Chapter Summaries

A transmigrator from twenty-first-century Earth wrote about her loneliness, her new life as a woman in the Fifth Epoch, and her hope of finding a way home. She traced the events that brought her into contact with Roselle, the Church, and Mr. Fool’s gathering back to the night she died three months earlier.

• The narrator recorded that the Church had finished testing her and that she had completed her business in Trier.
• She described her memories of Earth and her struggle to adapt to life in a new world and a female body.
• She recalled the friends and family she had met but admitted that she still felt alone and feared forgetting her former life.
• She considered how money, status, connections, and mysticism might help her return home, while doubting that she could advance technology herself.
• She recounted becoming a Beyonder, working with Roselle, founding a newspaper, meeting the king, and attending Mr. Fool’s gathering.
• She concluded that the chain of events had begun three months earlier on the night she died.

Gao Linyuan awoke in the body of Charlotte Sauron in a bloodstained dress, in a strange city beneath a crimson moon. After escaping suspicious night watchmen with help from Etienne, she realized he might be leading her somewhere other than home and sought refuge at Baron Gustav’s residence, where she encountered Roselle Gustav.

• Gao Linyuan woke in a dark alley in Charlotte’s female body and recovered memories identifying her as Baron Raoul Sauron’s daughter.
• Charlotte found a bloodstained dagger on her and left the alley, where two night watchmen confronted her and tried to arrest her.
• Etienne appeared, knocked out both watchmen, and claimed that Raoul Sauron had sent him to fetch Charlotte.
• Charlotte followed Etienne along the river, but realized he was heading toward the docks rather than her home and fled from him.
• Charlotte ran to Baron Gustav’s residence, called for help, and entered the courtyard, where Baron Gustav and his daughter Roselle saw her.

Charlotte sought refuge at Baron Gustav's home, but Etienne used forged authority to try to take her away. After Baron Gustav recognized the danger and Etienne attacked, Charlotte stabbed him in the chest to defend herself.

• Charlotte warned Baron Gustav that Etienne was pursuing her and claimed he was dangerous.
• Etienne presented a court certificate and a token, persuading Baron Gustav that he was a solicitor sent by Baron Sauron.
• Charlotte recognized that Etienne's token and explanation were suspicious, and Baron Gustav ordered him to leave.
• Etienne feigned retreat, attacked the footmen, and blocked the stairs with burning oil after Roselle Gustav struck him with a vase.
• Charlotte drew her dagger and stabbed Etienne in the chest.

Charlotte killed Etienne when he attacked her, but Baron Leon Gustav and his servants finished him with gunfire and arranged the scene as self-defense. As the household prepared for questioning, Charlotte's father, Raoul Sauron, arrived at the mansion.

• Charlotte backed away from Etienne after stabbing him, and Baron Leon Gustav stepped in front of her as Etienne advanced.
• Roselle Gustav dropped a vase near Etienne, and Baron Leon Gustav ordered his servants to shoot him with Flintlock Rifles.
• Baron Leon Gustav told Charlotte that witnesses would support her self-defense account and ordered the servants to guard the gate and preserve the scene.
• Charlotte recounted her encounter with Etienne to Baron Leon Gustav, who concluded that Etienne had tried to take her toward the Harbor District.
• Raoul Sauron arrived at the Gustav mansion after a servant went to fetch him.

Charlotte reunited with her father, Raoul Sauron, after Etienne Marceau died trying to take her from the Gustav residence. As the barons arranged an account of the killing, Charlotte learned Etienne had lied about being sent to find her and wondered whether the old-quarter murders were connected to her lost memories.

• Raoul Sauron arrived at the Gustav residence, embraced Charlotte, and listened as she and Leon Gustav explained how Etienne had died.
• Raoul examined Etienne's body while Charlotte met Roselle Gustav and thanked him for helping stop the attack.
• Charlotte overheard Raoul and Leon confirm that Etienne was a solicitor in Raoul's household, but that Raoul had not sent him to search for her.
• Raoul and Leon agreed to present Etienne's death as the result of an attempted abduction and to keep the incident from harming Charlotte or the servants.
• Raoul mentioned several murders in the old quarter, prompting Charlotte to suspect they might be connected to her disappearance and missing memories.
• Leon explained that the dagger could make Etienne's death appear to have been caused by the stab wound, and Charlotte pulled it from his chest.

After returning home, Charlotte struggled with guilt over killing Etienne Marceau and the shock of inhabiting a woman's body while considering the mysteries surrounding her arrival. The chapter ended when she saw a face reflected in the window and realized it was inside her room.

• Baron Raoul Sauron reassured Charlotte that he would handle the consequences of Etienne Marceau's death and warned her not to discuss the old district murders.
• Raoul told Charlotte that many people had died in the murders and that the Church would take action that night.
• Charlotte returned to the Sauron estate, saw her family portrait, and reflected on the deaths of her mother, sister Dana, and brother Reynold.
• Alone in her bedroom, Charlotte examined her new body in the mirror and planned to investigate her lost memories, Etienne's death, and her transmigration.
• Charlotte spotted a face in the window's reflection, realized it was inside the room, and turned around.

Charlotte questioned Henriette, the mysterious woman who had followed her and returned her dagger, and learned that Henriette had come at her cousin Rosalie’s request to help with the threats to her life. Henriette demonstrated her mysticism and revealed that Etienne Marceau had also been a Beyonder, leaving Charlotte with a new explanation for the supernatural events around her.

• Charlotte found Henriette in her room with the dagger she had lost and cautiously demanded to know who she was.
• Henriette introduced herself as Henri and said she knew about the danger facing Charlotte and had come at Rosalie Sauron’s request.
• Charlotte recalled that she had written to Rosalie after months of life-threatening accidents, and that Rosalie had promised to send an expert.
• Henriette vanished and reappeared beside Charlotte, demonstrating the mysticism she had used to follow her.
• Henriette told Charlotte that Etienne Marceau had been a Beyonder with supernatural powers like her own.

Charlotte learned how Beyonder pathways, sequences, and potions worked while Henriette explained the danger surrounding her bad luck. Henriette offered Charlotte a choice between leaving Sushit with her or turning herself in to the church, while Roselle began writing in Chinese in a notebook.

• Charlotte asked Henriette about Beyonders, and Henriette explained pathways, sequences, and how Etienne Marceau’s Sequence 9 Lawyer abilities worked.
• Henriette told Charlotte that most Beyonders gained powers by drinking potions, but obtaining formulas and ingredients was difficult because powerful institutions controlled them.
• Charlotte asked whether the churches were involved in the old district murders, but Henriette said she knew only rumors and did not know what had happened.
• Henriette explained that her divinations had found no cause for Charlotte’s bad luck and offered her two options: leave Sushit with Henriette or turn herself in to the church.
• Roselle Gustav checked that his bedroom door was locked, opened his notebook, and wrote a date in Chinese before correcting it from February fourteenth to February fifteenth.

Roselle recorded his hopes and suspicions in a diary, while Henriette advised Charlotte to seek help from the Church and secretly reported her situation to Rosalie Sauron. In Constant City, Zhou Mingrui accepted that he was now Klein Abraham.

• Roselle wrote that he was Huang Tao in a world unlike Earth and planned to use his modern knowledge to make his mark, then hid the diary in a desk drawer.
• Charlotte questioned whether the Church could protect her from the power behind Etienne, and Henriette recommended she bring his dagger when seeking help from the Church.
• Henriette vanished from Charlotte’s room, stayed nearby while Charlotte prepared for bed, then sent a messenger to tell Rosalie Sauron that Charlotte was alive and behaving strangely.
• Henriette told Rosalie she would remain in Suhit to observe Charlotte and asked Rosalie to return after advancing.
• After performing a Luck Enhancement Ritual in Constant City, Zhou Mingrui drew the curtains against the Crimson Moon and said he was now Klein Abraham.

Charlotte defied Raoul’s warning and went to Saint Roch Cathedral to report the events surrounding Etienne’s death. After confessing her account, she was questioned by a young churchwoman who identified herself as Viève.

• Raoul told Charlotte to stay home while he went to meet old friends, warning that the Church might investigate her connection to Etienne’s death.
• After Raoul left, Charlotte took a carriage to Saint Roch Cathedral, intending to turn herself in and seek help with the murders in the old district.
• Charlotte confessed that she had lost some memories and accidentally injured the man who pursued her, while hiding her transmigration and Henriette’s existence.
• A priest summoned another church official, and clergy cleared the nearby worshippers to make room for a private conversation.
• Charlotte asked the new listener how to address her, and the young woman said she was Viève and addressed Charlotte as Miss Charlotte Sauron.

Charlotte confessed to Viève at Saint Roch Cathedral, where the nun tested her honesty and questioned her about the murders. Viève revealed that investigators found seven sacrifice victims, though eight had been intended, leaving the fate of the missing victim unexplained.

• Charlotte gave Viève the dagger that had killed Etienne Marceau and withheld her secrets about transmigration and Henriette.
• Viève opened the confessional partition, showed Charlotte the blood-stained Holy Bible, and asked her to swear she had concealed nothing.
• Charlotte swore that she had told the truth about Etienne and her experiences, and the Bible stayed only warm.
• Viève explained that the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun, the Church of the Artisan, and Suhit City's garrison had destroyed a secret cult and stopped a human sacrifice.
• Viève said investigators found seven sacrificed victims at the scene, although eight people had originally been intended as sacrifices.

Charlotte learned that the Church believed she was a survivor of a human-sacrifice cult and discovered that Etienne’s dagger had become a Sealed Artifact. Viève tasked Charlotte with remaining in Suhit City as bait for the surviving cultists, and Charlotte returned home to find Raoul waiting for her.

• Charlotte concluded that the Church likely viewed her as the eighth sacrifice who escaped, rather than knowing she had returned from the dead.
• Viève explained the cult, Etienne’s suspected ties to it, and the basics of Beyonders, Sequences, Pathways, and Sealed Artifacts.
• Viève revealed that Etienne’s dagger had absorbed supernatural power and warned Charlotte that surviving cultists might target her.
• Charlotte swore secrecy, handed over the dagger, and received holy water to use if she encountered suspicious people while the Church tracked the cultists.
• Charlotte bought a Sun Holy Emblem amulet, postponed visiting Baron Gustav’s family, and returned to the Sauron residence, where Raoul stood waiting.

Charlotte explained her visit to church to Raoul, who warned her to stay away while revealing his concern about Beyonders and the recent killings. Back in her room, she weighed whether to confide in him and tried to devise a way to make money, only to realize her modern knowledge was too shallow to turn into a useful invention or story.

• Charlotte told Raoul that nightmares about Etienne’s death had driven her to church, and she showed him the Sun Holy Emblem amulet she had bought.
• Raoul asked whether clergy or strangers had approached her, then forbade her from returning to church and said the Sheriff might blame Etienne for the killings; he also mentioned defense lawyer Morvan Durand.
• Charlotte said she would visit Uncle Leon to thank him, and Raoul arranged for her to accompany him to Baron Gustav’s home the following Tuesday and gave her extra allowance.
• Charlotte considered telling Raoul about her involvement with the Church and mysticism, but decided to keep quiet and proceed cautiously.
• Charlotte tried to plan how to earn money using her modern knowledge, but found she could not recall enough technical details or literary material to produce anything useful.

Charlotte prepared for a visit to Baron Leon Gustav’s home with her father, Raoul, reflecting on the Sauron family’s finances and her plans to earn money. At the residence, she greeted Roselle Gustav, the young man who had saved her.

• Charlotte spent an hour dressing with help from her maid, Lila, and set out with Raoul.
• Charlotte noticed paint on Raoul’s thumb and reflected on his painting, his grief, and the family’s strained finances.
• Charlotte resolved to find a way to improve the family’s situation, though she still could not recall useful details from her past knowledge.
• Raoul and Charlotte traveled by carriage through Suhit City to Baron Leon Gustav’s residence in Bols District.
• Baron Leon and Roselle Gustav welcomed them, and Charlotte greeted Roselle with a courteous smile.

Roselle and Green went to inspect Green’s family’s struggling printing house, while Charlotte conceived a plan to launch a newspaper and sought a chance to join the venture. As Charlotte arrived at the printing house, she felt someone watching her from across the street.

• Roselle greeted Charlotte and introduced Green Randall, who said his father had agreed to discuss selling the printing house near the Ruler Church.
• Roselle considered the printing house as a business opportunity, while Charlotte realized she could use it to start a newspaper.
• Charlotte asked Baron Raoul Sauron for permission to accompany Roselle and Green, and he allowed her to go with Lila as her chaperone.
• Roselle and Green traveled to the Lower Korus District to inspect the printing house, and Charlotte followed in the Sauron carriage.
• Charlotte examined the dusty, long-idle printing house and felt a gaze settle on her from across the street.

Charlotte joined Roselle and Green to inspect the Randall family's printing works and discussed turning it into a source of regularly printed news and stories. As they examined the equipment, Charlotte sensed her watcher again, and an attacker rushed at them from behind a shelf.

• Charlotte gave a beggar three ricks and searched the street for the person she had felt watching her.
• Green explained Roselle's plan to reopen the printing works and produce inexpensive leaflets with local news, notices, and other content.
• Charlotte suggested that regularly updated news and serialized stories could make the leaflets popular, and reminded Roselle that public printing required a publishing license.
• Charlotte, Roselle, and Green inspected the presses and supplies, while Charlotte considered whether Roselle might be a genius.
• Charlotte felt watched again in the storeroom, warned Roselle and Green, and saw a gray-coated man rush at them with a pointed metal weapon.

Charlotte, Roselle Gustav, and Green Randall were ambushed in the Storage Room by a knife-wielding beggar while a black-clad woman tried to seize Charlotte. Charlotte used Holy Water from Saint Roch Cathedral to strike the woman at close range, and the bottle shattered against her face.

• Charlotte recognized the beggar who had taken her silver coins as he lunged at Roselle Gustav with a Short Blade.
• Roselle and Green fought the attacker together using a ruler, paper, and an iron ink-stirring rod, while Green urged Charlotte to get help.
• Charlotte sensed another watcher and stopped at the doorway, narrowly avoiding the black-clad woman's attempt to grab her.
• Charlotte drew the Holy Water bottle and feigned an awkward defense to lure the cautious woman within reach.
• Charlotte twisted toward the woman and smashed the Holy Water bottle against her exposed face.

Charlotte used holy water against the Black-Clothed Woman during an attack at Green Randall’s printing factory, and Viève arrived to defeat her and explain the Church’s covert protection. The attackers’ accomplices remained a concern, while Viève asked Charlotte to return to the cathedral that weekend.

• Charlotte splashed holy water on the Black-Clothed Woman, burning her but only making her more enraged.
• Roselle and Green Randall fought the Gray-Clothed Beggar while Charlotte was cornered by the injured Black-Clothed Woman.
• Viève arrived, struck down the Black-Clothed Woman, and subdued her with holy water; the Gray-Clothed Beggar escaped through a window but was stopped outside.
• Viève told Roselle, Green Randall, and Charlotte that the Church had been secretly protecting Charlotte after she sought help at Saint Roch Cathedral.
• Charlotte explained the attack to Roselle and Green Randall, and Viève arranged for the Black-Clothed Woman to be taken to the Church for questioning.
• Viève told Charlotte to return to the cathedral that weekend, giving Charlotte hope of learning more about her supernatural connection.

Charlotte spoke with Raoul about Roselle Gustav and Green Randall's proposed local newspaper and learned what permissions and guarantees it would need. At Saint Roch Cathedral, Viève told Charlotte that the Church had extracted useful information from the attackers, but the danger was not over.

• Raoul explained that a locally distributed bulletin would generally need city hall's permission and a reputable guarantor, and he offered to ask city hall about it.
• Charlotte told Raoul she planned to visit Saint Roch Cathedral, and he required Lila to accompany her and insisted Charlotte report back afterward.
• Charlotte entered the cathedral and followed Brother Jellen to a restricted room where Viève was waiting.
• Brother Jellen praised Charlotte for helping capture two dangerous attackers, and Charlotte awkwardly replied, "Praise the Sun."
• Viève told Charlotte that the Church had obtained useful information from the attackers before they died, but the matter was far from over.

Viève told Charlotte that surviving evil-god followers still threatened her and offered her a choice between joining the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun’s Inquisition or becoming a Peripheral Member. After weighing the available pathways, Charlotte chose Arbiter.

• Viève explained that the cultists died during interrogation, but the Church learned that Charlotte had been the escaped final sacrifice, the ritual could have granted its leader Saint-level power, and hidden cultists remained in Suhit City.
• Viève asked whether Charlotte was devout, and Charlotte admitted she was only a lukewarm believer.
• Viève offered Charlotte a formal Purification-er role or limited membership as a Peripheral Member, which could receive a Sequence 9 potion in advance.
• Viève described the Sun, Arbiter, Lawyer, and Assassin pathways, warning that female Assassins were targeted by a secret organization and that the Church lacked the pathway’s later formulas.
• Charlotte considered the dangers and benefits of the choices, then told Viève she chose to become an Arbiter.