Chapter Summaries

Alice negotiated with Charlie King over helping with a Sealed Artifact and secured a Sequence 6 Potion Formula as an advance. Afterward, she sought Mr. Fool’s help with finding work and housing, revealing that she might have been a high school student before transmigrating.

• Alice questioned Charlie King about the Sealed Artifact and negotiated for a long-term appearance-altering Extraordinary Item and proof of identity.
• Charlie King agreed to prepare identity papers for Alice under the name Briel Rose and arranged a secret-code contact method through the Backlund Morning Post.
• Alice booked an inn room and realized she needed to find a place to live and a job.
• Alice prayed to Mr. Fool for guidance, and Klein learned that she might have been a high school student named Shen Yinghuan before transmigrating.
• Alice said she could draw, but she hesitated when Klein asked about her skill and possible work drawing comic books.

Alice learned about Backlund’s districts and asked to read Roselle’s Diary because she realized she needed strength. At the Tarot Club gathering, Klein shared key laws about Beyonder Characteristics, while Alice’s explanation of what happens to them after a Beyonder’s death shocked Audrey.

• Klein explained Backlund’s districts, and Alice ruled out several areas before asking to read Roselle’s Diary next time he collected it.
• Alice told Klein she had realized she needed strength, and Klein began convening the Tarot Club after recovering his spirituality.
• Alger offered Mr. Fool nineteen pages of Roselle’s Diary as payment for the Blessed who had helped eliminate Qilingus.
• Klein shared the Law of Conservation of Extraordinary Traits, and Alice explained how Beyonder Characteristics precipitated from corpses and could be used.
• Audrey was shaken by the revelation, then Klein introduced the Law of Conservation of Beyonder Characteristics within neighboring sequences.

At a Tarot Club gathering, Klein explained how similar Sequences could substitute for one another at high levels and asked members to investigate the Hermit Order in exchange for the answer. He then proposed using a sacrifice ritual to deliver Alger’s Beyonder material to Audrey, leaving Alice to wonder at Mr. Fool becoming a courier.

• Alger agreed to investigate the Hermit Order for Klein, and Audrey, Derrick, and Alice also offered to gather information in exchange for the answer about similar Sequences.
• Klein explained that certain high-level Sequences from different Pathways could replace one another without causing loss of control, and Audrey asked which Pathways could exchange with the Spectator Pathway.
• Audrey asked Alger whether he had obtained the complete pituitary gland of an adult Seven-Colored Lizard Dragon, and Alger confirmed that he had it.
• Klein proposed that Alger sacrifice the Beyonder material to him through a ritual so he could bestow it upon Audrey safely and confidentially.

Klein explained a ritual for Alger to attempt a Sacrifice, while Alice arranged payments for information and asked how Qilingus had died. The gathering ended with Alice revealing that the Fallen Creator's offspring was dead.

• Klein instructed Alger to prepare a simple altar and perform a prayer ritual to attempt a Sacrifice, and said he would teach Audrey the Ritual of Bestowal if it succeeded.
• Alice stopped seeking information on the School of Life and Monster Pathways, offered Alger details about Shepherd for three hundred pounds, and asked Audrey for one thousand three hundred pounds for earlier information.
• Alice asked how Qilingus had died, and Alger said Mr. Fool's Blessed, a High-Sequence powerhouse of the God of Death Pathway, had caused Qilingus to decay during his escape.
• Alice told Audrey, Alger, and Mr. Sun that the Fallen Creator's offspring was dead.

At the Tarot Club, Alice told Audrey how an evil god’s offspring and its mother died, then pondered madness and the God of Death after reading Roselle’s Diary. In Pritz Harbor, Charlie King gave Alice the Calamity Priest formula and explained his premonition that she might otherwise swallow another Beyonder Characteristic.

• Alice told Audrey that the monster-like mother of an evil god’s offspring fell and was cut in half by her own bone-blade arm, then said everything was inescapable and absurd before Klein ended the gathering.
• Alice received Roselle’s Diary from Alger and wondered whether the True Creator was an Orthodox God who had gone mad and had once been the Original Creator.
• Alice found Charlie King’s secret code in the Backlund Morning Post and met him in Pritz Harbor.
• Charlie King gave Alice the Sequence 6 Calamity Priest Potion Formula, and Alice realized she had no way to verify whether it was genuine.
• Alice told Charlie King she had accidentally died and accidentally swallowed a Lucky One’s Beyonder Characteristic, prompting him to reveal his premonition that she might otherwise have swallowed a Sequence 6 Characteristic.
• Alice put away the formula and asked Charlie King to explain the abilities of a Calamity Priest.

Alice learned about the Calamity Priest’s abilities and received a new identity and a transforming necklace, which she named Matilda. Charlie King also gave her the Honorific Name of the Monster Pathway’s fate-associated figure, though he did not know whether He was in Backlund.

• Charlie King explained that Calamity Priests could foresee disasters, prepare for them, use their advantages in battle, and create Mental Storms, but he offered no direct combat ability beyond what Fate granted.
• Alice asked how she could control her fate, and Charlie King answered that she would need to advance.
• Charlie King gave Alice identification for Briel Rose, a merchant’s daughter who had come to Backlund, and warned her that Alice trusted others too easily.
• Charlie King showed Alice a necklace that could alter her appearance but amplified vanity and could cause its wearer to lose control; Alice named it Matilda.
• Alice asked how she and Charlie King could contact each other, and he offered the Honorific Name of the Monster Pathway’s figure instead.
• Charlie King told Alice that the Monster Pathway was the Pathway of Fate and recited the Honorific Name, but said he did not know whether He was in Backlund.

Alice changed her appearance to conceal her identity, then rented a house on Welsh Street while preparing to live as Briel Rose. She paid six months’ rent and a deposit, leaving her with a new home near St. Samuel Church.

• Alice designed a mature-looking face with dark brown hair, using a heavily modified version of an old friend’s features as a template.
• Alice checked out of her room and changed her face in an empty alley.
• Alice entered the Metropolitan Housing Improvement Association and asked Madam Maggie to help her find a house near a church.
• Alice chose a terraced house on Welsh Street with a study, workshop-like space, heating, and other rooms.
• Alice failed to bargain and paid thirty pounds for the deposit and six months’ rent at one pound per week.

Alice began drawing comic books for a living, but a frightening encounter with a boy left her unsettled. After dreaming of a vast white serpent, she woke just after midnight and decided to wake Klein.

• Alice settled into a routine of praying and drawing comic books, then went for a walk when she grew tired of working.
• Alice rescued a boy from a speeding carriage and received fifty pounds in compensation.
• When the boy thanked her, Alice felt terrified by him and hurried home without understanding why.
• Alice dreamed she climbed a strange black spire and found a gigantic white serpent coiled at its top.
• Alice woke just after midnight and decided to wake Klein.

After a nightmare about a boy and a snake, Alice suspected an Angel of Fate might view her as a future Potion Ingredient because of her strange luck. She sought help finding Potion Ingredients but had to keep working on her comic, leaving the search for a Beyonder gathering for later.

• Alice prayed to Klein after her nightmare, and he replied that he was awake and asked whether she was sick.
• Alice interpreted the dream and suspected the boy was an Angel of Fate who might be waiting for her to mature so he could use her as a Potion Ingredient.
• Alice went to St. Samuel Church and considered how to find a black market or Beyonder gathering where she could obtain Potion Ingredients.
• Alice prayed to Klein for advice, and he told her to visit Bravehearts Bar in Backlund Bridge Area and ask for Caspars Canning, saying the Old Man had sent her.
• Alice returned to drawing her comic book because she needed a job to cover her daily expenses.

Alice visited Bravehearts Bar to buy a powerful revolver from Caspars Canning and asked him to connect her with a gathering of people with special abilities. Caspars agreed to take her to someone who was there that night, and Alice disguised herself before they left.

• Alice entered Bravehearts Bar and asked the bartender for Caspars Canning.
• Caspars sold Alice a specially made revolver and fifty bullets for three pounds and ten soli.
• Alice asked Caspars to arrange a meeting with people with special abilities, and he agreed to take her to someone at the bar for two pounds.
• Caspars gave Alice an iron mask, and she changed her hair, eyes, and jawline to disguise herself.

Alice followed Caspars to a secret gathering of hooded Beyonders, where she recognized a fat Apothecary from Tingen and struggled with an unfamiliar urge to kill him. She left the gathering more determined to uncover her past, while listening as members offered potions, a Rune Steel Sword, and a luck-altering Beyonder item for sale.

• Caspars brought Alice to a secret gathering, where the Old Gentleman allowed her to stay after a masked man objected to her arrival.
• A fat Apothecary offered healing potions, and Alice recognized him as the man who had run away from her in Tingen City.
• Alice felt a sudden urge to kill the Apothecary, suppressed it, and resolved to investigate her past alongside pursuing advancement.
• A woman offered a Rune Steel Sword for five hundred pounds or a Sequence 8 Barbarian formula, but nobody responded.
• Another member offered a Fortune Accessory for two thousand pounds and disclosed that its owner would become penniless for half a month if they kept it beyond three months.

Alice gained the passphrase for Eye of Wisdom’s Beyonder gathering after proving her sincerity, then advised Klein on dealing with the Intis ambassador who might be targeting him. At the Tarot Club, Klein announced a task to assassinate the ambassador, while Alice realized her earlier advice had come from a troubling, unexplained disregard for life.

• Alice proved her sincerity to Eye of Wisdom, signed a one-time contract, and received the gathering’s passphrase.
• Alice left the gathering and returned to Bravehearts Bar, where she passed Caspars after changing her face back.
• Klein told Alice through the Gray Fog that an Intis ambassador might be targeting him, and Alice suggested he seek a bodyguard or kill the ambassador first.
• At the Monday Tarot Club gathering, Alger reported that the Hermit Order had a connection to the Republic of Intis.
• Klein assigned the Tarot Club members to assassinate Intis ambassador Baykalang Jean Martyn, and Alice recognized her earlier advice as an expression of inexplicable contempt for life.

Audrey and Alger accepted Mr. Fool’s task to assassinate Ambassador Beckland, while Alice declined and sought clues about the Monsters needed for her potion. The gathering ended with Alger offering information about Manova Snakes and Derrick saying he might have seen a Calamity Banshee.

• Alger explained that Ambassador Beckland was an Intis intelligence chief who had helped stir unrest, and Audrey agreed to attempt the assassination in exchange for the Psychiatrist formula.
• Alger also accepted the task, while Alice declined and Alger questioned whether she was in Backlund.
• Klein opened the gathering to free trade, and Alice asked for clues about Calamity Banshees and Manova Snakes.
• Alice described the two Monsters, and Alger revealed that he knew of a sea region inhabited by Manova Snakes.
• Derrick raised his hand and said he thought he had seen a Calamity Banshee.

Alice negotiated with Alger for passage to the waters where Charlie King could be hunted, revealing that an Angel of the Monster pathway had targeted her and might also threaten Alger. Alger agreed to discuss a voyage from Pritz Harbor in two weeks, while Alice learned the costs and rules for dividing a team’s gains.

• Alice asked Derrick whether he could kill the monsters and whether he could take her to the City of Silver, but he refused both requests.
• Alger offered to take Alice out to sea, and Alice warned him that an Angel had noticed her because of his earlier encounter with a Monster pathway Beyonder.
• Alice proposed that Alger join her in hunting Charlie King, a Sequence 6, and explained that she wanted his help because he was already exposed to the Angel’s gaze and she was a support type.
• Alger agreed to consider the hunt if the reward and timing suited him, then offered passage from Pritz Harbor in two weeks for 1,000 pounds and a share of the gains.
• Alice asked how a team divided its rewards, and Alger explained that the shares depended on contribution and need, with compensation afterward.

At the Tarot Club, Alice remembered she could not swim and asked Alger for help with traveling by sea, while Klein arranged a Potion Formula exchange for Derrick. After the meeting, Alice read Roselle’s Diary and realized the Angel who sent her Charlie King was a Sequence 1 Mercury Serpent, leaving her convinced Charlie King would eventually die before her.

• Audrey exchanged promises with Derrick about Dragon information and the Sequence 8 Bard Potion Formula, while Klein offered to pay for the Praying Light formula.
• Alice asked whether anyone had an Extraordinary Item for underwater movement, and Alger offered to handle the risks of her setting sail.
• Alger wondered about Alice’s unusual connection to Mr. Fool, her background, and her encounter with an Angel of the Fate pathway.
• After the Tarot Club ended, Alice received Roselle’s Diary from Klein and read that the Monster pathway represented fate and included the Sequence 1 Mercury Serpent.
• Alice connected the Mercury Serpent to the white snake in her dream and concluded that Charlie King was a prepaid deposit who would die before her someday.

Above the Gray Fog, Alice explained that a Mercury Serpent had given her a revelation about her death, and Klein told her how he had traced a charm ingredient to the blood of the Eternal Blazing Sun. Later, at a Beyonder gathering in Bravehearts Bar, the Fat Apothecary offered a commission to clear beasts from the sewers, and a man accepted it.

• Alice told Klein that a Mercury Serpent had revealed she needed to become powerful enough for her death to matter, and she suspected another force had once influenced her fate.
• Alice asked Klein about the charm he had given her during the Megose incident, and Klein confessed that he had traced a drop of golden liquid to the blood of the Eternal Blazing Sun.
• At the Bravehearts Bar gathering, the Fat Apothecary asked for help clearing beasts from the Backlund Bridge Area sewers and offered potions and 30 pounds.
• A man at the edge of the sofa accepted the commission, asking for two potions in advance with Eye of Wisdom as witness.

Klein sold a Beyonder Characteristic to Old Gentleman Eye of Wisdom and sought help against a powerful enemy. Black Snake offered him a dangerous Mystical Item that let its user hear a Great Being, and Klein agreed to buy it.

• Lady Daly sold a Rune Steel Sword and a mechanical Meat Saw, which two attendees bought.
• The seller again offered the Fortune Accessory, but Klein could not afford it.
• Klein presented a Beyonder Characteristic, and Old Gentleman Eye of Wisdom offered four hundred pounds after identifying it.
• Klein asked for a bodyguard against a possible Sequence 6 or Sequence 5 enemy, but Old Gentleman Eye of Wisdom warned that no one there was likely to accept the risk.
• Black Snake offered Klein a Mystical Item that could reveal useful information from a Great Being’s voice or harm its user, and Klein agreed to buy it.

Alice met Old Neil again at church, and her grief over the people she had left behind in Tingen City resurfaced. Old Neil shared how he had endured the loss of his lover, and Alice left comforted by the thought that those who loved her would want her to be happy.

• After Fat Apothecary's transaction with Klein was completed, he again asked about the Medullary Crystal of the Spring of Elves but left without it.
• Alice saw Old Neil praying in church and began crying as she remembered the people she had left behind in Tingen City.
• Old Neil told Alice about his former lover's illness and how he had once nearly harmed himself after losing her.
• Old Neil told Alice that those who loved her would want her to be happy, no matter where she was.
• Alice admitted that she might never see her loved ones again, then thanked Old Neil and bowed to him.

Alice tried to build a life in Tingen by befriending her neighbor Mrs. Greenland, writing under the name Briel Rose, and visiting Klein. After discovering that Miss Wraith had blocked Klein from replying to her, Alice learned he was safe and later saw Klein show off Dummy World as a new Tarot Club member.

• Alice visited Mrs. Greenland, introduced herself as Briel Rose, and learned about her daughter Evelyn Greenland.
• Alice returned home excited about making a neighborly connection, then grew lonely and decided to visit Klein.
• Alice prayed to Mr. Fool but received no reply, so she divined Klein's situation and discovered that someone had placed an Anti-Divination on him.
• Alice went to Klein's home claiming her manuscript was missing, understood his hint that he could not talk freely, and left after confirming he was safe.
• Klein brought Alice into a dream above the gray fog and introduced Dummy World as a new Tarot Club member, but Alice began touching Dummy World until Klein stopped her.

Klein told Alice about Rosago’s attempt to kill him and his plans to advance, then asked her to help investigate a man suffering from prolonged bad luck. At the Tarot Club meeting, Klein introduced the World as a new member, surprising Audrey.

• Klein recounted Rosago’s attack and told Alice about the Magician and higher Sequence potion formulas he had divined.
• Alice teased Klein about his Pathway’s circus-like Sequence names before hearing his concerns that his advancement seemed too conveniently arranged.
• Klein told Alice about an unusually unlucky man, and they agreed he would alert her if the man appeared at the Quelaag Club.
• Klein explained that he had made the World using the Beyonder Characteristic Rosago left behind.
• Klein introduced the World as a new Tarot Club member, and Audrey reacted with confusion.