Chapter Summaries

Lumian captured the man following him and learned that Baron Brignais had ordered the surveillance. He went with the man to the Breeze Ballroom, where Brignais revealed he had recognized Lumian as a wanted criminal and Lumian asked whether he planned to claim the bounty.

• Lumian lured his pursuer into an alley, knocked him unconscious, and questioned him underground.
• The pursuer identified Baron Brignais as the person who had ordered him to follow Lumian and said Brignais was usually at the Breeze Ballroom.
• Lumian made the pursuer take him to the Breeze Ballroom, where he asked the gang thugs to let him see Baron Brignais.
• Baron Brignais admitted he had recognized Lumian as a wanted criminal worth 3,000 Felkine and had sent Missiri to investigate him.
• Lumian asked Baron Brignais whether he intended to capture him for the bounty.

Lumian met with Baron Brignais at the Breeze Ballroom, where they agreed not to oppose each other as Lumian searched for the people he had come to Trier to find. Lumian left without attacking the baron, but planned to exploit any future attempt to use him and began reconsidering how to disguise himself as he traveled toward the Observatory District.

• Baron Brignais told Lumian that the Savoie Gang would leave him alone as long as he did not harm their interests, and Lumian said he had come to Trier to find the people on his wanted poster.
• Lumian declined the baron's offer of coffee and left the Breeze Ballroom; Baron Brignais questioned Missiri about how Lumian had found and coerced him.
• Baron Brignais explained that the authorities likely wanted the gang to report Lumian rather than capture him, and decided to watch him before considering whether to offer him help and protection.
• Lumian reflected on the elaborate plan he had devised to use Fallen Mercury against Baron Brignais, then decided that any future attempt by the baron to exploit him could give him a chance to strike.
• Lumian reconsidered his disguise and boarded a double-decker carriage toward the Observatory District as noon church bells rang.

Lumian questioned Aosta about the occult gathering and the Montsouris Ghosts, then spotted a shadow in the Underground Cemetery. He wondered whether it was the ghost, but laughed at the threat and dared it to come after him.

• Lumian met Aosta at the Underground Cemetery and heard how he joined a gathering of real Beyonders after years of struggling to make a living in Trier.
• Aosta identified the gathering’s hooded convener as Mr. K and described him as a powerful presence who felt like deep underground darkness.
• Aosta told Lumian the legend of the Montsouris Ghosts, whose victims and their immediate families supposedly died within a year.
• An old cemetery attendant stopped Lumian at the entrance, then let him pass after mistaking him for a student sneaking in to party among the tombs.
• Lumian saw an illusory dark figure vanish in the cemetery and wondered if it was the Montsouris Ghosts before laughing and daring it to attack him.

After encountering what may have been the Montsouris Ghosts, Lumian questioned a fellow victim and learned that the haunting had destroyed the man’s family. With no reply yet from Madam Magician, Lumian prepared to pray to the great being whose seal protected him, hoping to remove the curse.

• Lumian broke into Room 310 and asked the madman about the Montsouris Ghosts; the man described a slow-moving black shadow and recounted how his family died after seeing it.
• Lumian suspected the curse had no fixed end date and returned to his room, where he reflected on his family history and the possibility that he himself was its next victim.
• Lumian wrote to Madam Magician about the encounter and asked whether he had been cursed and how to protect himself, then sent the letter through her Doll Messenger.
• When Madam Magician did not reply, Lumian considered his options and decided to ask the great being whose seal was on him to remove the curse.
• Lumian prepared an altar with three citrus-and-lavender candles and began reciting an invocation to the great being.

Lumian performed a ritual to ask for the curse on him to be removed, but the Montsouris Ghosts attacked him anyway. He escaped by using Fallen Mercury to exchange the fate of being attacked for the fate of being burned, then read Magician’s advice on how to proceed.

• Lumian performed a ritual and briefly saw an angel whose embrace made him believe the being had helped protect him.
• The Montsouris Ghosts attacked Lumian in his room, leaving him unable to breathe or move freely.
• Lumian stabbed himself with Fallen Mercury and exchanged his fate of being attacked for the fate of being burned.
• Lumian rolled on the floor to extinguish the flames and survived until his body reset at six in the morning.
• Lumian found Magician’s letter, which told him to approach Mr. K and described three ways to deal with the Montsouris Ghosts.

Lumian used Madam Magician’s advice to devise a plan for exchanging away the Montsouris Ghosts’ attack fate, then questioned Charlie about people he considered deserving of death. He traveled to the Mason Café, where he was preparing to hunt for prey.

• Lumian decided to exchange the fate of being attacked by the Montsouris Ghosts from Fallen Mercury for another person’s good fortune, then later trade that fortune for the fate of encountering the ghosts.
• Lumian spoke with Charlie outside the Golden Rooster Inn, who described his affair with Mrs. Alice and named Baron Brignais, Margot, and Monet as people he hated or thought deserved to die.
• Charlie told Lumian that Margot visited the inn toward evening to collect money from Miss Ethanisse, while he did not know where Baron Brignais or Monet lived.
• Lumian traveled to the Botanical Garden District and entered the Mason Café.

Lumian met Susie at the Mason Café for treatment and discussed the strange dream of Cordou Village. Susie’s questions stirred a buried memory, leaving Lumian recalling evil god believers using their powers inside the Administrator's Castle.

• Lumian arrived at the Mason Café, ordered Ambergris Lemon Water, and waited for his psychologist.
• Susie spoke to Lumian from the booth behind him and explained that his unease came from her reading his thoughts and the corruption sealed inside him.
• Lumian and Susie discussed whether Anthony Reid belonged to the Spectator pathway, and Susie assessed that he was at least Sequence 8.
• Susie explained how the official investigators’ subconscious minds had shaped parts of Lumian’s dream and challenged his assumption that he had learned the evil believers’ abilities from sealed corruption.
• Susie reasoned that Lumian must have witnessed Guillaume Béné, Pierre Berri, and the others use their abilities before Cordou Village was destroyed.
• Lumian recalled the third floor of the Administrator's Castle, where Guillaume Béné, Pierre Berri, and Sybil Berry fought beside a wall covered in bluish-white, transparent faces.

During therapy with Susie, Lumian recalled fragments of the battle against Madame Pualis’s followers and dreamed that Aurora lay in the dead Warlock’s coffin. After Susie warned him about his self-destructive tendencies, Lumian read an obituary confirming Aurora’s death and wept.

• Lumian recalled chaotic memories of Guillaume Béné, Pierre Berri, Sybil Berry, and others fighting Madame Pualis’s followers, while Susie suggested Pualis had been forcibly driven away.
• Lumian dreamed he returned to Cordu, found the village empty, and discovered Aurora’s corpse inside the dead Warlock’s coffin.
• Susie interpreted the coffin as a symbol, ended the session because Lumian’s subconscious resisted, and warned him that Aurora had reasons to keep living.
• Lumian left Mason Café and boarded a Public Carriage, where he bought a copy of Novel Weekly.
• Lumian read an obituary reporting that bestselling author Aurora Lee had died in an accident that April, then hid behind the newspaper as he cried.

After realizing that Madam Susie had arranged for him to confront his grief, Lumian met his neighbor Gabriel and learned about his struggles as a playwright. He then tried to set a trap for Margot, but the gang leader avoided the perfume spilled on the stairs.

• Lumian noticed that the obituary newspaper was from the previous week and concluded that Madam Susie had arranged it as part of his psychotherapy.
• Lumian introduced himself to Gabriel in room 206 and encouraged the struggling playwright, who said Miss Safali had also supported him.
• After hearing a woman upstairs curse her abuser, Lumian recognized that Margot and his men had visited to collect money.
• Lumian deliberately spilled perfume on the stairs to mark Margot and his men, hoping to make Margot suitable prey for his planned exchange of fates.
• Margot leaped over the perfume-stained steps while his three men walked through the remaining traces, and Lumian realized Margot was unusually sensitive to smells.

Lumian followed Margot from the Golden Rooster Inn to the Mill Ballroom, using the scent of cheap perfume to identify him and watching his careful movements for signs that he was a Hunter pathway Beyonder. After Margot left near midnight, Lumian picked out his footprints and continued the tail.

• Lumian suspected Margot might be a Hunter pathway Beyonder and stayed cautious while observing him and his three subordinates at the inn.
• Lumian heard the group mention the Mill Ballroom and followed the lingering perfume there.
• Lumian ate and waited at the ballroom, watching Margot avoid wet patches on the floor while his subordinates stepped in them.
• Margot left the ballroom with his three subordinates near midnight, and Lumian waited before following.
• Lumian tracked the group by their damp footprints and spotted a faint, dry set of footprints ahead of them.

Lumian tracked Margot to an apartment building, then lured him outside by setting a small fire and provoking him into a chase. The two fought in a dark alley, where Lumian used an unusual kick to send his fallen dirk flying toward Margot.

• Lumian followed Margot's footprints to a Nightingale Street apartment building and deduced that Margot's three subordinates had left.
• Lumian bought a drunk man's coat, changed his appearance, and decided to target Margot despite recognizing that corruption made him favor a more dangerous fight.
• Lumian set a small fire behind the apartment building and shouted to make Margot leave his room.
• Margot leaped from a second-floor window, pursued Lumian after being mocked, and followed him into an alley.
• Margot drew his revolver and fired, but Lumian dodged, threw Fallen Mercury, and charged him.
• Lumian blocked Margot's close-range attack and kicked Fallen Mercury out of the barricade toward him.

Lumian escaped after fighting Margot and used Fallen Mercury to exchange their fates, causing Margot to die mysteriously despite Roger’s ritual to guard against curses. Lumian learned that the exchanged fate involved Margot receiving money from his subordinates, leaving him to wonder how it would unfold.

• Lumian kept Margot from using his revolver, then fled when two policemen arrived in the alley.
• Margot went to Black Scorpion Roger’s home and described the attack; Roger used a ritual to sever any connection to the knife bearing Margot’s blood.
• Margot collapsed and died in Roger’s study, while Roger realized the attacker had strong anti-divination capabilities.
• At the Golden Rooster Inn, Lumian confirmed that Fallen Mercury had completed the fate exchange and learned it involved Margot receiving banknotes from his subordinates.

Lumian used Fallen Mercury to exchange away his fate of encountering the Montsouris Ghosts, then found Margot’s wallet and returned 200 felkine to Yisansi. The next morning, Yisansi learned Margot was dead but Wilson claimed control over her, and police arrested Charlie for the murder of Mrs. Alice.

• Lumian exchanged away his fate of encountering the Montsouris Ghosts, recovering Margot’s wallet and taking its money.
• Lumian counted 1,265 felkine and 15 kopeks, then slipped 200 felkine beneath Yisansi’s door.
• Lumian planned to find Aosta Trull and disguise himself, while Charlie told him it was his day off.
• Roul told Lumian and Charlie that Margot was dead and gang members and police were searching the Market District.
• Charlie told Yisansi that Margot was dead, but Wilson arrived and announced that he would take Margot’s place looking after her.
• Police arrested Charlie on suspicion of murder and told him that Mrs. Alice was dead.

Lumian investigated the circumstances surrounding Charlie’s arrest for Mrs. Alice’s murder and learned more about Suzanne Mathis and a mysterious female ghost. After arranging to attend Mr. K’s Occult Gathering, he disguised himself and went to the police headquarters, claiming to be Charlie’s public defender.

• Police arrested Charlie Collent for Mrs. Alice’s murder after finding her diamond necklace and noting that he was with her near the time she died.
• Gabriel said he did not believe Charlie would murder Mrs. Alice, while Lumian observed Suzanne Mathis’s portrait in Charlie’s room and recognized its resemblance to a ghost he had summoned.
• Lumian met Aosta Trull, learned he had permission to attend Mr. K’s Occult Gathering, and asked Aosta about Suzanne Mathis and the blue-green-haired female ghost.
• Lumian disguised himself and went to the Honest Market District Police Headquarters, where he claimed to be Charlie’s public defender and asked to see him.

Lumian used a disguise to meet Charlie as his public defender, learned that Charlie had dreamed about Suzanne Mathis after praying to her portrait, and examined Mrs. Alice’s body. He summoned her lingering obsession and saw her being smothered by an unseen person.

• Lumian forged the name Guillaume Pierre in the police register and persuaded an officer to let him visit Charlie.
• Lumian questioned Charlie about his time with Mrs. Alice and showed him photographs revealing that the woman in his dreams was Suzanne Mathis, not Saint Viève.
• Lumian told Charlie that Suzanne’s connection to his dreams might be more troubling than a haunting, then arranged to examine Mrs. Alice’s body.
• Lumian identified Mrs. Alice’s body in the police headquarters morgue and went to a nearby washroom.
• Lumian performed the Summoning Dance, let Mrs. Alice’s lingering obsession possess him, and saw her being smothered by a pillow with no attacker in sight.

Lumian helped Charlie understand what to tell the police, then realized he could alert official Beyonders to the supernatural case without confronting Suzanne Mathis himself. He summoned a Spirit World Creature to write an anonymous help letter and ended with a printed-looking copy, though its source remained uncertain.

• Lumian told Charlie that the autopsy results were as expected and instructed him to recount everything to the police while keeping Lumian's role in discovering the portrait secret.
• Lumian decided that Charlie's case should be brought to the attention of the Eighth Bureau and the Churches of the Eternal Blazing Sun and the God of Steam and Machinery.
• Lumian planned to send a help letter to a nearby church but worried that his usual method could connect him to Cordou Village.
• Lumian summoned several Spirit World Creatures before finding a rabbit-shaped one capable of writing Intisian.
• Lumian wrote a help letter about Suzanne Mathis, Mrs. Alice's death, and Charlie's arrest, then had the rabbit copy it in a typeface resembling printed text.

Lumian secretly mailed Charlie’s request for help, then watched police break up a gang standoff on Messy Street. Remembering Aurora’s trust in Hella, he wrote to her and successfully summoned her messenger, a Pure Silver Skull.

• Lumian used the rabbitlike Spirit World Creature to put Charlie’s letter in a mailbox, then ended the summoning.
• Lumian watched a tense gang standoff on Messy Street until mounted police charged and dispersed the gang members.
• Lumian wondered whether Hella knew Aurora had died and decided to contact her through her messenger.
• Lumian wrote Hella a letter asking whether Aurora had said anything suspicious, then tried summoning her messenger.
• Lumian’s second incantation summoned a Pure Silver Skull, which took the letter and vanished into the darkness.

Lumian received Hella’s replies about Aurora, learned she had known more about the Spectator pathway than her notes revealed, and asked Hella to investigate Aurora’s contacts and family. He then went with Aosta to Mr. K’s gathering, where his bandaged disguise startled Aosta.

• Lumian read Hella’s reply and realized Aurora had known about later Sequences of the Spectator pathway that were missing from her Witchcraft Notes.
• Lumian told Hella his account of the disaster in Cordou Village and asked which Psychiatrist Aurora had wanted to approach; Hella agreed to investigate and keep Aurora’s death secret.
• Hella suggested that Aurora’s living family in Trier might provide another lead, while Lumian wondered whether the Society was assessing him for membership.
• Lumian paid Aosta Trull 80 Felkine and traveled with him from the Market District to the Boulevard District.
• Aosta took Lumian to Spiritism magazine’s headquarters and revealed that Mr. K wanted to meet him beforehand.
• Lumian revealed his face wrapped in white bandages, nearly making Aosta’s heart stop.

Lumian attended Mr. K’s Beyonder gathering to seek help repairing a damaged weapon and information about a strange spirit. A participant linked Lumian’s description to a string of deaths near Onet, but the creature’s identity remained uncertain.

• Aosta introduced Lumian to Mr. K, who explained the gathering’s rules and warned that transactions might not be genuine.
• Lumian wrote requests for help repairing his damaged Beyonder weapon and information about a female spirit with long blue-green hair that caused erotic dreams.
• At the gathering, Lumian noticed a request offering 15,000 Felkine for a Sequence 8 Pugilist characteristic and regretted not keeping Margot’s Provocateur characteristic.
• The participants offered no lead on repairing Lumian’s weapon, but one man connected the spirit description to three women who died after repeated erotic dreams near Onet.

At Mr. K's gathering, Lumian saw a dangerous painting linked to a dead Beyonder and considered how Mr. K might investigate him. Charlie was released from custody and said authorities had given him instructions, but that night he returned to Lumian in terror after dreaming of Suzanne Mathis again.

• Mr. K's attendant displayed a painting that caused dizziness and was said to contain a truth about the world and the reason its Beyonder owner died, but no one bought it.
• Lumian left the gathering with Aosta and wondered whether Mr. K would investigate him, hoping an investigation might lead to an invitation into Mr. K's organization.
• Lumian found Charlie back at the Golden Rooster Inn, celebrating his release and explaining that he had lost his job and could not discuss the authorities' investigation.
• Charlie told Lumian that authorities had instructed him to go to an Eternal Blazing Sun church if he dreamed of Suzanne Mathis again.
• After Lumian went to sleep, Charlie knocked on his door and said in terror that he had dreamed about Suzanne Mathis again.