Recaps

Charlotte met Roselle privately during the hunting trip to discuss the Printing House attack and warn him that the cultists might target him. Their conversation ended when they discovered a servant’s corpse beside the stream and a hunched figure eating it.

• Charlotte led Roselle away from the camp, but they came across a noble couple engaged in a secret tryst in the woods.
• Roselle asked Charlotte about the attackers at the Printing House, and she told him they were cultists who used special potions and that the Church had given her Holy Water.
• Charlotte warned Roselle to watch for suspicious people around him, and he teased her about frightening the hounds before their conversation turned awkward.
• Charlotte and Roselle heard strange noises and followed them through the bushes toward the stream.
• They found a servant disemboweled beside the stream and a cloaked figure eating his entrails; the figure twisted its neck to face Charlotte.

Charlotte and Roselle fought a mutated Beyonder whose extra eyes could fire deadly rays and anticipate attacks. Purification-ers of the Eternal Blazing Sun killed it, and Charlotte told Roselle that the supernatural world was the secret he had wanted to uncover.

• Roselle shot the mutated Beyonder, but it survived and fired a ray that Charlotte dodged by knocking him aside.
• Charlotte and Roselle attacked the creature and discovered that it could anticipate their movements.
• The creature revealed more eyes and fired two rays at Charlotte, but her Hermes command redirected its head and let her slash its neck.
• A Purification-er cast sunlight over the creature while two companions threw Holy Water, killing it.
• Charlotte returned Roselle's dagger and told him that the battle was the secret the Church had been hiding.

After surviving a monster attack, Roselle learned that Charlotte and the Church were part of a hidden supernatural world. He weighed returning to his safe noble life against joining that world and chose to pursue it, riding after Charlotte.

• Roselle reflected on how close the monster had come to killing him and recognized his weakness compared with Charlotte.
• Charlotte told Roselle he must choose whether to keep the Church's secrets and return to his old life or enter the supernatural world.
• The Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun took the monster's corpse, while Earl Foulace concealed the dead servant's true fate and began the hunt.
• Roselle considered the dangers of supernatural powers alongside his wish to catch up to Charlotte and discover why he had transmigrated.
• Roselle decided not to stand back any longer and rode after Charlotte.

After reporting the hunting-ground incident, Charlotte reflected on the risks of becoming a Beyonder and wondered why the monster’s attack had missed her. When she called for Madam Henriette, the woman appeared behind her in the bedroom mirror.

• Charlotte returned to the Sauron residence, recovered from the exhausting day, and recalled explaining the incident to Raoul and filing a report at Saint Roch Cathedral.
• Charlotte learned that Roselle could choose between joining the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun and turning to the Machinery Hivemind, and she suspected he would choose the latter.
• Charlotte considered the danger of losing control and recognized that her Arbiter abilities would not have been enough to defeat the corrupted Mystery Pryer alone.
• Charlotte remembered the dark green ray veering away from her and decided to test whether Madam Henriette was present.
• Charlotte called for Madam Henriette, then saw her familiar figure emerge behind her in the mirror.

Henriette explained ways Charlotte could grow stronger, revealed that she was an Assassin, and discussed the possibility of a curse harming Charlotte’s family. She gave Charlotte details about an Underground Trading Fair, then Charlotte went to find the lawyer Morvan Durand.

• Henriette told Charlotte she had diverted the Mystery Pryer’s fatal attack and advised her to master her Arbiter abilities before advancing.
• Henriette explained Sealed Artifacts and Mystical Items, then revealed that she was an Assassin with abilities including invisibility and Mirror Substitution.
• Henriette said she had found no sign of a curse on Charlotte or her family, while cautioning that powerful anti-divination could conceal one.
• Henriette gave Charlotte an address and time for an Underground Trading Fair and advised her to notify the Church.
• Charlotte traveled to the Sushit City High Court and knocked on Morvan Durand’s office door.

Charlotte met lawyer Morvan Durand to arrange a three-party agreement for the Sushit Weekly, where she, Roselle, and Green Randall planned to combine their support, expertise, and resources. After Morvan identified a serious risk that they would run short of funds, he offered to join the partnership.

• Charlotte arrived at Morvan Durand’s office with her maid Lila and explained that she hoped to help her father and prepare for her future.
• Charlotte and Morvan discussed his interest in Southern Continent history while they waited for Roselle and Green Randall.
• Roselle outlined the Sushit Weekly partnership, proposing profit shares of forty percent for himself, twenty-five percent for Charlotte, and thirty-five percent for Green.
• Morvan questioned the partners about their investment and planned expenses, then warned that their arrangement carried a substantial risk of default.
• Morvan offered to become a partner in the Sushit Weekly.

Charlotte, Roselle, Green, and Morvan finalized Morvan’s investment in the Sushit Weekly, while Charlotte and Roselle discussed their new paths toward becoming Beyonders. The chapter ended with Morvan silently watching the place where they had spoken.

• Charlotte agreed that Morvan’s investment could solve the Sushit Weekly’s funding shortage, and Roselle welcomed him as a partner.
• Morvan invested twenty thousand Verl D’Or and received a fifteen-percent share, while Roselle, Green, and Charlotte took thirty-five, thirty, and twenty percent respectively.
• Morvan arranged for a notary to certify the revised contract and advised the young partners to inform their elders.
• Roselle told Charlotte that the Church of the God of Artisan had offered him a choice, and he had decided to join as a Beyonder.
• Roselle asked Charlotte to advise him on a Sequence 9 potion, and she recommended the Savant pathway because it suited him and the Church had its complete sequence.
• Charlotte teased Roselle about being younger, then left with Lila as Roselle departed and Morvan silently watched the spot where they had talked.

Charlotte secretly traveled to an underground trading gathering in the Harbor District, where she used Spirit Vision to inspect the attendees. The gathering began, and she noticed that a formally dressed young man moved like a puppet despite appearing ordinary.

• Charlotte slipped out of the Sauron mansion and crossed the city toward the Harbor District gathering described in Henri's note.
• A vagrant followed Charlotte near Finger Bridge, but she used her Arbiter authority to frighten him away.
• Charlotte showed the organizer Henri's note and entered the underground room, where the hooded host explained the trading rules.
• Charlotte activated Spirit Vision to examine the gathered participants, intending to observe rather than buy anything.
• Charlotte sensed something wrong about a black-haired young man whose movements looked mechanical and puppet-like.

At an underground gathering, Charlotte watched a suspicious participant and dismissed a fake Knight potion formula before considering a Tudor-era candlestick. The black-haired man offered to sell it for exactly the 240 Verl D'Or Charlotte had on her.

• Charlotte used Spirit Vision to notice that the black-haired man's Ether Body lagged behind his physical movements, then stopped scrutinizing him.
• Participants sold unusual goods, and a cloaked man offered a Knight potion formula for 1,000 Verl D'Or, but no one bought it.
• The black-haired man presented a strange Tudor Dynasty candlestick for 500 Verl D'Or, and the gathering moved to open discussion after it went unsold.
• The brown-cloaked seller tried to persuade Charlotte to buy the Knight formula, but the black-haired man exposed it as a likely scam.
• Charlotte negotiated over the candlestick, and the black-haired man offered it for 240 Verl D'Or, exactly the amount she carried.

Charlotte bought a Fourth Epoch candlestick at an underground gathering and had Viève confirm it was harmless, while learning the Church had classified Etienne’s dagger as a Grade 3 Sealed Artifact. Viève then told Charlotte the Church had found a new lead on the Cultists, as Roselle Gustav prepared his Savant potion.

• Charlotte bought the inverted Tudor Dynasty candlestick from the black-haired man for ten Gold Louis, then watched Brown Cloak follow him into an alley where he disappeared.
• Charlotte used her authority to frighten Brown Cloak away when he confronted her in the alley, then took the candlestick to Saint Roch Cathedral for inspection.
• Viève purified and examined the candlestick, found no corruption or identifiable Beyonder power, and confirmed Charlotte could keep it.
• Viève told Charlotte that Etienne’s dagger had been provisionally classified as a Grade 3 Sealed Artifact, with a sharper blade, improved sensitivity to hostility, and an arrogance-inducing negative effect.
• Viève told Charlotte that the Church had found a new lead on the Cultists, while Roselle Gustav watched his Savant potion being prepared.

Roselle drank the Savant potion and found his forgotten knowledge returning, while Charlotte learned that her father had once been considered suited to becoming a Hunter. Raoul’s mention of acting led Charlotte to wonder if acting was key to mastering a potion.

• Roselle drank the icy-blue Savant potion and endured a rush of memories and knowledge.
• Roselle used the meditation method to steady himself, and the Machinery Hivemind captain explained how the potion would help him recover and organize what he already knew.
• Charlotte told Raoul that she planned to join the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun in an operation to arrest a City Hall official linked to the murders.
• Raoul revealed that the Sauron Family had a Hunter pathway and that he had once been considered as a candidate for a potion.
• Raoul recalled that an elder had thought he was suited to acting as a Hunter, prompting Charlotte to wonder whether acting was the key to mastering a potion.

Charlotte joined Viève's Team in an operation to confront Julian Wright, the City Hall official suspected of helping the Cultists behind the sacrificial ritual. She reached his office under a borrowed identity and waited to see whether he recognized her or stirred her lost memories.

• Charlotte reviewed her role in the operation and learned the abilities of Viève, Jellen Burns, and Joel Vaughn.
• Charlotte checked the Sealed Artifact dagger hidden in her sleeve and reminded herself not to let it make her overconfident.
• Charlotte and Viève arrived at City Hall, while Jellen Burns and Joel Vaughn went around to the rear entrance.
• Charlotte used her noble status and Arbiter ability to persuade the doorman to let her pass.
• Charlotte knocked on Julian Wright's office door under the name Matilda of Viscount Abel's household, and Julian invited her inside.

Charlotte and Viève confronted Julian Wright in his office after Charlotte identified him as a Cultist, but Julian escaped their ambush through a shadow trick and returned to accuse Charlotte of murder. His accusation briefly restrained her, yet no apparent effect followed.

• Charlotte entered Julian Wright's office disguised as Matilda, revealed she was Baron Sauron's daughter, and recognized Julian from the sacrificial ritual.
• Charlotte signaled Viève, who attacked Julian with the Sun Holy Emblem’s radiance as Charlotte readied her dagger.
• A shadow creature attacked Viève, but she burned and shattered it with her Purification Slash.
• Julian transformed into a shadow and fled toward the window; Viève chased the false escape while Charlotte discovered his real body hiding by the door.
• Julian pointed at Charlotte and declared that she was guilty of the Sin of Murder, briefly halting her, but nothing happened.

Charlotte fought Julian Wright after his supernatural convictions failed to stop her, then killed him with the Dagger. Viève began spirit channeling Julian’s corpse and asked who else shared his faith.

• Charlotte realized Julian’s accusation of murder had not fully restrained her and attacked him with the Dagger and Holy Water.
• Julian declared that Charlotte was committing a crime, freezing her in place, but the Dagger’s momentum cut his arm.
• Julian tried to take the Dagger, and Charlotte broke free of the restraint and stabbed him through the heart.
• Viève returned, prepared a spirit channeling ritual, and asked Julian’s spirit who else shared his faith.

Charlotte and Viève questioned Julian’s spirit, learned about the cult’s hidden Supervisor, and destroyed the spirit before it could finish naming the being it worshipped. On the ride back, Viève indirectly confirmed that Charlotte needed to act as an Arbiter to master her potion, while Roselle recorded his transformation into a Savant.

• Viève questioned Julian’s spirit, which named Etienne Marceau, Luna LeMay, and the Supervisor as members of the cult.
• Julian revealed that the Supervisor was a woman who had come to Sushit to arrange a sacrifice but concealed her identity and whereabouts.
• Viève asked what the cult worshipped, and she and Charlotte destroyed Julian’s spirit before he could finish reciting the being’s title.
• Viève warned Charlotte that names and impressions of evil beings could corrupt those who formed a connection with them.
• Charlotte asked how to master her potion, and Viève indirectly confirmed that Charlotte needed to act as an Arbiter.
• Roselle wrote in his diary that he had become a Savant and regained all the knowledge he had learned.

Roselle recorded how the Savant potion restored his memories and raised questions about his bloody arrival, while Klein documented his plans, the Gray Fog, and a new participant drawn into the gathering. The chapter left Klein investigating the Strange Candlestick that had brought the newcomer Above the Gray Fog.

• Roselle wrote that the Savant potion restored buried knowledge and might help him improve machinery and earn the Church of the Artisan's favor.
• Roselle recalled waking in an alley with blood on his chest but no wounds, wondered whether the original Roselle had been murdered, and hid his diary when Charlotte came to visit.
• Klein recorded his cautious correspondence with another branch of the Abraham Family and considered finding work as a genuine apprentice.
• Klein described how he had built an illusory gathering Above the Gray Fog and disguised himself as both its ruler's follower and an ordinary participant.
• Klein noted that a new member had appeared Above the Gray Fog after touching a Strange Candlestick from the Tudor period of the Fourth Epoch.

Charlotte visited Roselle, who had recently become a Savant, and showed him an unusual Fourth Epoch candlestick. When Roselle touched it, he was transported to a mysterious gathering and learned that its organizer was the great Mr. Fool.

• Charlotte reflected on her fight with Julian Wright and how her actions had fit the Arbiter's sense of justice.
• Roselle told Charlotte that he had drunk the Savant potion and described its effects on his memory and learning.
• Charlotte showed Roselle the upside-down candlestick and said she intended it as a gift for their partner, Morvan Durand.
• After Charlotte left, Roselle touched the candlestick and was transported to a fog-shrouded palace with three other people and a hooded figure.
• Roselle learned that the others had been summoned by the figure, whom they called the great Mr. Fool.

As Charlotte prepared for her eighteenth birthday, she practiced noble etiquette and used her Arbiter abilities to settle a dispute between two maids. Raoul gave her a thousand Gold Louis as a coming-of-age gift, then asked whether she had already become a Beyonder.

• Charlotte practiced dance and social etiquette with Delia Perry ahead of her formal debut at a noble ball.
• Charlotte questioned two maids, identified an unfair division of chores, and ordered them to share the work more reasonably.
• Charlotte reflected that settling disputes seemed to help her master the Arbiter potion and might let her advance sooner.
• Raoul summoned Charlotte to his study and presented her with a thousand Gold Louis as her coming-of-age gift.
• Raoul noticed Charlotte handled the heavy box with ease and asked whether she had taken a potion and become a Beyonder.

Charlotte’s father realized she had become a Beyonder, gave her the gold he had saved, and warned her against pursuing advancement carelessly. At a Sushit Weekly gathering, Charlotte grew suspicious of Morvan Durand’s knowledge of cursed Fourth Epoch artifacts but decided to observe him rather than report him.

• Raoul recognized Charlotte as a Beyonder and gave her a box of gold coins he had saved for her expenses.
• Raoul explained that the Sauron family’s property would eventually belong to Charlotte and urged her to avoid advancing further because of the dangers of losing control.
• Morvan examined an old candlestick, identified it as likely from the Tudor Empire period, and warned that Fourth Epoch artifacts could carry curses.
• Morvan proposed a serialized story for the Sushit Weekly, and Roselle enthusiastically supported the idea.
• Charlotte wondered whether Morvan was warning her and Roselle as fellow Beyonders, but after noticing his scrutiny, she chose to wait and see.

Charlotte visited the Inquisition’s underground headquarters beneath Saint Roch Cathedral, where Viève explained its structure and beliefs. Viève then described the cultists’ powers and the newly strengthened Dagger of Judgment, before asking Charlotte to pick it up.

• Charlotte followed Viève through the Inquisition’s underground offices and learned about its work, factions, and the Hall of Holy Radiance.
• Viève reported that two cultists had been captured and one had died resisting, while the Supervisor who contacted Julian remained unidentified.
• Viève explained that the cultists’ powers came from an entity’s bestowal and outlined the Broker and Shadow Merchant sequences.
• Viève revealed that the dagger had absorbed Julian’s power and become the Grade 3 Sealed Artifact 3-1452, the Dagger of Judgment.
• Viève described the dagger’s new ability and strengthened negative effects, then asked Charlotte to pick it up.

Charlotte tested the Dagger of Judgment and was asked to help document its effects because she felt no guilt while holding it. Later, she attended her coming-of-age debut at Viscount Derilose’s estate, where she spotted Roselle Gustav among the guests.

• Charlotte held the Dagger of Judgment without experiencing its guilt-inducing effect, while Viève quickly became distressed when she tried it.
• Viève explained that Charlotte could help document the dagger’s side effects while the Purification-ers sought approval for the arrangement.
• Charlotte decided not to tell Viève about her suspicions concerning Morvan Durand, feeling no guilt about withholding the information.
• Charlotte arrived with Raoul Sauron and Delia Perry at Viscount Derilose’s lavish estate for her debut and greeted the assembled nobles.
• Charlotte noticed Roselle Gustav watching her, and he furtively winked at her.

Charlotte attended her coming-of-age ball, met several young noblewomen, and danced her obligatory first dance. Roselle gave her a trial print of the Sushit Weekly, and the chapter ended with Charlotte offering to dance with him.

• Charlotte greeted Baron Leon and Eleanor Gustav, then met Matilda Abel and other young noblewomen at the ball.
• Viscount Derilose formally presented Charlotte to the guests, and she danced a minuet with a baron's second son.
• Charlotte stepped onto a balcony, where Roselle showed her a trial print of the Sushit Weekly as her birthday gift.
• Charlotte and Roselle saw a young noblewoman and man slip into the garden together.
• Charlotte stopped Roselle from returning to the ballroom and told him she could dance once more that evening.

Klein continued his clockmaker apprenticeship, reflecting on how his work helped him act as an Apprentice, while taking precautions against the Abraham Family’s curse. He entered the gray fog for the gathering, noticed an unstable new crimson star, and elsewhere Morvan Durand investigated a Tudor-era candlestick before continuing to write about his cursed past.

• Klein repaired a pocket watch under Mrs. Harrington’s supervision and felt the potion respond to his diligent work.
• Klein evaded possible followers by taking a circuitous route to his safe house, where he reviewed the Abraham Family’s curse and recalled surviving full-moon ravings by retreating into the gray fog.
• Klein entered the ancient palace and found a distant crimson star flickering, but severed his connection when it destabilized his spirituality.
• Klein summoned the three connected members to the gathering above the gray fog.
• Morvan Durand examined an Inverted Candlestick from the Tudor Dynasty and wondered whether the Blood Emperor had left behind power, then resumed writing about a man’s cursed life.

Charlotte and her partners prepared to launch the Sushit Weekly, and they discussed expanding its distribution to Trier while Charlotte was away. Morvan returned Charlotte’s antique candlestick and warned her to watch for misfortunes that might affect people around her.

• Charlotte finished reading Morvan’s serial, which ended after the prince linked his family’s deaths to a curse from the Fourth Epoch, and Morvan said he had not decided what happened next.
• Roselle described plans to print a thousand copies of the Sushit Weekly, and Charlotte told the partners she would be leaving for Trier with her father for a month.
• Roselle and Morvan urged Charlotte to investigate newspaper sales and distribution in Trier, and she agreed to gather information there.
• Roselle gave Charlotte his notes on establishing newspaper distribution channels and predicted the Sushit Weekly would become the city’s best-selling publication.
• Morvan returned Charlotte’s antique candlestick, saying it might have a wondrous effect by her side, and warned her that fate-driven misfortunes could first strike people around their intended target.

Charlotte traveled with her father toward Trier and stopped overnight in Beaumont, where she investigated an unusual church. The chapter ended when its priest welcomed her to the temple of the Creator.

• Charlotte reviewed her progress as a Sequence 9 Arbiter, considered the Dagger of Judgment and the Sushit Weekly, and anticipated reaching Trier.
• Charlotte and Raoul stopped with their entourage at Beaumont for the night after a long day of travel.
• A local man told Charlotte that Beaumont's old church was one of the town's few sights, so she went to investigate it with Lila.
• Charlotte entered the plain church and found rows of pews, a shrine with a statue of a man carrying a cross, and a bearded priest.
• The priest welcomed Charlotte to the temple of the Creator.