Chapter Summaries

Lynn struggled to reconcile the Candlelight Society’s demand for holy relics with the suffering of famine victims in her city. She arrived at the relic workshop, where the Church was concentrating its efforts for the war against Castel.

• Cleric Molaeglos ordered Lynn to stop helping the faithful and inspect the holy relic workshop.
• Lynn left the church and tried to protect starving people from Church Knights who drove them away from the gates.
• Lynn reflected on the Empire’s collapse after the Empress’s assassination and on the lords’ neglect of their people.
• A guard told Lynn that Castel’s forces were difficult to defeat because Lord Theus wielded blasphemous power and worked with evil gods.
• Lynn reached the workshop and saw a fully assembled Steam Tank parked at its entrance.

Lynn inspected the Church workshop, where a priest had beaten an Unclean to death, then slipped out to feed refugees before the bishop called her back. Sent to oversee Moon Candle production, she joined Priest Jen in pressing a believer’s brain into a candle component.

• Lynn learned that the workshop was producing three Type 073 Holy Relics and that one Unclean had died after the overseer beat him.
• Lynn reported the workshop’s progress to the bishop, who went there to investigate the Unclean’s death.
• Lynn took food and medicine from the Church and distributed food to nearby starving refugees, but the bishop’s men brought her back.
• The bishop ordered Lynn to oversee the making of Moon Candles because the Church had run out.
• Lynn joined Priest Jen in the candle-making room, where Jen split a believer’s head and handed Lynn his twitching brain to press into a container.

Lynn made Moon Candles and secretly gave food to Aunt Susan, but she was shaken to learn that Luke had been chosen as a believer. The chapter ended with Lynn crying despite trying to accept Luke’s fate as a blessing.

• Lynn had a disturbing vision while making Moon Candles and asked Jen whether believers could feel pain, but he dismissed her concern.
• Lynn learned that the Church routinely used believers to make holy objects and returned to the church after finishing the candles.
• Lynn pleaded with the storeroom priest for food for Aunt Susan, then took advantage of his distraction to give her a sack of food.
• Aunt Susan gave Lynn a book that had belonged to Luke, and Lynn worried it might contain cult doctrine.
• Aunt Susan told Lynn that the Holy See had chosen Luke to become a believer, and Lynn forced a devout smile before realizing she was crying.

Theus explained to Nini that the Candlelight Society’s suppression of literacy could help identify people willing to resist, so she planned to recruit them through novels instead. Chloe then asked to support Castel on the front lines, but Theus revealed that the Machine Soul could not read her diary.

• Nini told Theus that her plan to use novels against the Holy See had failed because most people there could not read.
• Theus explained that the Candlelight Society restricted literacy to protect people from Cognitive Interference and that this repression also fostered resistance.
• Theus advised Nini to use novels to approach literate people who might oppose the Holy See, drawing on Moth Chasing Flame’s recruitment methods.
• Chloe asked Theus for a body that could let her operate a self-propelled artillery gun on the front lines.
• Theus explained that Chloe could communicate only through her diary and that the Machine Soul could not read.

Theus assigned Chloe to teach Machine Souls to read, relieving her of Tribunal duties so she would not have to work overtime. Chloe headed to Castel’s enormous artillery factory, where she would begin teaching on the production line.

• Theus and Chloe decided that Machine Souls should learn to read so they could handle maintenance and production work themselves.
• Theus assigned Chloe to teach a group of artillery Machine Souls on the production line, then told her she could leave the Tribunal and focus on teaching.
• Chloe asked for a teaching assistant, and Theus said someone would meet her at the factory without revealing who it was.
• Nini contacted the other members of Moth Chasing Flame to plan their long-term effort to infiltrate the Empire through novels.
• Chloe skipped to Castel’s vast eastern artillery factory and was astonished by its dense machinery, wide corridors, and towering ceiling.

Chloe toured Castel’s factory with Gaia and began teaching Machine Souls to read, with Little Bu assigned as her assistant. The chapter ended with Gaia observing a group of underground people whose skilled, rapid work made them the factory’s most efficient workers.

• Gaia showed Chloe how Machine Souls had transformed factory production and explained that standardized rituals now awakened machines on the production line.
• Chloe and Gaia discussed Beatrice’s ability to produce Pollution and joked about using her as a self-propelled artillery operator.
• Gaia introduced Little Bu as Chloe’s teaching assistant, and Little Bu immediately grabbed and rapidly flipped through Chloe’s diary.
• Gaia left the workshop and saw underground people arguing over blueprints while working far more efficiently than the other factory workers.

Gaia recalled how the Untouchables learned Castel's advanced technology with astonishing speed and assembled a moving machine that resembled self-propelled artillery from scrap parts without triggering Cognitive Interference. Theus allowed them to continue studying at a new facility, and Gaia resolved to accept that knowledge could not be sealed away.

• Gaia remembered that the Untouchables quickly mastered knowledge and built a moving, steam-powered machine resembling self-propelled artillery from defective parts.
• Gaia evacuated the workers, summoned a Banshee emergency squad, and reported the machine, but it caused no Cognitive Interference.
• Theus explained that he had given the Untouchables access to Castel's latest research and weapons production to test their abilities.
• Gaia recalled Theus's answer, “Knowledge cannot be sealed away,” and resolved to stop resisting their access to knowledge.

Chloe explored the factory and discovered that Little Bu had taught herself engineering, mastered the library’s books, and possessed extraordinary practical skills. They began working together to improve the self-propelled artillery, but Little Bu admitted that designing anything new left her mind blank.

• Chloe questioned Little Bu about her education and learned that she had taught herself without attending literacy classes.
• Little Bu answered Chloe’s questions about mechanical principles and advanced mathematics, revealing that she had read every book in the library.
• Chloe tested Little Bu’s practical skills and watched her quickly assemble a working alarm clock from salvaged artillery parts.
• Chloe invited Little Bu to help improve the self-propelled artillery, but Little Bu said that although making things came easily, designing new ones did not.

Theus and Chloe discovered that the Untouchables could learn and apply existing knowledge but were completely unable to innovate, and they suspected this limitation prevented Cognitive Interference. Chloe then revealed that the Untouchables could still make things without understanding how, leaving Theus to question what enabled their creations.

• Chloe told Theus that none of the Untouchables could make even simple improvements or form new associations, despite understanding instructions and existing systems.
• Chloe explained that she tested every Untouchable with an alarm clock and several light sources, but none could figure out how to illuminate the clock.
• Theus and Chloe considered whether the Untouchables' inability to innovate was a curse or thought imprint, though their earlier observations had found no signs of one.
• Chloe asked why Theus thought rapid learning might be a curse, prompting him to realize that the Untouchables' inability to form associations could prevent Cognitive Interference.
• Chloe revealed that the Untouchables could create objects without forming associations or understanding their principles, as if the ability were an instinct etched into their bodies.

Theus realized the Untouchables’ instinctive manufacturing let them bypass Cognitive Interference and asked Chloe to investigate their history. He then showed Chloe that her acceptance of the Holy See’s Moon Candle ritual might reveal a Thought Imprint, leaving her shaken by the possibility that it persisted even in her soul state.

• Theus concluded that the Untouchables could manufacture machinery by instinct without conscious thought, bypassing Cognitive Interference.
• Theus tasked Chloe with investigating the Untouchables’ hidden history and said Ignati would cooperate with her.
• Theus explained that Moon Candles were made from believers’ brains, but Chloe initially saw the process as ordinary and focused on improving its machinery.
• Theus compared the ritual to doing the same thing to Ash, prompting Chloe to recognize its cruelty and question whether she had a Thought Imprint.
• Theus told Chloe that the imprint might persist even in her soul state, and she began to tremble.

Theus investigated why people’s perceptions of humans and gods differed, and wondered whether his own identity was tied to his memories of Blue Star. Chloe then revealed that she had found a way to control self-propelled artillery, inspiring Theus to sketch a Gundam and consider how ordinary people might operate Machine Souls.

• Theus tested Chloe’s understanding of making Moon Candles with Little Bu and found that Little Bu’s perceptions differed from hers.
• Little Bu described gods as powerful, omnipotent beings, prompting Theus to connect her understanding to the Banshees and question the world’s beliefs.
• Nini asked why Theus’s perceptions had not shifted like other humans’, and Theus wondered whether his Blue Star memories had been implanted.
• Theus said capturing Jules and taking the Rhine might help reveal the world’s mysteries.
• Chloe explained that she used directional commands to control Machine Souls while riding self-propelled artillery.
• Theus showed Chloe his Gundam sketch, and Chloe proposed that ordinary people might operate Machine Souls by writing commands.

Nora returned from the front lines, where she fought in a self-propelled artillery vehicle, and Helena took her from the Tis front to Castel for an unexplained reason. The chapter ended as Helena told Nora they were going to Nora's home.

• Nora handed her artillery vehicle to the maintenance team after returning from battle and went back to her dormitory.
• Nora watered the wildflower in her room, changed her hairpin, and left to meet Helena.
• Helena found Nora in the corridor, said she needed to take her back to Castel, and carried her to the train.
• Nora traveled with Helena from the Tis front to Castel, reflecting on the city's rapid growth and worrying she might be left behind.
• When Nora asked whether they were going to Theus's office, Helena told her they were going to Nora's home.

Nora lived in a small home in Castel Cathedral, where her friends gathered to surprise her with a birthday celebration. The chapter ended with Nora making a wish and blowing out the candles as everyone cheered.

• Nora chose a small, affordable home in Castel Cathedral and enjoyed its warm, close-knit atmosphere with her companions.
• Helena brought Nora to her room, where Monica, Gaia, Theus, Chloe, Gwen, Grisha, and their Burier companions waited with a birthday cake.
• Nora realized everyone had remembered her birthday and became flustered and moved by the surprise.
• Theus explained the birthday tradition, and Nora closed her eyes to make a wish before blowing out the candles.

Nora's companions celebrated her birthday and gave her a collection of unusual gifts. Chloe's self-propelled wheelchair was unveiled as the grand finale, leaving Nora's head perched atop a coffin-shaped machine.

• Theus gave Nora the fish-head cake, and she realized everyone had gathered to celebrate her birthday.
• Helena gave Nora flowers, Nini presented her collected publications, and Gaia brought multifunctional wine brewed with Nitroglycerin.
• Monica gifted Nora a statue made from her own scales that opened into protective armor, but Nora could not release herself because she had no hands.
• Chloe revealed a modified self-propelled artillery piece that served as a wheelchair and could be controlled with Nora's tongue.
• Nini placed Nora's head atop the boxy wheelchair, which looked like a coffin.

Chloe gave Nora a custom self-propelled wheelchair that looked like a coffin, and the group tested it using Gaia’s shampoo as fuel. Nora crashed into a wall on her first drive, and Chloe admitted she had used her as a test subject; the wheelchair was rescued, but its design flaws remained.

• Chloe and Theus presented Nora with a coffin-shaped mechanical wheelchair fitted with restraints, directional buttons, and an ejection function.
• Helena poured Gaia’s multipurpose shampoo into the fuel tank, and Nora connected with the Machine Soul to operate the wheelchair.
• Nora pressed the accelerator, shot across the room, and crashed into a concrete wall, jamming the hatch.
• Theus and the others freed Nora, who recovered and accused Chloe of trying to kill her.
• Chloe explained that she had copied a self-propelled artillery piece’s parameters and had used Nora in place of an experimental animal.

Nini repaired Nora’s self-propelled wheelchair, and Nora learned to steer it and water flowers before her companions celebrated her birthday. Nora stayed in Castel for several extra days, then explored the changed city with Monica.

• Nini softened and reshaped the wheelchair’s warped steel, adjusted its thrust with the Machine Soul, and secured Nora inside.
• Nora cautiously drove the wheelchair around her room, used its mechanical arm to water flowers, and received birthday wishes from Helena and the others.
• Children followed Nora through Castel, pretending she was leading them into battle, while Monica stepped aside when Nora drove toward her.
• Theus granted Nora extra days off, and Helena, Gaia, and the others persuaded her to remain in Castel rather than return to the front immediately.
• Monica told Nora about changes around Castel, including Bettis’s fish-and-chips shop and Nini’s editorial office, as they walked together at sunset.

Jules met with Lina, who warned him about Castel’s growing threat and demanded help finding her [father]. He restrained her, and she gave him the War Citadel’s second-form control method and a steam rifle manufacturing template, though she doubted the Holy See could defeat Castel.

• Hela reported that Castel’s self-propelled artillery was erasing the Holy See’s early advantage, but Jules chose to maintain the stalemate rather than deploy the War Fortress.
• Hela warned Jules that Lina might betray them, but he authorized her visit, and Lina appeared before him.
• Lina warned Jules that the world was in grave danger, but he showed that he already understood how Castel’s expansion had left the Candlelight Society surrounded.
• Jules told Lina he had found her [father], prompting her to attack him, but Hela pinned her down, and Lina recognized Hela as an Ancient One.
• Lina gave Jules the control method for the War Citadel’s second form and a steam rifle manufacturing template, then complained that the Holy See was too weak to beat Castel.

Jules told Lina that North Gwen was likely her [Father] in a female shell and that South Gwen was another shell, then gave her the Investigators’ reports. Lina killed Jules to keep him from revealing what he knew about [Father].

• Lina demanded that Jules assassinate Theus, but he said he had failed repeatedly and explained that he wanted to help her meet [Father].
• Jules claimed North Gwen was Lina’s [Father] in a female shell, citing her growth, her defeat of Bazel and the White Calamity, and reports of strange knowledge reaching people across the Empire.
• Jules also suspected South Gwen was another shell of [Father], and gave Lina several file boxes of intelligence gathered by his Investigators.
• Lina attacked Jules, but Hela blocked her; then Lina revealed herself as the Gear Sage and pierced Jules through the chest.
• Lina stomped Jules’s steel body to pieces and left with the Gear Sage, while Hela later stirred and sighed over his remains.

Alexei contacted Gwen by telephone to ask whether the White Calamity was fading, and she said it was receding gradually while she remained in the Northern Territory on the Lord’s orders. The call ended in static, and Alexei reviewed the latest products from Castel as the Northern Territory’s communications network remained limited.

• Alexei called Gwen and asked whether the White Calamity was about to dissipate completely.
• Gwen said she did not know the Lord’s plans, but the White Calamity was gradually receding and she would stay in the Northern Territory on an assigned task.
• Gwen remembered the other Gwen who had saved her and said she wanted to see her again.
• Alexei ended the call when static disrupted the line, then grounded the telephone to guard against polluted electrical waves.
• Alexei accepted a new product catalog from his assistant and noted that the Northern Territory had only one telephone line so far.

Alexei planned to use returning workers and merchant caravans to help develop the Northern Territory, welcoming former Resistance Army members home instead of trying to keep them in Castel and Blood Port. Rebecca and Old Vance's family returned to their hometown, leaving Alexei hopeful that people bringing experience from the great cities would change the region.

• Alexei reviewed a catalogue of Castel's goods and rejected his clerk's suggestion to control merchant caravans by restricting supplies.
• Alexei learned that Resistance Army resettlement personnel had arrived and went to the station to welcome them.
• Alexei reimbursed the returning personnel's travel expenses so they could go home to the Northern Territory.
• Alexei greeted Rebecca and Old Vance's family as they arrived with their luggage.
• Rebecca and her family left the station for their hometown, while Alexei hoped returning residents would bring fairness, civilization, and hope to the Northern Territory.