Chapter Summaries

Lumian and Aurora fought their way through a wilderness filled with undead, using Aurora’s protective spells to reach its edge. Aurora stayed behind to draw the undead away, but a crowned woman resembling Madame Pualis appeared, and the undead followed her carriage instead.

• Lumian recognized the wilderness as the Otherworld, while Aurora identified its inhabitants as undead and warned him to stay close.
• Aurora used a golden brooch and sunflower powder to repel the undead as she and Lumian fled on foot.
• When Aurora ran out of powder, she gave Lumian the brooch and told him to sprint for the wilderness’s edge while she stayed behind to cast a powerful spell.
• Lumian turned back to save Aurora, but she used an invisible force to push him toward the edge and drew the undead toward herself with black vapor.
• A crowned woman resembling Madame Pualis rode through the wilderness in a dark-red carriage pulled by devil-like creatures, and the Death Knight and undead followed her toward the mountains.

Lumian and Aurora escaped the wilderness procession of undead and devils, then hurried toward a dangerous path out of Cordou Village. Just as Aurora flew them down a cliff, Lumian’s vision shattered and he woke at the beginning of the loop, where Aurora said it was the 29th.

• Lumian and Aurora recognized the carriage’s rider as a woman resembling Madame Pualis, then escaped the wilderness and returned near Cordou Village.
• Aurora revealed that her Brooch of Integrity was a Mystical Item and explained that her companions had called similar carriage riders the Night Lady.
• Lumian told Aurora how he obtained a Hunter Beyonder Characteristic, and Aurora explained that she had chosen to save him so he could avenge and revive her.
• Lumian carried the exhausted Aurora to a highland pasture, where she prepared to fly them down a cliff toward the dangerous path.
• Lumian and Aurora suffered sudden head pain in midair, and Lumian woke in his bedroom at the start of the loop on the 29th.

Lumian told Aurora that Cordou Village was trapped in a time loop, explained his investigations and transformation into a Hunter, and persuaded her that his account was true. He left to investigate the village while Aurora prepared to use her mystical sight, and their conversation about his adoption stirred Lumian emotionally.

• Lumian and Aurora reasoned that the loop’s final night might hold the key to breaking it, and Lumian planned to avoid triggering abnormalities while investigating the village.
• Lumian confessed that he had become a Hunter and described the loop, the outsiders, the Dream Ruins, and the mysterious lady’s teachings; Aurora examined him and questioned what price he might owe.
• Lumian recounted the events of the previous loops and predicted developments in the village, convincing Aurora that time was repeating.
• Lumian set out to gather information while Aurora agreed to search with her mystical sight, despite the danger and limitations.
• Lumian asked why Aurora had adopted him, and after her irritated explanation, he left for the village with unspoken gratitude.

Lumian investigated the Parish Priest’s mistresses and visited the church, uncovering hints of a secret ritual connected to Pierre Berri and Twelfth Night. He planned to investigate deputy Parish Priest Michel Garigu further after Aurora reported that she had also found something suspicious about him.

• Lumian eavesdropped on Sybil Berry and Jean Mori, learning that Pierre Berri was helping with an important ritual for God that was not the Lent Festival ceremony.
• Lumian listened outside Pato Russel and Madina Benet’s home and learned that Madina had been visiting the church frequently and that Pato wanted to invite the Parish Priest over again.
• Lumian went to the church to speak with Guillaume Béné, but found only Michel Garigu, who said the Parish Priest had left after three outsiders came looking for him.
• Lumian pretended he would return the next day to pray, then decided to investigate Michel’s residence after dark.
• Lumian returned home, where Aurora told him she had found something suspicious about Michel Garigu.

Aurora noticed that deputy Parish Priest Michel Garigu had an unusually bright Astral Body and gave Lumian a remedial lesson in mysticism, explaining the human spiritual layers and the Mystery-Pryer's abilities. She began teaching him about Spirit Vision, ritual magic, and supernatural languages, using her contracted Spirit World creature, White Paper, as an example.

• Aurora told Lumian that Michel Garigu's Astral Body was unusually bright, then explained the Spirit Body, Astral Body, Mental Body, and Ether Body.
• Aurora explained how the Mystery-Prying Eye let her examine spiritual bodies and see normally invisible things, and revealed that she had observed the church through a telescope from home.
• Aurora showed Lumian a miniature ink bottle containing her contracted Spirit World creature and discovered that he did not know how to activate Spirit Vision or recognize supernatural languages.
• Aurora introduced the creature as White Paper, a weak Spirit World creature that could carry one of its contractor's supernatural abilities, and began teaching Lumian basic mysticism.

Aurora taught Lumian the basics of Ritual Magic, including how supplication, materials, candles, and Spirit World summoning worked. After dinner, she began demonstrating the remaining steps of summoning a Spirit World creature.

• Lumian asked Aurora how complex and powerful a Spirit World creature could be, and she explained the limits of what it could perform.
• Aurora explained that Warlock spells required several steps and materials, while a Pyromaniac could cast fire spells more directly; Lumian wondered if a White Paper could carry one.
• Lumian proposed summoning and contracting multiple White Papers to imitate floating cannons, but Aurora said the idea probably would not work.
• Aurora taught Lumian how Ritual Magic used supplication, appropriate materials, and an altar with candles arranged according to mystic symbolism.
• Aurora began demonstrating the remaining steps of Ritual Magic by using Spirit World creature summoning as an example.

Aurora taught Lumian how to prepare a ritual space, sanctify a ritual dagger, and structure incantations for petitioning deities or summoning Spirit World creatures. The lesson ended with Aurora warning him that vague summoning descriptions could bring unwanted or dangerous spirits.

• Aurora explained how to create a spiritual wall around an altar and lit the candle representing herself with her spirituality.
• Aurora sanctified a silver dagger using coarse salt, water, and a Hermetic incantation, while Lumian watched and admitted he could not understand the language.
• Aurora explained the rules for petitioning deities, including how to phrase the request and light and extinguish the candles.
• Aurora taught Lumian the parts of an incantation for summoning a Spirit World creature and explained how its description narrowed the target.
• Aurora warned Lumian that vague descriptions could summon an unwanted creature or one dangerous despite being friendly or weak.

Aurora explained how summoning rituals worked and described the dangers of knowledge chasing people, a condition that had altered her mind and personality. She planned to summon a messenger to seek advice from Hella, a fellow member of her secret mutual aid organization, the Curly-Haired Baboon Research Society.

• Aurora explained that knowledge forced upon her sometimes came from the Hidden Sage and sometimes seemed to chase her on its own, and she admitted that the torment had changed her.
• Aurora taught Lumian about contracted Spirit World creatures, the limits of summoning, and the risks of calling creatures from other dimensions.
• Aurora said she would perform a summoning ritual to contact Hella, a founder and vice president of her mutual aid organization.
• Aurora revealed that the organization members used code names, including her own, Muggle.
• Aurora told Lumian that the organization was called the Curly-Haired Baboon Research Society.

Lumian and Aurora discussed the Curly-Haired Baboon Research Society and why they could not summon Hella’s messenger without risking a loop reset. Aurora then taught Lumian true Meditation, but his first attempt ended when he sensed something watching him from the gray fog.

• Aurora explained how messenger contracts used names and aura to identify their targets, while Lumian wondered whether identical names could cause confusion.
• Lumian asked whether Hella’s messenger would count as an outsider, and Aurora concluded that summoning it could repeatedly restart the loop as it tried to leave Cordu.
• Aurora reasoned that inanimate objects could leave the loop unaffected and suggested sending a plea for help in a sealed box floated down the river.
• Aurora taught Lumian the second half of Meditation and showed him an abstract drawing to use in place of the imagined sun.
• Lumian entered a meditative state and perceived gray fog, strange forms, colors, and radiant light before sensing a watcher and jolting awake in fear.

Lumian learned to activate Spirit Vision despite being frightened by a presence watching him in the Spirit World. Later, he and Aurora used White Paper to observe assistant Parish Priest Michel Garigu and saw a blurry, transparent lizard-like figure crawl out of his mouth as he slept.

• Lumian told Aurora that meditation had exposed him to the Spirit World and that a distant presence watching him had frightened him.
• Aurora linked Lumian’s unusually quick meditation success to the two symbols on his chest and advised him to keep practicing cautiously.
• With repeated attempts, Lumian activated Spirit Vision and saw Aurora’s blurred Ether Body and the Spirit World creature White Paper.
• Aurora taught Lumian to deactivate Spirit Vision and helped him practice using it, then sent him to rest as his spirituality ran low.
• Aurora used her contract with White Paper to observe assistant Parish Priest Michel Garigu while he slept.
• Lumian and Aurora watched as a blurry, transparent lizard-like figure crawled out of Michel Garigu’s mouth.