Recaps

After Moira recovered, Elliot discovered that bribing the Creator had digested half of his Briber Potion. Hobart examined his sacrifices, then joined the Tarot Club, where Klein noticed that Emperor had changed.

• Calvin asked Elliot whether his Briber Potion had begun digesting, and Elliot sensed that half of it had been digested.
• Hobart shattered the Werewolf Extraordinary Characteristics and glimpsed the Desire Mother Tree's true body before the characteristics split into three portions.
• Hobart examined the Sealed Artifact, learned its abilities and risks, and left it in the Country of Disorder.
• Hobart spent the afternoon with Fors, then prepared for the Tarot Club gathering.
• Alger offered Klein nineteen pages of Rosell's Diary as payment for the Fool's Blessed helping eliminate Qilingesi.
• Klein began reading the diaries, while Audrey noticed that Emperor's condition seemed to have changed.

At the Tarot Club gathering, Klein shared common knowledge from Rosell's diary and charged the members for an explanation of adjacent sequences. Hobart declined to join the transaction, then offered Secret Order intelligence, leaving Klein with another potential deal to arrange.

• Audrey noticed that Hobart had advanced to Sequence 7 while she remained at Sequence 9, and she resolved to advance quickly.
• Klein told the Tarot Club that the Night Emperor had been a single High Sequence Beyonder with a long lifespan, and Hobart identified him as the emperor of the Trensoost Empire.
• Klein introduced the conservation of Extraordinary Characteristics within adjacent sequences and asked Alger, Audrey, and Derrick to trade for an explanation.
• Klein blocked Hobart's hearing while he explained adjacent sequences, and Alger understood why the Church of Storms and the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun were enemies.
• Hobart offered to trade Secret Order intelligence so the members could pay Klein's reward, making Klein's mouth twitch.

Hobart traded Audrey information about the Secret Order and revealed that he could digest a Bribor potion by bribing a god. Klein agreed to let Hobart try, provided he offered a sacrifice that satisfied him.

• Audrey chose an open transaction with Hobart and agreed to pay 500 pounds for information about the Secret Order.
• Hobart explained the Secret Order’s ties to the Zaratul Family, Antigonus, Emperor Rosell, and the Intis Republic, including its presence at the Intis Republic Embassy in Backlund.
• Audrey asked whether Mr. Fool was satisfied with Hobart’s information, and Klein affirmed that he was.
• Hobart asked to digest his Bribor Potion by bribing Mr. Fool, astonishing Alger, Audrey, and Derrick.
• Klein said he could grant Hobart’s request if Hobart offered a sacrifice that satisfied him.

Hobart sacrificed everything he knew about the Sealed Artifact 0-08 to Mr. Fool in exchange for mysticism knowledge. He warned the Tarot Club that 0-08 might soon reach Backlund, and Audrey decided to rent a Mystical Item so she could hypnotize herself and forget about it.

• Klein asked Hobart to sacrifice all his information about 0-08, and Hobart agreed to begin the Bribe process.
• Hobart explained that 0-08, also called Alesuhod's Quill, could make its written stories come true and weave anyone who learned of it into its story.
• Hobart reassured Audrey that Mr. Fool's protection kept 0-08 from detecting their discussion, then warned that its holder would likely head to Backlund soon.
• Audrey chose to rent a Mystical Item from Hobart so she could hypnotize herself and temporarily forget about 0-08.
• Hobart revealed that 0-08 constantly tried to write its holder to death, and Klein answered the sacrifice with knowledge about the Four Emperors.

Klein told the Tarot Club about the Four Emperors and helped Hobart and Audrey arrange a secret, safe way to trade a Mystical Item through a sacrifice ritual. The gathering ended with Hobart asking the others to look for Mystical Items with travel abilities.

• Klein explained that the Nether Emperor gained power surpassing the gods but went mad, and Hobart thanked him for the valuable information.
• Hobart revealed that one of the two figures connected to the Antigonus Family was still alive and ranked above 0-08, but said the details required a transaction.
• Hobart offered to rent Audrey the Sequence 6-level Mystical Item called the Psychological Spoon for 60 pounds per use.
• Klein proposed that Hobart sacrifice the Psychological Spoon to him so he could bestow it upon Audrey, and he taught them the Ritual and gave them The Fool's symbol.
• Hobart asked the Tarot Club members to watch for Mystical Items with travel abilities.

At the Tarot Club gathering, Hobart discussed the high cost of a Sequence 5 Traveler’s Mystical Item, while Audrey took on the task of evaluating new members and traded with Alger for the Seven-Colored Lizard Dragon Pituitary Gland. Hobart and Alger then successfully offered sacrifices to The Fool, and Klein received the material and a Psychological Spoon with three Extraordinary Abilities.

• Alger explained that a Sequence 5 Traveler’s Mystical Item could cost at least 10000 Pounds, and Hobart said he was saving for one.
• Audrey agreed to watch for the Traveler ability, received Alger’s Seven-Colored Lizard Dragon Pituitary Gland through a sacrifice, and was assigned by The Fool to evaluate new Tarot Club members.
• After returning to the real world, Hobart sacrificed the Psychological Spoon to The Fool and felt his Bribor Potion digest substantially.
• Alger performed the sacrifice aboard the Azure Avenger, offering Audrey’s Seven-Colored Lizard Dragon Pituitary Gland to The Fool.
• Alger concluded that The Fool was gaining the ability to accept sacrifices and bestow gifts, then focused on improving his strength as the Azure Avenger neared the first marked site in the Elven Ruins.
• Klein examined the Psychological Spoon and discovered it granted Hypnosis, Frenzy, and Psychological Suggestion, with crying or laughing as its negative effect.

Audrey completed the Bestowal Ritual, obtained the Psychological Spoon, and advanced after drinking the potion. Hobart received new work at the law firm, including invitations from the Machinery Hearts and Nighthawks, then recognized Jessica as a new colleague.

• Klein told Audrey that the Bestowal Ritual could begin, and Audrey performed it with Susie standing guard.
• Audrey used the Psychological Spoon to hypnotize herself, then sacrificed it and 2060 Pounds to Mr. Fool for the Emperor.
• Audrey prepared and drank the Seven-Colored Lizard Dragon's pituitary gland potion, advancing to the next Sequence.
• Hobart deposited 2000 Pounds, shared dinner with Xue and Fors, and heard Xue planned to pursue two robbers.
• Hobart returned to the law firm and found dozens of letters, including one from Ikanse and an invitation from LuoLuota to meet at the Obsidian Bar.
• A colleague introduced Jessica as a new lawyer, and Hobart recognized her from Lafite's Stars.

Hobart agreed to lead a new legal team specializing in work injury compensation cases after his defense drew attention and limited his other prospects. He chose Lasga, Dike, and Jessica as his colleagues, and Jessica became his assistant.

• Jessica greeted Hobart and praised his courtroom defense while meeting her new colleagues.
• Hobart read Captain Ikanse’s letter about Bob’s new life in Constun and received VIP tickets to the Roselle Memorial Exhibition.
• Barton and Aslan offered Hobart a partnership and a dedicated team for work injury compensation cases, and Hobart accepted.
• Hobart selected Lasga, Dike, and Jessica to join his team and inspected their new offices.
• The team moved into its offices, and Jessica volunteered to become Hobart’s assistant.

Hobart organized his new team, met LuoLuota to collect his salary and learn that he might join an operation against Aurora Society members, then attended the Roselle Memorial Exhibition. There, he unexpectedly encountered Jessica and the silver-haired woman in the Study section.

• Hobart assigned Jessica, Lasga, and Dike their duties and treated the team to dinner to mark their establishment.
• Hobart wrote letters to Ikanse and Elizabeth, then met LuoLuota, collected his salary, and learned that Hayman was still in contact with two Aurora Society members whom the Nighthawks planned to capture.
• Jessica showed Hobart her interview schedule and asked for tickets to the Roselle Memorial Exhibition, so he gave her two VIP tickets.
• Hobart took his team to dinner, spent 3 Pounds and 3 Sule, and realized why LuoLuota cared so much about payday.
• Hobart used a VIP ticket to enter the Roselle Memorial Exhibition, where he found Jessica and the silver-haired woman in the Study section.

Hobart identified the Black Emperor card at the exhibition and considered several ways to steal it, but each seemed too risky or impossible. Back at the Law Firm, he realized Lafite might offer a solution.

• Kelly praised Hobart's courtroom defense, and she and Jessica joked about whether Hobart was interested in Jessica.
• Hobart detected the Black Emperor card at the exhibition and studied the hall's layout before leaving after ten.
• Hobart assigned the Law Firm's commission and consultation letters, then considered ways to steal the card.
• Hobart tried summoning himself into spirit form, but the Country of Disorder only let him travel about twenty meters from his body.
• Hobart ruled out asking Medici for help and worried that using the Teleport Stone Statue would expose him to the Machinery Hearts.
• Hobart suddenly realized that Lafite might help him steal the Black Emperor card.

Hobart removed Medici’s evil spirit from Lafite and used psychological suggestion to send him to the Roselle Memorial Exhibition with an incantation to summon the Creator in the Shadow of Order. Lafite arrived at the crowded exhibition, where Hobart watched him approach Roselle’s Notes as the next step of his plan.

• Hobart used the Spirit Medium Necklace and Twisted Power to tear Medici’s evil spirit away from Lafite and destroy its projection.
• Medici, Sauron, and Einhorn argued in the underground ruins about the Black Emperor’s return and whether their plan had been exposed.
• Hobart hypnotized Lafite through his star, making him leave the casino and visit the Roselle Memorial Exhibition, and instructed him to recite an incantation when he saw Roselle’s Creative Manuscript.
• Ikanse guided Bishop Holamik and his friends through the crowded exhibition and explained that no one had deciphered Roselle’s Notes.
• Lafite arrived without a VIP ticket and called for the crowd to make way for Lord Raft Pond as he approached the exhibits.

Hobart carried out his plan to steal Rosell's Creative Manuscript from the exhibition, then used it to reveal the Black Emperor Card. He obtained the card and read the potion recipe for Sequence 5: Chaos Mentor.

• Hobart followed Lafite into the exhibition's Study section while Ikanse and Bishop Horamick were present.
• Lafite's shout drew attention as Hobart's plan began, and Jessica and Kelly later watched him approach the original Creative Manuscript.
• Hobart summoned two Bronze Gates and used their power to sweep up the manuscript, while the panicked crowd could not see the gates.
• Horamick arrived too late to stop the theft, noticed Lafite's oddly blank behavior, and had him seized; after examining him, Horamick concluded that Lafite had been hypnotized.
• On the Iron Throne, Hobart opened the manuscript, invoked Bernadette, and transformed a bookmark into the Black Emperor Card.
• Hobart read the card's Sequence 5: Chaos Mentor potion recipe and ritual.

Hobart studied the Blasphemy Slate, learned more about the Bribor and higher Sequences, and discovered that the Black Emperor card greatly strengthened his control over the Country of Disorder. He worried that taking the card could disrupt Klein’s future plans, while outside the Roselle Memorial Exhibition, a royal carriage arrived as the crowd awaited the venue’s reopening.

• Hobart read the Blasphemy Slate’s potion ingredients, rituals, and guidance for Sequences 4 through 7, and considered how he might advance as a Baron.
• Hobart found that the Black Emperor card expanded his ability to manipulate the Country of Disorder and made him appear more like the Black Emperor.
• Hobart considered how his theft might affect Klein’s plans to save little The Sun and the imprisoned girls, but postponed deciding how to handle the consequences.
• Jessica and Kelly waited outside the exhibition, where Kelly asked whether Jessica’s family had ties to a Hidden Being and Jessica said she did not know.
• A royal carriage arrived outside the exhibition, and someone in the crowd called for everyone to make way for the King.

Machinery Hearts investigators found no clear lead after Lafite disrupted the Roselle Memorial Exhibition and the Creative Manuscript was stolen. Holamik concluded that a High Sequence Beyonder from the Fenebote Royal Family was the likeliest culprit, leaving the investigation with a tenuous royal connection.

• Holamik searched Lafite’s Mind World but found no clues, while the intrusion left Lafite badly injured.
• Ikanse questioned the Arodes Mirror, which showed a Bronze Gate and revealed that Lafite had abruptly decided to visit the exhibition while gambling.
• The Arodes Mirror’s question about Ikanse’s colleagues shocked him with a lightning strike after he denied wanting to hang up and ravage one.
• Holamik ordered the investigators to look into the casino where Lafite had been gambling.
• Viscount Stafford arrived on King George’s behalf, and Holamik inferred that a High Sequence Beyonder from the Loen or Fenebote Royal Family had caused the disturbance, with Fenebote more likely.
• Holamik ordered Lafite watched for two weeks and began considering how to investigate the Fenebote Royal Family.

Hobart learned that Xue had taken a two-week surveillance job on Lafite Pont, while Jessica gave him a Sun-infused keychain and revealed that George III had been at the Roselle exhibition. The chapter ended with LuoLuota arriving to take Hobart to work.

• Xue met the Masked Man, accepted a two-week job following Lafite Pont, and received a 10-pound deposit.
• Hobart read that the exhibition disturbance had been publicly blamed on a baronet, with no mention of the stolen Creative Manuscript.
• Xue returned home and told Hobart and Fors about her assignment to monitor Lafite.
• Jessica gave Hobart a keychain made by Kelly that contained Sun Pathway Extraordinary Characteristics, and told him George III had been at the exhibition.
• Hobart inferred George III had resumed monitoring Lafite and decided to be cautious about using the Country of Disorder's power in Backlund.
• LuoLuota arrived in a carriage bearing the Emblem of the Night and told Hobart it was time to get to work.

Hobart joined LuoLuota and Borgia in the Nighthawks Squad’s operation to arrest a Sequence 7 Aurora Society member. After they planned an ambush at 107 Jaspen Street, Hobart kicked open the target’s door and heard a sinister laugh from the dark room.

• Hobart gathered his Beyonder items and went with LuoLuota to the operation site.
• LuoLuota explained that the Nighthawks had identified six Aurora Society members and would arrest them simultaneously.
• Hobart learned that the Nighthawks had split into six teams, then took command of his team’s plan to ambush their Sequence 7 target.
• Hobart entered the apartment through a stairwell window and kicked down the target’s door.
• A sinister laugh came from the pitch-black room as ghostly figures flickered in the darkness.

Hobart used his Mystical Items to overpower the Hermit and drive him into severe Loss of Control during the capture operation. After Hobart moved the Hermit outside, LuoLuota and Borgia shot him until he collapsed.

• Hobart entered the Hermit's Ghost Domain and used Mu Jins of Loss of Control to distort and weaken the shadows.
• The Teleport Stone Statue revealed the weakened Hermit, and Hobart shot at him as he tried to escape through the window.
• Hobart used the Teleport Stone Statue to return the Hermit to the room and the Psychological Spoon to drive him into Frenzy.
• Hobart moved the Hermit into the street, where LuoLuota and Borgia emptied their guns into him.
• The Hermit collapsed as his signs of Loss of Control ceased, and LuoLuota remarked that she could collect her salary with a clear conscience.

Hobart and Borgia encountered a monstrous creature summoned by Hayman while rushing to support his arrest team, and Hobart used the Teleport Stone Statue to contain it. As the monsters charged him, Hobart weakened the main body with a bribe, leaving the fight unresolved.

• Hobart left LuoLuota to handle the cleanup and rode with Borgia toward the team arresting Hayman.
• A huge, many-eyed monster attacked their carriage, killed the horses, and pursued the fleeing coachman.
• Hobart and Borgia broke the monster’s legs, but its scattered eyes transformed the horses’ corpses into more monsters and restored its body.
• Hobart used the Teleport Stone Statue to keep the three monsters contained while the Nighthawks explained that Hayman had summoned them.
• Borgia could not aim at the monsters’ eyes, so Hobart bribed the main monster with the Fountain Pen and ordered it to weaken.

Hobart subdued the Multi-Eyed Monster by Hypnotizing it and helping the Nighthawks destroy its bodies, then recovered a dangerous Sealed Artifact from it. At the arrest scene, he used Sewing and Healing Art to save the mortally wounded Nighthawk Will.

• Hobart Weakened and Hypnotized the Multi-Eyed Monster, letting the Nighthawks shoot its eyes and destroy the two smaller bodies.
• Hobart used Charm and Hypnosis to hold the main monster back while Borgia tore out its hair, causing it to collapse.
• Hobart identified the hair and attached eyeballs as a likely Sealed Artifact, wrapped it in his windbreaker, and left Borgia to guard it.
• Hobart went with two Nighthawks to the arrest site, where he found Will gravely wounded and heard his final words to Brian.
• Hobart Sewed Will's wound and cast a Healing Art, restoring him from the brink of death.

After defeating the Multi-Eyed Monster, Hobart examined Hayman's residence, kept a clue that might lead to more hidden wealth, and realized how the battle had helped him digest the Bribor Potion. The Nighthawks later learned that Hillman had escaped capture but was badly injured, while Thomas praised Hobart's contribution to the operation.

• Hobart sent the Nighthawks to search Hayman's residence while he stayed with the recovering Will.
• At Hayman's residence, Hobart found a jar and wooden tongs for handling the Sealed Artifact, then secretly kept Hayman's pipe as a possible divination clue to his other hideouts.
• After considering how he had exploited the Multi-Eyed Monster's weakness, Hobart understood that finding and using weaknesses was central to acting as a Bribor.
• Hobart used Sewing to treat badly injured residents until police reinforcements arrived, then rested at Blackthorn Security Company.
• The Nighthawks reported that Hillman had escaped with help from a summoned Sequence 5, though his injuries might permanently damage his prospects for advancement.
• Thomas praised Hobart for his decisive role in the operation.

Hobart received a portion of a Judge's Extraordinary Characteristics for his role in the operation and arranged bounties for Hayman and Hillman. On the Stormy Sea, Alger destroyed the Sea God believers pursuing his ship and then joined the Tarot Club.

• Thomas offered Hobart a cash reward or one-fifth of a Judge's Extraordinary Characteristics, and Hobart chose the Characteristics.
• Hobart asked Thomas to approve bounties for Hayman and Hillman, then went home to rest after completing his report.
• Fors told Hobart she would take Audrey to a Beyonder Gathering with clues about the Psychological Alchemy Society.
• Alger sailed the Azure Avenger into unknown waters to escape two ships pursuing him.
• Alger used the Crystal Sapphire Scepter to protect the Azure Avenger from hail while the storm wrecked both pursuing ships.
• Alger gave his crew an excuse for entering the dangerous waters, reviewed his diary pages, and joined the Tarot Club.

At the Tarot Club, Alger shared intelligence about the Secret Order and its search for mermaids in the Soniya Sea. Klein then announced a commission to assassinate Intis ambassador Bakeron Jean Madan, and Hobart argued the ambassador might be an intelligence chief who supported atrocities.

• Alger submitted six diary pages and reported that Secret Order members of Sequence 6 sought mermaids in the depths of the Soniya Sea.
• Klein announced that one of his Blessed wanted the Intis Republic's ambassador to the Loen Kingdom, Bakeron Jean Madan, assassinated.
• Audrey worried that the assassination could provoke conflict between the two nations, while Hobart considered the security challenges of carrying it out.
• Hobart suggested that Bakeron Jean Madan might be the Intis Republic's intelligence chief and described how Ambassador Tim had funded a heretical organization and helped its leaders escape.
• Hobart said he had taken part in an operation that killed two of the heretical leaders, and Audrey praised his actions as an embodiment of justice.

At the Tarot Club, Audrey, Alger, and Hobart accepted a mission to assassinate Ambassador Baker Lang, while Alger asked Mr. Fool for help if he was cornered by the Sea God's Attendants of God. Alger then described discovering an underwater Elven ruin, where patterns Hobart recognized as Taotie-like ritual designs resembled the embroidery worn by the Sea God's attendants.

• Audrey agreed to attempt the mission against Ambassador Baker Lang and requested the Psychiatrist formula as her reward; Alger and Hobart also volunteered.
• Alger revealed that the Sea God's Attendants of God were hunting him and asked Mr. Fool for assistance if the danger became urgent.
• Alger recounted reaching an underwater ruin near Mbet Island, where a bubble-like structure held a dry, inhabited space and an Elven-style great hall.
• Alger materialized patterns he had found among the ruins, and Hobart identified them as altered Taotie-like designs associated with Elven sacrificial rites.
• Alger said similar patterns appeared on the clothes of the Sea God's Attendants of God.

Hobart investigated why the Sea God's believers were pursuing Alger and concluded that something might be attached to the bottom of Alger's ship. He suggested the Sea God was a surviving Elven Beyonder rather than a true deity, then offered to explain the principle through a group-buy discount.

• Alger told the Tarot Club that Sea God's Blessed had pursued him after he explored ruins and asked for help.
• Hobart questioned Alger about the ruins and his ship, then suggested that a creature or other clue might be attached to its bottom.
• Hobart connected the Sea God's limited territory and Elven cultural elements to the possibility that the Sea God was a powerful surviving member of the Elven Race.
• Audrey and Derrick showed interest in learning how the Sea God possessed divine abilities, and Hobart offered the explanation for 800 Pounds or a discounted group purchase.

Hobart explained his theory that Sea God Kavetuva was a bloodthirsty Sea Monster that had devoured Elven Extraordinary Characteristics and become half-mad. He left the Tarot Club members with clues about Kavetuva’s limited range and Honorific Name.

• Hobart arranged for Audrey, Alger, and Derrick to pay him for the information, with Derrick offering Extraordinary Materials and the others promising payment later.
• Hobart argued that Kavetuva was not a surviving Elf, citing the Church of Storms’ attention and the recent appearance of Sea God believers.
• Hobart proposed that a Sea Monster had devoured advanced Elven Characteristics without a ritual, leaving Kavetuva unstable and likely unable to leave the ruins.
• Hobart explained that Sequence 3 beings could design Honorific Names and respond to prayers only within a certain range.
• Alger recognized “Protector of Rosed Islands” as part of Kavetuva’s Honorific Name, while Audrey and Derrick reflected on the value of Hobart’s knowledge.