Chapter Summaries

Shade and Miss Danist investigated her time curse and tested whether an ancient artifact could weaken it, while discussing other time travelers in Creekwood Town. The chapter ended with the Owl transforming into Flora Winslet, who introduced herself to Shade.

• Miss Danist explained that she had left clues about her disappearance and found a newspaper from 1852 during her time in the past.
• Shade and Miss Danist suspected Creekwood Town held other time travelers and discussed finding them to learn how to lift her Time Curse.
• Shade gave Miss Danist a jar containing two umbilical cords, and it temporarily changed her Destiny Ring from seven rings to the Twelfth Ring of Fate.
• Miss Danist's curse worsened after the transformation, and Shade healed her with Sunlight Healing.
• Miss Danist showed Shade the half-sheet of the Creekwood Town Morning Post from 1852 and told him about the winter she spent in the past.
• The Owl transformed into Flora Winslet, who appeared before Shade and greeted him.

Shade met Flora Winslet, the Eighth seat of the Witch Council, who recognized him and discovered his relationship with Galina. Flora asked him to help lift the Time Curse and find her missing uncle, offering a rare Rhodes Cards series as payment.

• Flora Winslet introduced herself as the Great Witch of Death and recognized Shade as Sir Hamilton despite his disguise.
• Flora privately confronted Shade about Galina, and Shade admitted that he was Galina's lover.
• Flora asked Shade to help find a way to lift the Time Curse, promising to keep his secrets whether he agreed or not.
• Flora revealed that she had come to Creekwood Town to find her uncle, whose support could help her aunt inherit the Winslet Family enterprise.
• Flora offered Shade a rare Race Legend Rhodes Cards series in exchange for his help.

Shade agreed to help Miss Winslet find her missing uncle in exchange for seeing a card she owned, then coordinated an investigation into time-related mysteries with her and Miss Danist. After his study group warned him against using the Time Tree Hole, Priest Augustus revealed that he had prepared a potion for Shade.

• Miss Winslet told Shade that her apprentice was safeguarding the card and would arrive next week, and Shade agreed to help find her missing uncle.
• Miss Winslet explained how her curse weakened her transformations, and she, Miss Danist, and Shade divided their investigations into the Hermits of the Forest, ancient ruins, and the Bennett Family.
• Shade attended the group study meeting and told Luvia, Dorothy, Priest Augustus, and Doctor Schneider about the magical cabinet and the Time Tree Hole.
• Priest Augustus and Doctor Schneider warned Shade that the Time Tree Hole was dangerous and urged him not to use it.
• Priest Augustus left with Shade after the meeting and showed him a sealed tube containing a golden potion he had prepared.

Shade received an Enlightenment Potion from the Old Priest, then resumed Night Lesson with Dorothy and Leisha by studying the fairy tale Crystal Light. The next morning, Galina discussed Flora Winslet with Shade, and Dorothy realized that the Witch was the author who had inspired her to become a writer.

• The Old Priest gave Shade an Enlightenment Potion that could purify souls and permanently weaken some curses, including the Time Curse.
• Dorothy and Leisha resumed Night Lesson with Shade, and Shade chose to study Crystal Light, whose high-ring Thaumaturgy Crystal Touch could transform living beings into nearly eternal crystal.
• Dorothy and Leisha planned to learn Crystal Touch together, while Dorothy teased Shade about what he might do if one of them became a crystal statue.
• Galina questioned Shade about his conversation with Flora Winslet and warned him that Flora might use her offer of help to learn about his relationships with Witches.
• Galina proposed gathering the Witches to confront Flora after their other business was settled, and Dorothy recognized Flora as the writer whose work had inspired her career.

Shade used the Time Key and arrived at Black Sand Dock in the summer of 2025, where Father of Infinite Tree tasked him with waiting for someone about to depart. He reached a bonfire by the dock and found a middle-aged man beside it, while a boatman waited on a moored boat.

• Dorothy praised Flora Winslet’s literary success and said she hoped to meet her in person.
• Shade recalled that Helen and Grace had said the Time Curse required atonement, though its victims had to discover the answer themselves.
• Shade entered the Time Corridor and received a trial to wait with mortals for someone about to depart, with a Miracle Ling Rune - Tree as the reward.
• Shade crossed Black Sand Dock’s happiness-draining beach, resisting its oppressive emotions by recalling happy memories.
• Shade reached the dock and saw a middle-aged man beside a bonfire and a tall boatman holding an oar.

Shade arrived at Black Sand Dock, where Frank Nelson waited for his wife and the Ferryman offered to carry travelers to any time and place for a fare. After learning about the dock, Shade returned to the campfire, where a new figure approached.

• Shade met Frank Nelson beside a silent campfire and learned that they were at Black Sand Dock, where the boat carried people away forever.
• Frank told Shade he was waiting to see his wife, who had left him and their child, and warned that the dock could make visitors want to escape their lives.
• Shade spoke with the God of the Ferryman, who said the boat could take him anywhere he knew, including the riverbank beneath the Underworld Moon, in exchange for a fare based on his destination.
• The Ferryman said mortals who wished to leave forever paid with memory, emotion, and Soul's Warmth.
• Shade returned to Frank and described his happy life, and they turned to watch a staggering figure approaching across the beach.

Shade met Anya Bullock, a Thirteenth Order Witch heading for a ferry that would erase her past and give her soul a new life. After learning that her elder sister became a Fire-Bearing Sister, Anya began telling Shade why she had come to the boundary.

• A witch approached the bonfire, recognized Shade’s unusual nature, and discovered he could summon the First Fire.
• Shade persuaded the witch, Anya Bullock, to sit and talk before boarding the ferry.
• Anya explained that the ferry stripped souls of their memories, emotions, and power before sending them to live again in unborn infants.
• Anya told Shade that she was a candidate councilor of Death Observer and described the dangers of trying to evade death through repeated lives.
• Anya revealed that her elder sister had become a Fire-Bearing Sister, and that she had found one of the scattered sparks of the First Fire for her sister.

Shade learned that Ms. Brooke had come to the shore of death intending to disappear after her sister, a Fire-Holding Sister, was consumed by the First Fire. He persuaded her to seek a meeting with her sister instead, and the chapter ended with them learning what fare the Ferryman required for a trip into True Death.

• Ms. Brooke told Shade that her elder sister had been burned to ashes by the First Fire and that she had come to the shore hoping to disappear and reunite with her.
• Mr. Nelson and Shade challenged Ms. Brooke’s plan, and Shade proposed using the boat to visit True Death and summon her sister with Sister Devlin’s Mithril Blindfold.
• Ms. Brooke agreed to go with Shade and promised to help Mr. Nelson if he needed it; Shade asked her to let him handle the conversation with the Ferryman.
• Shade asked the Ferryman to take them into True Death and back, and the Ferryman agreed in exchange for a regretful tear, 1.1 Keter of sinful guilt, and a trace of Soul’s Warmth.
• The Ferryman gave Shade three cards as containers for the fare, and Shade and Ms. Brooke returned beneath the pier to gather what they needed.

Shade learned how to help a Great Witch of Death withstand the cold of death and gathered useful items on the black beach. He left after arranging to return with what Ms. Brooke needed, then asked the Boatman the price of traveling to meet Chloe Marcus Marcus.

• Shade learned that Ms. Brooke could separate the Soul's Warmth, while he would seek help with the tears of regret and the sin of cowardice.
• Ms. Brooke explained that a Great Witch of Death could be warmed through years of passionate soul resonance with another person, leaving Shade troubled by the method.
• Shade and Ms. Brooke dug up five Relics, three Alchemy Items, and thirteen ordinary objects, and he asked Mr. Nelson to persuade future arrivals to stay.
• Shade returned to the pier and asked the Boatman what payment was needed to travel to a time after year 903 and meet Chloe Marcus Marcus.
• The Boatman demanded a soul frozen by the cold within its heart, and Shade vanished before hearing the Ferryman call him Outlander Ferryman.

After returning from the Fifth Epoch, Shade asked Miss Danist and Flora Winslet about the God of the Ferryman and learned that the mysterious Old God could influence travel across time and space. Miss Danist arranged for Flora to accompany Shade as he began investigating Vesta Woodland, and Flora planned to follow him in cat form.

• Shade returned from his trip to the Fifth Epoch and comforted Little Mia before planning his next tasks.
• Shade visited Miss Danist and Flora Winslet at the Accordion Inn to ask about the God of the Ferryman.
• Miss Danist and Flora explained that the Ferryman was an obscure Old God who took away people wishing to leave the world and was said to have power spanning space and time.
• Shade considered whether the Ferryman's power could help resolve the Time Curse, but judged that approach would be difficult.
• Miss Danist warned Shade against investigating alone and arranged for Flora to accompany him.
• Flora decided to follow Shade through the city transformed into a cat.

Shade and Flora Winslet visited Bennett Old House to investigate Shade’s suspicion that Bruce Bennett was still alive. They entered the abandoned estate and found its interior strangely unchanged from the past.

• Flora Winslet transformed into a cat, explained her relic’s disguising powers, and accompanied Shade to Bennett Old House.
• On the carriage ride, Flora told Shade about the Bennett family, and Shade suspected Bruce Bennett might not be dead.
• Shade and Flora reached the overgrown estate, where Flora flew over the fence as an owl and Shade slipped through a gap.
• Shade opened the house’s locked door with a touch and found the interior almost exactly as it had been in 1763.

Shade and Miss Winslet discovered a hidden cache of valuable stolen antiques in Bennett Old House, then investigated the study where the witch was nearly pulled back into the past. Shade escaped with her using a difficult space jump, and they paused to recover after learning another rule of time travel.

• Shade used Echoes of the Past to find a concealed chamber in the basement, where he and Miss Winslet discovered valuable antique paintings and objects, including the stolen painting The First Breakfast.
• Miss Winslet recorded the antiques, and Shade used Breath of Time to restore the hidden chamber and conceal their discovery.
• Shade and Miss Winslet searched the study, but Miss Winslet began turning transparent as the past pulled her toward the winter study from a century earlier.
• Shade clasped Miss Winslet's hand and used Laguerre's Leap to escape to the bedroom above the study, overcoming heavy resistance from the distorted space.
• Miss Winslet explained that she could not remain in places where she had spent a long time in the past, and she and Shade rested after drinking diluted Holy Water No. 3.

Shade and Miss Winslet were attacked by two Arcanists investigating the Bennett Family, and Shade fought them with Miss Winslet’s help. After the attackers died, Elf Miss revealed that they belonged to the Tree Hole Association and gave Shade a handmade arrow to compare with the arrows he was seeking.

• Shade and Miss Winslet escaped through a window after two Arcanists attacked them in the manor.
• Shade fought the two speed-enhanced Arcanists, breaking their hands and driving them back with Corrupt Blood Mist and Fireballs.
• One Arcanist used the Sand of Time, but Shade walked through it unharmed, while Miss Winslet’s owl form killed the Sixth Ring Arcanist with an instant-death secret art.
• Shade pursued the surviving Seventh Ring Arcanist into the woods, where he found him dead from a wooden arrow shot by Elf Miss.
• Elf Miss gave Shade a handmade wooden arrow to examine and told him the attackers belonged to the Tree Hole Association.

Shade and Flora Winslet learned that the two Ring Arcanists they defeated belonged to the Tree Hole Association, which was investigating families linked to the Power of Time in Creekwood Town. After one captive soul’s answer caused an explosion, they continued deeper into Vesta Woodland to attempt another Spirit Communication, and Shade agreed to test his Toy Making thaumaturgy on Flora.

• Flora explained that the Tree Hole Association sought Time Tree Holes and that most members acquired time talents through abnormal means, with Rapid Spell as their signature thaumaturgy.
• Shade and Flora covered one Arcanist’s corpse, carried it deeper into the woods, and used Spirit Communication to question the two souls.
• The souls confirmed their Tree Hole Association membership and said the group monitored the Bennett Family while suspecting other long-established local families had meddled with the Power of Time.
• When a soul said the association had one hundred people in Vesta Woodland, its corpse exploded, leaving Shade and Flora unable to ask more questions.
• Flora proposed performing Spirit Communication again in a place suited to undead, and Shade agreed to accompany her.
• During lunch, Flora asked Shade to test Toy Making on her, and Shade summoned his Destiny Ring and touched her through a canvas sheet.

Shade and Flora Winslet questioned the soul of a Tree Hole Association arcanist in an abandoned village graveyard, but their ritual unexpectedly drew Flora into the world of the dead. Shade reached her as the Underworld Moon began to claim her, and pulled her back toward the living world.

• Shade and Flora Winslet reached an abandoned village and prepared a Spirit Communication ritual in its graveyard.
• Flora projected a patch of True Death into the living world and summoned the soul of a Seventh Ring Arcanist.
• The soul revealed that the Tree Hole Association had at least 180 members, three known Twelfth Ring Arcanists, and was monitoring temporal fluctuations at Bennett Old House.
• As the soul faded, it mentioned Creekwood Town, a great net, bloodline, time travel, contradiction, and the Chosen Ones before turning hostile.
• Flora sent the soul back, but gray hands emerged from the darkness and the ritual began dragging her into the world of the dead.
• Flora saw the Underworld Moon and started walking toward it until Shade grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

Shade and Flora Winslet escaped the boundary between life and death after discovering that the Tree Hole Association and one of its arcanists were connected to time curses and the Chosen Ones. Back at the Accordion Inn, Flora admitted to Miss Danist that the adventure had been exciting and that she had embarrassed herself in front of Shade.

• Shade drove away the Seventh Ring Arcanist’s evil spirit and led Flora Winslet out of the deathly woodland boundary.
• Shade used Sunlight Healing to help Flora recover from the effects of death, and they discussed the Tree Hole Association, the Chosen Ones, and the possibility of curing her time curse.
• Flora told Shade she would stay in Vesta City and paint him at least five oil paintings after the city’s troubles were over.
• Shade and Flora rested beneath a tree for the afternoon, then returned to the Accordion Inn at twilight.
• After Shade left, Miss Danist asked the cat about the day’s investigation, and Flora revealed herself and said she had made a terrible fool of herself in front of Shade.

Flora Winslet reported the Tree Hole Association and the eighth Chosen One to the Witch Council, where she revealed that a Time Curse had turned her into an owl and weakened her. Adele Isabella planned to visit Creekwood Town next Wednesday to investigate the curse, while she and Galina remained concerned that the eighth Chosen One’s story might have begun with the Yodel Palace incident.

• Miss Danist warned Flora against getting too close to Shade, but Flora remained curious about his past.
• Flora Winslet attended the Witch Council meeting and reported the Tree Hole Association and the eighth Chosen One; the Council decided to monitor events and let her investigate.
• After the meeting, Galina and Adele Isabella noticed Flora’s abnormal condition, and Flora explained that a curse from traveling to 1763 had transformed her into an owl and lowered her level.
• Adele Isabella identified Flora’s affliction as a Time Curse and arranged to visit Creekwood Town next Wednesday to test ways to break it.
• Adele Isabella described the dangerous Angel Level Relic Redeemer’s Elegy, while Flora said she had already made progress finding a cure in Creekwood Town.
• Adele Isabella urged Galina to keep watch over Yodel Palace, suspecting the eighth Chosen One’s story had begun with the incident there earlier that month.

Galina recounted Shade’s role in the Yodel Palace incident to Flora Winslet, while Shade asked Doctor Schneider for help obtaining 1.1 moments of cowardice. Galina later warned Shade that Miss Isabella planned to visit Flora in Creekwood Town on Wednesday, disrupting his plans to avoid meeting the Speaker.

• Flora questioned Galina about Shade’s time Thaumaturgy and his role in the Yodel Palace incident, and Galina denied that Shade could be one of the Chosen Ones.
• Galina told Flora that Shade had helped during a Time Loop, then refused to share private details about their relationship.
• Shade visited Doctor Schneider and asked how to separate 1.1 moments of cowardice; the doctor agreed to prepare an Alchemy Item and asked him to return Wednesday.
• Doctor Schneider said he had not yet chosen his High-Ring Words of Sublimation, despite recently advancing to the ninth ring.
• Galina visited Shade at home and told him Miss Isabella would go to Creekwood Town on Wednesday to check on Flora, leaving Shade worried that he might have to meet the Speaker.

Shade spent the night with Galina, who insisted that he carry her perfume scent when he met Flora the next morning. He arrived late at the Accordion Hotel, where Flora and Miss Danist were waiting to see whether the townsfolk Miss Danist had contacted would come to explain her disappearance.

• Galina told Shade that Isabella was in the north with Megan and Audrey, and Shade said he would avoid meeting her on Wednesday.
• Galina stayed overnight at Shade’s home, questioned him about Flora, and insisted he not wash away her perfume scent.
• Shade got up early to wash, but Galina and Tifa poured perfume over themselves and made him attend to them before Galina left for Yodel Palace.
• Shade met Flora and Miss Danist at the Accordion Hotel and gave Miss Danist a set of jewelry for her disguise.
• Miss Danist explained that she and Flora were waiting for townsfolk whose descendants she had arranged to meet there after her disappearance.

Shade and his companions waited for the descendants of people entrusted with a century-old message, then considered how to investigate the Bennett Family for the Time Curse. The chapter left Shade planning to approach Thomas Bennett after lunch, while Miss Danist’s relic revealed the messenger was descended from the Blacksmith’s brother rather than the Blacksmith himself.

• Shade, Miss Danist, and Miss Winslet waited at the Accordion Hotel for someone bearing the message entrusted to a family in 1763.
• A middle-aged man arrived, gave Shade the code, and confirmed that his family had kept the promise for generations; he refused further payment.
• Miss Danist wondered whether advancing while cursed could let her reach demigodhood after the curse was lifted, though her condition made advancement difficult.
• Miss Danist used the Family Stabilizer and discovered that the messenger was the Blacksmith’s brother’s grandson, not the Blacksmith’s descendant.
• Thomas Bennett arrived with Baron Kaming and his son, and Shade decided to approach him later to investigate whether he carried the Time Curse.