Chapter Summaries

Regan led Griffin Barony’s delegation into Cosi City to demand territory and compensation, mocking Count Grein’s city and manor along the way. At dinner, Bill tried to delay the handover by invoking the Lixis Merchant Guild, and Regan slammed his hand onto the table.

• Regan greeted Butler Bill with mockery and declared that Griffin Barony had come to demand territory and compensation.
• Regan criticized Cosi City’s dirty streets, residents, child labor, and beggars as he and the others traveled to the count’s manor.
• Regan explained to Isaac that he had been nervous about failing Claire’s trust, not about Count Grein, and that victory justified acting arrogantly.
• Count Grein directed Regan to negotiate with Bill, who said the Lixis Merchant Guild needed time to withdraw from the four mines before the territory could be handed over.
• Regan spat out the steak, rejected Bill’s excuse, and slammed his hand onto the table.

Regan, Isaac, and Hant forced Count Grein to agree to transfer the mining territory to Griffin Barony within three days and pay 203,000 Gold Coins. They left Cosi City in high spirits, while Count Grein was left furious.

• Regan rejected Bill’s request for more time and demanded that Count Grein’s people withdraw from the territory within three days.
• Regan demanded 200,000 Gold Coins for battle expenses, and Isaac and Hant backed him as Count Grein threatened them with Battle Aura.
• Count Grein agreed to pay the compensation and signed the contract transferring the territory once Claire stamped it.
• Regan also demanded 3,000 Gold Coins for the dagger Claire had used to stab Bill, and Count Grein agreed to include it in the payment.
• Regan admitted the dagger was worth only a few Silver Coins, then he, Isaac, and Hant rode cheerfully toward the city gate.

Claire rejected the Lixis Merchant Guild’s offer to mine her four newly acquired mines and arranged to buy its equipment and hire specialists instead. After Lord Molton left, Claire asked Regan how the public notices she had posted were doing.

• Claire met Lord Molton, who offered favorable contracts for the guild to mine the four mines and buy their ore at market price.
• Claire declined the contracts and said she planned to operate the mines herself.
• Claire offered two hundred thousand Gold Coins for the guild’s mining equipment and asked it to leave specialists to help her run the mines.
• Molton accepted the deal and promised to send a new contract the next day.
• Claire returned to the manor, told herself she wanted to build her own merchant guild, and asked Regan how the posted notices were doing.

After residents struggled to understand Claire’s business-loan notices, Regan explained the program and organized a flood of applications. He stayed up late sorting candidates, and Claire brought him and the Steward’s Office staff dinner as the work continued.

• Residents crowded around the notices but could not understand them, so Regan arrived to explain Claire’s loan and business-support program.
• Regan told residents they could apply for zero-interest loans, receive business guidance, and benefit from low taxes and other assistance.
• Many residents applied at the Steward’s Office, where Regan and the staff sorted applications and prioritized local merchants and promising business plans.
• Regan reviewed the applications until after midnight and reported the selections to Claire, who praised his work and brought dinner for the staff.
• After Claire left, Regan invited the clerks to eat, and they eagerly devoured the food.

After Count Grein’s defeat became widely known, his reputation suffered while people in nearby territories admired Nafu City’s knights. A merchant from Nafu City then found that the Griffin Barony’s victory had changed how Cosi City’s people treated him, and he proudly celebrated his allegiance to Claire.

• Count Grein learned that news of his defeat and reparations had spread, and he raged but decided not to challenge Claire again.
• Residents of Cosi City felt ashamed of their defeat, while people in other territories grew curious about Nafu City and its knights.
• A merchant caravan from Nafu City arrived at Cosi City, and the gate knights waived its entrance fee after recognizing the Griffin Barony’s flag.
• The merchant bought goods at a lower price than before as the shop owner treated him deferentially.
• The merchant declared his pride in being a subject of the Griffin Barony and praised the viscount.

Blacksmith Gordon struggled with his anger over Count Grein's Barony’s defeat and worried about his family’s finances and his children’s education. At dinner, his wife asked whether they should move to Griffin Barony for better-paying work.

• Gordon heard tavern patrons discuss Count Grein's Barony’s defeat, the payment of two hundred thousand Gold Coins, and local gossip.
• Gordon returned home, greeted his wife and children, and listened as his wife urged him to save money for Bev’s schooling.
• Gordon divided the steak among his family and insisted that his son keep attending school despite the cost.
• Gordon’s wife said Griffin Barony was recruiting blacksmiths and other skilled workers at better pay and asked whether they should move there.

Gordon learned that Viscount Griffin was offering high wages, free family housing, and affordable schooling to recruit skilled workers in Nafu City. He abandoned a lucrative blacksmithing order and decided to move his family there, leaving to confirm the arrangements.

• Gordon angrily rejected his wife’s suggestion that their family leave Cosi City, insisting they had lived there for generations.
• At the blacksmith shop, Mellen told Gordon that Nafu City urgently needed mining tools and was offering generous benefits to recruit blacksmiths.
• Mellen described Viscount Griffin’s wealth, free housing and schooling for skilled newcomers, and the free loans available to Nafu City residents.
• Gordon stopped working on Mellen’s order, extinguished the forge, and declared that his family would move to Nafu City.
• Gordon told his wife what Mellen had said, and she agreed to prepare their belongings while Gordon went to Nafu City to find out more.

Gordon brought his family from Cosi City to settle in Nafu City, where they explored the city’s markets and school and experienced the Water Cloud Beast’s sudden street-cleaning rain. The family headed to their new house to change clothes, while Gordon continued to take in the city’s unusual services.

• Gordon finalized his residency contract at the Steward's Office, received a house key and travel money, and returned to Cosi City for his family.
• Gordon, his wife, and their children moved to Nafu City, where Bev happily learned that her parents would stop arguing.
• Gordon showed his family the eastern district’s shops and market, then introduced the children to the free school.
• A sudden downpour soaked the family, and residents explained that the Water Cloud Beast was cleaning the streets and that the hospital treated related colds for free.
• Gordon led his family to their assigned house so they could change out of their wet clothes.

Gordon and his wife arrived in Nafu City and watched Claire and Isaac demonstrate how to install magical streetlights. Claire then ordered Regan to organize workers to mine ore and build another town, aiming to make it a major source of income for Nafu City.

• Gordon and his wife saw a crowd gathered around Claire, Isaac, and the Minotaurs installing streetlights, and a local explained that the Viscount often appeared in Nafu City.
• Claire and Isaac demonstrated the streetlight installation process and taught the Minotaurs how to set the lamps in place.
• Claire explained to Isaac that she wanted streetlights throughout Nafu City and expected the mines to generate value soon.
• After the Minotaurs proved they could install the streetlights, Isaac returned to his Academy of Sciences to work on airships.
• Claire asked Regan about recruitment, then ordered him to gather people willing to mine ore and construction workers to build another town.

Claire brought Isaac to the site chosen for a new industrial town between four mines and explained how local ore processing could drive Nafu City's growth. He demonstrated that heated water could launch a stopper from a sealed tube, claiming the principle would solve the problem of transporting ore.

• Claire planned a town that would process ore into ingots and metal goods, creating jobs and profits while complementing Nafu City's economy.
• Isaac questioned the town's location because it was distant from the mines and lacked the Lixis Merchant Guild's costly Spatial Teleportation Arrays.
• Claire explained that he had chosen the midpoint between the mines for its access to all four sites and the outside, and said he had a solution to transportation costs.
• Claire heated water in a sealed test tube until the escaping steam shot out its stopper, then told Isaac the demonstration could solve the transportation problem.

Claire and Isaac established mining operations in a new town, where Isaac built a coal-powered Steam Engine that solved the ore transport problem. They returned to Nafu City after Regan reported that Shane had arrived, and Claire went to meet him.

• Claire organized housing and mining at the new town while merchants arrived to sell food and daily necessities.
• Isaac studied Claire’s Steam Engine designs and built a working locomotive, which the engineers installed and tested on a circular railway track.
• Isaac and the craftsmen quickly produced more Steam Engines as Claire planned ore and passenger transport for the mining sites.
• Claire and Isaac returned to Nafu City after Regan reported Shane’s arrival from the royal capital.
• Isaac left to begin building his airship, while Regan told Claire that Shane was waiting in the reception room.

Claire met Shane, received the 1.06 million Gold Coins earned from selling their Nightmare Flowers, and heard how the royal-capital price surge ended in a devastating crash. The royal family and major magic shop owners took over the remaining flowers at a discount to contain the fallout.

• Claire told Shane about the newly established town and the changes in Nafu City.
• Shane returned Claire's Purple Crystal Card with 1.06 million Gold Coins from the Nightmare Flowers.
• Shane explained that he sold their flowers at twenty Gold Coins each, then watched prices rise past eighty before they collapsed.
• Shane told Claire that nobles and merchants who borrowed heavily to buy Nightmare Flowers went bankrupt, and a baron jumped from a tower.
• Shane said Lady Sophia, Prince Albert, and his father took over the remaining Nightmare Flowers at thirty percent below the original price.

Claire discussed the harassment of Shane’s Tulip Shop and learned how Sirian had helped stop the troublemakers. She then persuaded Shane to open a tavern in Nafu City’s western district, offering him the land and favorable policies.

• Shane told Claire that troublemakers had falsely claimed the Tulip Shop’s dried shredded squid had made them sick and shouted outside to damage its reputation.
• Shane explained that Sirian had arranged for the troublemakers’ debtors to confront them, and the resulting fight ended with the troublemakers stabbed to death.
• Shane told Claire that Sirian had expanded his gang and joined the Knight Academy, and Claire gave Shane three Magic Bullets for him.
• Claire proposed that Shane establish an entertainment venue in Nafu City’s western district, and Shane agreed to open a tavern.
• Claire promised Shane the land and the most favorable policies for his tavern.

Claire showed Isaac a strange crystal that absorbed magic power and restored itself, then let him go test his newly completed airship. She later taught her students Cinderella, leaving them with the lesson to return lost property to its owner.

• Claire used Trade Points to add Martin, her first trading partner, and the girl who sold her the Black Seed as friends, then began another trade.
• Claire showed Isaac a pink crystal that shattered when struck and regenerated after absorbing magic power from a monster core.
• Isaac noticed the restored crystal magnified his excitement, but hurried off with ten mages to test-fly his airship despite Claire's warning about nearby Flying Magical Beasts.
• Claire declined to watch the test flight and went to teach the children at her school.
• Claire told the children Cinderella's story, and they concluded that anything found should be returned to its owner.

Claire hurried to Doctor Rona's clinic after Yuna reported that a fisherman had caught a mermaid, and found the wounded merman recovering there. Claire restrained the unconscious merman with a magical artifact and waited with Rona for her to wake.

• Yuna told Claire that her father had caught a mermaid, and Claire learned the injured merman had been taken to Doctor Rona's clinic.
• Claire flew to the clinic and persuaded the curious townspeople gathered outside to clear the entrance.
• Rona explained that the merman had a severe abdominal wound but was stable after treatment.
• Claire saw the unconscious merman and fastened a magical restraint around her wrists to prevent a possible attack.
• Rona joked that Claire should restrain the merman's feet, then remembered mermen had no feet, and Claire sat down to wait for her to wake.

Claire and Rona cared for the injured mermaid, who woke frightened and restrained in the sickroom. After Claire calmed her and removed her handcuffs, the mermaid remembered only the name Eve and a vague image of four islands to the east.

• Claire asked Rona about the magical tree, and Rona said it had begun flowering and should bear fruit again in about a month.
• A crash from the sickroom sent Claire and Rona rushing inside, where they found the mermaid awake and frightened among fallen fruit.
• Claire formed a Mental Connection with the mermaid and sensed her fear rather than hostility, then used it to reassure her.
• Claire unlocked the mermaid's handcuffs, and the girl said she remembered the name Eve but little else.
• Eve recalled seawater and four islands to the east as Claire asked where she had come from.

Claire left the amnesiac merfolk Eve in Rona’s care, then learned that crowds had gathered to see her after hearing Claire’s fairy tales about mermaids. Claire arrived at the hospital and found Eve living in a water vat, while Rona insisted the salted water made it suitable.

• Claire confirmed that the merfolk had lost her memory, left her at Rona’s hospital, and returned home to study magic.
• Rumors about the mermaid spread through Nafu City, drawing crowds to Rona’s hospital despite Claire’s warning not to visit without a reason.
• Regan told Claire about the crowd, and Claire realized Eve might have value as an attraction.
• Claire dispersed the onlookers and sent those who needed treatment to other clinics.
• Rona showed Claire Eve in a water vat and explained that she had added salt to the water.

Claire learned that Eve’s song could enchant listeners, then invited the amnesiac mermaid to stay in Nafu City and help him in exchange for fish. Eve agreed because she trusted Claire, while Rona also grew attached to her.

• Claire asked Eve whether she wanted to return to the sea, but Eve said she did not know where she would go.
• Eve sang for Claire and Rona, nearly enchanting Claire and leaving Rona entranced until Claire told her to stop.
• Claire asked Eve to stay in Nafu City and work for him, and Eve agreed because she thought he was a good person.
• Claire explained that her reward would be food, and Eve happily agreed to help in exchange for lots of fish.
• Rona offered Eve her hand, and Eve rubbed her cheek against it, inspiring Rona to earn money for a bigger tank.

Claire left Regan in charge of Nafu City and traveled to the royal capital, where she met Shane and arranged to see Sophia. At their meeting, Claire asked Sophia about the profits from Nightmare Flowers, then sat back down after Sophia admitted she had made a small profit.

• Claire instructed Regan to manage Nafu City, oversee Metallurgical Town, and recruit staff while she went to the royal capital.
• Claire visited the Tulip Shop, where Shane greeted her and became excited when she said she had come to make money.
• Claire asked Shane to arrange a meeting with Sophia, who sent the time and place within half an hour.
• Claire met Sophia at her restaurant and joked that she wanted to see her wearing the Emperor's New Clothes.
• Claire asked how much Sophia had earned from the Nightmare Flowers, and Sophia first claimed she had made nothing before admitting to a small profit.

Claire asked Sophia to open chain and magic stores in Nafu City, then used a story about a Mermaid Princess to explain how sharkfolk could attract customers. Sophia offered him one million Gold Coins for the sharkfolk, but Claire refused, saying they could create more value in his hands.

• Sophia told Claire she had killed the Archmage he introduced, believing she was solving a danger he faced.
• Claire rejected Sophia’s flirtation and asked her to open chain and magic stores in Nafu City.
• Sophia argued the stores would not be profitable because Nafu City lacked customers with enough purchasing power.
• Claire said local craftsmen could make Magic Artifacts and told Sophia a story about a Mermaid Princess to explain his plans for the sharkfolk.
• Sophia offered Claire one million Gold Coins for the sharkfolk, but he refused to sell them.