Recaps

Shade arranged renovations for No. 6 Saint Derain Square with help from The Church and Miss Galina, then met his neighbors to secure approval. The plans were finalized and work was expected to finish within a week, opening every room of the house to him.

• Priest Augustus offered to send a Church supervisor to oversee Shade's renovations and warned him to let The Church handle any future trouble at the haunted house.
• Shade learned that renovations could help establish the house's value, though he would need to live there longer than Sparrow Hamilton had to prove it was safe.
• Miss Galina's extensive furniture delivery and additional masons and carpenters joined the renovation crew, keeping Shade busy as they planned the work.
• The renovation documents were approved, and the crew finalized a plan expected to be completed within a week.
• Shade visited the Smith Couple at No. 5 Saint Derain Square, obtained their consent for the renovations, and learned they had known Sparrow Hamilton.

Shade visited Luvia to ask about the Fifth Epoch Prophet Slaichi Riddle, whose records might help with his next journey through time. Luvia agreed to seek access to the Seer Association’s classified archives, and Shade left after learning her middle name was Future.

• Shade learned that his neighbor at Number 7 was a researcher who was away on business, while renovation work at his home drove him out with Mia.
• Shade asked Luvia about Slaichi Riddle, and she recognized him as a former Seer Association member who had influenced the development of Rhodes Cards.
• Luvia explained that Riddle’s writings documented dangerous encounters and major research, but his materials were classified and would require approval from headquarters.
• Luvia agreed to try to obtain the records Shade needed and suggested he prepare questions for Riddle before his next journey through time.
• Shade told Luvia he was going to Coldwater Port, asked her middle name, and learned it was Future before she kissed his cheek.

Shade spent a leisurely day in Coldwater Port, fishing with Mr. Edmund and learning why the second Chosen One, Ivan Daknis, was in danger of being consumed by the Demon he wielded. After visiting taverns and Aurora Manor, Shade heard that Miss Aurora had found a quick way to obtain the vibration-related Spirit Rune he wanted.

• Shade visited Mr. Edmund at Sea Cliff Lighthouse, and they went fishing while discussing the Chosen Ones and the Thirteen Chosen Ones.
• Mr. Edmund warned Shade that Ivan Daknis had abandoned the exploration of his own dark talent to rely on the Demon, which might eventually devour him and take his place as a Chosen One.
• Shade and Mr. Edmund returned to the lighthouse with their catch, ate grilled fish, and then Shade headed into Coldwater Port City.
• Shade visited Seven Broomsticks Tavern to listen for news and check on his bounty, then bought medicinal liquor at Green Algae Tavern to take back to his friends.
• Shade visited Miss Aurora at Aurora Manor, where she said she had news about obtaining the vibration-related Spirit Rune before she left Coldwater Port.

Miss Sivie Aurora took Shade through a singing ritual that transformed a manor corridor into an ancient passage leading to a White Mist Gate. She was surprised that Shade did not get lost and invited him to enter the gate with her.

• Shade agreed to travel with Miss Aurora to Herkils Town the next morning to seek the Vibration Spirit Rune.
• Miss Aurora asked Shade to join a ritual at the manor and led him into a corridor, warning him not to get lost.
• Miss Aurora sang as they walked, and the manor corridor gradually became an ancient brick passage covered in White Ash.
• Shade followed Miss Aurora to a familiar White Mist Gate without getting lost.
• Miss Aurora expressed her happiness at Shade's success and invited him to enter the gate with her.

Shade entered the Witch Council with Miss Aurora and found Miss Galina waiting there. After revealing that he had glimpsed the place in the past, he learned that the Council was a space created by the Ancient God Chaos Witch, but the Witches could not explain how he had entered without possessing Witch power.

• Miss Aurora led Shade through the White Mist Gate into a fog-shrouded space and warned him not to wander.
• Miss Aurora used Witch's Golden Ring and an Ancient Language incantation to reveal the Council's meeting hall and its thirteen symbol-marked chairs.
• Shade recognized the place from a vision he had seen using a Time Key and told the Witches about the two ladies he had witnessed during the Witches War.
• Miss Galina and Miss Aurora confirmed that the space was the Witch Council, created by Chaos Witch and reserved for Witches and their permitted guests.
• Shade asked how he had entered the Council despite lacking Witch power, and the Witches had no explanation.

Shade learned that touching the Stone Table had revealed a way to gain temporary Witch Council voting rights through divinity or Witch Echoes. After returning home, he pursued his experiments and errands but failed to enter the ancient passage, leaving him pondering the many mysterious remnants of the Old Gods.

• Miss Galina and Miss Aurora explained that Sivie had proposed bringing Shade into the Witch Council and warned him to keep the visit secret.
• Shade learned that sacrificing divinity or absorbing Witch Echoes could grant consumable voting rights, with Witch Echoes also offering witch knowledge.
• Miss Aurora told Shade that all Thirteen Old Gods had left behind important remnants, though the Council had lost records explaining their purposes.
• Shade tried a ritual to sharpen his perception of time, then visited Doctor Schneider and Priest Augustus to deliver medicinal liquor.
• Shade sang the Witches' song at home several times but failed to enter the ancient passage and wondered whether his poor singing was to blame.

Shade traveled with Sivie Aurora to Herkils Town, where they visited Old Woman Ilal as part of their planned expedition. Ilal revealed herself as the sole remaining believer and High Priest of the Old God, Earth-Shaking Worm.

• Shade found Dorothy away and decided to take Mia along rather than leave her with another friend.
• Shade joined Sivie Aurora and her retinue on a private train carriage bound for Coldwater Port.
• Sivie explained that her young, powerful maids had awakened a witch's power, and introduced Ji Si as one of them.
• Shade and Aurora reached Herkils Town, rested at the Honest Man Inn, and set out to visit Old Woman Ilal.
• Aurora introduced Ilal as a believer in Earth-Shaking Worm, and Ilal clarified that she was the cult's only member.

Shade and Miss Aurora met Old Woman Ilal, the last priest of the departed Old God Earth-Shaking Worm, and learned that she planned to pass the Cult’s secrets and property to Aurora. After confirming Shade’s affinity for the Vibration Spirit Rune, Ilal led them toward the underground temple beneath the Herkils Town Ruins.

• Old Woman Ilal confirmed Shade was suited to the power of Earth-Shaking Worm and learned he wanted the Vibration Spirit Rune.
• Ilal explained that she was the Cult’s final believer and priest, and that she had entrusted its property and secrets to Miss Aurora.
• Ilal showed Shade photographs from an archaeological expedition, and Shade recognized Professor Manning and agreed to deliver the photos to him.
• Ilal told Shade and Miss Aurora that the Old Days Temple lay beneath the Herkils Town Ruins, then led them there on foot.

Shade and Miss Aurora entered the abandoned temple of the Earth-Shaking Worm, where Shade sensed the Old God’s power and inscribed the silver Blasphemy Spirit Rune Vibration. With the journey’s goal achieved, they left the temple.

• Shade translated the temple’s incantation, and Old Woman Ilal used the black worm inside her to open the underground entrance.
• Shade and Miss Aurora descended into the temple, where Old Woman Ilal prayed before the holy emblem and divine statue of the Earth-Shaking Worm.
• Miss Aurora explained the god’s living sacrifices and helped Shade touch its statue so he could sense its power.
• Shade experienced visions of the Old God’s past, and the Earth shook as he inscribed the silver Blasphemy Spirit Rune Vibration.
• Shade thanked Miss Aurora for her help, and they left the temple after confirming that his journey had achieved its goal.

Shade returned from Coldwater Port with the Vibration Spirit Rune and learned about the origins of the Old Gods and the Mind Blast Thaumaturgy. He arrived home in Tobesk and rested for the night, planning to ask Doctor Schneider about obtaining a Mind Crystal.

• On the train, Miss Aurora told Shade that most Old Gods gained power from fragments of the Ancient Gods’ power, then changed the subject to the cult of Old Woman Ilal.
• Shade reflected that Old Woman Ilal’s followers seemed kind despite the cult’s evil, and Miss Aurora remarked that Ilal’s past crimes could have earned her the death penalty.
• Miss Aurora explained that Shade’s new Mind Blast Thaumaturgy could disrupt or damage souls, but required a rare Mind Crystal as a casting material.
• Shade decided to ask Doctor Schneider about obtaining a Mind Crystal instead of asking Miss Aurora for more help.
• After dinner at Miss Sivie Aurora’s manor, Shade returned to Tobesk, read for a while, and went to sleep in the guest room while Mia enjoyed the soft mattress.

Shade asked Doctor Schneider to help obtain Mind Crystals for learning Mind Blast, agreeing to pay for materials and help the doctor acquire ritual supplies. He spent the rest of the day with Professor Manning at Delarion Royal Academy, where their discussion of ancient gods left Shade considering the origins of the Old Gods’ power.

• Shade asked Doctor Schneider for two Mind Crystals, and the doctor agreed to search mental sanatoriums and make them if Shade supplied thirty pounds for materials.
• Doctor Schneider lent Shade a notebook on mind-related abilities after Shade said he was learning Mind Blast.
• Shade spent Thursday with Professor Manning, sharing stories about Herkils Town and visiting the archaeology department at Delarion Royal Academy.
• Professor Manning discussed the Old God Earth-Shaking Worm, the World Serpent, and the Orthodox God Old Man with the Lantern, prompting Shade to consider whether their powers came from the Ancient God Earth Mother.
• Shade met Professor Manning’s students, exchanged business cards, and left the Academy to enjoy an unhurried evening with Mia.

Shade spent Friday with Captain Rades and learned about the dangers of the New Continent, then continued his Saturday studies with Dorothy. He ended the night escorting her home, where Dorothy kissed him on the cheek.

• Shade read that ten days had passed since Daknis left Coldwater Port and continued overseeing the renovations to his house.
• Captain Rades told Shade he would leave for the southern front next month and gave him an ordinary amber pendant he had found while packing.
• Captain Rades brought Shade to the Veterans' Club, where Colonel Dallas Hopus described strange and dangerous sights in the New Continent.
• Shade learned that Professor Garcia had praised his final paper and invited him to take an advanced Locked Space class in autumn.
• Dorothy told Shade that Leisha would return to Tobesk next Tuesday and explained that she and Leisha rarely switched bodies unless necessary.
• Shade escorted Dorothy home after their lesson, and Dorothy kissed him on the cheek.

Shade inspected his fully renovated house and found Detective Sparrow's old photographs, then met Luvia to review records for Slaichi Riddle. Luvia identified the supposed god-summoning relic as the Life Gambling Table, leaving Shade asking how its alleged power had vanished and where the table was now.

• Shade finished inspecting the renovated house with Mia and discovered Detective Sparrow's postcards and landscape photographs hidden in the attic.
• Shade visited Luvia, who gave him records about Slaichi Riddle containing roughly four useful life events.
• Shade told Luvia he would wait half a month for more records, then offer information about Daknis to the Association in exchange for them.
• Luvia showed Shade a photograph of the table and identified it as the Keeper of Secrets Level Relic, the Life Gambling Table, rather than a Level 0 relic that summoned a god.
• Luvia explained that the table let Ring Arcanists gamble for Spirit Runes or reveal an enemy's true appearance, and Shade asked what had happened to its supposed god-summoning power and where it was now.

Shade learned more about the relic and considered the unexplained history of his newly renovated house before entering the Time Corridor for another visit to Terror Castle. He reunited with Mister Riddell, who remembered nothing new and was near collapse from hunger.

• Luvia told Shade the relic was kept at the Lorima Main Branch and could only be used under a High-Ring Arcanist’s supervision, and Shade resolved to investigate the gambling deity behind it.
• Shade described the completed renovations at No. 6 Saint Derain Square, and Luvia warned him to investigate the house’s past deaths and disappearance for a possible pattern.
• Shade returned home, watched Mia explore Room Two, and wondered whether to invite Dorothy or Iluna to live with him before deciding he still needed to confirm the house was safe.
• Shade entered the Time Corridor and learned that he had to help a mortal win the Life Gamble to receive the Breath of Time Thaumaturgy and information about the Dark Dungeon.
• Shade ran through Terror Castle’s corridor and reached the room, where Mister Riddell remembered nothing new and eagerly ate the food Shade had brought.

Shade helped Mister Riddell recover memories of several dangerous adventures during their gamble against the god, giving his side powerful creatures but leaving him physically weakened. Before Shade returned to his own time, Mister Riddell promised to investigate Myriad Aspects of Impermanence, revealing a connection between his promise and the cards Shade knew five thousand years later.

• Mister Riddell drew the holy emblem of the God of Gambling, identified as an abstract representation of Ouroboros, and resumed the gamble with Shade.
• Shade helped Mister Riddell remember surviving an Eight-Legged Siren with a statue of the Lord of the Scarlet Spiral, and the table summoned the Deep Sea Giant Monster.
• Mister Riddell recalled escaping a Demon because a Witch's branded seal repelled it, and Shade recorded the mark's symbol for future study.
• Shade helped Mister Riddell remember the Cursed Sword and Man-Eating House, whose powers joined the battle as the god's five Witches fought his three monsters.
• As Mister Riddell weakened, Shade promised to help him win; Mister Riddell vowed to investigate Myriad Aspects of Impermanence if he survived, and Shade returned to his own time.
• Shade realized Slaichi Riddle's research into Myriad Aspects of Impermanence might have fulfilled a promise made across five thousand years, then collected a metal screwdriver from God's Gift Box.

Shade asked Priest Augustus about an Old God’s gambling emblem and collected a Weak Angel Potion to help fight Demons. He learned that his Demon Hunting Mark was the seal of the vanished Third Epoch Demon Hunters, while Priest Augustus warned him to keep the potion’s source secret.

• Shade showed Priest Augustus the holy emblem, and the priest identified it as belonging to the departed Raucous Black Hunter, the God of Gambling.
• Priest Augustus gave Shade the Weak Angel Potion and explained how it could harm Demons or reveal invisible evil beings.
• Priest Augustus warned Shade that the Church suspected the Ring Arcanist from The Truth Society had companions still operating in the diocese.
• Shade showed Priest Augustus the Demon Hunting Mark, and the priest identified it as the Mark of the Keeper of Secrets Level relic called the Demon Hunting Seal.
• Priest Augustus said the seals were gifts left by the vanished Third Epoch Demon Hunters and warned Shade not to reveal that he had received the potion from him.

Miss Galina told Shade that Ivan Daknis had been found in Veilwood City and might be heading toward Tobesk, then gave Shade a Wishing Coin Relic. The chapter ended with Shade accepting her invitation to dinner and an opera, while insisting he would repay her for the coin.

• Miss Galina told Shade that the Witch Council had tracked Ivan Daknis to Veilwood City, where he had escaped after being found.
• Shade, Miss Galina, and Tifa traced Daknis's likely route toward Tobesk and discussed the danger of other Ring Arcanist organizations joining the search.
• Miss Galina warned Shade that Daknis might seek revenge because Shade had wounded him with the Sunlight Gun.
• Miss Galina gave Shade a Wishing Coin and explained that it granted wishes in unpredictable ways, with greater wishes producing stranger results.
• Shade accepted Miss Galina's invitation to dinner and an opera, asked to bring Mia, and said he would repay her for the coin.

Shade spent Monday with Miss Galina, learned that Sivie Aurora had checked his body while he was unconscious, and accepted an invitation to play Rhodes Cards at Queen Diana’s birthday banquet. On Tuesday, he asked Luvia to divine how they could obtain the Demon Hunting Seal, leaving her to determine what specific question to ask the Wishing Coin.

• Miss Galina told Shade that Sivie Aurora had left Coldwater Port and apologized for examining his body while he was unconscious.
• Marquis Charles Grasley invited Shade to play Rhodes Cards at Queen Diana’s birthday banquet, and Shade agreed to bring Origin · Silver Moon.
• Shade visited Coldwater Port in secret to leave Doctor Schneider’s materials list at the Seven Broomsticks Tavern.
• Shade showed Luvia the Wishing Coin and asked her to divine how they could obtain the Demon Hunting Seal.
• Luvia examined Shade’s Weak Angel Potion and said the Human Pus Demon remained their greatest uncertainty; she asked Shade to define his divination request more precisely.

Shade learned that following his own plans would likely lead him to the Demon Hunting Seal, while Luvia revealed more about the demons and Ancient Gods. He then returned home and set out to investigate the eye Doctor Jacob Alfred by visiting the musician whose eyesight Alfred had restored.

• Luvia divined that Shade would probably encounter the Demon Hunting Seal if he continued along his own path.
• Luvia told Shade that a Servant of Secrets, a demon linked to the Darkness Domain, had been spreading darkness, and shared Iluna’s findings about the Ancient Gods’ powers.
• Shade learned that Leisha would arrive in Tobesk that day and worried about her and Dorothy being unable to stay near each other.
• Shade retrieved Detective Sparrow’s commission files and chose to investigate the Doctor who had treated Toma Mandis’s eyes.
• Shade planned to visit Frank Bundy, the musician whose eyesight Jacob Alfred had restored, before reporting back to Toma Mandis.

Shade went to investigate blind musician Frank Bundy for a client, only to learn that Bundy had died by suicide after his eyes were cured. The landlord’s account led Shade to the Norsan Opera Troupe, where he obtained Bundy’s suicide note and permission to question the people who knew him.

• Shade found Frank Bundy’s home in Rotten Fish Alley and learned from the landlord that Bundy had killed himself with prohibited drugs the previous month.
• Shade heard that Bundy had become afraid of darkness and sudden noises after his sight was restored, and learned that he had left a suicide note with the Norsan Opera Troupe.
• Shade returned home for lunch with Little Mia, then traveled across the city to the troupe’s headquarters.
• Shade met the troupe leader, who gave him Bundy’s suicide note and belongings and allowed him to speak with people who had known Bundy.

Shade investigated the suicide of musician Frank Bundy and found evidence that Bundy’s worsening mental state was connected to a strange liquid and his music. He brought the final score to Miss Galina’s estate, where Tifa Servit played it for him, and Shade became increasingly disturbed by the melody.

• Shade questioned members of the Norsan Opera Troupe and learned that Frank Bundy had grown fearful and gloomy after his eyes were cured.
• Shade compared Bundy’s suicide note with his musical scores and found that both showed increasingly frenzied handwriting despite the note’s orderly contents.
• Shade found a small bottle containing a faint trace of spirit and learned Bundy had dripped its liquid into his eyes as medicine.
• Shade took the scores and bottle, then visited Miss Galina’s estate to have a musician perform Bundy’s final compositions.
• Tifa Servit played the final score in the soundproof music room, and Shade grew increasingly restless as he listened.

Shade investigated the final piano score written by the deceased musician Mr. Bundy and concluded that Bundy had witnessed something mysterious. Miss Galina assigned Tifa Servit to assist Shade during the next day's investigation, while a letter from Dorothy said Leisha might visit Shade that weekend.

• Shade stopped Tifa Servit from playing Mr. Bundy's frantic score and used Cindyia's Moonbeam Gift to soothe her.
• Tifa said Bundy had likely witnessed something mysterious and praised his music as the work of an exceptional genius.
• Miss Galina ordered Tifa to assist Shade with his investigation the following day, and Tifa agreed to meet him at eight.
• Miss Galina told Shade that Leisha had returned to Tobesk, then declined his offer to visit her at Yodel Palace.
• Shade received a letter from Dorothy saying Leisha might visit him at Saint Derain Square over the weekend.
• Tifa arrived at Shade's home at eight on Wednesday morning to begin assisting him.

Shade and Miss Servit questioned the Three Cats Inn’s owner about the late musician Frank Bundy and learned that one of Bundy’s companions might know more. Mrs. Sangmei challenged Shade to a Rhodes Cards match over the information, and they began wagering rare special cards.

• Shade brought Miss Servit to the Three Cats Inn and asked Mrs. Sangmei about Frank Bundy’s behavior before his suicide.
• Mrs. Sangmei recalled that Bundy had recently become withdrawn and drank alone, and said a woman close to him might know more and possess some of his belongings.
• Mrs. Sangmei demanded a pound for the woman’s address, so Shade proposed a card wager instead.
• Mrs. Sangmei wagered her Royal Decree card, and Shade answered with his Demon Soul Stealer Bishop card.
• Mrs. Sangmei arranged a formal match at the inn, and Shade sat down to play while Miss Servit watched.

Shade played a dice-determined card match against Mrs. Sangmei at the Three Cats Inn, with Tifa Servit and Little James rolling for their respective sides. After Shade took the first round and tied the second, both rollers landed on sixes in the third round, making it the final round and setting up a six-card draw.

• Mrs. Sangmei proposed a best-of-match card game in which Tifa Servit and Little James rolled dice to determine each round’s draw and a six would end the match.
• Tifa deliberately rolled one against Little James’s three, and Shade won the first round with Sun 5 and Flower 10.
• Little James rolled five and Tifa rolled two, so both sides drew three cards and tied the round at sixteen points.
• Little James rolled a six in the third round, and Mrs. Sangmei said a win would force a deciding round.
• Tifa rolled a six as well, making the third round the final one and requiring both sides to draw six cards.

Shade won the Rhodes Cards game against Mrs. Sangmei and obtained the address of Mary, who had been close to the dead blind musician Frank Bundy. Mary revealed that Bundy had begun seeing shadows after a Doctor treated his eyes, and Shade recovered Bundy’s yellow eye medicine and hastily written music from her belongings.

• Tifa revealed Shade’s six cards, which formed the lowest-scoring possible hand, and Shade won the game against Mrs. Sangmei.
• Shade paid Mrs. Sangmei for information and received Mary’s address, then met Mary at a roadside restaurant with Tifa.
• Mary said Bundy had feared increasingly clear shadows he saw at night after his eyesight was treated, but had kept using his eye medicine because he did not want to go blind again.
• Shade learned Mary was hiding Bundy’s belongings and used a coin and revolver to persuade her to produce them.
• Shade took Bundy’s yellow eye medicine and sheets of music, completing his investigation of the Three Cats Inn clues.