Chapter Summaries

Pali advanced and waited for a Rose School member while the Curse of Knowledge recorded how Gibson’s investigation would lead to his death. At Bodo Port, Edwina and Lorry debated the limits of their Teleportation charm before sensing that the Curse of Knowledge had completed its advancement.

• Pali completed her advancement, fought the urge to slaughter, and spent the next day waiting for a Rose School contact at No. 251 Victory Avenue.
• A man in a black suit knocked at No. 251 but left without meeting Pali, who recognized that he was not the person she awaited.
• The Curse of Knowledge described how the Rose School sent Gibson to investigate Mason’s death and predicted that Pali would recognize and kill him.
• The Golden Dream reached Bodo Port, where Edwina and Lorry discussed how their Teleportation charm could not sustain controlled long-distance travel.
• Edwina and Lorry sensed a surge of spirituality from the captain’s cabin and realized that the Curse of Knowledge had completed its advancement.

After Sebastian advanced, Lorry and Edwina proposed testing whether reusable Beyonder objects could prevent waste when using scarce High Sequence materials. Sebastian assigned Edwina preliminary experiments and revealed new secret arts he could share with Lorry, ending by asking about Lorry’s greatest disadvantage.

• Sebastian completed his advancement, thanked Lorry for helping him recover his original level, and spoke with him about their shared goal.
• Edwina explained that she had found no solution to the waste involved in using charms, and Lorry suggested making reusable Beyonder objects instead.
• Sebastian approved testing the idea but told Edwina and Lorry to begin with low-grade materials before using scarce High Sequence materials.
• Sebastian told Edwina to lead the preliminary experiments and took Lorry aside to explain the changes brought by his advancement.
• Sebastian said he could share eighteen secret arts, including nine he had created for Lorry, then asked what Lorry’s greatest disadvantage was.
• Lorry considered his low Sequence and outside sources of power before answering that his spirituality might be the problem.

Sebastian taught Lorry nine secret arts, including three that increased spirituality and six with healing, defensive, divinatory, and offensive uses. Lorry decided to ask Fors to help gather the materials for Spirit Ascension, then left Edwina's cabin wondering whether someone in his previous life had truly predicted his bad luck with money.

• Sebastian explained that Lorry's spirituality was his greatest weakness and introduced two one-time rituals that could permanently increase it, both called Spirit Ascension.
• Sebastian described Future Self, which could temporarily double Lorry's spirituality at the cost of preventing its natural recovery for three days if depleted.
• Sebastian taught Lorry the other six secret arts: Past Self, Present Self, Knowledge Vortex, Prophecy Pointer, Unsolved Mystery, and Disconnection.
• Sebastian warned that the arts were less effective against demigods and that some would weaken once Lorry possessed divinity.
• Lorry said he would write to Fors in Backlund to ask her to gather Spirit Ascension's materials, while Sebastian went to find Edwina.
• Lorry left Edwina's captain's cabin and wondered whether someone from his previous life had been right that he was destined to lose money.

Lorry weighed the cost of two spirituality-increasing arts and told Danitz he would consider saving a Conspirer potion for him if he survived the exploration. In Backlund, Xio learned that Albert had digested his Sheriff potion, then discovered Fors was busy digesting her Trickmaster potion through divinations at a club.

• Lorry reflected that the two secret arts he had learned would likely consume his savings, while Danitz asked him to reserve a Conspirer potion until after the exploration.
• Lorry told Danitz he would consider the request only if Danitz lived through the exploration, then left him annoyed.
• Xio returned home and learned that Albert had completely digested his Sheriff potion, leaving her upset that she was slower than a dog.
• Fors came home late, and Xio asked what had kept her busy; Fors explained that she had been digesting her Trickmaster potion by giving divinations to young noblewomen at a high-end Divination Club.

Fors told Xio that she had digested her Trickmaster potion and advanced to Astrologer, while Xio and Albert continued their Williams Street commission. In the Gray Fog World, Klein asked where to find a Mystical Item that could steal Beyonder abilities, and the Wireless Telegraph showed him an image of Fors.

• Fors revealed to Xio that she had advanced to Astrologer and explained that someone had helped her digest the Trickmaster potion.
• Xio asked Fors to write to him about whether he could help her digest her Sheriff potion quickly.
• Fors found a letter from him in the mailbox and went to her bedroom to read it.
• Xio decided to continue the Williams Street monitoring commission with Albert despite hoping for a way to advance faster.
• Klein used the Wireless Telegraph to ask where he could get a Mystical Item that stole Beyonder abilities, and its first image showed Fors.

Klein questioned Arrodes about a Mystical Item that could steal Beyonder Abilities, learned that Miss Magician could help him obtain one and that Leonard Mitchell was hosting a dangerous angel. After Fors relayed Klein’s request, the chapter shifted to Gibson, who faced Pali’s questions in a residence outside Tetenik City.

• Klein asked Arrodes about the woman in the first image and learned that her companion possessed the Mystical Item, while Arrodes warned it could not look at the man directly.
• Arrodes revealed Leonard Mitchell’s address and disclosed that an angel of the Zoroast Family was parasitizing him, then recommended Miss Magician over Leonard as a lead.
• Klein returned above the gray fog and used the World dummy to pray for help obtaining the ability-stealing Mystical Item.
• Fors received the World’s request and carefully relayed it, while Klein complained that a vampire had passed a Williams Street commission to Miss Xio.
• Outside Tetenik City, Pali told the wounded Gibson she would let him go if he answered two questions; after he said she was beautiful, she asked what he thought of a blond man holding a swinging pocket watch.

Lorry hypnotized Gibson to learn about Rose School members sent to the Southern Continent and uncovered a violent man whose use of a rag doll suggested a Marionettist. After verifying Gibson’s account through Spirit Channeling, Lorry left the room and told Pali it was her turn.

• Pali hypnotized Gibson, then left to keep watch after Lorry reminded her that she still owed him eight thousand pounds.
• Gibson said eight Rose School members arrived in mid-December, but their secrecy clearance kept him from knowing their identities.
• Gibson described a late-December assignment transporting one powerful, cruel man with curly brown hair, dark skin, and a black mole on his neck.
• Gibson recounted how the man used a bizarre rag doll to control a Viscount’s daughter, who later killed herself, prompting Gibson to return to the Southern Continent.
• Lorry killed Gibson after questioning him and used Spirit Channeling to verify the information.
• Lorry emerged from the room and told Pali that it was her turn.

Lorry prepared Pali for the dangers of her advancement ritual and set off plans to search for a legendary ghost ship. At the Tarot Club meeting, Audrey was surprised to learn that Fors had advanced to Sequence 7 and credited Mr. World with helping her.

• Lorry gave Pali Soothing charms and a failed Teleportation charm, warned her to be cautious, and said he would leave for Norgar Island the next day to search for a legendary ghost ship.
• Pali teased Lorry about her growing desires, then left after Lorry received and answered a letter delivered by his Messenger.
• Klein attended the Tarot Club meeting as the Fool and greeted Justice and the other members.
• Audrey noticed Fors's overflowing spirituality and asked whether she had advanced; Fors confirmed she had reached Sequence 7.
• Fors thanked Mr. World for his help, prompting the other Tarot Club members to look toward him.

At the Tarot Club, Fors explained how she had advanced to Sequence 7 and passed along five methods her friend offered for resolving mental pollution affecting a Beyonder characteristic. The World heard the options but had not yet chosen one.

• Audrey asked Fors how she had advanced so quickly, and Fors said she had found a strong acting opportunity and finished digesting the potion with Mr. World's help.
• Audrey offered ten pages of Roselle's Diary, then the gathering moved into its trading segment as Alger sought the Ocean Songster formula and Derrick asked for advice about Elder Lovia's release.
• The World asked Fors about the matter he had entrusted to her, and she said her friend could offer five ways to deal with pollution affecting a Beyonder characteristic.
• Fors listed a five-hundred-pound charm, a temporary Mystical Item for one thousand pounds, and a free exchange in which her friend would return the needed characteristic and keep whatever remained.
• Fors described a dangerous method for shattering Beyonder characteristics with one's own power and a final option in which her friend would collect a clean characteristic for a price close to ten thousand pounds.

Fors explained the options for obtaining an Astrologer characteristic and revealed that her friend had offered to give it to her if it did not sell. Klein chose the third and fourth methods, then learned that the way to shatter Beyonder Characteristics involved invoking the name Leodero.

• Fors said the first and fourth methods were dangerous, the fifth was costly and slow, and she hoped Klein would choose the second or third.
• Fors explained that her friend had promised to give her the Astrologer characteristic if it did not sell, and Klein chose the third method as well as the fourth.
• Hanged Man Alger and Hermit Cattleya asked to make separate deals for the fourth method, but Fors said only Mr. World could use it.
• Klein agreed to help Fors's friend once in the future, provided he could refuse if the task seemed beyond his abilities or too dangerous.
• Fors wrote the name Leodero and warned that saying it in Ancient Hermes could summon an indiscriminate Angel-level attack; she revealed it was the name of a true god.

At the Tarot Club, Fors asked the others to help her obtain several Beyonder Characteristics, while Klein tried to conceal his ignorance of the Lord of Storms’ real name and explain the relationship between the Fool’s Blessed. Later, Lorry received a letter aboard the Golden Dream and used his White Bone Ring to travel to a deserted island.

• Fors told the Tarot Club that the name Leodero belonged to the Lord of Storms and said she had learned it from a friend she believed was the Fool’s Blessed.
• Klein denied responsibility for teaching the name, then explained that the Fool’s Blessed had separate lives and offered to introduce them.
• Fors distributed a list of Beyonder Characteristics she wanted for research, and Derrick, Cattleya, Alger, and Emlyn offered to help.
• On Monday at dusk, Lorry read a letter delivered by Miss Messenger aboard the Golden Dream and sent a white dove toward a deserted island.
• Lorry used his White Bone Ring to vanish from his room and appear on the deserted island, where the dove watched from a nearby tree.

Lorry transformed the True Creator’s mental pollution into a weapon capable of inducing loss of control and named it God's Murmurings. He then tested the All-Black Eye by using it to call Leodero, destroying it in the resulting lightning strike before returning to the Golden Dream.

• Lorry drew the True Creator’s pollution out of the All-Black Eye and infused it into the Serrated Dagger, which became a weapon that could make injured targets lose control.
• Lorry used Dream Divination and verified that the charged dagger could injure demigods, then renamed it God's Murmurings.
• Lorry placed the cleansed All-Black Eye into an illusion of a Southern Continent native and had the illusion shout “Leodero” in Ancient Hermes.
• Leodero answered with a storm of lightning that destroyed the illusion and the All-Black Eye.
• Lorry collected the Beyonder characteristic left by the destroyed eye and teleported back to the Golden Dream.

Lorry reflected on the gains he had made from his deal with Klein and continued studying during the voyage aboard the Golden Dream. In Backlund, Xio kept following a strange commission, then returned home to find Fors wearing a flower wreath.

• Lorry counted the characteristics, the strengthened Serrated Dagger, Klein's promise, and the True Creator's mental pollution among his gains.
• Danitz reminded Lorry that it was almost seven, and Lorry went to meet Vice Admiral Iceberg.
• Lorry spent the days at sea studying folklore, a Teleportation charm, and Vice Admiral Iceberg's mysticism notes while exchanging letters with Fors.
• Xio told Albert she trusted that the Williams Street commission would help her digest her potion, even though its effects had not appeared yet.
• Xio returned to her rented house and saw Fors wearing a multicolored flower wreath.

Fors showed Xio the Harvest Garland, a Mystical Item commissioned for Lorry’s manor, and told her she had foreseen danger on Williams Street. Lorry read Fors’s warning aboard the Golden Dream and began preparing a reply as the incident approached.

• Fors explained that the Harvest Garland could promote plant growth, command nearby plants and insects, and use ritual magic to influence the weather.
• Fors demonstrated the Garland by having a vine pour hot water, then revealed its compulsion to prevent food waste while worn.
• Fors asked Xio to take her to Williams Street the next day because her divination had revealed fluctuations in Xio’s and Albert’s fates, but Xio objected to bringing her along.
• At half past ten aboard the Golden Dream, Lorry received Fors’s letter from her Messenger and recalled the Red Angel evil spirit’s plans and the Williams Street incident.
• Lorry concluded that the danger might be limited but decided to make preparations and began writing a reply.

Lorry sent Fors the Sure-Hit Revolver and prayed to the Goddess, while Pali Beria Lorry identified Adrian as a likely suspect in the control of Parliamentarian Begat. In Backlund, Fors and Xio noticed a red-haired Intis man on Williams Street and considered his Sauron Family ancestry a serious warning sign.

• Lorry gave the Messenger lady a letter and the Sure-Hit Revolver to deliver to Fors, then prayed to the Goddess.
• Pali Beria Lorry read Zombie Simon’s report about Adrian, whose suspected control of a Sequence 6 Zombie matched the clues linking him to Parliamentarian Begat’s manipulation.
• Pali Beria Lorry memorized the location of Adrian’s Preston Branch and destroyed the message.
• On Williams Street, Xio told Fors that a man in a white shirt had appeared nearby twice and seemed to be searching for something.
• Fors recognized the man’s vivid red hair as a distinguishing feature of direct Sauron Family descendants and warned Xio that an enemy royal descendant’s presence could signal serious trouble.

Xio and Fors watched Williams Street and spotted members of the Sauron and Einhorn Families before leaving. Lorry diverted a suspicious man who was following Fors, while Klein decided to report the families’ presence directly to the churches and contact Xio instead of using a middleman.

• Fors persuaded Xio to keep watching Williams Street rather than immediately contact the employer, and the two spotted a red-haired Sauron descendant and large Feysac men suspected of belonging to the Einhorn Family.
• Xio left to contact the person who commissioned them, while Fors headed to a carriage stand after deciding to go home for a nap.
• Lorry used simulated abilities to hypnotize a suspicious man into leaving Backlund, then approached Fors at the carriage stand.
• Fors invited Lorry to return to the café and try its cream pudding.
• Klein decided to report the Sauron and Einhorn Family members to the Churches of the Evernight Goddess and the God of Steam and Machinery, and considered contacting Xio directly to avoid paying a middleman.

After Xio passed a preliminary test, The Fool summoned her and invited her to join his gathering. She chose the Judgment card as her code name and took her seat among the members.

• Emlyn waited in Harvest Church for a response, then resumed cleaning after deciding to save part of his payment and spend the rest on dresses.
• Xio dozed in a carriage and bumped her forehead when the driver stopped suddenly to avoid two children.
• Crimson light appeared before Xio, bringing her to the gray fog and the gathering hall, where The Fool identified himself and explained that she had passed a preliminary test.
• Xio asked whether the Williams Street surveillance mission had been her test, and The Fool confirmed it had been a commission from a gathering member.
• Xio asked to join the gathering, drew the Judgment card, and The Fool welcomed her as Miss Judgment.

Klein commissioned Xio to report the Williams Street anomalies to the Two Churches, while Fors and Lorry parted after an intimate visit. Back on the Golden Dream, Lorry studied Norgar Island and continued developing reusable ability-granting items with Edwina.

• Klein told Xio to accept a commission to report that Feysac and Intis spies were gathering on Williams Street, and the World offered 100 pounds or equivalent payment.
• Xio accepted the commission, returned to the real world, and decided to recruit trustworthy friends to help report the matter to the Two Churches.
• Lorry kissed Fors goodbye and promised to return when he had a better opportunity, then teleported back to the Golden Dream.
• Lorry placed the tall, thin man's Provoker beyonder characteristic on his desk and resumed studying materials about Norgar Island.
• Lorry and Edwina continued their research after dinner, having made a reusable Underwater Breathing item and planning to attempt a mid-sequence ability next.

Vice Admiral Iceberg Edwina completed the Teleportation Silver Medal’s base material and worked with Lorry to imbue it with Teleportation. The medal’s incantations changed and it glowed with the finished power, leaving Edwina exhausted but thrilled at their success.

• Edwina finished engraving the silver medal, creating the embryonic mystical item needed for the next stage.
• After Sebastian agreed to continue, Edwina explained how she and Lorry would coordinate Teleportation and the item’s enchantment.
• Edwina activated the medal and signaled Lorry to use Teleportation at the precise moment.
• On deck, the pirates noticed Danitz’s watch and forced him to visit the captain’s cabin as their scout.
• Edwina infused the medal with spirituality until its incantations changed to Teleportation’s and the completed medal glowed.
• Edwina declared that the Teleportation Silver Medal had worked.

Lorry received Edwina’s completed “Teleportation” silver medal and agreed to provide materials for more. As he left, Danitz misread Lorry’s concern for Edwina as evidence of a secret relationship and was left stunned.

• Edwina explained how the “Teleportation” silver medal worked and gave it to Lorry for helping with her research.
• Lorry agreed to supply enough materials for about six more medals and considered selling simpler teleportation charms himself.
• Edwina asked Lorry to have a steak sent to her because she was tired, and he agreed.
• Lorry found Danitz waiting outside the captain’s cabin and told him to ask his questions another day so Edwina could rest.
• Danitz connected Lorry’s visits and concern for Edwina, then became convinced they had been having more than extra lessons.