slowly proving iodized salt’s benefits across the kingdom, but Claire said his plan would take too long.
• Claire chose the royal capital and proposed targeting wealthy customers with an extravagant shop selling iodized salt in luxurious boxes.
• Claire advised Shane to pay doctors to publish claims about iodized salt, then fuel a public dispute between doctors to attract attention.
• Claire told Shane to spread information about iodine deficiency and exaggerate the risks of going without iodized salt.
• Shane proposed increasingly higher prices, and Claire approved selling the first five hundred boxes for one hundred Gold Coins each before lowering prices as production grew.

Claire sent Shane off with an escort of sixty knights, and Shane learned how deeply Hant and the other soldiers revered her. Bandits attacked the merchant caravan, but Hant stopped Shane from using a magic scroll and insisted that Nafu City's knights handle the threat.

• Claire offered Shane an escort of sixty knights and said she planned to clear the bandits from her territory.
• Shane asked Hant what he thought of Claire, and Hant described her as godlike and said his faith now rested with her.
• A bandit leader gathered more than two hundred men and twenty-one Bronze Knights to ambush Shane's caravan for its valuable cargo.
• Hant spotted the approaching bandits, and the Nafu City knights formed up as Shane's guards prepared to fight.
• Shane readied a third-tier magic scroll, but Hant told him to leave the battle to the knights because the trouble had begun in their territory.

Hant and the Griffin Barony knights crushed Big Beard’s bandits with their superior armor and weapons, then pursued them as they fled. The bandits shot down the knights’ Warhorses, but the armored knights kept closing in on foot as Hant leapt to strike.

• Hant fought Big Beard and damaged his greatsword, while Big Beard’s Battle Aura-powered attack tore Hant’s armor but left Big Beard’s own blade severed.
• The knights’ armor turned aside the bandits’ weapons, and the Bronze Rank bandits realized all the opposing knights were their equals or stronger; dozens of bandits were killed without a knight being injured.
• Big Beard ordered his men to retreat, and Shane offered to use a Magic Scroll, but Hant said the knights would handle the pursuit.
• Hant led the knights after the fleeing bandits on their faster Warhorses, while the bandits’ arrows and thrown weapons clanged harmlessly off their armor.
• Big Beard ordered the bandits to shoot the Warhorses, bringing several down, but the knights continued their pursuit on foot and Hant leapt forward with his greatsword.

Claire publicly executed Big Beard and his captured bandits, then ordered Hant and the Knight Squad to patrol the domain. She redirected construction crews to build a Salt Factory in Nafu City's northern district and prepared to finish the salt-making machinery herself.

• After Hant brought the captured bandits back to Nafu City, Claire posted a notice inviting the people of the viscount's domain to watch their execution.
• At the execution, Claire accused Big Beard and his men of numerous crimes, including robberies, an assassination attempt, and the murder of a former administrative officer, while Big Beard tried unsuccessfully to protest.
• Claire executed the bandits by firing squad, ordered their bodies hanged on the main road, and sent Hant and the Knight Squad to patrol the domain for more bandits.
• Claire considered obtaining magical-beast mounts for the knights after learning their Warhorses had been too slow to catch the bandits.
• Claire ordered the construction supervisors, including Iron Hammer, to build a Salt Factory in Nafu City's northern district and urged them to complete it within four days.
• Claire told the supervisors to get Magic Lamps from Regan for night work, while she continued working on the salt-making machinery after two days without sleep.

Claire finished the magic-powered machines for producing Iodized Salt, while Shane prepared to sell it in the royal capital as a luxury product for great nobles. He planned to use doctors’ reports, fear-based marketing, and limited supply to make the salt’s steep price seem worthwhile.

• Claire completed the semi-automated salt-making machines, using Magic Ore and Monster Cores to power their furnaces and conveyor belts.
• A restaurant owner visited Shane’s new royal-capital shop, balked at the price of one hundred Gold Coins per box, and left without buying.
• The clerk urged Shane to lower the price, but Shane told him to keep serving customers because the salt was meant for wealthy nobles, not ordinary buyers.
• Shane planned to pay doctors to publish reports about Iodized Salt and spread claims linking it to intelligence, pregnancy, and health.
• Shane relied on the product’s luxury image and a limited stock of five hundred boxes to create demand among the royal capital’s great nobles.

Claire prepared to open the Salt Factory and later found Rona gravely wounded at her hospital, where she used healing potions to stop the bleeding. Rona recovered enough to treat herself and fled to change after noticing Claire’s gaze.

• Claire traded two Basic Healing Potions for a mysterious Black Seed and planned to have Rona grow it.
• Claire visited the Salt Factory, taught its newly hired workers to operate the machines, and explained how to separate heavy-metal wastewater.
• Claire went to Rona’s hospital and found her alone, badly injured and trying to treat herself.
• Claire used Basic and intermediate Healing Potions to stop Rona’s bleeding and stabilize her.
• Rona thanked Claire, then hurried to change clothes after realizing Claire had noticed her soaked, torn clothing.

Claire joined Rona and Hant to hunt the Gale Wolf Pack, hoping to capture the wolves as mounts. After trapping much of the pack, they confronted the Gale Wolf King, whose powerful attacks forced Claire and Hant to fight defensively.

• Rona told Claire that a Gale Wolf King had wounded her, and Claire decided to lead an expedition to find the pack.
• Claire gave Rona a Black Seed to investigate, and Rona identified it as a Magic Plant with magic flowing inside it.
• The next day, Claire, Hant, and over thirty knights followed Rona into the mountains and laid traps and Magic Arrays for the wolves.
• More than half the pack fell into the traps, and the Gale Wolf King charged Hant as the knights engaged the remaining wolves.
• The wolf king wounded Hant and then attacked with a wind blade, which Claire deflected after warning Hant to dodge.