Chapter Summaries

Lorry and Fors killed Giant and the Sun believer, then questioned their spirits for potion formulas and hidden valuables. They secured several valuable rewards and learned the locations of secret residences, leaving Lorry with more places to search.

• Giant failed to dodge Lorry's three shots and died after blocking only one bullet with his broadsword.
• Lorry and Fors performed spirit channeling rituals and learned the Sun pathway formulas for Solar High Priest and Notary.
• The Sun believer revealed that an elder tree rhizome crystal and bearer cheques were hidden in a secret chamber beneath his bedroom at 26 Firetail Street.
• Lorry learned that the Sun believer's ring, Thousand Illusions, could alter its wearer's appearance and voice but created a fictitious personality with each use.
• The Sun believer's spirit disintegrated after revealing that his remaining savings were in the secret chamber.
• Fors told Lorry that Giant had left about 1,200 pounds in bearer cheques, Giant pathway formulas from Sequence 9 through Sequence 7, and a Beyonder broadsword at his secret residence.

Lorry and Fors returned from their mission with the elder tree rhizome crystal and several Beyonder Characteristics, then Fors accidentally teleported them to the legendary Lovers' Grove. They escaped the grove together, leaving its supposed Tree Spirit blessing unexplained.

• Lorry and Fors teleported to the underground chamber at 26 Firetail Street with the corpses and the elder tree rhizome crystal.
• Lorry recovered the Sun believer's Beyonder Characteristic, which contained Solar High Priest, Bard, and Light Supplicant characteristics, along with eight hundred pounds in bearer cheques.
• The Giant's Beyonder Characteristic emerged, and Fors refused to take more of the spoils beyond her agreed share.
• Fors offered to handle future Teleportation to spare Lorry's spirituality, and two hours later she accidentally brought them to a dense evergreen grove.
• Lorry and Fors realized they were in Lovers' Grove amid talk of a Tree Spirit's blessing, then Fors took Lorry's hand and teleported them away.

Fors returned to Backlund after completing a commission in Constant City, and Xio questioned her about their friendship and recent events. Meanwhile, Lorry reflected on threats from readers and examined a letter left by Lieutenant Colonel.

• Xio found Fors drunk after using a Sealed Artifact and shared the Desi Pies she had bought for both of them.
• Fors asked why Xio had refused to borrow money for her Sheriff formula, and Xio explained that she wanted to remain independent and treat Fors as an equal.
• Xio told Fors that Miss Audrey wanted help collecting more of Emperor Roselle’s notes and revealed that she had deposited the three hundred pounds from selling the Apothecary formula in Fors’s Anonymous Account.
• Fors struggled to stay awake because she did not want to miss a secret gathering organized by a god at three o’clock.
• Lorry recalled that readers had broken his windowpanes and thrown threats and razor blades into his home, then took out a special letter left by Lieutenant Colonel.

After reviewing the gains from his trip to Constant City and the progress of his Swindler potion, Lorry prepared to answer the pressure surrounding the ending of Great Detective Sherlock. At the Tarot Club, Fors revealed that she had obtained both the Solar High Priest and Notary formulas, surprising the other members.

• Lorry learned that the Lieutenant Colonel had advanced to Sequence 5 and asked him to respond to Duke Negan's daughter Melanie, who was upset by Great Detective Sherlock's ending.
• Lorry reviewed the potion formulas, Thousand Illusions, money, Beyonder characteristics, and weapon he had gained, and reflected on how his recent deception had advanced his Swindler potion digestion.
• At the Tarot Club, Fors asked Derrick to begin gathering the materials she had previously requested, prompting the others to realize she had found the Solar High Priest formula.
• Fors revealed that she had also obtained the Sequence 6 Notary formula and told Derrick he could ask Mr. Fool to witness their transaction.

At the Tarot gathering, Fors offered Sun Derrick potion formulas and a Solar High Priest characteristic, then revealed she had access to the Wind-blessed formula and offered a Weapon Master characteristic. The gathering continued as Fors began presenting two Sealed Artifacts and a Beyonder Weapon for sale.

• Mr. Fool confirmed that the Notary potion name was correct, and Sun Derrick agreed to gather its materials while accepting a Solar High Priest characteristic from Fors as a debt.
• Fors offered a Weapon Master Beyonder characteristic, but no one bought it; Hanged Man Alger suggested she could have it made into a Sealed Artifact and offered help.
• Fors told Alger that she knew how to obtain the Wind-blessed formula, and he offered either 2,500 pounds or a Sealed Artifact in exchange.
• Fors said she would consider Alger's offer and whether to turn the Weapon Master characteristic into a Sealed Artifact.
• Fors noticed the others waiting for her to finish and announced that she also intended to sell two Sealed Artifacts and a Beyonder Weapon.

Fors sold Sunfire to Justice Audrey and the Immortal Shield to Sun, then recounted how she had helped defeat a stronger Beyonder. At the Ceramics Factory, Lorry arranged work for Kohler after learning that reporter Mike and detective Moriarty had visited, then prepared to resume his unfinished scam before a voice interrupted him.

• Fors offered Sunfire for 1,200 pounds, and Justice Audrey agreed to buy it.
• Sun bought the Immortal Shield on credit, while no one showed interest in False Face.
• Fors told the Tarot Club that a low-sequence Beyonder could defeat a stronger opponent by thinking carefully and finding the right role.
• Qiao told Lorry that reporter Mike and detective Moriarty had been caught peeking into the factory workshop.
• Lorry told Qiao that Mike had gone on vacation and asked him to arrange a position for Kohler.
• Lorry prepared to continue his unfinished scam, but a shrill voice suddenly sounded in his mind.

Lorry endured a severe personality backlash from Thousand Illusions and planned to manage it with Soothing and a Psychiatrist potion formula. Meanwhile, Audrey invited him, Fors, and Xio to a literary salon, and Lorry decided the invitation was no cause for concern.

• Thousand Illusions triggered a struggle for control of Lorry's body, and he feared its negative effects could split his mind.
• Lorry considered three ways to treat the danger and decided to ask the lieutenant colonel for Soothing and have Fors offer the Psychiatrist formula at the next Tarot Club gathering.
• Xio returned home to find Fors cooking and learned that Audrey had sent an invitation to a literary salon at Viscount Glaint's residence.
• Fors realized Audrey might know that Raven was Lorry's pen name and warned him not to attend.
• Lorry dismissed Fors's worries, saying Audrey's friends might criticize him for Sherlock's death, but he had never said Sherlock was dead.

Lorry teased Xio before explaining how Sherlock survived, then visited Vera and learned he had joined the Logistics Department. Lorry came to Vera’s home seeking medical treatment.

• Lorry pretended Sherlock was dead, then explained the truth after Xio threatened to sleep on the street.
• Fors told Lorry about the deals she had arranged, and he promised to deliver the items before teleporting away.
• Vera said he had joined the Logistics Department and warned Lorry that he might have fewer missions to earn merit.
• The Curse of Knowledge told Lorry that Vera had used shallow Mind Reading on him once, when asking why he was persuading Vera to give up.
• Vera offered to recommend another contact for Lorry, but Lorry declined and said he wanted a few more peaceful days.
• Lorry told Vera he had come to see him about medical treatment.

Lorry received Soothing from Vera to suppress the virtual reporter personality created by his Sealed Artifact, and Vera offered to search for another artifact that could counter it. After visiting Fors and the Publishing House, Lorry headed to Audrey’s Literary Salon, where Susie reacted anxiously to hearing that a friend of Xio and Fors would attend.

• Vera used the Curse of Knowledge on Lorry, quieting the reporter personality, though he warned it had not disappeared completely.
• Vera said Lorry should receive regular Soothing and offered to look for a Sealed Artifact that could suppress the virtual personalities.
• Vera told Lorry his merit from the Serial Murder Case was worth roughly two thousand pounds and suggested buying artifacts to turn in as spoils.
• Lorry returned to the Ceramics Factory and spent the next two days mostly in his office, visiting Fors and the Publishing House.
• On Wednesday, Lorry went to Empress Borough to attend Audrey’s Literary Salon after arranging to visit Fors first.
• At Viscount Glaint’s residence, Susie asked Audrey whether she had mentioned Xio, Fors, and their friend, then looked dismayed when Audrey said he had once delivered her a letter.

Audrey hosted a literary salon where Lorry, writing as Raven, explained why he had abandoned Young Roselle and revealed that Detective Sherlock was not dead. The gathering ended with Audrey producing Melanie’s copy of the novel from Susie’s bag.

• Susie asked Audrey to hide her dog biscuits after suspecting that someone had stolen them, but Audrey refused and led her to the salon.
• Lorry apologized to Viscount Glaint and Audrey for not revealing that Raven was his pen name, then joined the salon with Fors and Xio.
• Audrey introduced Lorry to Melanie and Christine, and Melanie lamented that he had stopped writing Young Roselle and had killed Detective Sherlock.
• Lorry said he had abandoned Young Roselle after receiving death threats from Roselle’s admirers and insisted that Detective Sherlock had survived.
• Christine questioned Lorry’s claim, Susie barked, and Audrey took the copy of Great Detective Sherlock from Susie’s bag.

Lorry explained that Detective Sherlock had survived by faking his death, and revealed that the second volume was about to go on sale. The duke’s daughter offered to help him reach the newspapers, and the salon ended with the guests discussing writers and deadlines.

• Lorry showed the guests a clue that Detective Sherlock’s heart was on the right side, confirming that Sherlock had faked his death.
• Melanie defended the mystery’s subtle clue, while Lorry asked the guests not to spoil the revelation for other readers.
• Lorry revealed that a second volume of Great Detective Sherlock was about to be published and said newspapers had refused to promote it after false rumors damaged his reputation.
• The duke’s daughter offered help through her brother’s newspaper contacts, and Lorry promised the guests special editions with character biographies.
• At afternoon tea, Lorry joked about writers’ excuses for missing deadlines and claimed that he never missed one.

At the salon, Lorry discussed fiction with Fors and then successfully published a statement in several newspapers. Back at the factory, he arranged for the Old Gentleman to teach Albert and prepared to study a Sealed Artifact, while reflecting on the Capim operation he had secretly orchestrated.

• Lorry explained literary techniques at Fors's salon, and Fors insisted her heroine would still find romance after defeating the evil spirit.
• After the salon, Lorry visited newspapers that had rejected him before and secured prominent placements for his statement.
• Lorry returned to the ceramics factory with his earnings and a Sealed Artifact, and encouraged Albert to study so it could meet Susie.
• Lorry introduced the Old Gentleman in the White Bone Ring as Albert's teacher, and the Old Gentleman agreed to teach the dog.
• Lorry put his money in the Grayish-White Worn Money Bag and prepared to examine the mask-shaped Sealed Artifact.
• Lorry noticed that the next day was Thursday and recalled that he had secretly orchestrated the affair involving Capim's villa and the abducted girls.

Lorry tried to steer events toward the course he knew while considering whether to test a powerful, dangerous mask. On Thursday morning, he learned that one of the private detectives he had hired had been injured in a freak carriage accident and could no longer take the commission.

• Lorry reflected on how his plans had helped bring Klein and Old Kohler together, then weighed the mask’s abilities against its serious drawbacks.
• Audrey discovered Susie’s treat pouch was empty, but Mind Reading confirmed Susie had not stolen the biscuits.
• Klein arrived at a café near Black Palm Street to meet Old Kohler as Lorry traveled to meet the private detectives.
• Lorry found the first detective’s residence marked temporarily closed and persuaded the maid to let him see the injured detective.
• The detective explained that a startled horse had dragged its carriage into him in East Borough, breaking his leg and leaving him unable to continue the investigation.

Lorry connected Altair to the accidents that injured one detective and killed another, then compensated the dead detective’s family and secretly left money for the injured detective’s household. After handling those matters, he headed out, anticipating Klein’s attack on Capim that evening.

• Lorry learned that the injured detective could no longer work and planned to leave the business, while his maid Reese offered to care for him and his family without wages.
• Lorry met Mrs. Polian at the precinct morgue and heard that Detective Polian had been stabbed after a porter claimed he failed to apologize.
• Lorry concluded Altair was involved in both detectives’ misfortunes and promised Mrs. Polian compensation and a job opportunity.
• Lorry gave Mrs. Polian a thousand pounds and an address where a man named Qiao could arrange work.
• Lorry secretly left a hundred pounds at the injured detective’s home for Reese to find, then went to eat and headed toward a carriage stand, expecting Klein to attack Capim that night.

Lorry ambushed Harras outside Capim Villa while Klein’s spirit body attacked inside, but Harras overcame Lorry’s apparent resistance and prepared to capture him. Lorry then revealed that his collapse had been an illusion and used a Psychologist’s Fear to freeze Harras.

• Lorry watched Klein’s spirit body enter the villa and waited outside for Harras to emerge.
• Harras escaped the explosion at Capim Villa, and Lorry fired two shots at him with the Sure-Hit Revolver.
• Harras dodged the second bullet, then used his Punisher abilities to restrain Lorry and disable his firearm.
• Harras struck Lorry with Spirit Piercing, believed him defeated, and released the invisible cage to capture him.
• Lorry opened his eyes and unleashed a Psychologist’s Fear, leaving Harras frozen with terror.

Lorry killed Harras and learned about the Knight's Hand, then continued through Capim's villa to gather money and valuables. He left the property deeds behind and watched a crowned, armored figure dive into the safe as he claimed the pounds for himself.

• Lorry killed Harras after using the guards' deaths to distract him, then summoned Harras's spirit and learned the Knight's Hand's abilities and drawbacks.
• Harras's spirit refused to answer questions about his loyalties or Arbiter potion formulas, so Lorry shot it and took Harras's Sequence 6 Beyonder characteristic.
• Lorry shot and killed Berris, who was approaching the underground passage with his back turned.
• Lorry searched Capim's villa, opened a mechanical safe, and took three thousand pounds, smaller notes, gold bars, and jewelry while leaving the deeds behind.
• A crowned, armored figure plunged into the recently closed safe, and Lorry said, "The nickname is yours, the pounds are mine..."

Lorry returned to the ceramics factory with the spoils from Capim’s death, deciding to keep the Knight’s Hand hidden while he considered how to use his other gains. The next morning, Klein read a newspaper account that credited a mysterious gentleman thief with actions he had not taken and left him puzzled.

• Lorry left the Lovers tarot card on Capim’s corpse, took Berris’s Beyonder Characteristic, and teleported back to the ceramics factory.
• Lorry lent spirituality to the White Bone Ring so the Curse of Knowledge could continue Albert’s grammar lesson, then rested and counted his money.
• Lorry decided to keep the Knight’s Hand as a hidden trump card because MI9 and Klein might connect it to him if he tried to sell it.
• Lorry considered obtaining a Sheriff characteristic for Albert and resolved to urge the Old Gentleman to push the dog’s studies harder.
• Klein read that a safe had been found at Capim’s death scene and that the gentleman thief “Black Emperor” had taken valuables, leaving him confused about the Lovers card and the reported theft.

Lorry learned sealing and anti-divination techniques from the White Bone Ring, while Fors began suspecting that Lorry was a Tarot Club member who had guided her toward the group. Klein’s divination failed, Lorry survived an attempted divination with prepared charms, and Klein found Mr. Raven’s statement repeated across every newspaper.

• Lorry paid the White Bone Ring the accumulated chances from his absorbed blood to learn how to seal Sealed Artifacts and Beyonder Characteristics and use anti-divination charms.
• Fors told Xio that Lorry had not committed Capim’s murder, then privately connected his earlier advice and predictions to her joining the Tarot Club.
• Fors decided to ask Mr. Fool during the full moon whether Lorry was a Tarot Club member, without telling Xio or Lorry about her suspicion.
• Klein’s divination failed, while Lorry’s anti-divination charms broke during a divination attempt and he decided to lie low.
• Klein found Mr. Raven’s statement printed in every newspaper he checked and set the papers aside.

Lorry worried that his Anti-Divination Charms would not be enough to protect him, then disguised himself as an unemployed worker in the East Borough to search for Altair. A stranger approached and invited him to join a fight for a better life.

• Lorry read a newspaper statement about Mr. Raven, then discussed his broken Anti-Divination Charms and the Knight's Hand with the Curse of Knowledge.
• The Curse of Knowledge explained how Lorry's charms misled divinations and said another ritual magic could solve the problem if needed.
• The Curse of Knowledge assigned Albert pages 50 through 100 as homework and ordered him to study for an exam.
• Lorry disguised himself with Thousand Illusions and sat on a public bench in the East Borough while worrying about how to find Altair.
• A newly unemployed man approached Lorry, complained about greedy employers, and invited him to join a fight for a different way of life.

Lorry followed Arthur to a gathering of the Fantasy Society, where he discovered a group of evil god believers and attended a sermon under the Curse of Knowledge’s protection. After the Deputy Bishop identified a frightened man who had visited a church, Lorry left and decided the organization should be reported to the Lieutenant Colonel.

• Lorry followed Arthur to an abandoned factory and learned that Arthur was recruiting people for a group led by a Gray-Robed Mentor.
• Lorry realized the gathering belonged to evil god believers and asked the Curse of Knowledge for protection before the Deputy Bishop arrived.
• The Deputy Bishop accused an elderly attendee of being suspicious, but the Gray-Robed Mentor used an ability to reveal that the man had only visited a church.
• The Deputy Bishop warned the elderly man not to repeat his actions, then began his sermon by questioning what was real.
• Lorry left the gathering and, while traveling back to the Ceramics Factory, resolved to report the Fantasy Society to the Lieutenant Colonel.