Chapter Summaries

Claire and Hant defeated the Wolf King and captured its pack. After establishing a Mental Connection with the Wolf King, Claire offered it three choices, and the chapter ended with it reconsidering its demand for freedom when Claire threatened to castrate it.

• Rona used Claire’s defensive Magic Scroll to shield the knights from the wolves’ Wind Blades.
• Hant and Claire fought the Wolf King, but its natural speed ability let it wound Hant and charge at Claire.
• Claire shot the Wolf King, struck it with Lightning Strike, and helped Hant subdue it, prompting the other wolves to surrender.
• Claire established a Mental Connection with the Wolf King and learned she could hear its thoughts.
• Claire offered the Wolf King submission, death, or freedom on the condition that she castrate it, and the Wolf King backed down.

Claire forced the Wolf King to submit, bound it with an unequal contract, and took control of its pack. Several hours later, she rode the injured wolf out of the forest while threatening it whenever she sensed its thoughts.

• Claire threatened the Wolf King with her greatsword until it chose submission over death.
• Claire made the Wolf King sign a contract that let her torture it, then punished it when it bared its teeth after being released.
• The Wolf King gave its name as Fenrir and ordered the trapped wolves to quiet down at Claire’s command.
• Claire had Rona treat Fenrir’s injuries after the Wolf King had been shot, struck by Lightning Strike, and tormented through the contract.
• Several hours later, Claire rode on Fenrir’s back with the wolf pack following, and threatened to castrate him for thinking about mating.

Claire brought the Gale Wolf Pack to Nafu City, trained the knights to ride the wolves, and helped the salt business prepare for expansion. After tasting Yuna’s dried shredded squid, Claire saw a chance to create work for women and took Yuna to meet her mother.

• Claire reunited with Shane’s manager, learned that iodized salt shops had opened in several major cities, and brought the caravan to Nafu City.
• Claire delivered nearly ten tons of iodized salt to the factory, then trained the knights and wolves until the knights could fight from wolfback.
• Claire kept the Wolf King as her mount and maintained their Mental Connection, using rewards and beatings to enforce its obedience.
• Claire found Yuna eating dried shredded squid in the kitchen and tried some after Yuna offered it to her.
• Claire realized the snack could become a source of income for female workers, then took Yuna on the Wolf King to meet Yuna’s mother.

Claire visited Yuna’s home to learn how her family made dried shredded squid. After seeing the process, she arranged for the Baronial Manor to buy high-quality sun-dried squid, planning to create steady work for women in the barony through family workshops.

• Claire and Yuna arrived at Yuna’s home, where Yuna introduced Claire to her mother.
• Claire asked Yuna’s mother about making dried shredded squid and brought squid from a local shop for her to prepare.
• Claire watched Yuna’s mother make roasted dried squid and learned that sun-dried squid took three or four days to produce.
• Claire returned to the Baronial Manor and ordered Regan to post a notice seeking long-term purchases of the best sun-dried shredded squid.
• Claire planned to sell the snack and give women in the barony stable work producing it through family workshops.

Claire planned a free market in Nafu City and received the profits and shop deeds from Shane’s Iodized Salt trade. When Shane reported that rivals had begun selling cheap Iodized Salt in the royal capital, Claire calmly prepared to respond.

• Claire ordered an open market built in Nafu City’s eastern district and told Regan to move her shops there.
• Shane gave Claire deeds to shops in the royal capital and six other major cities, along with a Purple Crystal Card holding 320,000 Gold Coins in profits.
• Shane told Claire that their Iodized Salt had sold out and fetched prices as high as five hundred Gold Coins per box in the royal capital.
• Shane reported that competitors were selling identical Iodized Salt for three or four Gold Coins per box.
• Claire said the rivals would lower their price further and asked Shane whether he knew anyone in the royal palace.

Claire explained how Shane could position Nafu City's iodized salt as a prestige product with tiered prices and advertising, then introduced dried shredded squid as another shop product. Shane agreed to the plan and revealed that he had come back for another reason.

• Claire gave Shane refined salt and told him to present it to palace contacts as one-thousand-Gold-Coin “Royal Exclusive” salt, using it to make cheaper iodized salt seem reasonably priced.
• Claire outlined three iodized-salt price tiers, an advertisement about its optimal iodine ratio, and new packaging, including a specially crafted Royal Exclusive box.
• Claire served Shane dried shredded squid and proposed selling it for five Silver Coins per pound, which he understood as a way to raise income for Nafu City's residents.
• Shane accepted the dried squid plan and said he had returned for another reason.

Claire introduced MSG as a new product for Shane to sell and prepared to take it to the royal capital. When citizens hesitated to use Nafu City’s new market, Claire’s reward to its first vendor drew them in and left the market bustling.

• Claire told Shane that Lady Sophia of the August Family wanted to cooperate in selling their shop’s goods, and Shane agreed with Claire’s plan to work with her.
• Claire gave Shane a taste of MSG and agreed to sell it at the same price as Iodized Salt once it entered mass production.
• When citizens refused to pay three Copper Coins to set up stalls at the newly completed market, Regan sent for Claire.
• A single mother paid to enter the market and offer her corn, and Claire bought three ears for three Gold Coins as a reward for trusting her.
• After Claire rode away, the crowd rushed to Regan to pay for stalls, and the market became lively.

Claire spent the weekend with Melly, Kellan, and Yuna as they visited the manor and headed home to see their families. After a market vendor returned Claire’s three Gold Coins and described her improved sales, Claire pointed her toward renting a shop in the eastern district, then reflected that Nafu City still had a long way to go.

• Melly came home from school, told Claire she had learned addition and subtraction, and mopped the manor floor before Kellan arrived to take her home on horseback.
• Kellan told Claire he had leave from the military camp and had bought food with his pay to bring to his family, then he and Melly left the manor.
• Yuna told Claire she was taking her monthly rest day to visit her family and bring home the twenty-five Silver Coins Regan had paid her.
• Claire set out for a walk with the Wolf King, but a woman from the market stopped her and returned the three Gold Coins Claire had given her.
• The woman explained that Claire’s purchases had drawn customers and helped her sell her goods, then showed Claire the three Silver Coins she had earned and bought brown sugar for her children.
• Claire advised the woman to ask Regan about renting a shop in the eastern district and reflected that developing Nafu City would take a long road ahead.

Claire visited Rona’s hospital, where she learned that the Black Seed had grown into a Magic Plant that would bear fruit in a little over twenty days. She told Rona she was heading to the royal capital for business and announced that they would leave the next day.

• Claire rode the Wolf King through Nafu City and overheard citizens discussing their studies at Night School.
• Claire arrived at the hospital and heard from an injured worker that Rona had treated his broken arm.
• Rona showed Claire the Black Seed’s fast-growing sapling and estimated that it would bear fruit in a little over twenty days.
• Claire told Rona she was going to the royal capital to discuss business.
• Claire left to pack and announced that they would depart the next day.

Claire returned to the Royal Capital with a caravan of goods and headed into the Inner City to find Shane’s shop. He avoided a cat-eared girl’s tavern scam, but still had to locate the shop.

• Claire recognized a Light Chasing Bird carrying noble youths who were likely traveling to enroll in the Magic Academy.
• Claire reached the Royal Capital, left his caravan to undergo inspection, and entered the city on the Wolf King after it was fitted with a restraining collar.
• Claire rode into the Inner City but realized he had forgotten to ask where Shane had opened his shop.
• Claire asked a cat-eared girl where iodized salt was sold, and she tried to lure him into a tavern.
• Claire refused the scam and left after the Wolf King frightened the girl into stepping aside.

Claire went to an iodized salt shop and baited a mustached baron into spending thousands of Gold Coins on expensive salt. She then hinted that his purchase had revealed he was no great noble, leaving him stunned.

• Claire rejected a guide’s offer of cheap iodized salt from Aubin City and entered a shop that sold Nafu City salt.
• A mustached baron insulted Claire and claimed she could only afford cheap iodized salt, so she challenged his ability to buy the most expensive kind.
• Claire and the baron escalated their competing purchases until he bought three boxes of royal-exclusive Snow Salt for three thousand Gold Coins.
• After the baron paid, Claire told him that great nobles sent butlers to buy salt instead of visiting shops themselves, and he realized what she was implying.

Claire exposed the mustached baron’s attempt to curry favor with a powerful noble, then revealed she was the lord of Nafu City and the supplier of Iodized Salt. After arranging for Shane to receive shipments of MSG and dried shredded squid, Claire asked him about Lady Sophia and her family’s business.

• The mustached man confronted Claire, but she dodged him and called out his attempt to meet a great noble at the store.
• The mustached man mocked Claire for not buying Iodized Salt until she showed him a Purple Crystal Card, and Shane revealed she supplied the salt as lord of Nafu City.
• Shane had the clerk escort the humiliated mustached man from the store, then brought Claire to the reception room.
• Claire told Shane to arrange the arrival of MSG and dried shredded squid shipments, and asked him about Lady Sophia’s family.
• Shane explained that the Auguste Family ran a kingdom-wide store chain and was one of the kingdom’s three major magic-shop businesses.

Claire and Shane discussed Countess Sophia’s beauty and business success before Claire proposed that Sophia had strategically married a baron into her family to preserve her inheritance and gain power. Shane left the conversation alarmed that his own sister might be copying Sophia’s strategy.

• Shane described Sophia as a stunning, capable businesswoman whose useless ex-husband had married into the August Family.
• Claire questioned the circumstances of Sophia’s marriage, her place in the succession, and her brothers’ fates.
• Claire theorized that Sophia used her husband’s poor reputation to lower suspicion while she built influence within the family.
• Shane revealed that Sophia’s eldest brother had died, her second brother remained away from the capital, and the family head had transferred the family’s assets to Sophia shortly afterward.
• Claire concluded that Sophia might have deliberately maneuvered her way to power, and Shane became frightened that his eldest sister was imitating her by bringing a knight into their family.

Claire and Shane met with Sophia to discuss cooperation over Iodized Salt, and Sophia exposed Claire’s tactics for making it profitable. The meeting ended with Sophia telling Claire that she had taken a fancy to her.

• Shane arranged a meeting with Sophia after Claire suggested they could safely cooperate with her.
• Claire and Shane arrived early at Sophia’s restaurant, where Claire noticed a beggar in the alley.
• Sophia arrived with guards and greeted Claire and Shane before questioning Claire about her role in the Iodized Salt business.
• Claire and Sophia discussed Iodized Salt’s production costs, profits, and the royal-exclusive supply idea.
• Sophia leaned toward Claire and said she had taken a fancy to her.

Claire rejected Sophia’s offer to work for her, so they negotiated a business partnership to sell Claire’s products. After agreeing to a seventy-thirty profit split, Claire asked Sophia for help with a connection at the Magic Academy.

• Sophia offered Claire wealth, power, and a possible earldom if she came to work for her, but Claire declined because she valued her freedom and wanted to develop her territory.
• Claire proposed that Sophia sell iodized salt under the Nafu City shop’s name, and they negotiated a seventy-thirty profit split.
• Claire introduced MSG by adding it to meat soup, and Sophia tasted it and recognized its potential as another product.
• Sophia agreed to Claire’s proposed split, then offered to change it to fifty-fifty if Claire wanted her help with a Magic Academy connection.

Claire asked Sophia to arrange for him to study at the Royal Capital Magic Academy, and she agreed in exchange for a favor. After Sophia left, Claire and Shane discussed her influence and intelligence as they headed to their carriage.

• Claire explained how he had inferred Sophia’s ties to the Magic Academy and asked her to help him study there.
• Sophia agreed to arrange Claire’s admission for the next day and said he owed her a favor.
• Outside the restaurant, Claire noticed the injured Beggar Boy, and Sophia explained how underground gangs used children to beg after they could no longer steal.
• After Sophia departed with her guards, Shane admitted he had been too intimidated to speak, while Claire criticized him for leaving the conversation to him.
• Claire told Shane that a relationship between two equally smart people would be exhausting, and Shane realized Claire was comparing his intelligence to Sophia’s.

Claire chose to save Sirian, a dying beggar who crawled toward her and begged for help. Sirian’s past revealed how the Razor Society had exploited and tortured him, and he lost consciousness after Claire approached.

• Sirian dragged himself across the road toward Claire despite his severed tendons and failing strength.
• Claire asked Shane whether they should save Sirian, then climbed down from the carriage to approach him.
• Sirian’s memories showed how he had been forced into the Razor Society as a child and made to steal for the gang.
• After saving money for years to escape, Sirian was caught, tortured, and left to die in an alley.
• Sirian saw Claire as his chance to survive, crawled toward her, and finally relaxed as his consciousness faded.

After Claire healed Sirian and gave him a revolver and twenty bullets, she sent him away to decide what he wanted to do. Sirian returned to the Razor Society headquarters and attacked its members, where a gunshot ended the confrontation with its Silver Rank leader.

• Claire and Shane treated Sirian’s severed tendons and severe injuries, and Sirian woke up healed in Claire’s shop.
• Sirian offered to serve Claire, but she told him she had saved him on a whim and did not need repayment.
• Claire demonstrated that her handgun could destroy a wooden bed and gave Sirian a revolver with twenty bullets before sending him away.
• Sirian reflected on his life, chose not to sell the weapon, loaded six bullets, and headed for the Razor Society headquarters.
• A Razor Society thug grabbed Sirian, so Sirian stabbed the man and slit his throat with a dagger.
• The Silver Rank leader confronted Sirian, and a gunshot rang out as the corpse hit the ground.

Claire entered the Magic Academy to visit its library and encountered Edith, who was recruiting members for her Astral Realm Society. After she rejected the invitation and advised Edith and Bell to focus on gaining strength first, Claire rode toward the library.

• Shane gave Claire her Magic Academy student card, and she rode the Wolf King through the south gate after the academy’s identity scanner verified her.
• Claire asked a student for directions to the library and met Edith, who invited her to join the Astral Realm Society.
• Claire declined Edith’s invitation, questioned whether freshmen could meaningfully study the Astral Realm, and pointed her toward the library.
• Edith argued with Bell, who wanted to join the society and help recruit members, but she rejected his offer because she thought he lacked genuine interest.
• Claire rode away, but Bell stopped her and asked why she had rejected Edith’s invitation; Claire said she was stronger than him.

Claire explained to Edith several ways of reaching other planes and recommended using summoning magic to enter the Necro Plane. After Edith left, Bell attacked Claire but was defeated by the Wolf King and sent away in disgrace.

• Edith stopped Bell from attacking Claire, and Claire asked why she was eager to explore the Astral Plane.
• Claire explained that ancient Planar Teleportation Arrays, worship of the Shadow Plane’s true gods, and summoning magic could lead to other planes.
• Claire described how summoned undead could help someone enter the Necro Plane and search for stable spatial rifts.
• Edith thanked Claire and left with her flyers, while Bell scolded Claire for sharing dangerous knowledge.
• Bell cast a fireball at Claire, but the Wolf King cut through it with a wind blade and pinned Bell to the ground.
• Claire had the Wolf King release Bell, then blasted him away with a gust and rode off.