Chapter Summaries

Theus explained Castel’s disappearance and the Pirate King’s ritual to Ken and Jeremiah, while Jeremiah struggled to process Castel’s strange residents and the destruction of Gem Bay. Theus then asked the pair to tell him what had happened in the outside world.

• Ken and Jeremiah crossed the island’s enormous tentacles and reached Theus’s office, shaken by Castel’s bizarre sights.
• Theus introduced Monica to Jeremiah as a Banshee and explained that she was Ken’s friend and a resident of Castel.
• Ken asked what had happened to Castel, and Jeremiah added that Gem Bay had disappeared.
• Theus explained Monica’s role in Castel’s disappearance, the thousand-year ritual, and the Pirate King’s plan, leaving Ken astonished and earning Monica Jeremiah’s respect.
• Jeremiah learned that Gem Bay had been destroyed and wondered whether Castel could replace the home he had lost.
• Theus finished answering their questions and asked Ken and Jeremiah to explain what had happened outside.

Theus learned that Nora had broken with the Silent Temple and was still leading refugees against the Northern Territory’s grand dukes. He decided to send a fleet to bring the refugees to his lands, then heard that Ken’s crew had encountered the “Prince.”

• Ken told Theus that the crew had sailed around the Storm Ocean, dropping Josh and others at Blood Port and leaving Isaac near the Northern Territory.
• Ken explained that Nora had gathered refugees to leave the Northern Territory, while three grand dukes harassed them because the Silent Temple was escorting them and their wealth south.
• Jeremiah said he had heard the Silent Temple was absorbed by the Empire after the Empress died, while Nora continued organizing resistance in the Northern Territory.
• Theus decided to contact Nora and send a fleet to fulfill his promise to take in the refugees.
• Ken revealed that the crew had brought back some refugees because the grand dukes had not dared stop the Pirate King’s ship.
• Ken began describing what happened next: the crew encountered the “Prince.”

The Prince had consolidated control of the Duchy of Tis and discussed an intercepted airship and unfamiliar weapons with Galahad. He dismissed the Holy See’s reliance on prophecies and ordered preparations for the approaching end of peace.

• The secretary praised the Prince’s rapid handling of Tis’s affairs before leaving to summon Galahad.
• Galahad reported that the sea had returned to normal and that the airship’s crew refused to explain their story about monsters attacking Castel.
• The Prince learned that the airship could fly and its unfamiliar weapons were exceptionally well made, though testing them had caused Cognitive Interference and killed soldiers.
• The Prince condemned the Holy See for making Ruo An Pope and relying on prophecies instead of judgment.
• The Prince told Galahad to prepare for peace to end, saying the Holy See’s decision to give him Tis had created an opportunity.

Theus listened to Ken and Jeremiah recount their voyage and discussed the kind, idealistic prince they had met. He welcomed Jeremiah into Castel’s service and prepared for the Black Pearl to support a mission to Blood Port if needed.

• Ken and Jeremiah told Theus that the Storm Ocean had dried up while the Sea of No Light remained unaffected, and described how people and official organizations had reacted.
• Theus asked what they thought of the prince; Ken called him kind, while Jeremiah described him as naive and foolishly self-sacrificing.
• Theus sent Ken and Jeremiah to rest and explained that Castel had its own Church and had changed since they left.
• Jeremiah agreed to compile seafaring knowledge and teach navigation, and Theus offered to bring him into Castel’s service and coordinate his work with Tata.
• Theus explained that a ship and an airship had been sent to Blood Port to support Zoe’s group and said the Black Pearl might need to sail out if they encountered trouble.
• Jeremiah agreed to put to sea if Theus needed his help.

Theus prepared a newspaper and invited Monica, Ken, and Jeremiah to the furnace’s completion ceremony, while revealing that the furnace had ignited before construction was finished. At Blood Port, Zoe’s group spotted an approaching ship and realized the harbor was unusually empty, raising Erwin’s suspicions.

• Theus said the newspaper would report on Zoe and island events, and planned to add popular science articles.
• Theus invited Monica, Ken, and Jeremiah to the furnace ceremony and explained that the furnace had lit itself before its exterior work was complete.
• Zoe approached Blood Port with Erwin, Grandmother, and the Faithguard Army while Ash promised to help from the sea.
• Ash spotted an approaching ship, and Erwin ordered the Faithguard Army to prepare the Gatling Gun.
• Erwin pointed out that Blood Port’s usually crowded harbor was nearly empty, suggesting that the missing merchants had not simply abandoned business.

Zoe and Erwin’s party encountered two ships from Blood Port, whose suspicious behavior led Erwin to suspect the port was detaining merchant vessels. As a ship returned from the port, the group waited to learn what Blood Port would do next.

• Zoe’s party spotted two Blood Port ships sailing in formation and could not understand their flag signals.
• Erwin announced that they had come by order of Border Count Theus Corsica Simmons Stuart to visit the Duke of Tis, and the Faithguard Army displayed its firearms.
• One Blood Port ship returned to notify the port while the other stayed to watch Zoe’s vessel.
• Erwin told Zoe he suspected Blood Port was detaining passing ships to prevent merchants from supporting the Empire.
• Erwin said Theus expected financial competition, rather than war, to undermine Blood Port’s control of the Storm Ocean.
• The ship sent to Blood Port returned.

Zoe and Erwin brought Castel’s armed delegation to Blood Port, where their ship and disciplined soldiers made the port authorities wary of provoking them. Galahad welcomed them as friends, and Zoe began to understand that Castel’s friendship came with power the Duchy of Tis could not ignore.

• Castel’s ship signaled a Blood Port vessel, which escorted it toward the harbor after seeing its weapons and firepower.
• Erwin told Zoe that Castel had come to make friends, while the Faithguard Army soldiers put away their weapons and escorted her ashore.
• The dock manager struggled to face the armed delegation until Galahad arrived with his knights.
• Galahad’s cavalry halted before the Faithguard Army, whose soldiers remained unmoved, and he decided that making Castel an enemy would be too costly.
• Galahad welcomed Zoe and the delegation, and Zoe reflected on Castel’s steamship, Banshee patrols, and formidable soldiers as they traveled by carriage.

Theus presided over the completion ceremony for Castel’s enormous furnace, marking the end of the Deep Sea War and the start of the island’s industrial expansion. As the crowd celebrated and honored the fallen, he looked toward a future shaped by industry and steel.

• The furnace beneath the cathedral received its final cover plate and officially began operations, while Castel’s residents gathered for the ceremony.
• Alexei confirmed the preparations, including the memorial for the war dead, and Chloe’s diary and name were placed beside the monument despite her objections.
• Monica prepared to perform a Machine Soul awakening ritual at the furnace.
• Theus addressed the assembled Banshees, Faithguard Army, and Moth Chasing Flame researchers, reflecting on how far Castel had come.
• Theus raised his arms in the sunlight and embraced Castel’s industrial future.

The chapter presented two competing newspaper accounts of Castel’s furnace ceremony: Nini’s rejected romantic story about Theus and Monica, and a report on the furnace’s completion and the ceremony’s aftermath. The Stellar Furnace began operating, but Monica could not summon its Machine Soul, which answered Theus instead.

• Nini wrote a sensational story claiming Theus had loved the Sea God fragment within Monica and mourned her after she sacrificed herself to seal the Pirate King's Court monster.
• Theus rejected Nini’s story for publication, while Nini’s editorial board and Monica reacted to the submission.
• Finier reported that the furnace was completed, passed pressure testing, and was named the Stellar Furnace after Theus vetoed Nini’s proposed name.
• Monica failed to summon the Machine Soul, while Theus successfully communicated with it, and Monica broke down in tears.
• In interviews, Nini complained about Theus’s veto power, Chloe regretted her death, and Monica cried before attacking the reporter.
• Theus approved Finier’s report for publication, though he suggested removing the interview section next time.

Duke Tis learned that Castel’s soldiers studied technical booklets and carried muskets with an effective range of seven hundred meters. In Blood Port, Zoe learned the prince was stalling and an airship was there, but Erwin advised her to wait, confident Tis would return their people and the airship.

• Galahad told Duke Tis that Castel’s soldiers refused to drink or play cards and studied booklets of practical knowledge.
• Galahad reported that the booklets described the soldiers’ weapons, and Tis was shocked to hear their muskets had an effective range of seven hundred meters.
• Zoe returned from trying to meet the prince and told Erwin that his staff was still claiming he was too busy.
• Erwin said the prince was stalling, revealed that someone had stolen a copy of Empire Truth, and shared Josh’s warning that Blood Port was dangerous and an airship had been seen there.
• Zoe proposed sneaking away to contact Tis’s underground forces and rescue Connor and the others, but Erwin said they should wait because Castel had airships, steamships, and the Faithguard Army.
• A knock sounded at the door as Erwin remarked that the stronger they were, the friendlier Tis’s people became.

Galahad tried to win Zoe’s favor so he could obtain a bolt-action rifle for the prince, but Zoe eagerly took his invitation as a chance to visit the slums for her novel. Erwin and Granny discussed the prince’s strategy, and Erwin expected him to learn why pursuing the rifles was a mistake.

• Galahad apologized to Zoe for the prince’s refusal to meet and invited her to explore Blood Port as compensation.
• Galahad concealed his disgust at having to court a maid while trying to get close to her and obtain one of Castel’s rifles.
• Zoe accepted the invitation, changed into practical clothes, and dragged Galahad off to visit the slums for material for her novel.
• Erwin told Granny that the prince was smart to approach Zoe rather than him, but said that the prince’s intelligence would lead him into foolishness.

Galahad reported on Castel’s steam-powered ships and steel decks, while the prince focused on acquiring Castel’s muskets. The prince then discovered that Castel had already sent him the bolt-action rifle he had been trying so hard to obtain.

• Galahad told the prince that Zoe had interviewed slum residents to gather material for a novel.
• Galahad reported that Castel’s ships used steam-powered Clamorers and had steel sections inside their wooden hulls.
• The prince ordered Galahad to prioritize finding a way to obtain Castel’s improved muskets.
• The prince opened Castel’s gift and found a bolt-action rifle inside, accompanied by a note saying Castel was generous to its friends.

Erwin learned how difficult Castel’s bolt-action rifles were to manufacture and reflected on why Tis coveted them. After Zoe visited Blood Port’s lower district and confronted the poverty there, Erwin recognized how completely he and the other visitors had overlooked the people beyond their luxurious manor.

• Granny explained that making a bolt-action rifle required dozens of parts, complex industrial processes, and thousands of skilled workers, and Erwin understood why Tis could not replicate it.
• Zoe returned from the lower district and asked whether the poor everywhere suffered as much as they did in Blood Port.
• Granny told Zoe that the poor had always lived in hardship, and Zoe shut herself in her room to write.
• Erwin looked around the luxurious manor and realized that its residents had been insulated from the thousands of people struggling nearby.
• Erwin remembered his own former poverty and recognized that he had become as indifferent to the poor as the nobles he once despised.

Gwen and a group of street children visited the Steam and Deep Sea Esoteric Order, where they received hot rice porridge disguised as holy water. The high priest, Josh, explained that it was holy water because it fed and comforted refugees from the Northern Territory.

• Gwen and the other children joined the worshippers receiving holy water at the Steam and Deep Sea Esoteric Order.
• A woman recognized Gwen as someone from the Northern Territory and revealed that she, too, had long white hair.
• The chief priest questioned Gwen about how she had heard of the god, then gave her a bowl of steaming holy water.
• Gwen and the hungry children eagerly ate the rice porridge, warming and filling their stomachs.
• Josh told the children that the porridge was holy water because it eased suffering and helped refugees survive, then introduced himself as the high priest.

Josh recalled how he had built a life in Blood Port after leaving Castel, then became the leader of a false cult to protect refugees as the sea dried up. When Castel returned, he sent word to its people despite fearing how Theus would judge him.

• Josh and his companions sold Castel soap in Blood Port, formed a merchant association, and waited for Jeremiah and the Black Pearl to return.
• After the sea began drying up, Jeremiah sailed away on the Black Pearl, and Ken jumped aboard while Josh stayed behind with their companions and the refugees.
• Josh and the others raised the banner of the Steam and Deep Sea Esoteric Order to shield the refugees from cultists, using real holy water to feed them.
• When Castel's steamship arrived at Blood Port, Josh wrestled with his fear that Theus would reject him as a cult leader.
• Josh sent someone to deliver word to the people from Castel, remembering that he was still a Castelian.

Josh agreed to take Gwen and the street children into the Hermitage, giving them rooms, work, prayers, and holy water. Gwen settled into her new life in Blood Port and decided to ask her friends in the connection for help.

• Gwen introduced the street children to Josh and asked to join the Hermitage, offering their skills at odd jobs and gathering information.
• Josh accepted the children after requiring them to pass tests and gave them portraits of people from Castel to watch.
• Gwen recognized the people in the portraits and told Josh they had drawn considerable attention in Blood Port.
• The children moved into a nearby house and celebrated their new home and the Hermitage’s rice porridge.
• Gwen reflected on her journey, her old imaginary friends, and the friends who had helped her through the connection, then decided she could stay in Blood Port.
• Gwen called on her friends in the connection, azure light flickering in her eyes, and asked them for help.

Gwen remembered how her imaginary friends became real after Scepter explained the Sea of Unconsciousness, and how her overwhelming wish for friends pulled her into it. A mysterious thread rescued her and later appeared on a brown-haired girl in the lower district.

• Gwen welcomed the imaginary friends who appeared around her and recalled how they had supported her when she was starving and weak.
• Scepter explained that a powerful will and knowledge of a path could lead someone into the Sea of Unconsciousness, where exposure could cause Transcendence or corruption.
• Gwen realized that she had entered the Sea of Unconsciousness as soon as she learned about it, driven by her wish to have friends.
• Gwen's parents, friends, and neighbors died, and she survived alone in the basement while her imaginary friends kept her company.
• A beam of light pulled Gwen out of the Sea of Unconsciousness, leaving her able to see a thread extending from herself.
• Gwen later saw the same thread on a brown-haired girl stepping through muddy water in the lower district.

Zoe and Erwin met with Prince William, who released Connor and offered friendship and future trade with Castel. Before leaving, Zoe asked whether William knew what had happened to Josh and the Northern Territory refugees.

• Prince William invited Zoe, Erwin, and the Faithguard Army soldiers to his residence, while Granny stayed behind to guard their safety.
• William brought Connor to meet them, and Zoe was delighted to see the unharmed former butler.
• Zoe told Connor and William that Castel had repelled the monsters, keeping the Sea God and Banshees out of the explanation.
• William gave Zoe a letter for Count Theus, expressed interest in trade with Castel, and said their damaged airship could not fly.
• Zoe asked William whether he had news of Josh and the ship carrying refugees from the Northern Territory.

After Prince William failed to recognize Josh, Erwin and Zoe suspected the Northern Territory refugees had been hiding from trouble in Blood Port. Granny revealed she had secretly investigated the dangerous city and warned them that the prince seemed far more interested in Castel’s firearms than in Transcendents.

• Prince William and Galahad said they did not remember Josh, and Galahad promised to check Blood Port’s port records for the Black Pearl.
• Erwin, Zoe, and Connor reasoned that the refugees might have concealed themselves after encountering danger, possibly from cultists.
• Zoe asked Granny to investigate, but Granny revealed she had already been secretly exploring Blood Port and had never entered the manor.
• Granny confirmed that cultists operated in dangerous parts of Blood Port, frightening Zoe and Erwin with the threat posed by Transcendent powers.
• Granny pointed out that Prince William had questioned them about their bolt-action rifles but had shown little interest in Transcendents, leaving Erwin thoughtful.

Grandma explained to Erwin, Zoe, and the Faithguard soldiers that industrial weapons had made Transcendents ineffective in war, then warned them about the dangerous Mother Goddess cult in Blood Port. She left them wondering why so many people joined a faith whose priests gained little power and usually died within a month.

• Grandma showed how firearms and industrial technology could overcome Transcendents, and Erwin and the Faithguard soldiers began to understand their military weakness.
• Grandma explained that Theus had correctly used the Banshees to support Castel’s industry rather than build an army around them.
• Zoe asked whether Grandma had found cults in Blood Port, and Grandma confirmed that Mother Goddess believers were there.
• Grandma warned that the Mother Goddess’s followers were numerous, fearless, and capable of spreading widely despite having the weakest Transcendence path and very short lifespans.
• Zoe asked why anyone joined the cult, but Grandma only sighed and looked out the window.