Chapter Summaries

At a Holy Fire Society salon in Ceres, Ronan reunited with Audrey Norton and revealed that he had become an alchemist. When Mr. Jefferson Kingsley publicly questioned Ronan’s claim, someone defended Ronan as a genius alchemist.

• Ronan asked Audrey Norton when she had arrived in Ceres, and she said she had come last month and was not afraid of the Church.
• Audrey Norton asked whether Ronan had found Old Jack, and Ronan said he had inherited Old Jack’s alchemy business and become an alchemist.
• Ronan showed Audrey Norton an amulet he had made, and she recognized it as a finely crafted alchemical item.
• Mr. Jefferson Kingsley interrupted them and suggested Ronan was deceiving people by pretending to be an alchemist.
• Audrey Norton defended Ronan, and an unidentified speaker declared that Lord Ronan was a genius alchemist whom Jefferson was not qualified to question.

Ronan proved his skill as an alchemist by demonstrating that his protection talisman stopped a bullet, silencing Jefferson Kingsley’s accusations. He left Rose to take custom equipment commissions and went outside with Audrey Norton.

• Rose Sinclair demanded that Jefferson Kingsley apologize to Ronan and announced that Ronan was taking commissions for custom alchemical equipment.
• Jefferson questioned whether Ronan was truly an alchemist, so Ronan laid out his protection talismans and asked Audrey Norton to test one.
• Ronan shot Audrey at point-blank range, and her talisman stopped the bullet before its energy ran out.
• Ronan gave Audrey another talisman, while Rose gathered the remaining ones and offered them to the crowd.
• Ronan asked Audrey to leave the noisy hall with him, and Jefferson left in humiliation.

Ronan and Audrey Norton discussed his alchemy and her wizard’s journey before parting ways. Back at the villa, Ronan learned that Rose Sinclair had sold all five Protection Talismans for 4,500 gold pounds and brought in more custom orders.

• Audrey Norton offered to return Ronan’s Protection Talisman, but he insisted she keep it as thanks for introducing him to Old Jack and promised to customize alchemical equipment for her at cost.
• Ronan explained his partnership with Gustav Rhine, and Audrey Norton said Ceres was one stop on her Nature faction wizard’s journey before she planned to leave next month.
• Audrey Norton gave Ronan a farewell and vanished into the shadows.
• Rose Sinclair told Ronan that all five Protection Talismans had sold for 900 gold pounds each, bringing in 4,500 gold pounds.
• Ronan told Rose Sinclair to use the money to buy materials and give him the customization list so he could review the new orders.

After graduating from the Royal Higher Police Academy, Ronan chose an internship in the crime-ridden Old Port District and bought a villa in Ceres’s East District for his family. The chapter ended with Ronan beginning work as a Deputy Chief in the Fourth Precinct.

• Ronan declined other postings and chose the Old Port District for his required internship, while Gustav Rhine accepted his decision and their business partnership continued.
• Ronan received an internship assignment as Deputy Chief of the Fourth Precinct and was due to start three days later.
• Ronan took Dolores house-hunting and purchased a villa beside Central Park in the East District through Gustav Rhine’s connections.
• Ronan moved into the furnished villa with Dolores and Janice, and transferred Janice to a nearby aristocratic school.
• Ronan reported to the Old Port District and began his internship as Deputy Chief.

Ronan Raymond began his deputy chief internship at Old Port District Fourth Precinct, where Chief Ford Hamilton and the officers treated him with open hostility and kept him isolated. After spending more than half a month reviewing files and occasionally patrolling with Milo Austin, Ronan remained at ease until someone could no longer tolerate watching him.

• Chief Ford Hamilton introduced Ronan Raymond as the precinct’s new intern deputy chief, and the officers welcomed him with perfunctory applause.
• Ford assigned Ronan a neglected office and Milo Austin as his assistant, then left him without work while the precinct kept its distance.
• Ronan asked Milo for coffee and personnel files, then told him not to trouble Miss Angely again after learning she had been asked to bring the coffee.
• Ronan read the precinct files and learned that the Fourth Precinct covered a crowded, crime-ridden district with more than thirty thousand permanent residents.
• Over the next half month, Ronan reviewed case files and occasionally patrolled with Milo while Ford and the officers continued to ignore him.
• Ronan remained leisurely and untroubled until someone could no longer stand watching him.

Ronan received the unsolved massacre of Levi Bauer’s family as his first case at the Fourth Precinct and examined the crime scene with Detective Kash. The clues suggested the killer may have been a Transcendent, while Levi Bauer’s past as a seafarer became a lead for Ronan to investigate.

• Ford Hamilton assigned Ronan the Levi Bauer family massacre and ordered Detective Kash to assist him.
• Ronan told Kash to take him to the crime scene, and they rode bicycles to the sealed apartment.
• Ronan examined the apartment and learned the killer had stabbed Levi Bauer more than a hundred times while killing the rest of the family with a single stab each.
• Kash said the killer might have been a Transcendent and reported that Levi Bauer had no known enemies or business rivals in Ceres.
• Kash revealed that Levi Bauer had spent a long time aboard seagoing ships, and Ronan asked to examine his body.

Ronan used Little Black to track the killer of Levi Ball's family to a tailor shop and identified the old tailor as Walkerley. When Walkerley attacked and tried to flee, Detective Kash shot both his knees, leaving him down in the shop.

• Ronan inspected Levi Ball's family's bodies and returned to the crime scene with Little Black.
• Little Black picked up the killer's scent and tracked it through the streets to Walkerley's tailor shop.
• Ronan confronted Walkerley and accused him of murdering Levi Ball's family.
• Walkerley drew a tailor's knife and stabbed at Ronan's throat, but Ronan caught the blade barehanded.
• Walkerley tried to escape, and Detective Kash shot both his knees.

Ronan captured Walkerley, the tailor who murdered Levi Bauer and his family, and helped uncover evidence linking him to several other unsolved cases. After the case was transferred to the General Police Bureau, Ronan returned to the Fourth Precinct, where an officer from the bureau came to find him.

• Ronan shot Walkerley's hands, knocked him unconscious, and warned Detective Kash that the murderer had a poison tooth.
• Detective Kash secured Walkerley and the murder weapon, then Chief Ford Hamilton arrived and challenged Ronan's account of how he solved the case.
• Officers searched Walkerley's clothing store and found an underground room containing stolen jewelry, including rings belonging to Levi Bauer and his wife.
• Ford Hamilton reported the broader case to the district and General Police Bureaus, and Walkerley was taken to the General Police Bureau for interrogation.
• Ronan returned to the Fourth Precinct the next morning to find the officers' opinion of him had changed, then a General Police Bureau officer came to see him that afternoon.

Police Superintendent Simpson tried to requisition Ronan’s beast pet, Little Black, but Ronan refused and claimed it had run away. Simpson returned to the General Police Bureau, where Tina ordered him to obtain Little Black within a week and promised him three Life Potions.

• Police Superintendent Simpson told Ronan that the General Police Bureau needed Little Black’s ability for another major case and offered a subsidy for its temporary use.
• Ronan said Little Black had run away and refused Simpson’s demand, warning that he could not complete an impossible task.
• Simpson threatened Ronan over his probationary status, but Ronan pointed out that Simpson could not dismiss him without proper grounds.
• Simpson returned to the General Police Bureau and told Tina that Ronan claimed the beast pet was lost.
• Tina slapped Simpson, ordered him to obtain Little Black within a week, and promised him three Life Potions if he succeeded.

Ronan protected Dolores and Janice from the danger of being followed, then received an early promotion and a difficult assignment to capture the escaped murderer Balder Eady. He recognized the assignment as another attempt to target him and decided to pursue it rather than back down.

• Ronan noticed two trackers following him, evaded them, and warned Dolores to keep Janice home while he secured their East District villa.
• Ronan spent three days strengthening the villa's defenses and turning its underground wine cellar into a safe room as the trackers continued to pursue him.
• The General Police Bureau ended Ronan's probation early, made him an official Deputy Chief of the Old Port District Fourth Precinct, and awarded him another major merit.
• Ford Hamilton gave Ronan a one-week assignment to capture Balder Eady, the escaped murderer known as Poison Wolf.
• Ronan suspected Police Superintendent Simpson or his allies had arranged the assignment and told Ford Hamilton he would catch Balder Eady.

Ronan investigated Bald Eddie after receiving an incomplete case file and discovered the fugitive was a powerful poison-using criminal likely hiding in Ceres's sewers. He decided to approach Bald Eddie through Morpheus Mendt, the leader of the Razor Gang, and set out for the Edelman Shipyard.

• Ronan suspected that the General Police Bureau had concealed information in Bald Eddie's case file and went to investigate independently.
• Ronan asked Rose Sinclair to gather intelligence on Bald Eddie within three days.
• Ronan completed his alchemy orders while waiting for Rose Sinclair's report.
• Rose Sinclair's documents revealed Bald Eddie's crimes, strength, poison skills, royal capital accomplices, and likely hiding place in Ceres's sewer system.
• Ronan learned that Bald Eddie was close to Morpheus Mendt, leader of the Razor Gang, and that Morpheus could be found at the Edelman Shipyard.

Ronan went to Edelman Shipyard to confront the Razor Gang leader, Mephis Mendert, and used his guns and psionic powers to force the gang to take him to their boss. The chapter ended with the gang leader agreeing to lead Ronan inside.

• Ronan arrived at Edelman Shipyard and told the guards he was Deputy Chief of the Fourth Precinct and wanted to speak with Mephis Mendert.
• When a guard drew a revolver, Ronan shot the weapon from his hand, then wounded another gangster who tried to ambush him with a shotgun.
• Ronan used Psionic Spike to knock out the first guard after he threatened him, and more Razor Gang members gathered at the gate.
• Ronan used a spell to pull a shotgun from a gangster’s hands, revealing himself as a spellcaster.
• The Razor Gang leader agreed to take Ronan to Mephis Mendert after realizing he could not safely dismiss him.

Ronan confronted Morpheus Mendt at the Razor Gang’s shipyard and fought off a mass attack with his Psionic Power and revolver. After Morpheus’s charge struck a steel shield Ronan had raised, the gang leader entered a half-frenzied state and leaped into the air.

• Ronan entered the dry dock and faced Morpheus Mendt, asking about someone’s whereabouts.
• Morpheus ordered his gang to kill Ronan after demanding that he leave an arm behind.
• Ronan stopped the gangsters’ bullets in midair and sent them flying back, killing or wounding many of them.
• Ronan used his revolver to shoot down gangsters who continued attacking him.
• Morpheus leaped at Ronan with an enchanted battle axe, but Ronan slid away and raised a thick steel plate as a shield.
• Morpheus’s charge dented the steel shield, and he then leaped into the air in a half-frenzied state.

Ronan defeated Murphys Mendte and the Razor Gang, then forced the gang leader to reveal how to contact Bald Eady. The chapter ended with Ronan taking the whistle and wishing Murphys a good journey.

• Murphys Mendte leaped at Ronan, but Ronan shot him six times with the alchemical revolver and crippled him.
• Ronan shot down the remaining Razor Gang members, and the knight absorbed their bloodshed as it moved toward transforming into a Death Knight.
• Ronan confronted Murphys Mendte and threatened his family to make him answer questions.
• Ronan asked for Bald Eady's whereabouts, and Murphys Mendte revealed the exact method of contacting him and handed over a whistle.
• Ronan took the whistle and told Murphys Mendte to have a good journey.

Ronan watched the Razor Gang’s shipyard collapse in flames, wiping out Mephis Mendert and nearly two hundred gang members. The next morning, he returned to the Fourth Precinct, where Ford Hamilton questioned him about the fire and reminded him to capture Balde Edi before the deadline.

• Ronan watched Edelman Shipyard burn and collapse, burying Mephis Mendert and nearly two hundred Razor Gang members.
• The next morning, Fourth Precinct officers discussed the Razor Gang’s destruction and speculated about Ronan’s chances of catching Balde Edi.
• Ronan went to Ford Hamilton’s office and refused to wait when Ford initially ignored him.
• Ford asked Ronan where he had been during the fire, and Ronan said he had been at home and had seen it.
• Ronan told Ford he would catch Balde Edi within the deadline unless Balde was dead, then left the office.
• Ford, worried that he was losing control of Ronan, picked up the magnetic telephone receiver and cranked its handle.

Ronan followed Morpheus Mendt’s coded directions through Ceres’s sewers to find the wanted criminal Balder Eady. He revealed that he had come to arrest Balder and admitted killing Morpheus, leaving Balder stunned by the news of his friend’s death.

• Ronan entered the sewers, followed the triangular markers, and used Morpheus Mendt’s bone whistle and code phrases to summon a guide.
• A thin boy carrying a Horse Lantern led Ronan through the sewers to an underground settlement where rats gathered around him.
• The boy brought Ronan to Balder Eady’s tent, and Ronan introduced himself as a deputy chief who had come to arrest him.
• Ronan told Balder that Morpheus was dead and that he had killed him along with nearly two hundred others.
• Balder’s smile faded as he absorbed the news, then he acknowledged that Ronan was very strong.

Ronan confronted Bald. Eady, who surrendered and revealed that his murder of Baron Franklin Norton had exposed a vampire operation that refined Life Potions from human sacrifices. Ronan chose to investigate the conspiracy and let Bald. Eady go, despite the danger, while Bald. Eady stayed to protect the people relying on him.

• Bald. Eady admitted he did not want to fight Ronan and agreed to surrender, while knocking the scrawny youth unconscious.
• Bald. Eady explained that he had founded a settlement for persecuted poor people and used stolen wealth, traded through Morpheus Mendet's Razor Gang, to provide for them.
• Bald. Eady revealed that he had killed Baron Franklin Norton after discovering the baron's human trafficking and vampire-backed scheme to make Life Potions from human lives.
• Bald. Eady warned Ronan that powerful people colluding with vampires would kill them both to keep the secret hidden.
• Ronan decided to investigate the matter and let Bald. Eady go, but Bald. Eady refused to leave Ceres because the settlement's people depended on him.

As the Blood Moon approached, Ronan prepared to protect Dolores and Janice while avoiding early exposure of the Life Potion secret. After resigning from the police force rather than submit to Ford Hamilton, he was confronted by Internal Affairs investigators who accused him of involvement in a major murder case.

• Ronan returned to the villa and told Dolores she and Janice would have to remain in Ceres, then built a hidden passage and safe house for their escape.
• Ronan returned to the Fourth Precinct, where Ford Hamilton demanded to know where Balder Eddy was and threatened him over the failed mission.
• Ronan resigned, surrendering his police equipment, and left the precinct despite Ford Hamilton's attempt to stop him.
• After Ronan completed his resignation procedures, Investigator Jenkins and five other Internal Affairs officers surrounded him and ordered him to assist in a murder investigation.

Ronan faced Jenkins in the Internal Affairs Department’s interrogation room and admitted to killing the Razor Gang and burning Edelman Shipyard, while revealing his knowledge of nobles colluding with vampires to make Life Potions. Jenkins realized the revelation threatened powerful interests and lunged at Ronan with a supernatural Skinning Knife, leaving the confrontation unresolved.

• Jenkins threatened to break Ronan’s bones and warned that no one could protect him from the Internal Affairs Department.
• Ronan admitted that he had killed Morpheus Mendert and the rest of the Razor Gang and set fire to Edelman Shipyard.
• Ronan said he had found Balder Idy and knew nobles were working with vampires to refine Life Potions from innocent people.
• Jenkins recognized that Ronan’s claims could expose a kingdom-shaking secret, and that the department’s higher-ups were listening from the next room.
• Jenkins drew his Skinning Knife and attacked Ronan, aiming for his throat.

Ronan broke free from his restraints and fought his way out of the Internal Affairs Department, killing the investigators and guards who tried to stop him. He recovered his weapons and ended a wizard’s attack, leaving the corridor strewn with his enemies.

• Ronan blocked Jenkins’s knife with Psionic Power, shattered his restraints, and killed him with the Skinning Knife.
• Ronan broke through the wall into a secret room, killed two men, and incapacitated a third before taking his crimson runestone containing a trace of the Origin of the World.
• Ronan left the room and redirected a barrage of bullets into the Internal Affairs Department guards, killing many of them.
• Ronan recovered Knight and Ranger from the evidence room.
• Ronan used Knight to shoot through a fire dragon, stopped the spell with a Psionic Wall, and killed the white-robed wizard with a bullet through the forehead.