Chapter Summaries

Hoshino continued to draw Lappland’s assassination attempts in Siracusa, while Lisa’s mother learned of the danger and decided to deal with the White Wolf. The chapter ended with Lappland disguised as a chef attempting another attack on Hoshino, who invited her to eat instead.

• Lappland’s wounded accomplices tried to attack Hoshino, but she cut down the hidden crossbow bolt and let them leave after warning them to protect Suzuran.
• Hoshino realized that sending Lappland back to Siracusa had not resolved the mission and that she needed to redirect Lappland’s attention away from Texas.
• Lisa recognized that her mother was pretending to fear for her safety, while her mother later learned Lappland was in Siracusa and resolved to deal with the White Wolf.
• Lappland made sixteen failed assassination attempts before returning disguised as a chef and serving Hoshino seafood fried rice.
• Lappland thrust a hidden dagger at Hoshino, who blocked it with Sakura Fubuki and invited her to sit down and eat.

Hoshino restrained Lappland’s repeated assassination attempts and tried to challenge her beliefs about Texas. Meanwhile, Karna planned to infect Hoshino with Originium, while Hoshino remained unaware of the danger.

• Hoshino captured Lappland after she posed as a chef, freed the real chef, and learned that he took the kidnapping in stride.
• Hoshino told Lappland that her inability to defeat Texas undermined her belief that Texas needed to be pulled back, then taunted her after another failed attempt.
• In Sicily, Karna learned that Hoshino had arrived and decided to use an Originium-fragment launcher to infect her.
• Karna considered Lisa a possible weakness for Hoshino but worried that Hoshino’s daughter might be taken away.
• Hoshino pinned Lappland during her thirty-second assassination attempt and compared Lappland’s restraint to running with sandbags.

Hoshino received an emergency mission to save Suzuran, also known as Lisa, from becoming Infected and to punish the culprit. She uncovered an assassination plot, sent Lappland after the conspirators, and faced the armed group herself outside the inn.

• Hoshino persuaded Lappland to stop trying to kill her and offered to teach her sword techniques, advancing her mission progress.
• The system issued Hoshino an emergency mission to save Lisa from taking her mother's place on the path of an Infected and rewarded her with Jizo Mitama.
• Hoshino suspected the plot involved an Originium fragment hidden in Lisa's stuffed toy and asked Lappland to investigate the location she designated.
• Karna prepared to assassinate Hoshino and replace Lisa's stuffed toy while the family's defenses were weakened.
• Lappland raced through the streets toward the conspirators, while Hoshino left Croissant inside the inn and confronted the armed group outside.

Hoshino and Lappland dealt with a staged attack on the inn, but the apparent assassin died without revealing anything. Karna watched their investigation from nearby and prepared a second plush toy containing Originium fragments as part of his real plan.

• Hoshino unsheathed Sakura Fubuki and defeated the men attacking her, leaving them alive but wounded.
• The attackers said they had come to stop Hoshino from taking Lisa, and Hoshino realized they had been incited.
• Lappland caught a black-clad assassin carrying a plush toy, but he had swallowed poison and died without giving her any names.
• Hoshino opened the plush toy Lappland recovered and found only stuffing, while Karna laughed at their failed investigation.
• Karna revealed that he had given a different plush toy containing Originium fragments to a suicide operative and planned to strike when Lisa's protectors left the building.

Hoshino brought Sky Ranger to Siracusa to help avert a crisis threatening Lisa. At the meeting with the family’s queen, Hoshino asked Sky Ranger to seize the toy Lisa was holding.

• After failing to expose the enemy’s scheme, Hoshino used Shadow Dash’s Shadow Clone to summon Sky Ranger, an incomplete Herrscher of the Void.
• Hoshino brought Sky Ranger to Croissant, who mistook her for a possible detective capable of finding overlooked clues.
• Karna prepared to face the family’s queen, believing his plot against Lisa had left no evidence and that the assassin had already completed the switch.
• The family’s queen confronted Karna at his estate, and he claimed he had only tried to nip a threat to Lisa in the bud.
• At the meeting, Hoshino told the queen that an oracle foretold Lisa might become Infected and insisted they were on the same side.
• When the queen rejected her warning, Hoshino instructed Sky Ranger to use Imaginary Space to seize the item in Lisa’s hand.

Hoshino uncovered a hidden launch device in Lisa’s plush toy and used her powers to paralyze the meeting room while she searched for the culprit. She identified Karna as the mole and confronted him with Jizo Mitama’s blade.

• Karna tried to activate a launch device hidden in Lisa’s plush toy, but the signal failed inside the Imaginary Space.
• Hoshino had Sky Ranger retrieve the toy, then destroyed the Shadow Clone, whose lightning paralyzed everyone in the room.
• Hoshino found Originium fragments and the broken launch device inside the toy and announced that there was a mole among them.
• Hoshino summoned Jizo Mitama and pointed its blade at Karna, whose paralysis lifted and whose face showed panic.

Hoshino defeated Karna with Jizo Mitama and agreed to take Lisa away from Siracusa for a month, leaving Lisa’s mother to handle the fallout. As they departed, Lappland’s reaction completed a mission, and Hoshino decided to keep Lisa at a distance by speaking in riddles.

• Hoshino used the Key of Corruption to terrify Karna, then struck him with Heart Slash and left him in a vegetative state.
• Lisa asked whether Hoshino had killed the god bound within her sword, and Hoshino’s answer made the room awkward.
• Lisa’s mother asked Hoshino to protect Lisa, but Hoshino refused to stay in Siracusa as her retainer.
• Lisa chose to leave with Hoshino, who accepted a one-month foster-care assignment at Yae Shrine.
• Lappland watched Hoshino and Lisa leave, triggering a mission-completion notification as she stayed behind in Siracusa.
• Lisa sensed that Hoshino feared her, so Hoshino decided to deal with her by speaking in cryptic riddles.

Hoshino brought Lisa to Yae Shrine and then tried to show her around Lungmen, but her plans repeatedly fell apart because others objected to taking a child into adult or official spaces. The chapter ended with Lisa amused by Hoshino’s struggles and remembering how venues had once shut their doors to her mother.

• Croissant drove Hoshino and Lisa to Yae Shrine faster than expected, and Hoshino showed Lisa the chibi Hiyumaru statue and explained that people donated because they respected her strength.
• Hoshino found the shrine empty and, exhausted by Lisa’s questions, decided to take her to Penguin Logistics’ bar.
• Emperor and the Penguin Logistics employees objected to Lisa being brought into a bar, and they escorted her and Hoshino outside.
• Hoshino took Lisa to the Lungmen Guard Department, where Ch'en scolded her for bringing a child there and threw them out.
• Hoshino tried to visit Lin Yuhsia but was turned away, and Lisa laughed as she compared Hoshino’s troubles to her mother’s past experiences in Siracusa.

Hoshino brought Lisa to Rhodes Island and asked Silence for help because Lisa seemed too perfect and left Hoshino unsure how to raise her. Silence proposed keeping Lisa busy by taking Hoshino along on a field assignment to rescue Mayer.

• Hoshino decided to take Lisa to Rhodes Island, hoping the landship's children would keep her occupied.
• Warfarin greeted Hoshino and asked to drink her blood, but backed down when Hoshino threatened to pull out her teeth.
• Hoshino asked Silence for advice about raising Lisa, explaining that Lisa was quiet, considerate, and seemingly flawless.
• Silence fell asleep during Hoshino's explanation, then later apologized and met Lisa, who was talking with Ifrit.
• Silence suggested a field assignment to find Mayer, who had become trapped in an abandoned building after detonating a mechanical otter, and Hoshino agreed to protect her.

Hoshino and Silence searched a collapsed ruin for Mayer after her mechanical otters trapped her, but found that someone had already cleared the site. The chapter ended with Mayer bound and held by a deranged Infected woman who was trying to make the otters explode.

• Ifrit told Lisa that Yae Sakura had defeated a natural disaster with a glowing coin, revealing classified information about the Herrscher of Thunder.
• Hoshino stopped Lisa from asking about Takemikazuchi and urged her to finish the mission to rescue Mayer.
• Silence, Hoshino, and Lisa traveled to the nearby ruins, where Silence detected no life signs and Hoshino found evidence that someone had already excavated the area.
• Hoshino proposed that a powerful Infected in the ruins had driven away the other Infected and taken Mayer.
• Mayer watched helplessly as a deranged Infected woman with a huge red blade tried to make her disabled mechanical otters explode.

Mayer was rescued from the ruins by the maddened Infected Red Blade, who then attacked Hoshino, Silence, and Lisa. Red Blade fled after their clash, and Hoshino decided she would end Red Blade’s suffering once they found Mayer.

• Mayer named the speech-impaired Infected woman Red Blade and realized her Originium Infection had ravaged her mind.
• Red Blade trapped Mayer in a line carved into the ground and left, while Mayer recalled sending Silence a distress request six hours earlier.
• Hoshino shielded Silence and Lisa when Red Blade charged, then parried several of her strikes until Red Blade withdrew.
• Silence warned that Red Blade had taken Mayer and that her threat to return was literal, while Lisa sensed Red Blade was suffering.
• Hoshino resolved to put an end to Red Blade’s pain, but Silence insisted they had to find Mayer first.

Hoshino and Silence searched the ruined city for terminally ill Infected while Hoshino tracked the progress of unlocking Goushinnso Memento. FrostNova and the Yeti Squad confronted Red Blade, who escaped the clash as Hoshino pursued her.

• Hoshino and Silence changed their search to focus on terminally ill Infected, keeping Lisa between them and Mayer ready to help.
• Hoshino realized the burning nodachi had advanced Goushinnso Memento's unlock progress and decided to find Red Blade.
• FrostNova arrived with the Yeti Squad and confronted Red Blade, using ice and cold to fight her flaming blade.
• Hoshino and Silence spotted a Yeti Squad member and recognized the group as Reunion Movement members.
• Red Blade fled through the mist, and Hoshino ignored the Yeti Squad to chase her.

Hoshino and Silence caught up with Red Knife, whose crystal infection had driven her to seek a ceremonial death. After learning she remembered the kidnapped operator, Hoshino granted Red Knife’s wish, leaving Lisa confused by the dying woman’s heartfelt thanks.

• Hoshino raced toward Red Knife while Silence carried Lisa, and a Yeti Squad member reported them to FrostNova.
• Hoshino summoned Jizo Mitama and explained to Silence that it was a god’s corpse forged into a sword.
• Red Knife regained her senses in the melting ice and told Hoshino she yearned for a grand death.
• Hoshino asked Red Knife about the operator who used explosive otters, and Red Knife said she remembered the person.
• Red Knife prepared for death beneath drifting cherry blossoms, and Hoshino beheaded her at her request.
• Lisa asked why Red Knife had thanked her, and Hoshino answered that it was a shrine maiden’s work.

Hoshino and her companions found Mayer after Red Blade’s death, while FrostNova tracked them through the ruins. As the Yeti Squad caught up and the cold intensified, Hoshino revealed her true power and transformed into an armored, flame-wreathed fighter.

• Hoshino and Hemo recovered and sealed Red Blade’s corpse, then set out to find Mayer.
• Hoshino and Hemo found Mayer trapped inside Red Blade’s lingering ring of flames and warned her that the Yeti Squad had entered the city.
• FrostNova found a cherry blossom petal at the battlefield, recognized that Red Blade had died, and decided to pursue Hoshino.
• FrostNova followed the group’s trail by cutting through mountains and freezing water, leaving a straight path through the ruins.
• Hoshino spotted FrostNova approaching, urged her companions to hide, and transformed into armor surrounded by flames.

FrostNova and Hoshino confronted each other in the mist, then parted without revealing what had happened, leaving the Yeti Squad and Rhodes Island to speculate. Hoshino returned with FrostNova’s sour candy, and the group headed back to Rhodes Island in a jury-rigged car after their vehicle burned.

• FrostNova and Goushinnso Memento exchanged names and spoke about death before clashing with ice and fire.
• Hemo, Lisa, and the others waited anxiously as mist concealed the confrontation, while Mayer stopped holding the detonator.
• The mist cleared, and FrostNova left with the Yeti Squad while Hoshino returned in her ordinary form, grimacing at the sour candy FrostNova had given her.
• Hemo asked whether Hoshino could beat FrostNova, and Hoshino said neither had used their full strength and blamed her expression on the candy.
• The group found Hemo’s vehicle burned to scrap, but Mayer repaired it, and they set off toward Rhodes Island in a precarious car.

After returning to Rhodes Island, Hoshino attended the cremation of an infected victim and learned she had no further missions. Ch'en then arrived to take Hoshino and Lisa to Lungmen on an assignment from Princess Wen Yue, leaving Hoshino to suspect Lisa was the reason for the summons.

• Mayer detonated the vehicle that had brought the group to Rhodes Island, revealing it had been packed with explosives and turning the blast into a celebratory fireworks display.
• Hemo criticized Mayer for traveling on the explosives-filled vehicle, then hurried to handle the late-stage infected person's body while Hoshino stayed to pray over the deceased.
• Gavial rebuked Hoshino for bringing Lisa into danger, and Hoshino watched the corpse burn before its remains were sent for careful processing.
• Kal'tsit told Hoshino that Rhodes Island had no more missions for her and asked whether she wanted to take on routine work aboard the landship.
• Ch'en arrived at Rhodes Island in disguise and confirmed that Princess Wen Yue had asked her to bring Hoshino and Lisa to Lungmen.
• Hoshino suspected Princess Wen Yue had summoned them because of Lisa, while Ch'en remained confused by their cryptic exchange.

Ch'en brought Hoshino and Lisa back to Yae Shrine for a meeting with Princess Fumizuki, who was alarmed by the nine-tailed fox and worried that Hoshino was leading Lisa astray. Hoshino defended her unconventional approach to being a shrine maiden and used Lisa’s parents’ unlikely romance to challenge Fumizuki’s assumptions.

• Ch'en drove Hoshino and Lisa from Rhodes Island to Yae Shrine after Madam Wei arranged a family meeting, while Yae Sakura noticed Ch'en staring at Lisa.
• Hoshino sent Kallen away and waited at the shrine with Lisa, who recalled her mother’s cautious approach to negotiations.
• Princess Fumizuki arrived at night with her guard Bai Xue, who scouted the shrine before leaving.
• Princess Fumizuki told Hoshino she was not a qualified shrine maiden, and Hoshino defended her work and habits as part of being a good shrine maiden.
• Hoshino introduced Lisa as the daughter of a Higashi religious official and a Siracusan mafia figure who had fallen in love freely, leaving Princess Fumizuki astonished.

Princess Wenyue questioned Lisa about shrine maidens and advised her to seek guidance from Sora, then discovered that Hoshino’s shikigami was a dead god turned into a weapon. After leaving the shrine, Wenyue admitted to Bai Xue that she was afraid for the first time in her life.

• Princess Wenyue asked Lisa about her father and learned that Lisa wanted to become a listener like him.
• Princess Wenyue told Lisa that shrine maidens and idols both listened to and answered people’s expectations, and suggested she find Sora.
• Hoshino revealed her armored shikigami to Princess Wenyue, who recognized it as a dead god made into a weapon.
• Princess Wenyue ended the discussion and left the shrine after warning Hoshino that Lungmen had observed her actions.
• On the drive back, Princess Wenyue told Bai Xue that she was afraid for the first time in her long life.

Hoshino decided that Lisa should learn to become an idol as part of her shrine maiden training, and recruited Sora to teach her. Lisa began her first street performance in Lungmen while Hoshino arranged security and prepared for another task.

• Hoshino watched Lisa sleep and resolved to teach her about idol training.
• After breakfast, Hoshino took Lisa to Penguin Logistics's bar, where Croissant brought Sora outside to meet them.
• Hoshino persuaded Sora to train Lisa, and Sora praised Lisa's talents before teaching her idol poses and a signature cheer.
• Lisa went to Lungmen's streets and began singing a Siracusan ballad as a crowd gathered.
• Hoshino called Ch'en and invoked Madam Wei to request security for Lisa's performance, then focused on her more important work.

Hoshino granted the wishes Lisa heard from Lungmen’s people, helping Lisa grow into a celebrated shrine maiden over three weeks. As Lisa left for Siracusa, a lightning-winged god appeared and answered her greeting.

• Hoshino secretly used Ritual Imayoh: Gold to punish bullies and smugglers, return lost pets, and distribute stolen money to fulfill the wishes Lisa recorded.
• Lisa finished her first performance, and the people whose wishes had come true knelt to pay their respects to her.
• Over three weeks, Lisa’s performances moved from the streets to theaters, where audiences acclaimed her as Lady Lisa.
• Lisa left Lungmen with Exusiai, still regretting that she had not met a god, while Hoshino told her that what she never forgot would answer in time.
• Dark clouds and purple lightning formed a wing in the sky, and Lisa stepped out of the car and waved as the wing waved back.