Chapter Summaries

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.

Isaac visited Moran to learn Spirit Vision after Mr. Schuster sent him, and she began with the basics of meditation. After Isaac read her booklet, Moran prepared to guide him through his first practice.

• Isaac arrived at Moran’s house and explained that Mr. Schuster had sent him to learn Spirit Vision.
• Moran agreed to teach Isaac, warning him that learning Spirit Vision could take years or might not happen at all.
• Moran asked Isaac about his past experiences with Spirit Vision, meditation, strange sensations, and dreams, then concluded he needed to start with meditation.
• Moran gave Isaac a booklet explaining meditation, and Isaac read its instructions and advice for handling a wandering mind.
• Moran answered Isaac’s question about refocusing on his breathing and told him to sit on another cushion to begin practicing.

Isaac learned meditation from Moran as the foundation for Spirit Vision, and she sent him away to practice before teaching him more. Back at the office, he found Carlo ready to go to the black market and described Moran as resembling a court wizard.

• Moran had Isaac use cooling balm as an anchor while he practiced focusing his attention through meditation.
• Moran explained that meditation quieted material perception so Isaac could shift his focus to the spiritual level and use Spirit Vision.
• Moran gave Isaac the balm to practice with and told him to return once he could reliably enter a meditative state.
• Isaac returned to the office and found Carlo preparing to go out for dinner before their black-market trip.
• Isaac called Moran a court wizard, and Carlo remarked that this was a new description of her.

Carlo took Isaac through a tavern gateway and into Vista’s sewers to reach the black market. Disguised and carrying lanterns, they followed Carlo deeper underground, where he turned into a narrower passage.

• Isaac told Carlo that Moran had instructed him to practice meditation before returning for the next step.
• Carlo led Isaac to Raven’s Barrel and explained that ordering Raven Sunsets paid the entrance fee to a black-market gateway.
• After finishing their meal, Carlo and Isaac passed through a back room, disguised themselves with burlap sacks, and descended into the sewers.
• Carlo led Isaac through the foul, slippery main sewer and explained its history and a proposal to build an underground railway.
• After seven or eight minutes, Carlo reached a junction and turned into the narrower passage on the right.

Isaac and Carlo searched a black market for Wonders, where Carlo warned him about scams and counterfeit goods. They found a vendor claiming a ring blessed by Morzul could keep its wearer young forever, but the ring’s origins and effects remained unproven.

• Carlo explained the black market’s trading risks and said most supposed Wonders there were fake or defective.
• Isaac examined the stalls and recognized several old books that seemed to match books in his foster father Edward’s collection.
• Carlo pointed out a crowd gathered around a stall displaying a plain dark silver ring.
• The vendor claimed the ring was blessed by Morzul and could keep its wearer young forever, while Isaac noticed errors in the vendor’s account of the god and the Ghoul Cult.
• Carlo challenged the vendor’s explanation, and an onlooker asked how the vendor could prove the ring was genuinely blessed and effective.
• The vendor claimed the ring came from the Ghoul Cult, prompting the onlookers to exchange glances.

Isaac considered buying a ring said to keep its wearer young by absorbing life energy from corpses, but he questioned why the seller was parting with it. Just as Isaac offered five pounds and a strength-enhancing Wonder for the ring, another buyer bid twenty pounds, leaving the deal unresolved.

• Isaac examined the ring and learned that its youth-preserving effect required a supply of corpses, making it dangerous and costly to use.
• The stallholder asked fifty pounds for the ring, while Carlo tried to bargain him down to five.
• Isaac suspected the stallholder had acquired the ring from someone else and offered five pounds plus his copper knuckle-duster in exchange.
• The stallholder accepted Isaac's offer, but another onlooker interrupted and offered twenty pounds for the ring.