Recaps

Lumian rejected Termiboros's offer to help him escape, vowing to make him and everyone responsible for Cordou Village pay. After considering the risks of using the sealed angel, Lumian returned to the Golden Rooster Inn and learned Charlie had told the Underground Bar about his new position in the Savoie Gang.

• Lumian mocked Termiboros's offer and promised to become powerful enough to punish him, Guillaume Béné, and the Lord for Cordou Village's destruction.
• Termiboros warned Lumian that becoming an angel was extraordinarily difficult and that Lumian's death would free him from his predicament.
• Lumian realized that his rituals weakened Termiboros and decided to consult Madam Magician before trying to exploit the angel's eagerness to escape.
• Lumian found that provoking Termiboros had advanced his Provocateur potion digestion, then left the underground tunnels and returned to the Golden Rooster Inn.
• Charlie told Lumian that Miss Ethanisse had moved out and admitted he had announced Lumian's new role in the Savoie Gang at the Underground Bar.

Lumian warned Charlie to keep quiet about Suzanne Mathis, collected saliva from a stray dog, and learned that Fitz wanted help recovering money from the swindler Timmons. After accepting the job without promising success, Lumian noticed his spirituality had increased and set out to gather materials for Prophecy.

• Lumian warned Charlie not to mention Suzanne Mathis or Lumian's visit to the police station, then sensed that Charlie would soon encounter minor bad luck.
• Lumian pinned down a stray dog and collected its saliva, then asked Madame Fels about the absent inn owner, Mr. Eve.
• Fitz told Lumian that Timmons had swindled him out of 100,000 felkine and that Margot had failed to recover the money despite Timmons's profitable dance hall.
• Lumian agreed to investigate Fitz's claim but warned him not to expect much, then noticed his spirituality had recovered beyond its former level.
• Lumian reflected that ascetic practices could strengthen his intuition and Ritual Magic but rejected them, then left to find Savoie Gang members and gather Prophecy materials.

Lumian gathered information and unusual ingredients for making poison while learning more about the Savoie Gang and the Unique Dance Hall. He visited the dance hall and discovered that its visitors had to wear short suit jackets and monocles to enter.

• Lumian questioned Missiri at the Breeze Ballroom and learned that Baron Brignais led only part of the Savoie Gang, which had a hidden boss tied to the Savoie Chamber of Commerce.
• Lumian asked Louis to find lizard eyes, eagle-nest stones, and snake venom sacs, then questioned him about the Unique Dance Hall and the Stinger Gang.
• Lumian hired Aosta Trull to collect lynx innards, a hyena's tongue, stag bone marrow, and a deadly herb, and asked where water monsters could be found.
• Aosta led Lumian to the Unique Dance Hall, where Lumian saw four visitors put on monocles and learned that entrants had to wear monocles and short suit jackets.

Lumian investigated the Different from the Rest dance hall, learned that police commissioner Condei frequented it, and watched a puppet show at the rival Alone bar. On his way home, he spotted Wilson recovered from a fall that should have badly injured him and suspected the Stinger Gang had access to supernatural healing connected to Madame Pualis.

• Lumian asked Aosta about the dance hall's monocle and short-suit rule, warned him to be careful, and hired him to gather information about water monsters.
• Lumian decided against entering the dance hall and went to the rival Alone bar, where the bartender said customers waited in its cellar for a theatrical performance.
• The bartender told Lumian that police commissioner Condei had visited the dance hall, leading Lumian to abandon his plan to extort its owner, Timmons.
• Lumian paid to watch a silent puppet show in the cellar, then left and rode a Public Carriage toward the Honest Market District.
• Lumian saw Wilson, whom he had thrown from a fourth floor, walking normally with two thugs and suspected supernatural healing linked to Madame Pualis's power.

Lumian failed to track Wilson after learning he had recovered from severe injuries with unusual speed, then questioned Louis about the Stinger Gang and met singer Jenna at the Breeze Ballroom. The Savoie Gang had also obtained all three ingredients Lumian needed.

• Lumian searched the alley where Wilson and his companions had disappeared but found no useful traces, then decided to observe the Stinger Gang and plan a safer hunt.
• At the Breeze Ballroom, Lumian told Louis that Wilson had recovered after Lumian broke his arm and threw him from the fourth floor.
• Louis said the Stinger Gang's injured members had previously recovered within days and that the Baron suspected they had a Beyonder skilled at healing.
• Jenna arrived to perform, explained her beauty patch was placed at the corner of her eye to signify passion, and teased Lumian before going onstage.
• Louis warned Lumian that Jenna was close to Red Boots Franca and likely would not follow through on her flirtation.
• Louis told Lumian that the Savoie Gang had found all three requested ingredients, with Rat Christo supplying the lizard eyes, snake venom sacs, and eagle-nest stone.

Lumian considered exploiting tensions between Baron Brignais and Giant Simon, then questioned his landlord, Mr. Eve, about the inn and a former tenant connected to Suzanne Mathis. After secretly following Eve to his home and entering a nearby theater, Lumian spotted Eve in the background of a poster.

• Louis told Lumian that Giant Simon, a Savoie Gang member who resented Baron Brignais, had come to the Breeze Ballroom; Lumian considered how gang tensions might help him complete Mr. K's mission.
• Lumian met his landlord, Mr. Eve, and learned that Eve provided sulfur to combat bedbugs and had paid Margot weekly; Lumian asked him to spend that money on extra cleaning instead.
• When Lumian asked about the former tenant of Room 504, Eve denied knowing who he meant, but Lumian suspected his reaction was guilty.
• Lumian followed Eve to his apartment building on Market Avenue, then entered the Old Dovecage Theater across the street to inspect it as a place to lose a tail.
• Lumian recognized Eve among the extras depicted on a theater poster.

Lumian investigated the Old Pigeon Cage theater, then followed Mr. Eve and discovered that the landlord had supernatural abilities that stirred intense greed in him. The chapter left Lumian suspecting that Mr. Eve and the theater might be connected to Suzanne Mathis and the previous tenant of Room 504.

• Lumian watched a performance at the Old Pigeon Cage theater and saw that Mr. Eve had minor roles in three plays.
• Lumian waited outside Mr. Eve's apartment, saw him enter Underground Trier, and later confronted him as a robber when he returned.
• Mr. Eve gave Lumian a silver coin, and Lumian briefly succumbed to an overwhelming urge to keep it before regaining his senses.
• Mr. Eve fled into the Old Pigeon Cage theater, while Lumian escaped and tossed the coin to a vagrant.
• Lumian concluded that Mr. Eve had supernatural abilities and considered possible links to Suzanne Mathis, the theater, and Room 504's previous tenant.
• Charlie told Lumian that he had failed to get a proper waiter position, then froze and repeated that he was unlucky.

Lumian warned Charlie that his luck would remain ordinary, then prompted him to report what he knew about Mr. Eve and room 504 to the authorities. While planning to stake out the Stinger Gang’s “Hammer” Ait, Lumian noticed Mr. Eve’s luck had changed after a police-station visit and wondered what had happened.

• Lumian told Charlie his bad luck would not worsen soon and suggested he pray at a church of the Eternal Blazing Sun and report Mr. Eve’s connection to the former tenant of room 504.
• Charlie identified Stinger Gang leaders “Hammer” Ait, Harman, and “Black Scorpion” Roger, and Lumian chose Ait as a possible target to watch.
• Lumian found a wooden box from Louis containing a dark stone, blood-colored eyeballs, and a venom sac.
• Eve showed an associate a vagrant who had received his stolen silver coin, and they prepared for an unexpected incident or investigation.
• Charlie visited a church the next morning, while Lumian waited near the Old Dovecage Theater to see whether the authorities had acted.
• Lumian learned Mr. Eve had gone to the police station and sensed that his luck had changed from unlucky to normal, leaving him suspicious.

Lumian paid Aosta Trull for materials and information about water monsters, then followed him to an underground river to hunt one. After finding traces on the bank, Lumian killed a monster that ambushed him and left Aosta stunned by his brutality.

• Lumian decided not to visit Mr. Eve and went to meet Aosta Trull, who had gathered the requested materials and hurt his arm while investigating the underground river.
• Aosta described three rumored types of water monsters, and Lumian paid him for the information before heading to the river.
• Aosta followed Lumian, hoping to collect valuable parts from any monster they found, and Lumian agreed to let him come without offering protection.
• After searching the riverbank, Lumian found footprints and drag marks, then noticed a water monster clinging to the stalactites above him.
• The monster lunged at Lumian, but he dodged its attacks and repeatedly smashed it against the rocks until it died while Aosta watched in shock.

Lumian returned to the Underground World to prepare a Prophecy potion, but he followed suspicious footprints and found Jenna captured by a lustful man. After seeing the man’s strange influence over her, Lumian sneaked into the cave and pounced on him.

• Lumian defeated the water monster, collected its materials, and left Aosta Trull to gather what he could from the corpse.
• Lumian returned to the Underground World and spotted heavy footprints, then recognized Jenna’s perfume and decided to follow the trail.
• Lumian found a man with Jenna stuffed in a sack inside a cave and watched as the man woke her with a metal bottle.
• The man’s strange power stirred Jenna’s desires and weakened her resistance as he began undressing.
• Lumian approached through the shadows with his Ritual Silver Dagger and pounced on the man.

Lumian rescued Jenna from a pervert in a cavern, killed the man, and used Spiritism to learn about his abilities and memories. After releasing the spirit, Lumian freed Jenna and found bottles of gas among the dead man’s possessions.

• Lumian resisted the pervert’s lust-inducing influence by stabbing himself with the Ritual Silver Dagger, then struck the man and killed him.
• Lumian bound and blindfolded Jenna while he created a Spirit Wall and used the Summoning Dance to question the dead man’s spirit.
• Lumian learned that the man could induce greed, appetite, and lust, and saw memories of actresses Charlotte Calvino and Jenna.
• Lumian released the spirit, freed Jenna, and searched the corpse, finding 8 felkine and three metal bottles.
• Jenna explained that one bottle held a gas that knocked her out and another contained an irritating gas that woke her.

Lumian rescued Jenna from a pervert who had incapacitated and abducted her, then used the corpse as a fresh offering for a ritual in an underground quarry cavern. He began invoking himself through a Three-Part Description, leaving the ritual underway.

• Lumian tricked Jenna into inhaling the irritating gas, which restored her strength, and showed her how he had identified it by smelling the bottle’s cap.
• Jenna memorized the dead attacker’s face and explained how he had lured and subdued her; Lumian reasoned that the man had stalked her and might have accomplices.
• Lumian and Jenna cleaned up the scene and concealed the corpse in a sack before leaving the underground passage together.
• Jenna went toward the surface while Lumian carried the corpse to a hidden quarry cavern and prepared an altar for a ritual.
• Lumian recited a Three-Part Description identifying himself as the king of pranks of Cordou Village, Aurora Lee’s younger brother, and Lumian Lee.

Lumian used a ritual to create a Prophecy Potion and questioned a corpse, learning where Guillaume Béné, Louis Lund, and Monsieur Eve would appear. Afterward, a vagrant was mistaken for the master of a wealthy household and came to accept the identity, while Lumian learned that Baron Brignais wanted to meet him.

• Lumian completed the ritual to make a Prophecy Potion, relying on the corruption within him to provide the necessary level.
• Lumian gave the potion to a corpse, which prophesied that Guillaume Béné would appear in the Red Princess District, Louis Lund on Market Avenue, and Monsieur Eve at the Old Dovecage Theater.
• Two footmen and a butler brought a vagrant to a house, where a beautiful woman claimed to be his wife and the vagrant gradually believed he was the master.
• Lumian returned to the Golden Rooster Inn, where Madame Fels told him that Baron Brignais wanted to see him at the Breeze Ballroom after dinner.

Baron Brignais ordered Lumian to attack a Stinger Gang leader, explaining that the gang’s unusual restraint suggested it was preparing something major. Lumian collected information on the leaders and requested weapons, while Brignais privately planned to use the dangerous assignment to break Lumian’s defiance.

• Lumian met Baron Brignais at the Breeze Ballroom, where Brignais ordered him to severely injure or kill an important Stinger Gang member to test the gang’s response.
• Brignais explained that the Stinger Gang had shown uncharacteristic restraint after Margot’s death, leading him to suspect it was preparing a major move.
• Lumian asked for details about the Stinger Gang leaders and their families, and Brignais described Black Scorpion Roger, Baldy Harman, Short Candlestick Castina, and Hammer Ait.
• Lumian identified a possible trap for Harman and requested the leaders’ routines, a pistol, ammunition, and a weapon; Brignais agreed to have Louis deliver them.
• After Lumian left, Louis questioned Brignais, who admitted he expected the assignment to force Lumian into obedience whether he succeeded or needed the gang’s rescue.

Lumian weighed whether to target “Baldy” Harman or “Hammer” Ait, then went to the Mill Ballroom to observe Ait. There, he encountered Jenna again, and she told him the identity of the pervert whose spirit Lumian had encountered.

• Lumian considered using the Savoie Gang’s information and resources to hunt either “Baldy” Harman or “Hammer” Ait, but postponed his choice until he received more details.
• Lumian encountered Roul and Michel bringing home a sack of rubbish, and Roul explained that they worked hard because they feared growing old without savings.
• Lumian disguised himself and went to the Mill Ballroom to observe “Hammer” Ait.
• Jenna performed a vulgar song, noticed Lumian, and invited him to dance with her.
• Jenna told Lumian that the pervert was Hedsey, who had once lived in Room 504 of the Golden Rooster Inn.

Lumian and Jenna discussed Hedsey’s supernatural gifts and investigated the Mill Ballroom, where Lumian identified “Hammer” Ait as a target. Jenna offered to help and explained how Lumian could bypass Ait’s armed guards and reach his room.

• Jenna explained how she and Franca learned that Hedsey had been having sex with multiple women each day, and Lumian told her his abnormal desires came from supernatural powers.
• Lumian watched “Hammer” Ait and his gang at the Mill Ballroom, then noticed Mr. Eve searching among the dance hostesses and streetwalkers for clues about Hedsey.
• Lumian suspected Mr. Eve’s gift powers were weaker than Hedsey’s and considered whether other people with similar gifts might be operating in the district.
• Jenna recognized that Lumian had come to target “Hammer” Ait and offered to help, citing her knowledge of the Market District’s ballrooms.
• Jenna told Lumian that Ait was in a second-floor room with ten armed thugs and described a route through the kitchen ventilation duct and neighboring room to reach the washroom window.

Lumian learned from Jenna that “Hammer” Ait was a Pugilist and reconsidered how to assassinate him in the cramped washroom. Jenna lent him her concealed pistol, and Lumian headed toward the Mill Ballroom’s kitchen to begin his plan.

• Lumian guessed that Jenna was an Assassin, and she was surprised that he also knew about the Instigator pathway.
• Jenna warned Lumian that “Hammer” Ait excelled at close combat and would have the advantage in the washroom.
• Lumian assessed his weapons and supplies, then asked Jenna about the washroom’s size and layout.
• Jenna gave Lumian her concealed six-shot pistol and explained that she carried it for protection.
• Lumian inspected the pistol, decided one close-range shot could weaken Ait, and went toward the Mill Ballroom’s kitchen.

Lumian infiltrated “Hammer” Ait’s room and discovered the gang was working to secure a parliamentary seat for a powerful figure. After hearing Ait pray to an unknown being, Lumian prepared a gas trap in the washroom and waited to strike.

• Lumian slipped through the kitchen ventilation duct and entered Ait’s room by climbing from a neighboring washroom window.
• He hid behind the bathtub curtain, arranged his equipment, and overheard Ait order his gang to pressure households into electing a candidate as Market District’s member of parliament.
• After Ait sent his subordinates outside, Lumian heard him pray to a being described as the “Lady who gives birth to deities” and sensed malice fill the room.
• Lumian prepared a vial of incapacitating gas and used a foul-smelling wad of paper to endure its effects as Ait approached the washroom.
• Ait entered the washroom, and Lumian released the gas before aiming Jenna’s revolver at the toilet area through the curtain.

Lumian fought Hammer Ait in a cramped washroom, weakening him with sedative gas and knocking him unconscious. After the thugs fled, Lumian revived the bound Ait to interrogate him, with only a few minutes before the gang could return.

• Lumian ambushed Hammer Ait, but Ait dodged the shot and used his strength to gain the advantage in the washroom fight.
• Lumian changed tactics, maneuvered around Ait, and provoked him into a furious assault while the sedative gas weakened him.
• Lumian counterattacked, broke Ait's ribs, struck his abdomen, and knocked him unconscious with blows behind the ears.
• Lumian used Ait's unconscious body as a shield and frightened the thugs into fleeing instead of shooting.
• Lumian tied Ait up, opened the window to clear the gas, and revived him with the vial before asking what he wanted; Ait asked what Lumian wanted.

Lumian interrogated “Hammer” Ait about Louis Lund, the Stinger Gang, and their powers, then killed him and carried his corpse to Baron Brignais. The chapter ended with Lumian revealing Ait’s body at the Breeze Ballroom.

• Lumian threatened “Hammer” Ait until he admitted that he had met Louis Lund, who was negotiating with “Black Scorpion” Roger on behalf of the madame he served.
• “Hammer” Ait told Lumian that “Lady Moon” belonged to the Night Tour Society and that Louis Lund was expected to visit Roger again the following weekend.
• “Hammer” Ait described Roger’s Warlock powers, the Stinger Gang’s other gifted members, and the beings who could bestow divine power; he also said the gang supported Liberal Party candidate Hugues Artois.
• Lumian killed “Hammer” Ait, bandaged his wounds, and carried the corpse through the streets to the Breeze Ballroom.
• Lumian dropped “Hammer” Ait’s corpse in front of Baron Brignais and identified it.

Lumian brought Hammer Ait's corpse to the Breeze Ballroom, forcing Baron Brignais to confront the danger of retaliation from Black Scorpion Roger. Brignais alerted the authorities by detonating dynamite on Market Avenue, making an immediate attack less likely, and ordered his men to hide the corpse.

• Lumian stunned Baron Brignais and Louis by arriving with Hammer Ait's corpse only hours after receiving the assignment.
• Baron Brignais learned that many people knew Lumian had killed Ait and feared Black Scorpion Roger would retaliate against the Breeze Ballroom.
• Lumian revealed that he had come to Brignais for protection, while privately hoping Roger's attack would clear the way for him to rise in the Savoie Gang.
• Baron Brignais set off two bundles of dynamite on Market Avenue to draw the attention of police and clergy and deter Roger from attacking.
• Lumian recognized that Brignais had thwarted his plan for now, and Brignais ordered Louis and the others to hide Ait's corpse before the police arrived.

After killing “Hammer” Ait, Lumian explained his method to Baron Brignais and collected Ait’s belongings, including a Pugilist Beyonder characteristic. The police warned the gangs to keep the peace, while “Black Scorpion” Roger planned revenge once the authorities’ attention faded; Lumian returned to the Golden Rooster Inn and called out Ms. Jenna.

• Lumian told Baron Brignais that he had used a gaseous knockout drug to kill “Hammer” Ait in a washroom.
• Police Inspector Travis Everett questioned Baron Brignais about the explosion and warned the Savoie Gang to avoid further trouble during the parliamentary election.
• Baron Brignais told Lumian that the police were watching “Black Scorpion” Roger and invited him to meet the boss the next morning.
• Lumian claimed Ait’s weapons and intelligence, then found 116 felkine, 17 kopek, spiked gauntlets, and a Pugilist Beyonder characteristic on the corpse.
• “Black Scorpion” Roger told “Baldy” Harman to wait until police surveillance weakened, then find an opportunity to assassinate Charles.
• Lumian reached Room 207 at the Golden Rooster Inn, noticed someone near the balcony, and called out to Ms. Jenna.

Jenna returned to the Golden Rooster Inn to retrieve her gun and learned that Lumian had killed “Hammer” Ait, while Lumian asked her about the Savoie Gang’s boss. After Jenna shared what she knew, Lumian went to bed thinking about the meeting scheduled for the next morning.

• Jenna asked Lumian how he had detected her, and he teased her about wearing perfume and having a slow reflex arc.
• Jenna guessed that Lumian had used knockout drugs to kill “Hammer” Ait, and Lumian returned her small Revolver without explaining how the drugs had failed to affect him.
• Jenna told Lumian that she had planned to assassinate Margot because he had raped a singer who once helped her.
• Jenna described the Savoie Gang’s boss as a powerful, clever businessman with many workers, a talent for fire, and a mystical item.
• Jenna advised Lumian to dress aggressively for his meeting with the boss, then left the inn; Lumian went to bed thinking about the meeting.

Lumian met Gardner Martin, sold him the Beyonder characteristic recovered from Hammer Ait, and was put in charge of the Breeze Ballroom. After taking over, Lumian found Red Boots Franca waiting in his new office.

• Baron Brignais brought Lumian to Gardner Martin’s villa, where Martin praised Lumian’s recent victories and asked about Hammer Ait.
• Lumian handed over the Pugilist Beyonder characteristic, and Gardner Martin paid him eighteen thousand felkine.
• Gardner Martin assigned Lumian to run the Breeze Ballroom, leaving Baron Brignais to keep an office there for his lending business.
• Baron Brignais told Louis and Sakota to follow Lumian, then left to handle trouble with the lending business.
• Louis told Lumian that Red Boots Franca was waiting in his office, and Lumian entered to find her sitting with her boots on the desk.

Lumian learned that Franca was a former man who had become a Witch, and that she was his sister Muggle’s fellow Curly-Haired Baboon Research Society member, Sleeve Sword. After Lumian told Franca that Muggle had died, they agreed to keep his connection to her secret while Franca offered to help him study Muggle’s Witchcraft Notes.

• Franca told Lumian she had recommended him for Brignais’s deputy position and warned him not to pursue Jenna.
• Lumian repeated a phrase from Muggle’s dream, prompting Franca to recognize their shared secret organization and reveal her code name, Sleeve Sword.
• Franca confirmed that she had changed from a man into a woman through the Witch pathway and claimed the Hunter pathway could restore her male body.
• Lumian told Franca that Muggle had died in the disaster and asked her not to tell the organization, since it could affect his investigation.
• Franca said she had met Muggle only once at a normal gathering, then gave Lumian her address and offered to help him understand Muggle’s Witchcraft Notes.
• When Lumian asked why she had joined a gang despite her secret organization and strength, Franca replied that it was a secret.