Recaps

Vilka told Carlo and Isaac that she planned to secretly hunt Mary the Shepherd and asked Carlo to protect her. Carlo accepted the commission and brought Isaac along, but Isaac did not know what kind of wondrous item to request as payment.

• Vilka said workers had reported encountering Mary the Shepherd in Lord Banbury's territory and explained that a public operation could strengthen Vesta's nobles.
• Vilka revealed that she planned to bring down Vicania's judgment and kill Mary herself, without involving the grand duke or the pope.
• Vilka asked Carlo to protect her, and Carlo agreed to take Isaac as his assistant.
• Carlo asked for a future favor and a wondrous item as payment, and Vilka asked Isaac what item he wanted.
• Isaac realized he did not even know what a wondrous item was.

Isaac learned how Wonders were categorized and why Mythic Grade Wonders were so powerful as he and Carlo discussed Vilka’s plan to confront Shepherd Mary. Carlo revealed that Vilka herself was a strategic deterrent and that their presence would let Section Nine claim credit for the operation.

• Vilka agreed to prepare Wonders for Isaac to choose from and arranged to meet Carlo and Isaac at the east gate at six the next morning.
• Carlo explained that Wonders included Holy Relics, Cursed Objects, and Relics, each with different origins, effects, and risks.
• Carlo told Isaac that Mythic Grade Wonders could let their holders rival demigods, but the Church of the Golden Bough’s six known examples required approval from the pope and grand duke to use.
• Carlo said Vilka was a strategic deterrent in her own right and could kill Mary without their help, while he planned to flee if the operation turned dangerous.
• Carlo explained that Vilka had recruited them partly so the public report could credit Section Nine and the Joint Investigation Bureau for killing the calamity.

Isaac and Carlo arranged for the Joint Investigation Bureau to take public credit for killing Mary while keeping the operation’s details secret. Isaac collected his equipment and met the Bureau’s aloof cat, Patch, whose reaction changed when Carlo approached.

• Isaac understood that Vilka wanted the Joint Investigation Bureau credited with killing Mary to avoid undermining its authority.
• Carlo explained that access to the classified Ninth Section files would be controlled and that he would deter anyone seeking details.
• Isaac and Carlo returned to 122 Red Maple Street, where Fenri agreed to help deal with the Shepherd’s sheep.
• Isaac collected his Bureau uniform, twelve holy silver bullets, and a shoulder holster from the logistics department.
• Isaac tried on the holster and uniform in Carlo’s office, then encountered Patch in the corridor.
• Patch hissed and puffed up its tail when Carlo approached with a pie.

Carlo sent Isaac to accompany Andrew Grayson on an afternoon visit to the clothing store, while Isaac learned that Grayson’s terse manner came from shyness. The chapter ended as Isaac and Grayson set out together, with Grayson hesitating at intersections as though he wanted to talk.

• Carlo wiped his greasy hands on Patch’s fur, and Patch hissed at him before running off.
• Carlo told Isaac that an agent would accompany him to the clothing store and introduced Andrew Grayson as the agent in charge.
• Isaac met Grayson in the cafeteria, where Grayson said they would meet at the Bureau entrance at two o’clock.
• Carlo explained that Grayson was shy rather than unfriendly and told Isaac to act normally around him.
• Isaac met Grayson outside the Bureau, and they headed toward the clothing store as Grayson repeatedly seemed to hesitate before speaking.

Isaac accompanied Agent Grayson back to Harper’s clothing shop, where Grayson investigated the curse case and taught Isaac the value of detailed questioning. Isaac collected his altered hunting suit, which fit well and seemed to reveal a bearing the owner wondered might be natural to him.

• Grayson told Isaac that Section Two would handle the follow-up and praised his ability to dispel the curse, while Isaac tactfully avoided promising future assistance.
• Isaac introduced Grayson to Harper, and Grayson inspected the shop before questioning Harper in detail about the suspicious customer and checking his answers for consistency.
• Grayson instructed Harper to report any similar customer or unusual activity to the Joint Investigation Bureau.
• Isaac asked for his altered clothes and tried on the gentleman’s hunting suit, which fit him comfortably.
• Harper admired Isaac’s changed appearance and wondered whether he might be of noble birth.

Isaac returned to the agency after Grayson finished making inquiries, then reflected on the gaps in his past and how Edward had never explained them. Fenri was missing from the living room, and Isaac had no way to know where Fenri had gone.

• The shopkeeper gave Isaac a tie and newsboy cap, and Isaac changed into them before leaving with Grayson.
• Grayson parted from Isaac at an intersection to ask nearby shopkeepers about the man who had returned the clothes.
• Isaac went to the agency on Red Maple Street and found Fenri missing from the living room.
• Isaac considered Fenri’s strange nature but decided he could not search the city for them.
• While looking at himself in the mirror, Isaac recalled that his memories began when he woke in a Palmer clinic at age twelve.
• Isaac remembered that Edward had never told him about his past, and that searching Edward’s study after his death had revealed nothing.

Isaac reconsidered whether his lost memories were worth investigating, but set the question aside to focus on his work. At the Joint Investigation Bureau, Carlo explained why Morris, the head of Section One, resented him and warned Isaac to keep his distance.

• Isaac decided that his strange dream and Vicania’s tolerance gave him reason to learn about his forgotten past, but he had no leads and put the matter aside.
• At the Joint Investigation Bureau, Isaac saw Patch perched on Director Patrick’s head, creating the illusion of a silver-haired beauty viewed from behind.
• Isaac noticed Morris staring at Carlo, and Carlo explained that Morris blamed him for ruining a resurrection ritual when a critical failure made the corpse explode.
• Carlo described Morris’s expertise in spirit research and warned Isaac that Morris was petty and might take his anger out on him.

Isaac and Carlo prepared to take Fenri into the wilderness to test his usefulness against calamities, then traveled toward the city gate by railcar. The chapter left them waiting on the platform after Isaac bought tickets for all three, including Fenri.

• Carlo and Isaac agreed to pretend they had not noticed Fenri sneaking out, while still taking him on the next day's expedition to test his combat ability.
• At dawn, Isaac set aside his last remaining bullet from Edward and loaded his revolver with fresh ammunition issued by the Joint Investigation Bureau.
• Carlo came downstairs, and Isaac leashed Fenri before the three left for the railcar platform.
• At the ticket booth, Isaac bought three tickets to East Gate Bridge after learning Fenri needed one too.
• Carlo explained that public railcars kept fares low so ordinary people would use them, and Isaac was surprised that such advanced transport was affordable.

Isaac, Carlo, and Fenri met Vilka to begin tracking Mary the Shepherd, and Carlo teleported their carriage toward its location. The carriage appeared high above the clouds and fell until Vilka’s blessing and the horses’ wings kept it aloft.

• Carlo explained that the wealthiest people had private railcars that could make public trains change course, and he and Isaac rode a railcar to East Gate Bridge Station with Fenri.
• Isaac and Carlo met Vilka, who explained that Carlo would use his dice to locate Mary the Shepherd’s approximate position.
• Carlo succeeded at a teleportation check but forgot to set a height limit, sending the carriage high above the ground.
• Vilka slowed the carriage’s fall, and Carlo showed Isaac that a blessing had given the horses glowing wings to carry them through the clouds.

Isaac and Fenri fought to distract Mary while Vilka prepared her ultimate, with Carlo using a check to support Isaac's shot. The chapter ended as the world froze and Carlo announced that Isaac had passed the check to hit Shepherd Mary.

• Vilka spotted Mary's flock from the carriage, but sheep launched from the ground and smashed through the carriage.
• Fenri killed one attacking sheep, while more sheep struck the carriage and forced the group to abandon it.
• Carlo sent Isaac and Fenri down to hold Mary off while Vilka prepared her ultimate, and they mounted one of the horses with Vilka and Carlo.
• Fenri ran around the flock's edge, drawing the sheep apart as Isaac prepared to shoot Mary.
• Carlo told Isaac to fire, then froze the world and declared that his shot had passed a check with a final value of 72.

Isaac and Carlo slowed and wounded Mary with checked bullet effects while Fenri kept clear of the flock, giving Vilka time to summon the Church of the Golden Bough’s divine weapon and pin Mary down. Mary was left trapped beneath the golden bough, her flock scattered, while Carlo revealed that maintaining the Check Domain had caused him to bleed from the nose.

• Carlo used the Check Domain to slow Mary with Isaac’s bullet, and Fenri kept Mary and the flock at a distance.
• Isaac’s next shot missed, but Carlo checked for an explosion, and the bullet detonated near Mary, burning her and scattering several sheep.
• Carlo explained that he could make three rounds of checks in a short time, then asked Isaac to wait while they saw whether Vilka was ready.
• Vilka summoned a golden bough from the sky, striking Mary and pinning her to the ground as the flock panicked and fled.
• Carlo landed beside Vilka with a nosebleed and told Isaac that maintaining the Check Domain took effort.

After Vilka burned Mary and her lambs, Isaac found shackles in the ashes and connected them to attacks disrupting railway construction near Vista. He deduced that the old nobility was using captives to lure Mary toward the railway, and Vilka confirmed that someone was orchestrating the obstruction.

• Vilka used her golden branch spear to burn Mary and the lambs, leaving only ashes behind.
• Isaac found several sets of shackles in the ashes and wondered whether Mary had attacked people being transported as prisoners.
• Vilka said railway construction near Vista had repeatedly faced attacks by sheep-like aberrants resembling Mary's lambs.
• Isaac deduced that someone was using living people to draw Mary toward construction sites and delay the railway for the old nobles' benefit.
• Vilka confirmed that she had heard rumors that someone was behind the obstruction of railway construction.

Isaac, Carlo, and Vilka discussed how to investigate the nobles behind the calamity, then arranged to use the shackles and a publicized investigation to pressure them into revealing themselves. Back in Vista, Isaac learned that Section Two suspected the Ghoul Cult was connected to Mr. Harper’s case.

• Vilka planned to gather evidence before the Vista Council’s annual meeting and settle the matter there, while Carlo agreed to help investigate.
• The Joint Investigation Bureau took the shackles and planned to investigate their origins both secretly and publicly to unsettle those responsible.
• A government broadcast announced that the anomalous creature outside Vista had been eliminated and urged citizens to report unusual incidents.
• At the Bureau cafeteria, Grayson told Carlo and Isaac that Section Two suspected the person who returned Mr. Harper’s clothes came from the Ghoul Cult.
• Grayson and Carlo explained that the Ghoul Cult comprised factions pursuing immortality through rituals and beliefs involving the dead.

Grayson explained that Section Two suspected the Ghoul Cult had used a cursed burial shroud to pass a curse to an unsuspecting shopkeeper, and described the Bureau’s plans to investigate. He asked Carlo to secure the City Police Force’s cooperation, and Carlo agreed to speak with Commander Byrne.

• Grayson explained how the Corpse-Wrapping Curse Transfer Technique could make a contaminated garment transfer a curse to whoever kept it near the shroud the longest.
• Grayson said Section Two suspected the Ghoul Cult and planned to circulate the returner’s description, watch cemeteries and hospitals, and alert businesses about foul-smelling clothes.
• Grayson said Commander Byrne’s hostility had made cooperation between the City Police Force and the Joint Investigation Bureau difficult, and asked Carlo to intervene.
• Carlo agreed to speak with Byrne, then told Isaac that Parker usually handled interdepartmental coordination and that specific cases often caused disputes between the departments.

Carlo brought Isaac to the Oak Club to meet Commander Byrne and help with coordination, while Isaac observed Vista’s upper social circles. After dinner, Byrne prepared for a card game with Carlo and asked Isaac to join, but Isaac chose to watch.

• Carlo explained how card games, gossip, and shared mockery had helped him become close to Byrne.
• Carlo took Isaac to the Oak Club, where the waiter led them to Byrne’s reserved card room.
• Byrne recognized Isaac’s surname and briefly praised his late adoptive father, Edward Lessing.
• After dinner, Byrne brought out cards and asked Isaac to play, but Isaac declined after seeing the large stakes.

Isaac accompanied Carlo to a card game at Byrne’s club, where he explored the hall and learned to play billiards. When Corotty arrived looking unsteady, Isaac followed him, suspecting something was wrong.

• Byrne introduced Isaac to Councilman Robert Ismondton and Eileen Ismondton, then began a warm-up card game while Isaac sat aside.
• Carlo sent Isaac out to check whether Corotty had arrived, giving him a chance to explore the club.
• Isaac watched Freddie and his companion play billiards, learned the rules, and successfully potted a red ball on his second attempt.
• Isaac declined Freddie’s invitation to play regularly and noticed Corotty entering the hall with unsteady steps.
• Isaac excused himself from Freddie and followed Corotty.

Corotty arrived at the Oak Club as a maggot-filled corpse and exploded in the card room, prompting Carlo to protect Byrne and summon a helper from the Wilderness. Isaac’s successful summon gathered the maggots into a humanoid creature, leaving him responsible for the bizarre new being.

• Corotty entered Byrne’s card room and collapsed after Carlo tripped him, then burst into slurry and maggots.
• Carlo explained that Corotty had been killed and turned into a bomb, and he ordered the club to contact Byrne, the Joint Investigation Bureau, and the city police.
• Carlo and Isaac failed twice to stop the maggots with checks, so Carlo had Isaac attempt to summon a being from the Wilderness to manage them.
• Isaac successfully summoned a hovering shadow that drew the maggots out of the card room and shaped them into a humanoid body.
• Carlo told Isaac that since he had summoned the maggot creature, he was responsible for it.

Isaac and Carlo learned that the maggot man was a Foul Spirit that had controlled Corotty's corpse, and it identified Morzul as its last summoner. After Freddie saw the creature, Carlo ordered Isaac to stop him before he could spread the story.

• Carlo explained that the Ghoul Cult had used the Maggot Locomotion Technique to animate Corotty's corpse with a Foul Spirit.
• Isaac asked the Foul Spirit who had last summoned it, and it spelled out the name Morzul in Hiro Script.
• Carlo explained that Morzul was a vanished god associated with decay and warned that the name might not identify the actual practitioner.
• Carlo told Isaac to keep the Foul Spirit contained until the Joint Investigation Bureau arrived, then noticed Freddie watching them.
• Isaac chased Freddie down and pinned him while Carlo threatened to silence him for witnessing the maggot incident.

After an attack involving maggots at Byrne’s card room, Carlo and Byrne considered whether someone had staged it to provoke the city police and the Joint Investigation Bureau into cooperating or distract them. Chief Morris arrived to investigate and asked Byrne what had happened.

• Byrne brought Freddie to the lounge, where Freddie promised not to discuss what he had seen, and Carlo identified himself as chief of the Joint Investigation Bureau’s Ninth Special Investigation Section.
• Carlo told Byrne the maggots were under control and said the attack resembled the Ghoul Cult’s Maggot Locomotion Technique, though they did not know who was responsible.
• Carlo revealed that he had come to discuss a Joint Investigation Bureau case that might involve the Ghoul Cult and suggested the attack could be meant to stir up trouble between the Bureau and the city police.
• Byrne arranged for the Ismondtons to give statements and be escorted home once the authorities arrived.
• Chief Morris arrived at the lounge, and Isaac said he had summoned the filthy spirit to control the escaped maggots.
• Morris asked Byrne to tell him exactly what had happened.

After Carlo and Isaac investigated the Foul Spirit at the club, Morris failed to take control of it with his bone whistle because Isaac’s summoning contract was unusually strong. Morris required Isaac to accompany the spirit to the Joint Investigation Bureau’s storage facility and sign responsibility for its containment.

• Byrne ordered the city police to help the Joint Investigation Bureau gather evidence and interview the club staff while keeping the case confidential.
• Isaac noticed Freddie repeatedly looking at Carlo, and Carlo joked that Freddie seemed to have a secret crush before deciding to leave.
• Carlo offered Morris the maggot Foul Spirit, but Morris’s bone whistle failed twice to seize it from Isaac.
• Morris told Isaac that his spiritual characteristics made the summoning contract unusually strong and required him to stay and cooperate.
• Morris identified the Foul Spirit as a stable, low-tier creature made of ordinary maggots and took Isaac and the spirit to the bureau’s storage facility to sign transfer documents.

Isaac delivered the maggot man to the Joint Investigation Bureau, where Morris had it secured in a containment room. Back at the agency, Carlo discussed the attack on Byrne and Corotty’s death with Isaac, then said he suspected Morris was responsible.

• On the carriage ride to the Joint Investigation Bureau, Isaac told Morris he thought the attack on Byrne might have been meant to cause a commotion, and Morris said it was also a warning.
• Morris told Isaac that Corotty was a ruthless moneylender with a bad reputation, making him a victim whose death would cause little stir.
• Isaac and Morris brought the maggot man to the Bureau, where Morris sealed it in a containment room and had Isaac sign a transfer document.
• Isaac returned to the agency and told Carlo what Morris had said about Byrne and Corotty.
• Carlo agreed that Corotty had been a suitable target and told Isaac he thought Morris had carried out the attack.

Carlo reasoned that Morris had arranged the attack on Corotty to force cooperation between the Joint Investigation Bureau and the city police, possibly at the direction of Director Patrick or Grand Duke Ogway. He expected Byrne to reconcile with Parker the next day, while Isaac planned to visit Vilka and choose a Wonder.

• Carlo pointed out that Morris had arrived unusually quickly, steered Isaac toward calling the attack a warning, and had the knowledge and access to carry it out.
• Isaac agreed that Morris might have attacked Corotty to end the Joint Investigation Bureau and city police's friction, and Carlo questioned whether Morris had acted on someone else's orders.
• Isaac suggested Director Patrick as a possible mastermind, while Carlo proposed that Grand Duke Ogway had arranged the attack to force the two organizations to cooperate without directly removing Byrne.
• Carlo explained that Morris had used Isaac to pass him a message, implying the attack had been deliberate and its victim had been chosen as a warning.
• Carlo predicted that Byrne would seek out Parker to make peace and that investigators might eventually blame a Ghoul Cult member for the attack.
• Carlo told Isaac to handle his plans with Vilka on his own, and Isaac said he was going to her place to choose a Wonder.

Fenri met Patch in secret, and the two agreed to deal with a messenger connected to Morzul while discussing Vicania’s growing power. The next morning, Isaac went to the church Vilka had directed him to and waited while a nun prayed before a statue of Vicania.

• Fenri slipped out of 122 Red Maple Street and met Patch in an alley near the Joint Investigation Bureau.
• Fenri and Patch discussed Morzul’s return, the messenger, and Vicania’s power, then Patch agreed to get rid of the messenger.
• Patch warned Fenri to keep their meetings secret and left for home; Fenri returned to the office and curled up by the fireplace.
• Carlo told Isaac to go to the Joint Investigation Bureau after visiting Vilka, and Isaac traveled to the address she had given him.
• Isaac arrived at a small church, waited for a praying nun, and examined the statue of Vicania behind the altar.

Isaac met with Cardinal Visteria, who showed him three Wonders and offered all of them as an investment in his future support. He accepted the gifts while promising only to consider her position if their interests later came into conflict.

• A nun led Isaac to Cardinal Visteria, and he reflected on Vilka's chosen name and its meaning in Hiro Script.
• Vilka presented Isaac with brass knuckles that turned anger into strength, a brooch that protected the Spirit Garment, and gloves that resisted contamination and contact-based curses and toxins.
• Isaac judged the brooch and gloves more useful to him than the brass knuckles.
• Vilka offered Isaac all three Wonders in exchange for considering her side in future matters, while allowing him to refuse if it went against his principles.
• Isaac asked what Vilka expected in return, then agreed to give her position careful consideration if the need arose.

Isaac received three Wonders from Vilka and discussed exchanging the knuckle duster on Vista’s black market. Carlo arranged for Lydia Moran to teach Isaac Spirit Vision, using her arrest warrant to secure her cooperation.

• Isaac arrived at the Joint Investigation Bureau and learned Morris would lead a joint investigation with the city police.
• Isaac showed Carlo the three Wonders from Vilka, and Carlo suggested trading the impractical knuckle duster through the bureau or the black market.
• Isaac chose to visit Vista’s black market with Carlo that evening to look for a trade or sale.
• Carlo gave Isaac Lydia Moran’s address and arranged for her to teach him Spirit Vision for free.
• Isaac learned Carlo had obtained Moran’s arrest warrant and planned to use it to make her cooperate.