Recaps

Theus tested how his soul and abilities interacted with different vessels on the Golden Throne, concluding that dead vessels could still be controlled while the white-robed priest’s vessel resisted his descent. As he prepared to investigate Monica’s summoned souls, he realized he could still activate Mind Link and wondered whether Throne Theus had a Symbiotic Pact of his own.

• Theus found that the Symbiotic Pact’s abilities could not be used through his other vessels, and Mind Link received no replies.
• Theus failed to descend into the white-robed priest’s vessel and suspected its holy emblem concealed a secret.
• Theus repeatedly descended into the dead middle-aged man’s and old man’s vessels, finding himself unable to move or see.
• Theus concluded that death did not prevent control of a vessel, though he would protect Lord Theus’s identity and watch for clues about the priest’s emblem.
• Throne Theus prepared to descend and check on Monica, then realized he could activate Mind Link and questioned whether he had formed another Symbiotic Pact.

Theus investigated why he could use Mind Link while on the Golden Throne despite lacking a Symbiotic Pact there, and considered whether it might reach someone through a shared channel. He returned to his own body and planned to study Banshee history and inspect Monica’s summoning.

• Theus concluded that the Symbiotic Pact was bound to his Golden Throne body rather than his soul, then wondered why Mind Link still worked there.
• Theus returned to his own body and asked Monica whether Mind Link belonged only to Banshees or required a Symbiotic Pact.
• Monica explained that she had asked Una for help, prompting Theus to consider that Mind Link might work like radio communication across shared channels.
• Theus asked Monica to have Una organize information about Banshee populations and took Monica to the eastern laboratory to inspect what she had summoned.

Theus visited the laboratory and discovered he could understand the Steam Engine’s feelings, realizing the machine seemed to have a soul of its own. He tested its power and left delighted by its response.

• Theus rode to the laboratory, where Monica introduced him to the Type II Engine she called Silly.
• Theus sensed that the Steam Engine had become more like a living machine and felt its happiness as he touched it.
• Theus told Monica that the Steam Engine disliked her and the name Silly, prompting it to click its piston and Monica to run away.
• Theus realized he had understood the Steam Engine without hearing it or using Mind Link.
• Theus fired up the Steam Engine and asked it to spin faster, and it surged with power as Theus watched happily.

Theus explained to Monica that Machine Souls responded best to mechanical maintenance rather than companionship, and she began caring for them properly. Meanwhile, Theus prepared for the banquet, where he expected to meet cultists and pitch Castel’s products to Beatrice.

• Theus told Monica that Machine Souls were souls of machines and needed repairs and maintenance instead of affection or company.
• Monica cleaned and polished a rusty spoon, which trembled in response to her care, and she resolved to maintain Silly properly.
• Theus warned Monica not to operate Silly alone, then turned his attention to preparing for the banquet.
• Ash reported that the manor’s defenders had been assigned to groups and would be ready to secure the grounds against the Moth Chasing Flame cultists.
• Theus placed the manor’s security in Ash’s hands and cautioned him that Transcendents might be among the guests.

Theus prepared for a dinner with the Moth Chasing Flame cultists while Ash deployed the Banshees throughout the manor to guard against trouble. The guests were about to arrive, and Theus went to greet them while the Banshees remained on alert.

• Ash positioned the Banshees in teams around the manor and kept one team waiting for a room to be tidied.
• Zoe helped Theus dress and apply makeup as he discussed the Banshees' growing presence in the manor and their coexistence with its human residents.
• Theus explained that trusted servants had been screened and informed about the Banshees, while others had received severance pay and left.
• Theus checked that Beatrice had been notified and that the Banshees were monitoring her and the manor perimeter.
• Connor told Theus the banquet was about to begin, and Theus went to greet the guests at the entrance.

Chloe arrived alone at Count Theus's manor for dinner and discovered it was filled with six-armed Transcendents, while Theus arranged for Beatrice to investigate a room containing something his team had planted. The chapter ended with Beatrice entering the dark room to search it.

• Chloe decided to attend the dinner alone, entered the manor, and sensed the cold gazes of numerous Transcendents inside.
• Theus confirmed that Chloe had come alone and ordered his teams to create an opportunity for Beatrice to investigate.
• Beatrice sensed an unknown Transcendent power in the room next door and looked for a chance to enter it.
• A servant spilled hot tea, distracting Beatrice's maid and leaving Beatrice alone in the corridor.
• Beatrice drew a concealed dagger, entered the dark room, and began searching as Team Three reported her movements.

Theus questioned Chloe about Moth Chasing Flame and learned that its members planned to summon the Moth Lord only to kill it and remove Pollution. Their conversation stalled, and Theus learned that Beatrice had failed to find the jar of cleansing substance left for her; Chloe offered to help locate her.

• Theus asked Chloe what she had been doing, and she admitted that she had been summoning an evil god.
• Chloe explained that Moth Chasing Flame intended to kill the Moth Lord after summoning it to remove Pollution and save lives.
• Theus struggled to understand why the group worshipped an evil god they did not want to descend, and he considered how to build trust with Chloe.
• A Banshee told Theus that Beatrice had not found the jar left in her room, despite searching the table where it sat.
• Chloe revealed that she had marked Beatrice and knew she was frantically searching upstairs, then offered to help Theus find her.

Theus and Chloe agreed to work together to distract Beatrice, while Banshees spotted a pirate ship near Castel. Chloe identified an item upstairs as belonging to the Silent Temple, then told Theus that the arriving pirates might be connected to the Sea God Church, which he had never heard of.

• Theus shook Chloe’s hand to confirm she was human, then used the Mind Link to warn his groups to watch her and Beatrice.
• Chloe found an iron can upstairs and convinced Beatrice it was evidence that the Silent Temple had infiltrated the manor.
• Chloe led Beatrice to the banquet hall, where she and Theus briefly confirmed their cooperation.
• Banshees reported that a pirate ship had anchored near Castel, and Theus ordered them to increase coastal surveillance.
• Theus told Chloe that pirates from Gem Bay had arrived, and Chloe was stunned when he said he did not know about the Sea God Church.

Jeremiah and the Tattooed Man infiltrated Theus's island manor, but the Tattooed Man sensed something in the sea and fled, leaving Jeremiah to enter alone. Theus welcomed Jeremiah and prepared to show him the island's merchandise while keeping watch on the pirates' ship.

• The Tattooed Man dragged Jeremiah through the sea to the island, then pinned him down when he noticed a patrol nearby.
• The two men approached Theus's brightly lit manor, where the Tattooed Man warned that things were too smooth but Jeremiah walked ahead.
• The Tattooed Man froze at the manor entrance, muttered that there were too many things in the sea, and left by swimming toward the pirate ship.
• Theus greeted Jeremiah and invited him to see merchandise he said would interest Gem Bay, and Jeremiah chose to enter the manor alone.
• The Banshee reported the Tattooed Man's departure to Theus, who ordered the pirate ship watched and went to show Beatrice the island's produce.

Theus presented Castel’s goods at a banquet, but Jeremiah dismissed soap as useless to Gem Bay. When Theus revealed gunpowder could fire cannonballs capable of damaging ships, Jeremiah was stunned and sat back down.

• Jeremiah entered the banquet hall and warned Alexei that Gem Bay would punish Castel if it failed to deliver supplies within a month.
• Theus introduced soap as one of Castel’s goods, and Jeremiah rejected it as irrelevant to Gem Bay’s needs.
• As Jeremiah prepared to leave, Theus announced that Castel also had gunpowder.
• Theus explained that gunpowder could power cannons that fired iron balls at ships.
• Jeremiah imagined the destructive power of cannons and sank back into his chair in disbelief.

Alexei showed Jeremiah an explosive that destroyed a hill, hinting that the yield could be increased further, while Theus unveiled fireworks at the manor. The display left Beatrice awestruck and led Chloe to suspect that Theus shared the Order of Moth Chasing Flame’s pursuit of knowledge.

• Alexei took Jeremiah to watch an explosive blast that tore apart a small hill, and Jeremiah struggled to understand how gunpowder could cause such destruction.
• Alexei told Jeremiah to remember the word “yield” and suggested that his nearby pirate ship could withstand an increased yield.
• Theus led Beatrice and the other guests into the garden, where fireworks rose and burst across the night sky.
• Beatrice watched the fireworks in wonder, while Chloe admired them and considered Theus’s mysterious work and allies.
• Chloe sensed that Theus shared the Moth Chasing Flame’s thirst for truth and might be one of their kind.

After using nitroglycerin to secure a possible alliance with Jeremiah’s pirates, Theus befriended Chloe of the Moth Chasing Flame Order and learned that the Sea God Church had been erased from public memory. Chloe traced the Church’s downfall to Pollution from the Abyssal Trench, leaving Theus shocked by the revelation.

• Theus considered using nitroglycerin to keep the pirates dependent on his supplies and began thinking about building an army.
• Chloe explained that the Moth Chasing Flame Order shared knowledge despite the Pollution and deaths that came with pursuing it.
• Theus and Chloe agreed to become friends, and Chloe asked about his connection to the Sea God Church.
• Chloe told Theus that the Sea God Church had once been one of the Five Great Churches but was now subconsciously forgotten by people.
• Chloe said the Order’s ancient records traced the Pollution surging from the sea to a place called the Abyssal Trench, and Theus reacted with shock.

Chloe explained that the sea’s Pollution came from creatures transformed by the Abyssal Trench, and that shallow-water fish had gradually returned to their original forms. She also described the Sea God Church’s Pollution-based power and revealed why she had mistaken Theus and the Banshees for its followers.

• Chloe told Theus that ancient texts named a Sea God Temple in the Abyssal Trench, where Pollution began pouring out and killed the sea’s creatures.
• Chloe explained that shallow-sea fish and shrimp had once been Pollution but gradually changed back, while Pollution in the deep sea remained unchanged.
• Theus realized why the deep sea had seemed empty and considered whether different kinds of Pollution might come from different creatures.
• Chloe said the Sea God Church had gained new coastal followers and developed a Transcendent path that required prolonged exposure to Pollution, leaving most followers mutated and unstable.
• Theus learned Chloe had suspected he belonged to the Sea God Church because of the Banshees and his stockpile of Pollution, then protested when she accused him of summoning an evil god.

Theus realized that the Pollution eruption during the Type II Engine trial might have been an evil god descending upon him, though he told Chloe the threat had been dealt with. He and Chloe agreed to share knowledge and arranged ways to contact Moth Chasing Flame, while Theus grew uneasy that he might have become the Moth Lord; Chloe left him with news that something had happened to Nora.

• Theus recalled the Pollution eruption during the Type II Engine trial and suspected an evil god had descended upon him, then assured Chloe that Castel was safe.
• Theus agreed to share knowledge equally with Moth Chasing Flame, and Chloe offered ways to contact the cult.
• Chloe explained how to reach the cult and summon its attention without bringing the Moth Lord to descend.
• Theus wondered whether he had become the Moth Lord after recalling that he could hear followers' prayers and had been called an Outer God.
• Ash gave Chloe several boxes of soap, and Chloe told Theus that something seemed to have happened to Nora.

Chloe returned to the Moths Chasing Flame with Lord Theus’s offer of shelter and shared knowledge, giving the hunted cult hope that they could settle down. She then told Isaac she suspected a traitor after Theus learned her identity, and they caught Lina listening outside the room.

• Chloe told the cult members that Theus would let them remain in his territory and share knowledge with them.
• Chloe distributed a box of soap from Theus, and the believers examined it and joked about its taste.
• Chloe asked Isaac to speak with her privately and said she suspected someone in the cult had betrayed them.
• Isaac heard someone outside the door, and Chloe opened it with a dagger at Lina’s throat.

Josh returned from the Empire after selling Castel soap at a huge profit, and he offered Ken and his family their share. He then asked Ken to introduce him to the lord, leaving his reason for seeking the meeting unstated.

• Chloe became known as a studious nun after attending the advanced class and enthusiastically teaching islanders about mechanical principles.
• Josh returned to Castel and reunited with Ken, Gaia, and Old Ivan, bringing fried food to share.
• Josh explained that he had taken soap bought with Ken and other households’ quotas to the Empire to sell.
• Josh said pirates had boarded his ship but left them and their goods untouched after learning they came from Castel.
• Josh revealed that the soap sold out at the port in under half an hour for ten Leos per bar and offered Ken his share of the profits.
• Ken hesitated to accept the money, and Josh asked him to introduce him to the lord.

Theus explained to Josh that selling soap across the Storm Ocean required a pirate authorization letter and offered to help him obtain one if he found a ship within a week. Josh left determined to seek a ship, while Theus arranged to obtain five authorization letters through Jeremiah.

• Theus warned Josh that pirates controlled sea traffic and required cargo ships to carry authorization letters from the Pirate King's Court.
• Theus offered to help Josh get an authorization letter if Josh brought him a ship within a week, and gave him a note for Alexei granting a two-ton allowance.
• Josh realized he had to find a ship and crew, then decided to try asking for a ship on credit at the city hall.
• Theus told Connor to contact Jeremiah and request five authorization letters.

Theus oversaw the Banshees and trainees installing a Steam Engine in a new stone factory intended to become a steel mill, while planning further industrial experiments. As the trainees prepared to fire up the engine, he worried that Pollution might appear in Ken’s body again.

• Four Banshees carried the three-ton Type II Steam Engine into the factory, impressing Theus with their strength.
• The trainees assembled and calibrated the engine while Theus considered using the stone factory to produce steel and other industrial materials.
• Theus planned to let the Banshees develop improved iron-smelting methods and intended to study chemical production himself.
• Ken led the trainees in installing the engine, and Theus told them to run it unloaded before connecting the transmission equipment.
• The trainees prepared to light the engine, while Theus kept a hand on Ken’s shoulder and wondered whether it could purify Pollution if it appeared in Ken’s body.

Theus celebrated the steam engine’s successful test and asked Chloe how to teach dangerous knowledge without causing Pollution. Chloe explained that systematic education could reduce the risk, but powerful organizations hoarded the necessary knowledge, and she admitted that Moth Chasing Flame had stolen fragments they could not understand.

• Theus and Ken watched the steam engine run successfully, and the trainees inspected it before Theus announced a celebration.
• Theus considered working more closely with Moth Chasing Flame after learning about Chloe’s knowledge of steam engines and the cult’s plans for a resource-rich island headquarters.
• Theus asked Chloe how to prevent Pollution from dangerous knowledge, and she was astonished to learn he could purify it.
• Chloe said teaching fundamentals in a complete sequence could prevent knowledge Pollution, though it required a long-term educational system.
• Chloe explained that large organizations monopolized advanced knowledge, then revealed Moth Chasing Flame had stolen fragments that lacked the prerequisites to understand them, making Theus suspicious.

Theus persuaded Chloe that industrial technology could help overturn the restrictions imposed on knowledge, then offered shelter and research funding to Moth Chasing Flame. Chloe accepted an alliance with him, but revealed that the evil god they had summoned earlier was still present.

• Theus argued that steam engines and mass-produced weapons could overpower Transcendents and help change the world.
• Chloe, inspired by Theus’s vision of freely shared knowledge and research, agreed to join him.
• Theus offered Moth Chasing Flame shelter on Castel, long-term employment, and research funding in exchange for shared results, while promising not to send them to external battlefields.
• Theus and Chloe shook hands to formalize their alliance, and he promised to build them a testing ground.
• Chloe told Theus that the evil god they had summoned earlier still had not left.

Chloe explained to Theus that Secret Lore could contaminate anyone who encountered it and that recording dangerous lore could distort otherwise safe historical records. Theus reconsidered the risks of knowledge in this world, while Chloe affirmed that Moth Chasing Flame would keep pressing onward despite the danger.

• Theus learned that Chloe's group had an Outer God with them, and Chloe warned him that discussing it could cause contamination.
• Chloe explained that Secret Lore could contaminate both speakers and listeners, and that Secret Keepers used it as a weapon.
• Chloe told Theus that writing down dangerous Secret Lore could deepen its contamination and spread it into safe historical records, distorting them.
• Chloe clarified that information about the Sea God Church was comparatively safe because it was recent, widely known, and still verifiable.
• Theus wondered whether future scientific knowledge might also carry dangers, then asked Chloe why Moth Chasing Flame kept going; she said that was why they chased the flame.

Jeremiah enjoyed his new posting in Castel and met with Theus, who asked him to obtain authorization letters for merchant ships. Theus gave him an options contract for nitroglycerin, and Jeremiah left pleased before encountering Alexei.

• Jeremiah learned that pirates had been arrested after drinking and fighting, but he declined to rescue them when the sheriff refused to release them.
• Jeremiah visited Theus and agreed to seek five authorization letters for merchant ships, two flying Castel's flag and three managed by trusted merchants.
• Theus gave Jeremiah an options contract granting the right to purchase five batches of nitroglycerin at a fixed price before the end of the month.
• Jeremiah accepted the contract as a gift symbolizing friendship between Castel and Gem Bay and left the study.
• Jeremiah saw Alexei waiting to meet Theus as he reached the door.

Theus discussed Nora’s delayed return and the need for refugees to ease the island’s labor shortage, then reviewed factory output and planned to sell the soap surplus through a merchant caravan. Alexei ended the meeting by mentioning that Josh wanted to buy a ship on credit.

• Theus asked Alexei about the investigation into Nora, and Alexei said he had sought information through royal channels.
• Theus and Alexei considered how to contact Nora’s refugees, but Alexei lacked useful connections in the Northern Territory.
• Theus asked Alexei about the factories, and Alexei reported that the olive oil factory was growing more efficient while the soap factory had accumulated excess stock.
• Theus said Jeremiah had applied for authorization to form a merchant caravan and told Alexei to expand the warehouses before selling soap at coastal ports.
• Alexei told Theus that Josh wanted to buy a ship from him on credit.

Isaac and Chloe settled Moth Chasing Flame into a laboratory provided by the lord, while Chloe discussed contacting believers in the Northern Territory. She planned to go there after learning more about the situation, leaving Isaac to research the steam engine as she prepared to help the lord.

• Isaac oversaw the believers moving supplies into their new laboratory and praised the islanders for their efficiency.
• Chloe told Isaac that the lord had asked whether they could bring followers from elsewhere, especially the Northern Territory, and Isaac warned that the Silent Temple could barely protect itself.
• Chloe argued that the Silent Temple’s conflict with the Candlelight Society could make it a useful ally, and Isaac reminded her that they were currently the Candlelight Society.
• Chloe traded several bags of snacks to Monica for the use of a steam engine containing a Machine Soul, which the banshees carried into the laboratory.
• Chloe handed the steam engine’s research to Isaac and said she planned to visit the Northern Territory after learning more about the situation and hearing from Nora.
• Chloe said she would go to the Northern Territory to communicate with Nora or gather refugees because she was the chief.

Theus visited Nini beneath the manor and saw that she had developed her sea-serpent summoning spell into a way to herd fish ashore. Her success eased Castel’s food shortage and left Theus considering the spell’s broader potential.

• The Banshees expanded their cavern beneath the manor using Turn Stone to Mud to build and reshape their underground homes.
• Nini showed Theus her new spell, explaining that she could summon hundreds of weaker sea serpents for several days by continuously supplying mana.
• Nini used the sea serpents to drive a school of Moonfish onto the shore.
• Theus realized Nini’s technique could provide emergency food for Castel and reduce its reliance on importing supplies.