Chapter Summaries

Wilt joined Klein’s Tarot Club as Mr. Lovers after telling Klein about his strange history and the Western Continent. Back in his inn room, Wilt found Madam D with a captured Trissy and learned that the New Party in Backlund had become involved in Lanevus’s plan, prompting him to suspect his fate was being manipulated.

• Wilt told Klein how Amon had parasitized him, how he had been corrupted and rescued, and how he came to follow three Pathways, leaving Klein eager to learn about the Western Continent.
• Klein invited Wilt to join the Tarot Club, and Wilt accepted and chose The Lovers as his codename.
• Klein ended the meeting because his Spirituality was running low, then returned to his room and considered writing to Mr. Azik about the Western Continent.
• Wilt woke in his inn room to find Madam D there and Trissy bound on the floor; Madam D said she had stopped Trissy from ambushing him.
• Madam D reported that Lanevus’s plan had gained support in Tingen City and that the New Party in Backlund had joined in, leading Wilt to suspect that his fate was being manipulated.

Wilt suspected that George III and Adam were using his plan to weaken the Conservative Party, but he decided to continue and let events unfold. After reading Sharon’s letter, he learned that the Demoness Sect planned to cooperate with him, and Trissy denied trying to attack him.

• Wilt concluded that the Loen Royal Family, with Adam behind George III, might be manipulating his plan, but he chose to carry on.
• Wilt told Madam D to let Lanevus accept anyone who wanted to join and stop Trissy from being killed.
• Trissy explained that Sharon had sent her to assist Wilt and gave him Sharon’s letter.
• Wilt learned that Katarina and the Demoness Sect planned to support his operation, so he agreed to let Trissy join.
• Madam D left to find Lanevus, and Wilt confronted Trissy about trying to attack him.
• Trissy denied attacking Wilt and claimed she had only meant to check on him.

Wilt took Trissy to a factory where workers often died so he could collect grievances for his Monster Potion. After testing the accumulated spirits on Trissy, he planned to use them to frighten factory owners, beginning with Maynard.

• Wilt decided to keep Trissy with him because her familiarity with Tingen City's East Borough and Factory District could help him collect grievances.
• Wilt and Trissy entered Maynard's cargo packing plant, where Trissy explained how workers stacked the cargo and said she had once worked there.
• Wilt performed the Dance of Attraction and drew the factory's grievances and resentful spirits into himself.
• Wilt unleashed the collected spirits on Trissy, terrifying her, then returned them to his body and said he would target factory owners that night.
• Maynard woke to find his room filled with black grievance and screamed.

Wilt continued using resentment to frighten nobles as part of digesting his Monster Potion, then attended his first Tarot Club meeting as Mr. The Lovers. The meeting began with Audrey welcoming him and presenting another page of Emperor Roselle’s diary.

• Wilt frightened Member of Parliament Maynard unconscious with nightmares, then told Trissy that his actions helped digest his Potion.
• Wilt and Trissy visited more than a dozen major capitalists before Wilt ended the night’s work and arranged to resume the next evening.
• Wilt studied Beyonder matters with Old Neil, prepared for the Tarot Club meeting, and entered Sefirah Castle at three in the afternoon.
• Klein introduced Wilt as Mr. The Lovers, and Audrey greeted him while Alger concealed his displeasure at the new member.
• Audrey gave Klein another page of Emperor Roselle’s diary, then observed Wilt until he raised his head and smiled at her.

At the Tarot Club, Wilt teased Audrey by claiming his Swindler abilities had deceived her, then warned her not to rely too heavily on Beyonder powers. Audrey asked him about ordinary animals becoming Beyonder creatures after drinking a Potion and revealed that her friend’s pet had done exactly that; Wilt called it a jackpot.

• Klein read Roselle’s diary entry about an ancient secret organization and wondered whether it was connected to Wilt.
• Audrey apologized to Wilt for using her Beyonder Ability to observe him, and Wilt claimed he had made her observations false.
• Wilt explained his Marauder Pathway and described the Swindler’s abilities, leaving Audrey confused about which of his statements were true.
• Wilt reassured Audrey and asked whether she had encountered a difficulty, prompting her to ask about animals that became Beyonder creatures by drinking Potions.
• Audrey said her friend’s pet had drunk a Potion, and Wilt replied that her friend had hit the jackpot.

Wilt explained how difficult and costly it was to make an animal into a Beyonder creature, and described how one could be useful, prompting Audrey to admit that Susie was her pet. The Hanged Man, feeling overshadowed by Wilt’s rapport with Audrey, asked her to investigate whether Loen would go to war with Feysac.

• Wilt explained that Beast Tamers could help animals survive Potions, but that obtaining a Beyonder creature could cost thousands of pounds.
• Wilt described ways a Beyonder creature could assist its owner, including eavesdropping and carrying messages.
• Audrey admitted that Susie was the pet that had accidentally become a Beyonder creature, and Wilt praised her luck.
• Klein ended the conversation and opened the Tarot Club’s trading session.
• The Hanged Man asked Audrey to investigate whether Loen planned to retaliate against Feysac and start a war on the Balam East Coast.

At the Tarot Club, Wilt warned Audrey about the Psychology Alchemists and offered her the Telepathist formula in exchange for Beyonder materials. He also asked the Fool for help making charms and arranged to pay with Roselle’s diary or information about the Western Continent, then asked Alger how to sell stolen jewelry.

• Audrey asked Wilt where to find the Psychology Alchemists, and he advised her to digest her Potion and wait until she was stronger before approaching them.
• Wilt offered Audrey the Sequence 8 Telepathist formula and gave her and Alger lists of Beyonder materials he would buy.
• Wilt asked the Fool to help him make charms, and the Fool requested Emperor Roselle’s Diary or information about the Western Continent as payment.
• Alger wondered whether the Western Continent was the Forsaken Land of the Gods and resolved to build a good relationship with Wilt.
• Wilt asked Alger how to sell jewelry, then admitted he had stolen it the previous night.

Wilt made five charms using power Klein sent from the Gray Fog, then began a ritual asking the Eternal Blazing Sun for the Spirituality to inscribe more charms. Klein watched the second ritual, speechless.

• Wilt admitted he had stolen gemstones from wealthy homes, and Alger offered to sell them for a commission.
• Klein ended the Tarot Club meeting and taught Wilt his Honorific Name and the sacrificial and bestowal rituals.
• Wilt prayed to Klein for the power to make charms, and Klein sent Gray Fog through the ritual.
• Wilt used his Dream Stealer ability to combine Klein's response with the spiritual materials and made five charms.
• Wilt set up a second ritual and prayed to the Eternal Blazing Sun for Spirituality to inscribe charms, while Klein watched.

Wilt spent nearly four hours making charms through rituals to various Gods and evil Gods, then gave Klein a bag of stolen jewelry to pass to the Hanged Man. When Wilt returned to his hotel, Trissy accused him of stealing her new demigod-level Sealed Artifact, Cheek's Ring.

• Wilt failed to make charms by praying to the Eternal Blazing Sun, then succeeded with a ritual to the True Creator.
• Wilt performed thirty-two charm-making rituals, succeeded five times, and identified the ten charms he had made.
• Wilt sacrificed a bag of jewelry to Klein and asked the Hanged Man to dispose of it.
• Klein watched the valuable jewelry and considered stealing some for himself.
• Trissy confronted Wilt about her missing ring, and Wilt returned Cheek's Ring while claiming his Sealed Artifact had caused him to steal it.
• Trissy told Wilt that the Demoness Sect had given her Cheek's Ring, a demigod-level Sealed Artifact with the abilities of a Demoness of Despair.

Wilt and Trissy entered a remote factory to gather resentment, where they encountered two Rose School of Thought members and fought for their lives. Wilt escaped, but Trissy emerged from a mirror badly wounded and unconscious.

• Wilt and Trissy went to a neglected factory after increased police patrols made other sites harder to reach.
• Trissy blasted open the factory gates, and Wilt discovered mutilated workers and two Rose School of Thought members inside.
• Wilt identified the attackers as a Sequence 6 Zombie and a Sequence 5 Wraith, then used Mind Breath against the Wraith.
• The Wraith dodged Wilt's attack, struck him with a Wraith Shriek, and possessed him, but Wilt stole the possession ability with his monocle and escaped by Dream Traversal.
• The Wraith turned toward Trissy after Wilt fled, and Trissy later emerged from a mirror covered in blood before fainting.