Chapter Summaries

Hesta confronted Bernhard over the disorder among the passengers and insisted he account for everyone missing from the ship. She also announced she would take the Agnes sisters to a safe place, while Bernhard’s men remained at Bishop Restaurant and Gobelin received a visitor.

• Bernhard silenced Rene and argued that the soldiers should lead the passengers, but Hesta challenged him and reminded him that he and his men had boarded without Embarkation Notices.
• Hesta ordered the passengers to make a list of their absent companions and told Bernhard to bring everyone back and distribute the guide to all of them.
• Hesta asked Gobelin about the Agnes sisters and said she would take them to a safe place; Gobelin warned that this would be dangerous, but she insisted she was only giving him notice.
• Bernhard left Bishop Restaurant with a list of the absentees, while his soldiers stayed behind to watch the restaurant.
• An unfamiliar man met with Gobelin, and Hesta and Ligo suspected he was one of Bernhard’s men and that Gobelin planned to relocate the Agnes sisters.

Bernhard reported that several passengers, including Silei, Agnes, and Meyers, had disappeared, while Gobelin insisted he could not reveal the guide until everyone was accounted for. The passengers faced Gobelin’s order to return to their rooms, with Hesta offering no reassurance as they hesitated.

• Bernhard returned the passengers’ keycards and reported that Silei, Buli, Buli’s caretakers, the theater’s old woman, Agnes, and Meyers were missing.
• Gobelin said Ligo had received no letter because she had not boarded at Afur Harbor, while Hesta confirmed that she and Silei had received letters.
• Rene rebuked Bernhard and urged everyone to stay with Hesta and Ligo, but Hesta stopped his complaints.
• Gobelin refused to hand over the guide until he saw every passenger or the missing people’s bodies, then ordered everyone to return to their rooms.
• Gobelin warned the passengers to follow the notice’s rules and remember their room numbers as they continued to hesitate.

After Gopelin calmed the crowd and forgave the Thorn Monks, Hesta gave them a sliver of hope before arranging for Rene’s group to gather information about their shared suites. Hesta then followed Gopelin and Bernhard toward the open deck, while dismissing Rene’s request for a safe room and declining to take her medicine.

• Gopelin sent the crowd away and ordered Bernhard’s men to release the Thorn Monks, forgiving them for threatening him.
• Hesta told the frightened Thorn Monks that she too had entered the restaurant with her luggage on the first night after boarding, giving them a little hope.
• Hesta asked Rene to obtain lists of the passengers living in four suites so she could work out the others by elimination.
• Rene asked Hesta to seek protection for his group from Ms. Chiba, but Hesta rebuked him and told him to focus on gathering useful information.
• Hesta and Ligo followed Gopelin and Bernhard toward the open deck, and Hesta declined Ligo’s offer to take her medicine.

Hesta and Ligo followed Gopelin to his private quarters and secretly entered his study. There, they found a clue board linking Anna, Chiba, Bo Shanfu, and Zero, leaving Hesta convinced that events were converging around Anna.

• Ligo confronted Hesta about her medication and insisted on following her rather than splitting up to track Gopelin and Bernhard.
• Hesta and Ligo followed Gopelin to the crew dormitory cabins and heard Meyers sobbing inside a room.
• Hesta and Ligo entered a hidden inner room in Gopelin's study and searched it while Gopelin spoke with Meyers and Agnes nearby.
• Hesta and Ligo found a clue board with Anna's photo marked by a red X and Zero's name crossed out with black lines.
• Hesta recognized Chiba and Bo Shanfu on the board and felt that everything was converging around Anna.

Hesta and Ligo broke into Gopelin’s study, found a suspicious clue wall, and persuaded him to let them take Agnes and Meyers away. They led the sisters onto the open deck and prepared to blindfold them, leaving their destination unclear.

• Hesta searched the files in Gopelin’s study while Ligo held the locked door against Gopelin and the armed guards.
• After the guards broke in, Hesta pointed to the clue wall and warned that a Chelated Being might have targeted Anna, who was missing.
• Gopelin ordered Agnes and Meyers to go with Hesta after Hesta offered to wait for Officer Silei, but he required Meyers to search Hesta first.
• Hesta let Meyers inspect her, then warned Gopelin to preserve the study’s scene before leaving with Ligo and the sisters.
• On the open deck, Hesta gave sleep masks to Agnes and Meyers and put one over Agnes’s head when she refused to take it.

Hesta brought Agnes and Meyers to Anna’s study aboard the Ascending Bright and left them there under a promise of absolute immunity. Before leaving, she admitted she could not explain why she kept targeting them and revealed how deeply their words to her had hurt.

• Hesta led Ligo, Agnes, and Meyers into Anna’s underground museum and showed the sisters the study.
• Agnes threatened to destroy the room, and Hesta told her and Meyers they could damage anything there and would receive absolute immunity.
• Ligo checked a sound outside, found only a cat, and waited by the study door while Meyers asked Hesta why she kept targeting them.
• Hesta said she could not answer, then recalled the sisters’ certainty and impassioned words and said remembering them caused her pain.
• Hesta left the study and slammed the door behind her.

After a brief spell of disorientation, Hesta discussed her symptoms, guilt, and a head injury with Ligo. As Hesta settled down to sleep, she asked whether fate could be something a person wanted to end, leaving Ligo to ask whether it had ended.

• Hesta became dizzy outside Anna's study, and Ligo helped her back to her wheelchair.
• Hesta said she thought Silei was safe and explained that her medications treated abnormal electrical activity in her brain.
• Hesta told Ligo that therapists believed she carried guilt over the victims in the 'Assassin' case, but she rejected their assumptions.
• Ligo found a scar on the back of Hesta's head, and Hesta said she had injured herself by falling onto an iron bar.
• Hesta asked Ligo whether she believed in a fate that someone could end with their own hands, and Ligo asked whether it had ended.

Hesta told Ligo that ending her part of a cycle had only passed it on to someone else, and they discussed fate, religion, gods, technology, and whether any ultimate solution could free people. Ligo called Hesta an atheist of absolute conviction, and Hesta accepted that she believed freedom required unceasing struggle.

• Hesta explained to Ligo that the cycle had not disappeared but had moved from her to someone else.
• Ligo recounted how her grieving neighbor turned to religion after her daughter died, then continued praying when a Chelated Being attacked their town.
• Ligo and Hesta debated whether gods existed and whether religion or future technology could offer people freedom.
• Hesta argued that neither gods nor technology could provide an ultimate solution, since people could use any blueprint to end struggle and create enslavement.
• Ligo identified Hesta as an atheist of absolute conviction, and Hesta agreed that everything required unceasing struggle.

Hesta recognized that the burdens tormenting her had come from choices she had made, and she sank into sleep while remembering her mother and the start of her revenge. Meanwhile, Chiba refused Bernhard’s request to access surveillance footage, and Bernhard rushed to Gopelin’s office after learning Ligo and Hesta had taken two people away.

• Hesta thanked Ligo and asked to sleep until she woke on her own.
• Hesta remembered her mother leaving her in Duanming Alley and realized her revenge had brought her past back to haunt her.
• Chiba told Bernhard to find Silei or appoint another agent, and threatened to throw him off the deck if he raised his voice again.
• Bernhard learned that Ligo and Hesta had taken two people from Gopelin’s office on the third deck around noon.
• Bernhard hurried to Gopelin’s office after suspecting there might be a risk.

Chiba inspected the clue room in Gopelin's study and ordered his people to document and seal its contents, warning that she would ignore future requests if they treated every problem as critical. After she left, Bernhard confronted Gopelin about the exposed documents and the missing Silei and Buli, while Gopelin insisted the sensitive files were safe.

• Bernhard found Chiba examining the clue wall in Gopelin's study, where she questioned Gopelin about the photographs and documents.
• Chiba told Gopelin to have his people photograph, organize, and seal the room's contents for Silei to review, and she warned that she would filter out requests she considered trivial.
• After Chiba left, Bernhard complained about her demands, and Gopelin asked whether Silei and Buli had been found; Bernhard said they had not and that surveillance access was restricted.
• Bernhard berated Gopelin for keeping the documents in the study, but Gopelin said the visitors had not had time to examine the sensitive files and had taken nothing.
• Bernhard said he trusted the judgment of his superiors and would take necessary action if the situation demanded it.

Gobelin confronted Bernhard about the Chelated Being and ordered him to search the ship for Anna, while denying that he knew who would die next. After waking, Hesta learned Silei was still missing and decided to revisit Gobelin’s study to check documents about District 15.

• Bernhard asked Gobelin whether he knew about the Chelated Being and suggested the incident might benefit them.
• Gobelin rebuked Bernhard for calling Land’s people deserving victims and ordered him to search the ship for Anna.
• Gobelin told Bernhard that the coming victim would not be him.
• Hesta woke and learned from Ligo that Silei was still missing and Chiba had offered no clear information about her whereabouts.
• Hesta told Ligo about documents concerning District 15 in Gobelin’s study and Robogriye’s dinner party, then decided to check whether the documents were still there.

Meyers and Agnes searched the exhibition hall for a way out, but their argument over Agnes’s dangerous choices erupted after Meyers smashed an Imprint Fossil. A white cat appeared and led Agnes’s attention toward another part of the hall, leaving their next move uncertain.

• Meyers and Agnes found a heavily secured door but could not open it, so they continued searching for an exit.
• Meyers smashed an Imprint Fossil, hoping to summon someone who would answer their demands, and Agnes tried to stop it.
• Meyers accused Agnes of risking her life and lying about their plans for District 14, while Agnes tried to reassure her.
• A white cat interrupted their argument, then walked ahead and looked back at Agnes.

Agnes and Meyers followed White Cat to a hidden lounge, where Meyers discovered signs that a woman had used the room. Meanwhile, Anna learned about their actions and changed the Guide’s invitation from Gustav Ming to Buli, before reflecting on the price she would have to pay for Chiba’s affection.

• White Cat led Agnes and Meyers to a disguised sliding door in Anna’s study, where they found a softly lit lounge and ordered supplies through a wall screen.
• Meyers found an opened pack of sanitary pads, leading Agnes and Meyers to conclude that a woman had used the room.
• Anna told Zero to monitor Agnes’s injuries and explained that Hesta had taken the sisters underground to protect them from Gobelin, respond to Anna’s letter, and help herself.
• Zero reported that Hesta was dining with Ligo and Gobelin, while Bernhard continued searching for Silei and Buli.
• Anna ordered Zero to change the Guide’s invitation from Gustav Ming to Buli and declined to meet Chiba that night.
• Anna told Zero that gaining Chiba’s affection would require her to abandon her dignity and principles without hesitation.

Hesta and Ligo left Bishop Restaurant after speaking with Gopelin, but Silei returned and urgently asked them to protect the day’s victim, Gustav Ming. Silei took Gustav and the others toward the engine room, revealing that she knew about a procedure he had endured.

• Hesta and Ligo thanked Gopelin and left Bishop Restaurant, discussing whether Chiba knew about District 15.
• Silei appeared after being missing for a day and asked Ligo to help protect the day’s victim, who was still in the restaurant.
• Silei identified Gustav Ming by his ID and Ship Card number, then ordered him to come with her.
• Silei led Gustav, Hesta, and Ligo through an emergency passage to the engine room entrance.
• Gustav resisted going underground, but Silei said she knew about the procedure he had endured, leaving Hesta and Ligo confused.

Silei explained that the victims had been given secret instructions to visit specific places unseen, then led the group through the ship to confront Gustav about his own instructions. The group arrived at a room where Buli was being held, and Silei demanded that Gustav hand over his instructions.

• Silei told Ligo and Hesta that Dietrich, Ashley, and Gruning had followed similar instructions requiring them to stay unseen.
• Silei ordered Gustav to remain still and think about nothing for the rest of the day.
• Hesta questioned Gustav about his past as the group escorted him through the ship, and Gustav admitted to only minor misdeeds.
• Silei led the group into a dim room where Buli groaned, then demanded that Gustav give her the instructions he had received.

Hesta and Silei investigated Gustav’s failed attempt to postpone his banquet and connected the letters to Buli, Gopelin, and the deaths aboard the ship. The chapter left Gustav hoping he had chosen the right guarantor, while Hesta warned him not to assume he was safe.

• Gustav explained that he took all his luggage to the Hard Rock Bar, but the bartender took nothing, so he later chose the Sapphire Earrings instead of searching for the Scepter Brooch.
• Hesta discovered Gustav had left his architect’s tools out of his luggage and had not brought them into Bishop Restaurant, suggesting he had misunderstood the procedure.
• Silei told Hesta that Gruning and Dietrich had both shown their letters to Buli, but Gruning had asked him to be a guarantor while Dietrich attended the banquet and died in the elevator.
• Silei explained that Gopelin dismissed Gruning’s later letter as a bluff, then changed the passengers’ cabin arrangements; Ligo concluded this explained why Buli attacked Gopelin.
• Hesta suggested Gruning might have survived if he had gone to Gopelin instead of Buli, then cautioned Gustav against assuming he had chosen correctly.

Silei suspected Anna was connected to the killings, while Ligo promised to protect Gustav until sunrise. As Silei prepared a place for Hesta to sleep, Hesta asked to see Buli because she remembered the secrets in Dietrich's diary.

• Silei told Hesta she suspected Anna was behind the cases and cited the scissors Anna had given her.
• Ligo agreed to keep Gustav safe until sunrise and reassured him that the Quicksilver Needles could handle a Chelated Being.
• Gustav took Ligo's hand and found brief comfort, while Hesta recalled Wilford and questioned whether the warmth she had seen in his home had been a disguise.
• Silei brought out a folding cot and cardboard boxes for Hesta to rest on.
• Hesta headed toward the inner power room to see Buli and asked Silei what Dietrich's diary had meant by things that could not be mentioned to others.

Silei explained that Dietrich had repeatedly seen the ghostlike image of a girl who had killed herself after he rejected her, and Hesta suspected Zero was behind the apparitions. Gustav then revealed that he had also seen his dead grandmother, leaving Silei and Hesta concerned that his sightings began around the same time as Dietrich’s.

• Silei told Hesta and Ligo that Dietrich had abandoned his childhood sweetheart to join the Thorn Monks, and that she later killed herself.
• Silei explained that Dietrich began seeing the dead girl as an illusion two weeks before boarding, and Hesta suspected Zero had made her appear.
• Hesta asked whether the girl’s death was really suicide, but Silei said she did not know and could not verify the story.
• Gustav said he had recently seen his dead grandmother, including an apparition by the artificial lake before boarding.
• Gustav recalled that he first saw his grandmother after arriving in Tanyi in early May, matching Dietrich’s timeline.

Hesta questioned Gustav about the objects in his pockets and concluded that they might be connected to the killer’s plan, while Silei argued that neither Hesta nor the killer could judge passengers without evidence. The argument ended with Ligo calling for silence, leaving them together as they tried to prevent another killing.

• Hesta asked Gustav to empty his pockets and learned that the Thorn Monks had collected their luggage shortly before entering Bishop Restaurant.
• Hesta and Silei revealed that crew members had also tried to get them to take luggage, which Silei had refused.
• Hesta suggested that Gustav’s paper clip, pencil stub, or measuring tape could be used to kill him, and Silei assured him the killer’s plan would fail.
• Silei challenged Hesta’s assumptions about the passengers’ guilt and argued that the killer’s judgments were not justice without evidence.
• Ligo failed to calm Hesta and Silei’s argument, then asked them to end it and remain silent.

Hesta and Ligo broke into the corridor behind Silei’s room and discovered that Silei had been torturing Buli for information. As they returned their attention to Gustav, Ligo sensed that the expected intruder had arrived.

• Silei went to investigate the sound of chains while Hesta and Ligo remained locked in their room.
• Hesta and Ligo broke through the door, knocked Silei down, and followed her into the corridor.
• Hesta found Buli bloodied, chained, and struggling to reach food, with electric spark igniters nearby.
• Silei admitted she had used electric shocks and sleep deprivation on Buli, who had drawn her as the newcomer to sacrifice to survive.
• Silei said she would send Buli back after the night, and Ligo suddenly sensed that the intruder had arrived.