Chapter Summaries

Lumian read Madam Magician’s warnings about the mysterious 0-01 dossier, learned her honorific name and a contact in Feynapotter, then prepared to help his companions obtain messengers. The chapter left Franca, Jenna, and Anthony arriving at the quarry cavern where he had completed two new contracts.

• Madam Magician told Lumian that Morola might be delusion, a hidden prison, or an imaginary city made real, and explained that reading the 0-01 dossier had caused his mild auditory hallucinations.
• Madam Magician warned Lumian to watch for entities exploiting his unusual angel-level status, advised caution while tracking April Fool’s Day, and gave him her honorific name to request help against certain high-Sequence Beyonders.
• Madam Magician said the Knight of Swords was in Feynapotter and provided his messenger’s incantation.
• Ludwig asked Lumian to cook, and Lumian agreed to prepare three meals a day before feeding him a steak.
• Lumian contracted the Thin, Elongated Monster Shadow for Shadow Transformation and Face of Fantasy for Fictional Bottle, accepting increased fear of sunlight and greed as negative effects.
• Franca, Jenna, and Anthony arrived at the quarry cavern to try to obtain messengers.

Franca explained how the Tarot Club members could obtain messengers, and Jenna successfully contracted with a mutated Knowledge Rabbit named Xia Zuo Savio. Franca then attempted her own summoning but failed.

• Franca explained the prerequisites for obtaining a messenger and how the Tarot Club’s connection to Mr. Fool could help overcome them.
• Lumian chose Jenna to attempt the first summoning because her Lucky Gold Coin was connected to Mr. Fool.
• Jenna summoned a mutated Knowledge Rabbit and agreed to pay it with a book or equivalent knowledge each time she called it.
• Jenna signed a messenger contract with the rabbit, named Xia Zuo Savio, using her code name Seven of Cups and a witness description for the Underworld.
• Jenna ended the summoning, and Franca entered the altar area to try her own ritual but failed.

Lumian successfully contracted the Penitent Bainfel as his messenger, while Franca and Anthony failed to secure messengers of their own. He kept the Pride Armor and left his departure from Trier undecided, then visited the Golden Rooster Inn's Underground Bar in disguise.

• Franca and Anthony each attempted five summons but failed to form a messenger contract.
• Lumian summoned the Penitent, learned that Bainfel's darkness could implicate him, and signed a contract making Bainfel his messenger.
• Lumian suggested that special Spirit World Creatures needed a higher status, a special pathway, or something connected to Mr. Fool to accept a contract.
• Lumian chose not to sell the Pride Armor and said he would decide the next day how to leave Trier.
• Lumian disguised himself and visited the Golden Rooster Inn's Underground Bar, where Charlie boasted about his friendship with Charles Dubois.
• Pavar Nissen asked Lumian about his story, and Lumian called himself a failure.

Lumian struck Charlie after Charlie failed to warn him that he was wanted, while Charlie confessed his past concealments to Angoulême and received six months of probation. Angoulême was appointed to lead a new Purifier team directly under the Trier diocese and began choosing its members.

• Lumian told Pavar Nissen he had made up his sad story, then Charlie encountered Lumian near dawn and was punched for failing to warn him about the wanted notice.
• Angoulême confronted Charlie about his swollen cheek and the details he had concealed about the Suzanne Mathis case, and Charlie admitted that Charles Dubois had asked him to hide them.
• Angoulême dismissed Charlie from his clerk position but gave him six months as an intern on probation, with a chance to be reinstated.
• Cardinal Plessy summoned Angoulême and offered him the deaconship of a new Purifier team directly under the Trier diocese, which Angoulême accepted.
• Angoulême asked Imre to join the new team, and Imre agreed; Angoulême said they should recruit single members because the role carried danger.

Angoulême received a warning that people in the mirror had infiltrated Trier, while Lumian left the city by train with Ludwig and Lucano, bound for Gati Port. At Dardel Station, local solicitors approached the compartment, then dogs began barking and the middle-aged man grew afraid.

• Angoulême received Sleeve Sword’s warning that people in the mirror had been replacing Trier residents for more than a decade and began watching for clues.
• Lumian left the Market District with Ludwig and Lucano, then used a disguise and directed them to board a train at North Train Station.
• Lumian chose business class so Ludwig could get complimentary meals and traveled toward Gati Port in Upper Coastal Province.
• At Dardel Station, a local man offered drinks, lodging, and prostitutes, while Ludwig asked about food.
• Dogs began barking throughout the town, and the middle-aged solicitor reacted with fear.

Lumian investigated the strange barking in Daddel and learned that an unexplained illness was turning residents into people who barked like dogs. Pierre feared he was about to become infected, while Lumian questioned why the townspeople had not fled.

• Lumian examined Pierre's fortune and saw that he would contract an unusual illness, then warned him to rest.
• Pierre returned with Lumian's food order and admitted he was worried about falling ill.
• A madman appeared on the platform wall, barking like a dog, and Pierre revealed that the town was suffering from a spreading "mad sickness."
• Lugano determined that the illness was not ordinary rabies, and Pierre said the infected had not been bitten.
• Pierre explained that the town's priest, police, and health office workers had been among the first to go mad, and Lumian asked why the residents did not leave Daddel.

Lumian recognized that Daddel's contagious madness was being contained by an unseen force, but noticed that he and Lugano were being drawn into investigating it. After informing the authorities through Franca, he chose to stay and ask Pierre about the first patient.

• Pierre and the bar waiter tried to force their way into the train, and Lugano knocked both unconscious.
• Lumian reasoned that Daddel's townspeople seemed unable to flee and that the outbreak had deliberately cut off contact with the authorities.
• Ludwig suggested reporting the sickness and leaving under different identities, prompting Lumian to realize he and Lugano might have been pushed into a mental rut.
• Lumian observed that Lugano's fortune had turned sickly green, then used Spirit World Traversal to visit Franca and Jenna in Trier and ask them to alert the authorities.
• Lumian returned to the train, told Lugano they would prepare to leave, and asked the waking Pierre who the first patient had been.

Lumian investigated the mad sickness in Daddel and concluded that a young woman’s madness was influencing the town and spreading infection. After the authorities contained the outbreak, Bainfel delivered a letter identifying the woman as an escaped Sealed Artifact with deadly command-like power.

• Lumian questioned Pierre about the first patient, learned she was a pale young woman sent to the Health Bureau, and theorized that her madness spread infection and influenced Daddel’s townspeople.
• Lumian tested Pierre and the bar waiter by promising to enter town at daybreak and stay until the sickness was resolved, then waited as Ludwig finished the food.
• Two airships arrived over Daddel, and authorities fought the town’s abnormalities for nearly an hour before police questioned Lumian and his companions.
• At daybreak, police made Lumian, Lugano, and Ludwig sign confidentiality contracts about the special military operation, and Lumian prepared to teleport away.
• Bainfel delivered a letter explaining that the escaped Sealed Artifact took the form of a young woman, spread variable forms of mad sickness, and could kill anyone she commanded to die.

Lumian left Daddel after learning that its madness had been caused by a humanoid Sealed Artifact that had already escaped, then traveled with Lugano and Ludwig toward Santa Port. The chapter ended as they sailed out of Gati Port aboard the ironclad merchant ship Flying Bird.

• Lumian read Franca's warning about a dangerous, instinct-driven Sealed Artifact and took the letter with him.
• Lumian brought Lugano and Ludwig to Fos City, changed his appearance, and had Lugano arrange false identities and train tickets to Gati Port.
• Lumian received word that Daddel's madness had been contained, but the Sealed Artifact had left town and remained missing.
• Lumian boarded the Flying Bird with Lugano and Ludwig, paying for a first-class suite and tickets to Santa Port.
• The Flying Bird departed Gati Port and headed out to sea.

Lumian traveled aboard the Flying Bird toward Santa Port, studied Highland Language, and spent his first evening sampling local food and drinks. At the third-class bar, he heard how pirates had adapted to attacking ironclad merchant ships, but Francesco could not identify any suspected infiltrators aboard yet.

• The Flying Bird sailed west through the Sea of Fog as Lumian studied Highland Language using his knowledge of Old Feysac.
• Ludwig eagerly ate the dinner brought to their room, while Lumian and Lugano sampled the local specialties.
• Lumian went to the third-class bar after Lugano chose to sleep and introduced himself to bartender Francesco as Louis.
• Francesco explained that pirates sometimes posed as passengers and staged uprisings to help nearby pirate ships approach.
• Lumian asked Francesco whether he had encountered such an attack before and who aboard might be a pirate infiltrator, but Francesco said it was too early to tell.

Aboard the Flying Bird, Lumian relaxed during the voyage while discussing pirates and the ship’s head of security, Philip. The next morning, Philip confronted Lumian, saying he knew Lumian’s identity documents were fake and warning him to behave.

• Lumian and Francesco discussed pirate attacks, shipboard security, and the risks of sailing among the Five Seas.
• Francesco introduced Philip as the Flying Bird’s head of security, and Lumian observed Philip boasting about his naval service and connections to pirates.
• Lumian examined Philip’s fortune, saw signs of possible fighting and injury, and watched him leave the bar with a young woman.
• Lumian asked Termiboros how to identify disguised pirates and Beyonders, but Termiboros warned that Lumian’s aura and corruption could trigger disaster if he approached them.
• Lumian returned to his cabin, fed Ludwig, and went to sleep while hearing a woman crying somewhere on the ship.
• Philip visited Lumian the next morning, said Lumian’s identity documents were fake, and warned him to behave aboard the Flying Bird.

Lumian and the Flying Bird’s crew encountered the Black Octopus, a submarine commanded by the feared pirate Bonebreaker Basil. Just as Lumian prepared to fight, the pirate ship abruptly withdrew and vanished beneath the sea, leaving Philip and the passengers bewildered.

• Lumian deduced that Philip had discovered his forged identity papers through investigative abilities and a network of contacts, and then spent the morning aboard the Flying Bird.
• Lumian and Philip spotted a huge shadow beneath the water, and Philip alerted the crew as fog rose over the sea.
• The Black Octopus surfaced, unfolded into a ship armed with cannons, and revealed a crowd of pirates; Philip identified it as Bonebreaker Basil’s vessel.
• Lumian eagerly planned how to defeat Bonebreaker Basil, while Gochia feared the pirates would attack the Flying Bird.
• The pirates abruptly turned the Black Octopus around, folded it shut, and dived away, prompting Philip to joke that he knew plenty of great pirates.

Lumian suspected Bonebreaker Basil had fled because he sensed danger from Lumian or another presence aboard the Flying Bird, while the crew celebrated the escape. Philip later warned Lumian not to investigate the greater problem he believed was hiding on the ship, leaving Lumian more curious about it.

• Lumian reasoned that Bonebreaker Basil might be a Sequence 6 Demon whose Malice Perception had warned him away from Lumian's potential attack.
• Lugano excitedly told Lumian that the Black Octopus had surfaced and then fled, crediting Philip's supposed friendship with Basil for saving the ship.
• At the captain's party and in the Third Class bar, passengers celebrated the Black Octopus's retreat, but Lumian noticed Philip remained grave and worried.
• Philip asked Lumian what he had done when the Black Octopus appeared, then agreed that a greater danger aboard might have driven Basil away.
• Philip told Lumian that the ship's hidden abnormality should be left alone, since investigating it could provoke disaster; Lumian wondered what the greater problem was.

Lumian investigated the unnatural waves threatening the Flying Bird and found a group of strange fish beneath the ship. He used General Philip’s Hateful Movement to stop the waves and kill the largest fish, then returned to the ship as the passengers and crew celebrated.

• Lumian agreed with Philip that they should avoid provoking suspected trouble unless something abnormal began to spread, then questioned bartender Francesco about Feynapotter customs and his family.
• The Flying Bird encountered towering waves beneath a clear sky, and a lookout reported that the waves were confined to the ship’s area.
• Lumian used the Mystery-Peering Glasses and saw a strange fish and its kin beneath the ship, as well as shellfish clinging to its hull.
• Lumian teleported into the nearby waters and played General Philip’s Hateful Movement, causing the waves to subside and the smaller fish to die or attack one another.
• Blood poured from the large fish’s eyes and fleshy lumps, the waves rapidly subsided, and Lumian returned to his cabin coughing up seawater as the passengers and crew cheered.

Lumian frightened off a powerful Mutated Sailfish, and Philip explained why sailors called the creatures Death Navigators. After the Flying Bird reached Falin Port, Lumian went ashore to explore and read wanted posters for the sea monarchs, where an adventurer asked if he planned to hunt them.

• Lumian used the Hateful Movement to frighten the Mutated Sailfish away, and Philip identified it as a Death Navigator.
• Philip told Lumian that Death Navigators had appeared only in recent years, could control waves, and led ships that followed them to disappear.
• The Flying Bird reached Falin Port, where Lumian discussed the island’s indigenous language and planned to try its famous Golden Som.
• Lumian went ashore, bought a straw hat, and read wanted posters listing six sea monarchs and their bounties.
• An adventurer joked to Lumian, asking if he planned to hunt the monarchs of the seas.

Lumian entered Falin Port and befriended adventurer Batna Conte while seeking information and the remaining ingredients for his Reaper potion. After learning that the port’s authorities protected pirate trade, Lumian drew attention to himself in a bar and prepared to question the crowd.

• Lumian gave Batna Conte his false name, Louis Berri, and invited him for a drink while considering how to find Rainbow-Bearded Horned Lizard venom.
• Batna warned Lumian not to trust the islanders and explained that Falin Port’s authorities let pirates trade there and would arrest anyone who hunted them.
• Lumian and Batna entered a bar, ordered Golden Som, and talked about Gehrman Sparrow.
• Lumian pushed two drinkers aside, jumped onto the stage, fired at the ceiling, and told the crowd to look at him because he had questions.

Lumian used a fake mystical-item deal to expose a local swindling ring and discovered that its leader, Rody, was an attendant of Falin Port magnate Fidel Gra. He forced Rody to seek an audience with Fidel, who learned of the scheme and asked whether Lumian wanted to see him.

• Lumian publicly asked about mystical items at a bar, drawing Carmel’s attention and following him to a disguised occult gathering.
• At the gathering, Lumian punched a trader who claimed to have a manticore’s brain, then trapped the participants with a Fictional Bottle and discovered their deal was a scam.
• Lumian questioned the trader, Rody, and learned that he was an attendant of Fidel Gra, vice president of the Falin Port United Chamber of Commerce.
• Lumian made Rody take him to Fidel’s residence and tell his master that he wanted to buy mysticism materials.
• After hearing Rody’s account, Fidel asked whether the adventurer wanted to see him.

Lumian visited Fidel Gra to arrange for Rainbow-Bearded Horned Lizard venom and accepted a commission to kill pirate Black Lord Klaas Kitz. After praying at a church of The Fool, he saw an explosion and fire erupt near the Governor's Mansion.

• Lumian met Fidel Gra at 16 Coreas Street, requested Rainbow-Bearded Horned Lizard venom, and agreed to return in two days to check whether Fidel had obtained it.
• Fidel offered Lumian a commission to kill Black Lord Klaas Kitz, providing intelligence and 25,000 Felkine in compensation; Lumian accepted and learned Kitz was recently in Falin Port.
• After Lumian left, Rody returned to his room and felt something emerge from behind his shadow, leaving him unable to cry out.
• Lumian stopped at a church of The Fool, prayed, and wished for Aurora's resurrection.
• An explosion shook the church, and Lumian saw smoke and flames rising from the Governor's Mansion.

After an explosion in Falin Port, Lumian fought the revived dead and helped residents find shelter, then returned to the Flying Bird as officials contained the outbreak. The next morning, the harbor was closed and ships were searched, while Lumian wrote to Jenna and Franca to ask what had happened.

• Lumian left the Church of The Fool and destroyed several living corpses with fireballs, directing people away from danger and advising them to avoid places where the dead gathered.
• Lumian concluded that the corpses had been dead before reviving and were drawn toward the explosion while hunting living people.
• Lumian returned to the Flying Bird and told Philip about the explosion and the revived corpses; Philip worried about the voyage’s string of calamities.
• Lumian told Philip that he had accepted a commission to hunt the pirate Black Lord, Claas Ghez, but had not decided whether to pursue it.
• The next morning, the governor-general’s office closed Falin Port’s harbor and ordered soldiers to search ships.
• Lumian wrote to Jenna and Franca asking them to find out what had happened in Falin Port, then tapped his chest and murmured sympathetically about “007.”

Franca received Lumian’s letter asking about an incident in Falin Port and sent him a teasing reply. With the Flying Bird stuck in port during a search for the wanted Devil Warlock Bourman, Lumian investigated the explosion site and met Batna Conte, who began to suspect his account of the previous night.

• Jenna gave Franca Lumian’s letter asking her to learn what had happened in the capital of the Sea of Fog Archipelago, and Franca wrote back with teasing advice and complaints.
• Soldiers inspected the Flying Bird, and Philip told Lumian that the authorities were searching for Devil Warlock Bourman, a wanted adventurer who had turned to cruel rituals in an attempt to resurrect his wife Helen.
• Lumian learned that Bourman had a bounty of six hundred thousand felkine and was skilled at disguise, magic, and necromancy.
• After the port blockade delayed the Flying Bird, Lumian went to the explosion site and encountered Batna Conte among the adventurers searching for clues.
• Lumian said he had encountered swindlers and made a tidy sum, prompting Batna to recall his earlier remark about seeming easy to bully.